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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, MAY 24, 2018 5THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 24, 20184 With the World Cup in Russia starting in less than three weeks, the ex- citement is gradually building. So far, we have looked at the chances of the odds-on favor- ites--Germany and Brazil. Now is a good time to review other potential winners or pretend- ers, depending on who you are speaking to. The current Euro- pean champions, Portugal, come into the tournament on the back of their historic triumph at the European Championships held in France two years ago. They boast of arguably the best soccer player ever born on the continent of Europe in Cristiano Ronaldo. The 33-year-old Real Madrid star has won almost every avail- able title in professional soccer except the world cup. His list of achievements includes: multiple Ballon D'Ors--the award for the best soccer player in the world-- titles in Portugal, England and Spain as well as medals for Por- tugal--the highlight of which was captaining the Portuguese national team to the Euro title in 2016. Apart from Ronaldo, the Por- tuguese team has experienced Coach Fernando Santos at the helm with a midfield anchored around Joao Moutinho and William Carvalho, and their de- fence set up is led by Pepe who currently plays in the Turkish league. For all their talent, Portugal is still a one-man team and it is hard to see them--on paper--progressing beyond the quarterfinals, but they can never be ruled out of contention. Por- tugal is in Group B and will face off against Spain, Morocco and Iran. Poland has always had a good history of success in the Olympic and World Cup soccer tourna- ments. They won the Olympic soccer gold in 1972 and have placed third in the World cup on two occasions--1974 and 1982. Their recent record hasn't been great. They last qualified for the World Cup in 2006. However, in Robert Lewandoski, they now possess a truly world class play- er. The 29-year-old who will be playing in his first World Cup, has always tracked in the top brackets in terms of goal scoring in almost every competition he competes in for club and country. He should get assistance from the supporting cast that includes Wojciech Szczęsny, who plays for Italian giants Juventus, and Napoli's Arkadiusz Milik. Po- land should be able to progress from Group H which also has Senegal, Japan and Colombia. What happens after that is any- one's guess. The World Cup starts June 14 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time. The New Tanner welcomes your Letters to the Editor, but, please keep in mind that letters must include the author's name, address and phone number in order for us to contact you if needed. Letters that are sent in anonymously will not be published. They may be edited for content or length. They are published as a first come first serve basis and we do not guarantee publication due to space availability. Just a thought For shame sports talk By Trish Bell Portugal or last chance for Poland By Michael Oke looking Back By: Scott Brooks Many businesses have come and gone over the years, but some remain. Here's Acton Motors in 1957 when they were a Volkswagen dealer. Photo Credit: Dills Collection Canadians are a complacent bunch. We love to watch--and scorn--our cousins to the south every time they appear ignorant to the facts of history, geog- raphy and anything outside the good ol' USA. Picking them apart like buzzards at a fresh kill, we puff out our chests and wait for the world's applause, as if making fun of their mistaken bravado justifies our own. We claim to be the well-bred, well- educated PROPER members of the world family but our own naivety--particularly on all that is Canadian--appears limitless. And one of our worst examples rest in just what it means to be a Canadian citizen. Sure, we watch bum-numbing hours of hockey, drink beer from the bottle like it's water and en- sure we pay homage at every Tim Hortons we pass--even indirect- ly--on the way to the cottage. We usher in summer with a May Two-Four. We talk about the weather endlessly because we have more of it in one day than most places have in a year. And we apologize so much that we are now looking for things to be sorry about. But--while enter- taining--none of these examples demonstrate any understanding of the rights and responsibilities being a member of this great nation entails. Oh sure, people claim to know their rights; they throw the words around like a naughty five-year-old who thinks he can hold his parents hostage by holding his breath. And yes, Canadian citizens--be they im- migrants, naturalized or born here to Canadians themselves-- all have rights under the law. Several in fact. We have demo- cratic and legal rights; equality and language rights; the right to freedom of religion, expression, assembly and association. And we have the rights to enter, move around and leave Canada as we choose--although, I cannot find mention of our right to millions of dollars should we choose to leave Canada, enter an unsafe place in the world and be de- tained by another government or group, but alas, let us leave that for another debate. These rights are law. Canadian girls and woman, for example, are protected under these laws because "Canada's openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, 'honour killing,' female genital mutila- tion, forced marriage or other gender-based violence." Yet, as a nation we know of numerous cases where we have hidden be- hind their right to culture so as to not impose our laws, simply be- cause we do not know our rights and responsibilities well enough to take a stand against appalling traditions. These laws are not new. They have been passed by parliaments and legislatures, and derived from English common law, the civil code of France and even the Magna Carta of 1215. They are celebrated in our Can- adian Charter and Ontario Code but they are not new, and if we actually knew these rights and laws, our ignorance would not prevent us from speaking up. But as Uncle Ben tells Spider- man, with great power comes great responsibility, and it is in this realm that the average Can- adian truly gets a failing grade. It may surprise you to learn that as a Canadian, you are responsible for caring for communities-- essentially volunteering; yet, despite this responsibility be- ing listed in the Charter, the majority of the work continues to rest on the shoulders of the minority. In addition, we have long since been responsible for protecting Canada's natural, cul- tural and architectural heritage for future generations, making a celebration of our Canadian history--Canada Day for ex- ample--not a senseless racist act as the anti-right would insist, but merely a duty to protect and celebrate our Canadian culture. But that is not the only respon- sibilities we share. To the surprise of many, the act of getting a job, working hard and taking care of one's family is not just an ideal but an actual responsibility of Canadian citizenship. One used to remark on why they would list that as an actual responsibil- ity--today one wonders why no one recognizes it as such. And this is the fundamental flaw of our time. What was once silent- ly understood is now required in print so that it might be open to scrutiny by those who should not have such time on their hands. And this is how responsibilities have become only rights. We don't see jury duty as an oppor- tunity to serve, merely a job to avoid. We all understand that we are supposed to obey the law, but do we actually ensure those who don't--especially those in power--re brought to justice? After all, "no person or group is above the law." Even the act of voting is thought of as a right, when it is ever as much a respon- sibility, that sadly, it appears the vast majority of us couldn't be bothered participating in. No, perhaps us Canadians should be a little less loud when making fun of our neighbours down south. They may be loud and boisterous but they do know what it means to be a citizen.