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rage 4 — Halton Hills This Week, Wednesday, March 31, 1993 ditorial — . License-free weekend “Our true north strong and free”, goes a line in Canada’s national anthem. This can mean many things to many people. But far too often, one aspect of the meaning of the line is either ignored or never even thought off. This aspect is our land. Our lakes, our forests, our mountains, our rivers - even our wilderness areas - are often taken for grant- It is doubtful the Canadian experience we enjoy nowadays would be anywhere near comparable had our land not been Sone free and bountiful originally: ugh inference at all levels - sanding exorbitant hunting and fishing licences, high taxation on gasoline, admission prices into various park lands - fewer and fewer people (Americans as well as Canadians) are taking advantage of the magnificent panorama that is the Canadian outdoors. The recession-ridden tourism and recreation fishing industries are being particularly hard hit and this is costing Ontario mil- lions of dollars in revenue - not to mention untold numbers of lost jobs. The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters has come up with an idea to both get us back into the outdoors and pump some much-needed money into the provincial coffers. Taking a lead from a successful experiment in Manitoba, the OFAH has proposed to the Ministry of Natural Resources that there be a fishing license-free weekend each summer, starting the Civic Holiday weekend in August. The OFAH feels this family-oriented project would not only be attractive to those fishing for the first time, but also to those who have given up on the sport because of rising costs. The organization has offered to work with the MNR and Ministry of Tourism to ensure the success of the weekend. OFAH executive vice president Rick Morgan noted, “Offering the license-free weekend would be a tremendous way to stop the temptation of fishing throughout the year without a license, while encouraging more people to enjoy Ontario’s great out- doors. It was also felt that waiving the fishing license for the one weekend would also be a major boost for tourism and for retail- ers selling fishing equipment. It’s an idea our provincial government should explore, if only to show that it does indeed care about input from the public in any number of areas. Bouquets and brickbats To the Editor: The Parents’ Association of Sacré-Coeur School wishes to thank you for your interest in our school activities. Personally, as president of our PTA, I was pleased that you published our article on the Francophone Week and that you sent a Puotoarsptict/ionroal phy the Georget town Mall last week- Towever, I was most disturbed od costumes”. Those little girls were dressed as a clown and a rab- bit! They were there to entertain and give candies to children and say “Bonjour”. T am convinced that the readers of your newspaper know very well what period costumes look like and they don’t look like that! It is really too bad that the writer of these comments did not come and ask us questions about our display. Lise Gilmor President PTA Sacré-Coeur Editor’s note: We apologize for the unintended slight. Open door immigration policy decried To the Editor: The article in the March 10 Globe & Mail sent shivers down my spine. “Triad menace an ice- berg report warns.” According to Criminal Intelligence Service Canada, triad members already in the country are involved in drug trafficking, gambling, extortion, prostitution, money laundering, armed robbery, alien smuggling and the counterfeiting of credit cards. Secret Hong Kong criminal societies are known as ‘ We hear a lot of people making excuses for the rising crime rate; unemployment, hard times, etc. I agree, it is a factor but compared to the 1930’s (with no unemployment insurance, no health care, inade- quate relief) conditions are consid- erably better for the unemployed. During those years crime was not a major problem. Why? There was discipline and the strap in schools, even worse, when your parents found out about it. For older people and real crimes, there were real jails and the lash - cruel, maybe, but is the lash any worse than young thugs knocking down old ladies, often breaking bones just to snatch their purses? Think about it for a while - if you are lucky, you may also be old and feeble some day. And then there is the death sentence, rather stern, but it sure stops repeat per- formances. ~ When did Canadian society and our crime rate start changing. Open concept schools, do your own thing. Learn nothing. After police . work their hearts out catching criminals, judges, under govern- ment direction over the years, hand out progressively more lenient sen- tences until now. Sentences are a joke compared to the crimes com- mitted. The above is one factor but the more serious problem was started by the Liberals in the Trudeau era by bringing in people frém all over the world without any controls to criminal back- ground, work skills or even the cultural ceaig of the people to do a day’s wot Most "erimiaaa: except the pawns, are quite intelligent people and Canada’s open door policy with the added benefits of free medicine, free housing, regular liv- ing allowances, along with a heavy influx of aliens makes Canada an ideal place for criminals to locate. The fact that criminals as a mat- ter of policy are allowed into the country and protected from depor- tation (even murderers) is uncon- scionable. So called “rights” laws have been enacted making the job of the police extremely difficult. On the sraeinelal scene, the N.D-P. have for years tried to make the life of the police miserable. With both federal and provincial politicians continually adding more roadblocks for the police to encounter , it is quite obvious why we have an eee crime rate in Ontari If you are ast happy with this situation, remember who not to vote for in the next federal and provincial elections. Political process hijacked To the Editor: On the occasion of the April 1 provincial by-elections, we are wit- nessing a perfect example of politi- cal opportunism. The scene is the riding of St. George - St. David where a group of homosexual activists has all but hijacked the political process. So much so that the Family Coalition Party candidate, during the last election, was not allowed to speak at the all-candidates debate. This year, even the NDP riding associa- tion could not hold a nomination meeting, forcing Premier Bob Rae to appoint aCandidate. Liberal leader Lyn McLeod saw the opportunity. For the sake of a few hundred votes in the by-elec- | of part-tim mayoralty-candidate Barlow using rks. Taughable if it weren’t so patheti- ic: the utter lunacy his own experience 0 of spending _ red tion, she announced that she will help push through legislation legal- ly recognizing same-sex relation- ships (Financial Post, March 11). The spending of taxpayer’s money to support these relation- ships, as if they could play the same role as traditional families in creating life and\developing soci- ety, goes against common sense and against the wishes of the majority of the people in Ontario. After giving in to this group, will Liberal party faithfuls continue giv-- ing her their trust and loyalty? Giuseppe Gori Family Coalition Party of Ontario, Georgetown For Pete's Sake Yes, PLL HAVE THE sumBER FOUR LUNCH, AND Pr MEDIUM COLA... THANKS. AND may 1 HAVE Some SALT AND KereHuP WITH THAT, pease? = _—, CK 9) 7 js ee JHIs WEEK Halton ils This Week, Wednesday Edo, ‘5 pub- \GER: Jean Shewell CIRCULATION MANAGER: Marie Shadbolt HALTON HILLS THIS WEEK IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED. PH ONE: 873-2254 _ FAX:873-3918