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Page 4 — Halton Hills This Week, Saturday, May 29, 1998 Editorial “Dirty” Doug to the rescue A drum roll, please......Boomp....(thank you). And now, the man who will save Canada from perverts; the man who has come out of the shadows of his Regressive Conspirators political party; the man who might possibly bring back the guillotine if re-elect- ed (sorry, I know that’s France, but let’s stretch a point okay, we are supposed to be bilingual); the man who - taking a lead from his boss - leads with his chin;.we present that Clint Eastwood clone, “Dirty” Doug Lewis, the federal solicitor-general. To the sound of one hand clapping, “Dirty” Doug shows up in Brampton and vows to cleanse our society with a law that would allow dangerous criminals to be jailed for life even after their sentences have expired and also protect us from sexual perverts. What a load of bullfrog droppings! This guy obviously has studied political science at the feet of our esteemed prime minister - the man refe toin nursing cir- cles as ‘good old BM’ - because what you see or hear, is not what you get: Shortly after making his ‘tuff stuff’ announcement, ‘Dirty’ Doug switched from his good guy white hat to one with a politi- cally-correct chartreuse hue by admitting there wasn’t enough time to get his proposed legislation passed in Ottawa but said his draft law would be circulated in the “community.” ich community are we discussing here Doug, Tuktoyaktuk, just nudging the Arctic Ocean? Another drum roll here, please.......Boomp....(thank you). In yet another example of unctuous political contrivance, Lewis turned up in Brampton to offer his uncultured pearls of wisdom in the presence of Anna and Jim Stephenson, the parents of 11-year-old Christopher Stephenson who was raped and mur- dered by repeat sex offender Joseph Fredericks. Fredericks, a diagnosed pedophile, who had been released from prison on mandatory supervision just three months prior to the brutal mur- der of young Christopher Stephenson, met his timely death in Kingston Penitentiary last year. In early March, (as pointed out in an editorial in Halton Hills This Week, March 17), Lewis trumpeted much the sanie tune and promised at that time, his proposed legislation would pass fie Commons and become law before the dissolution of Parliament What have you been doing in the meantime Doug? Hunting boars in Russia? Perhaps Lewis’ Brampton tirade and partisan political shenani- gans were put in the proper perspective (considering the fact we must have a federal election this year) as political opportunism of ve worst kind by Allan Manson, a Queen’s Uahertilty law pro- ae reacting to the Lewis “Hang em high” pronouncement he said, “Is it necessary, given the regime we have? We have a sen- tencing arsenal that is by comparative standards to other Western countries potentially extremely punitive if protection is what one is seeking. It smacks of political opportunism of the worst kind to throw something out on the eve of an election, so a government can turn around and say we’re concerned about protecting the communi The parole board system in Canada is a joke, staffed by politi- cal. appointees rather than what should be the requisite criminolo- gists, 1 and other well- versed and trained to deal with the penal system. (id you know that Mila Mulroney, King Brian’s spouse, w once a member of a parole board. What were her qualifica: tions?...nudge, nudge,...wink, wink.) The judicial system is svepuniened and more often than not, back- room plea bargaining takes lence over actual justice being dispersed just to clear up the backlog. The two aforementioned areas are where the real problem lies. ‘ht need - and have needed - action, not promises for quite some tour politically-motivated suggestions stink Doug. Get a life. etter yet, get a real job. Colin Gibson | HIS WEEN Halton Hills This Week, Georgetown, Ont. L7G 4B1, andi pod Oakes Web Printing. ‘Halton Hils This Weok services may not be sold. ising i Hl which . y yy time. PUBLISHER: Ken Bellamy EDITOR: Colin Gibson ION MANAGER: Kathleen Topolsek CIRCULATION MANAGER: Marie boleh OFFICE MANAGER: Jean ~ HALTON HILLS THis WEEK IS INDEPENDENTLY OWNED & OPERATED. PHONE: 873-2254 FAX:873-3918 To the Editor: was most interested in your edi- torial of May 22 from two stand- points: one, your assessment of the N.D-P. budget as “tough”, and sec- ond, your comment on the Reform Party as a special interest group. I do not believe that all of No reply To the Editor: I am writing in response to your editorial of May 22 as well as to the blank space which appeared on the front page of the same edition. Both indicated — quite incorrectly — that I-had been unavailable for comment on the recent provincial budget, Let me assure your readers that I did, in fact, attempt to contact Halton Hills This Week. I tele- phoned your newspaper at the scheduled time and several times afterwards but reached only a busy signal. And my staff are not aware of any “numerous attempts” to con- tact me prior to press time. I would also like to point out that reporters from both The Georgetown Independent and The Canadian Champion managed to obtain the budget story that Halton Hills This Week failed to provide to its readers. Noel Duignan, MPP Halton North Editor's Note:| a reporter and myself were awaiting the arranged Phone call. This buipanier has. ae telephone lines available. We’re busy, but not that busy. As a last resort, we called Mr. Duignan’s constituency office and got an ae : Accident waiting to happen To the Editor: I witnessed a young boy 10-12 years of age laying backwards.on a skateboard, coming down*Maple Avenue from Trafalgar Road, going very fast on the steep hill. He ran a red cm at Main Street forcing traffic to halt This happened ‘at 8:20 a.m., May 10.Maybe a notice in your paper would alert parents of young chil- dren. Mr. Peter Esau _ Georgetown Editor’s Note: An editorial on this subject appeared in our May 5 edition. It’s time the cops cracked down. Here’s hoping a tragedy won’t occur. Lioness Club. appreciation The Georgetown Lioness Club wish to thank everyone who sup- ported our “Kilometer of Koins” campaign recently. All monies are going to assist the Kidney Foundation, Camp Dorset and Camp Dialysun “Dialysis Camps”. Thanks again for your support. Vi Shannon Georgetown Lioness Club Ontario’s economic woes can be laid at the N.D.P.’s feet. Spending was out of whack to the tune of a two or three billion dollar annual shortfall before they took office. But when their anti-business, social engineering policies kicked in, combined with 10-to-12 billion dol- lar deficits, they strangled business investment, which as always has been the engine for jobs in this province. The private sector has had to implement cutbacks of 15%-25% to try to survive. So, to now describe as “tough” an N.D.P. budget that will theoretically cut back irrespon- sibly-bloated spending levels by a grand total of 1.3% next year, is to legitimizing a shell game. AS8‘to the Reform Party being a SEE RE a PR TY RNR TOE Common sense government needed special interest group; this surprises me. I always thought a special interest group was one promoting a single cause. If promoting better, more responsive, democratic gov- ernment for this country is a single cause, then I guess you are right. I am more inclined to view the hun- dreds of policy positions outlined in the enclosed “Principles and Policies” statement, as the distilla- tion of a cry by hundreds of thou- sands of Canadians for common sense government. Editor's Note: The last we heard, Quebec was part of Canada. aren’t you running any candidates there? No particular interest? Disrespect for readers editorial on May 22 regard- ing “ Provincial budget shows an appalling disrespect for your read- ers. One would guess from your statements that you are among the more affluent of, Ontario’s “hordes”. Most of the “whining families” that I know struggle to manage on two incomes. Our problems are not whether to get the cat’s claws clipped or the dog fixed, but whether we’ll meet next month’s mortgage or daycare payments, or that we’ll keep our jobs in the months ahead. Or that after months and months of looking for work, unemployment insurance will run out. Perhaps you don’t understand that a business anticipating fewer customers because of additional taxes is doomed and the business owner faced with financial ruin. None of us question the need for itraint. We practice it in our per- sonal lives every day. We could, however, question the provincial government on their timing. Within days of announcing his “social con- tract” Bob Rae announced putting millions of dollars into a project on the Toronto waterfront. The NDP conveniently waited until most municipalities had finished their budgeting process to announce that they were cutting funding to. those municipalities.. Yes we need to cut the fat. Perhaps we need to increase taxes. Most of us would willingly put more into the provincial coffers if we knew our children would benefit from it. Don’t belittle us because we wring our hands a bit at the prospect of bringing home fewer dollars with which to feed, clothe and care for our children. We are only doing our best in a difficult ime. - Lhave long felt that politicians are out of touch with their con- stituents. Editorials such as yours leave the impression that the media has no better understanding of its readers’ lives. Wendi Hunter, cton Editor’s Note: I make $450.a week before deductions. Believe me, I am not affluent. The point of the editorial was that we are suffering now from the fiscal incompetence of former (and current) elected offi- cials both provincially and federal ly. For the children’s future, the line must be drawn somewhere or else they will have no future. We are who we elect.