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THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2006 THE NEW TANNER 7 GRAPEVINE with Mike OLeary The Way I See It VALUABLE RESOURCE The Towns Community Ac- tivity & Service Guide was delivered to Halton Hills homes last weekend. The Guide has a wealth of well established and brand new programs as well as information on other community service providers. Its a valuable resource for deciding on how you want to spend leisure time. Havent got your Guide yet? You can pick them up at all the Town arenas, pools, the civic centre, Gellert Centre, both library branches and senior cen- tres. The guides are distributed to general stores and post offices in the hamlets and rural areas. Processing of all fall and win- ter program registration begins Wednesday, August 30. BRITISH CAR SHOWCASE Interested in British cars? They will be showcased at the Halton Region Museum this Sunday, Au- gust 27 from 10a.m. to 4p.m. The museum is located in the Kelso Conservation Area, Milton, just minutes from the 401. Approximately 50 classic Brit- ish marques including Wolseley, Riley, Hillman, Rover, Morris, as well as Jaguar, Vauxhall, MG and Triumph, will be on display courtesy of the British Saloon Car Club of Canada which boasts about 550 members worldwide. This years show highlights two Rolls Royces, a 1978 drop- head Cornish and a 1953 Silver Dawn. Entry to the car display is free with admission to Kelso Conser- vation Area. Tours of the museum are available to the public at no additional charge. For visitors wishing to make a full day of their visit, the park features other recreational activities including fishing, boating and swimming in Kelso Lake, as well as hiking and biking on Niagara Escarp- ment trails. DEMENTIA HELP If you have a family member providing care to someone with dementia and would like to share your thoughts, concerns and questions with a group then help is available from VON Al- zheimer Services which provides caregiver support groups in both Georgetown and Milton. Georgetown meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month starting Sept. 5 from 7-9p.m. at the Mountainview Retirement Residence, Mountainview Rd. The support group for the Milton area is held the third Thursday of each month from 2-3p.m. in the community room upstairs at Loblaws. Call 1-800-387-7127 or 905- 847-9559 for information. NHL GREATS, TV Jennifer Valentine and CITY- TV Live Eye and OMHA Hometown Hockey magazine will be joining former NHLrs Bryan Trothier, Billy Smith and Jay Wells at the Bryan Trothier Hockey Camp at Acton arena on Wednesday, August 30. Valen- tine will be taking part in on-ice activities with the players as well as interviewing players and parents. OMHA Hometown Hockey staff will be interviewing players, parents and instructors for their October publication, says Nathan Marzo, hockey camp director. BEACH OK AGAIN After a time of poor water quality edicts, the old beach in Prospect Park, Acton, has again been declared safe for swimming by the Halton Health Dept. Tests were conducted on August 15. The health dept. tests recre- ational water throughout Halton on a weekly basis, or if condi- tions change. If the beach has acceptable levels of bacteria they are deemed safe for swim- ming. However, conditions often change weekly so residents can check beach quality 24 hours a day by calling 905-825-6000 or toll-free 1-866-442-5866. Ask for beach information. After hours press 2 for information. TREE OF LIFE Shoppers Drug Mart has select- ed the McKenzie-Smith Bennett public school playground fund and the Acton Agricultural Soci- etys community building as their charities of choice for this years Tree of Life campaign funds. Owner/manager Mark Ward- Dragich of Acton Shoppers Drug Mart explains that funds for Tree of Life used to go into one big fund that was distributed from headquarters. This year local Shoppers Drugs can name the local charities of their choice for most of the funds. Customers can purchase and personalize their own leaf for a loonie, maple leaf for $5, or an apple for $50. Each leaf is then attached to a tree branch and dis- played in the store. Seventy-five per cent of the funds are donated back to the community and 25% to support-national charities. NEED TEAMS Want to help beat the scourge of cancer? Form a team and take part in the Acton Cancer Soci- etys Relay for Life at Rockmosa in Rockwood on Friday, Septem- ber 22. Teams can have as many as 10 people but not necessarily that many. The event is sponsored by the Wellington County Unit of the Canadian Cancer Society of which the Acton Cancer Society is part. They are partnering with Rockwood and Erin branches to coordinate the Relay for Life. Contact 519-824-4261 for fur- ther information or the local coordinator Terri Forbes at 519- 853-4085. How many more? Earlier this month (August 8) a front page article in The Toronto Star caught my eye. Then last week the same story surfaced again on CTV News. Perhaps, I thought, with the provincial election on the horizon we might get some action. What all the discussion is about is the situation where people who are out on bail are committing other crimes spe- cifically murder. It seems that of the 45 murders in Toronto this year, 21 of them were commit- ted by a person out on bail from previous offences. Of the 32 people who have been charged with murder this year 21 of them were out on bail. So the question is: If these people had remained in jail in- stead of being allowed to wander the streets would there be 21 less people pushing up daisies? Those out on bail werent accused of minor crimes. Nine were banned from having a firearm. One wonders how hard these people laughed at that prohibition. Criminal types are no more prone to obeying a court order than they are to obeying any of societys rules. Eight accused were on proba- tion. I wonder what fantastic stories they concocted to get the parole board to free them. I would assume, from what Ive read, that they promised to be good little boys and the board sprung them. Conning the parole board is not difficult. This isnt the first time Ive written about our lax criminal (in)justice system. I had private correspondence with former MP identify some crimes that, pro- vided there is factual evidence, are offences not eligible for bail, I dont have any confidence that we can rely on the judiciary to make the tough decisions. The other part of the bail system that needs a complete overhaul is the people who put up the bail or sureties. Often you hear or read of people pledging property or cash to bail out ac- cused who are usually family members. Sureties are, amongst other things, supposed to be respon- sible for ensuring the accused abides by the conditions the court imposes when they grant bail. If the accused skips town, or breaks his/her bail conditions, then the assets held by the court should be forfeited. Right? Not by a longshot. There is an estreatment court in Toronto. This is where the sureties appear to tell the court what, if any, care and control they had exer- cised over the person released to their custody. In many cases the surety has exercised little or no control over the accused. But still they are able to negoti- ate with the court and manage to keep most, if not all, of the funds or property pledged. The victims of crime have every right to believe the crooks are treated better by the (in)justice system than they are. Its not just murderers who get the white glove treatment for their crimes. Take Peter Whitmore (please) for example. After taking a young boy and a Manitoba teen hostage, and MUSICAL MEMORIES: Actons old red brick two-storey Public School was renowned for its music program in the days when competition was not a sullied word. It was never better than in years prior to World War 2 when choirs, double trios, trios and duets cleaned up at the very competitive Halton Music Festival, especially under the direction of music teacher Miss Hunt. She is shown at the left of this photo taken in 1938 in front of the stone school, which was a continuation school in that period and adjacent to the pubic school. The photo, loaned to The New Tanner by Stella Brunelle, is probably of a 60 voice choir which obviously (shield held in front) won again. Identified in the photo are: Top row: Harold Simpson, Lorna Dunn, Alice Gibbons, Jeanne Brunelle, Betty Turner, Winnie Dawkins, Dot Footitt, Dora Wood, Gord Gibbons. Fourth row: Charlie Rushmere, Bill Mainprize, Sam Brunelle, Pat Bayliss, Dora Hansen, Rox Lambert, Charlie Hubble, Mart Nelson. Third row: Evelyn Braida, Isabel Shepherd, ??, Ken Hassard, Shirley Duval, Ev Atkinson, Norma Marzo, Jack Bruce, Wanetta Smith, Tommy Lamb, Ev Kentner, Mary Marzo. Second row: Roy Chisolm, Jack Stewart, Joan Somerville, Betty Mooney, May Nicol, Kay Louttet, George Hollinger, Don Evans, Rena Braida, Stan McHugh, Inez McLellan. Bottom row: Bob Holmes, Joan Pargeter, Freddy Kingshott, May Spires, Joyce Dessereault, Betty Nelson, Anetta Evans, Eddie ?, Jean Harris, Kay Wedge, Hugh ORourke. Reed and my first column in The Tanner was on April 13, 1994. Georgina (ivi) Lemonis had just expired. Remember her? She was the woman who was shot at Just Desserts. Feelings amongst Ontar- ians was running high. Jean Chretien was the Prime Minister back in 94. In his own indubitable way he reacted to the public outrage about our justice system. Eventually he said, there will be some legislation. Were still waiting for the feds to act and meanwhile the body count continues to act. Last week I mentioned that some of the accused terrorists in Mississauga had been released on bail. I wondered if some crimes were so heinous that the courts, and society in general, would be better served if the accused were left in secure custody until their trial date. Were they able, I would venture that those 21 innocents who have died this year in Toronto would strongly agree. There is a move afoot at the pro- vincial level to require the accused in some crimes to prove why they should be released. A kind of re- verse onus, if you will. The problem is, the way I see it, is that the right to bail is a univer- sal concept. Everyone is eligible. I think the time has come, actually I think its way past time, that we Continued on page 17