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Home Newspaper of Halton Hills Established 1 868 A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Street Georgetown Ontario PAUL J TAYLOR Publisher and General Manager Advertising Manager Cliu Mil Number PHONE Page SECTION A IB Of seatbelts and spotchecks Law becomes dangerously authoritarian Government and police of ficials across Ontario are to be congratulated for the success of their efforts in curbing highway traffic accidents Its clear that government advertising widespread publicity about related police operations and a generally tougher attitude toward drunk driving and other forms of carelessness have at least contributed to the steady decline in accidents and fatalities Halton police last week reported that 1982 saw fully 1000 fewer accidents than did 1981 In north Halton alone traffic fatalities dropped from 21 in to ten in 1981 to only five last year Making the driving public more aware and cautious about known hazards is an idea that cannot be challenged Unfor tunately though the means used in producing the above statistics as admirable as they are do not have our full sup port In announcing accident figures for the past year police were quick to cite annual Yule tide and a crackdown on drivers who dont wear seatbelts as major factors Alas statistics to back up these specific claims are not forthcoming Who can say if the threat of a severe fine preven ted any driver from having a few drinks or ignoring their seatbelts Its just a matter of taking the governments and police departments word for it Our concern lies with the preservation of an individuals civil rights the freedom of choice to wear his or leave it off and the freedom to travel freely without being stopped by police for no ap parent reason What happy motoring end could possibly justify in creasingly stronger legislation governing such personal freedoms Halton police handed out summonses to drivers not wearing seatbelts during the recent 21day spotcheck blitz in accordance with provincial legislation approved several years ago Vet neither the province nor the police can definitely state that save lives all kinds of instan ces can be cited when did save lives instances can also be cited showing how seat- belts may have contributed to traffic fatalities Officials can only point trend Trend or not what gives any government the right to control ones personal behavior And what gives the police the right to conduct ALERT spotchecks at Christmastime or yearround Stopping cars whose drivers appear to be drunk or at least having trouble driving is about as much as wed like to see the police doing Stopping cars for routine spotchecks when there is no apparent problem constitutes random ment Such authoritarian moves by a governing body must be guarded against No matter now sound the reasoning may appear attempts to curb in dividual freedoms represent the lower rungs on a fascist ladder May dreams come true Any addition to the com munitys selfhelp efforts a new service club a new chap ter of a social agency new fun ding for special projects are of course welcome in Halton Hills especially in these times when more work has to be done with less money So its especially gratifying to see the Lioness Club of Georgetown follow the example of one of its Australian coun terparts and offer residents in need A Dream for a Day The club has assigned a number of members to tackle the many varied tasks that may be requested of them by Halton Hills senior citizens han dicapped or destitute or anyone else with special needs If you need an extra hand with household chores if you need a ride to the shops if you have any particular chore you just cant quite manage by yourself the Lionesses are willing to lend a hand and make your dream come true even if its in some very small way Our fervent thanks to the club for again meeting its taxing commitment to and offering assistance in what undoubtedly will be a tough job considering the number of worthy citizens who really need their help each in a small but timeconsuming way The Herald is happy to space for the form seen which residents are urged to fill out and mail in Please dont hesitate to take the Lionesses up on their offer its made out of individual kindness and a collective sincere in terest in improving conditions in the community for some residents Good luck to the clubs members and please keep up the fine work DREAM FOR A DAY APPLICATION FORM Name Address Phone Special need Is our flamboyant Pierre losing his sportsmanship Ottawa Report By Stewart From the Ottawa Bureau of The Herald Didyou see that story from Kuala Lumpur about Prime Minister quest for personal privacy during his Asian lour Wasnt that some thing What be said was that a picture of him swimming or otherwise enjoying himself would create a mistaken Impression His exact words- One picture of me swimming in the sea destroys the three weeks of planning by officials and Iwo weeks of travelling by myself What gave rise to this it seems was the fact thai a photographer travelling with the prune minister was told he would be left cooling his heels at some army base unless he promised not to take pictures of cavorting In the water My my how times do change As they say no one Is more zealous than a convert And Trudeau in this latest public relations thrust sounds for all the world like a former alcoholic who tries to prevent his old buddies from having a snort Who among us would have predicted the day would come when our funloving prime minister would shy from simple snapshot of himself having a little frolic at the beach NEW CONVERT If It were Joe Clark I could easily come to grips with his concern Clark li not particularly photogenic when he frolics and a picture or him plunging Into the Pacific during a trade mission would do him no good Come to think of It such a photograph probably would nt do much for Ed Broadbenl either But what has happened to our prime minister Where Is he who thought it was rather to slide down the bannister at Londons Marlborough House during a Common wealth conference Where is the sport who thought It was great Tun to perform an unsolicited pirouette behind Queens back Good Heav ens he didnt even mind being photo graphed doing his number in countless discoes around the world He always seemed to get a great bang out of being photographed play ing on campaign tours that was no Image problem for him and there was no difficulty taking lime away from the affairs of stale to swish into the National Arts Centre with Barbra Streisand Even as recently as November he was happily photo graphed dancing with some pretty young thing at a Liberal convention SHOULD REBEL And who among us can ever forget hat jolly little portrait of the minister being photographed giving sign not to be confused with a ihumbsup sign to he good folk at Salmon Arm BC strikes me as incredulous hat this same person now Is worried about the possible damaging effects of being pictured having a dip And It does nothing to diss I pale this incredulity to learn thai the worry comes from officials accompanying prime min ister The people who handle me are very concerned he said Trudeau so far as 1 knew had never allowed himself to be handled this way In he past In fad one of refreshing things about he prime minister on these trips was his unpredictability and the fact hat he told his socalled handlers go to blazes when It came to Imagemaking I would hate to think hat he has finally fallen under the spell of some of these ninnies who foolishly think that the publics perception can be altered favorably by photo restrictions And before its too late I would hope that would find himself a suitable bannister on enticing disco or an irreslslable pirouetting point behind some emperor so he can revert to his old self Worst thing about bishops is taking them seriously Queens Park By Derek Nelson Prom the Queens Park Bureau of The Herald Perhaps the most depressing as pect connected with the Ethical Reflec tions or Marxist musings of eight Roman Catholic Bishops who protested moral disorder of our economic system Is that they are being taken seriously 11 lust goes to show lo what level he English language has sunk In its corruption by political mindless Leaving aside New Democrats who love the rhetoric of the Ethical Reflections most politicians have taken the cautious middle- road of praising the Bishops moral concerns white having doubts their eminences understand how the economy actually works That was the route of provincial Treasurer Prank Miller for example who thought they oversimplified and missed the connection between inflat ion and unemployment It Isnt an thing But thai is being far too kind Bishops who should be raked over the coals not for their specific econo mic criticisms such as choosing lo ignore inflation but for what hey did and are doing to dialogue in his country ONE EXAMPLE Lacking the space to go over their Manifesto pointby point I thought it representative to take the first fund amental Gospel principle thoy list and see what they are trying to say by It 1 railed And heres why The Bishops wrote that an Christ ians we are called follow Jesus by identifying with the victims of Injust ice by analyzing he dominant altit udes and I rue lures that cause human suffering and actively supporting the poor and oppressed In their rugglcs lo transform society Thai paragraph reads like the of laziness of authors who clear thoughts decided Instead to gum together long strips of words without precise meanings but which do leave a reader with a vague feeling of sen II mentality SILLY PHRASES Victims of Injustice and dom inant attitudes and structures that cause human suffering and actively supporting the poor and oppressed and struggles to transform society are all meaningless Jargon There Is nothing humane In such no connection with Indi vidual people and their lives nothing concrete upon which a reader con hang an argument and say In response yes no or maybe If as the Bishops Manifesto hints elsewhere the transformed society they seek is one without private capital why dont they soy so If not why dont they say what they do mean What ore these slruclurcs that cause human Buffering Investor- owned corporations Government- owned business Our freelyelected governments And who are the poor and oppressed and victims of injust ice Are we using the silly Statistics Canada definition of poverty line or historical comparisons jr whal Oppressed by what And by whom REAL POINT When people use such abstractions they arc projecting an emotion who all doesnt feel for someone truly poor and oppressed but are being careful to avoid a specific that would allow a reader lo call up a mental Image of what they are actually talking Now that could be for one of two reasons Either they dont know what they are really saying and are simply giving an appearance of solidity to pure wind or else they arc trying lo hide I heir real meaning In either case they do political dialogue a massive disservice Attacking or defending what Bishops say misses the point First we hove to know II Is ihey ore really advocating Letter to the editor Seatbelt laws hurt freedom of choice To the editor of The Herald Yesterday my freedom of choice was Invaded by local police charg ing me and my passenger for failing to wear seat- bells I fall to tec how my railing to wear has anything to do with anyone but myself and my personal choice lam not endangering anyones life or property What I have done Is blatantly refused our dictators govern ments direct orders We have Ihe to drive let us hove the choice to wear or not to wear I feel that I am n safer driver without the restriction a Obviously local admini stration has ordered police to crack down on this criminal element whats next Belts to keep our pants up I Mario Shadbolt Acton YOUR LETTERS ARE WELCOME rilMCTl MIS At delay In meter reading at the end of the year town council will send the minimum bill lo all water users In January A man will be hired In June to read meters and In future all meters will be read by Dec 1 and June 1 and bills sent a month later Town council granted substantial pay raises to town employees effective Feb l The raises will Increase the municipal payroll by yearly New pay for salaried employees Is town clerk assessor 3000 fore man assistant to clerk caretaker YEARS suffer Dave Hastings of John St E is the new president of the Georgetown Brass and Reed Band He was elected to the office Jan when the band held Its annual business meeting at the home of bandsman Tom He succeeds Bruce McKerr of Milton as president Tuesday remains as pract ice night at the Chapel Street School and efforts are being made by memb ers to encourage local former bands men to rejoin the organization TEN YEARS will coal George town close to 50000 this year to establish a now landfill site for muni cipal waste The present site In use for some years is almost full and the town has a lease agreement with the owner of Industrial land nearby The site according to Reeve Rlc Morrow wiU serve the town for at least years The land will need tile drainage a seepage pump and other Improve ments for its use Estimated cost of preparing the site is 45 to ONE YEAR concerns about possible traffic accidents Involv ing prompted town council Monday night not to reverse recent controversial changes in lis snow clearing policies The policies were changed last week to save the towns public works department money the face of declining subsidies from the provincial ministry of transportation and communications Under the new policies which remain Intact sacs and deadend streets may not receive the snow clearance service to which residents living on them have become accustomed In previous years POETS CORNER Empty- Shell Only the empty shell of what I was or might have been I need year quiet J fountain of youth I hesitate to pollute your space with experiences of unfortunate circumstances bat 1 love you Selfishness not a credit In our ledger of experience but Its got me this fsr I need your thoughtful reply By MARLOWE C DICKSON RRZBeeton On the Bridge Id On the bridge I witched the snow Swirl carelessly In the wind I noticed Chocolate water Turned brown by the storm I remembered too Like a photograph The childhood days Of tadpoles and alley cats Abruptly Pont A Juvenile Jingle Entered my mind Just then The dancing river Collected her swirling skirts As my frivolous memories Cascaded from recollection To clamour distressfully Around the bend Forgotten again By SHARON Student The Day You Left These feelings deep within myself I try to bide from you Forsaking all this love I have and living with It too I wish youd reach within your heart and see how much I care and realise what you did wasnt really all that fair The day yon left I sat and cried and wondered what to do But all I saw were empty visions of living without yen By DIANE CREWEREAD student