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2 The Canadian Statesman. Bowmanvillc, July 8, 1987 Section Two Eije Canabtan Statesman 623-3303 Oufhwi County's SM Family Journal EstsMJehed m y--rs ago in 1BS4. Also WxorporoSnç Th# N^vl Ils Mswcos*s Mapsndsnt The Oreno Ns* Second dees me* isglewioti number 1SS1 Produced every Wedneedey by THE JAMES PUMJWhO COMPANY UNITED «2-W King SC W, Bowmen»«e, Onterio L1C SKI JOHN M. JAMES Editor--Publisher GEO. P. MORRIS Business Mgr. RICHARD A. JAMES Assistant Publisher BRIAN PURDY Advertising Mgr. PETER PARROTT Associate Editor DONALD BISHOP Plant Mgr. All layouts and composttton of advertisements produced by the employees of The Canadian Statesman, The Newcastle Independent and The James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and must not be reproduced without permission of the publishers. $17.00e year--6 months $9.00 foreign--$55.00 a year strictly in advance Although every precaution will be taken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable lor any error in the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof of such advertisement is requested in writing by the advertiser and returned to The Canadian Statesman business office duly signed by the advertiser and with such error or corrections plainly noted in writing .thereon, and in that case it any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire cost ol such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Let's Have More Flag-Waving Canadians are not a particularly to celebrate their 4th of Jiily. In the patriotic lot. Consider, for example, our observance observance of July 1. There are some people who had the holiday on the appointed date, while others worked through Canada's birthday and took a long weekend with either Friday or Monday as a holiday. Thus, Canada was divided into three groups of Canadians holding holidays at different times. And, you can bet that most of them celebrated the occasion not by marching in a parade and not by watching fireworks or singing the national national anthem. They probably observed observed Canada's birthday by cleaning out the garage or mowing the lawn. Now there are those folks who might object to this kind of inappropriate inappropriate behavior on the anniversary of the founding of our nation. Americans Americans consider it their patriotic duty Soviet Union, they are probably ordered ordered to go to the streets and wave banners. But in Canada, people are perfectly free to either summon their patriotic fervor and celebrate or, as an alternative, alternative, remain blissfully uninvolved. Personally, we'd rather see some official celebrations. We note that locally (aside from the Bowmanville Museum's afternoon festivities) there were virtually no celebrations of July 1. We'd rather see some kind of tribute tribute paid to Canada on this special day. But, on the other hand, we respect respect the individual's right to celebrate celebrate July 1 in any way he or she sees fit. This lack of compulsion (either official official or unofficial) makes Canada one of the freest nations on earth. And that's one of the unique features of Canada as it enters its 121st year. Recycling Has Over the next few months, we'll be hearing a lot more about recycling. The Durham Region is getting ready for a major drive towards the recycling of trash. It has agreed to build a new headquarters headquarters for collecting recyled materials. materials. It has purchased a fleet of trucks to collect domestic scrap, and it will eventually buy a lot of curbside "blue boxes" into which householders householders will place materials for recycling. recycling. It's true that these expenses will add up. In fact, it appears to us as though the capital cost for launching a full-scale recycling effort in the Durham Region will be in the neighbourhood neighbourhood of $2 million. But it should also be pointed out that some of the expenses are onetime onetime costs or at least costs that will be spread out over a rather long period of time. For example, the necessary buildings and recyling containers will, presumably, not have to be replaced for a considerable length of time. In terms of municipal expenditure these days, a $2 million price tag is relatively modest. We should point out that the concept concept of recyling materials is by no means new. It's as old as the invention invention of the compost heap or perhaps older. Recycling was practised by our ancestors ancestors who wasted nothing and even went so far as to turn scraps of fabric into beautiful quilts and rugs. Top Priority Nor is the idea of recycling an invention invention of municipal government over the past six months or so. Not at all. In fact, there have been, citizen efforts to establish recycling depots for about the past 10 years. In Bowmanville, the Newcastle Environment Environment Watchers voluntarily collected collected glass, newsprint, and tin at their depot in the Goodyear parking lot. And the Boy Scouts have been collecting collecting scrap newsprint for about as long as anybody can remember. These groups were ahead of their time and it's only now that government government officialdom is catching up to them. There are really two ways to curb the 20th century production of trash. One is to implement recycling schemes such as those we are alluding alluding to above. And another is to encourage encourage the packaging of consumer products in ways which do not burden the environment. Regional government's speedy approval approval of recyling programs is evidence evidence of a growing crisis in the collection collection and disposal of garbage. It's becoming obvious that the cost of recycling recycling is modest in comparison to the staggering price tags associated with the continued creation of mountains mountains of household trash at landfill sites. We have reached a point where it's not a question of whether public agencies can afford to recycle. It's a question of how they can afford not to. Wiped Out Regional government has, once again, wiped Bowmanville off the map. But this time, the mistake is of international international proportions. It's not enough that in the past, some faceless bureaucrat has declared declared that the name "Newcastle" is the only one that shall appear on provincial provincial maps describing the community community located east of Oshawa and west of Port Hope. This time, it's the National Geographic's Geographic's map of the Great Lakes which has committed the blunder of erasing a community of 13,000 from the face of the earth. It has always seemed to us that the purpose of a map is to describe the community that exists. Its goal is not to designate some kind of arbitrary political boundary. That's why we are so angry every time the name Newcastle appears on a map as a means of describing the numerous communities located east of Oshawa and west of Port Hope. What is the Town of Newcastle? It's a figment of the political imagination. It's a confederation of farmland, small hamlets, villages and a single large town all held together by a political mistake which occurred over a dozen years ago with the introduction introduction of regional government. At that time, Bowmanville lost its individual identity. It lost its right to have its own municipal council, its own fire department and its own police facilities. The idea was that Bowmanville would gain better municipal services under the regional regional system. Nobody mentioned at the time that the town's identity would officially end. In the past, whenever Bowmanville failed to appear on a road map, we dutifully protested the fact. And, indeed, indeed, some progress was made because because on the latest provincial map, the name Bowmanville appeared. It Once Again was printed in me size of lettering which correctly indicated that this town was roughly equal in population to Port Hope or Cobourg. We had imagined imagined that the message got through. But this latest shortcoming on a map as authoritative as one produced by The National Geographic indicates indicates that the message is lost. Those who produce maps get their information from official government sources. And, since Bowmanville is not a recognized, incorporated municipality, it doesn't exist. In other words, government map-makers have pulled off the sort of magic trick that even Harry Houdini never attempted. attempted. ; Through the hocus pocus of regional regional government, they have made an entire town disappear. And, as we have said on numerous other occasions when this topic arises, the situation is one in which no favors have been done to any other community within the Town of Newcastle. Newcastle. Not even Newcastle Village benefits benefits from the mix-up. If, under this cartographic blunder, Bowmanville exists nowhere east of Oshawa or west of Port Hope, Newcastle Village has an equally unique problem. The map indicates that Newcastle Village exists everywhere east of Oshawa and west of Port Hope and northwards almost almost as far as Pontypool. That will be small benefit for the person who takes the interchange atCourtice Rd. and starts looking for a village which exists 15 miles away. And, as noted in the past, the convenient naming of the entire area under the word "Newcastle" "Newcastle" eliminates from the map the communities such as Hampton, Enniskillen, Enniskillen, Orono, Courtice, and all the others. In short, the lunacy has got to stop, We're not asking that a community's community's right to exist be guaranteed in the Canadian Constitution. We're only requesting requesting that its right to exist be recognized recognized on the nations' road maps. Potato Sacks Are the Only Way to Travel [fleboard. Tner Potato sacks are still the way to travel according to these race participants. The races were just one of several several successful activities including a jelly-bean-on-a- spoon race, bobbing for apples, croquet and shuffleboard everyone had ere were no losers at these races, as a great time during the Canada Day Celebrations at the Bowmanville Museum last week. Outlook By Carolyn Hepburn Punishment a Dead Issue Capital punishment won't be returning to Canada. At least not for now, and hopefully hopefully not ever. I was pleased with the 148-127 vote against the return return to capital punishment in the House of Commons last week. Still, thosë' in favour of returning to state authorized murder 11 will continue to fight. Why don't they put their energies into other pressing issues, such as the future of agriculture in Canada, or the increasing pressures for free trade, or even water pollution? The reinstatement of capital capital punishment won't mean a'thing if we don't have enough food to eat or clean water to drink. One problem with executing executing criminals is that some- , one has to decide who is allowed allowed to die and who is allowed allowed to live. Then we get into the age old problem of God impersonation. What right does one human being have to condemn another to death? I believe myself to be a religious religious person, and I believe believe in God. But, I don't find any comfort in twisting certain Biblical sayings around to justify actions like capital punishment. Nor do I enjoy watching both sides of the issue hustle hustle to gain support from prominent groups or indi viduals (one example being the mother of Alison Parrott Parrott who is against the return return to the death penalty.) The popularity polls claim that 70 per cent of Canadians are for the return return to the death penalty. No one bothered to ask me what I thought, or anyone else in the office, or at the bank or supermarket where I did my own little poll. We're all Canadians and apparently apparently some other percentage percentage is being allowed to speak for us. On an issue of life and death importance, such as the death penalty, simply doing a random count isn't good enough. As I listened to the comments comments on the vote from a prominent police chief, he seemed to touch at the root of the problem and not even be aware of it. His main concern concern was that his job was pointless if in several years a criminal was going to be walking the streets again. Agreed. He couldn't understand understand how the courts could .give such light sentences and allow many offenders back onto the streets in little little time at all.-Also agreed. And therein lies the source of the whole issue. While the problems of the justice system in Canada couldn't be covered in a decade of columns, it is those problems that lead to many justifiable fears on Letters to the Editor the part of that police chief and thousands more like him. The whole system, from sentencing, to prisons, to parole, and all the odds and ends in between needs some major renovations and it needs them immediately. immediately. There can be'Ho purpose in a judge giving a longer sentence to an offender offender if in several years a group on the parole board is just going to give the man his freedom. It would appeal- appeal- to take only Charles Manson-like actions to guarantee a permanent stay behind bars. My older sister is a policewoman with the Peel Regional Police Force, and up until recently, her husband husband was a detective for the same force. Many people think they have a great argument argument when they say, "If someone gunned your sister down tomorrow, wouldn't you want to see that person killed?" I try not to show my amazement as I answer with a firm "NO" Killing would never set my mind at ease, nor would it help to prevent someone else from killing. The roots of violent crime go back so far that it may be impossible impossible to ever fully prevent it. Even if the vote had gone the other way last week, it wouldn't have made it right to execute, it would have only made it legal. It was hardly a resounding defeat for capital punishment. Indeed, the margin of victory for the abolitionists was rather slight. But it was a victory nevertheless. And, as a result, it seems safe to say that Canadians will not put themselves themselves through the death penalty debate debate again in the immediate future. The most interesting feature about the free vote on capital punishment was the decision by the elected representatives representatives to vote against the general will of the public. There's little doubt that the public in general favors a return to the death penalty. You can argue about the validity validity of public opinion polls. And you can .argue that it's only the vocal minority that is concerned about the retention of the death penalty. But, the fact of the matter is that rank and file Canadians want some form of death penalty on the books. The only argument may be the numbers who want the death penalty restored. Is it the healthy 70 per cent as suggested by opinion polls, or is it a more marginal marginal 55 or 60 per cent? The fact that individual MPs voted against public opinion is interesting and it points out the perennial question question which surrounds the democratic political system. Is the elected official chosen to vote for a certain course of action, depending depending on the dictates of his or her constituents? Or, on the other hand, is the elected representative required required to vote independently on each issue, in accordance with the dictates of his or her individual conscience. The populist philosophy holds that politicians must vote according to the will of the majority, even in instances where their personal beliefs run contrary contrary to the majority. Those who see the politician's role in that light must see the death penalty penalty debate as a major defeat for the Canadian public. And they may be entitled entitled to wonder whether the politi cians are acting in other instances in accordance with the interest of the majority of the public or in accordance accordance with their own private beliefs. The other side, of course, argues that the politician is in a unique position position to benefit from research, studies, and other insights that are not possessed by the "man on the street". Therefore, it might be argued that the politician has a unique perspective perspective on any given subject and, armed with all the facts, he or she must vote according to his or her best judgement. At times, the views of the politician and the views of the majority majority of the electorate may diverge. But, of course, politicians who persistently persistently turn their backs on the electorate electorate will find themselves out of office at the next election. / • There is, nevertheless, the view that politicians owe the public nothing nothing more or less than their best judgement on a given issue. And, for those who support this less literal interpretation interpretation of the democratic process, process, the vote on capital punishment was a triumph of politicians working for a higher goal than the wishes of a majority of the electorate at a given point in time. But, now that the dust has settled, it's time for legislators to plan their next move. The request for a return to the death penalty was, in some respects, a sign that a population of decent folks believes that the criminal is (in some cases) literally getting away with murder. Government will still have to look at issues such as tougher sentences, reduced opportunities for parole, more funding for police departments, and perhaps even an change in the interpretation of some of our laws. The death penalty debate is over. But the debate over the direction of Canada's criminal justice system is only beginning. Dear Sir, Canadians have been held hostage for too long by the effective monopoly which the post office has on the delivery of letters in Canada. Believe it or not, the law says that you must charge more than three times as much as the post office to deliver letters. If you charge less than that you commit a crime which could result in imprisonment for five years! In addition, through assault, assault, vandalism, threats and harassment by picket- ers, unions have an effective effective monopoly on the supply of labour to the post office. The result of this "double monopoly" is that the country country is being held to ransom by the postal unions and there is no alternative to which Canadians can turn. Instead, we're forced to put up with strikes, disruptions, high prices and inefficiency in our postal service. Many small and new businesses have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. Billions Billions of dollars have been lost to the economy. That's why we're urging Canadians to ask Prime Minister Mulroncy to end the post office monopoly. If Canada Post were exposed to the discipline of free enterprise enterprise competition, the change would be revolutionary. revolutionary. The time for tinkering with the post office mess has passed. Papering over the cracks in the system will only invite further trouble. We say, "Stamp out the post office monopoly and allow free competition." The time has come for fundamental change -- and personal courage. Yours sincerely, David Somerville, President, President, National Citizen's Coalition. Coalition. Dear Sir, We came to Solina 19 years ago for its privacy, beauty and quietness. It was a shock to say the least when outside developers from Toronto way proposed x number of houses, a plaza with Mac's Milk, video and all the comforts of suburbia, suburbia, c.g. Bramaloa -- a homogenized plan. Where are our farmlands going? Into concrete, bricks and mortar? Please, before another one gets on its way, save Solina for our children's children's future. Yours truly, M..I. Moncklon, Hall One Firemen Win Water-Pumping Competition These lour firefighters front Hall One, Bowmanville, Bowmanville, were competitors in the recent muster of vintage vintage firefighting equipment held in Port Hope on Canada Day. The group captured first place in their class in a water-pumping competition. In fact, it took the group just 19.3 seconds to draw water at the end of a 100 foot hose using this pumper which formerly was stationed in the Village of Hampton. From left arc the team of: Gord Weir, Graydon Brown, Rob Payne, and Steve Davcy. Steve explains that the veh icle was purchased by his grandfather, W.B. Green way in the early 1950s to provide fire protection i the Village of Hampton. The rig was actually co structcd as part of the war effort in the 1940s. Tt Bicklc-Scagravc pumper is powered by a flathes Ford and the hoses were built by Goodyear, T1 pumper was stored at the Greenaway garage i Hampton, The group is shown here in a practice ru at Port Darlington, just prior to the Port Hope cor petition.