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SECTION TWO WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER 30. 1988 Efje Canadian Statesman 623-3303 Durham County's Great Family Journal Established 134 years ago m 1854. Also Incorporating The Bowmanville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second class mail registration number 1561 Produced every Wednesday by THE JAMES PUBLISHING COMPANY LIMITED 62-66 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 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 composition ol advertisements produced oy 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. $20.00 a year -- 6 months $11.00 strictly in advance foreign -- S60.00 a year Although eveiy precaution will be taken to avoid error. The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in its columns on the understanding that it will not be liable lof any error in the advertisement published hereunder unless a proof ol 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 il any error 50 noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall,not exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as the space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Record Crowds Attend 27th Annual Santa Claus Parade Leafs Just Keep F ailing Rumours are circulating that ushers ushers at Maple Leaf Gardens are suffering suffering from acute cases of déjà vu. Each and every year they spend September engulfed in optimism about the upcoming upcoming hockey season. Their Leafs will do better than last year. They will break the string of losing seasons-and seasons-and finally reward the masochistic masochistic Toronto fans with a respectable season. And yet, every year the preseason preseason promise is broken. The names of Maple Leaf players, coaches, and general managers sacrificed sacrificed in this yearly ritual, if written down and stacked one on another, would require a new wing in the Library Library of Congress for storage: Im- lach, Gregory, McNamara, Duff, Kelly, Crozier, Neilson, Nykoluk, Maloney, Sittler, Macdonald, Vaive, Palmateer. The mind boggles. The problem in Toronto, then, must be incoherence. There simply have been too many changes over the past ten or fifteen years to expect the Leafs to play above the .500 mark, right? Don't believe it. The problem in Toronto is the singular coherence and continual presence of Harold Ballard, the King of Carleton Street. Of course there is nothing new about blaming Ballard for the Leaf woes, but the weight of evidence piling up against him for over a decade is reaching critical mass. There is "no one else to blame for the continuing horrible record of the Maple Leafs. Harold: you seem to be more interested interested in making a profit than in winning. winning. And, hey, there's nothing wrong with that; you're running a business. But please stop the charade of pretending pretending to care if your team wins. Don't threaten to lire the coach as though you are surprised your lousy team isn't winning. The reason you fire coaches is because they ask for raises and for contracts which extend for more than one year. Offering such courtesies makes good hockey sense, but lacks business sense. Please come clean. If you must fire the coach admit that you are doing so to retain your title of lowest paying owner in the NHL. We'll understand. Sadly, the prospects for honest hockey in Toronto appear unlikely to improve. Election Aftermath As this is being written, pundits are pondering the final outcome of the federal election. It's a contest in which, it would appear, appear, all three sides can claim some form of victory. The Tories, naturally, naturally, can claim the biggest victory because because they retained a majority and a definite mandate for continuing their policies of the past four years. The single most controversial of those would have to be Free Trade, of course. But the Liberals can claim some form of victory because they have doubled doubled the number of seats achieved in the slaughter of 1984. And, they can claim to be in good position for a victory victory in the next election. As for the NDP, they too, have won more seats than ever before. So, on the surface, it might be suggested suggested that this is an ideal battle because because of the fact that all three parties won. In actual fact, the Liberals failed to make the big breakthroughs in Ontario Ontario and Quebec but did better in a few regions having a smaller niimber of seats at stake -- namely, the prairies and the Atlantic provinces. For the NDP, there was some disappointment disappointment in the fact that they failed ' to make any gains in Quebec and lost their only seat in the Atlantic region. They remain mainly a western and ; an Ontario force. For what it's worth, we're predicting predicting that neither Liberal Leader John Turner nor NDP leader Ed Broadbent will be back for the next big federal ; election fight in about 1992. This, of course, raises the spectre of leadership leadership conferences for both national parties over the next four years. But, what of the Tory win? Is it the end of Canada as we know it? Or will Free Trade turn Canada into The Promised Land? Well, the truth of the matter is lo- National Safe Driving Week With the festive season approaching, approaching, and winter on its way, it is appropriate appropriate that we take a few minutes to think about safe driving. After all, it is during the Christmas Christmas and New Year's holidays that motorists may be tempted to drink and drive. In addition, winter weather produces produces some of the year's worst driving driving conditions. The statistics on drinking and driving are frequently quoted but they bear repeating just in case there is someone who has not yet allowed the message to sink in. Estimates indicate that alcohol is involved in roughly half of the 4,000 fatal motor vehicle accidents' which, occur each year. The Canada Safety Council which sponsors Safe Driving Week from December 1 to 7, lists many precautions precautions which can be taken in order to eliminate driving risks, But the single single greatest danger is undoubtedly that of combining drinking and driving- driving- . . ■ At the risk of being repetitious, let us once again state tne familiar message: message: "If you drink, don't drive." There arc, however, some additional additional hints which might keep more motorists alive during winter or any time of the year. The Canada Safety Council notes that although society has come to accept accept the deaths of 4,000 Canadians each year in traffic collisions, many simple procedures would improve the odds of survival if they were followed by all motorists. Some of these are as follows: Wear your seat belts. Use low beam headlights headlights during the day, always be prepared prepared to yield, and adjust speed to surrounding surrounding traffic and weather conditions. This latter point includes maintaining speed at the posted limits limits and keeping the proper distance between vehicles. It may come as some surprise to learn that human error is attributed to 85 per cent of collisions. In other words, probably more than three- quarters of all automotive accidents could have been avoided if drivers were paying greater attention to the basic safe driving principles. Through programs such as Safe Driving Week, we are reaching a better better understanding of just what accidents accidents really are. The fact of the matter is that they are caused not by machines but by people. And it's up to every motorist to improve improve the odds, of survival by improving improving his or her driving habits and keeping his or her vehicle in proper working condition. Vy s \ - X: <\ V. ' \ vi :S.Uv cated somewhere between those two extremes. It remains to be seen exactly exactly where. Politics is, after all, an ongoing process. There are certain key turning turning points in history and there can be little doubt that the federal election of 1988 will be one of them. Certainly the Free Trade deal is an agreement in which we have hitched our wagon to the American stars and stripes. But this agreement, in itself, does little. Much depends on how the agreement agreement is implemented and exactly what happens over the next decade or so. Nothing in politics or government happens quickly - a fact which can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. disadvantage. And so, the scaremongers who expected to see the U.S. flag flying over Parliament Hill on November 22 will be disappointed. However, let us state quite clearly that the Free Trade agreement is a deal which could very quickly reduce Canada's sovereignty if it were implemented implemented by a servile or conciliatory government which meets opposition by giving up. It is up to Canadians to continue to send the clear message that we will not surrender our sovereignty and our national identity for economic gain. It's up to us to add that we will elect governments which agree with this principle and give the boot to governments governments who do not. In other words, there's room for continued effort by concerned Canadians Canadians to ensure that the implementation implementation of Free Trade does not produce the sorts of dire consequences predicted predicted by Free Trade opponents .during the election campaign. We must not allow the claims of the anti-Free Trade forces Lo become self- fulfilling prophesies. k & y~" Writer Likes Parking Lot at Old Arena Site Dear Editor: As a citizen of this community, community, I feel that the proposed proposed 1992 Senior Citizens Non-Profit High Rise Housing Housing Complex would not be feasible at the Old Arena site Temperance and Queen Street due to the fact the Bowmanville Valley Co-op Housing Project was not allowed allowed to build on that site due to this site being landfill years ago. The preferred location for such a project would be the John Rice Property on Wellington Wellington Street. The only thing suitable for the old arena site would be a two level parking garage garage for the downtown area. This would provide parking for people who attend the Anglican Church, Lawn Bowling Area, Odd Fellows Hall, for shopping downtown downtown and also would provide provide parking for people when they come to see the Santa Claus parade in Bowmanville. Bowmanville. Parking meter revenue could be used for such a project. project. Also the B.I.A. could put money towards project and as well the Town Council along with the Business people people could apply for a grant from the Government of Ontario Ontario for Downtown Business Business Improvement. Sincerely Yours, Earl Malley. Police Seek Help in Solving Sexual Assault Crime Stoppers and the Durham Regional Police are asking for the public's help in solving a sexual assault which occurred in Oshawa on October 27th. At about 10:30 p.m. a female female was walking east over the bridge on the north side of Gibb Street at the General Vanier School. When she reached the other side a man in his 20's grabbed her. He put his hand over her mouth and when she started to scream he told her to shut up or he would kill her. He pulled her down onto the walkway underneath the bridge ana forced her to walk south until they were at the field of General Vanier School. At this point he sexually sexually assaulted her. He then told her to walk across the field and not to look back as he knew where she lived. The suspect is described as a white man in his early 20's, about 5'7" and medium build. Have you any idea who this person is? Did you see anyone hanging around there that night? Have you any information which you think might help us? If so, call Crime Stoppers. You'll never be asked for your name or have to go to Court. The Crime Stoppers num- r 436-8477 that's 436-TIPS If it's long distance, call collect or through your local Durham Regional Police Force number and ask for Crime Stoppers. Sergeant Sandy Ryrie is the Co-ordinator with the Durham Regional Police Force and writes this article to help combat crime. A Citizen Citizen Board administers the Crime Stoppers Programs of which there are now over 800 in North America. The reward money is raised through Tax Deductible donations donations which may be sent to Durham Regional Crime Stoppers, P.O.Box 54, Oshawa, Ontario L1H 7K8. by Peter Parrott 23/ When we elect politicians, politicians, we elect them for terms of office as long as five years. But opinion polls have proven that the public's acceptance of a particular particular party may not remain remain consistent for even five days. This seems to me to pose a certain problem in any democratic government. government. Because, if the public's opinion changes hour by hour it is very difficult to claim that a government truly represents represents the will of the electorate. electorate. For instance, all we can say about the new Progressive Conservative Conservative government is that it reflected the will of the public as of November 21, 1988. That viewpoint may have changed once again since the federal election and, therefore, it's possible that the government government no longer represents represents the people. And, not to be politically politically partisan about this subject, I might add that the very same thing could be said if the Liberals Liberals or the New Democrats Democrats won the last federal campaign. To some degree, our democracy is based on simpler times when people people could hold one belief or conviction in their hearts for longer that twenty minutes. There was a time when people took seven years to learn a trade. They stayed at one job for 50 years. And frequently, they remained remained at one address and with the same spouse for a lifetime. The extensive polling which accompanied the latest federal election proves that our political convictions are measured measured in days or hours if not in milliseconds. One minute, the Liberal Liberal Party's leader was on the road to oblivion. The next minute, he was at the very top of the political political totem poll. And,. by the time of the election, he was on his way down once again. This rollercoaster rollercoaster progress was caused by such things as the leaders'debate, stock market statistics and the latest headlines on the front pages of the daily newspapers. I'm not positive of this fact, but I believe that the idea of a democracy envisaged envisaged people who could take some time to make their decision and then hold to that point of view for at least the life of the government in power. Opinion polls seem to indicate that the citizens' point of view rides a roller-coaster. roller-coaster. It's a fact that raises two disturbing disturbing possibilities. l«'or one thing, it suggests suggests that people are unwilling unwilling to trust their own judgements and too rnndv to latch onto the latest trend suggested by a prominent pundit or a newspaper headline or a political debate. It would almost appear as though they are letting outside forces shape their opinions opinions rather than forming them on their own and modifying them gradually, gradually, over long periods of time. The second disturbing thing about the trends re- vealed by public opinion polls is the possibility that our government represents represents only the view of the public on election day. A government in power three years from now may no more represent represent the will of the public than does a snapshot taken taken of a child three years ago match the child's physical appearance today. today. This further complicates complicates the already complicated complicated process of democratic democratic government. If the mood of the coun try sways so drastically, then government should rely more heavily on plebiscites, plebiscites, public opinion polls, and public hearings hearings when it makes its decisions. With tongue in cheek, we might even imagine a situation some day in which the composition of the House of Commons or the Ontario Legislature changes week by week according to the per cent- age of popular support for each party as indicated by the opinion polls. If, for example, the Progressive Conservatives Conservatives had 60 per cent of the popular vote this week, they would be entitled entitled to 60 per cent of the seats. If their popularity slipped to 50 per cent, they'd have to surrender some of their seats and give them to the other parties who had gained strength. That's at least one possible possible way of making pub lic opinion coincide with government. It occurs to me, of course, that public opinion opinion may have always been fickle. Perhaps peo- ple's allegiances switched just as rapidly in the past as they do in the present. Maybe the only problem is that we never had opinion polls in the past to record this fact in minute detail. It may even be possible that the fluctuation in opinion is unique to this election because Free Trade is itself a volatile issue. One final possibility presents itself. Maybe we should ignore ignore opinion polls altogether altogether and outlaw them during elections because there's a danger that they may influence the outcome outcome of the voting. That's probably the healthiest attitude that we can take towards public opinion surveys,