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SECTION TWO WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12,1990 S&t Cattairiatt gtafcstnatt Durham Region's Great Family Journal Established 136 years ago in 1854 Also Incorporating The Bowman ville News The Newcastle Independent The Orono News Second Class mail registration number 1561 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited cn 62 King Street West, Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 416-623-3303 Fax 416-623-6161 John M. James Editor - Publisher Richard A. James Associate Publisher Peter Parrott Associate Editor Brian Purd Advertising Mgr, Z. Donald Bishop Plant Mgr. All layouts and composition of advertisements produced by the employees of James Publishing Company Limited are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Subscription Rates Six Months -- $11.00 One Year--$20.00 Foreign -- $60.00 per year Although every precaution will be taken to avoid error, The Canadian Statesman accepts advertising in Us columns on ihe understanding that it will not be liable for 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 * any error so noted is not corrected by The Canadian Statesman its liability shall not exceed such a portion of the entire cost of such advertisement as thy space occupied by the noted error bears to the whole space occupied by such advertisement. Christmas Cheer at Bowmanville Museum Come Clean Canada Post There are two things with which we must take issue, following last week's stormy meeting over the closing of the Newcastle Village Post Office. First, we take exception to the idea that the alternatives proposed by Canada Canada Post for Newcastle Village represent represent "enhanced" postal service. Canada Post may wish to say that the changes are inevitable or a necessary necessary means of cutting cost and keeping the corporation, profitable. But to take away a particular service service and then imply to the users that they will be better off as a result is more than most of us can accept. This newspaper has found that, since the postal boxes were introduced in Newcastle Village, The Statesman has been delivered to subscription customers customers much later than ever before. Whereas the newspaper used to be available in the local post office on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning at the latest, it now arrives on Friday or Monday. And that does not represent "enhanced" service in our estimation. We also, are annoyed at Canada Post's "coy" approach whenever questions questions are raised concerning the future of other post offices is this community. Canada Post will not say whether it will close post offices in Orono and Newtonville, for example, and give these centres the same "enhanced" service service now available in Newcastle. A year ago, Canada Post would not even confirm the possibility that Newcastle's Newcastle's post office would be closed. The corporation only makes bland statements to the effect that postal requirements requirements in all centres will be thoroughly thoroughly reviewed in the future. But it doesn't take a genius to see that, after the closing of hundreds of other post offices across Canada, including including the one in Newcastle Village, a pattern is developing. Canada's small post offices are an endangered species. There is an obvious obvious drive to replace them with a combination combination of community post boxes and franchised postal outlets. It's a pity that community post offices offices have been shut down without a chance for anyone to defend their continued continued operation. Alana Coles and Ross Metcalf entertained numerous visitors at the Bowmanville Bowmanville Museum this past weekend during their annual Edwardian Christmas celebration. celebration. Refreshments were served by the Friends of the Bowmanville Museum while the pair in the photo kept visitors singing along to some old favourite Christmas Christmas meloaies. Andrea Adair W New Interest for Ottawa Everyone is surprised over the fact that Ottawa has received an NHL hockey franchise. But, we cannot imagine a city that needs a professional, hockey .-team more desperately. Maybe that is why the NHL governors governors decided, in their wisdom, to grant a franchise to the Canuck capital. They surely must have been acting out of pity, rather than practicality. Remember Remember that this city doesn't yet have an NHL-calibre hockey arena and it seems to us that for a while their professional professional football team was flounder- ingfor lack of fan support. But hockey may have arrived in Ottawa Ottawa just in time. Few would disagree with the fact that in Ottawa, politics has, for too long, been the only game in town. But, come 1992, all of that is going to change. The stickhandling, slashing and skating on thin ice won't be confined confined to .Parliament Hill and the surrounding surrounding bastions of bureaucracy. Ottawa, which is a city full of civil servants, will have a new sport -- a game that is based on passing the puck rather than passing the buck. And that's just what the overly- serious city needs. The problem in Ottawa is that most of the folks who live there either are civil servants, used to be civil servants or would like to be civil servants. The others are politicians. They spend their days in pastimes such as plotting to become an assistant assistant deputy minister, or wrangling a way to put their cat's vasectomy onto a government expense account. Of course, that is not to say that those civil servants do not work. Many of them do. But, unfortunately, their work usually produces schemes like Free Trade or tne GST or Meech Lake. In shçrt, they take the whole business of governmént-much too sëriously. - Ji But now that they have a professional professional hockey team to root for, they will have a more legitimate outlet for their ambitions and energies. No longer will the talk around the water cooler have to do with indexed pensions or new ways to raise taxes. The civil servants will all be discussing discussing slapshots, shut-outs, penaltykilling, penaltykilling, and defensive strategies. When they hear the word power play, they won't immediately think of an office colleague's latest attempt to gain a promotion or a larger desk or a better parking space. When they hear the words. H left wing" and "right wing", they won't instinctively think of Audrey McLaughlin and Brian Mul- roney. For once, the highest-paid people in the city will go to work with a duffel bag rather than a brief case. When somebody calls for a resignation, resignation, the victim may be the hockey coach rather than the Prime Minister. In short, a professional hockey team may be just what the City of Ottawa needs to divert its attention from the only other spectator sport in town. Civil servants and politicians may get so involved in hockey , pools and second-guessing the coach or management management that they will forget to hike the deficit, boost their own salaries, raise taxes, or quarrel with the provinces. Why, it's just possible a professional hockey team in the nation's capital could save Canada. Certainly nobody else in Ottawa can. I can't possibly imagine imagine how it would feel to be held in a country against my will. I don't know how I would react if I was allowed allowed to live my life as freely as I normally would, but was not allowed allowed to leave the boundaries boundaries of Bowmanville. I would still be free, but only to an extent. Bob Beck knows exactly exactly what that feels like. He is the Newcastle Village man who has been held in Iraq since August. He had been working there since March and was to remain until the following March but was supposed to have had a .; l ;morithoff-at;the. : ehd,.ofx August to come home for • his son's birthday. Then the invasion of Kuwait occurred and his plans for a return were quashed. Three months later, he's home safely and in time for Christmas. When one thinks of a hostage, the image is of mistreatment and terrorist-type terrorist-type conditions. But Mr. Beck wasn't in that type of situation. He could come and go as he pleased, although he had to stop at road checks on nighways. Once officials saw his identification, he was waved through. He continued to work. He still phoned his wife twice a week, although after the invasion calls went through an international international operator who limited limited the conversation time. Basically, life went on after the invasion pretty much the way it did before. before. But there was one difference. difference. He and his friends didn't know what to expect. expect. They didn't know if the situation would eventually eventually turn on them and they could be in danger. Fortunately, it never did and he seemed to be in more danger when he arrived in Toronto when a horde of media representatives representatives swooped down on him. Sometimes, I'm a little embarrassed by thi,s profession. profession. It was news that this man was coming home, I know. People. are interested in his story and every news agency wanted .to be the first.tp.tell ih. l.. ; The photographer wants the first shot of him embracing his wife. The TV crews want to capture his face when he looks at family members. His life is news now. At least it was for a few days. By the sounds of it, every paper, TV station, and radio station has talked to him. I got the impression he was sort of in awe of the entire situation. He's a normal guy thrown into an abnormal situation. And he is looking looking forward to going back to being a normal guy again. I certainly don't blame him. After all, he wants to spend time with his family after being gone since March. But much of his time last week was spent letting all these strangers into his house to talk to him. He couldn't just kick back his heels and relax. Hopefully we of the press will have left him and his' family alone by the time you read this and given him a chance to tell his family and friends about his experiences. experiences. In a sense, Bob Beck has been held hostage twice. First in Iraq and then by the media. I hope, by now, that he is finally free. CNIB Opens New Office in Oshawa To Serve Durham To All: On behalf of the Advisory Board of C.N.I.B. Durham Region, I would like to take this opportunity to say Thank You for all your help over the previous years. ~ We, the' Board, are very excited for we have just opened our own Durham Region Region Service Centre in Oshawa at 81 King St. East. The phone number is 436- 7732. Now, our clients in this area will be able to visit our new office Monday-Friday 8:30 - 4:30. Samples of aids and appliances are on display. display. We hope that the general general public will use this office office also to find out any information concerning the Visually Handicapped. Thank you once again for all your help. Jane Smith, Secretary, Durham Advisory Board to the C.N.I.B. On Monday, I addressed the Kiwanis Club in Cambridge on behalf of the Solicitor General. I spoke about the new thrust in community policing in Ontario. Years ago, the role of the police officer was strictly one of enforcement, even though police performed many service-related duties. But times change, and today, crime prevention is just as important as catching criminals. Community policing involves officers in broad-based initiatives to reduce crime and to work with people in the community. From that meeting, I ripped back to Toronto in time to greet a class of students from Durham College, who were taking a tour of the Legislature. The balance of the day was spent debating the Speech from the Throne. Several people have called to inquire when I will be speaking. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, the time allocated for the Throne Speech debate ran out before many members could participate. I will nave the opportunity to speak at a later date, and I'm looking forward to that On Tuesday, I was sworn in as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General. This ceremony brought home to me the great responsibility I have to the people of Ontario. I will do everything I can to ensure I fulfill this responsibility. After the Legislature adjourned at 6:00 p.m., I went to the Metro Toronto Police Headquarters to speak about the newly developed race relations policy being launched by the Metro Toronto Board of Commissioners of Police. On Wednesday, debate on the Throne Speech continued evening. Thursday morning, I attended an early breakfast meeting at the Royal Ontario Museum with representatives of the Ontario Forest Industries Association. Canada's forests, stretching from coast to coast occupy half the country's land mass, or some 450 million hectares. The Association presented its environmental state- statement which commits the forest industry to work to protect the environment and the health of the public. On Thursday evening, I represented the Solicitor General at a Citizenship Court at the Provincial Police Academy in Brampton. More than 400 people attended the ceremony. Many of these new citizens were moved to tears as they recited their oath in front of the presiding Judge. Ontario has certainly benefitted from the richness of a multicultural, multiracial population and the quality and quantity of skills and resources that nave been brought here by people from other parts of tne world. Friday and Saturday, I worked at the constituency office in Bowmanville, Bowmanville, assisting constituents and groups in the riding. On Saturday afternoon, I was pleased to add my support to the garbage reduction 1 challenge at the Orono Town Hall. The move to reduce garbage is taking hold throughout Durham East, and I am pleased to be able to bring these efforts to the attention of the Minister of the Environment. Until next week - please be kind to one another - it makes life that much better. Fire Chiefs Car Questioned Dear John: Just wondering how much taxpayers may be aware of the goings on at our local fire department, particularly the use of one of our fire department vehicles by Deputy Fire Chief, Hugh Doherty? Did you know that this town vehicle is provided to Deputy Chief Doherty for his use driving to and fro from his residence in Metro Toronto, at taxpayers' expense? expense? This has been going on for some time, with the full knowledge of the mayor and administrative officials. In fact, the mayor, town administrator administrator and fire chief find no difficulty with the situation situation at all, according to reports. reports. Mayor Hubbard is reported reported as saying, the amount of money involved is "pittance." Mayor Hubbard is also reported as saying we have to comply with orders from the Solicitor General's and the Coroner's office in connection connection with accidents on 401. What has this to do with using a town vehicle for personal use, driving back and forth to work from Metro? Wouldn't these circumstances circumstances take effect during during the work hours unless Deputy Chief Doherty is on duty 24 hours a day, seven days week. If he is, then what is Fire Chief Creighton doing? Do we really need both? If Deputy Chief Doherty is not on duty, then what is the motor vehicle insurance implication on such use of a town vehicle? • Heaven forbid that ' the Deputy Chief should become involved in an accident driving driving toor from work but let's be realistic, it could happen and what if he happened to be at fault? Are the taxpayers of this community liable for a possible possible multi-million dollar lawsuit? lawsuit? Only a "pittance," your Worship? Shouldn't all town vehicles vehicles be "off limits" at the close of the work day, thus eliminating any liability? Getting back and forth to work is any employee's own responsibility. Such liability before and after work is their own. Our local officials see no difficulty, but is this competent competent management? Irresponsible Irresponsible would be more to the point. It would also be interesting interesting to learn if the Deputy . Chief is claiming this as a taxable benefit. Sincerely, A concerned Citizen.. Wow! What Did We Say? Mr. John M. James Publisher The Canadian Statesman Dear Sir: Although I am told The Canadian Statesman is recognized as one of the finest weekly newspapers in Canada, I question your "advertising code of ethics," ethics," and judgment in accepting an advertisement advertisement which reeks of chauvinism, chauvinism, discrimination, and blatant disrespect disrespect for women in this country. The advertisement to which I refer is for a lawn tractor, in the December 5, 1990 issue of The Canadian Statesman. Statesman. The text of the material in question describes the tractor, followed by a phone number. If the ad had been left at that, I would applaud your decision. However, I feel it was unnecessary for the vendor to state that his reason for selling his tractor is "because he is to be married." Perhaps there is some humour intended intended here, however, it becomes quite obvious that the gentleman is sincere When he states that he would consider a trade for "a woman's size push mower mower and snow shovel." This type of statement is inexcusable inexcusable and I fully intend to bring this matter to the attention of the Human Rights authorities. We women have battled long and hard to obtain our rights, and instances instances such as this only serve to remind us of the caveman attitudes of some men in our society. Sincerely, Ms Bea Woods Town of Newcastle Editor's Note: Whoa Nelly! We tried to reach you by telephone, but since you only gave us an address of 'Town of Newcastle," we don't know where to start looking. With spirit like that, you should write a weekly column about what ails you. We can always use a fireball writer, plus it must be good therapy for you. Give us a call if you're interested. Puzzling Ruling at 65 w Pressing Matters In One Small Town -- by John E. James -- Last week's Supreme Court ruling on the issue of compulsory retirement has us a little puzzled. The court has ruled that there is nothing unconstitutional about corporate corporate policies which would require employees employees to cease working at age 65. Of course, this doesn't mean that everyone has to stop work at that time. It does mean, however, that a company can legitimately discriminate against persons age 65 and older by saying that they can no longer work for them. The decision seems odd to us because because of the fact that you can practically practically write a book listing the reasons for which you cannot discriminate against someone, For example, discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual preference, religious religious affiliation, race, disability, and marital status is not allowed. You cannot cannot discriminate against persons on the basis of height or weight requirements requirements for a certain job. And further court decisions have held that it is discriminatory discriminatory to require that Sikhs be forbidden to wear their customary turbans turbans in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. It seems to us that the issue of human human rights and discrimination is an all-or-nothing proposition. Either peo ple have those rights or they do not. And, frankly, we were surprised that the high court did not simply extend the ever-broadening base of human rights when it was asked to rule on the legality of compulsory retirement. It did not. Or, why not look at the issue this way? An employer would be guilty of discrimination if he or she rejected a 64-year-old job applicant solely on the basis of age. But, on the other hand, when the magical age of 65 has been reached, such discrimination is perfectly perfectly legal and the employee can be turfed out of the iob for no other reason reason than the number of candles on the birthday cake. We suspect that over 90 per cent of the population would wish to retire at age 65 or perhaps much earlier. But, given our ever-more-liberalized human rights legislation, it seems odd that those qualified to work past age 65 should not be allowed to do so. The latest court ruling indicates that society's greatest prejudice isn't directed against non-whites or women or gays or native people or the physically physically disabled. It is directed against the aged. Let us hope that this prejudice, along with other kinds of prejudice, will eventually disappear. Nothing these days is what it seems, or is supposed to he. Disagree? St'ep back six months and tell us the New Democrats would soon govern Ontario. Those of diehard Grit or Tory faith can't be too thrilled with what they've seen in the days since Peterson's principles (if he had any) were sacrificed in the naive hope Ontario voters could be suckered for a third time. It looks like Bobby Rae's people might do a decent job. The new government already made the difficult transfer from stable sweepers to Lords of the Manor without falling flat on its communal face. That's the most positive incident Queen's Park media types have reported in years. You'll also hear political pundits suggest this current government will last only one term, thanks to a revitalized Big Blue Machine. Don't bet on it. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could be worse than the last five years. Better make that 25 years. Compared to Bluebelly Billy, and King Peter the Thud, these folks look good before they saddle up in the morning. The NDP must have done their homework. For example, somebody did a clever job on the content of Bob Raos first Throne Speech. Unless you're part of the auto insurance industry, or mired in the midst of the Pay & Employment Equity issue, there wasn't much in that speech to produce serious concern or criticism. And don't hold your breath awaiting anything which might risk damaging the NDP's current popularity. Why? Because there is much more at stake for the NDP than proving it can successfully govern Ontario. Possibilities are limitless. IE the NDP demonstrates a genuine ability to do the job, AND eventually establishes legit representation in Quebec, prepare for another shocker at federal election time. Even if they don't crack Quebec, there's a darn good chance the NDP could end up holding the balance of power in a Minority federal government, with all three major parties holding a nearly equal number of seats. You're looking at a real dog's breakfast under that scenario. The problem haunting all three provincial and federal political parties is leadership. Our friends in the NDP arc by no means blessed with immunity. Since Good Old Bob is off to such an encouraging start, we'll refrain from recounting his previous failings. However, the NDP is blessed with Audrey-person as federal leader, and that ain't the "good news" folks, not by a damsight. Oddrey has had ample time to exhibit all the right stuff, but the good lady has shown us little more than the ability to find her way to a different "party leader lavatory," then safely back to the House of Commons. Don't laugh. Something like that could easily catapult Audrey above former Tory leader Joe Clark in the ratings, if not for Mr. Clark's unique talents. Everybody knows Joe could find that same bathroom. NDP spokesmen have already begun uttering a barrage of public inanities containing tell-tale phrases such as: "The Leader will be operating predominantly behind the scenes, to develop effective party philosophies and tactics." Translation? Don't expect Big Aud to be hitting Cleanup in the batting order. She wouldn't get near Home Plate at all, if the House allowed designated hitters. What's the bottom line on this flurry of socialist support currently sweeping the nation? Well, Ontario may lose more businesses and jobs, but most were already long gone. We're still better off. On the other hand, things don't look rosy at the federal level. Within Tory ranks, there is no legit contender to bump Myron Baloney off the stool. Chances he'll return or another hack at the nation's longevity are frighteningly good. Perhaps we'd feel better if Myron tried to "Save the Country" by maintaining local news operations at those CBC tv stations annihilated last week, instead of sponsoring Keith Spicer's poetry contest. The Liberals aren't looking any better, even assuming Jean Chretien can actually win a seat in the House. If he doesn't, the search for a replacement will establish new levels of ineptness in Canadian politics. The national Liberal party's "depth of talent" rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs. And based on Liberal party performance over the last couple of years, Leaf GM Floyd Smith qualifies as a contender for tne job. Thank God, Floyd isn't a woman, or it could be a done deal! Forgetting partisan politics, doesn't Pierre Trudeau look awfully good right now? But then, so do the Falkland Islands.