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2 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, February 23,1994 Section Two Editor - Peter Parrott Former Publishers Rev. W. R. Climie, 1854-1878 • M.A. James, 1878-1935 • George W. James, 1935-1957 Produced weekly by James Publishing Company Limited For 139 Years, Our First Concern Has Been Our Community Publisher - John M. James Assoc. Publisher - Richard A. James Plant Manager - Donald J. Bishop Ad. Manager - Brian G. Purdy Production Rick Patterson, Ross Fisher, Laurens Kaldeway, Doug Lugtenburg, Sharon McMullen, Barb Patterson, Ralph Rozema, Jim Snoek, Vance Sutherland, Jim Tuuramo Advertising Laveme Morrison Editorial Brad Kelly, Lorraine Manfredo, Laura J. Richards Office Angela Luscher, Junia Hodge, Grace McGregor, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman, Marilyn Rutherford P.O. Box 190, 62 King St. W., Bowmanville, Ontario, L1C 3K9 905-623-3303 Fax 905-623-6161 CCNA PAID Graduated Licence Program Heading in The Right Direction Come to think of it, we can't really afford not to have a graduated licencing system for new drivers in Ontario. Ontario's minister of transportation estimates that collisions cost $9 billion in Ontario each year. That represents the fees for health care and other social costs related to accidents. It is further estimated that driver error is responsible for 85 per cent of collisions. Therefore, if drivers are better educated, it stands to reason that there will be fewer accidents and therefore a savings in dollars and in lives. It is true that the bureaucratic costs associated with establishing a graduated licence system will exist. But, they will fall far short of the $9 billion figure mentioned by the transportation minister. So, the net result will be a monetary savings and (what's even more important to most people) a major reduction in pain and suffering associated with tragedies on the roads. The graduated licencing system is really just a matter of common sense. Most trades and professions require their practitioners to léam through a gradual process. And, even when they have completed their formal learning, most new professionals and new trades persons must complete some form of internship. And that's what the new, graduated licencing system will be all about. Graduated licencing will be fully implemented by June 6th of this year, at which time there will be a two-step process required before a driver is considered to be ready to take full responsibility for a vehicle. In the first step, persons who are over 16 and pass a vision test and a test of knowledge of rules of the road can drive if they follow certain mles. For example, they must not drive between midnight and five a.m. and must have a fully-licensed driver with four years' experience in the front passenger seat at all times. They may not drive on high-speed expressways or 400-series highways. Having completed the first step, which lasts 12 months (or eight months if the student has completes an approved driver education course), a student driver takes a road test and may move to Level Two. Level Two drivers may drive at any time of the day or night without an accompanying driver. They may also drive on any Ontario road. However, they may not drink any alcohol when they are driving and must ensure they carry only as many people in the vehicle as there are seat belts.' At the end of the second phase, a driver must take a comprehensive road test to gain full driving privileges. It takes at least 20 months for a driver to move from Level One to Level Two. Most parents of teenagers will look forward to the kind , of legal legislation which places restrictions on drivers until they are about age 18. The rules aren't much different than those which some parents have informally established for their own children during their early driving years. . Of course, training of new drivers is not ihe only solution. In the future, you can look for increased road safety efforts through seat belt campaigns and campaigns against tailgating and drinking and driving. Also in the category of making highways safer are improved median barriers and guide rails. Even the controversial photo radar scheme and the equally contentious Highway 407 are seen as ways to increased road safety. Photo radar is believed to be an effective deterrent to speeding, while avoiding the costs of assigning extra police to the job of staffing radar traps. And Highway 407 is believed to be a way of reducing traffic congestion and therefore improving safety. Aside from the Highway 407 proposal and the photo radar, there seems to be wide public support for the new road safety proposals. And there ought to be. If, indeed, 85 per cent of car crashes are the fault of driver error, it stands to reason that most of them are preventable. It's just that we have not always had the will to take the precautions needed to save money, save lives, and prevent pain and suffering. ftcJioA s loyment DURHAM COLLEGE ARMS ITS GRADS for the Ontario workforce Letter to the Editor Political Correctness Causes Cigarette Decision Dear Editor: I would like to respond to the Report Report from Queens Park by our M.P.P. Gord Mills. In this report he discusses discusses the lowering of taxes on cigarettes by the Federal government. He correctly correctly calls this madness, and then he states: "Of course we know the real reason behind this madness, which is to get the Provincial Liberals in Quebec Quebec re-elected." Mr. Gord Mills is totally correct, we do indeed know the real reason by Rick James Just when the warm weather makes you think that winter is just about over, the hydro bill arrives reminding you just how cold the last two months have really been. Comparing this year's consumption to 1993, there's been a 54% jump in kilowatt hours per \ day. For those of us who do not have natural gas service, that translates into a $1,200 hydro bill. It's even been too cold for our energy saving saving heat pump to work properly. When the temperature temperature drops below "Wear Long Johns" on Arthur Mometer, the heat pump is rendered useless and the electric furnace kicks in full tilt. That something to remember if you're considering considering a heat pump. It has been exceptionally cold this winter, chilly enough to freeze Maverick's paws, and frosty enough to crack the fire hydrant outside The Statesman office. The resultant water leak in the basement of the office was impressive, but fortunately, not destructive. Several plumbers and region water workers have mentioned mentioned that the frost Is as deep as six feet In some places across town. Needless to say, those people have been very busy. All this when we're being told by scientists and environmentalists that global warming is a major problem. It may be, but anyone who couldn't start their car, thaw their water pipes, or pay their heating bill would tend to disagree. Once again, Elvis Stojko has been burned at ' the Olympics. Sure, he doesn't look like a figure skater, doesn't act like a figure skater, and doesn't have the extra-curricular activities of a figure skater, but ho was still the best on the Ice In Lillohammer. And everybody, except one judge, knew it. Figure skating Is like grading an English ex am. It's not like speed skating or Mathematics. The results are subjective and vulnerable to interpretation interpretation and favoritism. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any other way of marking a very artistic sport. I do have one suggestion, however, to avoid the problem of one judge costing an athlete his Olympic dream. While the other judges awarded Elvis marks of 5.8 and 5.9, the Russian judge flashed an unbelievable 5.5 slap in the face. That was followed followed by an ordinal mark of 5th place while the other judges placed Elvis 1 st or 2nd. It cost him his golden dream. To prevent such abuses in the future, why not throw out the high and low marks for each skater. It might just help avoid the politics that tarnishes a very competitive sport. While on the subject of figure skating, did you hear the exchange between Hockey Night In Canada's Ron McLean and Don Cherry? Tough guy Cherry commented that he was watching the figure skating, and before he could go any further, he was cut off by McLean with..."You were watching figure skating?" Always quick on his feet, Cherry responded with, "Yeah, I wanted to see who the Winnipeg Jets would be drafting next." What a great line. Although I'd best be careful. careful. Our Monday night "Hasbeen" league now has female goalie Sarah Couch filling In when our regular goalie can't make It. And you know what, she's great. Fortunately, she's on our side, and I haven't had to suffer the heckling of not being able to fire the puck past her. And finally, today's thought Is... "Perfection is our goal. Excellence will bo tolerated." tolerated." Words to live by. behind this madness and so does he, but he is politically too correct to give us the real reason and starts playing politics with it. The real reason is that the Federal government didn't have the moral courage to enforce the Law of the Land against the Mohawks of the Akwesasnc reserve near Cornwall, the Kahnawake near Montreal, and the Kanesatake near Oka. According to a report in The Globe and Mail on Saturday February February 19, RCMP Commissioner Norman Norman Inkster stated that 70 per cent of the 100 million cartons of smuggled cigarettes last year passed through Akwesasnc. According to the same report, Assistant Assistant RCMP Commissioner A1 Brcau, who was the top mountie in Quebec until he retired last week, stated that the Mountics' hands had been tied by the fears of politicians, and that the inaction of the authorities authorities "had created a more and more audacious audacious sentiment of invulnerability among the Indian criminals on their e m reserves.- By not acting against criminals because they belong to a certain racial racial minority, the Federal government did really discriminate against the majority of Canadians. Mr. Gord Mills is well aware of this, but he is not in a moral position to point that out, because his own NDP government government is doing the very same thing all the time. A typical example of NDP sponsored legalized racial discrimination discrimination is the Ontario Employment Equity Equity Act, Canadians should take note, that our government respected and rewarded rewarded the Indian smugglers and Quebec shopkeepers who broke the law, but swamped law-abiding Canadians Canadians with flimsy excuses, and then punished them by making them pay the extra taxes necessary to make up for the lost revenues. I hope Canadians Canadians can see the sad moral of this affair, affair, and will remember it after the new budget comes outs. Sincerely, Evert Vroegh ^ by Laura J. Richards ^ ® Smokes® and Pharmacies As a person who does not smoke, never has smoked, and never wishes to start, I have often wondered why tobacco products are sold in drugstores. drugstores. Is it because tobacco is a drug? Or because tobacco products are easier to make a profit on than, say, band-aids? Smokers can pick' up everything from wrapping papers and filtered tubes to loose tobacco or pre-made cigarettes, to cigars to flavored pipe tobacco in pharmacies and other stores too. In fact, these convenience stores and pharmacies have become literally candy stores for the tobacco crowd. It just does not make any sense whatsoever! On one hand, the pharmacists are saying their stores are the places to go if we need information about the medicines medicines we take. Just look at the ads for a national chain with the two actors from L. A. Law. One of the newest advertisements on the tube talks about the computer network a national store has and how it will let them help you avoid allergic reactions when combining different medications. So, you go to the drug store and sign up to be on the computer system. Yet, the very next minute you can purchase purchase a box of cancer sticks and the cashier will say: "Thank-you. Have a nice day!" Okay, to be fair, you have to ask for the tobacco products, but... When you think about the impact tobacco smoking has on a smoker and those around drat person, it really makes you wonder. Oh, yes, and who knows what pharmacies could get to sell in future? Will they offer at-home cancer treatments treatments for those of you who smoked when younger, and of course, artificial lungs "just like the one they carved out of you last week?" I can just see the ad for that -- "Bring in your last two year's worth of empty decks and your next lung is free!" Now, have you ever really looked at what the larger pharmacies sell? They will sell a person everything from room and car deodorizers, to vehicle vehicle interior cleaners, to breath mints to detergents that make your clothes smell like the great out doors. All will make your environment smell fresh and clean. But don't leave without picking up another carton of eight! One would guess the large drug stores know how to make their money. money. After all, tobacco smoke gets into your clothes, furniture and your car and they can help you make everything everything smell wonderful again. While some of you loyal Outlook readers are telling yourselves that smoking is a habit you enjoy, ask yourselves about the other people in your family. Are they enjoying it,too? Think about it. When smokers live in the same household as non- smokers, who usually suffers? It's the non-smokers. I have seen it happen that kids who have dry coughs get treated as if they have colds when they are simply reacting to the second-hand smoke. Many non-smokers I know grew up with lived in smelly households where both parents smoked. Most of Continued on Page 8 m W<e Asked -- What do you think of Canada's performance at the Olympics being held in Norway? .. .And You Said Gary Zolumoff Bowmanville "Outstanding. Betty Langley Justice Otto Kay Piper Bowmanville Pickering Bowmanville 11 "So far I think it's "I would like them to "I'm more interested scents the athletes great. I'm proud of the do better. Had great in the Tonya Harding have come in the athletes, but felt sorry hopes for Browning incident." standings from prev- f KurtBrowning » ions years." ° and Boitaino. But the two from Quebec have been fantastic! Makes you feel great." \T-\l wirk's i|iirsi h . W hric is ilir l'i;.;;.;i's| |n>1 lu >li■ m ( l.mngton liK'.ttvd? SO