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m v Section Two The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, June 8,1994 3 Letters to the Editor Letter Writer Airs View on Gay Dear Editor: The International Year of the Family symbol describes a family in terms of love and security, rather than the number of parents and their sexual orientation. Some of your recently-published recently-published letters idealize the traditional family, despite the fact that they must know that many two- parent families are terrible places for children who become victims of physical / emotional / drug / alcohol abuse. Can anyone really say that such children are better off than those in homes where they are cared for by stable, loving people who happen to be of the same sex? Of course, not all homosexuals fit that description, but why deny rights to those who do? A couple I know who belong to a Lesbian Lesbian Support Group said that most women in the group are raising children. children. The reason they would like adoption rights is to enable one partner partner to ensure they have legal rights and responsibilities towards their partner's children. This also protects the children. Gays can already adopt as individuals. Some of your writers are quite adept at passing off opinion as fact- referring to majorities and minorities as suits their purposes,without any real figures. And how exactly would same-sex benefits "undermine" the traditional family? One writer even made a tangential comment about smoking. If he really believes smoking smoking doesn't harm anyone else, how can we have any faith in his other comments, since smokers obviously harm their own children, to differing degrees, ranging from smelly clothing clothing and stinging eyes, to increased risk of asthma attacks or general upper respiratory tract infection, to death from lung cancer or in house 1 fires, started by careless smoking? If NDP members go along with the right-wing rhetoric in an effort to get votes they are deluding themselves themselves if they think most people campaigning campaigning against same-sex benefits have any intention of voting NDP in the next election. Instead, those MPPs voting against this legislation The Curtains of night were drawn On that sullen "D" Day mom, Grey skies hid the sleeping sun As their first thrust to beaches begun. Fire from the guns, smoke from the muzzle; The L.S.T.'s groaned as they joined in the stmggle. Tension ran high knowing many would die 'Ere the sun would set in that dull murky sky. Long though the struggle, deep though the cost They had to conquer, or the world would be lost. There was no way to choose; there was no other course; They had to go on and meet - evil with force. They were not heroes, just anxious young men Willing to help, and bring evil to end; Not warriors by nature, just good kids at heart. Who came from afar, doing their little part. Mother's kids, pride of father's heart, - Let loose in a world, some, soon to depart, To give up their future so starry and bright, No lofty ideals, just doing what's .right. From a book of poems by AJ. Allin Cobourg, Ontario. risk alienating their traditional supporters. supporters. As regards another hot topic, . screening volunteers, is seems to me that doing so may create a false sense of security as so many sexual offenders offenders (e.g. Gary Walker) attack for years without being prosecuted. The best approach is to ensure that coaches coaches are not left alone with individual children, (just as professionals, including including teachers,, are advised not to have a lone child with them), «id to educate our children to report any inappropriate inappropriate touching. It is also important important that if any abuse does occur, the perpetrator should be charged. Gary Walker was simply moved out of his role when he was caught in the act as a Scout Leader and as a police officer. officer. If he had been charged on those occasions he would have been stopped much earlier. This seems an appropriate occasion to refute another another myth and to point out that most homosexuals are NOT pedophiles and do NOT go "recruiting!" Yours sincerely, Linda Taberner Bowmanville. Obedience Trials Tips for Councillors Mark June 9, 10, 11 and 12 on your calendar for a dog-gone- good .time, at Harmony, Walley Conservation Conservation Area." /-X. V/. The Ontario County Kennel Club will be hosting their annual Dog Show and Obedience Trials on Friday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Come out and watch die competition, refreshments refreshments will be available. Directions: Take Harmony Rd. north from Hwy. #2 to Corbetts Rd. Turn east to Grandview Rd. then turn left and follow signs to area entrance. Have you ever wondered if the Clarington Councillors watch re-runs of their council meetings? Sometimes I wish they would take a gander at their own antics. Since May of 1991,1 have gone to about 130 council and committee meetings for the Town of Newcastle and the Municipality of Clarington. I have witnessed a lot of badgering, badgering, temper-tantrums, hostile attacks, pouting, nervous tics, and other habits, habits, over the three-year period. I have watched as councillors gang up on other councillors and I have watched a good many resolutions go down to defeat. Looking back, and also looking towards towards the future, I have some tips for present council members and future council members. I will also touch on what they might expect from the media. media. Please note these are only suggestions suggestions and not meant to irritate anyone. These are directed to the current council: council: •Smile. • Be honest. • Be prepared. Read the reports before before each public meeting. •Be on time. • Stick your hand way up, so everyone everyone can see how you've voted. • While sitting at the council table, open up your desk drawers and constantly constantly fiddle with things like paper hankies and paper clips. Make sure the hankies are flat and throw out the used ones before the session begins, so they don't fall on the floor. • If you are going to cough for a •long time, leave the council chambers and go to a place where you cannot be heard. • Don't rock in your chairs, it drives people bonkers. Especially those watching at home via TV. • Remember to turn the microphones microphones off so others can talk. That means, don't hog the mikes! • Don't wear wildly-designed clothing on the night of the TV tele cast, those poor residents have to watch the colors bend when you do. • Think carefully before making comments that might be construed as outrageous. Think twice before saying saying something that your constituents might take personally. • Don't suck on coughdrops and talk at the same time. • Don't ask question of delegations that they can't answer. • Don't bàdger delegations. It is just plain rude and they don't deserve it. • Remain calm. • No swear words. • Try to get along with each other. You don't have to be best buddies, but try to be civil. Saying "good morning" morning" is an excellent way to start. One of the things I would like to add, is that I think the Clarington Regional Regional Councillors do well at Regional meetings when it comes to decorum and deportment. I have yet to witness one of our councillors fling an elastic across the chambers. Representatives from other municipalities have done so. Other media folks, like myself, need to know what is going on all the time, so it would be nice if councillors would: • Turn those blasted microphones on! If you want to be correctly quoted, or quoted at all, the media must be able to hear you. • Leam not to expect everything you say to be quoted by the media. Not even Ghandi got quoted as much as some councillors expect. • Don't suck up to media types. Most of us know the difference between between being nice and being a brown- noser. • If you are proposing a new motion, motion, that has been typed out ahead of time, ensure you have copies to give to the media after the meeting. • Don't have information for one newspaper and not the other. That just isn't fair! Well, that's all folks. Have a nifty week! by Rick James Praise for Sidewalk Cleaner... Dear Rick: With our downtown drowning in à sea of litter...it was "Mad Vac" to the rescue! A "hero," who is not able to leap tall buildings with a single bound, but who is, none-the-less, capable of controlling that litter which seems to accumulate almost over-night in our area. With every attempt being made by the BIA's of Bowmanville, Newcastle, and Orono to create and maintain an attractive environment for people to visit and to shop, the one aspect which has continued to defeat our purpose has been the never- ending abundance of waste which collects in the gutters and on the sidewalks. As a result, we are delighted that Council has purchased a device which is designed for the exclusive purpose of removing removing litter, and which other larger municipalities municipalities have had for some time. We salute Council's initiative on our behalf, and say "thank you." Yours very truly, Ron Hooper, Chairman, Downtown Board of Management Dear Ron: I too applaud,the BIA efforts at.keeping the downtown so clean. As we both know, it is a very important part of attracting customers customers to our stores and offices. I was, however, surprised that the town spent $37,000 on a machine that is nothing more than a glorified golf cart with a Shop Vac mounted on it. You can buy four small automobiles for less than that. Unless the work attitude of today's youth has completely broken down, I would have thought this would be an ideal summer job for one or more students at à huge savings for the town. They could also pull the weeds from around the trees, something the "Mad Vac" cannot do. If, however, it is felt that a "Mad Vac" is the best solution for keeping the downtown downtown clean, it's unfortunate the town didn't buy a good used machine on a trial basis. For example, after one phone call, I found this machine in Oshawa. It only has 33 hours of use on it, and runs perfectly. It needs a paint job, but so will the new one in a couple years' time. Asking price is $3,000, but would likely sell for $2,500. There is an even cheaper solution. If every merchant, ourselves included, would take five minutes each morning to sweep the sidewalk and pick up trash, we wouldn't have a litter problem. That's a big challenge, but I know customers would enjoy shopping in a downtown where we merchants care enough to keep our storefronts spotless. After all, the BIA's slogan reads, "Where People Care.", Thanks for your letter and keep up the good work. Rick James Response from Amherthburg... Dear Little Brother: Referring to our name being mentioned in the most recent issue, we know you'd want the record flawlessly accurate concerning concerning such a semi-momentous moment in world history. You arc, after all, the fastidious fastidious one in the family. For the record...a published 'thankyew' for a pretty pink batheball cap prompted a Windsor Star reporter who was a regular reader of our column to contact the Windsor Gay/Lcsbian Rights Association. We suspect our seemingly fragrant phrases were read to those folks via telephone in anticipation that such pithy prose would create sufficient sufficient angst amongst (how many "gst" words can you write in a row?) those nearly nearly legitimized citizens of the Provincial Persondom to start WWIII. To the credit of those folks, and despite a subsequent attempt attempt by another Star 'columnist,' no confrontation confrontation materialized aside from some outraged phone callers at home... ...which induces us to illuminate your readership concerning the telephone call where you mistook son Tom's 18-year-old voice for this writer's. That brief discussion discussion consisted primarily of your own lispladen lispladen salutation, plus a spontaneous attempt attempt by our favourite offspring (on that occasion) to chew through the long distance distance lines prior to a slam-dunk hangup. Perhaps you could include this response as a clarification near "Letters to the Editor"...maybe right alongside yet another another 'outraged-and-damned-ncar-catatonic' response from the offices of the nearly always always {at least until recently) politically correct Gord Mills, M.P.P....of the Nearly Democratic Party. Plavc a nice day. I'm goin' fishin'. John James, Jr. Former Publisher of The Echo