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Page 6 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvilte, October 27,1999 Œtje Canabtan Statesman For 145 years, our first concern has been our community ^4 ^ Former Publishers and Partners Rev. John M. Climic and W.R. Climic 1S54-1878 M.A. James 1S7S-1935 • Norman S.B. James 1919-1929 G. Elena James, 1929-1947 • Dr. George W. James 1919-1957 John M. James, 1957-1999 Produced weekly by Melroland Printing, Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Also Publishers of Clarington This Week P.O. Box 190,62 King St. W„ Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3K9 Tel: 905-623-3303 HOURS: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Fax: 905-623-6161 Internet - statbsman@ocna.org Publications Mail Registration No. 07637 Publisher - Tim Whittaker Editor-in-Chicf- Joanne Burghardt Managing Editor - Judi Bobbitt Advertising Manager - Brian G. Purdy Advertising - Lavcrnc Morrison, Sharon Goodman Office - Junia Hodge, Nancy Pleasance-Sturman Editorial - Brad Kelly, Jennifer Stone, Jacquie Mclnnes Beware this Halloween Halloween night is just around the corner, and groups of excited children will be making their way across streets and along sidewalks all through the municipality as they trick-or- treat. To ensure the annual ritual becomes a happy memory for all, Safe Kids Canada offers the following tips for parents. • Make sure drivers can sec your child by using costumes with bright fabrics and decorate the costumes with reflective tape. Give each child a flashlight to carry. • To prevent falling, your child's costume and shoes should fit properly. Costumes should not be longer than the child's ankles. • Parents making a costume should use materials that arc fire resistant. When purchasing a costume, parents should look for the flame resistant label. Costumes with loose sleeves, pants and skirts should be avoided. • All costume accessories such as swords or knives should be made of soft, flexible material. • Face paint is better than masks because they don't block the line of vision. Hats, wigs, scarves should be tied securely so they don't slip over tbe child's eyes. When trick or treating: • Children under nine years of age should be supervised by an adult. Children over nine should go with an adult or in a group with older, responsible children. • A child trick or treating without an adult should know how to cross the road safely. • Children should walk, not run, from house to house and stay on the sidewalk. E-Mail your comments on this opinion to nnews@durham.net. Submissions which include a first and last name, as well as the city of residence, will be considered for publication. Show dogs are more than a fluffy thing To the editor: I would like to comment on the article in the Oct. 14th Canadian Statesman written by Jacquie Mclnnes about the Jack Russell terriers terriers Gizmo and Heidi. The article was well written and the owner Dave Taylor had good comments about the trials that the breed arc put through to become winners. The only comment that I would like to take exception to is Mr. Taylor's remarks about "A lot of dog shows you just walk around and make them look pretty". I am the proud owner of two Champion Schippcrke's with another in the making and a future hopeful. I realize that the comment from Mr. Taylor Taylor is strictly his perception and not that of the writer or the local paper. I would like the opportunity to explain briefly about what is entailed in the maintenance and the nurturing nurturing of a 'Show Dog.' We must ensure that the dog is loved and socialized in their every day care. They must be groomed and worked with on a lead on a regular routine so that when they do "just walk around the ring," it is without any pulling and a good gate. Their grooming must be done on a daily basis so that they are used to being touched by the handler as well as the judge in the ring (extremely important!). There is also their diet that must as controlled which works on their outward outward appearance as well as their dental care. As you can. see by this short bit of information, information, the show dog is not just a pretty fluffy thing. This also goes for the obedience obedience dog. When you own a pet or a dog for show, there is a lot of care and love that goes into the maintenance of any animal. Thank you for letting us make this point. Sally Gibbs, Sally Gibbs with Cracker, winning the Best Puppy in Show at Bowmanville Saskatoon, Sask., Sept. 1999. Mike Harris makes excuses for his cabinet let off the hook Judi Bobbitt Managing Editor Steve Mike Harris is the toughest-talking toughest-talking Ontario premier ever on law and order - so why did he become the first to have a convicted lawbreaker in his cabinet? This is one of the most intriguing questions about the case of Steve Gilchrist, whom the Progressive Conservative premier appointed municipal affairs minister in June knowing he had been convicted of tax evasion 15 years earlier. Ml'Ps have been convicted of serious offences before. In recent years they include Tory Alan Eagle- son, sentenced to 18 months jail for fraud while a hockey agent and organizer, and Will Ferguson, an energy minister in the New Democrat Democrat government that preceded that of Mr. Harris, jailed a week for assaulting assaulting his wife. Tory Terry Jones was sentenced to six months lor defrauding investors in proposed construction projects and New Democrat John Brown to three years for defrauding taxpayers of funds given to run his centres for emotionally disturbed children, Iml all these convictions were alter they ceased being Ml'l's. Several others were convicted of politically-grounded or lesser offences. Mr, Gilchrist is the first Gilchrist convicted of a serious offence and later elected an MPP and appointed a minister. Mr. Harris is noted as a proponent of cracking down relentlessly relentlessly on those who break the law and made it a main plank in winning re-election in June. He has established a hoot camp to stop mollycoddling mollycoddling young offenders. offenders. He complains constantly constantly the Liberal federal government lets prisoners out on parole loo easily. Mis latest plans include forcing released sex offenders to register with police who will be able to publicize their names to neighbours and taking beggars and squeegee kids off the streets and possibly sending some to jail. Mr. Harris set up a snitch line residents can call to inform of any they feel cheat on welfare and threatened in the throne speech to show 'zero tolerance.' Mr. Harris has shown more compassion, compassion, however, to Mr, Gilchrist. The premier said he was told of his conviction when he first ran in 1995 and it was 'dealt with,' presumably meaning lie did anything that needed to be done about it at that time. Mr. Harris also excused Mr. Gilchrist as having been young and a director of a family company that had 'a dispute with the government government of Canada on taxes,' which put an extremely lenient construction construction on his offence. Mr. Gilchrist was 29, Revenue Canada prosecutes prosecutes only where it sees serious lax evasion and not mere errors and the judge found the motive was 'greed.' Mr. Harris was not so open about this record that lie volunteered it publicly publicly when Mr. Gilchrist ran for the legislature or was named minister. It came out only when Mr. Gilchrist's conduct as a minister was questioned. Mr. Harris was not as understanding understanding when Dennis Drainville, an NDP MPP, was convicted of mischief in blocking construction of a logging road, a lesser charge. Mr. Harris complained bitterly NDP premier Boh Rae did not kick him out of Iris caucus. The premier, who has zero tolerance tolerance for others, also previously had been more forgiving of his own. A senior adviser who designed much of his advertising in the 1995 election, election, Jaime Watt, was revealed to have a fraud conviction and resigned. A few months later Mr. Watt was again found working in the premier's premier's office and resigned again and Mr. Harris dismissed it by saying his primary error was 'non-disclosure of a problem he had in the past,' another another sympathetic understatement. The premier may have another, philosophical reason for readily forgiving forgiving one of his MPPs convicted of tax evasion. The premier has repeatedly depicted taxes as an evil that must he rooted out and shown no appreciation they represent the community banding together to provide provide mostly needed services. Discussing the federal government's government's huge losses from tax fraud not long ago, Mr, Harris said when government overtaxes and people feel it misspends, they are more likely to want to avoid taxes and even client, which suggests that while lie does not encourage tax cheating, lie sure can understand it. The end of a love affair After six years together, it seems incredulous that we arc only days away from our final parting. We've had sonic bad moments and many good times over 82,000 kilometres. We still get on fine, but this run is over. And I am emotionally emotionally distraught. distraught. • - It's just a car, and a car is not forever. forever. But that little two- seater represents represents more than a mode of transporta-; lion; it reprei sents a turn-i ing point iu my life where I struck out on my own, discovering life after marriage and accepting a job promotion. The car was the tan- 1 giblc result of a project I'd spent a lot of lime on: poring through com sumcr reports, studying the paper, and after selecting the make I wanned, wanned, interviewing drivers in parking lots. Then, the kill: I was so thrilled when the dickering tips I'd read up on in the library netted me $4,000 off the sticker price. Bill'there's one thing all the.reaching the.reaching and dickering didn't prepare me for, and that was winter driving in a little sports car. All the sunny, roof- down days are forgotten wheri you're sliding sideways through an intersection against a red light, or fighting through snow catching the undercarriage. During the past few years, I have also taken up biking and skiing, with equipment that proves difficult to transport easily in the little car. So when it came time to replace the tires this year, I began to think the unthinkable -- my beloved just doesn't suit me anymore. And so we've arrived at the end of the journey. Assuming the worn and split tires hold together over the next few days before the big trade- in, the good times have outshone the scary. I'll never forget that,little car (having grown even more fond of it once it was paid off). My only regret is that we will not have a final fling together; the condition of the tires makes it inadvisable to fly along the 401. We arc driving like u grandmother these days. The new sports ute 1 bought will suit me just fine. There's a lot of room inside -- room for my bike, skis, a couple of friends and their skis, too, if necessary. It will not be a problem in the winter. So why docs it feel like just 'a car? Send us your letters The Canadian Statesman accepts letters to the editor. All letters should be typed or neatly handwritten, handwritten, 150 words. Each letter must be signed with a first and last name or two initials and a last name. Please include a phone number for verification. The editor editor reserves the l ight to edit copy for style, length and content. Opinions expressed in letters are those of the writer and not neces- sarily those of the paper. We regret that due to the volume of letters, not all will he printed,