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by John B. McClelland m= INK ~ Beugog Citizen -- Tuesday, October 36, 1993 -- 9 dm SPOTS | PRL Helen 9 You may have followed the court case about the Cobourg man who took a baseball bat to the legs of a high school principal who had sexually abused his son over a period of a couple of years. The man was found guilty and sentenced to a jail term, though he will be able to get out of jail to go to work on the night shift at a factory. * The principal, by the way, who had both his legs broken in the baseball attack, was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to a jail term. Vigilante style justice has no place in our society. We can't take the law into our own hand® no matter how provoked or angry. I agree with that, though I have great sympathies for this person. I wonder what my reaction would be should my son arrive home to tell me that somebody had been sexually assaulting him for a couple of years. Yes, my first reaction might very well be to grab the nearest baseball bat. What troubles me about this case is not that this father was charged, tried and found guilty in a court of law. It is the fact that he was sentenced to a jail term Surely, the judge could have taken the extraordinary circumstances into account and handed down a suspended sentence so this guy can stay out of jail and try to get on with his life. After all, the baseball bat attack was not exactly a random act of violence. Again, let me repeat that I can never condone what he did, but is he a threat to public safety? Is he likely to take that bat and clobber the first person he sees on the street? In this case, I have my doubts that justice was fully served THE ELECTION: As | write this, the October 25 federal election is still three days away. I'm looking at a news clipping which says the latest cross- country poll points to a Liberal pty with Jean Chretien the next prime ister of this fair land The poll Bays it will be a toss-up (too close to call) to determine whether the Reform Party or the Bloc Quebecois forms the Official Opposition in the Commons. The Tories will fi .ish in fourth and the New Democrats could slide off the political map. If these predictions hold true come Tuesday morning, the House of Commgns is going to be a wierd place for the next four years or so. Only in Canada could the Official Opposition be a party (the Reform) that didn't win a single seat in Quebec (because it didn't run a single candidate, or the Bloc which didn't win a single seat outside la belle province because it didn't run any candidates and because the Bloc doesn't give a damn about the rest of the country. Some pundits were talking last week that if the Grits fail to win a majority in the"House, they will join forces with the Tories in a coalition and attempt to govern that way for a couple of years. Scary thought. Somehow I can't see Jean and Kim in this kind of a relationship for any length of time. In fact, if the Tories finish as poorly as the polls say they will, I can see Kim getting dumped as leader in a fairly big hurry. The other very interesting possibility that may confront Canadians on Tuesday morning is that Jean Chretien and Kim Campbell could very | well 16se their own seats. Now, wouldn® that be a first if the LibErals formed a government but Chretien had to lead from the sidelines? As for Campbell, if she does manage to hold her seat in Vancouver, how long will the Tories keep her around as leader if the party finishes in fourth place? Not long. Probably the worst thing that could happen to the country is if the Liberals end up in a minority position, but there are not enough Grit and Tory seats to form a coalition. . The Liberals might end up having to rely on Bloc members to govern, or the fortunes of the government might hinge on the whim of one or two members from the so-called fringe parties. It would be a shakey House at best, one likely doomed to fall in less than six months. This is all speculation of course. The polls point to a majority Liberal government, perhaps with Jean Chretien on the sidelines. This has been called a "watershed election" in the history of the country what with emergence of the Bloc and the Reform. No matter what configuration Parliament has October 26, the country has entered a new political era. However, | am convinced that no matter how hairy things get in Ottawa, this country will prevail. The people of Canada are bigger and stronger than any political machination, and they will prevail And baby makes 18 Everything was planned right down to the last detail for the July 31 long weekend. We were hosting a family reunion with relatives on my husband's side whom we hadn't seen in years. There were cousins, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles coming fi as faraway as Calgary. They would all be staying with us in our 1200 square foot house if it rained, or some, hopefully, outside in tents, if the weather cooperated. In fact, | was so concerned about good weather that whenever a rare mapeft of solitude arose in prep or the weekend, | would slip y quietly to a secluded spot. throw myself down on my knees, s.Heavenward, and pray to the sun ds to be kind. 1 even told them that if they deemed it necessary, give us their best shot. Go ahead and throw torrential rains, thunder and lightning at us on the Monday, but PLEASE, PLEASE, have mercy; not before! They took pity on me, bless them. Our daughter, Sandy and her husband Mike, were staying with us while awaiting the birth of their first child which was due August 11. They also brought along their two dogs which happen to get along famously with our two dogs. The four animals range in size from "isn't it far too young to be taken from its mother or is it one of those wind-up toys someone bought for the new baby?" to "how can a beast possibly be that huge and not crush itself to death or somebody else who happens to be in its way when it walks?" The long-awaited weekend was finally here. The relatives were arriving sometime late afternoon on Friday. The baby came Friday morning. Needless to say, we were thrilled, but no more so than his mother who produced an 8 Ib. 4 oz. boy. Given the size of him, had he been born on his due date of August 11, the little guy would have missed out on his infancy. The rest of the weekend could best be described as "organized chaos". It would take far too long to go into detail so | list the events as they occurred. As so often happens, almost everyone arrived in one fell swoop, with the exception of two people who came later on, lugging a brand new toilet. It did cross my mind that this was a rather unusual gift, and they did seem somewhat perplexed, but I welcomed them warmly, asked them to please put the toilet in the garage and cover it completely with whatever was handy in there. With seventeen people and only two bathrooms, I wasn't taking any chances. I then took them around to the back and introduced them to everyone there. I even showed them where they would be sleeping that night. I honestly thought they were the couple from London who are my husband's nephew's third cousins removed twice. Unbeknownst to me, they were just delivering the toilet that Frank, my husband, had found on sale at a terrific price, and is going to be installed down in the basement within the next ten years when we cart all the junk from the basement up to the garage to make room for the toilet in the basement. With all the commotion that had been going on the past few dave, he had forgotten to tell me about it 2. Duffy, the huge canine whom we wisely refer to as "Sir", decided that the dissolving stitches he had in his abdomen from a minor operation a few days previously weren't dissolving quickly enough, so he helped them along. He had to be rushed to the vet's for a repair job. He came home sporting a tremendous-sized plastic cone which fit around his neck, stopping him from attacking his newly-sewn sutures again. He was fine outside, but inside our 1200 square foot house, the apparatus acted like a megaphone everytime he barked, sending everyoné through the roof. 3. While still on the subject of dogs, at some point during the day, a wild, stray cat from the field behind our house wandered into the backyard. Someone meandered over while munching on a hamburger and found it upsidedown under the deck. It had been there for awhile and it was apparent it wasn't in that position because it wanted his belly scratched. Meanwhile, back at the hospital, the relatives came in droves to see Mom, Dad and Baby Taylor. The whole weekend was one of excitement and fun; albeit on the hectic side. It was one of those feelings that can be captured only by actually being there...come to think of it, with the number of people passing through the house, you probably were! We are very concerned about our future To the Editor; We, the Commercial/Private Health Care Providers of the Region of Durham, are writing in response to the NDP's policy of a not-for-profit delivery system of community based health care in the Province of Ontario For more than ten years in this region, commercial/private providers have had an excellent relationship with the Homecare Program. We were developed to provide flexible, quality based health care to people in their homes We realized that in-home health care was and is, a seven day per week, 24 hour per day need, and we have successfully met that challenge. As clients needs change, so do we' Why then, would the NDP government want to spend $100 million for a transition to set up the same service delivery, but only in the not-for-profit sector? Could not these health care dollars be better utilized? Why eliminate a group of qualified experienced, trained profes. sionals merely on the basis of political ideology? Yes, we run private businesses This is an asset to our economy, not a liability. We pay taxes which help stimulate our communities, as well as investing in resources and knowledge, in Ontario's economy. Our clients' only pay for the direct service they receive from us. We do not have the government to fund our tits if, at yearend, we find ¥e have miscalculated! Deficit funding is funded by all of us through our tax dollars! Commerecial/ Private providers make only a 1 2% profit on the services we provide, and most of that is put back into our companies in order to provide continuous training and upgrading for our staff. Why would the NDP government of Ontario implement a not-for-profit policy, when the same policy has failed in Manitoba? Manitoba has now realized that they have created a delivery system tied up in red tape, and is now inviting the private, commercial providers back. Do we really need another government run bureaucracy? Especially one that will not only control the finances but also the delivery of the service? This government has spent millions of dollars setting up consultation groups that pretend to listen to the needs of the people. This money would have been better used to provide the assistance required to enable our frail, elderly and disabled citizens to remain in their homes We had a petition from 15 Durham Region, most of whom areas of Ontario read in the are fe and members of House of Commons to ask for a vi minorities. What are balanced og mix of service glUarantees of future provision, Between not-for- employment under this proposed and commercial servite system? The government had providers. The result was the already stated displaced hospital government decided to allow workers will be given priority for commercial providers to deliver re-employment in this system. up to 10% of government funded We are concerned that this homemaking hours. If your area decision by the NDP government currently provides 86% of those adversely affects all residents, hours, what will a 756% reduction not only in the Region of do to your business? Durham, but throughout We believe in free enterprise Ontario. and freedom of choice. Our Para-Med Health Services, W clients deserve to have choice as McKay, Manager to who will provide their in-home ComCare Ltd, J health care. With the NDP policy Manager all choice is removed. Clients DHS Health Care Service, J will receive what the Jones, Administrator ' government determines they CAPS, P. Polyzotis, Manager need, as well as who will provide Med+Care Partnership, P the care Hilliard, Manager Commercial/private providers employ over 800 people in the O'Link,