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charged by police before the case is heard by the courts? The Ontario Legislature is scheduled to debate this very issue this week in the form of a private members bill put forward by Toronto lawyer and MPP Alfred Strong. If the Legislature goes along with the Bill, it would become an offense in this province to publish or broadcast the name of a person accused of a crime before the trial has begun, or a court has started to receive evidence, or the person enters a plea of guilty. The intent of course is to protect people from adverse publicity before they get into court, especial- ly in cases where accused persons are subsequently found not guilty or have charges withdrawn. While publicity over a charge laid by police can be " damaging to the reputation of an individual and cause acute embarassment, attempting to legislate a ban on printing the names of those accused is not the answer, : However, a law forbidding the public disclosure of those charged with crimes could be an infringement on the right of a free and unhindered press. A blanket ban could lead to all kinds of speculation and rumour about who has been charged, and could be damaging to the reputations of more persons than b I ® ® } 1S N NC ¢ N ' on RQ nN NN (ON 1 NN : \ NN \ NN NN 3 H 0 7.8. N 3 N NN NN NN es as Ne N LOOK KRU toe Most newspapers and electronic media make just the one charged. [2 T H | P bl H it determined efforts to follow up charges laid by police The preamble to Mr. Strong's Bill says that a re- ri a U IC y with reports of the court decisions. Some media have person is innocent until proven guilty. It follows that ] adopted a policy on their own of not printing or there should be a ban on publishing the names of Should the general public have access through the pr 5agcasting names prior fo court except in unusual those brought fo trial and then found innocent Bus media fo the names and addresses of persons j.cymstances. : Mr. Strong's Bill doesn't go that far, although publishing the account of a trial of a person found not guilty could also be damaging to a reputation. The Bill is inconsistent and a dangerous step towards further state ban on what can or cannot be published or broadcast. It should be defeated. « ~ Welfare Fraud Last week a County Court judge in Ontario created a bit of a stir when he suggested that persons convicted of welfare fraud have their names and large poster-size pictures of themselves tacked up in welfare offices to act as a deterrent to others. What a novel idea, what a burst of progressive and enlightened thought. While stealing from the public purse is a reprehensible act that deserves to be dealt with strictly under the law, one wonders whether hanging photos in a thieves gallery would have much deterrent value. But maybe the state should give it a try. After all, if it is found to save us a few dollars every year, it would be more than worth it. We would hope, however, that the same thing would be done for businessmen and corporations that are convicted of cheating on their income tax returns. For that too, is theft from the public purse. How about a rogues o gallery of tax fraud artists hanging in the Toronto Stock Exchange building. 4 tle wy hk Ne 4s >. ---- RRR -- le bill MY TRIP TO THE CITY This seems to be a good week to clean up some loose ends, so, if you happen to have a loose end, join me. Me and the Old Battleaxe spent a couple of days in the city during our winter break holiday. And '"Spent" is the word. It would have been cheaper to fly to Mexico and pick up Montezuma's curse, as they call it there, or the dire rear, as we call it here. This remark has no connection with the opening sentence of this column. We went out shopping to buy a "little something" for Pokey, the grandson. Just a little shirt, or a toy, or some other trifle. Fifty dollars later, 1 staggered out of the department store, toting two large toys, six little shirts, four pairs of overalls, a full-dress suit for the kid, and a plastic shell windbreaker with a lining and a hood to "Keep him warm when he comes out of swimming." At 15 months, he's going to be doing a lot of swimming, you see. Then, of course, we had to deliver the stuff. So we invited ourselves to dinner with daughter and told her not to fuss, that we'd bring along an old chunk of meat or something. Never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she agreed with alacrity. My wife's idea of a couple of items to help out with dinner turned out to be five dollars worth of steak, the equivalent in pies and smiley stuff, and assorted groceries running to another 10, my daughter supplying the potatoes and water for the coffee. However, it was worth it. We each got to hold the baby for about 10 minutes, in one-minute snatches, between bouts of trying out his toys and having clothes tried on him by the women. After many years, I finally realize why I hate trying on new clothes for my wife's surveillance. That baby despised every minute of the clothes-modelling session, and bellowed lusty protests as his mother and gran pulled his limbs into all sorts of gymnastics, trying to stuff him into his new pants and shirts. It probably happens to all males in childhood, and they resent it ever after. Next day was even worse, financially. My wife was determined to buy a rug, bed- spread and drapes to match some new wallpaper in a room she'd decorated. As any woman knows - and most husbands, too - this is a three-month, not three-hour quest. It's usually about as easy as looking for the Lost Chord. Consequently, the old girl went off with leaden step, sagging mien and built-in frustration. She looked so depressed my heart went out to her, and in a moment of madness, 1 offered to accompany her. Unfortunately, she was in the bathroom with the door closed and the water running, and I was so emotional that I was whispering, so she didn't hear me. To my astonishment, she burst into the hotel room two hours later, eyes shining, looking like a girl on her first date, and radiating joy. She had hit the jackpot in her shopping. Everything matched some shade of off-yellow. Since I had expected to greet a worn-out woman, full of recriminations, weary, dispirited and empty-handed, I got carried away. "Hey! This must be your day. Why don't you buy a little something for yourself in that women's store? It will give you a lift". "Well, as- you know, I haven't bought a stitch of anything new since I don't know when. Maybe I'll pick up a new spring blouse or something." Not to be an old fogey, I decided that, by George, I'd get a new tie, myself. Well, I guess I got a little carried away. I walked out of that men's shop with two ties and two turtle-neck sweaters. I am not exactly the turtle-neck type, but in a devil-may-care moment, I tried one on. It was white, made it Italy, and I swear I looked just like Fred Astaire, just in from Acapulco. Fred's a good-looking 72. These sweaters had extra-high turtles. They conceal your wattles and punch your dewlaps out so that you look jolly, rather just hang-dog. Fifty bucks lighter, I left the shop with a red plastic bag containing my goodies. I felt guilty but jaunty. I lost both my guilt and my jaunt when I went to the ladies shop to meet my wife. Yes, she had picked up a new spring blouse. And a new spring suit. And another suit. And a casual outfit. And some more blouses. She was snatching things off the racks like a two-year-old opening Christmas presents. Ah, well, what the hell. You can't take it with you. Especially if there's nothing to take. : Next day, back home, she modelled all her array for me. It was then that I learned none of her shoes or purses "went with" the new clothes. The rest is history. AJ Two good things did come out of that holiday, however. My wife told me she wanted to see me in one of my turtle-neck sweaters. I fought it, but finally gave in with bad grace. "Where are they? They're in a red plastic bag. Where did you put it?" A "It's with the rest of the stuff," she retorted. It wasn't. It wasn't anywhere. After going back over the day before, we agreet that I'd taken it into the dinii.g-room, put it beside my chair, and had walked out without it. Of all the stupid........... Phone the hotel, long-distance. No, Lost-and-Found had no trace of it, but, learning my name, the lady there said she read my column in the Blenheim paper and we had a nice chat. - Well, there goes fifty biicks, plus a L.D. call. Went out morosely to put some empties in the car trunk. There was the little red devil plastic bag. With sweaters and ties. The other good thing was gypping the hotel on breakfast. We ordered breakfast for one. I drank the orange juice, she ate the buckwheat cakes, I ate the toast and jam, and we shared the coffee. Two breakfast for the price of one. I'll bet they haven't caught on yet. Isaved $1.80 on breakfast, two days a in a row. A profitable trip, taken all round. (Reprinted from issue of April 16, 1975) »