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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, April 24, 1984 editorial comments mad L chatterbox by John B. McClelland THE CIVIL WAR? I guess you have to live there to really understand just how seriously they take hockey and politics in la belle Province. The recent playoff series between Montreal and Quebec gave the rest of the country a glimpse of how these two mena are inter-connected. Aside from the fact I have been a Montreal Cana- dien fan for longer than I can remember, I must admit I was more than a little pleased to see the Habs knock the Nordique out of the picture in six games last week. According to stories in the press, the Habs are sup- posed to represent the traditional Quebec of two cultures where English is not only tolerated, but actually spoken. The Nordique are supposed to be the new Quebec. ultra-nationalistic, the land of Rene Levesque and Bill 101 where English is never heard and never seen. Some newspapers pumped the series up by calling it la guerre civile; other stories told how it split families and long-time friends into two camps; those who sup- port the Canadiens and those who support the Nordique. And neither side gave or expected any quarter. I suspect there was a fair amount of truth to these stories, but one should keep in mind that hovering above it all were two beer companies who happen to own the teams and have an interest in pushing suds sales and cornering the lucrative television rights. One should not discount the influence of the breweries in pumping up all this hype. What really ticked me off, however, was game five of the series at the Colisee where a trio of young female singers gave a rendition of O Canada that was insulting and embarrassing. . Was it intentional that this trio did such an injustice to Canada's national anthem? Was it a deliberate slap in the face of the rest of the country? I don't know. But it was horrendously bad taste. It was an insult to me to heai' the anthem butchered and turned into some kind of pop commercial and from that moment on, | was absolutely delighted to see the Canadiens put the boots to the Nordique. Maybe my chauvenism is starting to show, but there are a couple of things I take seriously in this country. One is the flag and the other is the national anthem. | tend to get a little upset when I believe somebody is making fun of one or both. Politics and sport can be a volatile combination (just look at the Olympics) and when you throw in a dash of cultural and linguistic differences, the game itself can really become an extended metaphor. The series itself was exciting enough, but hardly a classic, and certainly didn't live up to all the advance billing. As for the brawl which marred game six, I would attribute that to sheer frustration rather than a feeling among the players that they were involved in some kind of cultural-linguistic-political-economic civil war. But who knows for sure? As the battle of Quebec was unfolding over the past week or so, I couldn't help but recall a very small inci- dent that happened to me on a visit to Quebec City a couple of years ago. Keep in mind that Carling owns the Nordique and Molsons own the Canadiens. During my visit to Quebec City two years ago, the Nordique were involved in a real knock-em down playoff with the Bruins and hockey fever was everywhere. I went into the bar at the Chateau Frontenac and ordered a Molsons Export. When it finally arrived, it was more than just luke warm. When I complained mildly to the bartender, he just smiled and gave me a look that said "too bad, pal." Was that small incident just a coincidence? Look- ing bak on it now, I have to wonder. Yes, they do take hockey and politics seriously in the province of Quebec. Maybe it's good, maybe it's not. Maybe we need a hockey rivalry here in Ontario. Maybe we need an NHL team in Hamilton to go head to head with those dismal Maple Leafs. That might be one way of shaking up the ownership of that club and forcing him to take things a little more seriously. I'm sure Carling (or any beer company) would just love to get involved in the ownership of a team in Hamilton. But the chances are nil. While still on the topic of hockey, I believe the Port Perry Minor Hockey Association deserves a word of praise on the completion of what has to be considered a very successful season. I know it may be a little risky to measure success this way, but the Association this year had three cham- pionship teams and two more which advanced to the final round in OHA playoffs. That's a pretty good record. The Association organizes ho key in this communi- ty for almost 400 youngsters from four years of age and up. They took part in over 500 games at the Scugog Arena this winter. To organize any sport to this extent is something of an accomplishment. I think it says something about the way the Association is going about its business. The Association will be holding its annual public meeting on Sunday, May 6th at the Township Office, starting at 7:00 p.m. You might want to consider atten- ding this meeting. 'What Justice? The national parole board is being criticized for releasing a man just seven months after he pleaded guil- ty to manslaughter for kicking another person to death outside a tavern in west Toronto. Where is the justice? During the trial, evidence was given that the man tried to pick a fight with a perfect stranger. The stranger refused, was knocked down, then kicked in the head. He died of the injury in hospital a few hours later. The guy who did the kicking pleaded guilty to manslaughter, got a sentence of 21 months (later in- creased to three years by appeal court) and now is out on the streets after seven months in jail. Is this right? Should society accept this in the face of what seems to be an ever increasing amount of violence where innocent people are being snuffed out? Parole after seven months for this kind of crime is nothing more than a tap on the wrists. It is almost like saying that anybody can go out and get drunk, do whatever they like and not have to face the full conse- quences for their actions. Is it any wonder the family of the man kicked to death is dismayed at the decision of the parole board? The Attorney-general of Ontario is upset and demanding some answers, and a lot of other people concerned with mindless violence of a brutal kind are wondering just what the heck is going on. oo It is impossible to measure the value of a human life. But surely by any yard-stick, seven months is a joke. Terrorism Last week, a group of Libyan nationals were demonstrating outside the Libyan embassy in Lon- don against the regime of Col. Muammer Gadaffi. Somebody inside the embassy building opened fire with an automatic weapon, wounding 11 people and kill- ing a female London police officer. That incident sparked an international crisis bet- ween Libya and Great Britain which has slipped downhill ever since, including the breaking of diplomatic relations by Britain. The Libyan government has refused Britain permis- sion to search the embassy building for the killer, the reason being that there is a heavily armed hit team hiding there which had been sent into the country to kill Libyan nationals opposed to the regime of Gadaffi. It is a crisis that is becoming all too familiar for western nations these days: how to deal with the ex- ported terror of dictatorial governments who come to power by thé sword and rule by the sword with no regard for human life anywhere, never mind the niceties of stan- dard diplomacy and international law. The seizure and hostage taking at the American em- bassy in Iran a few years ago is probably the most flagrant example of terrorism directed against the western democracies, but there have been dozens of other incidents which have resulted in the loss of life. They are nothing more than acts of war without the formal declaration of hostilities. There are reports that the American government is now in the process of adop- ting policies to combat this kind of terrorism through pre- emptive actions: in other words fight fire with fire. While this may be a dangerous kind of policy, it is fair to say that countries such as the United States, have reached the end of their patience in trying to deal through normal diplomatic channels with regimes such as the one in Libya or Iran. Acts of terrorism are a threat to world peace because they precipitate an escalating crisis in an inter- national climate already dominated by hatred, mistrust, and lack of communication. Yet who can blame the Americans or the British, or any other nation for saying 'enough is enough.' They have seen too many officials and diplomats come home in a pine box. It is a sad fact of life that many leaders and regimes flourishing in the world today understand but one thing: the power that comes from the end of a rifle.