The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tues. August 27, 1985 [I editorial comments Capital Issue Canada's newest solicitor-general appointed in the Cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney last week says he favours a return to capital punishment for killers of police officers and prison guards. But even though the Conservatives have promised a free vote in the Commons on the issue, Perrin Beatty also said he doesn't expect this vote to happen in the near future, because the Government's priority is job creation. : That's a bit of a disappointment. Although job crea- tion is crucial at any time in Canada, we would venture to say that the capital punishment issue is pretty high on the agenda of most Canadians these days. The Government has promised a free vote. Why not get on with it, instead of continuing to push it under the carpet in the hopes that maybe this issue will just go away on its own. When and if Parliament ever gets around to voting on a return to the death penalty, we hope it doesn't just include references to police officers and prison guards. What about the rest of the population? If the line of reasoning is that the noose will act as a deterrent and protect cops and guards who are in the front trenches when dealing with the scum of the land, does it not follow that the deterrent factor might protect the innocent citizens of this country as well. The capital punishment issue in Canada has been simmering and bubbling long enough. It's time for Parlia- ment to come to grips with it one way or another. If the new solicitor-general now favours a return to the noose under certain circumstances, he should be do- ing more than just talking. He should be working to convince his Cabinet col- leagues to get the issue in front of Parliament. A lot of people in this country are waiting for some action on this Public Washrooms The letter to the editor in this week's Port Perry Star about the condition of the public washrooms near the Water Street baseball diamonds contains some excellent points. We have to agree with the writer Dorothy Scott that it 1s not fastball or slo-pitch tournaments in themselves which are creating problems with the condition of those washrooms And while Ward 4 councillor Harvey Graham did comment at a recent council meeting that organizations using the baseball diamonds for tournaments should assume at least some of the responsibility for keeping the washroom facilities clean on weekends, we are con- vinced he did not mean to point blame at anyone. As Mrs Scott nghtly points out in her letter this week, those public washrooms are used by a great number of people. The facilities are the only public washrooms along the entire Port Perry waterfront, and even casual observations on any summer weekend show a lot of people at the park, the beach, and boating on the lake We know for a fact, as Mrs. Scott points out in her letter, that organizers of the fastball tournament over the August 1st long weekend did indeed make an effort to keep the washrooms in as good a condition as possible But these people can hardly be expected to get in there on their hands and knees with a scrub brush or a mop, any more than a coach at a minor hockey game should be expected to clean the washrooms at the Scugog Arena. The washrooms at the baseball fields are open 4 hours a day Common sense says they are going to get messed up from time to time, vandahzed and so on As for the other points in the letter about the condi- tion of the club rooms and the utility room at the ball dia- mond, we agree they are in a sorry state and most cer- tainly need to be fixed up. and soon In fact. we would go so far as to say the time has come for the Township to appoint or hire a year-round, full time parks manager, someone with exclusive respon- sibilities for all the recreation facilities in the Township, including the washroom at the baseball diamonds As it 1s now, parks and recreation facilities fall under the ,urisdiction of the roads department. Maybe it's time to let the roads department get on with its job of looking after roads in the Township and get another department going to exclusively look after the many parks and recreations facilities throughout the Township chatterbox by John B. McClelland TRUE BLUE? With the sudden but not unexpected resignation of Frank Miller last week, the Ontario Conservative Par- ty is faced with the prospect of another leadership con- vention, the second in less than a year. Some pundits are saying the Tories are in a giant mess: split with internal dissension, rudderless, void of clear direction, stumbling badly in popular opinion polls and so on. They aren't far off in those observations. This is the Party after all, that governed this province for more than 40 years, changed leaders every decade with lit- tle blood-letting and pretty well ran rough-shod over the Opposition in the Legislature. But not any more. And I have a feeling there are more rocky roads ahead for the Ontario Conservatives. Firstly, Liberal leader David Peterson's star is on the rise He's looking more and more like a guy in charge, a sharp politician totally in control. In short, people are starting to sit up and take notice. That kind of leader is going to automatically attract good people. Secondly, the myth of Conservative invincibility has been smashed soundly in the last ten months. People are falling off the band-wagon. Voters are suddenly aware that the Ontario Conservatives like all other political parties are capable of some pretty big blunders: a bloody leadership race last February, a lousy election campaign and a thumping at the polls in May But the problem I have with the Conservatives at this time anyway. is I don't know what they are, what they want, where they are going. or how they hope to get there I can't tell the difference between a Conservative and a Liberal. Their positions on most issues are almost identical Any differences are window dressing. Over the past few years. the Conservatives have very successfully become all things to just about all peo- ple. not just in policies, but in philosophies as well Trying to touch base with as much of the electorate as possible has turned them into Consc atives in name only Heck. this is the Party that bought part of an oil company This 1s the Party that is supposed to stand for less government, yet Ontario is one of the most regulated political jurisdictions in North America. The government of Ontario has its finger and hands everywhere from hydro to the sale of liquor; from rent controls to film censorhip. farm policies, culture, recreation, energy. land banking, sales tax on everything that moves, medicare, schools, the list goes on and on. This is a big government, a monstrous bureaucracy that has grown by leaps and bounds. Where's the basic premise that a conservative government by definition means smaller government, fewer regulations, more reliance on the private sector for services, less red tape, a freer hand for the private sector to sink or swim, more freedom for private citizens to get about their lives in a lawful fashion without that Big Brother peering over their shoulders. That basic premise has been thrown out the win- dow. The Ontario Tories may say they stand for all of the above, and then some, but do they, in reality"? I don't think so. And that's the problem. There's no real choice when John Q. Voter steps into the polling booth on election day He's probably casting his ballot for the candidate who talks the nicest, or who looks good on televison. I can't imagine it happening, but the Conservatives need to get back to basics, come up with a distinct political philosophy that can be meshed with policy, and stick to it, rather than meandering all over the place just because some pollster says it might be expedient from a vote-getting point of view. I haven't a clue what the Ontario Conservatives stand for. I don't know what the Liberals or New Democrats stand for, either. They all slip-side around, side-step, back-track, change directions in mid-stream, and the result is a haze, a lack of definition. The Conservatives of Ontario will gather this November to pick a new leader. My bet is that whoever wins the leadership will promise the moon to everybody That new leader will not make a promise to get the government off the backs of the citizens of Ontario There will be no pledge of less government, a smaller bureacracy, a slashing of regulations or anything else that conservatives are supposed to stand for Lip ser- vice, maybe, but not much more I'm not saying that I would support a party that moved to the right in philosophy and policy, but at least I would feel as if I had more than one choice on elec- tion day. For a decade, William Davis played kindly old **Un- cle Billy" to the people of Ontario; shifting here and there, always super sensititve to whatever way the wind was blowing; giving with one hand and taking back with the other. He got away with it. Frank Miller got crucified trying to spin the same kind of web. From where 1 sit, I'd like to see the next Tory leader take on a little more definition, come through with a little more clarity of what conservatism really is TIC Im WG SE TP DF RT SC RL, AE