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PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, August 6, 1986 -- 5 Vi e W P oO i N by John B. McClelland MIDDLE CLASS ANGER . With the grisly death of 11-year old Alison Parrott, the national debate on capital punishment will be renew- ed with vigour. And well it should be, for this was a crime of horri- fying magnitude. A bright, intelligent, *'street-proofed" young girl stalked and then lured to her death by a craf- 4 bn cunning murderer who cut her life off in cold It was a planned and calculated act, and it struck a numbing terror in the hearts of average Canadians everywhere who are asking themselves how could something like this happen" Canada officially wrote capital punishment off the books some 20 years ago, and it is almost 25 years since the last executions took place in this country. Polls taken in every corner of the land strongly sug- gest that a great many Canadians want the noose brought back. _ These are average Canadians not normally filled with hatred or vengeance. They are people who would likely be sick to their stomachs if they ever witnessed a hanging. They are people who get up in the morning, go to work, pay their bills, join curling clubs or bowling leagues, worry about the kids grades at school and hope the family car will get through one more winter before the transmission falls apart. In short, they are the middle class back-bone of this country. They come from all walks of life, live in big cities and small towns. And they are scared. The grisly murder of an Alison Parrott or a Christine Jessop hits them right where they live. They wonder just what is going on in this country. How and why do these things happen? The cold-blooded murder of innocent chiidren is just part of a kind of dread and confusion that has settled over the middle clas in Canada. They flip on the six o'clock news and learn that another cop has been gunned down. They see city streets taken over by pimps. pushers. punks. hookers and assorted other foul-mouthed scum. And they are scared to walk these streets. They see sleazy strip joints sprouting up in the neighbourhood. smut and violence in the movies. filthy magazines in the corner variety store. rock stars with the vocabulary of a sewer rat. t- shirts with vulgar expressions. kids spaced out on any kind of drug or booze. And they wonder just what is happening to society. They wonder why things seem to be out of control. why the cops. the courts. the politicians don't seem to be able to protect them from the slime and the scum in the streets. They wonder "vhy Parliament has to be recalled to pass a bill to keep criminals in jail to serve all their sentence. They wonder about all the laws that protect the rights of those who flaunt the law. and wonder when they are going to get some protection for their proper- ty, their lives and the lives of their kids. The vast majority of Canadians who are decent, law-abiding people are scared and confused at what they see around them. But their fear and confusion is turning to anger, especially when something as horri- fying as Alison Parrott"s murder takes place. at least bring back the death penalty in limited form for certain capital crimes like cold-blooded murder? Their desire for a return to the death penalty is simply part of a larger desire for more control, more order, stronger laws, bigger jails, more cops, tougher judges. . "The middle class feels ncipless and abandoned. They feel their interests, their rights, their need for pro- tection has been forgotten in this country. The middle class feels they have been kicked in the teeth once too often. The murder in Toronto last week was not only a crime against an 11-year old girl, it was a crime against everything that is decent and good. Now it is time to start fighting back. The middle classes are no longer interested in obscure debates on whether capital punishment is a deterrent against murder. or whether it is ethically *'right" for the state to take a life. The middle classes no longer care about the rights of pimps or druggies or muggers who prey on the elder- Iv. They don't care if a child molester was *'deprived as a youth so long as that child molester is off the streets. The middle classes are fed up with pointy-headed arguments about rights and freedoms. They are fed up with what they see and hear in the streets every day. They are fed up with laws that don't protect them from what they see and hear in the streets every day. The middle class in this country today has not yet reached the panic point. But it's getting closer all the time. The middle class is going to demand some radical changes or there will be an open revolt. (Turn to page 6) Is it any wonder they are asking the politicians to ES Cae NIST on Yesterday's Memories 60 YEARS AGO : Thursday, August 5, 1926 Miss Miriam Harris is returning home after spending a number of weeks in Montreal. _ Myrtle appointment is holding a Garden Party at the home of Fred O'Boyle on Friday evening. Entertainers include George Gran- ville, gold medal elocutionist, Clara Butt, entertainer, and Jimmie Reid, comedian, all of Toronto. Friday and Saturday specials at James McKee and Son's Superior Stores include, 10 lbs. granulated sugar 68 cents; Brunswick , Sardines - 4 tins for 25 cents: white tapioca - 2 Ibs. for 19 cents. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 9, 1951 Mrs. M. Mero and her pupils at SS No. 7. Reach Township Public School, Greenbank, placed 8th in the 1950-51 Rural School Ground Improvement competition, sponsored by the Ontario Horticultural Association. Mr. Camplin brought in a saucer of raspberries last week some measuring #3 to 1 inch across and 1', inches long. Peter Lawrence (Lawrence's Rexall Drug Store) and Jim Kight, (Archer Motor Sales). placed first and second respectively in the car derby sponsored by the Port Perry Businessmen's Sports Day. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday. August 3, 1961 Congratulations to Miss Linda Pickard who has won a new bicy- cle in the Elmer Safety contest. A new restaurant, Conway Gardens. has been opened recently on the 7A highway in Port Perry. Larry Skerratt, a student of Prince Albert Public School. this week obtained his official Red Cross swimming badge at Pine Ridge Park with excellent marks. Larry has been assistant teaching in- structor at that park this summer. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday. August 11, 1966 For the first time in the history of the Port Perry Star. this newspaper was among the prize winners at the convention of the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association. The Star was awarded third prize for Best Front Page among Canadian weeklies On her retirement from the Municipal Office in Port Perry. Mrs. Margaret Hayes was presented with an occasional chair from the village and a wrist watch from the employees of the municipality. Messrs. Roy and Harold McLaughlin. Blackstock competed in a large horse shoe pitching contest in Simcoe recently. They and their wives spent the weekend in Fort Erie. Buffalo and area. Letters Profit in non-profit housing plans Dear Sir: It is interesting to see the municipalities in Durham one at a time be confronted by our new form of welfare housing. The most- ridiculous part of all this is the claim that it is non-profit when in effect the corporations who gain the con- tract to build these houses are mak- "ing phenomenal profits. An example of this is the Conant development which is a bunch of townhouses . crowded onto a small piece of land - each one of those units costing over '$71.000 a house (that's a townhouse) Our present policy of forcing high- standard services at high cost on housing in Oshawa and Whitby. is what has caused the shortage of af- fordable housing. Only the Councils Phantom is back Dear Sir: I really enjoved myself during Festival Days. I'm sorry Bill. that I couldn't make the Wintario draw in person. but even the Phantom has to work. so I sent my calling card I hope Faye Dance like her souvenir. The plaque sounds really nice. thanks for the thought. Perhaps one day you'll be able to give it to the Phantom. The pancake breakfast was good as always. You serve very good cof- fee. I enjoyed the dance Saturday night. By the way I didn't send you the letter written in liquid paper. My letters will remain consistent in style. of Whitby or Oshawa can change this by changing their policy, mak- - ing their demands less, and spacing them in years so that no homeowner is hit with high mortage costs. The double deficit that our present homeowners have is a burden that most of them will not be able to carry in the future. By double deficit I mean the oversized mortgage and interest rates which they must pay because of the high cost of lot ser- vicing and the extra cost they must pay in Provincial and Federal taxes to pay the high subsidy which will be required in future years to pay for all these welfare houses which are now being built. As a member of the Regional Planning Committee, I am most an- noyed with the situation we have wherein the members of staff « Region are constantly recommen- ding that we refuse developments and private enterprise which will be self-sufficient and no cost to the tax- payer and on the other hand, that same staff is bustling busy to co- ordinate and build as many of these welfare houses as they can, putting that much more tax and stress and neighbourhood disruption on the present taxpayers who are paying more than their fair share. It is my sincere hope that the future year will see us reassess our high costs and start developing land instead of curtailing private enter- prise. It is also my hope that in short order we will no longer have need of these welfare housing ghettos which will be a constant social disruption. Yours truly, Doug Wilson, Councillor, Region of Durham and City of Oshawa. Hospital great Dear Sir: Your headline in the July 29th issue regarding 'Three-year ac- creditation good news for hospital' could have just as easily read "THREE-YEAR HOSPITAL AC- CREDITATION GOOD NEWS FOR OUR COMMUNITY Since May 1, 1986 I personally have spent close to fifty days in three different hospitals, including two stays in our Community Hospital. In my opinion our local Communi- (Turn to page 6) Letters to the Editor ... our policy ------ It has always been the policy of this newspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter The Phantom 1s sorry to disap- point vou all. but I'm not Jack The Phantom knows vou probably won't believe. but Jack > not (ie only per- son who likes to get people talkirg Thanks to all of »ou who made the weekend so much tun 10 YEARS AGO Thursday. August 5, 1976 A police roadblock just east of Port Perry on the causeway was in operation for about two hours while a bomb-squad searched the { evening Lindsay-bound bus out of Toronto for explosives A telephone | call tipped officials off that cne of their buses would be blown-up if | a sum of money was not delivered to a Toronto location | Close to 200 people attended the Royal Canadian Legion last | Saturday night to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Branch 419 President Jack Lee spoke briefly. followed by a talk by commrade John Maw who reminisced about the branch since its' start in the back of the Post Office in 1946 The Phantom PS Jack. The Phantom doesn't to the editor. Co really think your flamingos are all While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must continue that tacky Did Lukes get them all | to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. sold for you" L