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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, December 22, 1987 -- § by John Viewpoint B. McClelland I know this is the Port Perry Star Christmas edi- tion, and this column should be festive, filled with things to make you laugh, to bring warmth to your heart and joy to your soul. Forget it. If you're in the Christmas spirit, turn to something else in the paper. Don't bother reading any more of this piece. Christmas or not, I found it hard to believe a week or so ago when the Metro Police sent a small army of its finest men and women into the streets of that fair city on Friday night. Their purpose was not to nab a vicious mugger stealing grocery money from little old ladies; it was not to put the collar on the neighbourhood coke merchant selling to school kids; and it was not to round up the gang of knife-wielding thugs who had robbed the cor- ner variety store of the day's receipts. No, that Friday night, the Metro Police were out in force torid the streets once and for all of prostitutes and their hapless customers known as "johns." The female police officers painted their faces, donn- ed wigs and tight black skirts, mesh stockings and high heels, and they loitered around the street corners in a downtown area just waiting for some sucker to venture by and make a cash offer for sex. No sooner had they made the offer when other police officers stationed near- by swooped down and rushed the poor "john"' off to the slammer where he was charged with communicating for the purpose of prostitution. More than 100 were rounded up that night. Most pleaded guilty the next day and were handed a sentence of pay $150 to charity and performing community service work. What are we coming to in this country? It is not il- legal for a woman or man to charge for sexual services, butt it is against the law to communicate for that purpose. I find it incredible that with all the real crime tak- ing place on the streets of Toronto and every other city and town in Canada, that the law-makers and the police still deem it necessary to clamp down on prostitutes and their clients. Prostitution may be repulsive and evil. But it's been a fact of life since the beginning of town, and it still is in 1987. Using a small army of police officers to round up prostitutes and their customers is a hell of a waste of time when those same cops might be better off roun- ding up real criminals who threaten society. Putting 100 or so hapless "johns" through the legal wringer for attempting to purchase sex is not going to rid society of prostitutes. Heck, 300 years ago, they us- ed to burn them at the stake and that didn't act as a deterrent. It's been said many times beforg that the only way to get prostitution off the streets is to legalize the business, put it in houses far removed from residential neighbourhoods and schools, and then slap a tax on it. Of course, there isn't a politician anywhere in the coun- try with enough back-bone to do this. They prefer to deal with the problem the old-fashioned way. Turn the cops loose for a night or two, round 'em up, make sure the press knows so the names can be published in the mor- ning papers, and hope it all goes away. e It won't go away. One would like to think that in a perfect world, there would be no need for prostitutes. Hell, in a perfect world there would be no need for politi- cians who make those dumb laws. But it's not a perfect world. Not everyone settles down to happy, monogamous marital bliss in a cute lit- tle house with a tidy picket fence in the front yard. Not by a long shot. And wishing otherwise won't alter reality. Still on the topic of sin and corruption, there are a lot of librarians and museum directors in Canada wondering if they may face criminal charges when the federal government gets around to passing its anti-porn legislation. Some very well known works of art and literature could fall under the no-no's of the new Bill, despite the assurances of the feds that librarians and curators have nothing to fear. The intent of the bill is admirable: to clamp down on pornography of the vilest sort. What the critics of the bill fear is that in its admirable intentions, it goes too far, and in fact will catch even mildly erotic films, magazines and books in its sweep. Most critics say the proposed Bill amounts to bla- tant censorship of any material that is sexual in nature which would include most of the films playing at the neighbourhood theatre and many which show up on late night television. The problem is definition. What's pornography tor one is art for someone else. There is no way in the world that a bunch of politicians polishing desks with their back-sides up there in Ottawa can possibly come up with a definition of what's pornographic and what is not. So, they've taken the easy route. Everything sex- ual in nature in films, books and magazines is a no-no. The Bill probably will go through the Commons and in reality, all the librarians and gallery curators probably wont' have much to worry about. But it would take just one person who doesn't like a particular piece of literature on the shelf of the local library to file a complaint with police and, bingo, the local librarian is up in court and must prove that the so-called offending piece is not pornographic. And one need only to look at some of the problems school boards have had in this country when some (Turn to page 6) Yesterday' Memories 70 YEARS AGO Lette rs To The Editor: Falling branches a health hazard that I felt should be cut down, try Some interesting items from a Reach Twp. Council Meeting: Ac- counts were passed to the amount of $443.50 mostly for roads and wire fence bonus. Salaries were paid - $75. to the Reeve, $65. to each councillor. ~ At the Scugog Council meeting the following accounts were pass- ed: the local board of health, Hiram Fralick, Dr. D. Archer, the reeve and clerk were paid $20. for their year's services, the members of the council were paid $10. each for 1917. Mr. John Rolph was presented with a life membership in the Bi- ble Society. He had been treasurer of the local branch for 40 years. ~ Mr. W.F. Weir of Manchester, will be candidate for the office of Deputy Reeve in Reach Twp. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 24, 1942 A.W. Enid Wallace of the R.C.A.F. (W.D.) has been posted to Rockcliffe. She was one of three honour graduates of her class at No. 6 Manning Depot, Toronto. Dr. M.B. Dymond leaves Port Perry for active service in the R.C.A.M.C. for the duration of the war. His practice will be carried on by Dr. Josephine Kamm. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 25, 1952 The first Canadian naval pilot to take part in combat operations against the Communists in Korea is a nephew of Mrs. Margaret Bates of Prince Albert. He is Lieut. Joseph McBrien. Reeve Harry Peel announced that the Corporation of Port Perry "wound up" with a surplus over $7,000 for 1952 at the council meeting held in the Library William W. Thompson, Alberta, has been appointed Paster of Port Perry Pentecostal Church. i. Mr. Harry Edinborough, a native of London, Ont. was appointed as manager of the Silverwoods Port Perry Branch. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, December 26, 1957 The Lions Club held their annual Christmas party at the Yacht Club. Mrs. Nelson Williams served a delightful meal. Mrs. Merlin Dowson was elected President of the United Church Evening Auxiliary. Mrs. John Hamilton was elected president of W.A. of St. John's Church, Blackstock. (Turn to page 8) Our concerns about falling bran- ches and limbs from the trees on Casimir St., in town, were verified during Tuesday, December 15th's snowstorm. Personal pain, suffering and damage resulted when a large limb crashed down on a car driven by our neighbours as they were returning to their home. The two adults were taken to the hospital by ambulance. The roof of their car was crushed. Today, they are home. Stiff, sore, and exhausted from their ordeal, they are, I'm sure, thankful to still be here. At least three families in the neighbourhood have expressed con- cern to the township's employees, the offices and the hydro crew on separate occasions, and over time, about the potential danger and threat the limbs impose upon us, our children and passersby. We have re- quested the removal of one tree, and the cutting of dead and dangerous limbs from other trees. Everytime there is a storm or a strong wind, our street is cluttered with dead branches and limbs. Hydro and cable lines may hit the street, cut down by the falling limbs. In most recent occasions, prior to Dec. 15, that huge fallen limb criss- crossed our street was late summer. At this time, I asked both hydro and township employees, as they work- ed to clean up the mess, to cut down the tree. 1 even pointed out limbs Farms vs subdivisions To The Editor: In Scugog, farmers and their families are a very important part of the economy and the community. However, strip residential develop- ment in farmland threatens to strangle the good farms and inhibit the farmers' right to farm. These points were raised by Ted Jensen, a local farmer, during Monday's (Dec. 7) presentation to Council. The pressure for allowing strip development in agriculturally ac- tive areas is strong as speculators try to capitalize on the growth poten tial of our area Council seems prepared to consider the interests of local farmers by promoting a stable farmland base and an enviornment in which farmers can make long term plans with confidence. As Jack Riddell, the Minister of Agriculture, has said: "This is essential if we ex- 4 pect farmers to continue making large capital investments to in- crease productivity and remain (Turn to page 6) ing to draw attention to them. ven then, they were swaying too loose- ly in the slight wind, cracking and creaking. 1 felt I offered a justifiable reason for the request. Simply, "Children play here." My request was to no avail. We can be thankful no one was killed on Dec. 15. However, the accident should never have happened. The limbs, branches and dead sections should have been removed by those per: sons who are responsible. In my opi- nion, the right people were notified. Requests were made on more than one occasion to have the limbs removed. The cleanup' crew has been here before; they have first hand knowledge; they too have seen the trees and heard them creak. They too have seen the previous damage caused by the falling limbs. Sincerely, Susan Mark, Port Perry to the editor Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper 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 While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer