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N g ' { ; 4 6 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, July 5, 1989 @he Pout Perey Sar 235 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO PHONE 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the EDITORIAL Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten Editor - John B. McClelland News/Features - Cathy Olliffe News Reporter - Rob Streich Darlene Hlozan BUSINESS OFFICE Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby Billing Department - Louise Hope ADVERTISING Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. PRODUCTION Advertising Co-ordinator - Valerie Ellis Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Annabell Harrison Advertising Sales Representative: Subscription Rate: In Canada $20.00 per year Trudy Empringham Anna Gouldburn Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Linda Ruhl, Hesghr Jones < 52) : ( NA : 3) \ Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario Editorial Comment A MESSAGE? One of the most frightening and incomprehensible aspects of modern society is the emergence of youth gangs and their penchant for seemingly random acts of vi- olence. . In recent months, the media have been filled with sto- ries of such gangs and their swarming tactics in shopping 'malls, subway stations and street corners. There have been reports of people badly beaten and kicked for a pair of sneakers, a windbreaker or a piece of jewelry. While some gangs seem to enjoy violence just for the heck of it, others have a racist bent and direct their vio- lence towards Jews, blacks, and all visible minority groups. A few weeks ago, a Toronto synagogue was smeared with swastikas and vulgar expressions. There are reports that skin-head gangs in the United States are * being recruited, trained and armed by so-called white su- premist organizations to act as shock troopers, and law enforcement agencies in Canada feel the same thing will soon be happening in this country. Last week in a Toronto Youth Court the 17-year old leader of a gang was sentenced to a term in jail for his part in a gang fight at a high school. And according to news reports the Youth Court judge had some stern words before he handed down sentence. The judge called the emergence of gangs an "atroci- ty" in the city of Toronto, and as fellow gang members sat chuckling and whispering in the court room, the judge ad- monished them by saying "I hope the message goes out ot you in this court that we are not going to put up with this nonsense in the city of Toronto." The leader had pleaded guilty to charges of assault, possession of a dangerous weapon, assault with a weap- on and mischief. In the gang fight, he had broken the shoulder of one person and slapped him across the face with the side of a butcher knife. Then, the judge sentenced him to six months in jail, half the time suggested by the Crown prosecuter. Six months in jail? That is supposed to be a message to gang members that their nonsense will not be tolerat- ed? 'The gang leader, just 17, can't even be identified in court because he is a "youthful offender." A six month sentence is no message for gang mem- bers. In fact, this particular character will likely be out on the streets in four months, and on probation for two years. Spending about 100 days in the slammer will be worn. like a badge of courage on the shoulder of this guy when he does return to the streets. The fact that he's "done time" will elevate him to a higher status among his impres- sionable peers, and no doubt he will remind them con- stantly that doing six months is no big deal. Of course six months in jail is no big deal, especially when that six months really means three to four months. What kind of a deterrent is that: If the good judge real- ly wanted to sent out a P\pssage. he would have slapped him with a year at least, onmaybe 18 months, just to drive his point home that gangs are an "atrocity." Bleeding hearts and do-gooders will argue that youth gangs are just symptoms of deep-rooted problems with so- clety itself. These teen-agers are not bad, they are just confused and mis-guided. Throwing them in jail is not the answer, we should be treating the problems, not the symp- toms. ) (Turn to page 8) "\ KNOW FULL WELL HoW YOU FEEL , YOUNG MAN, ~-- | CONSTANTLY GET THE FEELING OF EMPTINESS foo !" eRe ooonooan0on D Tears came to my eyes as | watched Gor- don Lightfoot sing The Canadian Railroad Tril- ogy. And | wasn't alone. As Canada's most prolific and well-known folk singer sang about the painful birth of the first railway to cross our great country, many people in the audience had misty eyes. I's not often that people get worked enough to cry while watching Front Page Challenge, and maybe The Canadian Rail- road Trilogy by itself doesn't inspire such emotion. What really tugged at the old heartstrings was the timing of Lightfoot's perfomance on Front Page Challenge. There he was, telling us about how hard our ancestors worked on the Canadian + Dream; how they toiled under adverse condi- tions; how hy Yiod 50 Canada could be united by one ribbon of steel. And there's the Conservative government, attempting to axe VIA Rail. Worse, the cuts may be made without any public hearings. The problem is, VIA costs taxpayers a pile of money--to the tune of $600 million a year in subsidies. But instead of. trying to improve the fassenosr service, as the PC's promised be- ore they were elected, the government is simply going to delete railway lines. If this happens (and no doubt it will), many valued routes will disappear from VIA sched- ules, leaving Canadians without the rail ser- vice that was so important to our forefathers. The Right Honourable John A. MacDonald would be turning over in his grave if he knew what Prime Minister Brian Mulroney has in store for his National Dream. Granted, something has to be done to re- duce VIA's horrendous debt, but it seems to me that the government isn't trying. And | think Mulroney should be doin everything in his power to protect the one t ing that is so Chatterbox by CATHY OLLIFFE or EOC EATH OF THE CANADIAN DREAM i important to Canada's history, and Canada's future. : Maybe I'm a little sentimental when it comes to the railway. My father has worked for CP Rail for nearly 40 years. His only broth- er lost his life on the job for the CPR. | guess I've grown up with the railway in my blood. My Uncle Don started with CPR first, leav- ing the farm for the big city and a guaranteed wage when times were tough. When he came home to visit, Dad must have been impressed with his brother's new clothes and wild sto- ries, because it wasn't too much later that my father left the farm. He was only 17 at the time and you had to be 18 to work on the CPR, so he lied about his age and got the job. In those days the powerful locomotives still ran on steam, and Dad was one of the men who fed those hungry engines with coal. As a fireman, his work was hard and dirty, but Dad kept at it and eventually became an engineer. Of course there are no more firemen on the raiway. The job became extinct when diesel engines took over. The "hen house" (ca- boose) is also on the verge of extinction. And now it looks like VIA will meet the same fate. That's a crime, as far as I'm concerned. It was the railway that built our country, and in many areas of Canada, VIA is still the only way to get from one place to another. Sure, the government should cut down on spending--but | know there's a lot of fat that can be trimmed without touching VIA Rail. The railway Is an institution in Canada. It is a part of the way Canadians see themselves-- it's an important part of our identity. The first line of Lightfoot's Canadian Rail- road Trilogy Is, "There was a {ime in this fair land when the railroad did not-fun..." Unfortunately, if Mulroney has his way, that line will be just as timely five years from now as it was In the 1800's. a EN UT Sn ONT a ho! a yr alr eA A Ch a"