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

TTR TRI ST WN Soe on. J oY A Ki: +a i e. fu i + "6 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 16, 1993 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" EDITORIAL The Port Perry Star 188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONTARIO - L9L 1B7 PHONE (416) 985-7383 FAX 985-3708 The Port Perry Star is authorized as second class mail by the Post Office Department, Ottawa, for cash payment of postage. Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: 6Months-$17.72 includes $1.22GST BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1992 ADVERTISING 1Year-$32.10 includes $2.10GST Foreign -$90.95 includes $5.95GST Publisher - J. Peter Hvidsten News Editor - Scott Anderson Features Editor - Julia Dempsey Sports Editor - Kelly Lown Advertising Manager - AnnaJackman Advertising Sales - Jackie McDonell Production - Pamela Hickey, Barbara Bell BUSINESS OFFICE PRODUCTION Annabell Harrison, Trudy Empringham Robert Taylor, Office Manager - Gayle Stapley Accounting - Judy Ashby, Lousie Hope Retail Sales - Kathy Dudley, Marlene Moore *CNA Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co. Ltd. Port Perry, Ontario * GST included in price Editorial Comment Budgets Past And Present Where have all the people gone? When the Township of Scugog's bud- get committee debated the yearly budget over the past couple weeks and council subsequently approved it last week, there was hardly a soul in the chambers to see how the money of the Scugog taxpayers was going to be spent. : When the 0.894-per cent increase, which tacks an extra $3.78 onto your tax- es, was approved in the late afternoon on March 8, only three people were in the crowd to see the budget get council's blessing. But it is also these three men who sit through every council meeting solely out of interest of the local political scene. In less than 10 minutes, council passed a budget which provides for expenditures of $6,541,308 with revenues of $3,031,458, requiring a levy of $3,509,850. This necessitated a tax in- crease of 0.89 per cent, costing an aver- age household an additional $3.78. Among the items outlined in the $6.5- LOEW 3 ~ 1M GLAD THERE'S gTilL A FEW OF THESE ZZ NWUAR BILLS AROUND, b (Uy IL CAN'T IMAGINE \ RING 10 s1REfCH A AG) Looney | Lob {| Editor's Notepad million budget, $701,486 was earmarked for General Administration, $669,781 for the fire department, which included two new vehicles, $1,792,798 for the Roads Department, $164,085 for the Parks and Recreation Committee and $195,838 for the Scugog Memorial Public Library. Although Ward 4 Councillor David Diet- lein argued against the budget and pro- tested the need for even a slight in- crease, the document was approved without much of a fight. The budget committee held numerous meetings over the last month as it ham- mered away on numbers. There were a number of delegations representing their various committees at these meetings to outline their needs, but no one opposed the tax increases. It was the same scenario when council- lors approved the Region of Durham's budget last month. In a matter of minutes the 32-member council approved a 3.5- per cent tax increase with hardly a wit- ness looking on. There was a time just a few years ago when a number of tax groups and coali- tions would attend every meeting and every committee to lobby for zero tax in- creases. These watchdogs would scruti- nize every move and every dollar spent by the councillors, ensuring their local politicians were accountable. But times have changed and they are no longer at these meetings. Why then and not now? Blanche Taylor posed for this picture when she was Letter to the editor Responding to letter writer's misinformation To the Editor: at board and committee meetings is ex- It 18 not regular practice to respond to Letters to the Editor in our many local newspapers; however, I am making an exception to clarify misinformation in C. Switzer's letter published in your March 2 edition. First, C. Switzer questions Scugog Trustee Bobbie Drew's attendance at board meetings. Bobbie Drew is a dedi- cated trustee whose attendance record emplary. Second, the teachin indeed mandatory in of abstinence is urham Board of 'Education schools, as stated many times by Superintendent of Education/ Program Doug Wilson in responge to questions from C. Switzer at board meet- ings. For those young people in the 74 per cent of teens not yet sexually active, a program of abstinence, the importance of abstinence, and strategies for remain- ing abstinent are taught. For those young people in the 26 per cent of teens who are sexually active and for those teens in the first group who may at some point in time become sexually active, programs which give them accurate and necessary information on topics like birth control and sexually transmitted Turn to Page 8 wa" by Scott Anderson NAMES IN THE NEWS In Canada we poss- ess many freedoms and rights. Among these are the right to freedom of expression, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. We also have many rights under the con- stitution which protects us from unlawful persecution as well as unlawful prosecution. Paul Bernardo, Guy Paul Morin, Ben Johnson and a host of others are all protected under these rights as is the rest of the Canadian population. In criminal prosecutions and in the court of law, one is presumed "innocent until pro- ven guilty." It is the responsibility of the prosecutors and the criminal courts to deter- mine whether the party or parties are guilty as charged. : But too often the public has convicted the person before he\she has had their day in court. There are two sides to every story and eve- ry incident. This is no different when dealing with criminal proceedings. A person must be given a fair hearing or trial before we make up our minds whether this person has done any wrong doing. Even before Ben Johnson had a chance to explain his side of the story in the latest ille- gal substance scandal, many were denounc- ing him for cheating once again. It was the same for Paul Bernardo, arrested in connection with the "Scarborough Rapist" incidents a number of years ago and also suspected in the deaths of two Niagara Region teens. No charges have been laid in these deaths but the public is already con- vinced that he is the guilty one. It is because of this, many believe Mr. Bernardo will not get a fair trial. Under the Freedom of Information Act, the media is entitled to the police reports which include the names of persons charged. We are free to publish these names under certain provisions. But more and more media agencies, including the Port Perry Star, are avoiding this practise and electing to report on the charges without using the names of the indi- viduals. It is my belief that all are innocent until proven guilty. To give fair coverage to a story one would have to report both the ini- tial charge and also each court appearance. If we print the initial charges, but do not follow up, especially if the person is found not guilty, it is not only unfair, but harmful to the person's character. We owe it to the person and the public to report the whole story. A respected criminal lawyer once told me that the media shouldn't name people until after they' ve been found guilty and then "print their name in every paper from Newfoundland to British olmbia. I would have to agree that this is the best way to provide fair coverage of a story with- out damaging a person's reputation. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Port Perry Star encourages our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column helps make us a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name and include a phone number for verification. Sorry, no anonymous letters will be published. The Port Perry Star also reserves the right to edit with respect to libelous comments or length of letter.