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6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, Oct. 25, 1994 "Scugog"s Community Newspaper of Choice" Ep > PORT PERI STAR ITORIAL Editorial Comment A feeling of community It would be easy, in the wake of last Thursday night's events in Port Perry, to rely on cliche and hyperbole to describe the mood of the community. Shock. Horror. Disbelief. A feeling of in- nocence lost. Cliche, yes. But all true. The brutal robbery and shootings at the Port Perry Plaza at 7:27 p.m. Thursday sent a shock wave through Port Perry and Scugog, and beyond. There was a feeling that the inevitable had finally occurred: That Port Perry, so idyllic and peaceful and far from the trou- bles of the big world outside, has had a coming out of sorts. That we had joined the ranks of the other cities and towns touched by sense- less violence and vicious crime. And that things would never be the same again. But don't despair, Scugog. It takes more than one act to irrepara- bly tear the fabric of a close and caring community. Look, for instance, at the action taken by your neighbors in the wake of the vio- lence: Q passersby comfort Det. Paul Mooy, shot and bleeding, by covering him with a blanket and offering words of encourage- ment. 0 a local man, who watched the drama in the bank unfold, races between parked cars, his head down, to get to a tele- phone and call police a survivors of the robbery rush to the aid of the bank manager, shot down cruelly by thieves a cards and flowers arrive at the local police station the morning after the event, offering encouragement and suppert to the fallen officers, and their colleagues 0 tips provided police after the robbery by witnesses and bystanders prove a val- uable aid in apprehending two suspects hundreds of miles away. It's true that these kinds of actions could have occurred elsewhere, and like- ly have in similar situations. What's im- portant, though, is that it happened here, and goes a long way toward defining the kind of community Scugog is. So rather than despairing over this cruel intrusion on our lives and lifestyles, we should take heart, and know well that the next time tragedy occurs, we will be able to stand firm and come to the aid of those who need it. It's just the way things are here, and the way they'll stay. el ETE SJ SAAN A LAIN Eppla ss 5200 EAT Pel DEPP ONE --~ NN Ny YAN So Wet REA T x 3 tC] = a EE Se Ws a a ID PAS y Noh : ANNES CIDER RL SoHE mn 223. {© Na N { > 23 ~ PE TRA TEE ea PARE B cr fF rr PAR Lr x LL. - WN -, == THES SC : og on, - » aati, cll -" Se ZZ ly Lili : SHA PERL ARAST FIVE Sr ie. Ol rv ww RET \ Bo tg N -- aT - Zo Sa. I WF A 7A 77 A 7 IZ A 7 ; A / Lr ' FY NL RFPs : ead TPZ V7, 7.0 Ns Ie 27 C) A | iy A J 7 | {| I he ~ 7 : ~ 1 3 [ . : : TN \ i . +d \t \ = FSA YANNNY/ RELI SR NN NAAN NNN 2) A mm Th =p PEELE SOA GRY VATE a x | TLS TTY LIS NV Sh LY \ Cafe 4 Pe ' WQ\RNCE VS \ A nee "a Brian Callery. F our new members were Initiated into the Port P November 1975. From left are Doug Wray, Greg Heffering, Doug bin Random Jotting by J. Peter Hvidsten : ) STILL A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE There have been a lot of cliches written and spoken as the events of last Thursday night have unfolded and been reported. But one article in the Toronto Star last Saturday almost made me sick. It made Port Perry sound like some iso- lated community, a Utopia or Paradise never touched by the horrors going on around us. To be sure, Port Perry is a great little community and offers some serenity com- pared to larger metropolis'... but we're not isolated to this violent society. This community has experienced trage- dy before, not of this magnitude, but tra- gedy just the same. The article in question suggested the following: Area residents are "gentle folks who trust. Helpful people who never locked their doors until Thursday night." "It's a place were life is simple, where folks have either lived all their lives or moved to escape the stresses of the city." While there is some truth in what was written, it portrays Port Perry as a quiet it- tle town on the south shore of a lake where nothing ever happens. And that's simply not true! I ETTERS In the past, this community has experi- enced armed robberies, vandalism, drownings, suicides, motor vehicle accid- ents, sexual molestations and many other Budget cuts? ... start with bilingualism To the Editor: Finance Minister Paul Martin says he's going to leave nothing unturned to cut the deficit, "Come hell or high wa- ter." Ottawa has spent $49.2 billion trying to bilingualize Canadians between 1974 and 1993. According to a printed report by the Official Languages Commissioner, his dept. alone spent $1.2"billion in the last two years. Reform Leader Preston Manning claims the figure is $4 billion a year. Although less than 1 per cent of the population outside Quebec are uniligual French speaking, Prime Minister Chre- tien said in St. Louis De Kent New Brunswick, "The French fact is here to stayin Can- ada and the Federal Government will do allitcan to keepit that way." The latest catering to Quebec is the moving of Canada's National Archives to Quebec from Ontario. Just days before Paul Martin's "hell or high water" warning, Ottawa gave a to- tal of $40 million in foreign aid to Hai- ti...a French speaking country. Why not food or agricultural tools? Ottawa spends about $2 billion a year on foreign aid. Charities Ottawa licenses as tax deductable, see millions more go- ingout of the country. Lost taxes must be made up by other taxpayers. Charity starts at home. Dean J. Kelly, Port Perry. violent and unfortunate crimes. Thursday's shooting of five people was undoubtedly the worst incident to ever occur in this town, but it doesn't mean we should feel any less safe than before. It was an isolated incident, and the chances of something of this magnitude happening again in the near future are slim, although not impossible. Crime is on the increase and the city is stretching its tentacles farther and farther out into the countryside. Port Perry is as safe a place to live as any small town, located on the perimeter of a large city, but Thursday's shooting should be a reminder to us all, that we are not isolated from the rest of the world. But it's still a great place to live.