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- 6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 5, 1999 «Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice ERED Wr BUSINESS OFFICE im sete Merber of the lh; Poul ProopfSlac J Office Mgr. ....... Gayle Stapley : Ganadian OVS NORE 2 = - - o Accounting.......Judy Ashby, Janet Rankin J CNA PU ror i." 188 MARY STREET - PORT PERRY, ONT. - LIL. 187 Retail Sales..... Kathy Dudley, Heather Callan 188 Many Soot. Port Pony, ONL. PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-Mail: port.perry.star@sympaetico.ca EDITORIAL: 3 ig] . : ADVERTISING Publications Mall Registrations No. 07881 PUbliSher.................J. Peter Hvidsten PRODUCTION Advertising Mgr. ......... . Don MacLeod Publications Mail Agreement No. 1389068 General Manager .... Don Macl.eod Trudy Empringham, Pam Hickey, Advertising Sales: Deb McEachem, Subscription Rates: Managing Editor.....Jeff Mitchell Rhonda Mulcahy, Robert Taylor, Barb Ginni Todd, Laurie Thompson, Cindy Jobin, cChNA 1 Year - $32.10 6 Months - $17.65 Foreign - $90.95 -ore News Reporters .....Chris Hall Includes $2.10 GST Includes $1.15 GST 'Incliides $5.95 GST Freelance - Heather McCras, John B. McClelland Ol Mors Bell, Richard Drew, Daryle Wright Editorial comment Ontario needs TT > ABS S JANTED 10 the SIU agency | Eh | START WITH | rol > j, SOMETHING 2 EASY! pg | Virtually since its inception, there have been questions raised as to the effectiveness and even the necessity of the Special Investigations S_ 1 QUIT SMOKING. : #2 EXERCISE Unit. oo | NH 3EAT LESS FAT = A The SIU, which probes incidents in which yt REMEMBER TO ge PoT THE TOILET civilians are hurt or killed as a result of police SEAT DOWN actions, is becoming something of a household name in Scugog. Investigators were here in bre November, when a man allegedly fleeing police was involved in a fatal accident. The officers were cleared of any wrongdoing, and deter- mined to have acted appropriately in that . St. DRIVERS: i ~~) = SAME JUNK, FSR he, = DIFFERENT Flt YEAR. WE instance. Now, the SIU is looking into-the : events leading up to the shooting that left a XN i Sunderland-area man dead, and his 17-year- KpoPA old son wounded. | Tort TERRY Police officers are notoriously suspicious of 5TAR the SIU and its investigators. It's the job of the SIU to determine whether of not officers have acted appropriately, and if criminal charges should be laid against officers involved in inci- dents. As a result, the officers are often only as cooperative as they are required to be. It's a tough situation, made more difficult by" that mistrust. But we need the SIU, because to be effective, any investigation must be impartial. And to have any credence with the public, that investigation must be seen to be independent and objective, something that can only occur if the investigating body is comprised of people from outside the police force involved. The SIU has been a troubled and at times troubling entity, but its intent should not be lost amid the acrimony and occasional ineffective- ness that have surrounded its work so far. Political correctness gone wrong To the Editor: It is high time for our politicians to show us some intestinal fortitude, and do away with all their political correctness. On Sept. 9, this year, a memorial service to commemorate the 229 people killed during Swissair flight 111 was held in Peggy' Cove. The federal government's pro- tocol office in Ottawa banned Jesus Christ's names from this service. It did not allow a "United Church Minister to read from the New Testament. A Roman Catholic priest was not to speak of his faith freely. Nevertheless, a Muslim read from the Koran, a Rabbi read the Hebrew Scriptures, 'and a native Canadian spoke about her people's beliefs. Most of those who perished belonged to the Christian faith. We should be really concerned. The fancy word multiculturalism is a complete waste of taxpayers' money. It is not working, and continually divides instead of uniting us. Our jellyfish politicians and legislators always trip qver themselves, banning the - word Christmas and Christ from our schools, as though it was a four-letter word. We have repeatedly allowed them to deny that Canada is a Christian nation through their spineless actions, shaking the very foundation of what Canada was built on. Oshawa Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten BELIEVE IT! THE MILLENNIUM IS UPON US! The countdown is on, and as this first issue of The Star for 1999 hits the street, there are only 361 days until the end of this century.... or millennium, if you prefer.. | suspect the word "millennium" will become so. overused during 1999 that by year's-end, the mere mention of the word will nauseate even the hardiest of souls. At least that's my guess. We'll just have to wait and seel "HOPE YOU HAD A GREAT NEW YEAR So how was your New Year's Eve? For the first time since our twin girls were born, our family celebrated the coming of the New Year -outside the walls of our house. ' X ~ - v, i { ISR ET Traditionally, for the past nine years, we've spent the night at home alone, sitting in front of the fire enjoying a steak dinner and sipping on wine, after the kids had retired for the night. Sometimes it was just Nancy and |, and qther years it was with friends in the same situation. But this year, with the kids now at the age that they want to stay up and party until midnight, we decided to venture out. We cancelled an earlier booking for a holiday in Florida between Christmas and New Years and decided to spend a couple of days of the Christmas holidays in Toronto. So we packed our bags and headed off to the city where we enjoyed an evening at Medieval Times, eating with our fingers and watching as soldiers fought with swords and lances on horseback. The following afternoon we took in Disney on Ice and enjoyed an early supper at Planet Hollywood, before heading off to the Royal Alex to see Slava's Snow Show. Had it been warmer, we would have joined in the celebrations at City Hall after the show, but the minus 17¢C temperature pushed us indoors. Our hotel room had a great view of Toronto's City Hall so we opened a bottle of wine, brought out hats, horns, some munchies and pop for the kids and sat 'near the window watching the New Year's celebra- tions unfold as thousands of people gathered on Nathan Phillips Square, 20 storeys below us.- We all agreed, it was the best New Year's we've had in years. Hope yours was too! NOOKIE NIGHT Read in the Globe & Mail while in Toronto that a British television network, ITV, has come up with an unusual way to promote the birth of as many babies as possible for thd first day of the new millennium. The network's program director has determined March 17, 1999 as the most likely date a child must be conceived if it is to be born on January 1, 2000, and plans to help Britains desiring a New Year's baby. To that end, the network plans to air an evening of erotic programming called "Nookie Night" nine months before the big day, to encourage cou- ples to conceive. It's all part of a project called Birthrace 2000, and ITV hopes to locate as many children as possible, born on New Year's Day 2000, and film them each January 1 for the rest of their lives. Any other good ideas? . Herman van der Veen,