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6- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, December 14, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" PUBLISHER - J. Peter Hvidsten GENERAL MGR. - Don Macleod MANAGING EDITOR - Jeff Mitchell REPORTER - Chris Hall OFFICE MANAGER - Gayle Stapley ADVERTISING MGR. - Deb McEachern Member Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc. PHONE (905) 985-7383 FAX (905) 985-3708 E-MAIL: port.perry.star@ sympatico.ca 1 Year - $37.45 (includes GST) Six Months - $19.79 (includes GST) EDITORIAL POLICY: Opinions expressed by columnists, contributors and letter writers are not necessarily those of The Port Perry Star. Letters must be si will be corrected if brought to the editor's attention. We reserve the night to edit or refuse publication of any material submitted. ADVERTISING POLICY: connection with any advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement. All claims of error in publication mus Publications Mail Registration No. 07881 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Member Canadian Community rir {» CNA Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - L9L 1B7 BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, Kathy Dudley, Janet Rankin, Lesley West. ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, Gail Morse, Heather Mack, Linda Clarke, Janet Archer, Malcolm Lennox PRODUCTION: Trudy Empringham, Pam Hickey, Daryle Wright, Robert Taylor, Richard Drew, Scott Ashby, Foreign 1 Year - $96.30 (includes GST) igned and the telephone number (which will not be published) included. Requests that a name be withheld will be honoured only if there is a compelling reason to do so. Errors The publisher is not liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher is not liable for other ©(TOrS Of OMISSIONS in tbe made by Wednesday, noon, prior to the next week's publication, and, it not made, will not be considered. No claim will be allowed for more than one insertion. Editorial comment Drunks still behind the wheel It seems as though every holiday season papers like this one announce the beginning of the police force's Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere (RIDE) program, and quote some- one, somewhere, as saying impaired driving is unacceptable, and must be fought. And it seems that every year, the numbers of people being caught drunk behind the wheel either increases, or remains on a par with last year's results. Curious, eh? The campaign of information, investigation and incarceration has gone on for years now, and yet the disturbing fact remains: People will be driving while impaired this Christmas season, and beyond. They're going to hurt and kill other people, and themselves. The grief they create will reverberate well beyond the holidays. So what to do? We find ourselves in agreement with the rep- resentatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), who were in Port Perry last week to make a donation toward the Durham Regional Police force's efforts to fight impaired driving. MADD advocates tougher penalties for drunk drivers -- especially repeat offenders, and those who cause injury or death -- and improving the odds for officers to lay'charges that will stand up in court. And maybe that latter element should be" stressed even more. Penalties for impaired driv- ing are becoming stricter all the time, but unless the police can catch them in the act and lay the appropriate charge, the measures taken by leg- islators will have little effect. Advocating such measures as blood and breath tests in all cases of injury-causing acci- dents needn't be an infringement of rights. Rather, such measures can be seen as more measures to protect the public. You WILL NOT TOUCH THESE POOR, MISUNDERSTOOD. .. HEY! WHO TOOK MY WALKMAN 7! ) 7 WY 0, i zy, Por Perey STAR pet abuse law? than people? have asked for it for years. Is federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan creating a smokescreen over the Young Offenders Act with her new I agree wholeheartedly that those who abuse pets should be held accountable and jailed. But why is this law so quickly Y.0.A. passed when the Young Offenders Act is always held on the back burner? Is the welfare of pets more important It's time for YOA to be amended Let justice be done and justice served Offenders who were responsible for the brutal beating and death of Dmitri Baranovski. They knew what they were doing and should not be protected by the Canadians and the victims of crimes have lost faith with our justice system because of the ineptitude and ignorance of our Federal Government in Ottawa. As with the pet abuse law, it is now also high time to scrap the Young Offenders Act. The majority of Canadians Herman van der Veen Oshawa in adult court by these so called Young by J. Peter Hvidsten PM's TOUGH STANCE IS GOOD NEWS I've never been a real fan of our current Prime Minister, Jean past few weeks have definitely tipped the scales in his favour. It's been my opinion in the past that our PM comes across a little too much like a dictator, insist- else. He gives very little rope to his party faithful to express themselves, especially if it differs from the party line. Although that type of politics doesn't impress me future attempts at separation have been quite Random Jottings Chretien, but his actions over the ing that members of the caucus toe the party line, or much, his strong actions regarding Quebec and any impressive. He leaves little doubt that as long as he's in power, separatists in Quebec will find it very difficult, if not impossible, to break up Canada. The new rules regarding separation he's outlined in legislation all but put an end to Premier Lucien Bouchard's dream of a distinct and separate Quebec. Until now, Canadians have bent over backwards to accommodate Quebec in an effort to hold the country together. But finally, it appears as if the fed- eralists have the upper hand and can now set the rules if Quebec separatists really do want to break away from Canada. But in doing so, it appears as if they will have to negotiate debt, minority rights and even the borders that currently identify Quebec. As much as most of us are sick and tired of lis- tening to the debate about Quebec separating, it's going to be very interesting over the next few weeks to see how separatists react to this latest blow to their plans. You can be sure there will be a lot of desk pound- ing in the "house" over this matter. TIME'S TICKING DOWN Like a lot of men, as the days before Christmas tick down, the sense of urgency to get out and start shopping begins to build. I's starting to get like that for me. Last year at this time | was in great shape. | had most of my shopping done, and half the presents wrapped with just over a week to go until Christmas morning. But here | am, only 11 days away from the big "day, and aside from a couple of stocking stuffers, lit- tle else has been accomplished. My plans are to get started this week. Of course, that's what I've said for the past couple of weeks, but when it gets this close there's not a lot of pro- crastination time left. It will get done! There will be presents under the tree this Christmas, and mom and the kids will never know that | was running around until the last minute. Heck, they won't even care, as long as there's some good stuff to unwrap Christmas morning. So to all the guys that fall into the category of "last minute shoppers".... good luck!