IPAGI 4, Wl DN ES)AY OCI013IR Il, 195, Wl HITBIY rI FRE PRESS w hitby Published every Wednesday MICHAEL KNELL - by M.. Publishing Community Editor and Photographylinc. Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor '..'>x',"hiv,rt. RestaoNo35 IC HAEL KNELL Commun ity Ed itor ýV/VALERIE CoEN ýjAdvertIsing Manager 1:11Broc Stret N rth.Second Class mail Voic of he C untyTownMichel ln Buges, Pulishr - anagng EitorP.0.Box206,WRegistrationistat No N 53335 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby iresidents for Whitby residents. Inquest into Durham Centre resident's death has left far too many unanswered questions The recent inquest into the death of Vern Green, a resident of the Durham Centre for the Develop- mentally Handicapped has answered a great many questions, but has still left far too many unan- swered. The coroner's jury did not have an easy task. In the space of two days, they were expected to make sound and rational judgements about an amazingly complex issue, the catalyst of which was the unfortunate death of 65-year-old Vern Green. In addition to the circumstances surrounding I came across a piece of junk mail recently, that caught my attention - as it was intended to - because of the querulous, almost hostile note struck by the writer. "I'm puzzled", it read. "And I'd appreciate your help. I thought the possibility of acquiring enormous wealth would interest almost everyone. But I was wrong. What's happened is almost the op- posite of what I expected." I gathered at this point that there had probably been a previous mailing, which we had ignored. And I read on to discover that what the man was selling was s serles of lessons on how to make money in the real estate market. The puzzled salesman continued: "Now I know that making a lot of money interests you, so it must be something else." No one, particularly my employers, has ever ac- cused me of not being interested in making a lot of money. Let's accept the fact that everyone wants his share of the stuff. It has not escaped my notice that the people who own department stores, oil com- panies, and restaurants make more money than the people who work for them, but I have never envied the owning class. It's been my experience that people who work for other people have more fun and less worry. I have long been convinced that almost anyone can make a lot of money if they want to badly enough, even if they don't have any to start with. Anyone who is prepared to spend every waking hour thinking about and pursuing wealth, to the exclusion of family, friends, hobbies and everything else, is likely to catch up with it. But normal people feel that life is too short for that sort of devotion to money- making. The author of the junk mail sales pitch cited a shining example or two about people who had made money in real-estate. One man found four small, or poorly planned houses in well-located neigh- borhoods and managed to buy them for 35 thousand dollars each. Within a month, he sold two for $43,000 each, and a month later, he sold the third for $48,000. He rented the fourth and waited for the market to improve. A year lèter he sold it for $68,000. This is supposed to tempt us? The guy made 62 thousand dollars on the backs of four families who paid too much for their houses. No thanks. I have enough on my conscience now. his death, the jury was asked to consider whether or not it has anything to do with the upcoming closure of Durham Centre which is scheduled for next March 31. One thing that this newspaper found par- ticularly disturbing was the fact that the Durham Regional Police were not called into the search until 24 hours after Vern Green was reported missing. Notwithstanding the fact that he was deemed to be a low risk resident (in other words, he was considered capable of going into town and returning home by himself) the management of Durham Centre should have called police as soon as it was known that he hadn't visited any of his usual haunts in downtown Whitby. That, accor- ding to testimony given at the inquest, would have been just a few hours after he was reported missing, not a full day. Vern Green was a resident of Durham Centre because he needed the kind of care that facility provides. Despite the fact that he was a low risk resident, he did suffer a certain degree of mental retardation and related medical problems. The fact that he needed their care should have been more than enough'reason to call police into the search as soon as Durham Centre staff could not locate him easily. The other question that will probably never be answered is how did he get to the spot in north Qshawa where he was found dead almost three weeks after he disappeared. Testimony at the inquest did not really shed any light on this par- ticular mystery. During the inquest there was conflicting testimony on whether or not the pending closure of Durham Centre had any effect on Vern Green's disappearance and subsequent death. While no one can say for sure what was on his mind, it is apparent that the closure did have an emotional impact on hlm. The centre, and before that the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital, had been his home most of his ad'ult life. It would appear that his feelings about his home were no different from how the rest of us feel about this subject. There are rnany subjective arguements that come into play here. What the inquest exposed us to were a lot of opinions about whether or not this unfortunate human being was the victim of cir- cumstances beyond his control. If one accepts the arguement that the closure had an impact on death, then this newspaper would submit that the closure should be examined in that light. We have gone on record many times during the past two years opposing the closure of the Durham Centre for the Developmentally Han- dicapped. While we have supported the concept of de-institutionalization we have also noted that far too many problems have yet to be satisfac- torily resolved to continue the process that will lead to the closure next sprina. Because no one can say for sure that Vern Green's death was a direct result of the closure announcement, it alone is not sufficient reason to stop the process. But when this unfortunate in- cident is coupled with the other objections raised in this Issue, there are grounds for taking a second look. It is also unfortunate that the findings of a coroner's jury are not binding on anyone. At best, the jury acts as an advisory body. Their words carry very little weight. In the case of Vern Green and the pending closure of Durham Centre, that is tragic. This inquest could have had some degree of importance, but because the inquest system In Ontario is so weak the significance of Vern Green's death will never come to light.