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FW 1ESWpEDAAJyM ,189 AE21 I'Durham police to j oin OPP in torch run B y Trudie Zavadovics DuhmRegion'al Police wilI, join OPP police forces from across the province in a 'Torch Run' to raise funds for and kick off-hs year's Ontario Special QI jupics Summer Gaines. O n Thursday, Aug. 10 at 12:30 p.m. Durham Regional Police will gather at regional headquar- ters, and in a short ceremony, regional chairman Gary Her- rema will declare Aug. 10 'Law Enforcement Torch ]Run Day.' Durham's deputy police chief Doug Bulloch and a representa- tive from the Ontario Special Olympics will also be present. Durham Regional Police will then continue their run to the Durham/Scarborough boundary (arrivaI at 2:55 p.m.) wherethey will paàs the torch to York Regional -Police who will then complete the last lap of the relay and carry the torch 'to Esther Shiner Stadium in time for the opening ceremonies scheduled for 8p.m. The eastern route of the relay started in Petawawa on Aug. 4, then travelled systernatically to Almonte Manotick, Alexandria, Brockvilie, Marysville, Newcastle' and will finish its run Thursday fromn Durham to North York city hall. "There are about 120 regis- tered runners including regional police personnel and civilian per- sonnel,'» says John Rycroft of Durham Regional Police. "Thpre are representatives from each division acrosse the region. A large number are presently, tak- ine training in Whitby. 'The run itself is not so much an endurance test as public awareness,"* says Rycroft. 'Each runner will run one or two kilos. We want to promote awareness of the Ontario Special Olympics. «It was actually started in 1981 in Wichita, Kansas. T'he Ontario Region picked it up in 1987. This is our third year doing it. «Làst year we made $50,000. So far this year we are, up to $10.000,") says Rycroft.. .«We are asking people to make donations by calling Durhami Regional Police or dropping into any regional division and makxng a donation. There will also be someone at the Thursday after- noon 'Torch Run' ceremony to receive donations. "Every cent collected gets to the Ontarl*Sp cial Olympics. There are no administrative costs.» In 1988, 2,400 law enforce- ment runners in Ontario covered 2,500 miles and raised $245,000. In 1989 there are eight seperate relays starting in every corner of Ontario and covering a total of 3,000 miles. 4from Henry in Special Olympies By Trudie Zavadovics For the first time in the 21- year history of the Ontario Spe- cial Olympics, soccer will be a competing sport. It wiff join the traditional com- petitions, of bowling, swimming and track and field as an event in the Ontario Special Olympics Summer Games Aug. 10-13 at York University. The team representing Ontario District 12, which includes Dur- ham Region, is the Cobourg Aiea Soccer Club, the only existing soccer club within the Durham, Haliburton, Peterborough and Cobourg regions. Regional coordinator Estelle Bahr is anxious to get more clubs started throughout the region. Approximately 70 athletes and 20 coaches from Region 12 have trained for at least five months to prepare and qualify for the events. Four students froin Whitby's Henry Street High School will p articipate. They are Darren Forbes and David Meneely in track and field Matthew Thonmas in bowling and Clifford Wagg in swim 1in. Whitby's Jason Wil- loughby will also participate in swimming. "The kids are there to partici- pate and they really do their best,"says Chris Thomas, area 1 (Ajax, Pickering, Whitby)repre- sentative.- "They don't hold back, some really want to win. It's not just the sports side of it. It's the social interaction, too, and they really have a lot of fun. For some of the kids, it's their first turne away trom home," says Thomas. The Canadian Special Olym- pics is a charitable organization established by the late Harry 'Red' Foster in 1968 and has grown through the generosity of corporations, foundations, indivi- duals and service clubs and a countless nuniber of volunteers. Their goal is to "contribute to the physical, social and psycho- logical developinent of people who are mentally handicapped through positive, successful experiences in sport and to pre- pare these athletes for active and successful participation in regu- lar community athletic pro- grams." Currently, miore than 4,500 athletes in Ontario participate in an average of two sports. They igain balance, coordination and improved physical* fitness. The physical activity also contributes to healthy social and emotional development. "The athletes pay $50 each to go,"says Thomas. Much of the more than $1- million. annual budget for the Ontario Special Olympics depends on fundraising Federal gun bills don't benefit law- abiding Canadians, says group Members of various sporting and business groups- attended a meeting with Ontario riding MP Rene Soetens on Thursday, July 27 at the Pickering Rod & Gun Club in Brougham te discuss proposed anti-gun legislation. t was pointed out that approx- imately two million Canadians enjoy some kind of sport involving firearms, whether it is hunting or target shooting. T1wo private members' bills have been introduced te date, Bill C-218. from Bill Kempling and Bill C-234 from Sven Robinson. The gun club feels the Bils do nothing to benefit the 99.5 per cent of Canadian citizens that are law-abiding. The club says the Bills are "still further repression of the law-abiding citizen's rights when it has been duly noted that the courts rarely apply eisting Criminal Code legislation te criniinals that use firearms in the commission of a crime." Bill C-218 wishes to, change the wording of the Criminal Code of Canada te classily any firearm as prohibited "that is designed, man- ufactured, altered or intended te fire bullets in rapid succession during one pressure of the trigger or that bas the potential with minor adaptation or modification, of becoming such a firearm." t was pointed out that in Kenipling's reply te letters and cards requesting information on the Bill, the illicit drug trade is mentioned as being partly respon- sible for the introduction of this Bill. As the Criminal Code now stands, fully- automatic firearms are classified as prohibited and only bonafide collectors and police or military personnel are legally allowed to possess these firearms. The major concerns of the sportsmen are: 1. there have been virtually no instances in Canada where fully automatic firearms have been used in the commission of a crime; 2. there is sufficient ambiguity in the wording of the proposed legielation that virtually any repeating firearm legitimately used in target sports or hunting could falI within the definition; 3. where fully automatic firearms have been confiscated, virtually every circuinstance was when individuals were under investigation for other crimes and these people were not legally entitled to possess such firearms, 4. there is great media attention to the niisuse of flrearms in the United States and this attention is being interpreted by the Canadian people as indicating sixilar frequency and severity' in Canada where, in reality, there are very few circumstances of death or inýjury due te firearins in Canada; 5. legislation introduced in 1978 under Bill C-5i bas done little or nothing te, curb firearm. - related crime because measures, such as the firearms acquisition certificate, are only being adhered te, by law-abiding citizens and not by the -criminal element. The. club says Bill C-234 SEE PAGE 26 1 sel*ODIC RDAL A 6& 70 IE1 WE'VE 601 YOUR NUMWBER 1; qpl nÀàvA I DRY POWERHEAD DISPLACEMENTI I STIHIWEIGHT (LBS.) THE STIHL 044 - CAR VING OUT A NEW LEGEND. N-l Listen tQ.DU HA CSPum on CHOO EQU IPMENT RIADIO -b un«1390 AU ETL 1020 Dundas St. E. Whitby 668-0980 428-0880