Ontario Community Newspapers

Georgetown Herald (Georgetown, ON), November 9, 1977, p. 4

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National security an excuse Clark says By JOE CLARK MP Rocky Mount In It Is generally accepted throughout the world that governments on occasion have to authorize and follow some secret activities This past week in Parliament several questionable activities of our own govern ment have come light The apparent pattern of breaking the law which has emerged In the tost few months Is alarming as well as the use of national security as an excuse to hide a of sins We now know that on at least four occasions the security service of the RCMP broke the law of Canada in the name of national security the raid on do Libre Quebec the burning of a barn near Montreal the theft of dynamite and an illegal activity resulting in Informa tion about the membership lists and the financial affairs of the Parti And there may be more Unfortunately this recent attention has focused on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Naturally if the breaks the law it must bear the consequences However many of the activities that have come to light have not been performed by rank and file members of the RCMP but rather by the special security service It Is Important to understand the relat ionship of the security service to the Theoretically It exists under the Commis sioner of the In practice it Is directed by director who whatever his relation to the Commissioner also reports directly to the Solicitor General and on occasion to Prime Minister Trudcau There is a very real question as to whether the That raises the basic question Who seta the policy or security apparatus In which the Commissioner of the is Canada Who polices that apparatus authorized to control We know who should set the policy and police the In our system cabinet should set the policy control security service and bear the responsibility for any excesses by the security service rfcheFliRALDl Home Newspaper of Hills WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 17 A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Main St Georgetown L7G3E5 Ontario WILLIAM Publisher DOB Editor Second Mail Rtglittrcd A time for action Halton district health councils attempt at rationalizing its role within the community appears to have failed following a public meeting held last week Most observers still question the role of the council because they see it as a duplication of existing services a redundant level of bureaucracy of limited value in assessing community health care needs and an extension of the ministry of health There is a need for extended care services in North Halton that need was demonstrated by the proposal by the Georgetown and District Memorial Hospital for a nursing home facility put council chairman Terry Baines says the council is checking the discrepancy in the figures sup plied by the ministry and the hospital The ministry says that enough ex tended care beds per capita exist in to serve our needs But all those beds are located south of Steeles Avenue There has been little effort to improve services for residents of North But the irony of all the arguments both pro and con is that the province has imposed a period of restraint on health care services while continuing to pay for chronic care patients taking up active treatment beds in hospitals at cost of three to four times the rate charged for nursing or residential home care A new approach A Georgetown entrepreneur has started what may become a very lucrative business in energy con serving insulation materials Not only does it appear that he might be right in his outlook on an expanding market with an industrial centre in this community which will ultimately provide more jobs for local people but his progressive outlook on Industrial relations may provide a model for further consideration in major industries Without the concept of labor- management harmony says Alfred Neumann we have nothing He then adds If business and labor thought onehalf hour each day about each other he world would be dif ferent Its something to think about particularly his approach to hiring and firing He seeks people com patible with the existing labor forces and places the faith in his employees to determine whether to hire and fire Maybe hes come upon something which all of us can seriously consider an advancement in the field of labormanagement relations It might prove one of the methods of reducing the deplorable record Canada for manhours lost through Editors notebook much to bo critical than to be Benjamin Disraeli It should be a relatively easy task for the health council committee to verify the reports from both the ministry and the local sources A delay of great length should not be tolerated To allow such a delay to occur would be Jo undermine whatever faith the health council is attempting to instill in Halton residents North Halton is now in a period when growth poised to make this area one of increased residential construction activity and population It would do well for both the council and the province to think ahead and be prepared for the impact this will have on the health care delivery George Gray chairman of the regional board of health is harsh In his condemnation of the health ministry for the apparent provincial restraint without logic It should become the battle cry of North Halton residents concerned about the well- being of its senior citizens It almost appears that bureaucracy is playing politics with the lives of our older generation Lets hope not We are all growing old together Lifestyles threatenedpro and con By GERRY There are a great many things that I respect In life without necessarily wanting to be a party to myself For instance there are various types of oriental art forms that require years of tedious work intricate designs and colours exquisite beauty for the eye to behold However under lances could I Imagine myself undertaking such an art form though I have nothing but the respect and admiration for the artists lhat do In the same vein many lifestyles intrigue and fascinate me that I could not personally hold to The Old Order is such a lifestyle It Is a lifestyle that Is being unnecessarily threatened by power and tech nology The Amish are a branch of Mennonltes and are even more traditional in clinging to revelations a favor to Levesque By STEWART Ottawa Bureau Of The Herald As opposition MPs nave made clear there arc all sorts of questions to be answered about the alleged Illegal activi ties of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police back in the early 1970s But the question I find most Intriguing is the timing of the current revelations Why you would almost think It was arranged as a personal favor to Premier Rene The latest alleged Illegal Incidents re ported to involve the burning of a bam and the theft of dynamite occurred back in And yet we didnt hear a single word about until the Quebec premier was in Paris gearing up for a busy round of ceremonies already has offic ial in nervous twitches One of the chief purposes of the lour although not officially staled as such Is to drum up sympathy and understanding for Quebec Independence and is estimated as many as four million viewers will be listening to his observations in Paris Can you imagine Ihe grin must have spread across his face when on the eve of his foreign fesllvlllcs he heard Ottawa publicly acknowledge lhat the had broken into Parti headquarters back in could afford a moderate res ponse to the admission One of those along shrugs served his purpose very well And even House Leader Robert Burns could afford the luxury of surprise They only admitted to one breakin he Well If grinned broadly for that initial admission Just Imagine how he Just have felt in that Paris hotel room as he prepared to begin the formal part of his functions and he was then handed the Information of further allegations against the Sources In both Quebec City and Ottawa had revealed that Mounlles had allegedly burned down a Montrealarea and bam and stole several cases of dynamite The way this story goes the barn was a meeting place for Agencc de Libre du Quebec you might recall that the had already broken into this groups Montreal headquart ers and Mountles had installed electronic surveillance In barn But apparently it didnt work so the barn was set ablate to force group into a new meeting place Thats one way to smoke them out In talking about the alleged illegal activities by our national police force both Prime Minister Trudeau and SolicitorGen eral Francis Fox have referred to the difficulty of maintaining that fine line bet ween national security and Individual righta In fact said police forces may have to break he law from time to lime to protect national interests You have to yourself In context of the times says the prime minster The hod been very strongly condem ned by a lot of Canadians Including the official opposition because did not have information permitting them to track down kidnappers and assassins of Pierre the kidnappers of James Cross so the police with our knowledge and consent began shift their area of surveil lance foreign terrorism But as the solicitorgeneral points out this raised problems At precisely what point should a security service refrain from taking action that It thinks Important lo meet id res pons lily for national security In order avoid any possibility of contraven tion of even the letter of law litre is a current royal commission inquiry lhat will respond to questions And given Ihe understanding enthusiasm of parliamentary opposition we will no doubt get answers to all the political and administ rative questions Inherent in alleged police activities Meanwhile the solicitorgeneral says ho is greatly concerned about morale In the RCMP as allegations and Inquiries continue lo rain down around Ihe force That may be a legitimate concern but frankly I am far more concerned with what Iheallegations are doing for Rene Levesquei morale At this point in history I dont like to see him smiling that broadly especially when its being subsidized from Ottawa the old ways They use no electricity or power machinery as is against their religious beliefs They are excellent farmers who live in a peaceful honest and hardworking independ ent way of life The Ontario Milk Marketing Board has for three or four years tried lo persuade the Amish farmers to voluntarily change from their old familiar milk cans lo stainless steel tanker trucks Now the milk board has decided to use compulsion Ihe conventional milk cans must go and all milk farmers must use bulk containers The Amish do not use electricity and the new equipment would force the change to power machinery becomes a question of the old and traditional ways against power and technology We can see benefit of the pace of the old ways while caught up In Ihe modern world I dont want to change my lifestyle and go backwards yet I donl feel the Amish should be forced to change theirs to go forward The Ontario Milk Marketing Board should bend a little bulk shipped milk has not been proven to date to have less bacteria than milk shipped in cans It is dairymans operation that determines the bacteria count and that takes place before the milk Is ready for shipping either In cans or by bulk Curfew for kids after according to Larry is Irrational unreasonable and down right repressive Curfew is designed to get youngsters under 16 years of age off the streets after that Mr Sol way continues on to say that we might as well declare martial law and keep everyone off the streets In an effort to preserve law and order no people no crime Well I cant disagree more strongly A law Is a rule set up for the benefit of an orderly existence for all Mr Sol way argues that a kid has the right to hang around the problem here Is that the night people the things that creep out from the cracks in the sidewalk and slither away In the broad light of day also like to hang around I dont feel that any youngster unless coming or going lo some planned activity should be hanging around on the streets after ten oclock at night Times have changed and modem living comes complete with sexual perverts degenerates and a wide variety of murderers rapists and other assorted screw balls Hanging around on the streets makes 12 13 14 and 15yearolds first rate targets for any of the above Curfew wont take care of everything like any other law it Is not a magic cureall but it will help Mr So I way calls curfew an out rage well I call bodies In trash cans rape of 14 and 15yearolds 12 13 and 14yearolds being started on drugs all a far greater outrage Controls are used to help create order as a society if we removed all controls all laws everything would run completely amuck within hours We have deprived our children far more with permlsslvncss than we did when we were supposedly too strict Curfew to me is akin to our drinking taws for IB years only and up which we would do well to raise higher Laws dont stop drinking but they sure help cut down public consumption Curfew wont stop vandalism or other offences but It a control one I believe to be a very necessary one I believe that the curfew law has always been on the books under the Child Welfare Act is just a case of whether Its enforced or not Misslssauga is wise to seek such enfor cement personally I would like to see It enforced right across Ontario Heres what I call the clincher parents of children caught violating the curfew could face fines for to Now believe me that is almost guaranteed to keep the kids off the streets Who knows it might even reestablish a lost art known as family life at any rate Im all for it and heres a big bouquet of thorns to Mr Solway for suggesting we arc Using away something from our young people we are In effect giving them something love hat is shown by caring When you dont care they can stay on the streets all night It appears that he cabinet Is not carrying cut that responsibility I say ap pears because there are at least two interpretations of those facts which have become public since spring of this year One interpretation Is that ministers are not meeting heir responsibility to oversee and control the security service The other Interpretation Is that he cabinet is setting policy but will not accept responsibility when things o wrong Members of our Party have been very serious reservations whether or not he terms of reference of the McDonald Royal Commission are broad enough to allow his Inquiry to look at he central question- What was the role of the ministers In all of these affairs What is the responsibility of the cabinet in all his business A full inquiry Into the responsibility of minis of the Crown for the activities of the security of the Government of Canada and the authority on which security forces In this country are acting as essential Our Party would prefer to have a special parliamentary committee Invested with full powers to carry out this laves ligation This committee would gather evidence subpoena witnesses and would present a clear picture Canadians as to what exactly is going on hero That is our Partys preference It is also important that House of Commons and the people of Canada know what has been the role of he cabinet committee on security and Intelligence chaired by Prime Minister Trudeau There has been an attempt made suggest ing that the authority for these matters rests wilh the director general a public servant We want know the Government of Canada was throughout all of these matters he government lhat is responsible to the House of Commons Unity Quebec evolves as Levesque evades trap ByDONOHEARN tens Park Bureau Of The Herald As may or may not have been noticed very little has been said In this space about national unity When the Levesque government was elected in Quebec a year ago there were various comments mainly pointing out the dangers to Ontario and particularly he touchy position in which Ontario politicians were placed in discussing he question of Quebec and national unity There was particularly the great danger that a loose or thoughless remark could be serious enough to change the whole complex ion of he question and therefore our national picture Since hen though our press generally has been full of observations and opinions on Quebec and the unity question there has been practically nothing said here MANY DEVELOPMENTS This has been quite Intentional Behind It Is the belief that the situation with Quebec Is an evolving one and hat we will probably sec a good many more develo pments before a point of climax is actually reached Already of course we have had Bill 101 the suggestion by Prune Minister Pierre Trudeau hot he may hold his own referen dum and statements by provincial leaden that they would not enter an economic union with Quebec if it were to separate All of these have had their Impact and no one knows how many further developments to Looking through our files THIRTY YEARS AGO Friday evening Nov the newly re modelled upper floor of he Legion hall on Mill Street was officially opened The occasion wus he I to mem brume Supper and Dance arranged by a Committee under tho chairmanship of Alex Taylor The mild fall weather has led to many unusual flowers blooming Last week we reported crocuses at Steve This week we note roses in bloom in the gardens of Mrs Walter Gray and Mrs George Wallers Mrs Ward has received a letter from her brother WA Hardy of Miami Florida In which he discounts newspaper and radio accounts of ihe recent hurricane likening it lo he disaster of Mr Hardy says that il rained 13A Inches In fourteen hours Fort Lauderdale TWENTY YEARS AGO Concern with the shortage of available building lots in Georgetown was expressed by William Hamilton vicepresident of North Builders Association when he spoke to council October about plans to form a stock company among builders and suppl iers viewHighway intersection and the town will proceed with this Following Ihe Oct council meeting Mayor Jack Armstrong entertained at his home in honor of Reeve Stan Allen who Is retiring from office in December TEN YEARS AGO The proposed reconstruction of the Main Street bridge over the tracks commonly known as the White Bridge will cost an estimated was learned at council Monday night The new illuminated street signs are gradually brightening up all the corners in lown Up lilt now Highway the downtown area and Ihe Lane subdivision have been completed according to tho works supervisor Frank Council will request the department of highways lo make the necessary traffic study lo enable the town lo erect traffic lights at Road and Highway at Maple Avenue and and Main and Maple Avenue A procedural wrangle which has changed sides several times over the past few years was again changed Monday night when council voted to have the clerk summarise the correspondence instead of reading It all word for word will PROVINCES LIMITED At this point it would seem that most astute position the observer can take is to sit back and watch the continuing play by play of show or the game whatever you may want to call it The Individual Canadian unless he is a Quebecker has really little part to play In this production The main participants are Quebec Pre mier Rene Levesque and his top officials on one side and and to some extent the provincial leaders on the other And In respect the latter it should be noted that any part the provinces can play is really quite limited They con let it be known lhat they want Quebec to continue in Confederation This could have some potential influence on the average And they can Indicate they wont cooperate as they have done wilh economic But the main quarterbacking must be done by Trudeau He has the national sphere and the influence Ontario Premier William Davis inciden tally to dale seems lo have carried on a wise and thoughtful course He has a I the right moments had his say such as he did economic union and when he said lhat despite he govern ment he would be speaking on unity in Quebec But he has done nothing To date at least he has avoided the obvious trap which faces him us lis si f

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