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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, MAY 5, 1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS w hitby e w Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess, Published every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing lob and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 TheFree Press Building, Publisher - Managing Editor e1k1 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Vhitby residents. MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager Second Clama Mailt Reglatration No. 5351 Let the economie problem solving start The deed has now been done and perhaps now is the time to let our reactions set In. Dn April 17, in one of the grandest affairs this nation has ever seen, Queen Elizabeth the Second proclaimed the new CanadIan Constitution as part of the law of the land. What does this mean to the average Whitby citizen? Well, it could be more and less than they realize. For the first time in our country's history, the rights and freedoms of the individual citizen have been put down on paper. It is important to note that our rights and freedoms have not been changed ail that much, but have simply been en- It's a funny country. I say that because I've just met Susan Nattrass, and if the name doesn't immediately reg- ister, I've made my point already. Susan Nattrass, who lives in Edmonton, is one of the most phenomenol athletes this country has ever produced. If there are any blemishes on NIs. Nattrass's horizon, it is perhaps because her sport is trap shooting, she's a Canadian and a woman. But she's won her sixth world championship as a trap- shooter, and at 31 has yet to reach her peak. She set a re- cord for the word'swmen in 1978 - 195 birds outof a pos- sible 200. The men'srecord is 199, but the men's champ- ionship has been won with 197 the last few years. And when you consider that the Europeans, who are more so- phisticated about shooting as a sport, believe that trap- shooters reach their peak between 30 and 40, I think it's fair to say that we haven't heard the end of her, by a long shot. She is to shooting what Wayne Gretsky is to hockey. As a matter of fact, now that recognition has finally begun to come, it's worth noting that she beat the great Gretsky in the voting for the Lou Marsh Trophy, which made her athlete-of-the-year for 1981. Ms. Nattrass has incredible eyes. She can read a line of type at 20 feet that people with mere 20-20 eyesight can't decipher beyond ten. Optical tests aiso indicate that she has an uncanny ability to track flying objects. What else is there? Co-ordination, fine motor skills, strength, and sta- mina, conditioning, and last but not least, the factor that often separates great athletes from merely prof icient ones, the ability to concentrate. Just by being herself, and doing what she does so superbly, she has done great things for shooting, women and the country. But she did it for years without recognition. She won her first world title in Swit- zerland in 1974, and here at home, no one had ever heard of her. She is proud to be a Canadian, but she has suffered in competing for a country that doesn't take shooting, and sometimes women, very seriously. She still has very little help, financial or organizational, which means a lot of third class travel and accommodation. She puts up with it, of course, for love of the sport and love of the country. But when you're trying to psyche yourself up to shoot better than any other wman in the worfd, you sometimes ask yourself why you're living in a tent in a borrowed sleeping bag. Sleeping in a decent hotel somehow gives you a bet- ter image of yourself, not to mention a better night's rest. She isn't complaining, but she admits that her shooting has sometimes suffered because of Canadian penny-pinch- ing. Susan Nattrass is not only a unique Canadian, she's in a uniquely Canadian dilemma. Make out of that what you like. I'vesaidenough. That's not news, but that too is reality. shrined as part of the Statute Book. The only right that has actually been given to the citizen is that a police officer must inform him or her of his rights to legal counsel should he or she be arrested. The officer must aiso Inform the citizen arrested of what the charge to be brought against him is. The concept of unreasonable -search and seizure has been part of the common law for many centuries as a loose guideline in the 'Judicial process. It is now a firm and fast rule. While the effect on the individual citizen, whether 4e or she lives in Whitby or St. John's, Newfoundland or Whitéhorse, will not be imme- diately noticeable, the effect on the legal process wlli be far more apparent. In fact, a leading member of the Supreme Court of Canada predicted that most of the court's docket for the next decade will concern the impie- mentation of the constitution, especially the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many controversial issues will again come to the forefront as those concerned with thern take to the political battlefield again, this time before the Supreme Court. Of the issues likely to be addressed, the most volatile one promises to be the constitutionality of the Quebec's language law, Bill-101, which states that only French can bè used in that province in most areas. Some other Issues include abortion and capital punishment. Groups either favoring or opposing these issues will likely hire the best lawyers they can af- ford and head to Ottawa to plead their case. Most Canadians had thought that these issues had long since been resolved, but witn the proclamation of the new constitution this is not longer the case. While most of these issues are bound to get a lot of coverage in the national press it is interest- Ing to note that the constitution has not made our lives better. For example, the constitution did not do any- thing to lower the high unemployment and in- terest rates. The new constitution did not secure investment In the Alsands oil project in Alberta. The new constitution did not achievé a com- promise with the demands of a separatist govern- ment in Quebec. The current federal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau has been attacked frequently and severely by our own Member of Parliament, often on the pages of this newspaper. In today's edition, Scott Fenneil mourned the prime minister's 14th anniversary in office. He said that during Trudeau's tenure the unemploy- ment rate has skyrocketed, mortgage rates-have gone through the roof and there is no relief in sigþt (which can probably be said of the leaders of most countries). Well, Trudeau's dream of a truly Canadian con- stitution has come to pass and we are truly inde- pendent of the nation that gave us birth - Great Britain. Now that this has been accomplished maybe Canadians will see action being taken to improve our economy and set us back on a course to prosperity. The constitution has not really changed our lives as of now, but maybe the government can if it can find Its way out of our current economic mess. /'/ LàE=-r iC1O a4,Ér77/O&r /r. l