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WIIITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY. MAY 29, 1985, PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson THE CROW'S NEST by Michael Knell Another threat to civil liberty in Ontario As far as I'm concerned, the anti-smoking lobby is as bad as the fundamen- talist book burners. They present as big a threat to civil liberty as do the right wing fanatics striving to ban "Catcher in the Rye" from school libraries. Toronto City Council, I understand, is half-way to introducing a bylaw requiring (notice it's not encouraging) businesses in that city to ban smoking in the workplace or, at least, separate smokers and non-smokers. Personally, I don't care whether smoking is legal or not in any form. In fact, I don't even think smoking is the issue here. The anti-smoking lobby will tell you that they're trying to improve the health, well being and environment or both those who indulge and those who don't. These people are full of good intentions. lIl once again take this space and remind you of what the poet once said: "The road to hell is paved with good in- tentions." This well meaning, decent and upright group of do-gooders have forgotten that what they want to do will have a fundamental impact on civil liberties in Toronto. It is not so much what the smoking ban rule will do to smokers, but the real issue is what sort of precedent this will create. The subject came up briefly at last week's meeting of Durham Regional Council. Bringing it to the fore was Reg. Coun. Cy Elsey of Oshawa who questioned the social services committee decision not to endorse an anti-chewing tabacco rule. The ball was then picked up by our own Reg. Coun. Tom Edwards who applies to smoking all the temperance zeal usually reserved by the W.T.C.U. to alcohol. This prompted a reply from Mayor Bob Attersley who commented that if government was going to be able to force people to smoke only at home, with the curtains drawn and in a manner befitting the commission of a crime, then what? "Are they going to ban sex next?" the mayor asked. "Where is it going to stop?" While the conversation appeared to have been carried on in jest, Attersley raised an important point. If local council can ban smoking in public, they could then probably ban drinking, eating and wearing blue silk ties if someone took up a crusade against them. I have many sympathies for the anti-smoking lobby but I cannot support them. I'm afraid of the precedent. The good they will do by banning the smoke from the workplace will be torn down by the evil they committ in violating the civil liberties of a large minority of their fellow citizens. Ask any anti-smoker you like and they'll tell you it's not their intention to violate anyone else's rights - they merely want to protect their own. Fair enough. But, when they do through the passage of a law they create the precedent for something even worse. As I said, I have many sympathies for them - but I also have a few beefs. The biggest one is the every anti-smoking lobbyist I hear speak sounds so damn self- righteous. They seem to adopt the old "I'm doing this for your own good" at- titude. Why does it always seem like these sort of groups want laws enacted for our own good. Who are they to sit in judgement? What gave these people the right to trample on the rights of others? If these people don't like smoking and encounter it in public, they should seek the friendly co-operation of the smoker or remove themselves. They don't have the right to trample on the rights of others simply because they are offended. But, you know something. Toronto City Council will probably endorse the measure (I hope they don't in Whitby) because there are more non-smokers than smokers. Non-smokers organize themselves, so they, in all likelihood, vote. And no politician in his right mind is going to offend the majority of voters, irregardless of dangers inherent to our civil liberties. AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT It looks as though David Peterson will become the first Liberal Premier of Ontario in 43 years sometime next month. While I've said previously that I ad- mire his ability, his passion and his skill as a politician I'm not all that sure that dumping the Man from Muskoka is the right move at this time. Firstly, the Tories did earn 52 seats, so to them goes the moral right to govern. However, the opposite side of this coin is the Liberals received the highest share of the vote - some two points more than the Tories. Secondly, he didn't do himself any favours by allying himself with the N.D.P. under Bob Rae. In giving them a written agreement, Peterson literally gave almost absolute power over the Legislature's future to a man whose party only gained the support of 25 per cent of the electorate May 2. Thirdly, by taking power now Peterson will have to deal with the separate school funding issue. He will have to implement a greatly flawed Tory plan, which was rejected by the Ontario voter anyways. If he doesn't handle it properly, Peterson could lose any chance he may have of forming a majority government sometime in the near future. Finally, Peterson is showing himself to be a little power hungry. Not that it's particularly offending to the voters. But this is blatant. In a minority gover- nment Peterson could have shone in opposition. He would not have to be defen- sive. He could go after the Tories tooth and nail. Once he becomes premier, he becomes the hunted, not the hunter. Isn't politics fun? WITH OUR FEET UP By Bill Swan A minor controversy arose this week over the routing of the June 23 Whitby Texaco One Mile Road Race, organized by the Whitby Tigers. Mayor Bob Attersley, mindful of the public safety and convenience, suggested that such an event should avoid busy roads and streets, and wend its way along little-traveled sections of roads. That's the Canadian way. Safety minded to the core. Toronto, that great urban confusion to the west of Whitby, has treated runners that way for years. Un- til recently Toronto insisted that marathons and other road races should be kept out of the public eye, sort of like a funny uncle. And, of course, the logic grips one like vice grips. Traffic should be kept to normal patterns; motor cars should be allowed to hold sway over us all. Other cities and towns don't think the same way. In Detroit, the annual marathon race starts on the Canadian side, where three people applaud politely. Then the course goes through the tunnel under the Detroit River - closed down just for this purpose - and comes out in the heart of Detroit. Runners emerge from the tunnel and Canadian ennui to see people: people hanging from curbside, from lamp poles, from buildings. People cheering. Brass bands. Saxophone solos in the middle of an industrial waste land. People in tuxedos from gar- den parties, offering cocktails. In Boston, runners are treated to even greater thrills. People line the entire 26 miles of the marathon course; brass bands play, helicopters soar overhead, college girls pat bums, drunks salute. In New York, where the one-mile event began, estimates put the attendance for the premier event in the millions. Discounting that for Yankee in- flation that's still a lot of people. Perhaps even an inflow of tourist dollars. In Ottawa a few years ago, an 84-year-old woman waved to crowds, until she finished the 26-mile course. To cheers fit for a champion. A road race - for runners, not cars - is a celebration of life. It is a parade. Don't think about tucking it back in the industrial malls, on roads no one drives on Sunday. Keep it in the heart of town, on the busiest streets. Wave marigolds. Hang garlands. At this writing, the race site has not been given municipal approval. Race organizers want it on Brock St. N., where it should be visible to the greatest number of people. Of course, the one-mile event resembles the marathon in no way. For one thing, the various age and sex categories will be run separately, beginning at 1 p.m. and continuing until completion - which will likely be about 3 p.m. But by the time you read this, the decision about the race course will have been made. Let's just hope the one mile will be measured out in the heart of Whitby. Stay tuned in subsequent weeks for more details. The horse-trading coming out of Queen's Park these days fascinates the idle mind. Here follows an analysis to join other uninformed views of the potential for political disaster. In backing the Liberals, Bob Rae and the New Democrats have firmly placed their feet in the con- crete of stardom. Whether that concrete hardens and sticks to their feet, the quicker to allow them to sink once they are dumped overboard, only time will tell. Bob Edwards, the turn-of-the-century editor of the Calgary Eyeopener, once said that politics makes strange bunk mates. Watching the dancing of the past week, you know the kind of bunk he was talking about. Note: the Tories get (almost) turfed out of office for offering to extend financing to Grades il and 12 of the separate school system. They may then be defeated in Legislature for backing down on that promise - to be replaced by the Liberal-New Democrats who will extend financing. Many predict that despite promises to the New Democrats to the contrary, the Liberals will indeed find an excuse to pull an election as early as next fall. Perhaps the spring. But after the extension of funding to the separate CONT'D ON PG. 7