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Page 6, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, September 14,1994 The only Newspaper owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residentsl MEMBER OF: ONTARIO CANADIAN COMMUNITY COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER ASSOCIATION ASSOCIATION , CANADIAN CIRCULATIONS CNA DIVISION AUDIT BOARD ISSN#0844-398X 26,500 COPIES DELIVERED WEEKLY Published every Wednesday by 677209 Ontario Inc. Box 206, 131 Brock St. N., Whitby, Ontario L1N 5S1 Phone: 668-6111 Out of town: 1-800-668-0322 Fax: 668-0594 Doug Anderson - Publisher Maurice Pifher - Editor Alexandra Martin - Production Manager Printed on newsprint with minimum 20% recycled content using vegetable based inks. © All written material, illustrations and advertising contained herein is protected by copyright. Any reproduction by any means for commercial purposes without the express permission of the newspaper is prohibited and is a violation of Canadian copyright law. Reproduction for non-commercial distribution should bear a credit line to the Whitby Free Press. 1To the editor.l.. To theedo.. Why WaI-Mart singled out? To the editor: Re: Column, 'Photo radar works,' by Durham East MPP Gord Mills (Free Press, Aug. 31). Gord Mills has stated that the only reason for photo radar was to try and reduce the carnage on Ontario roads, thus reducing the more than $9 billion in hospital fees. This is a lofty goal and l'm certain that it is the only reason. With this in mind, here are a few more places to save money. Alcohol has proven to have caused thousands of deaths. Drunk drivers are a scourge on the roads. Hospitals are filled with alcohol-related problems. Families are broken up by it. Workplaces lose thousands of person hours each year to it. So why not just ban alcohol? Ift has been proven that cigarettes cause cancer in both More offend To the editor: Re: 'Photo Radar Stinks,' by Jil Mclntosh, Free Press, Aug. 24 As an old friend said, "Paper won't refuse ink." Speeders kill people who make honest mistakes, a terrible penalty for being human. Jil, I don't know what roads you drive on, but I would guess that at any one time there may be one, two or three officers on highway patrol. Due to days off, shifts and duties other than traffic, I believe it takes 24 officers to man a detachment. Ift costs money to increase manpower, and it is hoped that photo radar will obtain the funds from those drivers that makes the increase necessary. To get those horrible drivers you describe, a traffic officer has to obtain evidence suitable for court, while driving a car with cherries on top. He has to move into position through the existing smokers and non-smokers alike. This is usually a long, lingering death. Why not ban all cigarettes and other smoking products? While they are at it, the NDP could install TV cameras in every room of every house in the province and therefore almost eliminate child abuse, wife abuse and most other criminal plots. This would save billions in every facet of Ontario life. Then they could proceed to tell us how to live, what to think...etc. Let's call a manually-operated earth-moving implement a manually-operated earth-moving implement (Politalspeak for a spade), shall we? The reason that smoking and drinking are not outlawed is because of the revenue they generate. The only reason for photo radar is for the revenue that it generates. Any other reason is just bovine waste material. Garry Raymond Whitby lers reached traffic in that area, so he can record mentally speed, distance and behaviour over a reasonable distance at high speeds before the offender spots him and begins to drive like a monk on his way to a monastery. If he obtains suitable evidence, the officer then has to cut the offender out of the herd at high speeds. You should be able to imagine what chaos that would cause. All off ences have one thing in common on a highway -- speeding, driving too fast for road and traffic conditions up to the maximum posted limit, and over speeding beyond the maximum posted limit. Photo radar reaches more offenders than an officer mixing it up in traffic. Jil, I hope you get help with your addiction to speed. Dugals Gorden. Whitby To the editor: A letterto the editor ("No need for guns in family store") in the To the editor: This federal government's buzzword is 'infrastructure' and the damage that 'they are going to do to our pocketbooks, under the guise of this word, should have every taxpayer running for cover. The Oxford dictionary's definition of infrastructure is "(a) the basic structural foundations of a society or enterprise; a substructure of foundation (b) moads, bridges, - sewers etc. regarded as a country's economic foundation." This definition obviously does not include such outlandish extravagances as a $23-million grant to keep NHL hockey in Edmonton, a $173-million trade centre in Toronto, or a white elephant such as a Claredome in the hamlet of Claremont. This 'dome' will create approximately one permanent job. Aug. 31 edition of your paper caught my attention and I felt obligated to comment. I have the greatest respect for Another shot fired To the editor: Here we go again. Another shot at the honest hunters and sportsmen. I just had to respond to S. Little's letter about guns at Wal-Mart (Free Press, Aug. 31). The reckless nerve of someone in our economy pleading for Canadians to boycott a U.S. company that has provided jobs for many of our neighbours because they may start selling rifles and ammunition really puzzles me. I am sure Wal-Mart has conducted a market study and found a need for these products along with their various brands of kitchen wares, clothes and toys. S. Little sounds very small-minded if it is believed Wal-Mart's sale of rifles to sportsmen will affect the acquisition of illegal firearms to criminals. As for calling hunting rifles "weapons," this has been hashed over for years. A pointed stick or a 10-inch frying pan can become just as dangerous when not used for their intended purpose. Other Canadian stores have been selling sporting goods along with toys and housewares for years, and it makes for a great shopping trip for the whole family. The new Canadian firearms laws have been developed to control the sale, use and storage of these items. These laws have made it very difficult and expensive for the honest hunter to continue and promote their sport, while not affecting the criminal element in the least. Give me a break, Little. Anyone who thinks we need more government controls on guns probably thinks rock 'n' roll really does contain Satanic verses. I applaud Wal-Mart for their innovation, and encourage other Durham hunters and sportsmen to do the same. All we need is more poison pens like Little's to debauch the sport of hunting and stifle free enterprise. V. Keast Whitby What are our elected representatives smoking? Or is the air so thin in their ivory towers that they can no longer pull together a single rational thought? The above mentioned projects are not infrastructure, they are pork barreling. Pork barreling, as defined by Funk & Wagnalls, is "a federal appropriation for some local enterprise that will favourably impress a representative's constituents." These government family values and believe in retailers' responsibilities to the communities they serve. However, I feel the writer of this letter, S. Little, was not being totally fair or accurate in criticizing Wai-Mart's decision to sell guns and ammunition. S. Little's comments seem to suggest that our country will be a safer place if Wal-Mart does not sell sporting rifles and recommended a boycott to achieve this end. Why was only Wal-Mart singled out? Some Canadian Tire and K-Mart stores\also sell the same type of merchandise. Are they next on the suggested boycott list? Or a boycott of Toys R Us or any other. similar store that sells toy guns or video games that simulate gun-related activity? Where does this form of censorship stop? The proliferation of guns in our society is of great concern to all of us. However, given the strict government regulations on the purchase of firearms, it seems to me highly unlikely that the criminal element will purchase their weapons at a department store. In conclusion, the issue of whether a store should sell firearms should be left in the hands of our elected representatives and not be subject to threats of economic sanctions. O. Fitzgerald Pickering pork barreling projects are neither socially, economically nor morally justifiable. I am one, furious, unimpressed constituent who is working feverishly to make sure all governments guilty of pork barreling are not re-elected. Those who feel likewise should contact their MP, MPP and municipal leaders. And I use the term 'leaders' loosely. Marnee Stern Pickering The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the editor on any subject of concem to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Al letters must be accompanied by the name, address and telephone number of the writer. However, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree there is a valid reason. The newspaper reserves the right to reject or edit all letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ont. LIN 5S1, or drop through our mail slot at 131 Brock St. N. About.ph.to.radar. More money-savers Thin air in ivory towers? '7 _777- - -- - , ;ý "i , - -.17-1 -