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a II rT HH I TH iI TTT a HE IT Ee HH TH Hime N\ \ \L 4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, Jan. 15, 1985 editorial comments 1 WwW RI\F REG HAS &o BETES up. NUITH A : NAY TOR SNOW RAE NE S\NCE GAS 'WAL GONE UP TD 50;0¢ A LWTRE cA. CAAITE WN PORT PERRY STAR ATE chatterbox by John B. McClelland RUSSELL THE HERO As just about every sports fan in Canada knows, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a sad-state-of-affairs this season, dead last in a 21 team league with a record of six wins, 30 defeats and five ties. Sports writers in Toronto have been spilling gallons of ink on the plight of the Leafs, and the faithful fans who show up at the Gardens game in and game out, have been pointing the finger of blame at everyone in sight: the players, coaches, management, and of course the guy who signs the cheques: Harold Ballard himself. The Leafs have even hired a psychologist to try and sort out the abysmal mess on the Gardens ice. But last Wednesday night as the Leafs were losing to the Bruins, Russell Lattimer who works as an usher for the Leaf games, took off his jacket, tie and cap, and promptly hurled them to the ice surface as a form of protest. Needless to say, the young man was ejected from the Gardens and is looking now for another part- time job. Mr. Lattimer' s act of protest was not so much due to the Leafs' horrendous performance, but a statement against Harold Ballard's tom-foolery recently when he flashed a message across the electronic score-board about the shooting down of a Korean jet by the Soviet Air Force. When Ballard flashed the message, a Soviet hockey team was on the ice in an exhibition game against Canadian Olympic hopefuls. ik I think Mr. Lattimer is on the right track in his act of defiance over what is going on at the Gardens this hockey season. If the Leaf faithful will pick up the cue some game and en masse toss their hats and ties onto the ice, then walk out of the Gardens, maybe the message will finally get through to Ballard. The fans should also rip up their tickets and throw them on the ice as well. That may be the only thing to make Ballard sit up and take notice. A boycott by the fans would hit him in the pocket book. Unfortunately, most of the pricey seats in the place- the golds and reds - are owned by corporations who hand them out to clients as PR gestures. That's why half of them are empty anyway. | mean, what a way to impress a client-take him to a Leaf game. Heck, if some sales manager handed me a pair of tickets, I'd cancel my con- tract with him right on the spot. But getting back to Mr. Lattimer for a minute. If more fans follow his lead and toss their hats, ties and tickets on the ice in disgust, he may some day be hail- ed as the hero who created the spark to bring hockey respectability back to Toronto. Ballard would have no choice but to clean up the act, turn the hockey operation over to people who know what they are doing, and instil some pride in the players who have to perform on the ice. I believe the loyal fans have been patient long enough. In the game last Wednesday, there were loud cat-calls all evening. Some patrons have been spotted with paper bags over their heads, and who can blame them. My hat goes off to young Mr. Lattimer for his courageous act; the gesture looked good on Ballard. The city of Toronto should present him with some kind of medaT, and those who patronize the Gardens should follow his lead. Why not, after all else has failed? ON TRACK Anyone who lives in Port Perry area and must com- mute to work each day in Toronto should be delighted by the announcement this week that the VIA rail ser- vice will start again on June 1. Firm details won't be known until later, but the ser- vice is definitely on, and the train will be stopping in Burketon and Myrtle. A spokesman in the federal transport ministry told me last week that it will be on an experimental basis to assess costs and the demand. If that's the case, I sure hope VIA does a better job of letting the public know the service exists than the company did before the train was yanked off the rails in the summer of 1981. A lot of people, myself included, had no idea there was daily passenger service out of Myrtle. I agree with the commuters who say that if the ser- vice is properly-promoted, there could be 300 or more passengers using it each day of the week. Whether that's > enough to make it pay (or at least break even) remains to be seen, but with the cost of gasoline going up all the time, passenger rail service all across this country is due for a hard look, and that includes the Havelock- Toronto run. It has always amazed me, that this great country, which was forged by the railroads, has let passenger service virtually disabpeay. Heck, if the trains can carry potash, iron ore, and wood economically for ship- ment to Japan, why can't they carry Canadians economically and efficiently"? I've never been able to understand. We have two heavily subsidized national air car- riers. Maybe some of that subsidy should go to passenger train service. The Conservative government campaigned last summer on the promise to bring back several lines, in- cluding Havelock-Toronto. Now, that they are coming ~ through with that promise, I hope they give it a decent chance. Canada needs trains that carry people efficiently and economically. A re-birth in passenger service is long over-due. Street-Proofing The Kids A group of women in Port Perry will be attempting to bring a *'street-proofing" program for children tq this community. Efforts are now underway to line up the program from Outreach in Oshawa, which essentially stresses to children that they can say NO when it comes to un- wanted advances from adults. Recent events of tragic proportions no doubt are hit- ting home in this community and other small towns like this one, where the so-called "big city crimes' are just not supposed to happen. People living in rural areas and small towns like Port Perry are not immuhe to horrendous crimes involving children and any kind of program that drives this point .. home to parents and their children is welcome. TheOutreach program is designed to help kids deal with situations that have the potential to lead to sexual abuse, but also helps to street-proof them in a general sense. It is aimed at children in the six to eleven years age bracket, and the program involves parent participa- tion as well. One of the people who would like to see this pro- gram brought to the community says the group will be approaching the Parent-Teacher Association at Cornish School for support, with the hope that the program can be given at the school. While we recognize there must be a heavy degree of parental responsibility when it comes to street-proofing the kids and making them fully aware of potential danger, additional programs in the community can't hurt. In fact, they can do an awful lot of good. If one child manages to avoid a potentially ugly situa- tion, not to mention one with tragic consequences, that in itself will make it worthwhile. ~ We hope the group of women now making the ef- forts to bring this program to the community every suc- cess, and trust their efforts will be well received. There is nothing to be lost and a great deal to be gained, as the old saying goes about an ounce of preven- tion... LL... A Waiting World Last week in Geneva, two men, one from the United States and the other from the Soviet Union, sat around a table and began discussions about the future of this planet. They agreed on at least one thing: to resume arms control talks later this year between the United States and the Soviet Union. U.S. Secretary of State, George Schultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko gave the world at least a glimmer of hope that the super powers finally are go- ing to get serious about reducing the chance of a nuclear holocaust. With the two super powers now owning a nuclear arsenal unprecedented in its size and destructive capabilities, and with further tests of weapons and defence systems underway, it is beyond the comprehen- sion of reasonable humans everywhere as to why the nuclear madness goes on and on. Both countries have more than enough weaponry | to wipe each other (and the rest of the world) out many times over. Yet, Schultz and Gromyko had barely parted company in Geneva last week with the glimmer of hope, when they were back to talking tough in their own countries. Gromyko wants a link between arms reductions and a halt to the $26 billion 'space wars' technology pro- gram now being developed by the Americans. This is a favourite of President Ronald Reagan and U.S. Defense Minister Casper Weinberger. Already it seems as if the two sides are at an impasse, and the real negotiations have hardly even begun. A lot of people are asking themselves if the negotia- tions are doomed to failure even before they get off the ground. A quick look at the historical record between the Soviet Union and the United States shows an unbroken line since the end of World War 2 of suspicion, mistrust and hatred. Some are quick to point to'the Soviets as being total- ly deserving of all the suspicion and mistrust for their ac- tions in Eastern Europe and Afghanistan in particular. Be that as it may, the time has surely come for both sides to soften their attitudes towards each other when (Turn to page 6)