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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, August 11, 1987 -- 5 a a aA as tc CI a TR ' A Rl re i ab TM hl Bh --€.alirl Ea RT Viewpoint by John B. McClelland THE PATERNAL REFUGEE. If this country had turned back every illegal im- migrant who showed up on the doorstep, I might very well be sitting in a newspaper office somewhere in the United States. My paternal ancestors arrived in Nova Scotia some 200 years ago, fleeing the American Revolution, fear- ing for their lives over their refusal to drop allegiance to the British Crown. I don't know whether Nova Scotia considered those Loyalists to be illegal immigrants, refugees or aliens. But I do know the family put down roots in Nova Scotia, worked hard, paid their taxes and obeyed the laws of the land. Of course, unlike a more recent group who arrived on the shores of Nova Scotia, my paternal ancestors were white, spoke English and swore allegiance to the Crown. I suspect that many Canadians whose ancestory in this country can be traced back several generations ar- rived in this land under similar circumstances: fleeing some kind of persecution (religious, political or both) and I suspect that a great number of them simply ar- rived in Canada without proper papers, documentation and so on. In short, they arrived via "the back door" with only the clothes on their backs and what few posses- sions they could carry. . Thank goodness there wasn't a rabble on the shore calling them law-breakers, aliens or worse, clamour- ing that they be shipped back from whence they came. I must admit that when I heard of the most recent group of East Indians who arrived in Nova Scotia via a rusty freighter out of Holland, my initial reaction was "ship em back." If they want to come to Canada, let 'em stand in line and come through the front door, legally. As the story of the 174 unfolded over the next few weeks, I began to feel a little sheepish about my initial reaction, especially when the Prime Minister of the land said Parliament would be recalled to deal with this issue and the entire immigration laws of this land. Hold on a minute. Does the arrival of 174 human be- ings (illegally, to be sure), demand a recall of the Parliament? Does the arrival of 174 people have to throw this country into such a tizzy? Canada is a nation of 25 million people occupying the second largest land mass of any country in the world. We have a standard of living second to none, our plates heaped high with food, two cars in every driveway, three TV sets per household, more phones per capita than anywhere in the world, the best state sup- ported medical and educational system anywhere, and suddenly we go bananas when 174 "illegal refugees' ar- rive on our shore. Gad, my paternal ancestor who hiked from the States to Nova Scotia would be ashamed of the way we are reacting in 1987. So would those who fled the famines in Ireland in the 1830's, the pogroms of Eastern Europe at the turn of the century, the famine in the Ukraine in the 1920's. What about those who can remember fleeing Nazism in the '30's, Communism in the 40's, 50's and 60's. Surely to goodness they must feel a sense of shame over the hysteria that has broken out in Canada in re- cent weeks over the arrival of 174 hapless souls. Of course, those 174 are different from the majori- ty of us. They don't shave their beards or cut their hair, they wear turbans, they speak a strange language, or English with funny accent, some of them carry small daggers as a religious custom, they have dark skin. 1 wonder what the reaction might have been had that group of 174 been Scots in kilts, or Germans in lederhosen? The East Indians who arrived in the middle of the night have been labelled everything from potential ter- rorists to fanatical revolutionaries bent on continuing the struggle for an independent state in the Punjab region of India. I'm not so naive to think that a few (maybe more than a few) have strong political convictions and maybe they were involved in some kind of political strife in their homeland. But surely there are means available to the authorities in this country to determine that without the blanket condemnation and hysteria from a large number of Canadians who should know better. This whole issue is troubling to me. I think that just beneath the rosy surface of the Canadian fabric, there is a mean racist streak simmering away and it bubbles over when we think that somehow a few "illegals" have "beat the system' to get into Canada. We like to think we are pretty damn fortunate in Canada with our tolerance, our multi-culturalism, our (Turn to page 8) ET A caer ML PIN ol ST AV a LTE ition tt ec dh Li ul uy i Gi diid v Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 9, 1917 Rev. Geo. J. Miller, minister of the Presbyterian Church, St. Mary's is putting in a month on the farm with Mr. Wesley Real, Greenbank. ty A destructive storm around Bethesda tore through the coun- tryside Wednesday last, unroofing the barns of Andrew Page, Ar- thur Brown, Stanley Ward and Geo. McGregor. ~ Sarvis Bros. are making a number of improvements in their stables and out buildings, tearing down and rebuilding. Latest buyers of motor cars -- Mr. Sid Wooldridge, a new up-to- date Ford; Mr. A.J. Dance, an Overload; Mr. Stan Baker, an Overload; Mr. Wm. McDonald, Saintfield, an Overland. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 13, 1942 Effective now, Tea and Coffee will be rationed by coupon. The ration is one ounce of tea or four ounces of coffee per person, per week. Children under 12 years of age are not eligible to receive any ration of tea or coffee. Pte. Grant Robertson of the Ordinance Corps spent a few days with his parents in Port Perry, Mr. and Mrs. S. Robertson. Grant expects to leave this week for the west coast. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 14, 1952 Successful students, passing Grade XIII Examinatians at Port Perry High School were- Shirley Vance, Annabell Lee, Georgia Brock, Katherine Hall, Joan Real, Peter Sulman, Jose Newlands, Peter Carswell. Mr. and Mrs. J.L. Gregg entertained at a luncheon at their Toron- to home on the occasion of the 25th Wedding Anniversaries of Mr. and Mrs. R.C. Bell, Toronto and Mr. and Mrs. W.E. Bell, Port Perry, brothers and sister-in-laws of Mrs. Gregg. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 15, 1957 Peter Lawrence, David Mosienko and Allan Bailey, a Port Perry High School trio took part in the Amateur Musical Contest at the Peterborough Fair and won first prize of $25.00. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Starkey of California, were visiting with her mother, Mrs. Taylor, Port Perry and many other friends and relatives in this area. J 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, August 10, 1977 Unsettled weather which featured morning rain showers put a bit of a damper on some of the activities of Western Weekend, but organizers of the four-day event said Monday that the total gate receipts should just about equal the amount raised last year. Western Weekend chairman Richard Drew places the gross at about $20,000. Despite heavy morning rains, the track at the Blackstock Fair Grounds was in excellent shape for the 72 tractors entered in eight different classes Saturday at the second annual tractor pull. Letters Error in headline offensive To The Editor: I am writing in regard to the arti- cle in last week's paper about CNIB and Central Seven clients being taken on a '"'nice trip" by the Lions Club. In the title of this article, the clients are referred to as "kids;"" this is very inappropriate, as all of the people concerned were in their 20's and up. They were all adults, not "kids." Because those referred to were connected with agencies dealing with challenged individuals, does Teacher strike threat To The Editor: In less than a month our students are due to return to class, but a lit- tle publicized fact is that the Durham Region secondary teachers may vote to go on strike in September preventing the classes in High School from commencing. I called the Durham Region Board of Education office this week to ask what the present situation was: - Yes the teachers could vote to go on strike: No - she could not tell me when such a vote would be taken: - No - there was no negotia- . tions going on or being planned bet- ween the Board and the teachers. There was only a couple of issues still to be settled she thought. I call- ed the Teachers Federation office but got no reply on the phone. I understand that one of the issues is the utilization of full time teachers to take charge of absentee teacher's classes instead of hiring supply teachers. I sympathize with those teachers who could be preparing or Looking for A Place to Advertise Your Business? LOOK HERE! Where consumers in need shop for the professionals in business! Call: 2985-7383 for more information. marking their own students work 'and hope that the solution is made for the benefit of all students as well as teachers. My concern is that nobody seems to want to talk now and prevent a disruption in the class schedule and - so-our young people's lives. My daughter goes into grade 13 and her January exam marks are very important to her future educa- tion plans. Does she waste a whole -year of her life because of the lack of responsibility shown by the Board and Teachers Federation? What kind of an example are our young people being shown by these people? Am [I misinformed or over- reacting to this situation? Sincerely, J. Muir, Port Perry. not mean that they should be view- ed as immature or as second class citizens by the community. Obvious- 'ly, the Lions' Club recognizes this as they cared enough to provide the trip, which was very, very much ap- preciated by all the participants. People First, an organization run by its challenged members, believes that individuals with challenges should be treated equally. Four of those who attend this outing were also members of our group. "Although it was probably an ac- cidental offense, words like "kids,""' "handicapped" and all the other in- accurate labels used in reference to people with challenges, only serve - to misinform society even more. We hope that in the future, the headlines in the Star -- when deal- ing with challenged people -- will be more positive and accurate. Yours truly, Michael Steward President, Port Perry Chapter, People First EDITOR'S NOTE: Using the words 'kids' in the headline was an accidental error on our part, for which we apologize to those involved. ter to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters col- umn helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous let- While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.