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Ll AS RB Ol PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, June 6, 1989 -- 7 "What can you say about a country that wants to believe God is dead and Elvis alive." That quote, or words to that effect, was in a re- cent Ann Landers column. As a rule, | skip Ann Landers on my journey through several papers each day. But once in a while, the column catches my eye. Certainly the quote about God and Elvis refers to the United States, but | swear it fits this country called Canada as well. Last week in Toronto, there were arguments in a court over whether to declare a certain Allan Ed- ward Bullock a "dangerous offender." The Crown wants this gentleman locked away indefinitely, with only periodic reviews to determine if he is fit to be released. As | continued to read this news item, | could scarcely believe what | was seeing. The 28-year Mr. Bullock has been a very busy man. In the last year alone he has convictions for four sex assaults, two common assaults, six rob- beries, two car thefts, credit card fraud, possession of stolen property,, dangerous driving and failing to stop at an accident. In 1987, he attacked eight women in three cit- ies. He has 37 other convictions on his sheet. A psychiatrist testified this guy has a "reason- ably serious" personality disorder, gets his kicks from violence and rape, and probably will injure or kill someone in the future. How charming. Only in Canada. | mean here's a guy all of 28 years old with close to 50 convic- Viewpoint by John B. McClelland tions on his record, and they are using up scarce court time to decide whether he should be locked up as a "dangerous offender." I like to think that anyone deserves a second chance, but this is ridiculous. If he's not a "danger- ous offender," would somebody please tell me what is? If this is they way the courts have dealt with this guy over the past few years, is it any wonder the streets have become a jungle? On another topic, a lot of people think our tra- ditions in this country are being eroded.. Susan Eng, a Toronto lawyer and "activist" got herself appointed to the Police Commission recent- ly. Nothing wrong with that. The Commission needs all the "activists" it can get. Ms. Eng, when sworn in, decided she didn't like the traditional oath with its reference to alle- giance to the Crown. So she simply made up her wn oath of office, deleting all references to the rown., Very neat and tidy. If you don't like the way something is done, to hell with it. Make up your own rules as you go along. Personally, | am not a Monarchist, never have been. But | find it appalling that somebody appoint- ed to a very important position can simply flaunt the oath and change the words at will just because she doesn't like them. No wonder people think our traditions are be- ing shoved under the carpet. Ms. Eng should have been told to take the oath or give up the job. Plain and simple. But nobody did that. They obviously ~ don't want to ruffle Ms. Eng's feathers, or anybody else's for that matter. All right, the country isn't going to skid down the slippery slope just because some "activist" re- fuses to swear allegiance to the Crown, but frankly, this is an example of how a lot of people think they can do whatever the hell they want in Canada, "and just try to stop me, mister." Where else would a government continue to pour countless millions into "multiculturalism" and pass a budget that will take a military base out of Summerside P.E.l. throwing 1200 hard working people out their jobs, most of whom are third and fourth generation Canadians. Or how about good old Ontario quietly pushing through official bilingualism at huge cost, in a prov- ince where under five per cent of the people claim French as their first language. Check the want ad section of any daily newspaper and see just how many Government of Ontario positions require French these days. There are a lot of things troubling many aver- age Canadians these days, and when | say aver- age, | mean Canadians who have been around this country for a few years or generations. You would not believe some of the mail that ar- rives on my desk each week from groups and ind- viduals. Some of it borders on hate literature, some of it expresses concerns in reasonable tones. And the thread that seems to run through it all is this: the country is out of control, the spending of tax dollars on wild, hare-brained schemes has reached monumentous proportions, the crooks and the wier- (Turn to page 8) Letters to the editor Remember || When? 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 12, 1919 . An enjoyable evening was spent in Burns Church, Ashburn on Friday, June 6 when the whole countryside gathered at a reception given in honour of our soldier boys returning from France. The church was rendered doubly beautiful by the tasteful decoration of flowers and flags. One of the best pieces of property improvement recently undertaken has been done by Mr. A.M. Roberts in remodelling the lawns about his house on Queen Street. : 45 YEARS AGO i Thursday, June 15, 1944 Mrs. N. DeShane has received a letter from her son Bert who is serving in Italy, telling that he has been successful in passing a special course and has now been promoted to Craftsman. ' The parents and friends of Mrs. J.E. Jackson's piano pupils spent two very pleasant evenings at the United Church listen- ing to the performances of many very talented young people. At the meeting of Fidelity Lodge A.F. & A.M. Clarke y Williams was elected Master. Mr. S. Farmer was in Toronto last Wednesday and attend- ed a meeting of the Liberal Association held in the King Edward Hotel. GCL Er VG i i i LAE NI WT) 4 y 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 17, 1954 Port Perry Brownies attended a Day Camp at Camp Samac along with Brownie Packs from Oshawa and Ajax. ; The first Port Perry Yacht Club race was held Sunday after- noon with a good turnout of boats that gave a parkful of spec- tators plenty of entertainment. Lion Art Brunton was selected from some 400 members by the International Officers Committee to represent Zone 10, South District A3 which comprises Eastern Ontario. Mrs. A.G. Christie and Miss Catherine Christie of Baltimore, Md., are at their summer home here in Manchester. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, June 18, 1959 A purebred Holstein owned by Edward Oyler, Port Perry, has completed a very fine Record of Performance Test. She is Lindette Snow Achilles. (Turn to page 8) EE UU ae TE TIT TT Health study needed on Nuclear To the Editor The first of Darlington's nuclear reactors will soon be fired up. From that point on it will routinely release radiation into our environment. The Darlington Tritium Removal Facility (TRF) has already done this. In October 1988 after running just three days the TRF suffered an accident which effectively closed the facili- ty. At the time, Ontario Hydro emphasized that thanks to the containment system, no radiation had escaped. But on Jan. 19, 1989, after much prodding, Hydro ad- mitted that in fact a "trace" of tritim (approx. 8 curies) had escaped to the environment. Containment systems like those at the TRF are used to block the uncontrolled release of radiation. Unfortunately this is often only a temporary solution which allows the nuclear industry some breathing space. Later on, as the emergency subsides, this trapped radiation is diluted into the en- vironment in what is referred to as a "controlled release' or "venting." In March '89, Hydro finally ad- mitted that rather than 'no radia- tion" or "'traces of radiation," in the last three months of 1988, the TRF deliberately Vented 65,146 curies of tritium oxide and 2,662 curies of tritium gas into our en- vironment. No data was volunteered for releases in 1989. As Hydro dilutes tritium into the air we breath and the water we drink they are also diluting the health of this community. Cer- tainly by venting tritium, Ontario Hydro is throwing more than cau- tion to the wind. Hydro claims that tritium exposures to their workers and the public are within CF i nee "ev vamrtiametiibagtaell "permissable levels" but we know that every exposure to tritium increases the chance of developing cancer and genetic defects. Since there is no such thing as a safe exposure, and since the cost of totally eliminating tritium emissions would price nuclear power out of existence, we can of course expect the nuclear in- dustry to continue to claim that tritium venting is "acceptable." The only way to know for sure is to conduct a proper Baseline Health Study, prior to the start up of Darlington, and to conduct complete health studies to deter- mine why children near the Pickering reactors have 37 per- cent more leukemia than is normal. Yours truly, Jeff Brackett, Durham Nuclear Awareness, Oshawa, Ontario. MP's support for VIA To the Editor: Reading Ross Stevenson's arti- cle (May 24) I am confused as to what he is actually supporting. The title indicates that it is Via Rail, but in the article he really only pledges limited support for the Toronto-Havelock route. Mr. Stevenson's rationale for the budget cutbacks must also be closely examined. If enough funds had been provided in the past to replace aging equipment and im- prove the infrastructure, lower operating subsidies would now be realized. Also government bureaucracy managed through the National Transportation Agency has shown a lack of com- mitment to Via Rails success. I would also suggest to Mr. Stevenson that his facts are in er- ror. As per the Budget Papers ex- penses have gone up $89 million, - ---------------- not $94 million as indicated. It may seem trivial, but $5 million would support the Toronto- Havelock train for 10 years. A recent article in the Globe and Mail indicated that only 12 Via routes will remain, 9 of them to remote communities. If this is true then the Toronto-Havelock route is certainly doomed. Mr. Stevenson's commitment and pledge of support seem to be in vain. How can you not but admire the Tory MP from the west who voted against his government's budget in order to protest the closure of a Canadian Forces Base. Deeds speak Stevenson! Yours truly, David Lester, Port Perry, Ont. IF YOUR RD WAS HERE OVER 16,000 people could have read it this week That's a lot of potential customers for your business. For Advertising Made Easy call the STAR - 985-7383 TERR ------