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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, February 13, 1990 -- 7 BALLARD SAGA--MINOR HOCKEY | had a conversation with a friend last week which started when he asked me why the media are giving such prominent attention to the Harold Ballard saga. He said he is sick and tired of reading about the battles involving Harold, Yolanda, Harold's three children and the board of directors at Maple Leaf Gardens. And | had to agree with him, to a point. But the fact remains that Harold Ballard is a major public figure in Toronto and indeed Canada. He has been anything but media-shy over the years. Right or wrong, because of his public stature as the controversial and often flamboyant owner of the Gardens and the Maple Leat Hockey Club, he iS news. And right or wrong, the public has an appetite for all the details, no matter how personal and un- pleasant they may be, about everything Ballard does and everything those around him do. As for whether that news is front page or "bur- ied" back with the want ads, that's a question | can't answer. Newspaper and television editors make sub- jective judgements every day on what is front page news, just as | do each week in editing the Port Perry Star. There are no hard and fast rules. And these subjective judgements are open for criticism every time a newspaper is published. it's a part of the business. As | said to my friend, the Harold Ballard saga- soap opera is news. The reader is the ultimate edi- tor. If you don't like, or aren't interested, go on to Viewpoint by John B. McClelland something else in the paper, or change the chan- nel. Harold Ballard is a sick man, very sick. Chanc- es are he will never get out of hospital. Personally, | think it is a sad human tragedy that these final weeks of his life have turned into a three-ring circus with Yolanda, his children and the directors of Ma- ple Leaf Gardens hauling each other into court in iami and Toronto. But that doesn't alter the fact that all his adult life, Harold Ballard has been outrageous and con- troversial; a major public figure in this country who has actively courted the lime-light'and media atten- tion. As | told my friend, the Harold Ballard story is only just beginning, and will continue to be front- page news long after he has left this earth. Right or wrong, that's the way it is. PAY AS YOU GO Over the years, the Port Perry Minor Hockey Corp. has walked a delicate line over the issue of house league and rep (OMHA) teams. it wasn't too many years ago that a controver- sy erupted over the amount of ice time for games and practises allocated to the house league teams and the rep teams. Many parents of players in the house leagues felt their children were not getting the same amount of ice time, yet they were paying the same registration fees as rep team players. It is a complicated issue and there were no easy solutions. But | want to say here that Minor Hockey, to its credit, tackled the issue and provid- ed more ice time to house league teams for practis- es and games. The annual House League tourna- ment held over March Break has been great, and since | happen to be a coach at the House League level, | know exactly how much ice time my team has been getting this season and last. Now, there are rumblings that things have gone too far for the house league teams, and that rather than house leagues "subsidizing" the rep teams, it's the other way around. A case in point are the playoffs. During regular season games, parents of rep team players get in free to watch, if they have their "green card." Same with the house league games. For playoffs, Minor Hockey charges admission for parents to rep team games, but not for house league playoff games. There have been suggestions that parents should have to pay to get in for house league playoff games, just like the rep team games. As a parent with two kids playing house league, | don't think that's such a bad idea. After all, it costs Minor Hockey almost as much for a house league playoff as it does for a rep team playoff game. The ice rental is the same. It costs just about $100 to put on a Bantam house league playoff game for ice rental, timekeepers and refer- ees, and Minor Hockey gets absolutely no revenue from such a game. | don't know for a fact if the rep teams are now "subsidizing" the cost of house leagues, but | sus- pect there is a lack of parity at this time. As | said before, | would not object to paying admission to watch my son in a house league playoff game. | was one of the objectors several (Turn to page 8) Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 15, 1945 L.A.C. Elmer Lee is enjoying a few days leave with wife and little son Larry. The Port Perry High School was the scene of a gala event when the Lions Club held the 'Cigarettes for Overseas Euchre and Dance' where over 300 patrons, young and old enjoyed play- ing cards and dancing to the music of Carmen Rogers' Orchestra. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 17, 1955 Mr. and Mrs. J.L. Sweetman entertained 14 members of their family to chicken dinner in their home Sunday, in keeping with their 30th Anniversary on February 10. The winners of the Telephone Euchre which was sponsored by Blue Ray Chapter Order of the Eastern Star, have been deter- mined and first prize, a pair of blankets, went to Mrs. Guy Raines with a score of 81; second prize, a tablecloth, was won by Bruce Beare with a score of 78. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 18, 1960 The Sunday alarm called the local fire brigade to Taylor's Garage, Cartwright Township. The blaze was quickly quelled, but some $150 to $200 damage resulted. Mr. and Mrs. Grant Christie are spending a month in Florida. To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Scouting in Canada, Port Perry Scouts, Guides and Brownies will attend various chur- ches in the community on Sunday, February 21. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 18, 1965 Charles Brignall, caretaker of the Port Perry Post Office was the only person to attend the lowering of the Red Ensign and hoisting of the new Red Maple Leaf flag on top of the Post Office Building on Monday, February 15. A local rink, skipped by Ruth Mitchell of Brooklin, won the John Ballard Lumber Co. Trophy last week at their annual bonspiel held in the Port Perry Curling Arena. The winning team included - Helen Bathie, second; Ruth Mitchell, skip; Mary Jean Heron, lead; Iva Mitchell, vice. : There has been an average 88.5 percent occupancy on the general wards of the Community Memorial Hospital during the past year, 1964. Extra beds in the corridors have been almost continually occupied. (Turn to page 10) Letters ii: Bilingualism forced on Canadians To the Editor: Nowhere in the BNA Act does it say that the French lan- guage has any official status other than in Parliament. The late John Diefenbaker in a letter to me said: "Had it not been for the British Crown, the rights of the French in the 1770's under the Quebec Act, and later the Constitution Act of 1791 would not have been. - Furthermore, the French today would be in the same position as Religionin schools To the Editor: The unanimous decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling that any public school that tries to teach any one faith is in violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The 82 page decision ruled man- datory religious studies un- constitutional. The Judges ban called religious classes a "coercion." As the Catholic schools are now publicly funded from general revenues; income tax, sales tax, liquor tax, gasoline tax, cigarette tax, etc., paid by all Ontarians and as religion is a mandatory part of Catholic schools it would appear to be unconstitutional, as decreed by the courts. What about separation of church and state? Lets leave religion to the churches and education to the schools. We can- not afford the duplicity any longer. B. Senior, Port Perry. their compatriots in the United States" (assimilated) Bilingualism is a scheme of the Trudeau gang forced on an un-suspecting Canada in the guise of national unity. When it ran into deep trouble with eth- nic voters, multiculturalism was born to quiet them down, along with a huge infusion of public money. Bilingualism is the most di- visive fraud ever perpetrated on the people of Canada, under the threat of "give in to Quebec ot it will separate." Jacques Parizeau, leader of the PQ, has stated openly that Quebec has been blackmailing the rest of Canada. Bourassa continues the blackmail. Rather than the American style of the melting pot assimi- lation where everyone joins to- Smile For The Day . gether in a common language and goals, Canada faces a divi- sive two-language duplicity. Robert Stanfield, in his de- lusion, even went so far as the "deux nations" concept, to ap- pease Quebec. Premier Peterson's grand- standing with Bill 8, and his re- cent condemnation of the 30 municipalities that refused his authoritarian edict, clearly showed his bias. He like Mulroney, was si- lent when his pal Bourassa forced Bill 178 (French only sign only) on the 1 million an- glophones of Quebec. And when he thumbed his nose at the Su- preme Court of Canada, Mul- roney and Peterson were silent. When English speaking people defend their language and culture, they are branded (Turn to page 12) "THEY'RE ANTI-LI TTER LEAFLETS,"