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8 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, May 12, 1992 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" a an wa a a re Bs ¥ 3 3 0 SS R . re ET N _ i % Se 2 \ TRE SR A 8 3 ~8 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 Foy 0.N.O. ladies of Blackstock collected $345.10 for the Cancer Marion Martyn, Prince Albert, and Mr. John Lake were honored by neighbors and friends at a community shower in honor of their recent marriage. Kay Jackson, Scugog Island, appeared on an amateur program over the Peterborough TV station. Kay has a lovely singing voice. She was accompanied by Keith Crosier of the Island and Bob Adams, Oshawa, on their guitars. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, May 11, 1967 Port Perry Star staff became the "adopted family" of a stray cat three months ago. Sapphire has since then added three beautiful little kittens to the family and the Star regrets having to part with them but must now search for some new homes for these four feline friends. The second annual Art Show, sponsored by Mrs. Douglas Wallace and her Junior Art students was held in the Scout Hall over the weekend. Approximately 150 people were on hand to view the displays. Murray Croxall, son of Mr. and Mrs. O. E. Croxall, Port Perry, graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Production Technology recently and also received a $200 scholarship. Murray is now employed by Northern Electric in Bramalea, Ontario. 20 YEARS AGO Wednesday, May 10, 1972 Due to increased vandalism in the Post Office lobby, the building will be locked from 7 p.m. each evening and closed all day Sunday. A spokesman for the Post Office said that lock boxes have been tampered with resulting in the need for tighter security of the mail. A 1957 Jeep owned by Flamingo Pastries was destroyed in an early morning fire. The blaze is believed to have been started among a load of boxes in the rear of the Jeep. A 120-year-old home in Greenbank will be moved from its present location to the Lake Scugog Historical Society Museum site on Scugog Island. The house, owned by Mr. Ernie Lee, has been given to the society. Elaine Elliott was awarded first prize for her entry in the Historical Society's essay writing contest. Runner-up was Sheila Warne. Both girls received cash prizes for their essays. Presenting the prizes was Manager Don McRitchie of the Bank of Commerce which sponsored the event. 10 YEARSAGO Wednesday, May 12, 1982 The Big Brothers of North Durham is holding a Name the Pig Contest. Each entry costs 50 cents and the proceeds will be split evenly between Big Brothers and the winner of the contest. Members of the Hope Christian Reform Church held an official sod turning ceremony to celebrate the start of construction on a new church building on Simcoe Street in Prince Albert. Henry DeWolde of Bra-Ma-Rod Farm near Ashburn had the highest indexing boar in the large group of 126 boars from across Ontario which completed tests recently at the Ontario R.O.P. Swine Test Station, New Hamburg. Several local residents attended the Durham 4-H Achievement Day. Pat Kingston of Manchester received a 20-year leadership certificate. Ann Chandler of Scugog Island received a five-year certificate. Martha Esdale of Prince Albert and Jennifer Vugts of Scugog Island received certificates for County Honors. The driver of a 1978 Firebird miraculously escaped uninjured after his vehicle crashed through 600 feet of bush and bog when he failed to negotiate a turn at County Road 28 and County Road 6 in mp A |! i ¥ Mariposa Township. Letters to the editor Rural community vital to Ontario To the Editor: All residents of Ontario take heed! On March 30, 1992, in Middlesex County, a travesty of democracy and a betrayal of ru- ral people ocurred when Lon- don businessman, John Brant, provincially appointed arbitra- tor, tendered his Greater Lon- «don Area Report to Municipal Affairs Minister, David Cooke. The provincial government ap- pointed Brant to settle, under stringent guidelines, a long- standing dispute between the City of London and its sur- rounding rural municipalities over London's bid to annex land representing a substantial por- tion of the county's assessment base. Sixty days were allotted for this arbitration process. Brant conducted 12 hearings, often with standing room only, where he heard overwhelming opposition to annexation from rural and city residents. They opposed it on grounds that Lon- don has not demonstrated the need for annexation and had mismanaged their 1961 annex- ation that had doubled Lon- don's territory. The importance of our rich agricultural lands as a limited resource, the effect on the environment of another ur- ban area now to be 80 per cent the size of Toronto, the impor- tance of the vitality of the rural community and our right to "self-determination were all ar- guments put forth repeatedly. In his report, Brant disre- garded the valued opinions of the rural community and rub- ber stamped what the provin- cial government, the developers and some London municipal of- ficials wanted. This included enough land {26,000 hectares} to triple the size of London; es- tablishing a three kilometre 'Buffer Zone' around London in county land where no develop- ment without full urban servic- es and city approval can occur; and dissolving London's elected. PUC and the Town of Westmin- ster's elected council without notice. Because of very strong Bill C-49 puts the shaft to men To the Editor: On April 8, 1992, Bill C-49 passed unanimously its second reading in the House of Com- mons. Apparently no federal Member of Parliament is will- ing to oppose a bill which pur- ports to protect Canadian wom- en. Bill C-49 is now being reviewed by a legislative com- mittee. One can only pray that the members of this committee will have enough courage to speak out honestly. Bill C-49 (also known as the "rape shield law") was drafted after the Supreme Court of Can- ada struck down a section of the Criminal Code which had pro- hibited a woman's sexual histo- ry being introduced as evidence, except under exceptional cir- cumstances. Although the in- tent of the previous law had been to ensure that women who complained of sexual assault would not be required to under- go unfair and embarrassing questioning about their sexual histories, the Supreme Court stated, rightly so, that in some cases this provision denied a man a fair trial. Radical feminist groups, en- raged by the Supreme Court ruling, met with the Minister of Justice. Despite protests from moderate women, a new pro- posed law, drafted by feminists, was accepted by Justice Minis- ter Kim Campbell (herself an avowed feminist). If Bill C-49 should pass, for the first time in Canada a per- son will be required to prove in- nocence or be considered guilty. Presumption of innocence will not apply, it seems, in cases where women claim to have been sexually assaulted. For example: A man and woman spend an evening to- gether drinking and carousing, resulting eventually in sexual intimacy. The next day the woman, for whatever reason, is upset and decides to press sa charge of rape against her part- ner. The man is then required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the woman gave her full consent to the sexual act. However, because she was in- toxicated, the woman may be deemed to have been unable to give consent. The man, howev- er, who was also intoxicated, would not be allowed to use his drunken state as an excuse, in that he had assumed the wom- an did give consent. In other words, the woman takes no re- sponsibility for her actions while inebriated; the man is held responsible. This is both insulting to women and unfair to men. It has always been a funda- mental principle of our judicial system that those causing harm intentionally should be pun- ished more severely than those causing harm unintentionally. However, under the proposed Turn to Page 9 Mesh missing To the Editor: I am devastated to declare that my basketball mesh, that I generously donated for the lake- front court, has gone missing. I am very worried and con- cerned about its safety. I don't know whose basketball is in it now. Sorrow is felt by all my friends (and all other hoopsters}) and it is dramatically affecting our shooting game. If anyone knows the wherea- bouts of our vulnerable and de- fenseless mesh, would they please return it to its home, so we all can get on with our lives/ game of horse.' Sincerely, Michael L.. Kosurko opposition to an amalgamated school board and because he had no solution, told the boards of education for Middlesex County and London to solve their own problems within two years or face a solution imposed by the province. David Cooke endorses this ar- bitration mechanism for arbi- tration and hopes to use it in other disputes in Ontario. Say- ing that he had to step in to set- tle the dispute, he chastised the county for not giving in to Lon- don's demands. He also wrongly presumed that the rural com- munity would not fight this bla- tant, dictatorial move. Not only does this report di- rectly contradict the govern- ment's own policy on land use and the environment as stated in the Sewell Commission Re: port, the whole process was a sham and a blight on democra- cy. The Greater London Area Report was tabled knowing that the Sewell Commission Report was due. The Sewell Report con- demns massive land grabs such as Brant recommended and strongly states that prime agri- culture land {less than one per cent of all Ontario land} must be protected. Much of the proposed annexed area is prime agricul- tural land. Cooke argues that the Sewell Report has no bear- ing on the Brant Report. Ac- cording to Cooke's interpreta- tion, rural Ontario is open to all development. Remnant rural Ontario will become a deprived region if commercially and industrially tax rich urban centres are al- lowed to sprawl and confiscate rural assessment. Our meagre tax dollars will not be able to support our schools, our recrea- tional facilities, our senior citi- zens' homes, and our roads. In a democracy, the will of the people must prevail. The un- democratic process described above could happen in your community. Write your local MPP, David Cooke Minister of Municipal Affairs, and Pre- miere Bob Rae. Let them know that the rural community, agri- culture, and food production are vital components of Ontario's society and economy. Sincerely, Carol A. Small, Chairperson, Middlesex County Women for the Support of Agriculture Wants death penalty To the Editor: The light filtered through the unopened window, refracting from the dangling crystal creat- ing blossoms of color on the walls of this 15-year-old girl's room. As usual the morning has arrived all too soon, and her moans of displeasure could be heard down the hall of her quaint little home. Her father had already left for work as her mother whispered her gentle re- minder "come on dear let's go." One last stretch and out of bed she bounced. This day had started as many before but may never end for the friends and family who will never forget the tragedy that was set to unfold. With the innocence of youth still present in her smile, this developing young lady set off for school for the last time. Her mother unaware that the casu- al farewell kiss goodbye would have to last her a lifetime. Another abducted youth, an- other round in the battle with pure evil spills out and paints us all with its stench. We are all responsible for these horrible nightmares come true, we con- tinue to stand by as they hap- pen time and time again. I will not pretend to know what motivates someone to do these deeds of evil, to snatch a child from a loving home, use them, then discard them as trash on the side of the road. But I will say my peace, the odds are that this person who abducted this child is a repeat offender, probably out on proba- tion or mandatory supervision or some such crap. Released on the advise of some intellectual so far removed from reality they can hardly be held responsible for their actions. I say that if a police officer can be charged under the criminal code for performing his duty to serve and protect us, then the people on the parole board should be held responsible when they unleash these ani- mals on society. I also say where is this so-called moral majority? Am I the only one who is out- raged? I can hardly contain my frustrations and anger with so- ciety, that we will not stand as a united force against these evils and eradicate them. I sympa- thize with the police, the frus- trations they must feel after putting these animals in their cages and then turn around and give the keys to the parole board. The writing is on the wall, the system as we now know it, does not work. The release of these criminals back into society is not working. We are supposed to be intelligent beings, yet we continue to make the same mis- takes time and time again. I doubt that there is any deter- rent that would have any effect on a hardened criminal. If they plan to commit a crime they will, no matter what the punish- ment. They never believe that they will be caught. The solution is simple, for any violent crime against another human the punishment should be death. This includes rape, sexual abuse of children, child pornography, murder and per- aps we should throw in drug trafficking and related activi- ties. This may sound like tough medicine but it is necessary to cure the ills of a very troubled society. We may never elimi- nate the first-time offender from our midst, but we can elim- inate the repeat offender per- manently. The bell must ring loud and clear for the return of capital punishment, not just for mur- der but for all the crimes listed above. For the sentence levied on the sexually abused child or the raped woman is a life of re- curring nightmares and tor- ment. If you feel as frustrated as I do about our so-called justice system please write me with your concerns and I will for- ward them to our members of parliament. Let the moral majority be- come the vocal majority. Tyler S. Briley, 19 Poplar Park Cres., Port Perry, Ontario, LIL 1E4