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"A Family Tradition for 132 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, April 14, 1998 - 7 LETTERS Time we speak out against GTSB To the Editor: [attended the April 7 meeting of Scugog council and Alan Tonks of the Greater Toronto Services Board (GTSB). Despite council's opposition, it became quite evident that Mr. Tonks believes Scugog should be part of the GTSB. Mr. Tonks could not provide a list of benefits to Scugog, other than looking to the future, (Port Perry Subway?) He did not deny that the GTSB will create a third tier of bureaucracy with taxing powers and authority for planning. municipal taxes, with our after income tax dollars. This means that our tax rates (provisionally) at 1.65 per cent would increase to support Go Transit and Toronto's subways while Toronto's tax remains The GTSB will also be responsible for Go Transit, and we in Scugog will now pay for this in Scugog needs more public Skating at rink To the Editor: I am 13 years old and a Grade 8 student at Scugog Christian School. I am writing to inform the public that some- thing should be done about the situation at the Scugog Arena. Though this is a fine facility for hockey and other sports, unfortunately the same cannot be said for public skat- ing. There are hardly any hours set aside for public skating because hockey, ringette, brecomball, and figure skating occupy most of the ice time. Many people who do not enjoy these sports can still have fun just free-skating, and remem- ber, they pay taxes too. For example, during this year's March Break, the only hours of public skating were on Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. During the rest of the week, all other ice time was occupied. Skating is a sport all ages can enjoy, it is good exercise and relatively inexpensive. A solution might be to build sports time to make room for public skating. In conclusion, I think more time for public skating should be set aside. Laura Batterink, Port Perry another ice pad, or reduce the | lower at 1.24 per cent. We need to support our council's position and it 1s time for all of Scugog's citizens to act. We must make sure the Ontario government gets the mes- sage that we do not need or want to be part of the GTSB, we pay an excessive amount of taxes already and we cannot pay any more. Colin Kemp, Nestleton Who defines indecency? To the Editor: Re: Ottawa judge Jennifer Blishen's March 3 ruling that, unlike men, women do not have the legal right in Canada to publicly expose their breasts for a sexual or commercial pur- pose. i Our courts determine the legality of any act regulated by Canada's indecency or obsceni- ty laws according to which side of a threshold of tolerance it is located on, the threshold of tol- erance being that of the Canadian community. An act that the courts regard as being within this threshold is held by them to be "tolerable," and hence legal, whereas one that they regard as exceeding it is held by them to be "intol- erable," and hence illegal. Obviously, in order to deter- mine where the Canadian com- munity's threshold of tolerance is located either in terms of specific acts or in terms of kinds of acts -- that is, in order to determine what specific acts or kinds of acts are "tolerable/intolerable" -- the courts must determine where the threshold is located in terms of tolerance. In other words, they must determine what level of toler- ance the Canadian community's threshold of tolerance is located at; they must determine how much tolerance the Canadian community need have for a spe- cific act or kind of act in order for it to be "tolerable/how little tolerance the Canadian com- munity need have for a specific act or kind of act in order for it to be "intolerable." However, the courts have never done this, or even attempted to do so; instead, they pretend that this substan- tive issue of law has been resolved, that an operative legal doctrine has been estab- lished. This pretense fools pros- ecutors and defendants alike in indecency and obscenity cases, who engage in protracted sociological debates about how little/much tolerance the Canadian community has for specific acts and/or kinds of acts, but never question how little/much tolerance it must have for them in order for them to be legal. Our courts have adopted an approach to indecency and obscenity that all its base is essentially the same as the "I know it when I see it" one made infamous by Justice Potter Stewart in the 1965 U.S. Supreme Court case Jacobellis v. Ohio. Consequently, Canada's indecency and obscenity laws have been - rendered Kafkaesque; they are ultimate- ly unknowable. It should be noted that prosecution under an unknowable law is a blatant violation of sections 7 and 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. Lily Medeiros, Toronto Editor's Notepad by Jeff Mitchell TIME FOR THESE KIDS TO SHAPE UP There it was on the front page, the headline as evident as the coffee stain on the front of my otherwise- spotless white shirt: "New guidelines 'toughen up' kindergarten". "Well," | thought. "It was only a matter of time." Indeed. After tackling welfare mothers, municipal politicians, teachers, trustees, charity gambling and photo radar, the Tories have turned their attention to the final remaining evil to plague our society in this Brave New Ontario: Lazy five-year-olds. No more nap time. No more show and tell. No more Barney videos. It's time to get down to work. ...Actually, kindergarten children will be required to be in possession of a number of rudimentary skills involving counting, printing, oral communication and such, and that's not a bad idea. Having some goals that must be reached before the kiddies are sent off to Grade 1 isn't such a bad idea, | guess. And there are no tests and no one -- thank God -- will fail. Can you imagine? "Billy's progressing well in most areas, Mrs. Shultz, but he's still unable to 'identify healthy snacks', as required by the ministry guidelines. I'm afraid we'll have to hold him back again." "But he's ten years old!" "Sorry. Rules are rules." Now, in retrospect, it strikes me that a couple of years of kindergarten wouldn't have been such a bad deal, really. | quite enjoyed kindergarten and so, it appeared, did the rest of my little pals. We whiled away the days pretty much as we had prior to school, except with some sort of structure imposed. There were specific times at which we mucked in the sand, and ate peanut butter sandwiches. It was quite idyllic. There were lots of toys and plenty to do, and we spent the day chaperoned by a nice lady who, unlike our mothers, was not allowed to scream at us, no matter how grievous our transgressions. Then came Grade 1 and -- Wham! Read this. Add this. Memorize this. Our heads were swimming. No nap? No toys? What is this? Fortunately we were willing to learn, and Mrs. Tubbs (I retain now only a vague, hazy image of a kindly lady who had that grandmother smell) had the patience and knowledge we needed. Most of us survived. Thrived, even. But even as we were growing, learning and making fun of kindergarten kids, we secretly envied them. Especially when nap time rolled around. Random Jottings by J. Peter Hvidsten ter! ; alevent, RAR "IT JUST DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER Easter has come and gone | foranother year and for those Emm who had been waiting for the first long weekend of the season, you couldn't have been disappointed. They just don't come much bet- Scugog was buzzing with Sotviy hro weekend as the warm sun shone down on the area, but the most popular event was the Easter egg hunt on Sunday, where hundreds of kids and their par- ents lined the street to take part in the popular annu- Koury of the Nutty Chocolatier has been he event for the past 10 years and the Port throughout the // Perry Star was pleased to have been able to help by vet. The following morning, the brilliant red sun co-sponsoring the event this year. We extend our thanks to Ken on behalf of the thousands of parents and kids who have enjoyed the egg extravaganza over the past decade. It's hard to believe that last spring at this time we were still waitifig for the ice to leave Lake Scugog. I's already been out for two weeks this year and the press and now available at the Port Perry Star, the early, warm spring has flowers blooming, buds pop- ping and the grass turning green. "The town was busy over the holiday, with major street.corners filled by vendors selling colorful bou- quets of Easter flowers... the kids were like ants scrambling over the playground equipment at the tions. lakefront, while moms and pops sat quietly watching and enjoying in the sunshine... a few boaters dared the still chilly waters of the lake... skate boarders, roller bladers and cyclists were out in large num- bers, and there were even a few low-flying aircraft skimming the lake and town. The perfect end to the weekend for me was watching the full moon rise over the lake Sunday peaked over the horizon just before 7 a.m. project- ing a fire-red beam of light which danced across the mirror like surface of the. lake. It just doesn't get any better! HOT OFF THE PRESS The latest edition of Discover Scugog is off the Tourist Information Centre and the municipal offices. As a bonus to Port Perry Star subscribers, a copy of the Discover Scugog '98 is included in today's issue of the paper. Anyone else wanting a copy can pick one up free of charge at any of the above loca- This year's edition includes a brilliant color picture on the cover showing Palmer Park and the gazebo. Inside are a number of color photos of the area along with information and pictures about various events and locations around the township. 'We would like to thank the advertisers and con- tributors who helped to make this year's edition booklet to be published each year. - ching the full 1 rise ove | such a success. It's the ongoing support of the busi- night, shooting a beam of light across the surface of ness community that enables this tourist information: the water that glittered like diamonds on black vel-