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p4 weekender may 24 1986 weekender comment keep ban on death penalty the issue of capital punishment will probably be raised in the house of commons during the next few months it seems that certain members feel that the death penalty should be returned in canada they point to the lack of deter rents in our current system and the need for tougher penalties for murders however there is no evidence that violent crime is in creasing at an alarming rate in canada the murder rate has remained relatively constant and even kill ings of police officers are rare despite a spate of the police kill ings in 1984 and 1985 although there is an emotional appeal in favor of capital punish ment a feeling that murder rates the ultimate in punishment especially in the death of a police officer reason must prevail all the studies show that capital punishment is not a deterrent and there seems to be no reason to re open the issue now our mps could better spend their time on more pressing issues friends are keeping mum lately i guess it had to happen i think the clincher was when the weekenders circulation went up to 30000 recently suddenly everywhere i go people suffer in stant amnesia totally forgetting the conversations they were en gaged in my team mates on the monday night mens league team that i play for are no longer talking ab out the incredible stag party they put on for their kid brother their golf weekends with the boys in south carolina or the girls they knew before they met mrs right local businessmen who used to love to relate their zany experi ences back in the days when i was one of them are bolting to the back room when i show up in their stores looking for some idle chit chat it seems they are all suffering from exposephobia the fear of having ones indiscretions made public knowledge by a columnist desperate for an off beat indi vidual to make fun of from where i live ft jdzuce dkahlel y now ive been selling all my life so rejection is something ive gotten used to i can learn to live with being given the bums rush by friends neighbors and businessmen however when my own family starts exhibiting guarded be havior in my presence i guess it is high time i reconsidered my strategy as to how to go about gathering source material for this weekly dissertation i had suspected something was amiss when both my kids rented safety deposit boxes and started stashing them with questionable materials like old photographs that captured them in less than flattering situations and the book that contains all of the humorous word combinations they came up with when they were learning to talk outrageous suggestions of alternative child raising methods were the next to go i used to look forward to these little gems of bent logic put forward by my offspring challenging mom and dads anachronistic views on such issues as bed time home work candy consumption and proper behavior during church service but the gravity of the problem didnt really hit me until i picked up my sons most recent written composition anxious to read the latest creative outpourings of his fertile 11yearold mind alas this is what the little guy had felt com pelled to write my dads got a column that might not sound like a good reason to be nervous but it is you see if i do something dumb it might end up in the col umn because of this no ones been doing any dumb things around our house anymore and dad has to resort to other things to write about like blue jay home openers missionaries and salesmen hell probably do one on the dangers of exploration of my sis ters bedroom a three part scries it will take that long to get through all the stuff in there not as many people come around anymore nobody wants to be quoted in his column he already made a fool of me and i didn t even do anything when i was two years old i was well chubby so in front of all of york region he called me my old nick name lumpy ill never live that one down i had bitter thoughts but came right back i have to stay on his good side if im going to play first base this year hes my baseball coach now if i am truly going to turn over a new leaf it should be pointed out that i did in fact get my sons permission to use his composition all it took was a lit tle bribe he gets to play first base for three games guaranteed j even if he ends up playing it the way george chuvalo used to box with his face hes still my man fair enough in the meantime it looks like the gravy train has ground to a halt no more free lunch col umn ideas from here on ill be forced to go out on the prowl and hunt down my subject matter just like a real journalist i might even have to do some research chalk up another one for the all good things must come to an end department sm economists sun the tribune weekender bruce annan publisher 9 heritage rd markham l3p1m3 2942200 4959440 6402100 6492292 published every saturday by metroland priming publishing and distributing at 9 heritage rd markham ontario l3p 1m3 tel 2342200 second class mail 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