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p 4 the tribune tuesday january 27 198 si the tribune tuesday january 27 1998 vol 110 no 7 the tribune is a member of the ontario press council comment man send your letters to the editor to the address below editorial end the tragedies how many more must die there are many more weeks of winter left and the stagger ing death toll of snowmobilers so far this season begs the ques tion how many more people will die on the ice eleven people went through the ice of lake scugog within five days this month and four died two more snowmobilers were killed over the weekend near lake simcoe a third hit a tree and died nearmidland and a fourth is in hospital in new market with head injuries sustained when he also hit a tree why arent the daily highprofile media warnings being heeded where is their common sense how many more tragedies like this must take men from their families and here is a controversial question why do all these flirt ingwithdeath tragedies involve men local politicians and winter sports experts around lake sim coe and lake scugog say their communities are suffering from a bad image and the mishaps are driving away tourists and hurting businesses they maintain its neither the ice nor the lakes which are killing snowmobilers its the lack of common sense com bined sometimes with alcohol changeable weather conditions reduced visibility and high speeds the lakes and waterways are too vast to post public warning signs at regular intervals so mothers and daughters please warn the men in your lives to treat snowmobiles with more respect and observe common sense rules when out on the ice please let this string of winter tragedies end i did not say line dance- i said uon dance a a fat wheeled if our lcbo aint broke then why fix it i think premier mike harris sings yankee doodle dandy in the shower betweeen gambling casinos pop ping up across ontario and the gov ernments exploring the option of pri vatizing the sale of booze the face of our province is starting to look like a us state youre being encouraged to win and not work your way to the top dont worry you can drown your sorrows by taking a trip to the corner store to pick up a twofour 1 may be a fallen protestant but my methodist upbringing continues to off the record joan ransberry guide me the simple fact is i dislike my province housing and promoting gambling if you want to lose your shirt at the tables thats your business but when government officials turn into black jack dealers i question it last week i witnessed whitchurch- stouffville council make a wise move when it sent a message to consumer and commercial relations minister david tsubouchi asking that he aban don plans to privatize liquor sales the ontario liquor boards em ployees union is involved in a slick campaign designed to convince the government not to privatize its 595 booze outlets workers at the liquor stores in stouffville and uxbridge are keeping a keen eye on developments stouffville store manager brent gibson and assistant manager kevin mcwhinnie know this business heading to white house for stardom since writing my last column i have simulated a parachute jump played a makebelieve handheld video game and expressed faux amazement at the price of a recliner the place was an ad agency in toronto the occasion was my first commercial audition apparently the casting director failed to recognize a star when he saw one because the phone has remained ominously silent since my debut such is the lot of one trying vainly to earn a little extra on the side without drawing on the few brain cells remaining in the aging cranium regular readers may recall that my bid for fame started just over a year ago when i answered a want ad for beer commercials donning a hip top my best black pants and my plastic country singer boots i set off for the big city in my retro wagon the talent agency was so bowled over by my potentialthat they put me on their books immediately and set up a photo shoot which cost me an arm and a leg several days later i had to select the shots i liked best so that kates corner kate gilder dale they could be enlarged and sent out to all those eager clients i squinted at the blurry batch of tiny perfect prints and picked out those i hoped were the most flatter- ing as the months went by it began to dawn on me that overnight success is as they warn you in those ubiqui tous celebrity profiles a cruel myth im working at it but if it arrives at all i fear it will be posthumously perhaps i shouldchange tactics and get a job at the white house women who work there seem to be able to win fame without even going for an audition of course i wouldnt land monicas role but i might be able to step into the shoes of linda tripp our linda is the one who blew thc gaff on monicas alleged affair with william jefferson clinton tripp de scribed by the toronto star as a bit ter former white house employee who now works at the pentagon is a fine upstanding american according to close friend lucianne goldberg the woman doesnt have a political bone in her body gushed goldberg shes a soccer mom with two kids four dogs and a nice house in the country she works 10 hours a day and just wants to put this behind her it goes without saying that a doting mother who encourages her children in sporting endeavours works full time and supplies a nice country home for not one but four canine companions would be incapable of plotting against the president she probably tapes private conver sations with her nearest- and dearest just to have something special to remember them by too bad shes not a clinton fanihe may nevertheless take comfort from the wise words of russell baker a group of politicians deciding to dump a president because his morals are bad is like the mafia getting together to bump off the godfather for not going to church on sunday theyll tell you that when it comes to alcohol the government runs a clean operation is accountable and tries to keep a close reign on who can buy and who cant as well last year the lcbo profits stood at a record 730 million over and above taxes also a survey shows that 85 per cent of ontarians are satisfied with the current operation heres the question if it aint broke why fix it of course this goverment wants to make even more money will the pcs ever learn that life is not always and only about money dont be surprised if a soontobe released report includes- the option of closing 322 stores creating agency stores and contracting out alcohol isnt like other products although enjoyed in moderation by many ontarians its still an intoxicant with many health safety and social costs including motor vehicle crashes murder suicide and chronic illness the union pointed out the sale of alcohol requires careful regulation and handling only by trained people what a difference a responsible govern ment makes our beer and liquor stores are clean and the staffs are trained and responsible people years ago i bought booze in a corner store in the us the store keeper had a threeday old beard wore a filty shirt and the store was gungy last year in ontario lcbo staff chal lenged 560000 people and refused to serve more than 76000 i doubt that my us merchant would refuse anyone alberta is the only province in canada with private liquor outlets guess what after privatization alberta drinkers saw the price of booze shoot up brand selection decreased liquor offenses wentup robberies increased alcohol con sumption increased and 1600 people lost their jobs stouffville tribune a metroland community newspaper patricia pappas publisher andrew mair editorinchief tracy kibble editor debra weller director of advertising mike rogerson retail advertising manager stacey allen classified manager barry goodyear director of distribution vivian oneil business manager pamela nichols operations manager about us hi 85 ews w8i m 905 6402100 classifieds 905 6402874 6405477 email the stouffville tribune pub- printing publishing anddittributiongroup 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