Page 4, News, Tuesday, June 11, 1991 ---- Editorial Tel.: 825-3747 The Terrace Bay - Schreiber News is published every Tuesday by Laurentian Publishing Limited, Box 579, 13 Simcoe Plaza, Terrace Bay, Ont., POT 2W0 Tel.: 807-825-3747. Second class mailing permit 2264. Member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association Enjoy boating by thinking of safety The drowning statistics tell the tale; nearly 33 per cent of all drownings, 62 deaths, in Ontario in 1989 occurred while the individuals were boating. During the 1990 boating season in Ontario, within the OPP jurisdiction, there were 55 fatal accidents which resulted in 65 deaths. Ontario is home to approximately 60 per cent of the 25 million pleasure craft operating in Canada and the Red Cross, the Ontario Provincial Police and the newly formed Canadian Safe Boating Council people operating and riding these boats to think safety. Always wear a lifejacket or personal flotation device when on a boat. It can only help you, your children and your friends if you, your children and your friends wear it. Boating and alcohol don't mix. Alcohol impairs your judgement and your ability to help yourself, your children and or friends in an emergency situation. Your most important safety aid is being able to react quickly and properly in an emergency. The OPP checked 33,514 boats last year which resulted in 5,491 warnings and 2,842 charges for a variety of offences including 79 of impaired boating. The total number of drownings in 1989 in which alcohol was considered to be a contributing factor was 34. That is over half of the total number of drownings (62) that occurred when the individual was boating in 1989. Safe boating takes planning. Remember - weather conditions, route planning, float plans, good boating skills and the required safety equipment and safety attitude all have a role to play in accident prevention. Let's keep the fun in boating. Follow the rules for safe and enjoyable boating. Think safety and come home alive. Robert A. Cotton Abolition of oath seen as insult to the Queen Dear Editor, The Rae Government's abolition of the Oath to the Queen taken by Ontario police officers and commissioners has properly aroused wide public resentment. The foolishness of this move has been compounded by arrogance: Beverly Morley, the Premier's Appointment Secretary informs the Monarchist League of Canada that "this isn't an issue outside Toronto," an assertion certain to be rejected around the province. The abolition of the Oath is wrong for a variety of reasons: first, it is insulting to Her Majesty the Queen, whose service, dedication and stable influence are widely respected and admired by most Canadians. Second, by taking this step allegedly in the name of making police forces more accessible to our ethnic communities, Mr. Rae insults their loyalty to the Crown. Many immigrants and new Canadians have come to this land precisely because of the freedom and prosperity we enjoy here under our parliamentary monarchy. In addition, the Premier has succumbed to the 'cafeteria Canadianism' of Susan Eng and those of her ilk. This is the dangerous position that suggests Canadians have the right to opt out of any part of the country which happens not to appeal to them. Such an attitude can only further contribute to the disunity of our land. Further, Rae shows gross insensitivity by adding the Monarchy - one of the few unifying forces in a divided Canada - to an already emotional debate about the Constitution. We need to take immediate action to condemn Rae's republican initiative. Send the Premier a message he won't forget, whether we live close to or far from Toronto. John Aimers Naminian Chairman pound." - front of a courtroom... ..,...; Single copies 50 cents incl. Publisher ee 2 GST. Subscription rates: Advertising Mgt......... $18 per year / seniors $12 EGCItOF..........-:cccccceeeeees ent 5 per io = - Sales Representative 40 mile radius) inU.S. admin. Asst aa chr as venpalieh a prone Production Asst........ a Sandy Harbinson ie CN A a Linda Harbinson senate Robert Cotton om) svsvewrenveted Lisa LeClair cn iia Gayle Fournier <3 dae Cheryl Kostecki 'Honey / F i | SHRINK THE KIDS /" x Tw i 7 % en | Dail vit Be OE eC Mell ie - 7 We i ls Be weve Lawyers never lose And it came to pass that on one fine morning the Pope and a lawyer arrived at the gates of heaven at the same time. St. Peter himself turned the gate keys over to an attendant angel and escorted the two new arrivals to their quarters. The Pope was given a spartan cubicle with a narrow cot, a plywood desk, a wooden chair and a Bible. The lawyer was led to a sumptuous eight-room penthouse with a walk-in liquor cabinet, wide screen satellite TV and a huge master bedroom, complete with waterbed and hot tub. "There must be some mistake," said the lawyer, "Surely the Pope should have this room." "Oh no," said St. Peter, "We have dozens of Popes in heaven, but you're our very first attorney." Lawyer jokes. I thought they were : a passing fad a couple of years ago, : but they just keep multiplying. And getting meaner. You heard about the cannibal who goes to the meat market? "How about some nice fresh politician?" the butcher says, "It's on special at $2.00 a ers "Nope, it repeats on me," says the F cannibal. Then he points at another tray. "What's that stuff?" "Breaded doctor," says the butcher, "For you, just $3.50." "IT don't want to spend too much," says the cannibal, "You got any fresh lawyer?" "Yes," says the butcher, "but it'll run you $12 a pound." "Twelve dollars! That's outrageous! Why do you charge so much?" The butcher mutters, "Mister, you ever tried to clean a lawyer?" . You know there's been some serious image tarnishing when lawyers play second fiddle to politicians. Of course that's part of the problem -- so many lawyers wind up becoming politicos. Brian Mulroney is a former lawyer. So is Michael Wilson and Jean Chretien. John Turner, Pierre Trudeau, Mike Pearson, John Diefenbaker -- it's hard to find a prime minister who didn't hone his insincere smile at the Vp awc S wadtrey ¢ a AS b ae Sew Arthur Black IS) Ca likiesOw he wasn't much of a prime minister either. But it's not just the political connection that makes us love to loathe lawyers, it's the hogs-at- the-trough perception too. In Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities, Sherman McCoy is a man who goes from being a millionaire King of Wall Street to a penniless murder suspect. At the end of the book, he has one piece of advice to offer the world. "Never," he says, "fall afoul of the justice system." _ He was referring to the = American system but he could have been talking about our country. Justice is a near-invisible commodity up here as well. Any Canadian citizen luckless enough to wind up in the dock of a Canadian court is probably poised on the brink of one of the most miserable and disheartening experiences of his or her life. And what really makes it stick in our craw is knowing 4 that no matter how much we bleed, the lawyers never lose. Personally, that is. They may lose the argument, the client, the whole case, but their fee comes off the top. Edward "Fast Eddie" Greenspan demanded a million bucks up front to defend accused murderer Helmut Buxbaum. Eddie got his million. Helmut got the slammer. Donald Marshall served 11 years for a murder he didn't commit. The lawyers who got him off charged $588,000. Donald Marshall, the wronged party, received a grand total of $270,000 -- before legal fees. Nothing wrong with any of that of course. All perfectly legal. But boy, it burns those of us who don't have our names on a shingle. I see that China has a chronic shortage of lawyers. The Chinese government estimates it needs 500,000 new lawyers to handle court backlogs. External Affairs, are you reading this? I think I bat oy) Ear Troliis f ~ roe 4. A nwraament see. the beginning, of a beautiful, Sing-Canadians lee