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A higher drinking age does it really matter? Emphasis should be on enforcement During the holiday seaâ€" son, most people like to indulge in a little Christâ€" mas cheer. If Premier Bill Davis has his way, however, anyone under the age of 19 or 20 will have to indulge in their Christmas cheer at home in the fuâ€" ture. In midâ€"November a priâ€" vate member‘s bill to raise the legal drinking age to 19 was approved by By Howard Elliott â€" Six years ago, the proâ€" vincial government introâ€" duced the Age of Majorâ€" ity Act. That act stated that a person had to be 18 yem old to hold office, to enter into legal conâ€" tracts, and to drink in Now, Mr. Davis and friends are making a bid to raise the drinking age to either 19 or 20. One must wonder why the govâ€" ernment _ didn‘t â€" forsee many of the problems asâ€" You‘d better think twice before you down that extra one for the road, if you‘re in the habit of imbibing to celebrate the Christmas season. 1 s lt k . | B ut 1 ut 77 4 + 1 1 90 . Lt i ooictlintedieaininonintintintnnintnns Police won‘t be conducting any roadside checks for impaired drivers around Waterloo Region, but they‘li be keeping as close a watch as ever for drunken moâ€" torists during the holiday season. Waterloo Regional Police won‘t be doing anything out of the ordinary, tracking down those who imbibe and then try to negotiate the roadways. C _ C on ect d "We do our work constantly, all year round,"" said S. Insp. John Ulmer, of the Waterlo0 Regional police. "We simply don‘t have the manpower to put the blast on. But we don‘t have the same problems as years ago, when there were numerous office parties. At one time. it was quite evident that many industries and busiâ€" By Howard Elliott Waterloo Regional Police Chief Syd Brown wasn‘t surprised when he heard the police commission agreed unaniâ€" mously. last week, to cut six officers from the 432 member police force. "With the constraints being placed on everyone â€" both at local and provincial levels â€" _ we knew something drastic would probably happen." Chief â€"Brown said. The Chief is still disappointed about the decision, however. Force below standards "As far as I know. this is the only police force in North America that has not had an increase in personnel in the last two years."" he said. "I know you peopie in RilCTEMEO! "UH * have the population we have,"‘ Sgt. Shaw said, "but you certainly have a mixed culture, and the demand for services." Police Commission Chairman Steve Harper doesn‘t put much stock in the three â€" officerâ€"perâ€"thousand â€" residents formula. You won‘t get breaks from law According to Mr Brown diappointed about cutback you people in Kitchener don‘t Marper. that is basiâ€" a vote of 72 to 29 on second reading. Mr. Davis said that the government would move by legislation or resolution to crack down on young drinkers by February. According to a recent survey taken by the Addicâ€" tion Research Foundation, most people agree with the Premier about the present drinking age being to low. sociated with a lower drinking age before they changed the age to 18. _ According to â€" recent statistics, the majority of the general public also believes the drinkâ€" ing age is too low. All told, it seems to me that there is far too much fuss being made over the actual drinking age, and not nearly enough (Continued on page 4) Don‘t drink and drive survey of 1,059 Onâ€" opinion force now has a â€" that same force h in the last few years Chief Brown requested 79 additional ofâ€" ficers four months ago. According to the Chief, the police force _ needs â€" additional â€" personnel in specific areas, such as the juvenile deâ€" partment. and the hitâ€"andâ€"run departâ€" ment. ‘‘"At present. a partments are S he said. Tfl‘e;e has been considerable controâ€" versy surrounding the Chief‘s request for additional officers. The Ontario Police He pointed out cally an American theory, and since American cities tend to have higher crime rates, the formula doesn‘t apply here He also mentioned that even :t the commission had accepted Chiet Brown‘s request for 79 additional officers, the department would still be well below the international standard. d out that the Metro Toronto has a freeze on hiring, but force has hired "thousands tario residents showed more than 68 per cent of the respondents favored a raise in the legal age. 2%.5 per cent of the responâ€" dents favored the retention of the current drinking age of 18. . â€" It was also discovered that most people who favâ€" ored a higher drinking age wanted to see the age at 20 or 21 â€" not 19. Area people agree. Robert Chilton, principal of Bluevale Collegiate Inâ€" stitute in Waterloo favors ax raise in the drinking age â€" but he doesn‘t think 19 years old is old enoqg_h. Mr. Chilton said that drinking doesn‘t seem to be much of a problem at Bluevale school, only beâ€" cause the school is not near any drinking estabâ€" lishments. ‘‘There has been a change in focus regarding drinking," Mr. Chilton said, "many students go drinking instead of attendâ€" ing school events." About two years ago, the provincial government introduced the Age of Majority Card. The card was to be the only legal i number of specific deâ€" seriously underâ€"staffed," It appears that many employers now give special bonuses or gifts in place of office parties, meaning fewer drinking drivers on the road, Insp. Ulmer said. 7 it dltes "0 .ac_ ann nesses had office parties We don‘t see much eviâ€" dence of it now.~ 20 Lo y a t 1 & 4 M _A Anchcintainis ~ Sontatinibiiataberfindsniintintinntntannin dn I Likewise, the Kitchener detachment of the OPP won‘t be taking extraordinary measures to nab drunks on the roads. And while OPP in Owen Sound are testing a new, portable roadside version of a breathalyzer this winâ€" Onumet d e pORâ€"LELSE Laia ana A FSs ons en t ter, the Kitchener detachment doesn‘t have one. A suspected impaired driver must still be brought into the local detachment for a breath test, said Const. Malcolm Mcintosh. ‘"We‘re reco‘r;,;;ending that people drinking at M a s q. + s â€" parties either delegate somebody not to drink, to iake â€" Will a higher drinking age in Ontario save you from tipplers home, or call a cab,"" he said. being one of the statistics in years to come? if the ‘‘I don‘t think many bars l ask for the Age of Majorâ€" ity Card. Most of the stuâ€" dents I talk to get into bars > â€"very easily," Mr. Chilton said. He also said that many bar owners would ‘ probably tell a different story. In fact, one bar owner, . proof of age accepted in bars and liquor stores. | In fact, one bar owner, who preferred to remain anonymous, admitted that his staff doesn‘t ask for any proof of age unless the perâ€" son looks very young. He also said that his staff would accept a drivers license or birth certificate if the person didn‘t have an Age of Majority Card. Jeff Ross dropped out of high school in September. He has been getting into bars in Toronto, Hamilton and Kitchener for about three years. Jeff will be 17 in February. ‘‘I‘ve never had any trouble getting into bars. I‘ve got a drivers license now, but I‘ve never been asked for ID," he said. {Continued from page 1) Needless to say, Jeff doesn‘t really care whethâ€" er or not the drinking age is raised. Commission did a study about a year ago, and it called for a 62 officer reducâ€" tion in the department.. In view of that study, Chief Brown was pleased that the commission didn‘t take more men away from the force than it did. "I don‘t think we could function with that kind of reduction," he said. According to the threeâ€"page report that called for the reduction, the matter simply boils down to economic¢s. Beâ€" cause of difficult economic conditions, the commission | was concerned â€" with the public‘s ability to pay for increased police services. The reduction of men will be handled The reduction Mr. Harper doesn‘t think the departâ€" ment is understaffed, and he hasn‘t seen any suggestion that the public feels that way either. Instead of having more officers, Mr. Harper suggests that the department reâ€" align its priorities to provide the best service possible. 1 L 200 e 2 4 m molpr onfi n nens additional stories on pages 6 and 7 Waterloo Chronicle, Wednesday, December 14, 1977 â€" Page 3 by the department‘s administration, acâ€" cording to the report. Chief Brown said that he doesn‘t know how long a reducâ€" tion of this type will take, since the onâ€" ly way the department loses men is by resignation, retirement or death. # Es u0 en ed. I e soie s ooo n ie o ‘"‘We‘ve only got two persons schedulâ€" ed for retirement néxt year. and we don‘t have many resignations," the Chief said. According to Chief Brown, the reducâ€" tion in staff will not have any effect on the service the police department proâ€" vides to the Waterloo Region. He did say however that the department would exâ€" amine its services, and sort out its priâ€" orities. After the announcement of the reducâ€" tion was made, the Chief said that he was concerned about the morale of the force. Now,. a week later, his concern has proven legitimate. "There have been a number of inquirâ€" ies â€"regarding promotions. Men â€" who have been working for promotions for years will not get them. It does have a detrimental effect on the morale of the force." Although everything depends on how things go in the next year,. Chief Brown said that he would probably make an effort for extra personnel in 1979