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Waterloo Chronicle (Waterloo, On1868), 29 Jul 1998, p. 6

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__-__-n-it-i-tji-i-tij-j-i-i- Shortly after the Tories were elected, now-reinstated Solicitor Gen- eral Bob Runuman announced that he would Ignore statistics that showed crime rates gonng down and base the governments criminal Justice policies on he; "gut fading" that the Inadence of mm: was really gomg up This gut feelsng has led lo “Hammered policies such As closing half-way houses, building boot camps and, most recently. oldying squeegee lads Squeegee his are the Tones' latest scapegoat, wrth Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman. Premier Mike Hams and so-called Crime Comrms- Sinner Jim Brown all Launching rhetorical assaults against them last week. Each presented an account of how they know someone who knows someone that once felt threatened by a squeegee kd Despite the fact that squeegee kids are demonstrating the classic Tory response to poverty tshowmg an entrepreneurial spirit), they are now being used In Justify a continued heavy-handedness tn the Justice system. Ironically - or perhaps purposefully - the attacks on squeegee kids began In the same week that crime statistics for 1997 were released id crime rates Instsl on gomg down, It must be time to crun- maltze more behaviour). Before we get caught up tn the hysteria, let's 'tit", _ . Siitce peaking m 1991. the national crime rate has declined 19 per cent, Ontario's rate followed the 5C0" Piagko‘Nski national trend, declining by 85 per cent last year alone. . The rate for violent crime; was down 11 per cent m 1997 (the fifth consecutive yearly decline). Police reported almost 300,000 Incl- dents of violent crime m 1997, r . The homicide rate, which includes hrs!- and second-degree mur- der, manslaughter and infanticide, dropped q per cent in 1997 -- its kowest pom! since 1969, . The property crime rate fell eight per cent in 1997, continuing the general decline since 1991, All provinces reported a drop in property crime rates, including a drop of 11 per cent in Ontario. There were about 15 million criminal incidents involving property in 1997. Crime down. hysteria ull . The overall rate of youths charged with Criminal Code offences dropped 7 per cent in 1997. More than half of the youths were charged with property crimes, while 20 per cent were charged with violent crimes (a yearly decline of two per cent). Clearly, politicians are not alone m fanning public concerns about crime. Roger Hollingsworth, Deputy Chief of the Waterloo Regional Police satd last week that he was "suspicious" of lower crime rates, suggesting that the lower rates merely reflected a failure to report crime, Yet, the report use" anticipates and refutes tlus argument "There IS other evidence of declining crime rates Results from the 1905 International Cnmmal Victimization Survey mirror trends in police-reported data. The Canadian component showed that Victim cation rates fell ll per tent between 1991 and t995, similar to the l4, per-tent decline in the dime rate reported by police during the same permd Still. ll " panicularly arrogant and narrow-minded of the fortcs' to ignore statistitiil cvudcnce when rstablpshog pulley Even ll Hollingsworth IS amusing a commonly held heliel pohutuans should he responsible enough to taunter unrcalismc lean rather than milking them for palmml gain Chrikiicle Waterloo Town Square 75 Klng St South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Onlann N2] 1P2 Telephone M6-2830 Fax No. 886-9383 ANM'HER take some time to look at some of the statistics released last week (quoted from a report by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics): . The crime rate fell for the sixth consecutive year in 1997, The five- per-cent drop resulted in the lowest police-reported crime me since 1980. Most crimes declined in l997, include ing homicide, attempted murder, rote bery, break-ins, motor vehicle theft, and impaired driving. Editor 1trporlrrs: Tim Gardner Bob Wlsanac Spam Edllor thmah ( randall Display Advertising: Bill Harm's Gerry Mama Norma C w: The forecasters were right as non-rain Woe is me. The weather forecasters were right as non-rain in forecasting a hot summer, and now they're predicting a long, cold, snowy winter. Maybe they cant be right twice m a row. As noted, its been a warmish summer, but I ftnd it easy to beat the heat, I just think of Preston Manning, Michael Jordan. Gord Ash, Dalton McGuinty and Don Craig among others. Collectively and Individually, they leave me cold. P"'"'"" Legal Eagle. Fear not. The sun will come up and the schools will open Sept. 8. That's despite a ruling that explodes the attempt to equalize funding for Calholic schools. The result is a uncertain. Even for separate school supporters. What did the public school boards get from the court decision? Nada, Nothing. Thcvaete warned that they were throwing their legal fees away. A_nd so it was. It was sad to hearjohn Reimer, public school board chair, trying to coat-tail the public board's useless pleadings onto the separate school result. Pathetic. Just pathetic. The coun's finding is/a miged blessing for the separate schools, and, of course, Queen's Park 1lBiitllllli WI" appeal The; will take lime, Much lime Say, did you ever see a lawyer's bnef that was? Paper that As a one-ttme mover and shaker at The Record, a lot of folks think I can tell whatll happen now that the paper PS a member of the Toronto Sun group That's flattering, but B a little unfair at} nine when the newspaper world has been lumed topsy-1urvy I can't be sure about whatll happen, bul l know what wont happen The Sun tsn't gomg to make the Record a (shield replica of “SC”. replete with pan-up girls and such " won't do anylhlng dramatic at all, and the Record wJl wind up a better paper for us cortinbutors Don't let us fUchy facade decent you [he Mm people are good newspaper people They have staked out d consrderahk part of the Toronto audlenee and they are sallslylng that man Group Advertising Manager: Burch Grieve Classified: CirmUtiemtoRire Manager Carolyn Anstey David Olmr Circulation: Jerry Fischer Matthew Hayes Production: M/he Mamn Kern Mlllcr Group Publisher. Cheryl Mc Mummy (ha am: new Waterloo Chronicle IS published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group, Vanni suhsrrrpuon mm A division of $65 yrarly m ( anada 'iii] Southam Inc 910 yearly nulwlc t anada ' (, k, T The Vlrws of our colurnnvus are thor nwn and do um nurssanlv represent the Views of the nowspaprr I - ket well, as their sales figures attest. They didnt acquire the four papers. including the Record, to frincr their considerable assets away. Look at what's happened to the London Free Press smce the Sun acquired II. It's been nothing revolutionary, but the Free Press is the better for some changes. (I know because I get up to london regularly.) Juslvone more thing It doesnt warn the heart 10 see the Record bought and then swapped Ge some kmd of pawn Say by the way, one of tie titles I held at the Record WW; Associate Editor, lt was OK, I suppose. but you had to be very careful when you abbreviated it. Spirit World: To Just about no one's surpnse, Queen's Park has scrubbed plans to sell the Liquor Control Board, All nl wluch confirms that Michael Harris knows better than ii, squint mm the mouth of 3 $i'45-rntllion-a-year gsft hone "x 5m i"iid IEE "The liquor store stalls spent a bundle on blurbs against prr vattzattort, but they probably ncedn'l have bothered llw profit figure was likely the dmc hing argument You'd have In say that the Lt BO has wally smancncd up IIs operations In recent years And thc ICBO can he costly llx all right to drink, but what about Ihe gm: who spcnds $360 A year on coasters? Innervation-l Slat-dud Stud Numb-1 ISSN 001313.“) The Freep now publishers Sundays, and ite doing an improved job on local news. It also draws on the Suis superb spans coverage and us entertainment news, Maybe the Sun wtll help the Record beef up its local news, some- thing that has slipped. How is the Sun for treatment of sum It rates highly. but, to be blunt about it, the "newspa- per business" has become only belatedly a business. Previously the phrase "newspaper business" was the biggest oxymomn of them all. So to summarize a long answer to a short question, the Record can improve under the Sun aegis.

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