PAGE 4, THE HERALD, Wednesday, May 10, 1978 EDITORIAL Road Runners You’ve all noticed them. within a block or two. People start in surprise. The driver - almost invariably male - looks § neither to right nor left as thoug he was doing § Sometimes the car has the § words “Trans Am” stencilled on the side, and E the oversize black tires have large raised white F: nothin unusual. lettering. Who are the young men who drive these E powerful, twelve thousand dollar automobiles at § such high speeds, in city traffic? Who are the F salesmen who deal in such heavy, racing style, E gas-guzzling cars obviously unmoved by the FE immaturity of the buyers? Auto racing is an exciting sport. Mosport, Indianapolis, Brookwood, Le Mans, - and many F more internationally known auto racing tracks § pack in hundreds of thousands of spectators year § after year to watch the death-defying events — where (almost exclusively) male drivers coax the maximum performance out of metal F machinery tuned to the highest pitch at speeds often in excess of 200 miles per hour, Thousands of racing drivers take part in the F events that are covered hy television cameras F from every country. The camera men strain to — capture good footage not only of a photo-finish, but (hopefully) of breathtaking accidents ending F in explosions, fire - and sometimes death. Despite the ‘‘death-defying” deaths, we are told, amount to less per year than the annual number of automobile deaths in a middle-sized North American city. Some racing car drivers of world wide fame flatly refuse to drive a passenger car once they leave the racing track. Too dangerous, they declare. Wouldn’t want to take the risk. Might spoil my racing career! Racing tracks have to abide by safety rules, and all vehicles that use them have to be in top shape with first rate steering linkage, excellent braking systems, good visibility, roll bars, and fire extinguisher equipped. Racing cars ‘are usually as safe as it is possible to make an automobile. Now that Summer is upon us, it would seem this is the time to open up the race tracks we The large-sized F sports cars, usually waiting for a traffic light, F that take off with a screeching of tires and aroar § of the exhaust, from a standing start to 80 mph — Men esttth sppeds, the § curved track, the number of competing cars § crowded into a small space each fighting for the inside lane - the total number of racing driver § ‘have around Terrace and Kitimat and the Ey surrounding towns. Not only open them up, but organize a full schedule for their use, including practice and test driving. The concession booth, ticket sales, vendors, parking, food and auto product sales (gas, oil,. emergency parts, etc.) should:make the drawing power of the'races quite a profitable-enterprise. Balloons for the kids, programs for the spec- | tators, novelties and souvenirs for the tourists - a nd hot dogs and sandwiches and soft drinks - for all, At the same time the speedsters, “road. run- ners”-and their dangerous souped up instruments of death would be siphoned off the city streets, making the world a little safer for all of us foot slogging pedestrians, allowing us to collect our Old Age pensions a little longer. And we’d all have more fun doing it. French Canadian Editorial Sherbrooke La Tribune: Sun Life, after arming itself with proxies from policyholders who care only about their money and not about political or moral concerns, has voted to move from Montreal to Toronto.... As a corporate citizen, Sun Life is free to prefer To- ronto.... Itia strictly its right to act against Canadian unity, just as it is the privilege of thousands of policyholders to opt for a decision which could weigh heavily when the times comes to evaluate the merits of federalism not just in theory but in a vote. A curious mentality all the same for those anglophones who attack the Parti Quebecois for wanting to separate Quebec from Canada and take one of the first steps in that direction themselves... Sun Life’s gesture is purely political. We are told that shareholders feared the because of the reigning uncertainty. But they are contributing themselves to destabilize the regime by their ill-considered decision made long ago. Company president Thomas Galt also pointed to the impossibility of conforming to language regulations applying to head offices. When he first brandished this argument it was three months before the regulations were known, Moreover, he apd other Montreal businessmen last week met Camille Laurin, the minister responsible, and agreed that their businesses could live with these regulations which will be flexible encugh not to drive all companies out of Mon- treal.... * Federalists who respect Quebec and Quebecers have strongly deplored Sun Life's intransigence, Quebec BSeparatists secretly rejoiced, since they have been given an extra weapon - climate in Quebec and for their referendum foresaw lower oroilts campaign... TERR ACE/KITIMAT General Office - 635-6357 Circulation - 635-6357 daily herald — PUBLISHER...Don Cramack MANAGING EDITOR...Ernest Senior REPORTERS...Donna Vallleres (Terrace-Thornhill) REPORTERS...Scott Browes (Kittmat-Kitamaat) KITIMAT OFFICE...Pat Zelinski - 632.2747 Published every weekday al 3212 Kalu St., Terrace, B.C. A member of Varified Circulation. Authorized as second class mail. Registration number 120), Postage paid In cash, return postage guaranteed, NOTE OF COPYRIGHT The Heratd retains full, complete and sole copyright In any advertisament produced and-or any editorial or photographic content published In the Herald, — | Reproduction |s not permitted without the written permission of the Publisher, Published by Sterling Publishers ede athe rhe. THIS WEEK from Ottawa: Rape, hostage-taking, child-beating, pornography, prostitution, loansharking, and child-napping are among the areas included in two important Bills recently introduced in the House of Commons by Justice Minister Ron Basford, The Bills are designed to give police officials a clearer mandate to prosecute criminals taking advantages of ambiguities and loopholes in the existing law, to eliminate delays in the judicial process, and in the case of rape, to give greater protection to the victims of this crime. A CRIME OF VIOLENCE Current laws concerning rape are based on the sexual nature of the crime, The new legislation proposes to treat rape as a form of indecent assault, thus emphasizing the violent nature of the crime, and also giving law enforcement officials more enforceable laws with which to work. It is also hoped that this will reduce the stigma and trauma experienced by rape victims, and encourage them to report to police incidents involving rape. Too many rape incidents now go unreported because victims are too em- barrassed or too afraid to come forward. Other proposed changes to the rape law in- clude the allowing of charges to be laid between married couples when they are living separate and apart, and the imposition -- at the victim's Tona Campagnolo request -- of a Court order prohibiting publication of the identity of a rape victim and his or her evidence. Previously such an order was only granted at the Court’s discretion. PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN — In addition to the section removing immunity _ from spouses living separate and apart against prosecution for rape, there are two other proposed changes relating to family situations. One of these deals with ‘parental kidnapping” and will make it an offense for one parent to take custody of a child in violation of the terms of a custody order or to violate the present custody arrangements of the child. The other section will make it possible to subpoena as a witness the spouse of a person charged with assault against a child. Those sections of the new Bills dealing with- pornography and prostitution primarily provide tighter and more enforceable definitions of words used in deseription of criminal offenses. These reflect recommendations made by groups such as the House of Commons Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs, and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police recommendations based on concern over the ease with which existing definitions can be manipulated by - persons charged with offenses. The major changes are in the definition of the hs. See word “‘pornography’”’; a new definition of the . phrase ‘child pornography’’; and clear in- terpretation of the word ‘‘solicit’’. Because of the disturbing increase in hostage- _ taking in our society (both in prison-escape attempts and in the course of other criminal activities such as bank-robbing), there has been considerable concern expressed by many people over the need for adequate deterrents against thiskind of action. In response to this, the new Bill proposes that the penalty for hostage-taking be doubled to 10 years from the existing five. STUDY AND CONSULATION The two Bills introduced by Mr. Basford are legally very complex, and they deal with many sensitive and emotional matters. For these reasons the government does not intend to proceed with their immediate consideration by Parliament, Instead, it hopes te allow time for Members of Parliament, provincial government, professional and public interest organizations and concerned individuals to give the proposals ' their detailed study and respons. _ If you would like further information on these important proposals to change our criminal law, or if you wish to provide me with your views on this subject, please write tome care of the House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, KIA 0X2. No postage is required. Ottawa Offbeat by Richard Jackson Ottawa,- It happens usually only once every four years, and it’s going to happeh again soon- your one and only chance to telliyour MP what you think, - And more important, make it count. That's what elections are all about: to bring the too often high and mighty Honorable Members back to earth. After only a few years in the Commons, and even more so if they survive a couple of elec- tions, they begin to regard themselves, if not always as infallible, then certainly of superior intellect and blessed with better judgment than the poor slobs who elected them. They can reach the point of self-esteem where they openly defy the explicitly expressed wishes of the majority of their electorate. At that pinnacle ego they come right out with it-that they were’ elected not to serve the in- terests or be guided by the majority opinion of their electors, but to follow what they call their conscience and use their own supposedly more mature minds. \ That’s what happened on the issue of the abolition of capital punishment and some other extremely contentious and nationally divisive parliamentary decisions such as the Official Languages Act. The Languages Act remains sanctified by the federal government as a keystone in the foun- dation of national unity. This despite its imposition of bilingualism across the nation, except for Quebec its intended prime beneficiary which is in the process of imposing unilingualism. In. supporting the abolition of capital punish- ment and enactment of the Official Languages Act, Liberal MPs ahd little choice but to follow the dictates of the government. Although a few brave souls on the Liberal backbenches, Lioyd Francis of Ottawa West and Hal Herbert of Quebec’s Vaudreuil, have dared, on some issues, to defy the government and risk Prime Minister Trudeau's wrath. For their political sins they can be punished-- and likely have been--by the government which can strip them of patronage favors, deny them parliamentary promotion and shut them off from such goodies as all-expenses-paid trips to : Faraway Places as delegates to this and that . frolic disguised as a conference. . Defiant Conservative MPs run no such risks, | The government can’t punish them, nor can their own party discipline them, for being out of power, it has no favors to bestow. Even so, especially on the capital punishment issue, many Conservatives, on the grounds that they knew better than their constituents, defied mass public opinion and supported the govern- ment on abolition. : Since then the care and feeding of convicts has soared to an annual $25,000 a head, the prisons have become overcrowded, and the criminals more and more are taking control of the penitentiaries. The killing of police officers has become, if not . commonplace, then no longer a headling, but more of a ho-hum “not again” occurrence, With the election in the pre-campaign stage, abolition is heating up again as a key issue, and MPs who voted their conscience the last time are feeling the pressure of voter hostility. Public opinion only the other day was polled again on the issue and $2 percent of the elec- torate favored a return to the death penalty, While the Prime Minister still puts on a defiant Face, insisting the matter is ‘‘settled” regardless of majority opinion, some of his Liberal can-. didates, and even more Conservatives--including leader Joe Clark-are saying they’re willing to look at it again and this time be guided by the wishes oan majority. ow did your MP vote? Maybe you shake him up a little. ype you should B dn IN HISTORY ANADIAN PRESS 1903—The Wright brothers 1o18- ~The Germans began . applied fora patentonthelr shelling Paris, 120 lane. kilometres away. | 1939—Roger Bannister, the. first mantoruna mile in less than four minuces, was born. 1808—-Actress Joan Crawford was born.