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B E S T E D I T O R I A L PA G EPage 4 September 10, 2008

OpinionOpinion

Even precious jewelsget tarnished

When Horace Pettes Wales bequeathed his ram-bling farmhouse, farm and a substantial amountof money to establish a seniors’ care home in1920, he was addressing a concern that is as alive today asit was 88 years ago: the primal dread of leaving homewhen you can no longer care for yourself, to spend thefinal days of your life in an institution.It is to the credit of the hundreds of people who haveworked, volunteered or contributed their time and moneyto the Wales Home over the years that the original visionof its founder – to provide the elderly with an extension ofhome and community – remains as real today as it wasthen.Residents and visitors attest to the homey atmosphere,the involvement of community and the special relation-ship that exists between staff and residents.But in spite of everyone’s best efforts, there have beenproblems. Serious problems. Chief among them is theHome’s failure to stay abreast of new standards in nursingprocedures and care for the elderly that have changed dra-matically in 88 years.

Eighty years ago, people went to the Wales Home be-cause they could no longer manage the farm, maintain thehouse and they needed help cooking, cleaning, startingthe fire and taking the pills the doctor prescribed. A largenumber moved to the Home after losing a spouse andfound comfort there in the extended community, as theydo now. All they expected was a clean, friendly place thatresembled home, and offered a bit of help to get by.But people are living longer, they’re afflicted with awide range of illnesses, and the care and treatment of sen-iors has evolved as researchers learn more about aging.Alzheimer’s, C-difficle, and a myriad of other condi-tions call for specific measures. A nursing home with 120elderly people, many of whom are very ill, requiresaround-the-clock nursing and immediate access to aphysician. It requires the most stringent regulations insanitation, constant vigilance in established nursing pro-cedures and sound management practices. That was nothappening at the Wales Home, in large part because theHome did not have the human and financial resources toprovide the necessary level of care, and because the gov-ernment does not subsidize private residences. Warm and fuzzy cannot compensate for quality care.After years of going from pillar to post finding shortterm solutions to long-term problems, and losing a mil-lion dollars a year, the Home appears to be poised to dowhat needs to be done to enter the modern age of qualitycare for the elderly. By February 2009, the board and ad-ministrators at the Wales Home believe they will be ableto pass government certification tests that will attest toproper care and management of the Home within pre-scribed parameters. Once that is accomplished, the Homewill be in a position to ask the government to help fundthis important and unique home for the region’s English-speaking elderly.Hopefully, it will put the shine back on this jewel.

SHARON McCULLY

Sharon McCullyPublisher & Editor

Ralph McCullyCirculation Manager

Mike HickeySales RepresentativeSusan Beattie

Ad & Web DesignerAnne Sharpe

Box 201, Magog, Quebec, J1X 3W8Tel.: 819 843 8426 Fax: 819 843 0736Email: theoutlet@bellnet.caWeb site: www.outletjournal.comA member of QCNAPrinting: Payette & SimmsCanada Post Registration # 0536881

Editorial

Letters to the editor

Part lIt’s very gratifying to be invited to write acolumn for the new Townships Outletbut I must say that the editor has beentoo generous with her mandate. “Write onwhatever moves you” she said; “absolutelyno taboos and the closer you come to onethe better I like it”. A nice vote of confi-dence to be sure, but these marching ordersgive no hint of where I’m supposed tobegin.

Or maybe they do. No sooner embarked on thesearch for a worthy taboo than one pops up on themasthead of this paper, which informs us that the Out-let’s business is “Linking the Townships’ 41,000 mem-ber English Speaking Community”.Interesting. Who are these people? Where did weget that 41,000 figure? Well, it’s a Statistics Canada cal-culation based on a definition commonly known as“mother tongue”. It’s all the folks in the Eastern Town-ships who told the census takers (in 2001) that theyhad an English mother.

Now Just One Moment! The English community isbigger than that. Do you not know people - relatives,friends, enemies, co-workers, waiters, store clerks,anonymous voices on the telephone - with whom youconverse every day in English, but who do not have anEnglish mother? Of course you do. “Mother Tongue”provides us with statistics on the traditional Englishcommunity, “les anglophones de souche”. But there’s alot of English going on in the Townships outside thatethnic box in which we’ve enclosed ourselves. Another reasonable way to recognize English-speak-ing people is by their ability to speak English. And ifyou ask the census how many people in the Townshipscan actually do that - speak English - regardless of whotheir mom was, or their ethnic origin, the answer theygive you is close to 180,000, about 35 per cent of thewhole population. With a phone call to Statistics Cana-da we’ve more than quadrupled the anglo presence inthe Eastern Townships. We “anglos” are understandably proud of our “deeproots”. But English is not just roots; this tree hasbranches too, and they spread out all over the place.True, the government in Quebec City sees our lovelyEnglish tree as a weed and has been applying Roundupfor thirty years. But it hasn’t worked. English is every-where. The Quebec legislature remains officially bilin-

gual. The provincial government still pro-vides many services in English – publicschools, colleges, universities, health servic-es, tax bills, automobile licenses - and lot-tery tickets.Furthermore, Quebec is also a provinceof Canada and everything here under the re-sponsibility of the federal government is of-ficially and unambiguously bilingual. Youfind English on the CBC, at the Post Office,on the currency. Under every Canadian flagwaving in Quebec there’s a federal govern-ment office offering us a bilingual brochure on some-thing or other.

But to see English at its richest and most widespreadtake a look at our private sector, that part of your lifewhere no government has established (yet!) a law totell us what language we must use. At home, in thestreet, at work, we chat away in whichever language weprefer, constrained only by the practical need to be un-derstood. The media available to us in Quebec – TV,radio, papers, magazines and the ubiquitous Internet -all produce much more content in English than inFrench. I would guess that over 80 per cent of our dailylanguage use is totally unregulated.Our anglophone institutions have spent a wee bittoo much time nurturing our roots, organizing “anglo”events, reminding ourselves of our ancestors and ourethnic origins. It seems to me that identifying the Eng-lish in the Townships as just 41,000 people joined by acommon “mother” is all about yesterday. There’s amore forward looking, positive and realistic approach -to see the English as all the folks in the Townships whoare speaking English, whenever they are speaking Eng-lish, even if the first language they learned was Frenchor Chinese or Italian, whether they have been here along time or just a few months, and whether they in-tend to stay forever or are just passing through. In aword, what I’m proposing here is an English-speakingcommunity defined, not by its roots, but by its wide-spread branches, with an attitude, programs and poli-cies which are organized for growth.

If you are ready to consider this new approach thereare some interesting things I have in mind which wemight wish to do – and a few political implications - allfor discussion in a future article. And by the time we’rethrough don’t be surprised if we’ve changed that num-ber on our masthead from 41,000, and declining, to180,000, and growing.

A fresh look at the Anglos

REED SCOWEN

Opt for temperance insteadDEAR EDITOR

Re: Townships Opinion, Social drinking 101, byEleanor Brown (Vol. 1, no. 4, p. 5)Ms Brown’s comments in the most recent issue ofthis publication must be perceived, in a few words, as anembarrassing effort to justify alcohol abuse.I am myself a Bishop’s student, I am well-acquaintedwith all that goes on during Frosh Week, and further Iam well aware of our drinking culture, of which Bishop’sis a clear microcosm. On the basis of this, I would haveexpected a person of Ms Brown’s literary inclination toconsider the ill effects of overdrinking, and to put forthwords of caution, instead of abiding by the ‘kids-will-be-kids’ standard.

Indeed your writer seems to be ignorant of the prob-lems, individual and collective, that follow from the ex-cessive consumption of alcohol. Broken glass in thestreets should be the least of our concerns, and lower so-cial inhibitions should in no way justify binge drinkingor other such practices. Instead of letting teenagers dis-cover through their own actions the meaning of excess,at the risk of losing their reputation, their good judge-ment, their health, or even their lives, I would suggestthat it is better to educate them as to the nature of theserisks.Students whose parents have clearly and rationallyexposed the dangers of alcohol abuse and dependencyto them, and taught them alternative methods of social-isation, do not feel the need to rebel, at least not in these

regards.Ms Brown may be satisfied with the status quo, andaccept a certain measure of inappropriate behaviour, asshe may also accept without questioning that studentsbe swayed by the lure of alcohol. This much is certain:personal responsibility makes no sense without propereducation, that is, the opportunity to learn from themistakes and trials of one’s more experienced col-leagues.

This publication should be providing the informa-tion which students and teenagers generally require inorder to make enlightened decisions, rather than lettingthem be. In this situation, the enlightened decision con-sists of challenging the basis of ‘Social drinking 101’ andopting for temperance, regardless of what week it is.PATRICK N LACROIX,

LENNOXVILLE

Like the weeklyTo everyone at The Township Outlet: Keep up thegood work! We are enjoying the weekly paper.

ELDEN AND PHYLLIS LOWRYSAWYERVILLE

THE OUTLET WELCOMES YOUR LETTERS TO THEEDITOR. PLEASE BE SURE TO SIGN YOUR NAME. ONLY SIGNED LETTERS ARE CONSIDERED FORPUBLICATION.

Best contradictionCongratulations on The Chronicle’s winfor Best Overall Community Newspaper of2007, and the Outstanding Photojournalismaward and most important, I believe, BestEducation Story award by the QuebecCommunity Newspapers Association.It’s too bad that the QCNA awards didn’thave a category for ‘best contradictory edu-cation quote’. You would have won that onetoo. Remember, the Dec. 11, 2007 article,Teachers don’t need guidelines: QESBA? Marcus Tabachnick, chairman of theLester B. Pearson School Board, (then) pres-ident of Quebec English School BoardsAssociation, and (then) president of theCanadian School Boards Association said(concerning books):“As always, when new programs are intro-duced, we want to be sure the teachingmaterials are in place on time, in English forthe English system.”Funny, in the past two months theQuebec Provincial Association of Teachers,the Quebec Home and Schools FederationAssociation, and just recently, the CentralParents Committee of the Pearson Boardhave written letters to Education MinisterMichelle Courchesne complaining that the

lack of English textbooks puts the Englishstudents at a disadvantage when followingthe curriculum reform.Finally, at the May 26 board meeting, theproposed secretive and punitive code ofethics for the commissioners of the Pearsonboard failed to be adopted, because it con-travened the basic principles of Bill 88. Itcalls for openness, transparency, answer-ability and, most importantly, democracy inelected school boards. Negligence, arro-gance, and extravagance do not belong inthe management of school boards.

Bravo to Education Minister MichelleCourchesne and her goals for the futurerunning of school boards.

Chris EustacePierrefonds

Go green this springSpring has arrived and the annual yardspring clean-up has started in earnest. Hugepiles of plastic bags filled with leaves andscraped off dead grass wait to be picked up atthe end of every driveway. Why we have tosend this valuable natural fertilizer to alreadyover-filled landfill sites is beyond me. Leaf lit-ter and all dead vegetation decompose veryquickly when spread around hedges, veg-

etable and perennial gardens. Also, thedecomposing material supports all sorts ofbeneficial life forms and becomes an impor-tant part of the food chain. Unfortunately, wereplace this natural resource with artificialfertilizers that are made out of petrochemicalbyproducts. This supplement cannot supportany kind of life and does not interact withnature’s food chain giving us only a shortterm solution. Using artificial fertilizer putsvegetation on a temporary life support.Being green does not require a hugeeffort; just let nature do its work. To do this,though, old habits have to change and haveto be more nature friendly in our landscap-ing practices.

Istvan TihanyiPointe Claire

Cash grabThe other day, I was given a speeding ticketfor travelling 76 km/hour on the Highway 40West service road, less than 500 metres fromwhere I exited the highway. I was speeding. Ideserved the ticket. But what angers me is thelocation of this speed trap. It is very difficult(and dangerous) to drop from 100 km/h to 50km/h within such a short distance. Thepeculiar intersection at the corner of Jean-

Yves Street and the service road is dangerousenough without having cars forced to stop inthe bus zone. Unfortunately, I suppose, thepolice were certainly raking in the customers.I certainly hope the income from this cashgrab will be directed towards re-planning thewhole interchange in that area.I must agree, however, with a column froman earlier date suggesting that the “recklessspeeding” on service roads may not be thebest focus for making our streets safer. As Iwatch the many cars cruising through thestop signs on residential streets where peopleare walking, cycling, or chasing soccer balls(Brunswick and Berne, Lantier and Silver-pine, Argyle and Granada, Windermere andArlington), the phrase “why aren’t the copsmonitoring this” often comes to mind.Focusing efforts to improve drivers’ habitsaround pedestrian and park areas may not beas profitable for the city, but would likely beapplauded by the public at large.

Let’s ticket the law-breakers, but can wealso try to make the residential streets safer?Thomas Powell

Kirkland

Some people pray on a regular basis fora myriad of reasons; from their healthto world peace. Others only pray when

faced with adversity. Some West Islandmunicipal politicians, namely those inDorval and Pierrefonds/Roxboro, have aprayer recited before the official start of theirmonthly public council meetings. On top ofthat, both of these council chambers alsohave a crucifix prominently displayed, asdoes Quebec’s National Assembly. PremierJean Charest went on record last week statingthe Christian cross in the provincial legisla-ture will stay, citing historical significance,thus in direct defiance of the Bouchard-Taylor commission’s much-anticipatedreport on “reasonable accommodation” forethnic and religious minorities. The report,made public last Thursday, also calls for ban-ning prayers at city council meetings, anissue that has come up many times in theprovince, including cases before Quebec’sHuman Rights Commission, which hasargued these prayers go against a city’s obli-gation as a public entity to remain neutralwhen it comes to religion.

The West Island is dotted with religiousinstitutions. There are many Christian ones,such as Catholic, Protestant and CopticOrthodox, but there are also Muslim, Jewish,

Hindu and Sikh places of worship. There is noshortage of places for West Islanders to gatherand pray in a communal setting. Do munici-pal politicians really need to show their faithand devotion before each public councilmeeting? Ironically, the Pierrefonds adminis-tration decided about a decade ago to nolonger allow any new zoning for more placesof worship. Didn’t the Québécois go throughthe Quiet Revolution and advocate the sepa-ration of church and state? Yes, the CatholicChurch played an important role in the devel-opment of the province and that can bereflected in our society but the governmentshould do more to be inclusive. While keepingthe cross is considered symbolic, symbols domatter, especially following Charest’s insis-tence on holding the Bouchard-Taylor hear-ings that cost $3.7 million. However, there aremore important recommendations in thereport than the cross relocation in QuebecCity and prayer issue. Hopefully, Charest willaddress some of the recommendations, whichcall for better funding of groups that assistimmigrants in adapting, deal with the highunemployment rate among newcomers fromAfrica and set up a task force to review theproblem of under representation of ethnicminorities in public administration. IfCharest comes through on these more practi-cal matters, he could be forgiven for his lapsein judgment on the cross issue.

EDITORIAL

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Answering your prayersA reasonably

accommodating menuTranslation below...

Hummus = chickpea dipSushi = raw fish nuggets

Tandoori chicken =Red BBQ chicken

Shish-Taouk pita =Garlic chicken

flatbread sandwich

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THE EASTERN DOOR • Vol. 17 No. 29 •August 8, 2008

Speed kills

STEVE BONSPIELTHE EASTERN DOOR

Editorial Page��

Should you have any feedback about this editorial, please send your comments to steveb@easterndoor.com

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SERVINGTHE KAHNAWAKE MOHAWK TERRITORY SINCE 1992

Box 1170, Kahnawake Mohawk Territory, QC J0L 1B0Tel.: 450-635-3050 • Fax: 450-635-8479

www.easterndoor.comnews@easterndoor.com • advertising@easterndoor.comreception@easterndoor.com • layout@easterndoor.comISSN: 1193-8374 • Canada Post Publication • Mail Registration No. 40009002

EASTERN DOOR

Publisher / EditorSteve Bonspiel

PublisherTracey Deer

The Eastern Door is a community-based newspaper serving theMohawk of Kahnawake regardless of birth, sex, age, language, politics or religion. The paper strives to be a factual, balanced, authoritative source of information with access to all segments of the community.

Contributing Writers

Jessica Deerjessicad@easterndoor.com

Lou Ann Staceylouanns@easterndoor.com

Utshikueu Andreutshia@easterndoor.com

Steve Bonspielsteveb@easterndoor.com

Jordan Standupjordans@easterndoor.com

Richard Tardifrichardt@easterndoor.com

Fifteen year-old TylorGlasgow was killed in a tragic ac-cident last week. That’s sadenough. But an even bleaker partof the unfortunate incident is howthe heat the driver should be get-ting for speeding recklessly hasbeen turned to the outside policeforce that was chasing him.

The 25 year-old man who isbeing charged with dangerousdriving causing death is to blamefirst and foremost, but the mediaand other people in the communityare focusing on the high-speedchase and the out of town cops.

Whether the police shouldhave been chasing him on a resi-dential street or not is definitelyquestionable, but it should not bethe main focus.

One of the other main parts ofthe story is: did the female policeofficer leave the scene of the acci-dent? Eyewitnesses say yes. TheRousillon Police says she wasthere, but did not see the accident.

There are two wrongs herethat have created a situation of alot of angry community membersand a grieving family.

It is not a question ofMohawk rights and sovereigntywhen someone who is obviouslynot thinking of the consequencescomes barreling into the commu-nity to elude police. It’s a questionof safety.

High-speed chases in residen-tial areas have to be re-evaluated.Just ask Peacekeeper Ryan Cross

and innocent victim Kayla Deerwho were involved in a somewhatsimilar accident when Crosschased after a non-local who wasfleeing from him after he waspulled over. They both paid for itthat time, luckily not with theirlives.

Professional Peacekeeper pro-tocol dictates that an off icershould use ‘his or her judgmentwhen chasing a fleeing suspect athigh speeds.’

The focus on whether or notthe police are to blame only allowsthe driver to get off relatively scot-free and that is disrespectful to thefamily and to the memory of theyoung boy.

Dangerous driving, whether itis alcohol-related or not, has tostop in Kahnawake. When a policeofficer beckons a motorist to pullover, they should do just that.

What would you rather have,a ticket for speeding and maybelosing your license for a year, or adead teenager on your conscience?

If you are going to have a fewbeers, plan ahead and take a taxi orappoint a sober designated driver.If you have a lead foot, maybe youshould slow down and think aboutthe consequences of your actions.

Emergencies aside, there arevery few times when you need tospeed down a residential street likea maniac.

The boy’s family is goingthrough a tough time right nowand their hope is that people learn

from this tragedy so it’s not repeat-ed in the future.

Although that might be toomuch to ask with the amount ofchances people take every daydriving under the influence ofdrugs or alcohol or being plaincareless, it has to start somewhere.

K a h n a w a k eShakotiia’takehnhas CommunityServices launched the latest part ofits drinking and driving campaignby placing a smashed up car onBlind Lady’s Hill with a warningsign not to drink and drive.

KSCS hoped it would shockpeople, but with two dangerousmotor vehicle-related incidents inthe past month, the message hasbecome blurred.

No matter what the motoristin this case was running from, itwas definitely not worth it. Theend result was a loss of a vibrantteen’s life and the community is inmourning as a result.

We have to think of the futuregenerations and that includes theones who are here with us now.Respect can be a four-letter wordon the road and it’s time we startlooking at speed for what it is –deadly.

Next time you get behind thewheel think before you speed andalways be aware of those aroundyou. How would you feel if some-one with a blatant disregard forpublic safety got behind the wheeland killed your son or daughter?

THE EASTERN DOOR

Good editorial and op-ed pages showcase informed, clearly-expressed, well-argued opinions on subjects

important to readers. The focus on local issues in almost all the nominated editorial pages reveals the QCNA

member papers are delivering the goods for their readers.

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Judge: Brian Kappler, Editorial Page Editor, The Gazette, Montreal, QC • Number of entries in the Best Editorial Page category: 11

The Outlet, while lacking an editorial cartoon, atoned for that with a sensitive lead editorial which grasped the nettle of a touchy local issue – low standards in a long-

established and beloved local nursing home. The editorial was tough but optimistic and had the ring of honesty. The column was meaty and the one substantial letter was on a

local topic. A good package.

THE TOWNSHIPS OUTLET

The Chronicle West Island’s entry combined a fi ne cartoon with a solid editorial on ‘reasonable accommodation.’ While this is

not exclusively a local issue in The Chronicle’s circulation area, reasonable accommodation is as important there as elsewhere and

the editorial neatly used local examples. The editorial explained and asserted clear views. The letters were resolutely local.

THE CHRONICLE WEST ISLAND

The Eastern Door responded to a tragic traffi c death with the combination of a cartoon and editorial on the subject, a one-two punch which makes perfect sense when a local issue is of such intense interest. ‘Don’t drink and drive’ is a familiar-enough message, but re-asserting

it after the death of a teenager seems not only appropriate but essential.