TT ee Og PIR page 4 - October 12, 1977 - ‘North Shore News Inauiring Re As most people know by now there was an illegal ferry strike om the weekend. Thousands of passengers had to find an alternate means to travel, such as the CP ferry, Air West, water taxis, and so on. The union may have made their point, but how does the public feel? This week the Inquiring Reporter asks: ‘“‘What did you think of the illegal ferry strike?”’ Jim Harvey. Nerth Vancouver . ; I think it’s a bad situation. It’s happened before. The _ ferry workers are well paid as it is-and I don’t think they need to resort to an legal strike. It was great. It took an illegal strike to bring the problems of the workers to the _attention of the government. By GORDON GIBSON, MLA Juvenile crime is probably the most serious social issue facing the province today. Many British Columbians are living in perpetual fear of no more than a hundred kids under seventeer years of age whose crimes include every- thing from vandalism to murder, — A report produced last year by British Columbia Police Commission entitled, **Crime in British Columbia’’ states that ‘‘.... juveniles are forming a gradually incteas- ing proportion of. persons: charged, and the proportion is fast approaching one third of. all who are. dealt with — formerly in court.’’ It goes on to say, ‘‘Almost as many juveniles are diverted from _ the court process as are charged, and the day seems not far off when juveniles will. the. : where we have failed. form two-thirds of identified offenders coming to the attention of the police.”’ It seems to boil. down to the fact that juveniles today know that there is very little that the legal authorities can do to them in the way of _ punishment. Basically he can be given a maximum of a $25.00 fine, or he can be put on probation. There have been cases where juveniles have simply laughed at an arresting officer. because they know how light the punishment will be. Recently ‘the Legislature took a first step in trying to combat the problem. The “‘Correction Act’’ was passed, which will ‘provide for secure ‘lock-up facilities for the small num- : ber. or hard-core juveniles in our province with whom the . authorities are having this. problem. It is the most depressing piece of legisla- tion: that I have ever had to’ research, because we are dealing with | ‘an area of the — administration: of society ‘The government has made a big issue of the introduc- tion of these . containment Amendment. application; it . predictable i in its results; and: centres but it must only be seen as a stop-gap measure _ to hold us over until ‘the preventative _ measures can be properly implemented. As a society, I think we have : a duty to our young people to teach them that actions have consequences in this world. Our justice system and our ‘social system does no one a favour if it hides the consequences, particularly if it hides. and obscures the consequences from young people. The justice system - for young people must be-- swift in. its application; “it. must. be certain in its -must , be .. it must be equipped with a. sufficient range of resources and tools for disposition. With these kinds of tools and with this kind of philosophy of swiftness and certainty, then there is every chance that youth problems ‘and juvenile delinquency will be reduced. ' course anybody can hire a trap quite easily from one of the commercial pest control firms.”’ | Homes noted, however, that cats are becoming one of the SPCA’s biggest .head- aches, especially during the April-October period when large numbers of litters are born, many of them unwan- ted by the mothers’ owners. ‘I’ve arrived here (at the pound) at seven in the morning to find four card- board boxes of abandoned kittens dumped on the doorstep,”’ he said. Whether the cats are dump-and-run_ victims or arrive at the pound as strays, the big problem lies in tracing owners, because— unlike dogs, which must legally bear a licence tag— few cats catry any form of identification. For the same reason (and glso because so many felines look alike) it. is difficult .to advertise them in the news- papers, as is regularly done in the case of dogs brought i. The standard procedure, said Homes, is for cats to be held for four days to give . owners a chance of. claiming them—particulars of exch animal being: entered in a lost-and-found register. If it remains unclaimed, it is then transferred to the adoption: section of the pound in an effort to find another owner. In practice, however, the . sheer volume of cats handled (a percentage old .and dis- eased), together with. acc- ommodation limitations, means, on an average, that only about -one animal .in three survives at the pound long enough to find a new home. Out of 478 cats brought into the North Van shelter during the 12-month period ending September 1977, 320 were destroyed, according to figures provided by Homes. The number was down from the previous 12-month per-. iod, when 396 out of 610 cats were ‘put to sleep.”’ The dog situation appears to be more tightly controlled. Homes says that. approxi-. mately 76 per cent of. the dogs brought into the pound because they are running loose are stccessfully _ ret- urcned to their owners—and he claims this is the highest percentage - in North Amer- ca, Among 24 per. cent remaining’ unclaimed . after four days, some, 15 per. cent