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nd the general public regarding edestrian safely rules This resolution was forwarded to he Honourable Dr. Bette Stephenâ€" on. Minister of Education. The onourable James Snow, Minister of ransportation and Communications ind The Honourable R. Roy cMurtry, Attorney General. Each inister replied to the resolution. Dr. Bette Stephenson replied that afety education of the pupils is a atter of great concern in the inistry of Education. it is included as an area of study in the ministry’s guidelines in health education at all levels from primary to senior years. It is on the basis of these ministry guidelines that the programs and lessons are prepared by educators in the school boards and schools across the province. In 1979 the ministry circulated a publication entitled Operation Safe- ty Program; this publication outlines recommended safety practices in over a dozen different facets of pupils’ normal activities. Resources include the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the Ontario Safe- ty League. the Ontario Motor League, the Ontario Provincial Police and other like organizations. Dr. Stephenson thanked FWIO for expressing interest in this matter and assured us that the Ministry of Education would continue to enâ€" courage a constant emphasis on safe- ty education in the schools. She believes that this ministry can be most effective in reaching Ontario‘s pupils through the schools. Enclosed with her reply was a Safety Memorandum NO. 9. revised in 1982, dealing with the subject, Traffic Safety. Mr. Snow replied that in 1982, there were 179 pedestrians killed which was 58 fewer than the previous year. Injuries decreased by 363 to a figure of 5,981. The very young pedestrians, those who have been drinking, and the elderly who fre- ‘ quently appear to be the victims in pedestrian accidents due to poor judgement of traffic movements, is a perception problem not entirely remedied through education. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications provides a pamphlet for pedestrians that is available in its offices throughout the province. Another pamphlet has tips for senior citizens. Police safety ofâ€" ficers regularly visit classrooms and talk to the pupils concerning the im- portance of obeying the pedestrian safety rules. Mr. Snow also stated that prime-time television or radio campaigns are very costly. For the most part public education programs are relegated to public service anâ€" nouncement time slots which are filled from a choice of available materials. Similarly news releases and articles are sent to all the appropriate channels, however the individual editors or producers make judgements as to when or if to air or print the information. The Attorney General, The Honourable R. Roy McMurtry acâ€" knowledged the resolution in connec- tion with the promotion of pedestrian safety rules. He forwarded it to The Honourable James Snow, Minister of Transportation and Communications and The Honourable Dr. Bette Stephenson, Minister of Education for their information and consideraâ€" tion. as the Resolution falls within their jurisdiction. Resolution 6. Re â€" Request to hold an immediate investigation into overweight and insecure loads and in- itiate legislation to prevent accidents and an increase in fines for insecure loads This resolution was forwarded to The Honourable James Snow, Minister of Transportation and Com- munications for consideration. Mr. Snow replied the Ministry of Transportation and Communications has an on-going review of all highway violations. To date the only problem seems to lie in the hauling of raw forest products in Northern Ontario and this has been under special in» vestigation for the past year. Amend- ments to the security of loads regulaâ€" tions are under consideration. These amendments are based on discussions between industry and government. At present. there is no planned review of the fines. As part of the general fine increase, the fine for insecure loads has recently increased. While the Highway Traffic Act defines the minimum and maximum fines for any particular offence, the actual fine is set at the discretion of the judge. Resolution 7. Re â€" Provision of funding for shelters for battered women This resolution was forwarded to The Honourable Frank Drea, Minister of Community and Social Services. Mr. Drea thanked FWIO for writing about our concerns and that the area of funding services for bat- tered women and the development of these services across the province is a priority of his Ministry. Recently the province has committed an addiâ€" tional $4 million to the provision of services for battered women and their families. The majority of this money will be spent on improved funding for transition houses. The Ministry of Community and Social Services is planning to develop programs to control and prevent family violence. He further com- mented. "lfwe are able to reduce the incidence of wife battering, it will be necessary for communities to develop an awareness of the problem and to let it be known to their citizens, that wife battering will not be tolerated. I hope that the Women’s institutes will take an active role in this regard." Resolution 8. Re â€" Request to enact legislation to hold a plebiscite for the purpose of having capital punishment re-instated for the crime of murder This Reolution was forwarded to The Honourable Mark MacGuigan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Mr. MacGuigan thanked FWIO for drawing the views of our organization to his attention on this important subject. He stressed that the government is deeply concerned about violent crime and about taking effective steps to counter such crime. Recently he introduced a major criminal law reform bill in the House of Commons, one of the principal purposes of which is to provide courts with a better means of protect- ing the public against violent and dangerous criminals. He emphasized that violent crime must be dealt with seriously and effectively and that the reinstatement of the death penalty in his view would offer little assistance in this effort. Since the death penal- ty was abolished in 1976, both the number and the rate of murders have been lower in every year since aboli- tion than they were in 1975, when the death penalty was still available. This fact lends weight to the argument made by many during the Parliamen» tary debate on capital punishment eight years ago. that the presence or absence of the death penalty has lit- tle or no effect on the actual inâ€" cidence of murder. His continuing view is that the very real and Continued on p. 23 I7