The Citizen, 1986-02-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1986,
Vengeance or reality
Federal Agriculture minister John Wise last week
announcedhe would not proceed with his promise of debt
review legislation saying he was listening tothe “silent
majority’’ of farmers who didn’t want it.
He may be right that there is a majority who agrees with him,
even though the leaders of all general farm organizations have
been loud in their demands thatthe government set up a body to
help farmers and banks negotiate a way out of the current debt
crisis that has hit many farmers. Many farmers fear banks will
not loan them money if writedowns of loans from farmers,
already in trouble, are forced. Others feel farmers in trouble are
there because of their own doing.
This is, in fact, a “pay me now or pay me later” situation.
Most farm debt is there because of the tremendous devaluation
of farmland that has seen prices drop as much as 50 per cent.
That money has already been lost. If banks insist on driving the
indebted farmers off their land, seizing it and selling it, they’re
not going to recover that money. And the more land forced onto
the market, the more the value of land is going to plummet,
hurting both bankers and other farmers who aren ’ t currently in
trouble.
In nearly all cases, everyone would be better off if debts were
written down to realisitic levels that the bank could recover if
the farm was sold. Farmers would be kept on the land. Land
prices wouldn’t be pushed down further. The community would
benefit.
Too much of the current attitude seemstobeadrive for
retribution. Somebody is going to pay for this mess and it might
as well be the farmer. This stubborness, however, is going to
hurt a lot more than the farmer.
How much is enough
The spectacular space shuttle accident that led to the death of
seven astronauts brings upthequestion all journalists must ask
themselves, “Just how much news coverage is enough and
what becomes overkill.”
The Toronto Star entertainment columnist Sid Adilman
hammered CBC television for its coverage of the story saying it
was as slow as a tortoise. While other networks plugged into
U.S. broadcasts live and gave over much of the day to that U.S.
coverage, CBC waited to get its own news team in place before
devoting a lot of air time to the subject.
There’s no doubt the shuttle explosion in mid air watched by
millions on television and thousands on the ground was
something that shocked people. The interest level was high.
But there’s also the danger in covering such events too heavily
we in the news media trivialize them, rather than make them
important.
A Toronto Star columnist might not notice this of course
because the Star has long had a reputation of not only
answering all the questions the reader could think of in any
story, but usually a good many we never cared to ask. The Star
often devotes most of the first section of the paper to a single
story.
The facf remains, however, that once the horrible fact of the
explosion of the shuttle was reported, once the 72-second film
clip was shown, how much was there left to say? How many
pictures of grieving families did we need to see? How much of
our interest becomes morbid curiosity?
Reporters spent considerable time speculating on what
effect this will have on the future of the space program when
anyone with an IQ as big as his waist measurement, knows that
the space program is too big, too well established to be seriously
effected. Afterall, tragic as it was, only seven people died here.
Hundreds die every week on the streets and highways of the
U.S. but we don’t stop driving cars. Some 11,000 people a year
are killed by handguns and they don’t even ban those.
Which brings up the question of whether something that is
bignewsintheU.S. is automatically big news in Canada.
Ironically on the same day as the shuttle explosion the CBC
radio show Media File read a letter of complaint from a listener
who asked why when the report of a far-off tragedy was read it
always said something like: “one hundred people died, five of
them Americans". Are Americans more important than
anybody else, she wondered.
The fact is that Canadian media people are lazy. It’s easier
and less costly for our television and radio stations and
newspaper to just pick up the news from U.S. networks and
news wireservices and deliver it straight to Canadian
audiences. In the same way, an outsider listening to Canadian
radio would often think we were a republic or had joined the
U.S. from the number of times he hears the phrase ‘ * President
Reagan says,” as if the 49th paralell didn’t exist.
It isn’t reducing the tragedy, it isn’t demeaning the lost lives
of the astronauts to suggest our television and radio stations
and newspapers should say what there is to say and shut up. It
isn’t diminishing the interest Canadians have in the astronauts
to say the story doesn’t rate round-the-clock television
coverage here when we didn’t give the same kind of coverage to
the deaths of 300 Canadians in the Air India tragedy.
Giving reasonable, balanced coverage will honour these
people better than going overboard.
Mo,Dad, a tlofW disc isnT a bacic
The world view from Mabel's Grill
There are people who will tell
you that the important decisions in
town are made down at the town
hall. People in the know, however
know that the real debates, the real
wisdom reside down at Mabel’s
Grill where the greatest minds in
the town (if not in the country)
gather for morning coffee break,
otherwise known as the Round
Table Debating and Filibustering
Society. Since not just everyone
can partake of these deliberations
we will report the activities from
time to time.
MONDAY: Our regular Monday
snow storm had people talking
about spring this morning and
grabbing at any hopeful sign they
couldfind. After talking about how
high the corn cobs were on the corn
stalks and the length of the fur on
the furry caterpillars last summer
and the significance of the black
squirrels holding their tails high in
the air or trailing after them,
somebody mentioned that Sunday
would be Ground Hog Day and that
should settle the whole matter.
Hank Stokes said that after
watching groundhogs for 40 years
hefiguredthey were so stupid they
couldn'ttell anything, let alone
when spring would come. Billie
Bean wondered iftheycouldbe any
worse than the weather bureau: in
either the stupidity or the accuracy
departments.
Julia Flint said she could never
figure out this legend anyway. If
the groundhog didn’t see his
shadow, such as if there were a
howling blizzard and he couldn't
even see his feet, it was supposed
tomean springwashere and he
stayed out. On the other hand, if it
was a beautiful warm day with the
sun shining, the ground hog
figured spring was a long way off
and went back in. “It’s stupid,"
she said.
“ Now you know how stupid a
groundhog is," Hank said.
Billie figured you didn't have to
worry about the ground hog seeing
his shadow being as Feb. 2 was a
Sunday thisyear. There’ll be so
many hunters out on the weekend
that as soon as he pokes his head
above ground, the ground hog will
never see anything again.
WEDNESDAY: Julia Flint was
saying she heard the guy from the
Starkist Tuna plant saying that he
was demanding the government
change its inspection policies: that
it wasn’t his tuna that's the
problem but the regulations and
he's not going to reopen his plant
until they change them.
Julia says she figures she’ll try
thatoneonthecopthenexttime
she gets stopped for speeding. It’s
not that she’s driving too fast but
that the speed limit is too slow and
iftheydon’tchangeit, she’ll refuse
to drive anymore.
THURSDAY: Ward Black was a
little embarrassed today when the
stories were in the paper about Erik
Nielson listening in on the Liber
als. Ward, good party man that he
is, fought back though. He says he
figures it’sail a lie because he can't
see that Nielson would waste his
time like that. He’s never heard a
Liberal say anything worth listen
ing to yet.
Tim O’Grady said he wasn’t
surprised about this news about
Nielson bugging the Liberals.
“He’s bugged me for years."
FRIDAY: Julia figures out there’s
some advantages to being a
disadvantaged female in this world
after she heard that the student
council at the University of Mani
toba paid $22,000 to listen to a
20-minute speech from Geraldine
Ferraro, the first woman ever to
run for vice-president. Most peo
ple can’t even remember the name
of the vice-president who’s in
office and nobody remembers the
name of the guy who lost the last
presidential election and here she
is, the losing vice-presidential
candidate in the last election and
she gets $1,000 a minute for
speaking.
Tim O'Grady figured at the rate
she’s getting paid, she was lucky
she lost. If she was president she’d
make the same speech for nothing.
Farm census to be held June 3
June 3 is Census Day in Canada.
The Census of Agriculture is
conducted concurrently with the
Census of Population.
Farm operators across Ontario
and Canada with sales of $250 or
more in the previous 12 months will
complete a Census of Agriculture
questionnaire. Questions cover
such areas as crop acreage,
livestock numbers, machinery,
fertililzer and pesticide use. For
the first time there will be
questions on tile drainage and
personal computer usage; ques
tions which reflect the ever-chang
ing technology used by Canadian
farmers. Based on test results it
will take approximately 45 minutes
to complete the questionnaire.
Explanations have been added to
the 1986 questionnaire to provide
the reasons behind the questions.
Agricultural statistics are an
important analytical tool. Specific
agricultural data are required for
the development, operation and
evaluation of farm policies and
programs.
The collection procedure starts
during the last week of May when
questionnaires will be dropped off
by Census representatives to every
household that operates a farm.
The farm operator completes the
questionnaire for his/her opera
tion. Inrural areas and small towns
the Census representatives will
pick up the forms shortly after June
3. In cities and large towns the
questionnaires will be mailed
back.
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