HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1980-12-11, Page 2EST
CJ 4 1872
Brusse ls Post
BRUSSEL
EstOliShed 1872 519-8876641
Serving Brussels and the surrounding community
Published at BRUSSELS, ONTARIO
every Wednesday morning
by McLean Bros. Publishers Limited
A Andrew Y. McLean, Publisher
Evelyn Kennedy, Editor
Pat Lang lois, Advertising
Member Canadian Community. Newspaper Association,, Ontario
Weekly Newspaper Association and The Audit. Bureau of
Circulation.
Subscription rates:
Canada $12 a year (in advance)
outside Canada $25 a year (in advance)
Single copies - 30 cents each
Box 50 • .
Brussels, Ontario
NOG 1H0
Behind the scenes
- • by. Keith-Routoon
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 10, 1980
A bridge to be proud of
It sometimes seems as though it has taken forever for the new
Martin's bridge in Morris Township to be built.
Four years is a long time, but on. Monday, the people of Morris will
get to see if it was all ,worthwhile, because that's when the official
opening of the bridge will take place.
Since bridges are built on priority schemes, the township had to wait
its turn and watched the cost of the bridge rise from an. estimated
$90,000 when they first decided to replace it, to an estimated $400,000
this year. Eighty per cent of this is to be paid by the Ministry of
Transportation and Communications.
Council has no control over when it can get a major project like this
built, nor the inflationary costs, but the point is that now that it has
been completed, people should be proud of it.
Such bridges are there to serve the needs of people, and it is hoped
that people will treat it with the respect such a structure deserves.
To the editor:
Allan Webb will be missed
In Brussels, like in other communities, people come and go and each
is missed, but a gentleman leaving our village in a few days to be
closer to his family will, no doubt, be missed by more people than
most other individuals. We refer to Allan Webb. The man whok quietly
and modestly, moved in his support of so many activities in our village
and surrounding area. His presence and discipline was felt by every
fund raising organization and special party in the Brussels, Morris and
Grey Community Centre. Allan had the respect of all age groups
because of the ever-present reflection of his image as a "true
gentleman". Our doors will always be open to welcome,Allan when he
comes back to visit Brussels. May we all say "Thanks Allan".
Contributed
S anta
I was really pleased with this year's
participation in the Santa Claus Parade.
There were more floats that were bigger and
better with the exception of one; SANTA
CLAUS. It was such a let-down at the end of
the parade when Santa Claus was on the
smallest cart with absolutely no decorations.
I had always thought that the whole point of a
parade was to lead up to Santa Claus. He
should be the climax, the highlight of the
ChristmaS is a comin', go the words t9 an
old song and with, that thought in min,d, the
Brussels, Post would like to point out that
it's almost time for our Christmas issue as
well.
This year, the theme is Christmas is for
Children of All Ages and we're inviting,
readers of all ages to send in Christmas art,
stories and poems.Drawings should be in
crayon or pen and ink, about 8" x 10" in
Sometimes we want so much for
something to happen that we start thinking, it
is happening, even when it isn't.
There was, a time like that in, the late
1960's and 1970's for a large.'nuthber of
people who wanted a simpler way of life than
the hectic 20th century_ lifestyle they had
been born to.
Whether it was weariness from the long
activist battles for civil rights, against
pollution and against the Vietnam War or
whatever, a large number of young people
decided they wanted to get back to the land,
to get away from it all.
And many of them got far away from it all.
They moved to rural areas where they could
still buy land cheaply and went back to life
on the scale of their great grandfathers.
Some areas, particularly in eastern Ontario,
were repopulated 'by these idealistic young
people who .gave many a local resident a
chuckle because they were willing to buy
abandoned farms without electricity or
running water or central heating and seemed
happy with them. The fernier residents had
struggled all their lives to free -themselves
from that lifestyle and here were people
from affluent urban backgrounds willingly
choosing to live in poverty. •
CHANGING THE WORLD
The more idealistic of the back-to-the-
landers probably looked at the thousands of
people moving out of the cities and onto the'
land and thought a revolution was under-
way. Itwas only a matter of time before the
world would be changed by this movement.
People would see that there was a better way
of life than the pampered city way.
The revolution of course didn't take place.
The trickle of people leaving the city to get
back to the land first slowed, then
completely reversed.' Few people were really
willing to give up their rnodern comforts for
the hardships of pioneer life. Many of the
young idealists went back to the cities and
white collar jobs. Those who did stay for the
most part quickly gave up their idealism in
favour of more of the creature comforts, like
electricity and running water.
This.brief period of history came to mind
the other day on reading an article about the
optimists of the right wing political parties in
Canada. and the U.S. who see a new
movement away from big government and
toward a simpler time they like to recall in
the rose tinted hues of memory. The recent
victory of Ronald Reagan in the U.S.
presidential election, the'defeat of liberal
senators down there, the fact most of our
provincial governments in Canada are held
by Conservatives, all these things, are taken
as signs that people are fed up with
_government interference in their lives. The
revolutiOn is on.
Well like the people of a decade ago who
size.
The deadline for getting these.items in in
time for.our December 24 Christmas issues
is. Friday, December 12.„ In the meantime,
our younger readers can also be sending
their letters in to Santa Claus
The rost would also like to hear from
readers who have some interesting ChriSt-
mas customs,' who make unusual gifts or
ink about anything you think would, make
a good Christmas feature story.
were fed up with materialistic urban
lifestyle, I'm sure a lot of people are fed up
with big government. W'e all resent having
our' lives dominated by big government, just
as we resent being dominated by our bosses
or our 'mothers-in-law. Still, I think the
revolutibn is a long way ,off.
. THE CUT BACKS COMETH
The idealistic right wingers have yet to
start their program of cutting back on
government. Oh there was a .wee bit of
trimming here and there but the meaningful
kind of cuts the conservatives are talking
about haven't taken place yet.
When they do, the illusion of the,
revolution will quickly come to an end. Try to
take away from people, the government
services they have become accustomed to
and you'll find it is as hard as taking away
the material luxuries they've become
accustomed to. People may grumble about
the cost of electricity but they don't want to
be without it. They may grumble about the
cost of medical insurance but try to take it
away from them, make them go back to the
old days when they had to worry about going
bankrupt if they had a major illness, and
you'll see that they aren't so ready to do'
without big government.
A NEW NATION?
A lot of the separatist fuss coming out of
the west these days is led by the right wing
idealists, the people who see Pierre Trudeau
as most likely a closet communist or at best a
dangerous socialist. Most' of this talk, of
course, comes from Alberta, the right wing
capital of Canada. They talk about a new
nation in the west-, one made up of the four
western provinces that could do quite well
without the rest of the country. Yet should
they get their western nation I sense it
wouldn't be the kind the Albertan separat-
ists would like, free of government regula-
tion where the rich are allowed to get richer
without having to worry about the poor. A
quick look will tell you that Alberta is an
island of right wing thought in a region that
has been a leader in left wing, government
involvement. There may be a Social Credit
government in British Columbia and a
Conservative i,overnment in Manitoba at the
moment but these two provinces only
recently had New Democratic governments
just like Saskatchewan has today and by, the
next election may again have New Demo-
cratic governments. The present govern-
ments of British Columbia and Manitoba
have frequently gotten into trouble for trying
to scrap policies of their predecessors.
Yes we have dissatisfaction with big
government right now but only the haves,
whether individuals or provinces, are really
willing to do without the benefits that big
government gives us.
day. Santa himself is a jolly old soul and
loved by everyone, but he 'really should have
the music, the bells, the glitter, etc. to
fascinate the youngsters.
If we want the parents to do their
Christmas shopping in our town let's have a
terrific Santa Claus Parade so that they will
return the next year.
Debbie Trollope
emaraing
Sugar and spice Is everything rotten?
By Bill Smiley
Well, the presidential election, the
constitution, and the dog-fight over energy
have been thoroughly probed and massaged
and turned up-side down and inside out by
the media. So what's a poor weekly
columnist have to turn to that hasn't been
beaten to death?
It's a rotten November day and I have a
rotten, unshakeable cold, so I think I'll have
a few words about what is rotten in the state
of education . And there's plenty.
First, let's look at teaching. The post-war
baby boom, a natural phenomenon after' four
or five years of sex starvation, is long gone.
Immigration has slowed to a trickle.
As a result, along with the pill and Wives
who want to work rather than procreate,
enrolment in our schools is dropping rapidly.
Many of those red-brick shoe factories built
so lavishly and triumphantly by the govern-
ment in the 50's are standing empty. Others
echo hollowly, only half-filled.
A direct result of this, along with the
stupidity of the goVernment has made a
teaching profession a very hairy one. Those
who chose it as a career are almost stopped
in their tracks.
With jobs vanishing, there is little chance
of promotion for the young person who
wants to rise in the profession.. The others,
who don't give a diddle about being a
department head or a vice-principal, but like
to eat and couldn't make a living at anything
else, are clinging grimly to their jobs,
looking over their shoulders to see where
they stand on the 'seniority list, and lying
awake nights thinking about the dread
statement, "You have become surplus,"
Becoming surplus these days is almost as
bad as becoming pregnant used to be, for a
woman teacher. For a man; it's even worse,
if he has a family, a mOrtgage, car
payments, and is near the bottom of the list.
For the young teacher, emerging from
teachers' college, it's a nightmare. There's a
solid line of older teachers, holding hands to
hurl back anyone who wants to get into the
charmed circle.
I can think at the moment of three young
women graduates of University of Toronto's
Faculty of Education. Each has an honor
degree. One is teaching in Newfie, another
in the interior of B.C., and the third at an
end-of-rail village in Northern Ontario.
Ten or twelve years ago, these bright girls
would have been beating off hot-breathing
principals who Wanted to hire them sight
unseen.
And yet, the government still churns out
dedicated young teacherS who will face
nothing but heart-break and frustration, as
they try to get a job.
It's a vicious circle, and partly to blame is
the teachers' unions. Long without much
political clout, they now have quite a bit, and
because of the past, they have an obsesSion
with security.
Ask a principal. It's almost as difficult to
fire a teacher as it is to fire a postal worker.
As a result, and I don't care if they keel-haul
me for saying this, the profession is riddled
with teachers who are incompetent,
emotionally or mentally. But it would require
a Hercules to clean out this particular
Augean stable. And educational leaders are
not exactly built along tierculean lineS.
More like Mickey Mouse.
So what have we? Teaching staffs that
Please turn to page 19