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The Citizen, 1986-03-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1986. C 0 itnead Brickbats for a compassionate leader For a man who is trying to do something for others, Senator Jacques Hebert has probably taken more criticism than anyone in the country. Newspapers have blasted him for his hunger strike, accusing him of blackmail, disgraceful behavior and setting a bad example. If he manages to win his point and force the federal government to either revive the Katimavik program or come up with another similar program for young Canadians, critics claim, he would open the door for all kinds of other nuts to go on hunger strikes to blackmail the government into action. Lost in all this criticism is the fact that what Senator Hebert is trying to accomplish is one of the most beautiful things we have seen in this country in years. Most powerplays and pressure groups these days are out for something for themselves. What Senator Hebert is after is not something for himself, or even for people of his own generation but people several generations younger than himself. Here is a man nearing senior citizen status who is risking his own life for the young people of Canada who are facing the harshest job market since the Great Depression. Unemployment statistics among the young, including people recently graduated from universities, are truly horrendous, yet the fat -cat generation of the baby boom which dominates the economy these days, is concerned only with making payments on BMW's or getting a vacation in the Carribean. They have adopted an "I'm all right Jack" attitude that says cutting their taxes is more important than doing something to create jobs for young people. The generation that once wouldn't trust anyone over 30, now likes to find reasons why the people under 30 deserve to be in the condition they're in: they are too lazy, they won't take any job that comes along and a hundred other excuses. We are truly facing a lost generation and nobody seems to give a damn. We're tired of being told we have to care about our fellow man. Wejust want to get on with living a comfortable life. What Senator Hebert is doing is forcing us to look at the situation. Despite the fact he is a senator, he is as powerless as the young generation to make things happen through ordinary channels. He is faced with a massive Conservative government majority bent on cutting government spending. That majority is backed by a wealthy Canadian middle class that has more political clout than ever before and is looking after its own privileged position. If young people themselves went on a hunger strike they would probably have been virtually ignored. When a 62 -year-old senator goes on a hunger strike and sleeps in the lobby of the senate, he gets attention, even if it is negative. Those in power have their own more subtle blackmail: big business for instance, can bring a country to its economic knees if they don't like government policies. Those without power like the young people and Senator Heber, who try to get action, are accused of messier more unseemly blackmail. To date, most people seem to look at Senator Hebert as an old fool, someone like Ghandi and Martin Luther King. Many people before him, however, have done the wrong thing for the right reasons. Someday Hebert may be looked on as a very compassionate, loving man who brought attention to an issue no one wanted to look at. How far does neighbourliness go? Canadians, weary after 30 years of conflict with the U.S. throughout the Diefenbaker, Pearson and Trudeau years, were ready to listen to Brian Mulroney when he promised better relations with our southern neighbour. Before his election, Mr. Mulroney promised co-operation not confrontation and after he became Prime Minister he set about to put that program into action. If we stopped irritating the Americans with nationalistic programs, he said, they would reciprocate. So out went controls on foreign investment. Out went the national energy program. Out went nearly every irritant on the American list. So what have we got back? The second "Shamrock Summit" brought the equivalent of the admission from U.S. President Reagan that the world is round. Mr. Reagan admitted that acid rain was a problem but he couldn't promise any money to do anything about it. Mr. Mulroney was delighted. It's easy to get along with your neighbours when you give everything they want and are willing to accept only an occasional pat on the head as fair trade. Maybe this is an attitude Mr. Mulroney learned to accept as Canadian manager of an American -owned branch plant but it isn't a cost of friendship that many self-respecting Canadians are willing to pay. Mr. Mulroney's idea of a fair trade is also not a hopeful sign for Canadians when he is proposing to renegotiate the entire Canadian economic structure in free trade talks with the U.S. With Mr. Mulroney as our spokesman, Canadians may be lucky to come out of these negotiations with more than their underwear. U JIie 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 notjusteveryone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Julia Flint was talking this morning about all the clothes they found in Imelda's closets when the Marcos family left the Phillipines. Imagine 500 purses, she said. "Imagine 500 black bras- sieres," Billie Bean piped in. "1 imagine that's about all you would imagine," Julia said. Julia wondered what the Philli- pine government is gong to do with all that loot. They might really do something for the local economy if they disposed of the surplus clothes the way we often do in North America, she said. Imagine if they had a gigantic garage sale and advertised around the world. They'd probably have all the hotels in Manila booked for weeks solid from people coming to get bargains on all those Gucci originals. WEDNESDAY: Somebody asked Julia this morning if she was heart broken to hear Randy Andy had been engaged. She admitted she was a a little too old for the prince anyway. Besides, she said, who'd want to marry a guy with a reputation like that. You'd want to make sure all the maids in a palace were at least 74. Tim O'Grady wondered when the wedding would be and said that unlike most weddings when the bride and groom set the date according to when the two families could attend and when a church and reception hall were available, the date on this one will likely be set by a board of economists looking at how to get maximum effect for the British tourism industry. It doesn't make sense, for instance, to have people clamouring to get into London to see something of a royal wedding when the hotels are already booked up with people coming to see the Tower of London or the wax museum. THURSDAY: Hank Stokes was needling Ward Black about the Shamrock summit this morning. "While they were talking about acid rain Mulroney and Reagan should have been worried about another pollution just about as deadly," Hank said. "Verbal pollution. Never has so much been said about so little." Billie Bean said he didn't think even Nancy Reagan loved Ronnie as much as Bryan Mulroney claims to. He wasn't so sure if Ronnie liked Brian so much though after Brian managed to get the last chorus of "Irish Eyes Are Smiling" all to himself last year. Tim O'Grady says they got the name wrong for the summit. They should have called it something equally as Irish: The Blarney Summit. FRIDAY: The Americans are noticing the Canadians again for the first time since Margaret Trudeau went back to being boring, Julia Flint says. Of course it wasn't because Prime Minister Mulroney was down their visiting President Reagan. That went virtually un- noticed by the American press and television. No, there was some- thing more important. The Cana- dian Ambassador's wife slapped one of the help right on the front steps of the embassy. What made it even more important was that the employee was an American. Billie Bean says we'd better watch out. The way Reagan has been looking for a fight lately with both Nicaragua and Libya, this might be an excuse for him to send the troops on a little exercise into Canada as well. Letter to the editor TO THE EDITOR: On behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, I would like to thank the residents of Brussels for their generous dona- tions during our recent campaign. A special thanks to Gary Pipe, the president of the Leo Club and all members who donated their time and effort. Sincerely, Betty Campbell, Chairman of The Heart and Stroke Foundation of the Village of Brussels. % MCSizen [640523 Ontario Inc.] Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Published weekly in Brussels, Ontario P.O. Box429, Blyth, Ont. NOM 1H0 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, Brussels, Ont. NOG 1H0 887-9114 Subscription price: $15.00; $35.00 foreign. 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