HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1978-12-06, Page 2ADJUSTING A HYDRO WIRE — Tom Robinson (on ladder) .of •'the
Wingham PUC was out helping the village of Brussels to make an
adjustment to a hydro wire on a house one day last week.
(Brussels Post. Photo)
Come see Santa
Santa Claus is coming to town December 9 and his visit is Aue
largely to the work of various organizations in Brussels.
These organizations should be complimented on the work they have
done in getting a parade into Brussels, bringing 'Santa here with his
bags of candy for the little ones.
What a joy for the little ones to be able to sit on Santa's knee,
making their special requests! It is also enjoyable for the older 'folks
who can experience the joys of Chilstmas through the eyes of trusting
children.
Once again Brussels volunteer organizations have proven that they
are interested in what's happening in their community and will do their
best to make it an enjoyable place for everyone to live.
Once again Brussels has a Santa Claus parade while . many
communities three times our size do, not.
Come to Brussels Saturday and see Santa.
ORLISSIE LS
ONTARIO
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1978
Serving Brussels and the surrounding community.
Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
By McLean Bros. Publishers Limited
Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Pat Langlois - Advertising
.•
*CNA
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Aisociation and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper ASsociation
Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $9.00 a Year.
Others $17.00.a Year. Single CoPieS 20 cents each.
Behind the scenes
by Keith Roulston
The big irritations
Brussels Post
One of the stange•things about life in the
1970's is' that many of that things that
make us the most irritated are things that
were originally designed'to help us.
Government seems to be the biggest
source of complaint these days with- its
.tenticals reaching into every nook and
corner of society. Few of us seem to
remember, however, that it was usually us,
Candian citizens, who demanded the
government• get involved in. this or that
aspect of life to protect us from the
misdeeds of others. If there is a problem,
say builders putting up houses that aren't
what they should be, we demand the-
government get involved to protect us. A
year, or so down the road we then
conveniently forget that it was us who
caused the government interference in the
first place.
One of the non-government
organizations that draws the most fire to
day from ordinary disgruntled citizens is
organized labour. People are pretty tired of
being deprived of some essential service
, every time they turn around. Yet the union
movement had a very essential part to play
in the formation of our modern, affluent
society.
It's nice to take a stroll down a street in
an old rich part of, a city and see the huge
mansions built in the late 1800's and early
part of this century. There's real class in
those buildings, class people usually can't
afford today. What's easy to forget,
however, is that- the class in those _
)uildings was paid for more by the hard
vork of men, women and virtual children
working six days a week, 12 to 15 hours a
day under the most horrid working
conditions. Death and disease were com-
monplace among the workers and even
those who survived these probably had
their lives vastly shortened by the rigours
of their jobs. ,Most of the credit for our
longer life expectancy goes to modern
metlicine and nutrition but at least some
should also go to the unions.
In other countires life was even worse
than here in Canada. Children were sent to
work in the mines and the mills of England
as soon as they were' able to help. They
were treated like animals while the t,,
cultured -gentry of the country lived
unbothered by twinges of conscience in
their elegant castles and mansions.
The union movement was indeed needed
but it didn't come easliy. The rich
indtistrial and mining barons like their
position ; had a feeling that hey had a right
to keep their cheap labOtit, They weren't
going to let unions change things without a
fight. And fight there was, long bloddy
wars between ttions and the companies
who hired toughs to put the workers in
their plaee. But eventually, after many
years of Struggle, the unions won the right
to organize Workers; to bargain collectively
and to withdraw their services if they
didn't feel they were getting a fair deal.
Most of ui; today, forget those formative
days of the unions when we're upset with
the union movement. Union leaders,
however, seem only to remember those
days.- They are so steeped in the history of
the movement they forget times have
changed. The seige mentality is so strong
that the union is always right, the company
always wrong even today. Take a look at
what happened recently when the
Executive ofthe Canadian Labour Congress
did not support the Postal Workers. The
union leadership was grilled from one coast
to the other by union member& who felt
that all unionist must stick together in
everything. It bears a striking resemblance
to the "my country right or wrong"
attitude that was disproven in the U.S.
during the Vietnam war only a few years
ago.
In more recent years we've seen another
case of individuals organizing to win
battles through strength in numbers. The
consumer movement hadn't even been
heard of a few years ago when a thin,
impoverished-looking lawyer named Ralph
Nader took on the gigantic General Motors
Corporation about defective design and
workmanship in automobiles. Incredibly,
Nader won and people began to see that
they could take on the big guys and win.
Consumerism was on the march.
And there's still a lot of good in the
consumer movement today. We need to
have someone to fight against the general
trend to foist shoddy merchandise 'on an
unsuspecting public. The problem is that in
their zeal , the consumer activist too often
'arc getting way off base destroying the
cridibility of their movement and becoming
downright dangerous.
The recent call of the Consumer As-
soication for the govrenment to abandon
farmers to the free market by Withdrawing
all aid to agriculture is a good point in fact
of the idiocy that can come from the
consumer movement. Organizing ,to take
on the big guys is one thing but to have
affluent middleclass urban dwellers takle
farmers as if they were General Motors is a
little ridiculous, not to mention being so
short sighted as to' be Idiotic. If the
consumer movement got its way in this, the
whole country would be in horrible trouble
within a decade.
The need for both the consumer and
union movements is still strong. Sure
things are better than they once were.
Workers are getting a fair shake today.
Conipanies are more aware of the con-
sumer these days. But many hard-nosed
big business men wouldn't think twice to
try to turn back the clock if -they could.
The thing to be remembered, however,
is that there is no black and white. The
unions and the consumer movement can be
just as prone to mistakes and to greed as
the businessmen. Forgetting that can be
dangerous.
Bridge too
(Continued from Page 1)
didn't anticipate at this time, having to go to
any councils for 'revenue.
Isobel 0-amiss of the Wingham and
District Hospital Board told council she had
enjoyed working on the board of the hospital
and that she though they were fortunate' to
have such,a good administrator and a good
financial director:
She said the hospital now had 100 beds
and the per diem rate for a standard ward
was now $101.49 compared with $87 in
August. She had the statistical report from
OctOber which said thre were 179 full time
staff and they had had 4,150 patients.
She indicated that the outlook for the
proposed health care centre in Wingham
was very good. She said Mr. Hayes 'the
administrator and Dr. Wilkins ha4—fecently
approached the Ministry about the centre
and that there was a good' chance that
the government would find funding for it;
•and if the centre becomes a reality
.everything would be under one roof. This
would include, the VON, Chldren's Aid, the
Cancer Clinic and some others. •
Allan Searle who is on the property
Committee of the Seaforth' Hospital Board
was also at the Meeting to report On that
Board's activities.
He thought the hospital had a surplus of
beds that the senior citizens could be using.
He said the hospital Was only two thirds full.
The hospital's other problem was storage
• expensive
space and he said they were going to get a
portable classroom.
He said he thought they had an extremely
good administrator on their board and that
the staff had been really good.
Carman Craig reported that area councils •
had previously given grants totalling $5000
to the Blyth and District Community Centre
Board and that Morris' share had been $750,
but that the board hadn't asked the councils
for any money this year.
He said the arena was operating really
well and that it was operating fairly soundly
financially.
Council also discussed the Blackball Drain
but deferred their decision until the next
meeting. They also decided to start col-
lecting payment on some drains in the
lownship.
Council had a. letter from the Ministry of
Transportation and Communication (MTC)
regarding the access road to the IPM site.
Council had previously sent a letter' to MTC
asking their opinion on whether the road
should be left there and have smile kind of
bridge built over it or to close it
MTC said a properly designed structure
would cost about $250,000 and since it was
doubtful supplementary funds could be
provided at the moment, council was asked
to,consider the magnitude of the expenditure
compared to the possible limited benefit the
road would provide.•
Ian