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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1979-07-18, Page 4By ROSS HAUGH Do you know what industry is Canada's largest employer? Our first guess would have been agriculture or food, but, that's not cor- rect. Tourism is Canada's largest empfoyer. More than one million Canadians hold tourism related jobs. That's about nine percent of the work force or one job out of every 11. Tourism is the world's fastest growing industry and according to futurists by the year 2000 could be the largest. In terms of international tourism receipts Canada is in eighth place behind the United States, France, Ger- many, Austria, Spain, the United, Kingdom and Italy. In 1978, tourism generated an in- come of $11 billion for Canada, five percent of our Gross National Product. As the sixth largest earner of foreign exchange it was worth $2 billion. The tourist industry is made up of more than 80,000 businesses. Some are large, but, most are small and 90 per- cent of them, are Canadian owned. While the largest components are the airlines, railways and hotels probably just as important are the hot dog stands at the side of the road, boat manufacturers,' tourist cabins, fishing lodges, travel agencies, souvenir shops, etc. We have no idea about the amount of money generated in this area from the tourist industry, but, we would guess it is quite substantial and rates as high as any area not only Ontario, but in Canada, Despite, the gas shortage south of the border Ave would guess the number of Americans visiting Grand Bend hasn't changed too much, especially those from Michigan. In recent years the number of Americans visiting Canada generally decreased sharply but, this trend should change. The devalued dollar should certain- ly help our tourist industry. Not only will it bring more from the United States, but, also cut the number of Canadians leaving the country for their vacation. The lesser worth of our dollar and shortage of gas in the U.S. should promote more travel in Canada for Canadians. We have a large and beautiful country. So, let's vacation at hoMe; Both governments and industry seem to be making more concerted ef- forts to keep our residents at home dur- ing vacation by making travelling at home more attractive and affordable. The package deals provided by railways and airlines appear to be catching on. By the end of April, VIA Rail had made 1,011 sales compared to only 35 in 1978. By the end of March, CP Air had sold 1,589 packages compared with 1,- 207 in the same period last year and Air Canada had sold 1,267. When tourism does well, everybody benefits. A recent Canada Tourisni' A couple of big anniversaries 'are coming up for weekly newspapers, or community newspapers, as they are called these days. In July, the Canadian Community Newspapers Association is celebrating its diamond jubilee at a convention in Toronto. In Wiarton, Ontario, the Echol is celebrating its 100th birthday this July. I'd like to take in both, as a member of the former for eleven years and editor of the latter for the same period. Some of the happiest years of my life, as far as work goes, were spent in the weekly newspaper business. And as work goes, it went a long way--about sixty hours a week. It requires a certain type of per- sonality and outlook to be a happy weekly editor. Or it did when I was one. It's a lot different now, with young, hard-nosed editors, fresh out of jour- nalism school, imitating the techniques of the dailies. First of all, you had to have a com- plete lack of material desires. You could make a living, but you never got rich, or even well to do. Next you had to keep your back shop happy, the printing staff. And anyone who had ever tried to keep a printing staff happy knows that it's about as easy as attending a picnic of rat- tlesnakes without being bitten. Then of course you had to tread the thin line between being fearless, in- dependent and outspoken, and selling enough advertising to keep body and soul together. The guy who attacked the town council for some nefarious bylaw, and the guy who went out and tried to sell ads to the six merchants on the town council were the same guy, very often, There were the inevitable typographical errors to harry the obfuscated editor, In a wedding write- up, the bride very often came out as the "bridge", In funeral accounts, the pallbearers were apt to be described as "six old fiends" who carried the coffin to its final rest. In a small town, there are currents of jealousy and antagonism and family feuds that run deep and strong. Praise a local politician for making a good move, and his third cousin from the other side of the family would call you up and tell you, with vivid detail, what a snake-in-the-grass your first man was. Venture to criticise, how-ever gently, an athlete or a public figure, and you'd have your ears scorched by eighty-four close relatives who normally despised the guy, but rallied to their roots when an aspersion was cast on the clan. Hell hath no fury like a Women's Institute whose boring account of its meeting, including everything from who said Grace to what they ate, was cut by the blue pencil, And then, of course, there were the drunks who would call you up at 3 a.m. to ask you to settle an argument about who scored the final goal in the 1934 Stanley Cup playoff. And the kooks who would call you up and try to plant a libellous rumour, or demand that you come out to the farm and take a picture of their home-made threshing- maching. There was always some country correspondent furious because her "news", consisting of who visited whom on Sunday afternoon, was crowded out by a rush, of late ad- vertising, "Why don't you leave out some ads?" There was no lack of variety in the weekly business, when you were reporter, editor, advertising manager, proof reader, and general bunboy for the tyrants in the back shop. I distinctly remember a St. Patrick's Day night, when there was an unex- pected heavy fall of snow. An elderly gentleman of Irish descent had been celebrating the day in the pub. When he hadn't arrived home by ten o'clock, his housekeeper called for help. The local pubs were alerted, and the hockey rink, where there was a game in progress. Page 4 Times-Advotate, July 18, 1979 Times Established 1873 Adwocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 'fries dvocate 1.41.• Ma* I. SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager Dick Jongkind Published Each Wednesday Morning Phone 235-1331 at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $1 1.00 Per Year; USA $22.00 Conserve energy One of the most heated topics these days is the energy crunch and in- evitably the price of oil. The big problem doesn't seem to be the shortage of oil but whether we can afford it or not, Most Canadians don't seem to be taking the gas shortage in the United States very seriously. We smile about motorists lining up for gas while some of us drive along quite 1101311y at 10, 20 and maybe 30 miles above the speed limit of 50 miles per hour. Maybe we will be sobered a bit and slow our driving when gas prices reach $1.25 a gallon for regular by the end of 1980 and that might be a low estimate. Most may be able to get by with higher gas prices by curtailing driving a bit, but, how about home heating? Most of us refuse to even think of what would happen if Canadian families can no longer afford to keep oil tanks filled to heat homes. What are we going to do about it? Several suggestions have come forth in recent weeks. They may not be earth shattering as far as conserving energy is concerned but, could be a start in the right direction. The first came from the School Bus Operators of Ontario changing the, school year by eliminating the month of January as far as studies are con- cerned. It sounds great to close school during January to save fuel and eliminate danger to students riding buses during hazardous weather. The bus drivers suggested shorten- ing the summer vacation. This could cause as many problems as the winter does. Can you imagine students trying to study in weather like we had during the past week? It would probably cost as much money to air condition class rooms as it does to heat them in January. The bus drivers noted that the long summer vacation was originally in- tended to aid farmers who needed their children to help with the harvest. This is no longer the situation with farming operations becoming so much- more mechanized. The real problem would come in eliminating holiday jobs for students if summer holidays were decreased. Jobs in January would be very scarce. A second suggestion to help in the energy crisis has come from the town of Hawkesbury in the form of a 2solu- tion asking for earlier implentation of Daylight Saving Time to include the month of April. Danger surrounds Each day an ever-widening circle of danger surrounds mankind. It is a vicious circle that reaches the front pages only occasionally. It is the com- bination of babies and bombs. Each day, the world's nations are spending considerably more than $1 billion on their bombs and their military es- tablishments. And each day, 170,000 new babies come into a world threaten- ed by a shortage of basic resources. In a century that is haunted by the memory of two global wars and countless lesser but nevertheless grisly conflicts, the great powers and all of the smaller nations are spending between $375 billion and $400 billion on various military expenditures each year. The $350 billion figure for the year 1976 represented more than the combined national product of South Asia, the Far East and Africa. The danger of the proliferation of weapons is matched only by the other potential disaster facing humanity - overpopulation. If present trends con- tinue, Mexico, one century from today, will have a larger population than the Soxiet Union and China combined. An unchecked population in the poorer lands will mean that the already crowded island nation of Indonesia would have 1.78 billion people in 100 years, or almost half the present pop- ulation of the globe. The circle of danger can and must be broken. A greater awareness of the twin curses that haunt us - arms proliferation and overpopulation - can help meet the crisis. Once people un- derstand fully that only they themselves can control the destiny of humanity, the solution will be at least within our grasp. From the Office of Church in Society, United Church of Canada. Sugar and Spice Dispermed by Smiley Happy Anniversary Dottart sEnse Let tenants help to pay cost of your mortgage By Jack Boultbee, CA BATT'N AROUND with the editor Tourism is big Perspectives By SYD FLETCHER On a recent trip to Michigan I got talking to a young motorcycle rider who was trav&.11ing to the nor- thern part of the state, In the course of the conversation he remarked that he really liked travelling to Canada because it was such a clean place, that one just didn't toss even a cigarette butt on the ground over there, Then he added that if he wanted to go to Canada he had to go by car If he tried to cross the border on his bike he'd be turned hack. Now in a way I can un- derstand the Customs' reasoning. Gangs, drugs, riots, all seem to be associated with motor- cyclists. A basic kind of fear,. Discriminatory? Certainly it is bias against all the nice young people that ride bikes, yet fear can do strange things to your powers of rational thinking, I remember one hot summer's night that I was resting out on the front porch' swinging away on the hammock, thoroughly en- joying myself. You could smeli the fresh-cut hay in the fields nearby and hear the crickets just a-thumping out their tune. A perfect night, Traffic had pretty well slowed down on the highway that cut across the end of the front lawn with only the odd loflg-distance truck gearing down for the curve, and once a police car zipping through, in a real hurry. There was a long pause when nobody passed and then two motorcycles reared by, and I saw their brake lights come on. They turned abruptly into my land and cut their engines. For a minute there was a long silence and then I could hear low voices. In the dim shadows I could see them helmeted and black-bearded, walking insolently up the laneway. I could hear the clank of metal and a flash of reflected silver. Sounds like something out Of a Grade C movie, doesn't it? You know, the kind that Hollywood cranks out by the dozen, full of violence and fear. Whatever, a few strange thoughts whipped through my head, like, with that light over my head I make a perfect target, and, I wonder if Grandpa's old shotgun is still behind the door. Where's that cop now that I need him? What was that story in the paper last week? Not that I was nervous mind you. Out of the shadows came a pleasant, soft young voice, politely asking the way to the nearest campground. It was just as well they couldn't see my embarrassed face as I replied to their questions. Fine young people. Really nice. As they left, I realized that I was sweating, though the air was much cooler now. As I said, fear does strange things to you, release indicates the revenue from 100,000 visitors to a community during a year amounts to $2 million. This is money that makes its way right through the whole economy by way of food stores, banks, restaurants and theatres to name only a few, Research has shown that a signifi- cant problem for Canadian tourism is the perception that we are not as • friendly as we might be to tourists, Tourism is important to all of us. So, the next time you have the oppor- tunity reach out a -friendly hand to a visitor. Found some interesting information in a recently purchased book, called Quick Canadian Facts, Did you know there were 117 daily newspapers in Canada with a total cir- culation of five and a half million readers ? The number of weekly newspapers has grown rapidly. In 1971 the weekly paper total was 923. It is now well over 1,200. Some 1,600 telephone systems operate over 13 million telephones in Canada. They range in size from Bell Canada with nearly two-thirds of all telephones to small rural systems with sometimes as few as 100 subscribers, The number of local phone calls made during 1976 reached the astronomical figure of 21, 301,348,468. Now we know why we get a lot of busy signals. Most of the male population, at least half of the half-lit, stormed off to search for the missing man. We found him, covered in snow, about a quarter- mile from his house. Back to the rink and the pubs. I remember shouting at deaf old ladies who were celebrating their ninetieth birthdays, and getting some of the most surprising answers. "How long has your husband been dead?" "Nah, he never was much good in bed." "To what do you attribute your long life?" "Yes, I was always a good wife." And so on. To be a successful editor, though not necessarily a good one, you had to continually straddle fences, This becomes a bit of a chafe after a whole. You had to be able to write on demand. I remember one week When there was absolutely nothing to fill a two-column, four inch space on the front page. In about twenty minutes, I knocked out eight column inches of sparkling prose in which the reader had to read to the end to discover that nothing worth reporting had happened that week, It sounds as though I'm knocking the game. Not so. These are found memories. And there were rewards, most of them intangible. It was kind of nice to be introduced to strangers as "our" editor. ..It gave satisfaction when a subscriberfrom away down in the States dropped in on his way to the summer cottage and said he, "Sure liked that piece about the deer hunt." And there was a certain quiet pride in one's status, My daughter, aged eight, produced the fitting requiem when I left newspaperwork and went into teaching. "But Daddy," She observed, "that means you're not The Editor any more, I sadly agreed, If you're a single person who wants to own a .home but can't . afford to carry a mortgage and other home- owner costs, consider buying a house anyway and renting part of it to a paying tenant or room- mate. Not only will you get rent money from the tenant or tenants, but you may also receive some'significant tax breaks that further reduce your over-all costs. If you rent out part of your living-space, the Income Tax Act allows you to deduct a pro-rated proportion of, the costs of ownership, including mort- gage interest -- almost all of your mortgage payments in the early years -- property taxes, home insurance premiums, maintenance and repair costs, 'utility bills and other expenses General financial advice by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. directly related to the rental arrangement. These tax savings, coupled with the rental income itself, can put home ownership within the reach of many single people who, having only one source of income where couples usually have two, may despair of ever getting out of their rented apart- ments. Let's look at some figures. As' a general rule, 55 Years Ago The Central Hotel, which was purchased some time ago by Mr. Chester Lee of Paisely, from W. T. Acheson passed to the hands of his new proprietor. The face of the town clock has been painted white and the figures on the dial have been painted black. This week electric lights have been installed and the clock is plainly visible at night. It makes a very decided im- provement. After an illness of many months duration the death of Mrs. Clara Anderson, one of Centralia's most highly esteemed and respected citizens occurred at the home of her daughter at St. Thomas. Mrs. Anderson was one of the pioneers of this com- munity, coming from England 12 years ago and living'the rest of her life in Centralia, 30 Years Ago A record breaking crowd of between three and four hundred witnessed a thrill- packed racing meet at the community park Wednesday afternoon. Two thousand small- mouthed bass were placed in the Ausable River'just above the Exeter Dam recently at the request of the Exeter Gun and Conservation Club. All the schools in the area Wave been visited by members of the Exeter Lions Club who have taped all bicycles with safety illuminating tape. Teachers Gordon Kock, Morley Sanders, Eugene Howey, and Cecil Wilson have been marking departmental papers in Toronto for the last month, 20 Years Ago Grand Bend toasts TV Celebrity Joyce Hahn today. The petite star of "Cross Canada Hit Parade" will be guest of honour in a mammoth parade and variety show on the beach this afternoon. Huron county picked a "natural" for a dairy The Editor: On July 4th in Exeter T.A. you had a write up in court news which stated that Yvonne Dietrich was fined in court Tuesday previous by Justice of the Peace Wediake. This is not true. I did not appear in court. I was stopped on Number 4 high- way by O.P.P. Woodward and charged for not wearing you should not assume carrying costs that greatly exceed 30 per cent of your gross income -- because above this ratio the incid- ence of mortgage fore- closures yises quite steeply. In other words, if your mortgage payments are $450 a month and your other homeowning costs total $2,000 per year, you should be earning almost $25,000 per year before tax to carry it alone. However, if you rent half of the same house to a paying tenant or room-mate for $200 per month, not only will you receive that money -- $2,400 per year -- hut you can also reduce the tax you pay on income from other sources -• including your salary -- by about $500 if you are in a 40 per cent tax bracket. Your carrying costs will be about $4,480 per year, or $375 per month -- which means you need to be earning only about $15,000 per year before tax to pay off the property in reasonable safety. Just because you're not married, it doesn't mean you can't use another person's earning power to help pay for your property. In fact, isn't that what your present landlord is doing, except on a somewhat larger scale? Mr. Boultbee is with Coopers & . Lybrand, Toronto. princess Tuesday night. She's attractive Pat Mar- shall, daughter of Kirkton dairy farmer, Ross Mar- shall. Pat will represent the county in a province wide dairy queen competition at the CNE this fall. Confronted with a report that arsenic had been found in drainage water monday night requested the Huron County Health Unit to determine the source of the poisoning which has already killed one cattle beast. General Coach Works, Hensall has introduced a new model in it's economy line, The new home its a 33- foot 10-foot wide, two .bedroom model with a suggested retail price of $3,995. Town council agreed upon a compromise Monday night when it decided to raise the speed limit on No. 83 high- way. Members approved 40 and 30 mph zones inside the town, rather than 50 and 40 areas suggested by a traffic analyst, 15 Years Ago " Council Monday night agreed to ask B.M. Ross engineer, to provide ten- tative 'figures for the best and most feasible way of extending sanitary sewers into the industrial area east of Highway 4 and south of 83. Aided by the fine weather of the past few days, work- men are making rapid progress on Exeter's new swimming pool. Opening date has been predicted for the first of August. Pete and Jeffrey Culbert Lucan were dressed ap- propriately in cat costumes for their rendition of the "Pussy Cat Song" at Kirkton Garden Party, Wednesday. The Garden Party marked its 20th anniversary with fine weather and over 4,000 in attendance. There were 17 entries in the Juvenile Programme, The Township of Stanley and Tuckersmith will em- ploy a "shuttle system" in September to give many of their elementary school students the advantages of graded education, my scat belt. I mailed the money for the fine to Goderich Court House, I called the T.A, and asked if they would correct it but they didn't do so in last weeks paper. I guess it wasn't important to them. However its important to me as I did pay the fine and had no intentions of appearing in court, Yvonne Dietrich,