HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-09-24, Page 4Ontario
Page 4 Time'-Advocate, September 24, 1.910
Times Established 1873 Advocate Enal/listted 1081 Amalgamated 1924
A "do-or-die" issue?
BLUE
RIBBON
AWARD
1980
itsii4,611
present staff nor is it a practice that
erodes their opportunity for growth
within their chosen vocation.
It is primarily a practice that en-
sures the public body will obtain the
best possible candidate for the position.
Current members of any staff are
always given more consideration than
an unknown candidate and it in fact
challenges staff members to improve
their qualifications to move ahead as
opposed to them thinking they will be
merely handed the job because they are
available.
Internal promotions without com-
petition, contrary to what the Mayor
suggests, often stifle enthusiasm and
dedication and can be a disservice to
employees in the long run as well as to
other people in the community who
may have worked hard in an attempt to
attain such a position.
"Hello school supplies — goodbye winter holiday in Hawaii."
It would appear that the
agricultural societies throughout the
province should take a long look at the
approval of dates, particularly when
some of the fairs are held in com-
munities that could hope to attract
more people if their neighbours weren't
also staging a fair.
Exeter and Parkhill, for instance,
no doubt hurt each other's attendance
as do fairs on the same date in Parkhill
and Forest. Surely the societies could
make some alterations that would
lessen that competition and make each
a more profitable and entertaining ven-
ture,
Counsellors of Greater Denver have hit
upon a dramatic but effective solution.
The financial counselling services
has instituted a "plastic surgery"
program that to d ate, has had a
remarkably high rate of success in
returning former victims of the
"plastic money" to a condition of finan-
cial stability.
"Plastic surgery" in this case
means taking scissors to the credit
cards and reducing the "plastic
money" to tiny, worthless chips.
Apparently, the tactic proves quite
effective. Less than 0.1 percent of the
card clippers find themselves in serious
financial difficulty again.
T.S.
first few weeks and enjoy it
to the fullest. One quiet little
fellow whose home has little
English spoken in it, sud-
denly interrupted a dead
silence during a written
exercise by shouting "Boy,
do lever like this!" cracking
his teacher up with the
unexpected comment.
Another little guy who had
been quite apprehensive
about the whole school issue
was asked by his neigh-
bour at home how he had
enjoyed the first full day of
school.
He replied solemnly, "This
was the funnest day I ever
had!"
Those primary teachers
must be doing something
right. If the kids can enjoy
learning, they certainly will
do more of it.
Editor — Bill Batten
Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh
Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett
Composition Manager Harry DeVries
Business Manager — Dick Jongkind Published Each Wednesday Morning
Phone 2354331 at Exeter, Ontario
Second Clan Mail.
Registration Number 0386
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Canada $14.00 Per Year; USA $35.00
Wrong answer
Hurt each other
Lead us not
Perspectives
It's quite a change for some
of them who are still ac-
customed to a nap in the
afternoon. One little lass
would still flake out once in a
while for the first couple of
months, and would sleep on
peacefully regardless of
what was going on around
her.
Grade 1 tends to be a little
more structured than kin-
dergarten. It Lok quite a
while to break the habit of
one young lady who hollered
"Whoopee" whenever it was
time to change to another
assigned task. It takes a long
time for the noise level to
come to a reasonable level as
any tired Grade 1 teacher
will tell you for the whole
month of September,
They seem to survive the
RAYING cANADA'S.ORST FARMLAND
CLASS and ABC
Published. by 1. W. EocIY Publications Limited.
kO.RNE EEDY, PUBLISHER
+CNA
Should public jobs be open to the
public?
That appears to be a question with
a rather obvious answer, but five
members of Exeter council didn't see it
that way last week when they approved
the appointment of a new deputy clerk-
treasurer.
They decided to dip into their
current staff to fill the position, and
while there is little doubt about the
capability or enthusiasm of the ap-
pointee to fill the required task, it is a
questionable practice that is used too
often to fill postions on public bodies in
this community.
Obviously, any local citizen with
the necessary requirements and in-
terest should at least by given the op-
portunity to be considered. It is not, as
Mayor Boyle suggests, a lack of faith in
What do Glencoe, Parkhill, Thorn-
dale, Drumbo, Forest, Stratford and
Harriston have in common with Ex-
eter?
In addition to many other things,
each of those municipalities staged fall
fairs on the weekend. It has been in-
dicated that another 20 communities in
Ontario did the same thing.
While there are a limited number
of weekends each fall, it is obvious that
the proliferation of fairs does strain the
number of exhibitors and patrons for
each of those events, thereby making it
difficult for the organizers to make
ends meet.
There are warnings everywhere
concerning the dangers inherent in the
excessive use of the little plastic cards
we whip out whenever our wallets run
dry before our spending urges do.
However, we noticed that a
Denver, Colorado firm may finally
have devised a simple but effective
method of dealing with the temptations
of easy credit via credit cards.
The proliferation of the credit
cards in recent years has led many un-
wary people down the garden path to
bankruptcy. In an effort to alert the
public to the dangers of free spending
without cash and the sense of false
security that comes from a wallet-full
of credit cards, the Consumer Credit
By SYD FLETCHER
The first day of school is
always an exciting time for
students of all ages be it
Kindergarten or the first day
of university. It is a time for
meeting new people and
situations, for re-aquainting
oneself with old friends.
Grade I students seem to
think that they have
finally made the 'big time'
since they're finally going to
school all day, every day.
Too
Some members of Exeter council
raised an interesting point last week
when they suggested municipalities
should be involved in the constitutional
conferences.
They make a valid point in noting
that municipal officials are closer to
the grass roots than the Prime Minister
or the 10 Premiers and would therefore
be able to more clearly articulate what
the average Canadian wants in the way
of constitutional reforms.
But that argument is only valid if in
fact someone can determine what the
average Canadian wants in the way of
constitutional reform.
The situation now is that there are 11
primary4figures• presenting their
opinions and on most of the issues dis-
cussed, there were 11 varying
positions, Can you imagine what would
happen if you threw in a few thousand
municipal officials? There would then
be a few ,thousand varying opinions and
reaching any type of conclusion would
be virtually impossible.
There's little doubt that municipal of-
ficials from Ontario would follow the
reasoning of Ontario Premier William
Davis, while their western counter-
parts would echo the arguments of the
western provincial leaders. The only
advantage would swing to the more
populous provinces through the sheer
weight of numbers of municipal of-
ficials they would have at their dis-
posal.
In reality, the constitutional talks
would be better served by even fewer
numbers than the 11 involved in the
deliberations at present:
It's the fortieth anniversary of the
Battle of Britain, and there are air
force reunions in Toronto and Win-
nipeg, to name only two.
Bald-headed, bifocalled, pot-bellied
old guys, who were once lithe and lean
and sexy and with 20-20 vision, will
foregather and have a few drinks, and
embellish the old days with fantastic
embroidery until their wives drag them
off to bed.
After the Friday and Saturday night
hilarities, they will totter out of bed,
don their blue blazers and berets and
march rather shakily, all ribbons on
display, to a cenotaph or something,
and quietly snatch forty winks while an
ancient padre intones some paraphrase
of Winston Churchill, like, "How could
so few show up today when so many
were talking last night about how many
owed so much to so few..." or
something like that.
Ninety-seven per cent of them were
not in the Battle of Britain, which was
fought in August and September of
1940, but they were old airmen, or "an-
cient combattants," as it says on my
measly pension cheque, and a good ex-
cuse for one last fling before they are
put out to pasture. Bless them all, I
might even turn up myself, if only to
compare whiteness of hair (or none at
all), waistlines, and "partial plates)),
a euphemism for false teeth.
Despite all this, and despite the fact
that the Battle Britain means no more
to today's young people than the Battle
of Thermopylae, it was a major turning
point in World War II.
How about a little review? The Battle
of France was over. The French had
been soundly licked. The British had
too, but declared it a "victory" when
they managed to scramble about 300,-
000 bodies out of the Dunkerque trap.
Germany ruled almost all of Europe,
Why not divide the country into three
geographical regions for the discussion
purposes? Have the eastern provinces
in one section, Ontario and Quebec in
another and the four western provinces
in the third? Then force each of those
groups to present only one argument
and allow them only one vote.
*
The problem with the municipalities
entering the debate is not 'solely one of
numbers, although that is obviously the
main weakness of the suggestion.
But while they can rightfully claim to
be closer to the grass roots than their
provincial or federal counterparts,
etvls little doubt that few mdiiicipal
fibliticians have the background
knowledge or the supporting staff of
civil servants to research the situation
to fully comprehend the arguments
that are being espoused on the many
subjects being deliberated.
Certainly, there is little doubt that
municipal officials would find it just as
difficult to reach any type of accord on
the constitution. Take the nine
members of Exeter council and ask
them to vote on all aspects and chances
are that on many of the points there
would be nine different opinions.
They may well be close to the grass
roots, but the reality of the situation is
that most people at the grass roots
level don't have any idea of what the
Prime Minister and his 10 provincial
counterparts are talking about,
The majority of them would be quite
happy if the heads of our provincial and
federal governments stayed home and
and was poised to attack Britain, with.
vastly superior forces. Hitler danced a
gavotte in a railway car where Ger-
many gave up in 1918.
Churchill came up with one of those
great crotund orations.with a little help
from Shakespeare, his speech writers,
but delivered with that raspy, half-lisp
that became so familiar that it raised
the daunted to the point of
dauntlessness,
In June, ' 1940, he ended a great
rallying-cry with, "Let us therefore
brace ourselves to our duty, and so
bear ourselves that, if the British Em-
pire and its Commonwealth last for a
thousand years, men will still say,
"This was their finest hour."
Jolly good speech, though there's not
much left of the British Empire, and
the Commonwealth is pretty dicey.
Fact is, the British did brace
themselves, when fat Hermann Goer-
ing threw all his toys at them, first by
day, then by night. Vastly out-
numbered, out-gunned, less experienc-
ed, "the few" who constituted the RAF
fighter force savaged the German
Luftwaffe so severely that the invasion
of Britain was first post-poned, and
eventually neveroccurred.
It was purely a defensive action, but
by the time it ended, the RAF was in
very shaky condition. The actual
"Battle" commenced July 1, 1940 and
ended October 31st, 1940.
More than 500 pilots of the RAF were
killed during that time period. Twenty
of them were Canadians, One was from
the U.S. the Poles lost 30' out of 147
pilots. Of the Australians, 63 per cent
were killed. South Africa lost 41 per
cent, France lost none.
Just over 3,000 aircrew were engaged
in fighter command operations during
that period. Just over 2,500 survived.
What happened to them? Before the
•
got down to the more serious business
of taking some action to ease the un-
employment situation, rampant infla-
tion and the precarious position of the
provincial and federal economies.
The average Canadian could
probably care less whether the British
North America Act is in London,
England or London, Ontario, as long as
he has a job and can live comfortably in
his chosen section of this great land of
ours.
*
The average Canadian is, unfor-
tunately,:' similar in many ways tb the
10 Premiers. He wants the best deal
possible for himself and his family.
He's a federalist when it's to his advan-
tage to be and a provincialist when that
position is more to his benefit.
He doesn't care whether Alberta or
Ottawa get the returns from oil sales as
long as he doesn't have to pay any more
for a gallon (or whatever measure the
attendant pours) of gasoline when he
pulls the family car up to the pumps.
He doesn't care what kind of deal is
worked out for shipping western wheat
into a neighbouring province as long as
the price of bread doesn't take a jump
at his local supermarket.
True, he may have a very narrow
view of the situation, but he knows the
millions of dollars being spent to stage
the talks are coming out of his pocket
and he's getting to the point where he is
having difficulty meeting the
payments.
war was over, almost 1,300 of the sur-
vivors were killed in action. Add it up.
More than fifty per cent of "the few"
were killed, and this does not take into
the account the many who were wound-
ed and sent to secondary duties, or
honorably discharged, or posted to
training positions.
Those who didn't survive were blown
to pieces, drowned, burnt to death, or
taken prisoner.
During the B. of B., the young
fellows' lives consisted of eating, sleep-
ing, flying, drinking and sweating.
Most of them knew that however many
medals they acquired, or how quickly
they rose in rank, their number was
written on the slate. They were a
gallant lot. I wish I'd been one of them,
but I'm also glad I'm alive.
But I was just one of the young
fellows who finally decided the war
was getting serious and we should join
up. I trained on both thellurricaneand
Spitfire, the two aircraft that tore the
guts out of the Luftwaffe, but eventual-
ly wound up flying Typhoons, and hang-
ing around for endless months waiting
for the invasion of the continent.
It's ironic and sad that, forty years
after this battle, which saved the
western world from at least decades of
darkness under an amoral mutt and his
pals, that Germany is one of the richest
countries in Europe, the British Em-
pire has virtually vanished, and the
Canadian dollar, after we contributed
more than 70,000' aircrew to the
stuggle, is worth 47 cents.
But that's nothing. Let's give a
thought. to "the few", those great
young guys who went "once more into
the breach, dear friends," when the
rest of us were whining about' gas
rationing and only one quart of booze a
month.
vnlYIHNTH.
;At
many arguing now
ugarand S Ice
Dispensed by SrnileY
Who really won?
By W. Roger Wor(h.
Like the gaggle of geese
honking their way across the
nation's television screens,
Canada's eleven political
leaders flew into the nation's
capital recently to attend what
was billed as a summit meet-
ing to "create a new consti-
tution for Canada."
The geese are bit players in
the federal government's $6
million advertising program
designed to convince Cana-
dians they need a new consti-
tution, now,
As it turned out, the na-
tion's leaders were also little
more than bit players in what
was essentially a media event
designed to placate the natives
back home, rather than a con-
certed effort to come to grips,
with the issues.
For the politicians, the Ot-
tawa summit provided a na-
tional soapbox (complete with
700 media personnel) from
which they could reiterate en-
trenched positions, some of
which the various govern-
ments have held since 1928.
That was the fateful year
when the suggestion to create
a "made-in-Canada" consti-
tution was first•broached. As
Roger Worth is Director,
Public Affairs,
Canadian Federation of
Independent Business.
it happens, Canadians have
been forced 10 operate on the
basis of the British North
Americ$ Act (quite nicely,
some would say) which pre-
sently rests peacefully in Lon-
don (not Ontario),
Surveys indicate Cana-
dians don't place a very high
priority on constitutional
changes.
It's not that we're an un-
caring lot, but after' 50 or
more years of discussion it's
difficult to make people
believe the constitution is a
do-or-die issue.
How do you explain to the
country's 900,000 unem-
ployed, for example, that the
constitution is more important
than new jobs — for them. Or
to the business people about
to go into bankruptcy as a
result of what they perceive as
a recession created by govern-
ments.
The fact is, Canadians
want their politicians to get on
with the job of running the
country.
There's no question that
constitutional reform is need-
ed. But in the midst of the
long winded and sometimes
bitter wrangling over who gets
what from whom in the
reform process, the day-to-
day, bread and butter issues
are getting short shrift. Which
is too bad.
'clown mernory ane,
55 Years Ago
Mr. and Mrs. W.J.
Statham and Lois, Mr. and
Mrs. Albert Spencer, Walter
and Mavis, Misses Esther
and Mineretta Homey leave
this Thursday morning on a
motor trip to Saginaw,
Midland and other points in
Michigan.
Following are among those
attending Stratford Normal
School from this section:
Emma V. Bolton, Hensall;
Ellen Hottlehan, Dashwood;
Mary A. McMillan, Kippen;
Viola E. Prang, Zurich.
Messrs. Jim Swallow,
Kenneth Stevenson and Ray
Parkinson of Whalen have
returned after a successful
hunting trip,
Pittsburg and Washington
will compete for the honours
in the World Series.
About 100 pupils from the
Exeter High School went to
Lucan last Friday for Field
Day.
30 Years Ago
Fred Dobbs, EDHS
graduate, left Tuesday
morning for Guelph to
commence his first year at
OAC.
Elgin Hendrick, RR 1
Dashwood and Alan H.
Walper, RR 3 Parkhill were
among the winners at the
International Plowing Match
held at Alliston last week.
Mr. and William
Ellerington returned from
Alberta last week where he
purchased ten carloads of
Hereford cattle for winter
feeding.
Mr. and Mrs. John T.
Allison quietly observed
their diamond wedding
anniversary on Monday.
Gordon Cann was elected
president of the student
council of EDHS Bob Russell
was named editor of the
school paper,
Hon. H.R. Winters,
Minister of Resources and
Development spoke at Huron
Park Liberal Association
rally in Hensall Friday.
20 Years Ago
Town water rates have
been increased 25 percent,
effective October 1, it was
announced this week by the
PUC.
Because of apprehension
about loss of trade because
of liquor outlets being
established in Exeter and
Zurich, Hensall
businessmen have petitioned
through council for a com-
bined beer warehouse and
liquor store in the village.
Four who shared cham-
pionship honors in the boys'
division at the SHDHS track,
and field meet last week
.were Neil McAllister, Gary
Sytsma, Ron Deichert and
Bill Sytsma.
Mrs. Mary' Hannigan has
just returned from a trip to
England and Scotland where
she visited with friends and
relatives,
Two propane gas ex-
plosions at Golfview
Restaurant and Service
Station Grand Bend, caused
$50.00 damage to the building
and injured its owner,
Gerald Gratton, Tuesday
morning.
15 Years Ago
RE. "Bob", McKinley is
the Progressive Con-
servative candidate for
Huron Riding following an
active nomination meeting
Tuesday evening which saw
seven nominees seeking to
fill the position left vacant by
the retirement of incumbent
Elston Cardiff,
Area farmers are working
night and day to complete
the harvest of the bean crop.
Recent rainy weather has
delayed the harvesting well
past the normal time causing
concern to many farmers.
Mrs. Ann Romaniuk was
the winner of the Kinsmen
"Guess the number of
flowers draw" held in
connection with the fall fair.
Mrs. Romaniuk guessed
4,433 flowers on the Kinsmen
float. There were 4,397.
Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Webber
celebrated their 30th wed-
ding anniversary Saturday
when they gave a dinner at
their homefor their family.
When you speed, you waste US and gasoline!
Ministry of
Transportation arid
Communications
Energy
Ontario
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