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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1980-10-22, Page 4Pape 4 Tinws, EstalAi4.Ined 1173 Tirn00-Advocato, Qqobor 19$0 Ac(+mote istobiisliedisal Amalgamated 1924 Cdtio! BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1980 111' 1::„1 Mainstream Carmaja .Enough Is Enough. By W. Roger Worth The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has launched a national campaign to completely eliminate the right to strike in the public sector. That not only includes ern, ployees of the federal govern- ment and its agencies, but the provincial and municipal public servants that have been hold- ing towns, cities and provinces to ransom for settlements that , are often higher than those paid in the private sector. Roger Worth is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The decision to take the tough position is based on a membership vote that resulted in 95% supporting such a pol- icy. The Federation has 56,000 members in every province and territory. When the right to strike was initially granted to the public' sector, it was argued that an ingrained sense of duty among civil servants would prevent them, from using the strike weapon. That so-called "sense of duty" does not exist anymore. Canada's politicians and the public have been conned • into believing that little' can be done about the situation. And few of our leaders seem to really care that kids may lose a school year, or that a postal shutdown can bring small busi- ness to its knees, or that planes don't fly, or crucial government services are not available. Enough is enough. While taking away the right to strike in the public service may mean injustices for some individuals, there is little choice but to turn to compulsory arbitration or some other form of resolving labor issues. The country's public ser- vice unions cannot be allowed to hold the rest of the country to ransom on a perpetual basis. Canada's politicians should, act immediately. Taxpayers deserve something more than a half-working system for their hard-earned money. f- vvr% ryiemory e on, Perspectives into the driver's seat and sent him off. The only thing he forgot to tell him was how to stop it. When Uncle Henry got home he headed the car for the buggy shed, and yelled "Whoa!" Model-T's may have had many viirtues but one of them was certainly not the gift of listening to directions. As they proceeded out of the other side of the shed after a magnificent bang, Uncle Henry hollered, "I'll stop you, consarn it," and headed it for a stump. It stopped. Now a modern day car would have been a total write-off after that sort of treatment but not the Model- T, and to give him credit, Uncle Henry never quite either. A few weeks later he headed for Hamilton to the Canadian National Exhibition in the tin Lizzie, On the main highway she decided to get a little bit of revenge, and stalled. Great-uncle Henry got out and tried to start it, Cries of "Crank her, Henry," greeted him from cars passing by. Each time, he would straighten up and exclaim to his wife, "Who's that? Who's that that knows us, Emma?" not realizing they were referring to the Ford's inventor, the person responsible for his predicament. ar and S Dispe sed by Smiley 55 Years Ago Mr. Wm. Statham, who some time ago disposed of his bakery business in Exeter,' recently purchased a similar business in St. Thomas. Thomas McMillan was elected to parliament as the representative of Huron- Perth on Tuesday of last week. He defeated J.J. Merner, Conservative candidate. Owing to the increase of traffic and somewhat hazardous corner for turning at Cromarty, it was thought advisable to place a dummy policeman on the corner so that in future any collision may be avoided., 30 Years Ago Miss Anna Brock recently attended two junior farmer conferences in' North Bay and Dryden. She assisted with the leadership of these Meetings. 'The mortgage of the Pentecostal Church was burned Monday night. The church was destroyed by fire a year ago and has been rebuilt. At a directors meeting of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture held in Toronto a motion was passed to give every assistance to the Dairy Farmers' Co-ordinating Board in their fight to have margarine manufacture and sale banned by Ontario Government. Messrs. Albert Gaiser, Gordon Ratz, Ross Tuckey spent several days deer hunting on Philip Edward Island near Manitoulin. The province of Ontario has approved a'$32,000 grant for South Huron Hospital, it was announced this week by Thomas Pryde, MLA for, Huron. 20 Years Ago Ontario minister of Education, the honourable John Robarts, will officiate at ceremonies to open the new additon of S.H.D.H.S., Friday night. Miss Dorothy Davis and L.J. Penhale were honored by the Public Utilities Commission for 25 years of service to the local com- mission. Principal H.L. Sturgis was given permission by S.H.D.H.S. board to invite the district teachers to hold their annual conference at the school. Local hunting enthusiasts who were dreaming of a tempting feed of pheasant- under-glass had their dreams spoiled because most of the pheasant were under cover. They have consolation in the fact that there are plenty of geese along the shores of Lake Huron this fall. • • 15 Years. Ago A flash fire early Wednesday morning gutted the large Dow barn in the Wellington Street area, killing livestock and destroying a complete crop of hay and straw in the lofts. The barn which is owned by the Dow family had been rented to Arnold Whitney. No estimate of the loss was available at press time. Three girls took top honors in the first annual Kinsmen "Miss Auto Show" at the arena Friday evening. Kathy Rowe received second prize, Pat Scott was third while Sharon Morenz was crowned queen of the show. opportunity to fully assess the capabilities of the candidates, choosing instead to mark their ballots on a basis that has little to do with picking the candidate who will best serve the com- munity. Over the next two weeks, ratepayers have a responsibility to themselves, the candidates and their community, to listen to what the nominees have to say about their plans for the future and to make a point of getting to know the candidates and what they have to offer. In Exeter's case, there will be a public meeting at which time the can- didates will outline their aims and ob- jectives and it behooves every citizen to take the time to attend and have a more qualified position on which to make his/her final decision. It's a very small contribution to the welfare of the community in com- parison to what the candidates are will- ing to undertake. "There IS an acceptable alternative to Carter and Reagan — four years WITHOUT a president?" A look at the weather Editor -- Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind Published Each Wednesday Morning Phone 23S-1331 at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0316 SUBSCRIPTION RATES; • Canada $14.00 Per Year; USA $35.00 Do your part Deserves support sEitvimq CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND CANNA-, CLASS. 'A" ,and.ABC Published by J. W. tody Publications Limited LORNE EERY, PUBLISHER MINNOtIORMTMERARRIMMINERRIK! The area will have some in- teresting election campaigns over the next couple of weeks, and at the outset, those who have offered their services to their municipalities must be commend- ed on accepting those responsibilities, particularly at a time when a more apathetical attitude is evident on the part of most of their peers. The unfortunate aspect of some of those elections will be that some very conscientious people will end up as losers and their services will not be available for at least another two years. That is particularly the case in Ex- eter, where three men have tossed their hats into the ring to fight for the position of mayor. All have served this community very capably in the past and only one will be called on to con- tinue in the futur. e, It will also, unfortunately, be a per- sonality fight in many regards, as will other election races in the area. Too few ratepayers will take the time and The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has launched a national campaign to completely eliminate the right to strike in the public sector. That should really cause a stir among civil servants everywhere, but it will undoubtedly warm the hearts of many, many men and women who live and work in the private sector. The Federation campaign will in- clude employees'of the federal govern- ment and its agencies, and the provin- cial and municipal public servants whom the Federation says "have been holding towns, cities and provinces to ransom for settlements that are often higher than those paid in the private sector''. Sound familiar? Have you ever heard local businessmen complaining that they are hard pressed to keep staff happy when their workers compare their wages to the wages of government employees who always seem to do better salary wise than most other people doing similar jobs? The Federation has 56,0'00 members in every province and territory in Canada. Those members voted 95 percent in favor of supporting a national policy to outlaw strikings among public servants. A Federation spokesman, W. Roger Worth had this to say: "When the right to strike was initially granted to the By SYD FLETCHER Great-Uncle Henry bought his first car on an impulse. He'd never driven before but figured that if alllthese young bucks could do it, there was no reason why he couldn't too. He went into the dealership and plunked down the cash for a brand new Model-T. In those days, of course, drivers' licenses- were only a politician's dream, so the salesman showed Uncle Henryhow the flivver got started, put him It may not top the Bible and the dic- tionary for sales, but there is every in- dication that the Farmer's Almanac may not gather as much dust as either of those two publications. For many, reading the Almanac is a way of life. Grandparents and great grandparents have always consulted its weather forecasts, have used it for special information on planting crops, treating livestock, fishing data, for "wife-saving" information, and as a handy record of timeless recipes and remedies. Distributed free througout Canada by Victoria and Grey Trust, the Almanac is edited by 70-year old Ray Geiger who apparently follows some of the home remedies that are periodically publish- ed because he still relishes an 18-hour work day; seven days a week. He's one of North America's most interviewed men, chalking up over 12,- 000 interviews on radio, television and in the press, as he criss-crosses the country. In recent years, even as modern technology has been purported to have made weather forecasting more ac- curate, the Farmers' Almanac is still more highly regarded than most sources for weather information, despite the fact the information is gleaned and the predictions made several months in advance of the reports given by the electronic media. On many occasions those prognostications are even more ac- curate than what the meteorologists make on a daily basis. If you happen to be one of those who trust the Almanac for your weather forecasts, rather than the habits of squirrels, the size of caterpillars or the I don't know that there's much point in writing this column. The posties are at it again, as I write, with wildcat strikes, slowdowns and whatever you want to call them. And since the column is syndicated, nation-wide, it depends on the mail, erratic and undependable as it is. It would be a little expensive, to say the least, if I had to use courier service to Kamloops, B.C., and Truro, N.S., not to mention 100-odd places between. However, it's an ingrained habit, like the Saturday night bath, so I'll bungle out a column anyway. Something that truly amazes me is that there has been no physical response to the constant postal strikes, sometimes employing violence, often flouting the law. In my mind's eye, I can see some lit- tle old lady, sore as hell because she got her pension cheque a month late, creeping up behind a post office truck and hurling a bomb through the back window. Or some deserted wife, desperately dependent on that welfare cheque, tak- ing a can of gasoline into a large post office in a large city, sprinkling herself liberally with the essence, striking a match, and immolating. But in this country, the first example would get life imprisonment, where a murderer gets ten years with three off for good behavior. And in the second, some good souls would start a fund to help her children, and within a week Would have raised $482, by which time the story would be on page 24, However, into each life some sun must shine, though there wasn't much. husks on nuts, you'll be interested in knowing that this year's winter weather may not be quite as balmy and storm-free as last year. Harry K. Buie, a former professor of astronomy at the University of Florida, who handles the chore of weather predicting for the Almanac, sees a few stormy days ahead, In fact, we may not have to wait long to see how accurate his predictions are this year. - Buie forsees some stormy periods for the early part of November and some heavy snowfall hitting us around the middle of December. Unfortunately, the Christmas holiday period is ex- peced to be a little nasty with heavy srm,from December 24 to 27. , A'violent storm is predicted around January 8 to II and followed by the same a couple of weeks later. February too will see some heavy snow in the early part, but basically the month sounds encouraging in what is traditionally the period many residents in this neck of the woods develop "cabin fever". - March won't follow its usual tradi- tion. Not only will it come in like a lion, it is expected to depart on the same frenzied note and in between there should be a fair amount of rainfall just to make is slushy and miserable. Even April doesn't sound too en- couraging with some stormy sessions in store around the middle of the month. * * Those of us who don't put much faith in weather predictions, choosing to take what comes along without the add- ed burden of having to worry about it in advance, can still enjoy the Almanac for its lighter side. It is spiced with humor, capsules of, around this past summer. My wife had been feeling poorly, as we used to say, for some time. After six months of blandishment and threats, I got her to see her doctor and have a check-up. Today she tells me that she. phoned the doc and she's as sound as an apple.-I asked her if she'd had him take an X- ray of her head. Everything else is functioning normally. Her reply was short and to the point. ' Back at school after several weeks, I am beginning to wonder why I didn't quit teaching 10 years ago, and go to work in a mental institution. At least there you can stuff the inmates with tranquilizers. One more year of teaching Huckleberry Fin, and the best place to find me is floating down the Mississippi on a raft, smoking a corncob pipe. I quit teaching Grade 13 because I was getting madder than Hamlet. The people who write course curriculums and advocate the one-on- one relationship with pupils are about as close to reality as the Ayatollah Khomaini or Idi. Amin in his last few years, If they had their way, it would be like Moses walking around among the Jews, asking each and every one, "Now, what do you think of the fourth com- mandment? Do you think ass is a bad word?" Or Hitler, strolling through Germany for 88 years, querying the population about the pollutatory'effects of mass cremations. Fortunately, most teachers with an ounce of intelligence, and there are several of us, completely ignore the , wisdom and, some apparently in- solvable riddles. In fact, if the writer has a fault to find it is in the fact that the answers to those riddles are not printed in the Almanac and are only ob- tainable by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to the Almanac in Lewiston, Maine. Despite the _accuracy the Almanac enjoys in weather forecasting and other areas, it obviously falls far short in predicting the uncertainty of mail delivery which no doubt discourages a majority of its readers from even attempting to get the answers„ So, if you happen to be among those who can solve those conundrums for the editor, will you be so kind as to pop into the office with the answers. I'm particularly interested in receiv- ing the answer to the question on pies. The problem is this: without piling one piece on top of another, cut a pie into eight pieces by making three cuts, no more no less. It must be admitted there are some ulterior motives behind the request. I don't really care how you solve your problem, as long as you leave me a cou- ple of pieces of pie after the ex- periment! And finally, from the Almanac we reprint a couple of points to ponder. If there is a scarcity of happiness in this world, it is because more people try to share it than produce it. If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too. millions of dollars worth of "direc- tives", and try to teach the kids some semblance of morality, decency, in- tegrity, and whatever our subject is. In 20 years, I'll bet I've taught 12 kids to answer, when I've asked if they have read a certain book, not to say, "No but I seen the movie." I have taught at least 15 not to use the dangling participle, "Riding my bicy- cle, a dog bit me." And I don't give a diddle. They've learned a lot more than that, and I have letters to prove it. They've learned not to laugh at people who are physically or emotionally or mentally slow, and to help them. They've learned that nationalism is stupid, that two wrongs (depending) sometimes make a right; that two and two don't always make four; that you should question things that don't make Sense; that emotions are nothing to be ashamed of, and so on and on and on, said the boring old teacher. If I don't want to get heartburn or something, I'd better stop talking about teaching. I've seen too many colleagues break down physically •or mentally to take much stock in it. The kids go through the mill and emerge in all kinds of shapes: beautiful, grotes- que, funny, dour. I think their genes have more to do with it than Miss Entwhistle, who crucified them in Grade 9 for spelling errors. Or Mr. Entwhistle. Who taught them that. "Beauty is truth, and truth beaut That is all we know and all we need to complementing (not com- peting with) what exists. We welcome all women., regardless of membership in other groups, to our next meeting to be held on October 23, at 4:30 p.m. at the Huron County Board of Education Offices in Clinton. Sincerely, Helene Cameron Al• Dear Editor: Editor: Once again we visited your lovely cemetery. It was on "Decoration Day". The flower-beds are So at- tractive and the whole cemetery is a model. Many cemetery com- mittees from other centres, including ours ,go to see this lovely place. I have never seen one so pretty, and it never depresses me. You are lucky to have the present superintendent and staff. It's an asset to your community, second to none. Very truly yours, Dorothy Jean Benner know," Which is a lot of crap. One last cheering note. An article informs me that there is no way Canadian tourists can go to Europe anymore, because the prices are literally out of this world. Glad we sneaked in a couple of trips when they were merely exorbi- tant. Canadian tourist operators should be brushing up on their Japanese, German, and Italian. We're going to be swamped, with that pallid Canadian dollar. Canada is a steal for foreigners with a sound currency. public sector, it was argued that an in- grained sense of duty among civil ser- vants would prevent them from using the strike weapon. That so-called sense fo duty does not exist anymore." Worth points out that Canada's politicians and the public have been conned into believing that little can be done about the situation. And few of our leaders seem to really care that kids may lose a school year, or that postal shutdown can bring small business to its knees, or that planes don't fly, or crucial government ser- vices are not available. "Enough is enough" says Worth. "While taking away the right to strike in the public service may mean in- justices for some individuals, there is little choice but to turn to compulsory arbitration or some other form of resolving labor issues." Many taxpayers will concur with the Federation's stand that the coun- try's public service unions cannot be allowed to hold the rest of the country to ransom on a perpetual basis. It won't be difficult for the Federa- tion to rally legions of support for their call for Canadian politicians to act im- mediately, Most taxpayers believe they deserve something more than a half- working system for their hard-earned dollars. Goderich Signal-Star The strike syndrome EPM.NtUr4 130,KVAP11.- Mr. Editor: I would like to comment on the letter from the Elimville Women's Institute appearing in this newspaper October -15, Apparently, the W.I. are concerned about the in- tention of myself and several others to reach out to .other women in Huron County and set up some kind of network whereby 'we can share our feelings, support one another and exchange ideas on issues of common concern. It is admirable that the W.I. is available, along with other organizations, to meet women's needs. We feel, however, that some needs are not being met through these channels. If this is not the case, the women of Huron County will not be interested in what we are doing and will not join us. If, on the other hand, there is some interest, we would hope that you view our group not as a threat to your membership or an "either- or" situation but rather as something extra at your disposal, an attempt at •