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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-01-10, Page 5The International Scene THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1990. PAGE 5. Letter Mother grateful for chance Ostriches in Iowa BY RAYMOND CANON When I went to school, we learned a little about ostriches but not much. Other than the fact that they seemed to stick their head in the sand at the sight of approach­ ing danger, about all we knew of them was that they lived some­ where in Africa, unless, of course, they were to be found in a zoo. Now, all of a sudden, I find out that there are ostriches located in Iowa of all places. It all started with the current agriculture crisis where a goodly number of farmers are finding that they cannot make ends meet with the cattle they are raising or the crops they are growing. For rea­ sons which are not entirely clear, a few of these farmers who were headed for bankruptcy latched on to the idea of raising ostriches for profit. About the middle of the decade, some of the big birds were brought in from afar and the breeding started. Why would you raise ostriches? That’s what I asked when I first heard of the project. It didn’t take long to find out that they could be raised for their feathers, hide and meat. It turns out that ostrich meat is one-third lower in both choles­ terol and fat than beef. This has led Letter to the editor Riddell explains pension position THE EDITOR, For some period of time there has been a great deal of contro­ versy in the press with respect to changes the Ontario government has introduced to amend the Tea­ chers’ Superannuation Act. I there­ fore thought it timely to convey to the public exactly what the situa­ tion is at this point in time. As a former teacher myself, I am sensitive to the concerns of our teachers. However, one must also understand the government’s con­ cern for sound fiscal management in assisting with the provision of what is one of the best pension packages in North America. Full inflation protection is not a com­ mon benefit elsewhere in Ontario and on an automatic basis, it is not common in the rest of Canada. Currently, the basic teachers’ pension plan (called Teachers’ Superannuation Fund, or TSF) and the indexation fund (known as the Teachers’ Superannuation Adjust­ ment Fund, or TSAF) are separate. They are administered by a govern­ ment agency, the Teachers’ Super­ annuation Commission. The TSF runs a surplus of approximately $33 million. The TSAF, however, has a deficit estimated at $5 billion based on data to December 31, 1985. Two factors will explain the pension system’s financial pro­ blems. The first is the high cost of inflation protection benefits. In 1976 a decision was made to give 100 per cent inflation protection; however, the contribution level did not make allowance for those who had retired prior to 1976. Although inflation protection was applied retroactively, no contributions were sought from employees to pay for the retroactivity factor. The second factor was that of demographic changes. As long as contributions to the indexation fund from working teachers, to­ some of the more enthusiastic to claim that it will soon be considered as the health meat of the decade and that one day there could even be ostrich burgers on the market. A short chat with my friendly MacDonald’s manager revealed that I was somewhat ahead of him in my knowledge of ostrich burg­ ers; he had never heard of them and ventured the opinion that it might be some time before his company got around to taking them seriously, if it ever did. He men­ tioned that there had been at one time a lot of talk about beefalo-bur- gers, that is, the meat from a buffalo crossed with a cow but that, he observed, had not, to his knowledge, progressed past the conversational stage. He was much more concerned, he admitted, about the possibility of his chain having to get into the pizza business in order to ward off the growing competition of the pizza chains. Back to the ostrich farmers. If you are ready to get into the ostrich business, let me assure you that they do not come cheap. An adult mating pair costs over $40,000 while an unusually prolific pair can fetch as much as $90,000. The average yield, if that is the correct word, is 35-100 eggs annually for 40 of their 70 years of life. On average, then, you are looking at a yield of 2,000 eggs during the reproductive span of an ostrich. I was surprised to learn that one of the countries where there is a demand for ostrich meat is Switzer­ land. I do not recall seeing it on the menus of any restaurants there but gether with investment income, were larger than the indexation benefits being paid to retirees, the fund stayed essentially solvent. However, the number of retirees relative to the number of contribu­ tors increased significantly since 1975 and will continue to do so. For example, in 1976 there were six contributors for every pensioner, while it is predicted that by the year 2005 there will be fewer than two contributors for every pension­ er. The Ontario government match­ es teachers’ contributions. In addi­ tion to these matching contribu­ tions, the Government has made $1.2 billion in extra payments since 1966 - worth about $3.7 billion in today’s dollars - to fund deficits in the basic plan. One of the results of the recent legislative changes is that contribu­ tions to the fund will rise by one per cent. If no action were taken, estimates show that the TSAF would be exhausted by the vear 2007. The new bill proposes a number of measures designed to resolve the inadequacy of current funding arrangements, as follows: •the basic teachers’ pension plan (TSF) and the indexation fund (TSAF) will be combined into a consolidated fund known as the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund •full funding of future benefits will be ensured through a matching contribution rate increase by tea­ chers and Ontario taxpayers •investment of the fund’s assets into market securities. They are currently invested in long-term, non-marketable Ontario deben­ tures and deposits. •an arm’s-length body, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board - will replace the Teachers’ Superannuation Commission and will manage the fund’s investments perhaps I was not looking for it. At any rate, apparently what demand there is, in Swiss culinary circles, cannot be met from South Africa due to shortage of supply and thus the interest in American ostriches. Before you rush out and make a down payment on a pair of ostrich­ es, let me point out that there is a certain amount of caution to be exercised according to poultry spe­ cialists at Texas A & M university. They advocate considerable caution since it has not yet been proven that the industry can stand on its own two feet. For one thing the farmers who got into the market first paid relatively low prices for their birds and thus were able to make attractive profits. Those who came in later have had to pay much larger prices for livestock and demand might not be able to keep up with supply. In addition the same specialists remind people that a few years back there was a similar craze for rabbits whose meat was considered to be something of a delicacy. It was not long before the entire industry fell flat on its back and it could well be that the ostriches will go the same way as the rabbits. Hope, however, springs eternal and those already in the industry are hoping that the American government will ban the importa­ tion of African ostriches and thus keep the American supply more in line with domestic demand not to mention that from Switzerland and other countries. It will be interest­ ing to see what happens to the industry during the remaining years of this century. and administer the plan. It will also be responsible for benefit adjudica­ tion. •several plan benefits will be improved, including broader op­ portunities for “buybacks” of years of past service, more flexible rules for teachers working after retirement, the right to a pension after a shorter period of plan membership, and improved porta­ bility. Much of the controversy in recent weeks has centred around the dispute settlement mechanism, and a claim by teachers that the government will “confiscate all future surpluses”. Arbitration as proposed by the teachers is not acceptable to the Government. The fund is very large (nearly $15 billion), and it is felt it would be irresponsible for the government to place this type of decision-making re taxpayers’ money in the hands of a third party. Also, in addition to continuing to match teachers’ contributions to their pension, the government has agreed to take sole responsibility for the existing deficit which will be paid off over a 40-year period. Discussions with the Ontario Teachers’ Federation have contin­ ued over the past several months, both formally and informally, to attempt to reach agreement on these important issues. Public hearings were held, during which OTF and other interested parties had numerous opportunities to participate and to make their views known. The legislation in question re­ ceived Royal Assent on December 20. 1989, and I am confident it will serve the important purpose of ensuring that plan members’ en­ titlements are fully secured for the future, and that benefits adequate­ ly meet the needs of all partici­ pants. Jack Riddell MPP for Huron. of natural child birth THE EDITOR, In response to Doug Zehr and his letter on Dec. 19, 1989 to the editor, “Dollars on caesareans not wasted, father says.” I would like to speak from personal experience but with more emotion than one who has never experienced caesar­ ean or a vaginal delivery. My first child was born by emergency caesarean section after two failed induction attempts. My “due date” had passed more than three weeks before and my physi­ cian felt that my unborn child was in danger. We agreed to a caesar­ ean section as we felt that I had no choice. A healthy son was born soon after our decision and my long and painful recovery began. Now I had major surgery to recover from and a newborn to nourish and care for. The anesthe­ tic and pain medication greatly inhibited the bonding process with my baby and I regret not having been “awake” or alert for quite some time after his birth. Breast­ feeding did not get off to a good start either as I was too sore and sleepy to deal with a newborn who didn’t seem to care either. My feelings of failure and guilt greatly affected my relationship with my baby. Through contact with La Leche League I found out that a vaginal delivery was possible after Farmers challenged to be entrepreneurs Members of the Christian Farm­ ers Federation of Ontario (CFFO) were challenged to throw out their notion of being independent and focus on being entrepreneurs at their Annual Convention, early in December. Sister Thomas More Bertels, a crusader for the family farm and author of “In Pursuit of Agri­ power”, told the 200 Christian farmers gathered in Guelph that she does not believe all this talk about farmers being independent. “I’ve tried to find out why there is a lack of political power in agriculture,” Sister Bertels told the family farmers. “Every time I ask this question, I’m given the same old answer that farmers are so independent that they will never work together.” “I have never believed that,” she emphasized. She pointed to 400 existing farm groups in the U.S., the huge success of co-operatives and the community-mindedness of farm­ ers. Bertels is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity and an economics professor at Silver Lake College in Wiscon­ sin. Bertels challenged the farm fam­ ilies to face the many obstacles to consensus in the farm community. “You can’t have Agri-power if you don’t have consensus,” she said. Bettels urged the farmers to improve their self-image by think­ ing of themselves as entrepre­ neurs, not just as labouring people who are self-employed. She urged them to get rid of class structure such as “I’m only a dirt farmer.” “Regionalism needs to be over­ come,” she said. “Credit hunger needs to be faced.” ‘ Until you have consensus you do not have Agri-power,” she said. “Without it you do not have a significant say at the policy making table. You have to be regarded as an equal by those with whom you must deal.” “Organizations are a source of power through the use of persua­ sion,” said Bertels. “We need to organize to overcome the rural-ur­ a caesarean and I knew that I wanted a trial of labour before my next delivery. My second and third deliveries were much different experiences than my first. I was allowed a trial of labour and endured long and painful labours but I new that my baby was doing what it was supposed to do. The opportunity to be awake and actually see and feel my baby’s birth was reason enough for me to take the slight risk of rupture of my previous incision. My husband had been refused admittance to my caesarean on the grounds that I didn’t need his presence under general anesthetic. He was a welcome and helpful participant in my subsequent vagi­ nal deliveries. I would be foolish to say that a VBAC is for everyone because each women’s circumstances are differ­ ent. Other complications can make repeat caesareans a safe alterna­ tive or perhaps the only choice. But in most cases a trial of labour is warranted and even if that labour is not successful, one can at least have the peace of mind that you’ve tried to deliver the way God intended. I am indeed thankful that 1 was given that chance. Thank you Dr. Harding. Laurie Willits RR 1, Wingham. ban split.” “Agriculture is not just an honourable source of employment. It is a profession. Urban spokes­ man do not seem to have much use for entrepreneurs,” she said. Sister Bertels called for reconcil­ iation, collaboration and a systems approach to farm policy with the full-time family farm entrepreneur at the centre of it. Bertels described an entrepre­ neur as a master of managing change, willing to make big deci­ sions and take risks. Bertels was critical of environ­ mentalism. She described it as anti-human. “The people must go but the animal or the tree can stay,” she said. Bertels accused the animal rights movement of allowing a lunatic fringe to stay in their organizations. “Environmentalism is a social movement that we have to take on and fight,” she said. “It’s a form of pantheism.” ____ “I’m not talking about ecology. Ecology is a science and you must practice it,” she said. Bertels thinks that there are two groups of people in the farm community that are not used enough in persuading the rest of society about the importance of agriculture: farm women and farm youth. “I don’t know anybody who works harder to train their young people for leadership and then does not use them,” she said. “Women know how to get things done and how to persuade others to get things done,” she said. “Wo­ men control demand. In the U.S., 80 per cent of the gross national product is determined by women’s influence.” “If you are going to have influence in policy making you need to develop power,” Bertels told the <"FFO members. “You ran determine how you can steer the changes tn«.t ’re coming. Take a brand new look at yourself and your organization as a player in policy making,” she advised.