HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-05-06, Page 4J-------i
PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 1987.
Opinion
Look at the high cost
of cheap energy
Pulling in at the local gas bar and saying “FilPer up” can be a
shock to the system with the price of gas touching the
neighbourhood of 45 cents a litre. Those in their middle-ages
and older can recall the happy days when gas was that much or
less for a gallon.
In Huron county cheap gasoline is looked on as a birthright.
Often local residents would rather jump in a car and drive for 20
miles to do business than pick up a telephone.
Yet though we all curse a bit when the numbers roll upward
on the gas pumps, we just might be better off in the long run if
we paid more for gasoline and home heating oil, etc. While the
oil crisis of the 1970’s seems just a bad memory now, it changed
our way of life. It also preserved our own Canadian oil supply
longer. Take a look at the oil consumption in the average Huron
county home for instance. In one home that comes instantly to
mind, fuel oil consumption has dropped by more than 40 per
cent since the pre-shortage days because it was either conserve
heat better or go broke trying to pay higher prices. With the aid
of government grants, and the incentive to save money,
Canadians have cut consumption in many areas from driving
smaller cars to more efficient furnaces.
The drop in oil prices was a boon to consumers but it brought
to a scrqeching halt a trend thatwas very good for the country as
a whole: the spreading around of the wealth of the land. Most
prominent benefactors (and noisiest) were the people of
Alberta where the rising oil prices brought rapid growth. Less
noticeable, but perhaps more promising for the country, was
the upsurge seen in the economies of Newfoundland, Nova
Scotia and the Northwest Territories as the higher prices made
off-shore oil and gas deposits look profitable. A profitable oil
and gas industry on the east coast could do more than all the
government income redistribution schemes in the history of the
country to even out the benefits of Canada.
Finally higher oil prices might put some sanity back into
world trading, something that might benefit the rural economy
especially. When New Zealand fresh lamb can be flown by
airplane half-way around the world and delivered to Canadian
meatcounterscheaperthanCanadianlamb, something is nuts.
Closer to home we see milk from Huron county farms shipped
across the province to supply processors while milk for local
plants may come from an equal distance in the opposite
direction.
Transportation is so cheap that it makes more sense to take
the raw product to the plant than bring the plants closer to the
raw products, even though the final product of manufacturing
should be less expensive to transport than the raw product. It’s
a trend that has nearly all manufacturing of farm products from
cheese factories and creameries to meat packing, centralized in
Ontario’s cities so that small towns don’t even benefit from the
manufacture of their own products.
Y es it hurts the pocket book to see the price of gas these days
but prices even higher yet might be good for us all.
Ours has become
the 'can't'society
The two items on the National news one night brought a stark
contrast. First item was on the farm crisis in Canada with the
federal government taking off the Farm Credit Corporation
moratorium on farm foreclosures just days after the Wheat
Board had announced another record reduction in the price of
wheat for 1987.
Next across the screen flashed horrible pictures of dead and
dying in Africa, limbs shrivelled to match-stick size, bellies
bloated like basketballs.
On one hand, hardship in Canada because of too much food,
on the other hand people dying horrifyingly cruel deaths
because of too little food.
There are plenty of reasons why the two exist side by side, the
experts will tell you. It’s impossible togetthe food to the
people. Somebody has to pay for the food and nobody will. Gifts
of food undermine the farming industries in these poor
countries. There are plenty of reasons, or excuses.
But there was a time when we tried to overcome such
problems. In the idealistic 1960’s Robert F. Kennedy spoke for
the hope of a younger generation when he said: ‘ ‘ Some people
see what is and ask why. I see what could be and ask why not? ’ ’
The 1980’s is being run by the people who don’t just ask why,
but say there’s nothing we can do about it. We can’t interfere
with the free market. We can’t spend too much government
money. We must let nature take its course. Compassion,
forgiveness, being the Good Samaritan has no part in the
vengeful 1980's. And so millions must suffer because
ideologies must be upheld, because people don’t look for
‘can’s’ but ‘can’ts’.
MONDAY: Tim O’Grady was
wondering this morning if the new
program of making things pay for
themselves has taken over in the
prison system. He was pointing out
a little article in the paper about the
former editor of the Dorchester
penitentiary prisoners’ newspaper
who used the prison printing
equipment to turn out $250,000 in
phoney U.S. $20 and $50 bills.
At least, Billie Bean said, the
prison system is training these
guys to be enterprising. Who
knows, when they learn to print
money like that they might end up
working for the government, print
ing enough money to pay to
government expenses.
Ward Black, the politician of the
group said it all goes to show you
never can trust a newspaper editor.
TUESDAY: Ward Black was rant
ing against the order (since
repeated) that the Ministry of
MULDOON COUNTRY^^toberke BREATHED
THE EASTER FREAK N OVER...
NOW IT'S SACK TO THE
REAL WORLD
/ ZZ472F FACING THOSE ANIMALS
IN QUESTION PERIOD!
%X K K K
GAD! THERE ARE SEVENTY
MEMBERS OF THEOFPOM1ON!
I'VE GOTALMOST THAT MANY
PAIRS OF SHOES IN MY CLOSET!
Mabel’s Grill
There are people who will tell
you that the important decisions in
town are made down at the town
hall. People in the know, however
know that the real debates, the
real wisdom reside down at
Mabel's Grill where the greatest
minds in the town [if not in the
country] gather for morningcoffee
break, otherwise known as the
Round Table Debating and Fili
bustering Society. Since not just
everyone can partake of these
deliberations we will report the
activities from time to time.
Natural Resources made that
cottagers living in Algonquin Park
had to take down their flag poles
because they would intrude on the
natural beauty ofthe park. Ima
gine, said Ward, that they could
tell the cottagers, most of them war
veterans, that their country’s
beautiful flag marred the beauty of
the park. It certainly was a sign that
the provincial government was
being run by those environmental
wackos who think trees are better
than anything man made. Tim said
he could remember when a lot of
the veterans weren’t too sure they
thought the red and white maple
leaf flag was a thing of beauty
themselves, back in the days of the
great flag debate.
Ward said that with the socialist
influence in Queen's Park these
days, probably the only acceptable
flagwouldbe a pink and white one.
WEDNESDAY: Hank Stokes was
saying that this animal rights
movement that says animals
should be treated like people
seems to be backfiring and people
seem tobe treated like animals. He
was talking about all this artificial
insemination of people and the
multiplebirths. “Imean," he said,
“what about this lady who is going
tohaveher own grandchildren,
and triplets at that?" (There was
an article in the paper about a lady
Continued on page 10
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