Loading...
The Citizen, 1987-07-22, Page 5Letters to the editor THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 1987. PAGE 5. Hullett councillors reply to former member THE EDITOR, We are writing in regards to the resignation of Harvey Stewart. We were very sorry to see him resign. Council work is at times frustrat­ ing tous all. There are issues we all believe in. but sometimes either through government red tape or non-support of fellow councillors we cannot accomplish them. We all have to learn that we are composed of a group of people of whom a majority is necessary to carry an issue. We would like to clear up possible misconceptions resulting from the article in the July 15th paper announcing his resignation. As Mr. Stewart realizes the reason J The International Scene Racism is everywhere BY RAYMOND CANON The English language is filled with racist words, all of which goes to show that we may not be as tolerant as we believe we are. What it all adds up to is that we use language to show our resent­ ment toward another group of people whom we may fear, resent, envy or experience any number of emotions. I have heard any number of expressions of racism, as I am sure you have and, while I have frequently tried to analyze these expressions as to what caused them, I must admit that there are no simple answers. It seems to lie w ith the individual; some may show racism out of feelings of B/yth council supports private post office Blyth village councillors concur­ red, at their July meeting July 14, to a resolution from Wingham council calling for “a greater contribution to postal services ... by private industry and institu­ tions.” There was some concern about the vagueness of the resolution with Reeve Albert Wasson asking ‘ ‘ What do they mean by that?” After some discussion, council agreed that the resolution was probably aimed at the talk of “franchising” the post office. At any rate, the portion of the resolution that stated: ”... it has been aptly demonstrated that no longer should the citizens of Canada be held ransom by the irresponsible postal unions and by the management of Canada Post who have difficulty managing the mail with or without a postal strike ’ ’, was supported by Council. Councillor Bev Elliott was in favour of supporting the resolution saying the recent rotating strike by letter carriers in larger centres had affected her business. Councillor Bill Howson said he was normally in favour of filing most resolutions of this nature but “on this particular one, I support it.” So did all the other councillors. council decided against doing sidewalk work in Auburn was because a new municipal drain is being engineered for Auburn. It was felt if the drain was installed it would damage the newly installed sidewalks where it crossed them. We felt the sidewalk should be installed after a decision was made on the drain. The decision to do work in the village of Londesboro on the streets was made in 1983 by a previous council. At this time Auburn was responsible for their ow n work. The townships agreed to help Auburn in the fall of 1984. We felt that we should do some work in thevillageofLondesboroaswe had inferiority; others may do it for exactly the opposite reasons. I chose to write about this for the simple reason that recently the tiny island of Fiji had an unexpected (at leastforusjboutofracism. Last May 14 there was a military coup d’etat in which the officer in charge wanted to keep political power in the hands of the native Melane­ sians and away from Fiji’s majority who are of Indian descent. The officer, Lt. Col. Sitiveni Rabuka, who led the coup apparently is annoyed that the Indians, who are relative latecomers to the island, have done much better financially than the locals. He seems to forget that the island would not have done as well without them. The last person to do such a thing was also an officer, Gen. Idi Amin of Uganda, Gen. Amin is likely to be much better known to Cana­ dians than Lt. Col. Rabuka since first of all he went about it in a much more violent way and secondly because some of his victims ended up as political refugees in Canada. In fact, it was one of my former bosses at External Affairs, Bill Olivier, who was the Canadian High Commissioner in Uganda at the time, and who led a convoy of these refugees across Uganda into Kenyasothat they would not be harmed by Amin’s followers as they left the country. Amin was of the opinion that the Indian minority in Uganda made up a disproportionate share of the country’scommercialclass; his solution was to expel the entire Indian population. His action had twoconsequences that the General could not have forseen; he himself was deposed at a later date and he had the misfortune to witness the almost immediate decline of Uganda into economic ruin since there were not enough people left with any business skills to carry on the commercial affairs of the nation. However, Gen. Amin’s antics were not the first in the British Empire. King Henry III of England was a good example of a person who wanted to become popoular and felt that one way to go about it been doing all our road work in the rural areas of the township. We applied for O.N.l.P. funding for two or three years, but finally decided to go ahead without it for this year anyway. We are still hoping for funding to complete the project in 1988. The estimated cost of work on Londesboro streets in 1987 was $60,000, the tender came in at $36,756.50. The mill rate in Hullett has not changed since 1982. The farm and residential mill rate for township purposes in 1982 was 56.30 mills, in 1983 it was 56.68 mills, in 1985 it was56.30andin 1987itwas56.567. We are in good shape financially and have no need at this time to i ncrease the mill rate. Any increase was to expell the Jews from whom he had borrowed more money than he was prepared to pay back. The Jews have, infact, learned the hard lesson that racism takes on a special significance when people of a specific race occupy a profitable economic niche in a country’s affairs. Centuries after Henry III, Jew-bashing became a favourite past-time in Russia and Poland and culminated, as we well know, in Hitler’s efforts to find a final solution to the problem of a minority that had contributed so much to German life and culture. Most of the empires of European origin resorted to racist activities by transporting other races around the world into various forms of slavery. The Indians came in for their share of attention. They were shipped off to cut sugar-cane in Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, Natal, build railways in East Africa, or to tap rubber in Malaysia. The Chinese were trans­ ported to Natal, Indonesia or the Philippines to cut cane or to California and Australia to build railways. Racism has cropped up just about everywhere. The Goans in Mozambique, who had served the Portuguese for centuries, were kickedoutalongwiththe Portu­ guese when the country became independent in 1974. This left the new country with no skilled people at all and Mozambique is in the same category as Uganda, an economic basket case. Closer tohome, many of the boat people whom we have received in Canada from French Indo-China are ethnic Chinese. They were among the most talented people in the country and without their skills Vietnam has not surprisingly fallen into economic decay. One thing that I find strange about some Canadians who liber­ ally throw racist expressions around is that they deprecate the very people who are prepared to do jobs that Canadians apparently find beneath their dignity. Can you imagine what this country would be like if we had to do all the menial labour ourselves? in taxes in the years from 1982 to 1987 was caused by an increase in the County and Board of Education mill rates. As Mr. Stewart should also realize we have instructed the staff to investigate what other munici­ palities are doing re: building permits after a fire and to bring Homecoming committee gets more praise THE EDITOR, This letter is a sincere thanks to the Homecoming Committee and all who supported them on behalf of my Mother, Wilma (Galbraith) Bredin, my sister Jane Currie my wife, Jaccy and I. We were guests of Mrs. George Baeker, and really enjoyed the festivities -- fully appreciating the effort by so many. Of course, it was not only great fun, but somewhat nostalgic for us. We saw friends and relatives (the Works, Bowmans and Yuills), many people we had not seen in years. One highlight for us was a visit with Jack and Marjorie Bowman at their farm. This farm was home­ steaded by our great-great- grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. John Bowmanabout 1850. Oldtimers willremembermy grandfather, John Galbraith, and grandmother, Ida (Bowman) Galbraith. “Jack” was one of the last of the horse dealers in the area, operating an active horse exchange from a livery stable behind the old Queen’s Hotel. Many will remember the sight of heavy draught horses, tetheredtogether by the dozen, being led right through the main street to the station where they were shipped by the car load to work in the bushland of Northern Ontario. The church service, Saturday night dance, greatmeals, water activities at the dam and the park games were terrific. The parade - would not have missed it! What an effort by the participants and what TOURING and CUSTOM BIKERS Check out our display of Show Chrome We have everything to give your bike that... "SHOW BIKE LOOK' Plus it's inexpensive too!________ PRE -HOLIDAYV INSPECTION DuringJulyand August. _______Just Drivelnand AskUs________ CLINTON ENGINE SERVICE 267 Victoria St. . Clinton 482-5322 FOR ALL YOUR BIKING HOLIDAY NEEDS FROM SAFETY TOCOMFORT -Parts & Accessories shipped to your door- Our work is guaranteed, because our reputation is on the line. back a recommendation. That you for the opportunity to explain some of the facts. Yours truly, Tom Cunningham, Reeve Joe Gibson, Deputy Reeve Ron Gross, Councillor Bob Szusz, Councillor Hullett Township. fun for the spectators! And last, but not least, I extend a message to the Philosophers at Mabel’sGrill. Please give some serious consideration to re-open­ ing your lines to the P.M.’s office. Your sage advice would indeed manifest itself in improved condi­ tions for all. Trusting the Homecoming was a financial success, we extend our sincere best wishes to all the citizens of Brussels and area. SINCERELY, E. PETER BREDIN PRESIDENT CORPORATE REALTY SERVICES LIMITED WILLOWDALE Former Brussels resident was in picture THE EDITOR, I just received your Salute to the 115th anniversary of Brussels. On turning the first page 1 saw the picture taken in 1927 at the Old Boys & Girls Reunion. I can’t tell you very much about the picture but I’m that six-year-old boy with the kilt on and that is my father Walter S. Scott on the left. I even marched in front of the band in the parade. I think my father was Postmaster at that time and Bill Bell took over after him. SINCERELY YOURS FRANK SCOTT 2428 TEASLEY ST. LA CRESCENTA CALIFORNIA 91214. •BULK FOODS ’ANTIQUES -CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR •BULK BAKING GOODS ’CARPET FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY •CASE LOT GROCERY ITEMS ’GIFTWARE ’RIFLES & SHOTGUNS •NEW & USED FURNITURE ’NEW & USED GUNS SPECIAL NOTE: We take trade-ins. We buy outright or take on consignment good used furniture, appliances, guns, antiques. We will buy partial or complete estates. We have purchased over 400 pairs of Kaufman Kingtread steel toe work boots. These boots will be offered at a low price of $39.95 [Reg. price $74.j THE WINGHAM SALES ARENA Just north of Wingham on Hwy. No. 4 357-1730