HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-08-05, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1987.
Letter from the editor
Continued from Page 4
day in New York (printed in last
week’s Maclean’s magazine) that
the similarity in the two incidents
struck me.
Bruning talked about how those
Mexicans were following the
American Dream as they tried to
sneak into a country that wouldn't
allow them to come in legally. One
man, the subject of his column,
wanted towork in the U.S. long
enough to earn $6,500, enough for
new tires for his car and materials
tobuildahouse. “Oneday’slabour
in a Tex-Mex restaurant or orange
orchard may bring more wages
than a week of work - if there is work
- back home."
There’s a sadness in Bruning's
column, vet a sense of inevitability.
The American Dream, wealth and
freedom, has been so plastered
around the world through Ameri
can TV and movies that people
everywhere seek it at great cost.
When one nation with immense
wealth lives beside another where
people live in squatters camps with
homes made of cardboard boxes,
scraps of lumber and anything else
that can be found, then it is
inevitable that people will risk their
lives for a piece of that good life.
The death of those people in the
box car was just the latest tragedy
in an ongoing story that sees
thousandsofpeoplecaught and
turned back at the U.S.-Mexican
border each year, only to try again.
While many Americans are proba
bly angry about this, they also
accept it as proof again that
everybody who isn’t American
wants to be one.
We’re angry in this country that
these people claimed to be refu-
Meeting between
HFA, county brings
little controversy
Little controversy was raised at
the third annual meeting between
the directors of the Huron Federa
tion of Agriculture and representa
tives of county council held in
Clinton on July 20, but most of
those present said they felt that the
joint meetings were ‘‘very help
ful" in fostering a mutual under
standing between the two bodies.
About 15 HFA directors were
present, along with county War
den Brian McBurney, Weed Com
missioner Joe Gibson, Roads
Commissioner Russell Kernighan
and Property Committee chairman
Bob Bell.
During a general discussion on
the possibility of highway upgrad
ing and industrial development
within the county, several farmers
made it clear that since Huron
County is one of the last places in
Ontario where agriculture is the
dominant industry, farming must
be protected in a vigorous manner.
Warden McBurney said that
county council has recently been
subjected to a certain amount of
frustration as the county’s five
mayors press for industrial de
velopment while most township
reeves continue to plead for
protection for agriculture, but
noted that the two priorities are not
necessarily incompatible.
He said that as long as one of
Huron County’s major export
remained its young people in their
search for work, all factions must
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geesfleeing terror when apparent
ly they just wanted a piece of
Canadian life for economic rea
sons. They don’t seem as poor as
the Mexicans because they could
payfortheship. Yet, the ordeal
they underwent to come to Canada
was arduous as that of many of the
"wetbacks" sneaking into the U.S.
They were kept in the hold of a ship
withonelightbulband no bedsand
one large pot for cooking food.
Obviously they were willing to risk
their very lives not to mention
human dignity, to grab a piece of
the good life in Canada. They could
only get toCanada because they
had some money. The really poor
people can't get near Canada.
Yet we in Canada don't see this
as a compliment to our way of life,
don't see it as a reaffirmation of all
that we have achieved in this
country, as the Americans do.
Instead we see it as an insult, as a
sneak attack on our Canadian
hospitality.
But as iong as we continue to live
like kings while most of the world
lives in poverty we’d better be
ready for more people to try to find
ways into Canada. The richer we
get, the poorer the rest of the world
gets, the greater the urge for
people to try to get into the country.
Even if we could raise an army big
enough to stand soldier shoulder to
shoulder around our entire coast
line with orders to shoot to kill any
‘‘refugees’’,pe op lewillstillbe
desperate enough to enter Canada
that they’ll take the risks.
As long as we want to live in such
affluence, we’ll have to accept the
flip-side of the ‘‘Canadian
dream’’: that poor, desperate
people in the rest of the world will
want a piece of the dream.
be made aware of ways to reverse
this trend if the county is to remain
viable.
He said that while a major
industry in the county would most
certainly be detrimental to agricul-
ture, it is possible that the
attraction of several light indu
stries would be of benefitto all, and
must be considered as they present
themselves.
‘‘One of the major problems
faced by County Council is that the
reeves (who represent their muni
cipalities on council) seldom vote
the same way as the mayors would,
and this is always going to cause
trouble under the present sy
stem,” Mr. McBurney said.
Farm Credit
interest increases
Agriculture Minister John Wise
has announced an increase in the
interest rates charged by Farm
Credit Corporation (FCC) on new
loans approved after July 20.
The rate increase is in keeping
with the farm-lending agency’s
practice of tracking the rates
offered by other agricultural lend
ers.
"For the past two months, FCC
rates have been well below the
market rate, "explained Mr. Wise.
“We waited to see where interest
rates would stabilize before adjust
ing the corporation’s rates.”
Young Matthew Schneider, foreground, was one of more than 250 people who braved the storm last
Sunday morning to attend the annual Brussels Firemen’s Breakfast at the Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre. Brussels Firemen [from left] Carman Machan, Bill Aitchison, Don Crawford and
Murray Kellington were on the toast-and-coffee detail, with Mr. Crawford’s cap saying it all: the weather
was fit only for ducks.
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