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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-12-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1987. Opinion Here comes a hot potato The provincial government of Premier David Peterson last week rid itself of a hot potato by handing the decision about what stores can stay open on Sunday to municipalities. On one hand, this is a good decision if you believe that there should be more political power at the local level and less given to faceless bureaucrats in far off Queen’s Park. Most municipal councils so far commenting, aren’t thrilled about getting this extra power, even though they might normally complain that too many decisions have been taken over by the province over the years. The fact may be, however, that the local politicians must do the dirty deed of making the decision on Sunday closing but have little real choice in which way to move. They may be faced with a domino effect that leaves them little choice but to throw theircommunity wide open to Sunday shoppers. If Metro Toronto approves Sunday shopping can Mississauga or Brampton stay closed? If they open, can Kitchener and Guelph stay closed and so on until the movement backs up into Huron County? Local businesses already struggling to keep local shopping dollars at home may be forced to open Sundays even if they don’t want to. Yes, there are people who will argue for the right to shop on Sundays: people who will tell you that their job or their religion makes it their right to shop on Sunday. They may have their point that there is something tobe gained, but it may be too late that we discover what we have lost if all retail businesses are forced to stay open seven days a week. Towards the lowest common denominator Toronto economist J ohn Ralston Saul pointed out what he felt was a loophole in the Free Trade agreement with the United States in the way of cheap Mexican-made components put into American made products. While his criticism mav deal specifically with the Free Trade agreement now before us, it also has wide ramifications for the movement to bring more free trade to the rest of the world. Mr. Saul pointed out that Canadian manufacturers must not only compete with southern U.S. plants where labour costs are cheaper, but also with American companies that manufacture components across the border in northern Mexico where labour maybe as little as 65 cents an hour. When these parts are brought into the U.S. they disappear into finished products that then are sold as “Made in U.S.A.’’ and can be imported into Canada duty free. The issue is another example of the free trade/fair trade debate that has occupied both the Canadian and American negotiators, only on a greater scale. The differences between Canadian and American work-place rules seem small when you start looking at freeing up trade with the rest of the world. Opening up our borders to freer access by Third World countries is the only chance those countries have of finally being able to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Canadian consumers are always happy to get imports from these countries at prices far below what something made in Canada would sell for. We would be horrified, however, if someone suggested that we should install the kindsof labour regulations in our countries that allow these countries to undercut Canadian manufactur­ ers. There are countries where child labour is still allowed, or at least ignored by governments happy to turn a blind eye to such practices. People in third world countries must work incredible hours under working conditions we would condemn as brutal. There are few regulations that prevent harming the health of workers or the safety of the environment. How can we expect our Canadian manufacturers to compete if their competition has one set of rules and they have another? We will face some of the same problems to a lesser extent in the Canada-U.S. deal. American employers pay less in employee benefits, have laxer minimum wage laws and in some parts of the states, employment standards in safety or pollution. In a world where only the “bottom line” matters, are we moving toward lowest denominator in treatment of workers? Will business continue to move to whatever country provides the last protection from exploitation for its unskilled workers? In the days of multi-national companies and cheap transportation manufacturing has begun floating around the world to cheap havens. For years more and more North American consumer goods came from Japan and Taiwan, but now many Japanese goods come from South Korea or other, poorer, Asian countries. We know what the bottom line is for profit but do we know what the bottom line is for fair treatment for workers around the world. 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 morning coffee 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. MONDAY: Julia Flint was saying this morning that she kind of wishesshe’dgoton her toes earlier and applied to be part of the Olympic flame marathon run across the country. She kind of feels left out. All these people seem to be having so much fun doing it, she said. Tim O’Grady said he never, got to thinking about the fun of carrying the torch for a part of the journey, he just kept thinking about all the work he’d have to do getting in shape for the run. Ward Black said that obviously some people didn’t think too much ahead about getting in shape becauseonelady in New Bruns­ wick made the trip in a wheel chair because she’d given birth to a baby just last week. Obviously, he said, she broke training somewhere along the line. TUESDAY: Tim said he figured out today what profession he wants to go into when they grow up. Billie Bean said he should know because they can all become rich if they just follow in their father’s footsteps andbe lawyers, butTim argued “ HANG ON TO YOUR H AIS... I TELL YOU WE'RE GOING TO GIVE YOU THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE 99 BRIAN MULR0N&, NWVlfflPICTOU.NS. Mabel’s Grill that there are already too many lawyers around, to which Hank Stokes agreed wholeheartedly. Ward said that if there is a surplus of lawyers around the situation can easily be remedied by putting the Liberals back in power, or even better, the NDP and they'll quickly pass a whole lot more laws and provide work for every law school grad for years. But Tim said the real growth area for professionals in the next few years will be in psychiatry. “I mean” he said, “they’ve just announced we’re going to have a television network that reports news 24 hours a day. Can you imagine anything that will drive people to the psychiatrist’s couch faster than that?” WEDNESDAY: Hank Stokes was asking Billie Bean if he had any plans to buy the CN Tower now that it’s supposed to be up for sale. Billie said he was considering asking the bank if they’d lone him the $1.8 billion CN says the place is worth but only if CN would agree to deliver the tower here. Hank said the one problem with having the CN tower in town is thatthere’s nothing to see when you get up there. In Toronto people were just happy to get up above the rest of the buildings for a while and see realdaylightbuthe can see that from the back yard and if he really wants to get high he can climb the silo. Billie said the only attractions tourists might pay to see if the CN tower was here in town was if it was equipped with high powered bin- Continued on page 23 [Published by North Huron Publishing Company Inc.] Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships Published weekly in Brussels, Ontario P.O.Box152, P.O.Box429, Brussels, Ont. Blyth, Ont. NOG 1 HO N0M1H0 887-9114 523-4792 Subscription price: $17.00; $38.00 foreign. Advertising and news deadline: Monday 2p.m. in Brussels; 4p.m. in Blyth Editorand Publisher: Keith Roulston Advertising Manager: Janice Gibson Production and Office Manager: Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968