HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-10-07, Page 7LUK SENTINEL
"The Sepoy Towel," Established 103
SHARON J. PINT • Editor •
ANTHONY N, JOHNSTONE . Advertising anal
oenenol Manager
PAT LIViN($TON • °Mee Manger
MERLE IxLI,IOT`t • 1•Yprsetter
JOAN H1LM Composition
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, October 7, 1981 Page 6
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The Supreme Court's ruling has oved any legal
obstacle preventing the Trudeau governs ent from patriat-
ing the constitution, but it is becoming increasingly clear
that the:. court's comments about a "constitutional .conven-
tion" requiring provincial consent, is causing a major deter-
ioration between the federal government and the remainder
of the, country.
The Quebec National Assembly has given Premier Rene
Levesque a resounding mandate to demand new constitu-
tional negotiations with Ottawa and resistapplication of the
sections of the proposed constitution which could impair
rights and affect its powers without its consent. Liberal
Leader Claude Ryan and members of the official opposition
supported the motion; which ..calls on the federal
government to renounce its unilateral course of action and
return to the bargaining table on terms that- respect the
existing autonomy ofthe provinces.
The federal New Democrat party has announced it will not
support, the federal government in light of the supreme
court's decision, unless they give the province one last
chance to negotiate. And the British politicians are making
noises about using the convention argument to stall or block
the patriation process at Westminister,
Despite the argument that the federal government has the
legal right to proceed, for Trudeau to continue unilaterally
would seriously damage the federal government's already
strained relationship with the provinces. To bring home the
constitution . without the . provinces' consent at this time
would marr the constitution's homecoming with controversy
unworthy of the historic project that it is.
To dispel the political confusion and alleviate the
controversy over the legitimacy of . the constitutional
renewal, the federal government can take a step :which
would also avoid yet another endless round of negotiaaations
with the provinces.
The federal • government can call a national referendum.
Let the people of Canada decide whether they agree with the
Trudeau government's plan to patriate our constitution with
a charter of rights and an amending formula,
The individual Canadian has been forced to sit back and
watch the, federal government and the provinces wrestle for
rights and argue over amending formulas. Let the people of
this country decide whether they support patriation of the
Canadian constitution at this time with, a charter of rights
and amending formula, as detailed in the resolution passed
by Parliament.
The question would no longer be whether people want the
federal government to proceed despite provincial objec-
tions: If a majority of the people in any given province
democratically approve of the federal course of action, there
can be no provincial objection. The provincial governments
only speak on behalf of the people they represent and iif the
people declare they disagree with their provincial govern-
ment, the province has no legitimaaate • objection.
The Canadian people wantthe constitution brought homie,
but they do not :see the need, for a never ending battle
between the federal government and the provinces. Many
feel there are other important issues such . as high interest
-rates,the-stagnated_ economy,_ _high inflation_ and 'high
unemployment which should be occupying the efforts of our
politicians.. Canadians will jump at the chance to settle the
constitutional question once .and for all, so the country can
go on to deal with the problems which affect everyone in
their daily lives..
Another assassination
Yet another world figure has fallen victim to an
"assassin's bullets, Alt reports at press time on Tuesday
afternoon indicated that President Anwar Sadat of Egypt
had been shot dead Tuesday afternoon, Egyptian tithe,
Sadat as well as being a prominent statesman was also a
very courageous man in his 'peace efforts with Israel.
Ostrasized from his Arab allies, he stood alone in offering
the olive branch to Israel, an enemy he had long tried to
annihilate. '
Sadat will be remembered for his peace efforts. The Camp
David Accord and the continuing talks with Israel is an
attempt to bring peace to the Middle East are largely a
result of Sadat's readiness to take history's pen in hand and
write his Stark on the history of the world, Should the
reports from Cairo be true, the world will have lost another
great statesman to an assassin's guff. But his peace efforts
will continue through the unstable period to follow in Egypt
in the Sten chosen to replace him. The world can only hope
i
that the tnfet>ttatt 6f the assassins to create havoc and
undermine the peace effort rill not erupt in more violence.
In 1842, the profession of doctor in
the capital of Upper Canada, was a
highly respected, if not always lucre-
tive calling. Old Doctor Buchanan had,
however, more by his knowledge of
psychology than medical expertise,
always managed to be more financially
• successful than his other colleagues 'in
Toronto. . .
Although he had welcomed Dr,
Cameronas a junior partner, he .was.
nevertheless, a little disturbed that
the young -man had little or no concern
for the economical aspects of the joint
practice. Doctor Buchannan . had wait-
ed for the opportunity to remind his
partner that it was money, and not a
charming bedside 'manner, by which
doctors survived: One evening, when
the two were playing chess by the
large bay window which overlooked
King Street, he thoughtit was time he
told his partner what was on his mind,
"I've been meaning to speak to ye
Jimmy,". the old doctor said as e
moved a piece across the :board, afld
with a crafty glint in his eye, took off
one `,of Dr. Cameron's' knights. "I
understand ye refusreto bleed arty of
our patients, and :they are going
elsewhere for the bloat letting," Dr..
Cameron 'stoked intently. at. the board,
rather than his respected partner,
"I do not believe, Sir, in spite of the
fact it has been a recognized practice,
that it can do anything except cause a
temporary weakness to the ' body,
Therefore, Sir, since I personally find
no use for the procedure, 1 :shall
neither recommend or carry out, what
I presume to be a useless remedy."
Dr. Cameron looked up from the
board and smiled .graciously. "Per-
haps you will observe, Sir, I: now ha"
you in check!" •
The . old doctor was too absorbed
with his thoughts to concentrate on the
game and: he continued to speak what
was uppermost in. his mind.
"And what about all this business of
washing ye hands before ye touch a
patient? It seems my housekeeper
spends all, her time running between
the surgery and thewater pump!"
Doctor Cameron ignored the remark
and kept his eyes on the chess board.
"Then there's the whisky, Jimmy. I
wouldna mind if ye were drinking my
liquor yesei', but I object strongly to it
being poured on the wounds of every
Tom, Dick or Harry who showsye the
colour of his blood." •
Young DoctorCameron rose from
his seat, walked over to the window
and looked outside at everything and
nothing; If he tried to . avoid the old
medical practitioner's probing, he was
unsuccessful, •
"There's something peculiar about
ye Jimmy, and 1 don't want to pry into
ye personal affairs, but ye never seem
to be attracted by the ladies., I always
thought a young Scottish buck would
have shown his horns before this time;
I tell ye, and take it from an old man,
there are only two things in life for a
man to worry About. One is love and
the other is the purpose for which he
lives. For all ye faults, ye're 'a fine
doctor, Jimmy, but ye're going to have
to find yesel' a womanly'
one foot f In the furrow
131y ditYars c ray r -►ell
• Doctor Cameron turned from the
window abruptly, He was angry that
his partner was prying into his 'private
life, glut he tried not to show it.
"My ' purpose in. life Sir, is to heal
the sick, and as for love, I believe love
isnot confined to the physical* desires
of men., I have a love,- a deep and
strong love, and it belongs - 16 the
people of Skye," Ife moved quickly to
the chess game. "And now Sir, to put
an end to both theconversation and
the game; it gives me great pleasure.
He moved a queen from one gide.
of the board to the other, and smiled
triumphantly, "To place you in check
mater„ .
The young doctor'striumphwas
short .lived, There was a knock on the
door and a fussy woman in a clean
white aprom came into the' room.
"Excuse me gentlemen," She nod•
dqd politely at the two men. "There is
somebody asking for you Doctor
Cameron.''
Doctor Cameron nodded. "Tell him.
to wait in the surgery, unless It's very
urgent. -nu be there • In a few
minutes.
"They ere not patients," the wom-
an said: "And they're welting at the
front door. One is a rough looking
man, a seaman I think, and the other
is a young boy who seems to know you
Sir, He said his name is Edward
MacQueen!"
Doctor Cameron sighed, and smiled
in. relief. "Thank God he has come
back, Sometimes it seems, the Mac-
Queens have given more trouble to my
people than the Campbells!"
by bob trotter
Where _ for agrominiums
come from�d the idea, 4
Some egghead who lives in an
American ivory .tower, probably.
What are they? They . are lots
severed from a farm upon which
country homes are built but the land is
rented . back to the farmer who
continues to work as much as he can.
In other wards, the land is not lost to
production of food,
It seems like an asinine idea to me,
City people would buy or rent those
homes, They arenotoriously unkind
when it comes to farm sutelis, farm
dust and farm noise, The Ctaatario
Municipal Board's, decision to block a
controversial agrominium project in
Sintcoe County has been upheld by the
Ontario Cabinet,
-The idea was first mentioned a few
years back and . farmers ,in the area
fought it every step of the vvaay, right to
ttte t.abinet,
As I .scree it - and it appears many
fanners agree - it is only the first step
itt the battle. It doesn't mean that ' the
concept has been dropped,
It is the second time such an appli-
cation has been vetoed by the Cabinet
and it will not be the-last,-parimers•
have fought the battles but the war is
not won. Although the federation of
agriculture asked for a moratorium on
such developments, the ministry of
housing would not grant it,
"In theory, developers could come
back next year with another proposal
and farmers would be back up in front
of the OMB again at their cost," says
Ron Jones of the federation.
Nobody in agricultural circles would
be surprised. Some, in °fact, were
pleasantly surprised that they won this
particular battle. Too many decisions
in recent years have gone against
them. They fought and lost a battle
where a feedlot operator wanted to
expand his farms. He was tial close to a
few high-priced houses,
Too many urbanites move to the
countty for the rural amenities but
turn up their delicate noses when a
farmer, who.. has been in business
perhaps for years, simply wants to
continue doing what he is best at
doing: producing food.
I suppose farmers cannot hope for a
moratorium considering all the other
battles-they-have-beenfighting, There
are fewer members of parliament with
a rural background sifter every elec-
tion, Agriculture ministers are", being
given lower profiles after *every Cab -
Met switch,
Farmers are ittthe minority in
almost every one of the .16 .province's
with the possible exception of Prince
Edward Island, The Prairies were full
of farmers until the oil and gas froom
made the population one-sided against
them. VVtio is going to fight for a
farmer' who wantsto save his land
when maybe, just maybe, a few
gallons of oil are under that land?
Heritage funds, oil and gas taxes
and theenergy shortage mitigate
against the farmer, -
So do highways, power corridors,
plazas, developers and Most city
councils.
s
You fight •development and you
fight progress, they say, .
One of these days, well run out of
arable land in this country because it
will be covered with ticky-tacky houses
and highways;
Then, well all statvc to death in our
beautiful homes or ears.
y..