The Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-10-14, Page 6Il
The
', me S%poy Tawe"
eek of the
sIabushea
The week of October 17' -•24 has been declared the Week .
of the Child. by the. Grey -Bruce Association for Early.
ChildhoodEducation. Day Care Centres and Nursery
Schools in the area have planned activities to observe the
Week of the Child. 'Wingham Day Care Centre, Wingham,
Nursery School and Silver Cirlce School in Wingham are all
participating.
The popula ity of the new nursery school in Lucknow
provided by Ruth Ritchie in her home; attests to the: need for
such facilities forre-school. children tend also;the value
p
parents believesuch an experience holds for their children.
,1 1' The pre-school day care centre or nursery school provides
many benefits for children including development of motor'
and mental skills through creative play, socialization with
other childrontheir own age and > the advantages of a
structured environment developed P ed to the needs of
pre-school children..
Pre-school :education offers children advantages that are,
missed if the child has no such opportunity before attending
kindergarten..,
Such facilities also provide much needed day care for.
of a day
. ehildsten' whose parents both work. The <advantages y
.,.
care centre or nursery school where the teachers have been
trained in .pre-school education and the setting provides the
opportunity, for creative play and. socialization with other
children far' outweigh . the type of care provided . by the
private babysitter arrangement, -
The Week of the Child has been proclaimed to publicize
the activities of the child in a pre
school situation and .also to emphasize the advantages for
the children. There is a serious lack of. day care facilities In
Ontario and especially in .Huron County where only Vanast-
ra and-Wingham have municipal day care centres. Seaforth
and Goderich have co-operative nursery schools operated by
the parents of the children to .meet the need for pre-school
education in their communities. • • •
More : and . more parents :of young children arebeing
forced into the work force to make ends meet and therefore
theneed for day. Care will continued to increase. It is time
the .provincial government allocatemore mney to, provide
adequate day care facilities'through .out the province in
urban and rural areas. . • . '
We are fortunate in this area to have three pre-school
\centres in Wingham meeting the needs of the parent who
requires daycare and. nursery school experience for his child
'and :also the needs, of the handicapped child. ,
tucknow now has its own nursery school arrangement.
But its waiting list emphasizes that even in' our area the
need is not being :completely met.
The Week of the Child is an opportunity for . everyone to
become ,familiar with the services provided by pre-school
education facilities and the opportunities they provide for
children. It is also a good time to write our local Members of
Parliament. and Members of the Legislature to' advocate
more day care facilities. '
In a time of declining erirollment it might be suggested
that empty classrooms in our public and. high schools would
make excellent -nursery -schools and day Care centres at a
minimal capital, cost for housing the facility.•
` It would also provide an opportunity for students
attending life skills and health classes to learn to deal with
young children; There is plenty of room in our society for,
parenting courses to teach young people how to become
good parents. It is the 'one thing many of us will become
when we reach adulthood, yet it IS the thing for which we are
the Least prepared.'
•
Lucknow Sealtllgllsl, .Wednesi4r ►, OeIo
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l;iecneral Manage Stretnd Clan.! Mail Re;!tis+Iratian'Number -O$41
$ brrrlptlon rate, $14.50 per ;Year Ip advance
scoot cation .011614 $11,00 per Year:ht advtutrre
• V.S.A. and Powrlpw, $23.110 sot:Y(010 advranre .
$rt CII. V S.A, and itarelani, 521.I0 por;vear In ndvrnr*
t A1' U I INOSTON ,• °M a Manager
MPAL Ril,1.1U'11.• t pentHer
JOAN HELM •..cnt►poainon
lr 14, 1981IP
Farniers aren't usually, the radical type you see carrying
placards and staging demonstrationss. For the most part they
are responsible citizens who go quietly about -their -work of
providing this nation with food. But like a threatened animal
. if you back' them into a corner they will fight to the ,death\.,
And farmers have 'been backed into a corner.
As' if wet weather dela in harvest, `low for beef
� g 1��
and pork and 20 per cent interest rates weren't enough-, the
government has to rub -salt inthe wound'hy announcing that
Farm Credit Corporation loans: will be issued at a 'rate of
16.75 per cent up from 14 per cent.:.
• The last source of money to beloaned to farmers at :a-.
been wi ed awayat ' a. time
reasonable interest rate.: has p., ;
when precious .few ' could. take'advantage of what little
money was. available from farm Credit. -
Farmers who have ,lived on their family, farms, all their
lives and are fourth and Mb generation farmers are seeing..
the time investment of their families confiscated by the
abitrart policies of . a federal gOvernment and its assinine.
economic policies,
Farmers and their wives are being evicted from their
farms by banks which provided poor economice advice 'and
are unwilling tostand by the farmer through a difficult time
the ' government and . the banks have created for them.. .
It is notsurprising to find farmers parading down city
streets vyith tractors; holding demonstrations on street
corners, chantin . and carrying signs. The are desperate,
Their lifestyle:and everythingthey have worked for is being
.,
taken away, .
Our own community -is not, untouched, Ever one has . '�
,Y Y
heard the stories of farmers who have been forced ;to sell
and every dayanother successful progressive hard working
farmer in our community is backed to the wall. Another for
sale sign .appears on the country side.
, Federalagriculture minister hasbeen unable .to convince
his government colleagues of the drastic situation farmers
face and the implications it: has fol' this country's future
pY
ability to feed itself, In desperation he has, offered to resign
if he cannot convince the government to provide farmers
with financial relief which is "practical and workablein a
few short weeks.
Bruce County farmers are meeting tonight to, discuss a
plan of financiaLaid which'. will help desperate farmers hold
on to their farms, It is time farmers get, together and plan a
course of action. It is too late when the banker and ,sheriff
are at the door demanding your home and land. '
r Farmers have been backedto the wall.' Tt eir way of life
and their life' srnvettrent is at stake. It's tithe to act. There
isn't a farmer in this community who can afford to sit back
and sayit can't .happen to ,me,
"The .earth -is aneternal womb from
which a11 living things .emerge and.` to
which they must surely return," (Don
Campbell)•
.
Spring came, early to Richmond Hill
in the year•.1.842. At the .beginning of
the new life cycle, a young; Scottish.
girl also came to that land won from.
the forest, to gaze with wonder at the
powerful fertility of nature, which was
• bursting forth before her eyes. It wass.a
time when men walked " behind a
wooden plow with the reins of a team
across his shoulders, strong hands
grasping the shafts of . wood, and
hearts feeling joy in seeing the sweet
earth turn from the plow share,
Within her'. heart, Anne MacQueen
knew that her brother Edward would
find his way back to his another and
the stepfather who, through forceof
circumstance, he would have to accept ,
ashis own, 5o whilst the honeymoon
of Katie MacQueen was "marred with
thegrief of her missing . son, her
. daughter explored the surroundings of
her home, alnd shared withthe estab-
-lished-pioneers: the -joys of -the -coming
• of spring!
"Can I no gae tae see the wee lambs
which. Uncle Neil is caring frac in Mr.
Blake's barn?" Anne asked her
mother. . II
In her distress, and a stranger to the
Canaditurbush, Katie would not allow
her daughter even to journey ;a short
distance • from the log cabin, and
certainly not to "Blake's Folly'.'. '' It
wasonly when Flora MacCrimmon
had come to .visit ' her, all. plump,
smilesand with the bloom -of
pregnancy on her cheeks, .: that . she
acquiesced to her daughter's request.
"Away ye gae wi' ye Auntie Flora,"
she said, Arid bide wi' the MacCrim-
mons 'till I find the time tae come and
fetch. ye hame." . . .
When Flora walked through the
bush holding the hand of little Anne,
the young girl heard familiar sounds
coming from the lambing: barn, For a
moment it. sceitied as -though she was
hearing an echo from the slopes of a
Scottish glen, Impulsively, she let•go
of Flora's hand, and ran skipping and
laughing towards the barn, She found
Neil MacCrimmon tending to a ewe in
. oneof the many rough wooden pens,
Neil smiled when he saw the bright
inquisitive eyes of Anne MacQueen
peering above the top rail, and he put
a finger to his lips, to hush her•whilst
he worked. There was the unrnistak- •
able and heavy odour of sheep about
the place,, but more intense in -that
barn, than she had known in the
shads of her native glen.
She watched as Neil with gentle
hands, brought a baby lamb into the
world, and laid it gently on the straw,
beside the ewe's head, It seemed
lifeless' for some moments, but with a
few, quick strokes of .the sheep's
tongue on the small delicate head, it
trembled and twitched into life. Soon.
after frequentattempts, it was able to
stand upon its feet and began search-
ing for the place to feed. With the
characteristic and natural habit of all
mother sheep, the ewe sniffed at the
lamb to identify it as.; her very min.
Neil rose from his knees and quietly
climbed out of the pen, .
They stood together, the shepherd
and the child. She amazed from the
• sight of her firstexperience of girth,
and he satisfied at seeing yet another
lamb he had brought ;into; the wordd.
"Ye can stay and watch, but dinna
disturb the sheep and dlnna touch the
lambs, Neil' told her; '"1'U away and
wash mysel' at the pump', Bide here
.till 1 come -back."
It was. Flora who came to rind the
, ' girl, She bustled into the barn looking
bright in a clean' apron with the strings
tied high above her waist.
"We'd best away 'back to the
cabin," , she told the girl., "Ye can
conte here another day. It seems there
are visitors at the Murdoch place. One
by the name of Edward, who I'm sure
ye v een expecting,'
Neil came back into the barn at that
moment and heard her words, Flora
turnedand smirked at him.
"The other one . is young Doctor
Cameron and he, I'm sure, will be
• • wantin' tae see met" She laughed out
loud. "An' that is because I'm expect-
ing!'
opinion Huron -Bruce MP ca►mments o the constitution
By Murray Cardiff, M.P. ill reon.Bracej
•
Ata time when Canadians are largely
preoccupied with economic problems that
deeply affect their personal lives, it is easy to
understand why the details of the. Constitu-
tions! struggle are hazy to us and seem of
s;condary importance,
Constitution-loatin is dry subject when
B Y
it consists so largely of a war of words,
especially unfamiliar 'words about whose
meaning we can not easily agree. What
makes this war of words important • hour -
ever, is that it i� an attempt to decide Our
future together without resorting to a wrote
violent kind• of war. Canadians) have lived
. together •so successfully over 114 years that
we too easily forget that civil war and
violence is the alterative to the rule of law
which regulates our wars of words. All we
need to do is look at the violence ofr the world -
around us to be reminded that nothing is
more important to the life of a nation than
the ability to litre under the rule of law.
Constitutions are important because they
set the framework for the kind of law we will
be ruled by, If we want a peaceful. life
'together, we must be sure that the \neons by
which we change the law are fair to others,
for no utter how good our aims are, if we
achieve them .by unfair means wecan be
sure that those who feel cheated will remain
resentful, The willingness to live by the law
will have been weakened by our action, and
good intentions may bring evil,
This seems to he a part of what the
Supreme Court was saying in: last week's
judgement. • It recognized ' a distinct on
between the ends which the government is
trying to achieve with the Trudeau constitu-
tional package and `the means by which It is
trying to achieve it, The Court said, its effect,
"We have no business asking whether the• •
ends are good or bad, for that is a political •
matter," ' But then they went onto say that .
the Court does .have the duty to ensure•that.
,the means by which the government tries to
accomplish its ends are just.
In medieval times, the question of who
was right and Who was wrong was sonie-
tinies decided by a battle. Whoever won was
considered to have been proved right, This is
the principle that Might is Right, Today we
pride ourselves on having a' more developed'
concept of yustice than that. We have
achieved it However, partly by learning to
make distinctions that tie courts of law up
into knots ort occasion, as they have in this
'present constitutional struggler
The -principle distinction which' the Court
had to make was between a taw and a
eonventiorir, The Court said in effect that' if a
lawis broken, the:'injured party can be given
• i+edress in the courts and the guilty party can
be penalized in . the courts. But there are
many aspects of our constitution which are
not written up as law. They are settled ways
Of doing things called conventions,
Conventions can change, of course, just as
a law can change, fiat .the Court did say that
we presently have a constitutional convcni.
tionin Canada prohibiting the federal go'
ernnient from changing the, powers of the
provincial governments without their con-
sent The Court refused to deride, on this
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