HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1982-03-10, Page 6dater'
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LUC NOW SEINITINNIEL,
ant ,.Ta e i i lishai 1803
Enough nonsense
• The stalemate in the House of Commons has gone on long
enough and it's timefor the speaker of the house to- put a
.. stop to the nonsense.
• Without warning the C nservatives moved that the
Commons be adjou sed last Tuesday, and under parks-
mentaty rules, a vote is requited on any adjournment
Motion. The bell calling MPs to the Commons has been
ringing ever since, but the Tories have refused to appear.
• Until they do, the Commons may not resume sitting.
The Conseritatkes are protesting the Energy Security
Bill, a massive piece .of legislation designed to put the
. finishing touches • on the •16 -month-old National Energy
Program.
They say the butts tido big and unwieldly and would set a
precedent feet future governments to wrap controversial bills
in one :lig . package. "this bill 'has some points . the
• Conservativ'es , would like to support but they would be
forced to vote against them to stop the entire bill.
Madam Speaker Jeanne Sauve has the power.to tall the
vote, but she would probably lose the speaker's chair as a
result. tt would be difficult for her to defend the'criticism
that she is nothing more thane Liberal tool, situ she is also
a: Liberal MP as Well as speaker of the Nouse. .
The Conservativees are acting childlishly in their tactics,
even though their arguement is valid: Entirely too much of
the government business is never put bete* the House of '
Continents for debate. Prime Minister Pierre Thideeau and
• his cabinet just legislate the bill into `law by orders in
atttincil.•
rtf nothing else the . current situation proves the
.parliamentary .system in this country is not serving. us .well
and changes should be made. But in the meantime' the vote
should be called and the sitting of the Rouse resumed to get
On 'pith the. natieen's .business.
SHARON 3, DIETZ Editor
PAT LIVINGSON - Oltite Ma % g+et
MEIt1.E 1 tL TT typesetteer
JOAN HELM - Compositor •
raedtrees
Business .and Editorial Moe Telephone S2848/2
Mailing Wrest P.0. Rot 400. t ucknow, NOG 3Itr0
Second (lass Mail Registration Number 0!8#
Selintalptlan rate,$14,Sapeyear In
Scor't thea rate, SMIAS peelryeeiair Yailvaltee .
ts< S.a. alwl i S3S.S. peelers la Oviwlee
Sr. Ck, OSA. sari Patio, $3 * year. lir Ovratte
by don +Campbell
In that eternal. agricultural straggle
between man and 'nature, the import-
ance of domesticated animals is often
'overlooked. Even the most primitive
achievements of the Canadian pion-
eers could not have been accomplish-
ed Without beasts of burden. Do we
know Sir certain that these faithful
servants, who played such an import- •
ant role h the past, will not be just as
essential to our.survival in the future?
There is, of. course, one friend of
man whose usefulness has never
diminished. The a dog' still guards his.
master's property, and is always ready
to obey his command, whether it is to
haul a sled across the frozen tundra, or .
bring cattle from the meadows to the
milking barn. •
On the day GU William' Blake's
clearance sale, Saturday, April. 22nd,
1843, a. dog called "Bonnie", was a
very • important memberof the PO*
•Ceeedings,: At the high pitched whistles
of Neil MacCrimmon, she darted
hither and thither amongst Blake's
sheep, 'collecting or segregating the
fleece, according to the mysterious
sounds and gestures of her master.
Prom the top of a rough tow sheep
building, a ntan in a stove pipe hat and.
a frock tail coat, directed the sale, He
was more of a performer than an,
asctioneer, end strangely 'out of place
• tai I setting, like a peacock on
*',tonere pile. Obviously, he enjoyed
the 4hirelight, injecting comedy into
alt to .eattract ,bids from his
•dg i ; r :,;At,cone point, he
•bM Itontiimprompttr dance, -but'.
the lean `:of the tont swayed so
.precariously, . • Ate almost lost his
balance: The. onlookers roared. with
le►taghtetr.
TheArtmieur of the situation was lost
on William Blake, He stood on the
.iL
•
•
`et the Brunt c omeay fru ea
,inftittliiitstrie
'S ` `•"'� yell
edge of the crowd, where steaming
horses with* old blankets upon their
backs, Nvaited* patiently for their
owners to return.
• William's eyes moved beyond the
circle of humanity.and the . place
where children played hide and go
seek around the women's long skirts.
He looked across last • year's dank
brown grass, rutted and crisscrossed
by the visitor's wagon wheel marks in
the soft oozing earth. All he could see
was another spring, and the green
.years he had spent in Blake's : Folly
with his wife, Dora Today. Was .the
close of an era which began in promise
• and ended like this, in futility and
lonliness. • •
Blake had never known .real'pover-
ty.
pover-ty. The son of wealthy Empire .Loyal-
ist's, he. remembered Drily too vividly
the long journey from Georgia to
• Upper Canada. Amongst hischildhood
• memories, he. recalled the green
velvet suit :with the brass buttons,
which had been bought especially.. for
the occasion. .
The dear boy will need something
warm to wear," William's mother had
said to his father. `I have beentold it
is . sotneetimes ` chilly in Upper Can
adat" . . •
`i`h� tt�+oghout his life, Blake had•been.
• oblivious to the imported poverty from
a hungry Europe. One can never fully
understand a bitteinesi and despair
they have. never 'expeerieenced. The
boyhood days in 'Richmond Hill were
. ,never marred by the fear sofa poor
Jut ''rest, or the backbreaking neces-
sity to survive.. Gold, it seemed, could
buy .ail the material things which
William Blake desired, but it could not
buy back .the life of his Dora. •
With sortie feelings of envy, Blake's
eyes returned to the sate scene and
settled on MacCrimmon, This was the
last day in which Neil; would be • his
hired hand, They were strange people,
these Highlanders, Blake thought;
and they seemed to thrive upon
hardships.It was as if, from. out of the
depths of cruelty, exile and depriva-
tion, emerged their strong and
previous flower of courage..
Their music challenged danger from
all quarters and they knew, only on/
road - the road which lay ahead! Blake •
had grown accustomed to the music of
MaecCrimmon's pipes drifting over his
land. When he was far away in his
native Georgia, it would be a sound he
would miss . the most an echo of
RichntendHill. •
Long after thecrowds had eispersed
and the reckonings with the auctioneer
had been completed, Blake' 'lingered
around his empty:. buildings, All that
was left was a team of horses, a wee rr
and seven young sheep 'whic a had
given to MacCrimmon as a parting
gift, , •
There was a fine rain falling as he
male his way to MacCrimmon's cab*
to slay his last goodbye. When, the light
front the opened doorway fell .upon his
figure, it was as if his clothes sparkled
with natural gems. , '
" We have comer to the parting ?lb!:
f the
ways, MaecCrimmon. I' must go back
from, whence 1 came and . you? You
must, it seems, go .on, to a place .you.
havenever known!":•
Hee took Neil's hand, but turned his
head away,. so that MacCrinimon.
'would not see the sadness in his old
eyes. The Highlanders; Blake knew
too well, had little time for tears.
"III have you know, it's been
mighty fine heaving y'all. Yess. Sir.
Mr.." MacCrimmon; mighty fine!"
•
-y p
Mala Conn•Armst ror►g.
1 Sia
elt
complainers
upiltubluothaugh, is exactly
• what has unused •so much heartache
now. More .Canadian farmers went
bankrupt last year than at any other
time since the great Depression,
Analysts are suggesting that 1982 may
be even worse,
Although figures are difficult to get,
the . federal: superintendent of bank-
ruptcy reports • that 261 Canadian
farmers .went broke last year; more
than twice as many ,as in 1979.
The failures occurred right across
the country in alt 10 provinces but 140
went . broke in Ontario alone. As
suggested, it is difficult . to get
accurate figures because the federal •
superintendent of bankruptcy natural-
ly does not have figures on foreeclos-
ures or liquidations. Therefore, the
statistics are deceiving.
215 Bayfield Road, r,
Goderich, Ont. N7A 304
March 2, 1982.
Dear Maudie,
Received your letter of Jamboree '83 some time ago and
set it aside. Possibly i am not too late fora ticket, if so please
keep the money as a donation.
Ill trust be inteereesting to receive letters from families who
at one time were residents of Luckttow. Set in the valley.
amougat the hills, it a very pretty setting for Lucknovir, All
seasons give it a charm of its own, with white snow tet the
colourful leaves on the trees,
Hoping to be abler to attend the Jamboree and ,Wish you
luck in, planning all your events.
'yours truly,
Myrtle May Johnstone..
Correction
In a letter to the editor in last 'week's Sentinel, thanking
canvassers for their effort in the annual CNIB canvass it
was ' t correctiy repotted that the St. Augustine CWL
collected *28) when in fact they colleted 8270. We
apologize for any inconvenience caused 4 this error.
No matter what the figure, the
question is why? Why are tough
economic times .hitting farmers hard-
er. apparently, than any other sector
of the economy? \
Because of the optimisrn. In the late
1960s and through the 1970s, that
optimism was rampant. Partners were
able to get financial backing because
land values soared. They built addi-
tions. They modernized, They bought .
bigger and better machines. Their
debt load skyrorketeed • because they
figured the good • times . would con-
tinue. .•
Bankers and tither lending institu-
tions were just as optimistic. Debts
rose from about $4.42 billion to $14.04
billion in 10 years. But nobody was too
worried, The land values went up and
the lending institutions felt comfort-
able because agricultural assets con-
tinued to rise,
Interest rates soared. 'Prices for
farm products plummeted. I'm of the
opinion that few bankers in this
country were : able to predict the
unprecedented costof money. :1 don't
think any of them thought rates would
go as high as they have.
At least, none i have talked to in
recent week were' predicting the
increase,. The bubble burst in late
1980. Bankers, farmers, grain hand-
lers, tractor and other implement
manufacturers were in . serious
'trouble. ,
The cost -price squeeze - the cost of
staying in business and the end ° price
for the products - forced people out of
business, •Farmers couldno longer pay
their debts.
Well, who is to 'blame?:
Farmers were over -confident. The
big -is -always -better idea was fostered
by the lending institutions. The blame
rests with both sides.
Some lending institutions are simp-
ly walking away from it. They have
adopted the philosophy that it is going
to be a natural. thee -strong -survive -the
-weak-will-perish attitude. .
But 'othersare willing to step into
the breech and help . solve the prob-
lems. Leadership has 'fallen to the •
senior governments and the farmer -
run organizations such as the federa-
tions of agriculture.
Saskatchewan has passed legisla-
tion to halt foreclosures this year. In
Ontario, a federation -led program.,
resulted in a Se60-million program to
help farmers. , especially , those who
need help on a short-term basis,
The federal government will provide •
last-minute assistance . to a farmer
through Small Business Bonds.
Alberta. Ontario and Saskatchewan
arc prepared to give grants based on
the number of cekttle sold in an attempt
to prevent the red -meat industry in •
thisocountry from going the way of the
dodo bird. '
i They are all necessary plans but not •
,enough. Until this entire nation comes
to the realization that agriculture and
the family farm is worth' preserving.
any programs -will be too little too late.
Agriculture must survive, No nation
in the world can survive on' empty
stomachs.' Until everybody in Canada
realizes that farmers must be kept in
business no matter what the cost,
those .focclosures will +continue..
Although eternal optimists, farmers
will, continue to complain until they are
given the assurance f torn the test of
this country that they are,peeeded and
wanted,