HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1983-06-15, Page 6editorial page
Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, June 15, 1983—Page 6
LUCKNL»_SENTINEL
"The Sepoy Town" Established 1873
THOMAS A. THOMPSON - Advertising Manager
SHARON J. DIETZ - Editor
PAT LIVINGSTON - Office Manager
JOAN HELM - Compositor
MERLE ELLIOTT - 'Typesetter
Business and Editorial Office Telephone 528-2822
Mailing Address P.O. Box 400, Lucknow, NOG 2H0
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0847
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New Tory leader:
our next prime minister?
The Tories have elected Montreal lawyer Brian Mulroney
to lead them into the next election following their leadership
convention in Ottawa on the weekend. The Mulroney win
ends the seven year tenure of Joe Clark whose leadership
over a quarrelsome party was at best controversial.
The federal Conservative party is a party divided within
itself. Clark's campaign pledge seven years ago was to unite
the party. He never commanded the support or loyalty of a
large enough majority within the party to achieve his goal.
He handed the party over to a man who comes from that part
of Canada, Quebec, where Joe never enjoyed support.
Brian Mulroney, the man from Baie Comeau on the north
shores of the St. Lawrence River, has never been elected to
public office. Following law school, he found his niche in
labour relations with the blue ribbon Montreal law firm of
Ogilvy, Cope where colleagues remember him as a glutton
for work, a lawyer who prepared his cases with meticulous
care and had a commanding courtroom presence.
In 1974 he served on a royal commission inquiry into the
exercise of union freedom in the construction industry in the
province of Quebec. Premier Robert Bourassa, anxious to
wash himself of rumors of government collusion, persuaded
the late judge Robert Cliche, former Quebec head of the new
Democratic Party and a respected public figure to head the
royal commission. Mulroney reflected the management
viewpoint on the commission.
After his defeat in 1975, he accepted the position of
vice-president with Iron Ore Co. where he later became
president in 1977. He retired from this position to run for the
leadership this time.
Mulroney's working class, North Shore origins, his
bilingualism, his reputation as a labor relations lawyer and
his smooth ways with the media made him ideal for the job
of Iron Ore president.
The closure of the Schefferville mine could have dug
Mulroney's political grave but he prepared his appearance,
before the Quebec National Assembly which sat in
Schefferville last February to examine the reasons for the
mine shutdown and to seek solutions for the town's future,
so meticulously, he was able to transform it into a plus for
his leadership campaign.
Brian Mulroney has never sat in the House of Commons
but the skills and characteristics he brings to the job of Tory
leader should make him a presence in the chamber, a strong
leader which should command the loyalty and support of his
party.
The Tories are notorious for humiliating their leaders in
public. Surely now that they have elected a French-Canad-
ian from Quebec as their leader, a man who has excellent
credentials for the position, they will unite behind him.
With the Liberals bottoming out on the opinion polls, who
knows, the Conservatives may have chosen the next prime
minister of Canada.
Do you know this Lucimow woman? We'll give
She's the wife of a Lucknow business man.
Sentinel, 528-2822 with your guess.
you a hint.
Phone the
Recognize any of these bathing beauties? If you do, phone the Sentinel at 528-2822.
letters to the editor
June 8, 1983.
To the Editor:
Your editorial in today's Sentinel
states: "The jet did not have....fire
extinguishers in its lavatory..."
In am enclosing a clipping from the
Toronto Star, June 6, 1983, explaining
the type and positioning of the fire
extinguishers which were located in
the lavatory.
Please check your sources.
Yours truly,
Wendy Gerster.
Editor's note: The editorial used Air
Canada's Brock Stewart who was
referred to in a Toronto., Star story
June 4 as its source. "The jet didn't
have smoke detectors or fire extin-
guishers in its lavatory because
they're not required by the Federal
Aviation Administration (FAA), Air
Canada's Brock Stewart said. Spokes-
men for Transport Canada and Air
Canada said their aircraft adhere to
U.S. standards and do not go beyond
them."
The June 6 story in The Star quotes
Donald Engen, the United States
National Transportation Safety Board
members conducting the investigation
into the fire.
Apparently the sources conflict in
this instance.
To the Editor:
My wife and I spent a couple of days
last week in Lucknow and the Lochalsh
area. 1 wanted to see where my roots
were.
My grandmother, Margaret Mathe-
son McKenzie, wa\ born May 24,
1853, in Lucknow. She and my grand-
father, Dougal McKenzie, born Dec-
ember 15. 1847, were married in Loch-
alsh. 1 understand that they raised a
family there, before moving to Alp-
ena, Michigan, where they had more
children and lived until their deaths.
deaths.
My father, Murdock MacKenzie,
one of their younger children, was
born in Alpena, as I was.
My great aunt, Annie McKenzie
Beaton (1842-1905) spent her whole
life in your area. I would, be interested
in hearing from any friends or rela-
tives that know anything about these
people.
Sincerely,
Dougall MacKenzie
P.O. Box 3360
Pontiac, Michigan.
48059
June 13, 1983.
To .the Editor:
The Canadian Cancer Society can-
vass for funds has been completed in
Ashfield Township with a total of
$1768.33 being collected.
Team Captains were: Ken Scott,
Rita Tigert, Eileen Wilson and Rita
Howard.
Canvassers were: Helen Nicholson,
Helen Stothers, Mrs. Robert Irvin,
Mrs. C. Purdon, E. C. Bowers, Kathy
Olson, Judith Kerr, Ken Scott,
Yvonne Dougherty, Denise Dalton,
Darlene Bower, Ron Hodges, Gary
Nicholson, Rita Tigert, Elaine Collins,
Linda Bowler, Cyril Austin, Anita
Frayne, Elizabeth Wilkins, Katherine
Metzger, and Mrs. J. C. Drennan.
Mr. M. Farnsworth of the Goderich
Unit has extended his thanks to
captains, canvassers and contributors
for their fine response in Ashfield
Township.
Rita Howard.
R. 7, Lucknow,
Board chairman defends action
To the Editor:
Regarding your June 1 article
entitled "Bargaining in Bad Faith", 1
would like to take this opportunity to
set a few facts straight regarding
contract discussions between the
Bruce County Board of Education and
its secondary school teachers.
The Board's Secondary Collective
Agreement Committee has spent con-
siderable time and has participated in
numerous meetings in an attempt to
settle contract issues related to the
1982-83 school year. The Board has
previously advised the teachers' nego-
tiating .team of its final position
regarding this contract, which includ-
ed salary increases of 9 per cent,
which have been implemented by the
Board without the formal approval of
the teachers, and other changes
mutually agreed to prior to the passing
of the Inflation Restraint Act.
The teachers' negotiating team
presented revised proposals for a
1982-83 contract on May 30, which
included a request of a somewhat
redundant nature to lower the pupil --
teacher ratio by adding additional
teachers for the current year which is
now in its final operating month. It
appears that such an impractical re-
quest was solely to establish a new
standard from which to negotiate for
subsequent contracts.
A request for the Board to release
one full-time teacher from normal
duties to perform teacher federation
business was also made. Although the
Board would pay and subsequently be
reimbursed for this teacher's salary
and benefits, the Board's Collective
Agreement Committee was not in
favour of the proposal. We felt that the
teacher's federation could employ
such a person directly if the personnel
function was considered necessary by
them and we would be prepared to
release such person from a teaching
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