Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-07-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 1989. Opinion Free trade but not free passage Antonia Barton had a nice vacation all planned with her eight-year-old grandson until she was about to board a plane at Toronto for San Francisco last week. Then she learned she couldn’t get into the U.S. because the 69-year-old might be a danger to the United States. Mrs. Barton was barred from entering the U.S. because she truthfully answered a question put to her by immigration authorities. Asked if she had ever been a member of the Communist party, the former Hungarian who has lived in Quebec for 17 years said yes. In order to get a good job in Hungary you had to be a member of the communist party, she explained. An American official said that it is a U. S. government statute that a person belonging to the communist party by definition advocates the violent overthrow of the United States. Mrs. Barton finds herself in good company, of course. Some of the most respected Canadians such as author Farley Mowatt have been refused admittance to the United States at one time or another because they’ve been judged dangerous subversives. It’s ironic that at a time when the U.S. has signed a free trade agreement with Canada and is advocating one with Mexico to let goods and money flow back and forth across borders unrestricted, there is still so much worry about the movement of people. It’s ironic that while the U.S. deplores the restrictions of communist countries on the movement of their citizens, the world’s most powerful democracy should be worried about the possibility a 69-year-old grandmother could overthrow the country. Surely if a country can applaud the free flow of money and material goods itcan withstand the free flow of ideas. Even if Mrs. Barton was still a card-carrying communist it seems likely the world’s most powerful nation could withstand her attempts to subvert the government. As the U.S. this week celebrates its 213th birthday surely it’s beyond such petty fears. Off the rails The city newspapers and radio and television stations are filled with anguished cries these days about the likely death of VIA passenger service but for those of us that long ago lost not only our passenger service but our railways as well, it’s hard to have a lot of sympathy. Railway officials and politicians have once again discovered the power of the old political manoeuvre of dividing and conquering. When rail service was abandoned in many of the country’s smaller towns, the city press just took it as part of the natural process that would see all good things move to the city and rural areas be left as places to provide food and recreation for city dwellers. Now it’s their turn, but because most of the country has already suffered the same fate, few can shed tears for the citydwellers who are about to lose their trains. Perhaps it’s wrong for us to sit back and not join the fight. While rail passenger service tosmallercentres in southern Canada could not be expected to pay, a modern efficient rail passenger service for the more heavily populated areas of Canada has never been given a fair chance. The money was never there for better equipment to speed travellers more comfortably, more reliably to their destinations. CN and CP continued to own the tracks and made VIA pay a heavy price for using the track without providing the kind of roadbed needed to high-speed travel. In short, VIA looks like a put-up job: a company put together to prove once and for all that rail passenger service won’t work. For those of us who couldn’t use the rail service anyway, little would seem to be lost but perhaps there is more to it than meets the eye. Yes, we may save some tax dollars in not having to subsidize VIA anymore but what might the cost be. For those of us who drive to Toronto, for instance, what will be the effect of having those extra cars on the roads do to traffic congestion. How much extra will it cost us to maintain the highways? And will lives perhaps be lost because there are more cars on the road leading to greater potential for fatal accidents. Those things can’t be measured, not like government deficits. They’ll never be entered onto the balance sheet of whether VIA should go or stay. Patterns Mabel’s Grill 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 Filibustering So­ ciety. MONDAY: Ah the patriotism of Canadians, Tim O’Grady was say­ ing this morning. While other countries have huge birthday cele­ brations on their country’s birth­ day, Canadian businesses complain because the holiday falls on a Saturday and it will mean losing a big shopping day. In other coun­ tries when they talk about paying the supreme sacrifice for your country they mean fighting to the death. In Canada they mean losing a good shopping day. TUESDAY: Billie Bean was saying that watching the Ballard family battle it out in court brings back memories of one tradition of the good old days for the Toronto Maple Leafs when Con Smythe ran the team and they actually won games. “But I think when Con talked about having to ‘beat 'em in the alleys, he was talking about the players, not the owner’s family.’’ WEDNESDAY: Julia Flint was saying we always seem to get the wrong guys running for office and have the right guys sitting on the sideline. She was pointing to a story in the paper where Stephen Lewis has turned down yet another invitation to run for the NDP leadership. “Is there some way we can make this guy prime minister right away?” she wondered. “I mean if he had sense enough not to lead the NDP he has to be smart enough to run the country.” “Yeh,” said Ward Black, “the only thing that would prove him smarter is if he turned down the Liberal leadership too.” THURSDAY: Hank Stokes was Continued on page 5 The Citizen. P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $17.C>O/yr ($38 00 Foreign) Advertising isacceptedon the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited Advertising Deadlines Monday, 2 p m - Brussels, Monday, 4pm - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968