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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-08-16, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 1989. NDP delegates Four peoplewill betheNDPdelegatesfrom Huron-Bruceat the convention in Winnipeg starting November 30. This year the NDP’s will be selecting a replacement for Ed Broadbent. The delegates are: (seated) Ben Barnes the Youth candidate, and Tony McQuail, (standing) Keith Cleveland and Fran McQuail. The delegates were selected at a meeting at Mr. McQuail’s home on Sunday. Walton Compiled by Mrs. Betty McCall. Phone 887-6677 Walton Squirt ball tournament this weekend The Walton Area Sports Com­ mittee met at the library on Wednesday evening for their mon­ thly meeting with all members present. Plans were made for the boys WaLton girls win Tri-county title The Walton Mites Girls were the “B” Champs at the Tournament in Brussels last Saturday. They play­ ed three games winning the final game against Monkton. They were Squirts win The Walton Squirt Girls won over Seaforth last week, they will break the tie this Tuesday evening at the Walton Park. People visit Mr. Derek Deane of Barry visited recently with Ray and Margery Huether. Rae McClure has returned home to Foresburg, Alberta after a three week holiday with relatives in this area and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey McClure in Seaforth. Squirt Tournament coming up this weekend. There will be four teams participating with the first game starting Friday evening at 7 p.m. and runs into Saturday, first game at 9 a.m. presented the Tri County Cham­ pionship of the Minor Ball Associ­ ation. Their coaches are Jo-Ann McDonald, Carol Humphries and assistant Peggy Humphries. Con­ gratulations Girls! UNICEF offers a wonderful selection of gifts & games year-round just for children. unicef O Comparing 2 countries BY RAYMOND CANON One of the questions I get asked most frequently is what one coun­ try is like in comparison to another. This is not an easy question to answer as you might well imagine in that the basis for comparison is a tenuous one at best. However, I am going to try to do just that and, if the results are less than perfect, at least you will have a rough idea, if only a partially subjective one. Not surprisingly, the country I know best in Europe is Switzerland and, since it and Canada have about the same standard of living, a comparison is not as hard as if I were doing something on, say, Zaire. Switzerland also has more than one official language as does Canada and its government is, if anything, even more decentralized than Canada’s. Anyway, here goes! Even though Switzerland’s popu­ lation is considerably smaller than Canada’s, there is no doubt what­ soever that, as far as living space is concerned, we would win hands down over the Swiss. This is actually one of the things I like best about Canada; there is lots of space to live and travel. Towns and villages are not located so closely together; there is more space on the roads; the stores are bigger and hence less crowded. I would ima­ EASY COME - EASY GO BLYTH - 523-4792 OR BRUSSELS - 887-9114 HAS FAX Yes, a complete Facsimile Transfer Service is now available through The Citizen newspaper. You can now send or receive maps, photographs, financial statements, graphs, documents of any description right from either of our offices and it’s completely confidential. EASY COME - if you want to receive a document just give your client our Fax Number: BRUSSELS BLYTH FAX FAX 887-9021 523-9140 and we’ll receive your incoming message anytime, 24 hours a day at a cost of $1.00 per sheet. EASY GO - if you are sending out documents just bring it to us with your associate’sfaxnumberandsecondslater it will be there. Cross Canada rates $4.00 for first sheet sent and $1.00 per sheet thereafter. Overseas rates $7.50 for the first 3 minutes and $1.50 per additional minute. —GOT THE MESSAGE?— gine that it would not only be the Swiss who would like our space but almost any immigrant. We are without a doubt one of the great wide-open spaces in the world. The shoe is on the other foot when it comes to service. There is far more indifference here than in Switzerland on the part of clerks, waitresses, and the like. I really enjoy being waited on over there; here there are, of course, good and bad but in between far too much indifference. I wonder when we are going to learn to get our act together. The transportation system is certainly much better there than here but this may be an unfair comparison in that there is so much more space to service here than there. In Switzerland any town of any size has good train service with buses thrown in for good measure. I would say, however, that the transportation system of Metropoli­ tan Toronto is as good as any I have found in Swiss cities. This has to be a plus since Toronto is considerably larger than either Zurich or Gen­ eva. Because of our large-scale immi­ gration, Canada is without a doubt much more cosmopolitan than a Swiss city with the exception, perhaps, of Geneva. The variety brought about by our ethnic mix is much more attractive than what one finds in Switzerland but again the Swiss are not alone in this; most countries simply do not have the approach to immigration that we do. That is understandably a complicated subject for there are good reasons why any country chooses a specific immigration policy. There is no hesitation on my part in stating that the Swiss take a more active interest in government than do Canadians. They have to; there is a thing called a national referendum which takes place peri­ odically on any number of topics; these must be voted on and the decision of the voters is binding, not just vague guidelines which may or may not be carried out. Both countries have government scandals: I could tell you of a couple of beauties so neither country can claim to be politically more virtuous than the other. On military service the Swiss win hands down. Every male has to do such service from the time he is 18 years old to the extent that there is a frequently heard statement that Switzerland doesn’t have an army; it is an army. They are all allowed to take their rifle home with them; the only country in which this is done, I believe, and it goes without saying, that there is none of the cavalier attitude toward military affairs that one so often encounters here. Contrary to popular belief, the different linguistic groups do not live in utter harmony. The French Swiss have their complaints just as the French Canadians do here. A short while ago, part of the mainly German-speaking canton of Berne broke away to form a French- speaking canton because they claimed they were getting the short end of the stick far too often. In Switzerland far more German- Continued on page 19