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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-12-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1989. So much for good will At a time of peace on earth, goodwill toward men, local politicians have been making a gratuitous cheap shot against understanding between Canada’s two founding peoples. With little fanfare, often with little discussion, many councils such as the Huron County Council have been voting to support a resolution from the City of Orillia opposing Bill 8, the provincial government’s bill that gives more government services to those Ontarians who speak French, where numbers warrant it. The French Language Services Act, the Orillia resolution says, causes non-Francophone speaking Canadians to lose some jobs now and many more in the future. The resolution passed without a single comment at the Huron County Council session on Dec. 7. Perhaps we should be glad that we didn’t have to listen to the rather limp excuses for the support of such a resolution but if there really is a reason to support it in Huron county, someone should have explained it. The province’s bill lays down clear regulations as to when government services must be provided in French. Under those rules it’s abundantly obvious that Huron county will never have to worry about providing French services unless there’s a major influx of people who speak French. What the new bill has done, however, is trigger a lot of knee-jerk, misinformed paranoia of the kind that says French is being “crammed down our throats’’. If the government were proposing that we in Huron county had to provide French language services for the miniscule portion of the population that speaks French, Huron County Councillors would have some right to have supported the anti-French Orillia resolution. In supporting this resolution, however, without ever giving reasons, they are representing all the people of Huron County as being against giving those who speak French the right to have their government services in their native language where numbers warrant it. They have put all of us, whether we like it or not, in the camp with the paranoid crazies who think there’s some kind of plot for the French to take over the country. Supporting this resolution can gain nothing. It can only be one more cheap shot against goodwill in the country. Legislated recession? For a government that promised good days ahead with a pro-business agenda, the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney seems to be doing its darndest to topple the country into a recession that will hurt everyone. Already this Christmas retailers are finding a huge slowing of consumer spending. Jobs are being lost all across the country that may or may not be as a result of the Free Trade Agreement. The proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) is creating a psychological climate that is scaring consumers and businesses into pulling back in their future plans. And the government’s high interest rate policy, designed to slow inflation mostly in the Toronto region, is slowing investment all across the country. The publishing industry, contributing books, magazines, and newspapers to make up part of our national identity, is an example of an industry that is suddenly looking at the future with uncertainty because of federal government policies. Publishers were already trying to figure out the impact of a major change in government policy when the government decided the GST would apply to books, newspapers and magazines. It had been an article of all governments for decades that reading should be untaxed because people should be encouraged to read and be informed. But the government changed that policy when it said therewouldbenoexemptiononreading material when the new tax is introduced. The change won’t endanger some of the giants of the industry, the corporations that own huge portions of the newspaper, magazine and book publishing industries but it may drive many small publishers out ofbusiness or into the arms of the giant chains, as they try to cope with increased costs imposed by the government without any benefit to themselves. While publishers were still digesting that difficult news, they received yet another blow last week when the government announced a reduction to postal subsidies that have been in place for a century to try to encourage people to publish and other people to read. The subsidies, for instance, helped people get books at a reasonable cost even if they weren’t near a book store. They helped Canada have a magazine industry that told the Canadian story instead of just importing American magazines with American views. (The government proposes other subsidies to come but no details have been released). One of the fears of people in this business at the time of the Free Trade debate was that our government would cave in to American pressure and withdraw that support that gave us so many books and magazines that made this a much more interesting country than it -vasin the days we imported nearly all our reading material. It seems the government didn’thavetowait for American pressure. It’s doing its best to scuttle cultural industries all by itself. P.O Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 Freeze up 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 Soc­ iety. Since not just everyone can partake ofthese deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Well, said Tim O’Grady, if the rumours are true and Michael Wilson drops the sales tax from nine to seven per cent, he can play Scrooge and Santa all at the same time. He can be taking seven per cent away from us but because we’re going to get a two per cent better break than we thought, we feel as good as if Santa had just patted us on the head and promised us a very good Christmas. It’s sort of like those pre-Christ- mas sales some stores are having, Julia Flint said. Thev offer you 25 per cent off but the price is still so high you wonder how much they marked it up before they marked it down. TUESDAY: Hank Stokes was com­ plaining about the price of gas, how it can go up and down within a couple of miles down the road and how one day it’s up and the next day it’s down at the same station. ‘It’s getting so you can hardly afford to drive your car,’’ Hank said, ‘ 1 had to pull in for gas in one place in Kitchener on Saturday and I thought I was going to have to sell Continued on page 23 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19 OO/yr. ($40 00 Foreign) Advertising is accepted on 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, 4 p m - 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. 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