The Wingham Advance-Times, 1965-03-25, Page 9}
Separation -A Serious Threat
To people who spend practically all
of their time in central Ontario the oft
repeated threat that Quebec may demand.
separation from the rest of Canada
sounds a bit like the foolish melodrama
• of a high school play, A few hours'
conversation with the more extreme
French-Canadians, however, serves to
convince one that the threat is a fact,
and that the agitators who propose such
extreme action are in deadly earnest.
Moderate, educated people in La Belle
► Province are not proposing separation}
—indeed we have sensed a note of panic
In their voices as the agitation mounts to
new levels. The intelligent Quebecois
realize that financial catastrophe could -
easily engulf their province if it were
forced to go it alone,
The great danger in the entire situ-
ation lies not with those noisy agitators
whose voices are heard so plainly all
across the land—rather to be feared are
the thousands of uninformed younger
people who are being convinced that their
language and customs are in grave peril.
• at the hands of domineering Anglo -
Canadians like ourselves.
Crossing the Atlantic on a night flight
a few weeks ago, we had a lengthy con-
versation with a young French Canadian
mother who was flying to Germany to
join her soldier husband. The talk
ranged over several subjects, including
the rearing of children and the compara-
°
tive merits of French and English cook-
ing. We must have convinced her that
all Anglo -Canadians are not child murder-
ers, for after several hours she asked in
broken English whether it was true that
most of us in Ontario want to drive the
French Canadians out of business and out
of their homes.
This girl was reasonably well edu-
cated. She was also young and impres-
sionable and had been sold•on the story
of Anglo -Canadian duplicity and greed.
Her convictions, repeated in countless
thousands of young French Canadians
add up to a serious threat to Canadian
unity. We must accept this situation,
not as an easily -dismissed farce, but as
one of the unpleasant facts of life in this
country.
The only permanent answer, of course,
is that Canadians of both languages know
each other better ... and with a serious
barrier of language, that knowledge will
develop slowly. If French Canadians
would travel more widely in the rest of
the Dominion we are sure their attitude
would change, but it will be many years
before they will venture out, in any ap-
preciable numbers, from the shelter of
their own language area.
The alternative is for more Anglo-'
Canadians to visit Quebec, and become
acquainted with French Canadians, pref-
erably in their language. Obviously this,
too, will take time.
School Bus Problem Discussed
An interesting article in "The Torch,"
publication of the Associated Secondary
School Boards of Ontario, deals with the
problem created when motorists fails to
observe the law in regard to passing
school buses.
"In January, 1965, the Listowel Sec-
ondary School Board passed a resolution
asking the Attorney -General of the Pro-
vince of Ontario to amend the Highway
Traffic Act to provide for the prosecution
of the owner of a vehicle which fails
to stop behind a school bus. The regu-
lation at present provides for the prose-
cution of the driver. Unless, however,
the driver can be identified, or stopped
by the authorities, the infraction goes
unnoticed. Bus drivers can rarely iden-
tify such drivers of an offending vehicle
and have no opportunity to give pursuit
or summon the police. For this reason
the board is sending its resolution to
Queen's Park and to the Trustees' Council.
"It is important to note that this prob-
lem was actually initiated by the Elmira
District Secondary School Board, telling
of a recent occasion when one of its
school buses was halted with all its lights
flashing, and a car passed it on the right
hand side. The bus driver took the li-
cense number of the offending vehicle and
the incident was reported to the police,
but the board was advised that it is use-
less to take a license number when the
driver of the car cannot be identified.
"Up to a few years ago the owner of
a motor vehicle could be charged with any
violation of the Highway Traffic Act
without the driver being stopped. It was
found, however, that owners were able
to prove no liability, and the Act was
changed to have a personal summons is-
sued.
"The Association of Secondary School
Boards has always been concerned about
the problem of school buses and resolu-
tions have been discussed and sent on to
Trustees' Council from many past con-
ventions."
Ridicule Doesn't Help
For the most part we have enjoyed
and appreciated the worth of the TV Sun-
* day night program "This Hour Has Seven
Days." The producers have sought, we
believe, to start Canadians thinking about
the important issues of our times. The
actors and other participants in the show
are very clever and they have succeeded
well in their object.
o The viewing public, particularly those
who are deeply incensed by vulgarity in
TV presentations, have tended to group
the Seven Days shows with other less
meaningful programs, such as Festival.
We cannot agree that they fall into the
same category. As an example there was
considerable outcry when Seven Days put
the American Nazi leader on the air. Per-
sonally, we thought it was a commend-
able method of shocking the public into
full knowledge of the existence of such
an evil organization.
* Seven Days, however, repeatedly em-
ploys ridicule as a means of entertaining
its viewers and at times we believe that
the high purpose of the program is be-
trayed. On Sunday evening there was a
clever impersonation of Prime Minister
Pearson, as he wailed his current prob-
lems over Lucien Rivard's disappearance.
Now Lester B, Pearson is human. He
has numerous failings and shortcomings,
along with very important qualities of
leadership and decision which have served
our country well in years gone by. It is
possible that he is not the right man for
the present task—but the Canadian voters
decided that he was. A majority elected
him to his high office, and we see no
purpose whatsoever in undermining pub-
lic confidence in this man by clever par-
odies of his most worrisome problems.
We are not so concerned about what
may happen to the image of Lester Pear-
son the man, as we are about the image
of Canada's Prime Minister, whoever he
may be.
Obviously the people responsible for
This Hour Has Seven Days are very clever
and intelligent. Surely they would not
feel gratification if their derision of pub-
lic officials f.nally led to hesitation on
the part of our best representatives to
accept the offices which Seven Days so
cleverly crucifies.
It seems the fashion nowadays to be-
little and make fun of all those who are
willing to take the responsibility for gov-
ernment. The net result is a degradation
of our Parliamentary system and in the
long run it will have disastrous conse•
quences. As we have said so often be-
fore—Parliament is not perfect, but until
someone comes along with a better plan
by which free men may govern their af-
fairs, it behooves us to make sure it is
granted the respect it deserves.
THE WINGHAM ADVANCE - TIMES
Published at Wingham, Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited
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NIGHT SCHOOL STUDENTS held achievement night last
Thursday at the high school, upon completion of 21 -weeks'
courses. Exhibiting oil paintings made under instruction
of Guenther Heim are Mrs. Norman Fry, Mr. Heim, Mrs.
Marvin Winhold, Mrs. Joe Kerr and Mrs. Len Crawford.
—Photo by Cantelon.
ingbain Abbanctagetnie
Wingham, Ontario, Thursday, Mar. 25, 1965
SECOND SECTION
Letters to the Editor
BOX 390,
Advance- Times.
Dear Sir:
The Metaphysical Society
concerns itself with the varied
manifestations of psychic phen-
omena which Canadians may
have had, and is particularly
interested in extra -sensory per-
ception incidents.
Would you be so kind as to
print this letter in order that
any of your readers who have
experienced supernormal inci-
dents, and would care to tell
about them, might write to the
Society. All such letters would
receive personal replies and
would either be kept confiden-
tial or recorded in our publica-
tions, according to the writer's
preference.
Present records show that
the great majority of such stor-
ies come from " Oldtimers" ,
and we are most anxious to
capture their experiences for
posterity. As a Centennial pro-
ject the Society is preparing a
book with one story to a page,
divided in chapters of provinces,
in an effort to record this vast
untapped source of human ex-
perience in Canada.
Anyone who would like to
contribute an incident should
try to state the date and place
of the occurrence, giving as
much detail as possible. Infor-
mation on ethnic origin is also
helpful for cross reference pur-
poses, but this is entirely up to
the writer.
Yours sincerely,
J. McCann (Mrs. )
Secretary,
The Metaphysical
Society.
Everything
For the Boys
Advance- Times,
Wingham, Ontario.
Dear Editor:
Another season of hockey is
drawing to a close.' have been
keenly interested in these hoc-
key games and I wonder if the
men who spend so much time
coaching these young hockey
players would think seriously,
and see themselves sitting on
those cold, hard benches as
these young players, eagerly
and despairingly waiting for
their turn to get out there and
do their part in helping their
team along.
These youngsters enthusias-
tically gather equipment and
rtui out the door for their hoc-
key practice and put every-
thing into it. Now, when it
comes time for the games they
sit and sit and sit, and finally
by the time the game is over
they have only been out on the
ice about two or three times.
These young lads can remem-
ber, skate, stick handle --
name it, but still the first line
plays and plays itself to death.
Now, I must add these
coaches, who do a wonderful
job (and we can't do without
them, for they give generously
of their time and effort) forget
the basic reason for playing
team sports. The parents of
these children like to see their
boys take part in these sports
for physical and mental devel-
opment.
It seems to me the coaches
only think of winning these
games and this plays havoc
with the boys who are made to
sit it out and -who can never
prove themselves because they
are denied the opportunity.
I call for a new deal for our
eager little seconds.
Mother Who Knows.
Industry Backs
Car -Check Drive
The automobile, tire, oil
and automobile parts manufac-
turers will actively support Can-
ada's annual spring car -check
campaign this year. Sponsored
by the Canadian HighwaySafe-
ty Council's vehicle safety
committee, the drive will be
observed through April and
May. A similar car -check
campaign will be conducted in
the United States during May.
John Atkinson of Toronto,
general chairman of the Coun-
cil, said, "Until our provinces
and municipalities adopt legis-
lation making periodic re-ex-
amination of motor vehicles
compulsory, every car owner
must accept the responsibility
of maintaining his vehicle in
safe operating condition, If
he neglects this, he will be
held responsible for any dis-
aster resulting from a failure
in his vehicle."
Mr. Atkinson urged every
car and truck owner to have his
vehicle thoroughly examined
by expert mechanics, then cor-
rect troubles before they create
accidents.
Getn diamonds are being
dredged from the ocean bottom
near South African Shores.
SUGAR
AND SPICE
by Bill Smiley
It's Teacher's Choice
Rather an interesting time to city, and out of sheer curiosity it
says here, dropped in at the ho-
tel which is the centre of teach-
er -hiring for the coming year. It
was interesting.
My first impression was that
the whole thing was being run
by one of the metropolitan news-
papers. This enterprising sheet,
in an effort to crack the mono-
poly on the fat, luscious acreage
of teacher -advertising held by
another newspaper, had hired
half the ground floor, and was
passing out free papers, free
coffee, free interview -arranging
(whatever that is). The only
thing missing was free teachers.
Pict u r e an old-fashioned
s 1 a v e -market. New Orleans,
1855. O.K.? Now, picture a slave
market in which every slave
has the latest market report on
slave -prices tucked under his
left arm, in which every slave
has ten potential buyers, in
which every slave is free to
choose his new boss or go back
to Ole Massa.
I had an overwhelming im-
pulse to jump up on one of the
upholstered chairs and cry out,
"One English specialist; spirit
broken, but sound of wind, limb
and grammar. How much am I
offered?"
Fortunately for my profession-
al status, at that moment,
simultaneously, the bar next
door opened, and .my wife
grabbed me by the arm. She'd
seen that look in my eye.
I would like to state that I nas
admitted to the bar and began a
long and successful career as a
lawyer. But my curiosity held
the for another five minutes, to
see what was being offered.
It was fascinating. Salaries
were almost standard, across
the board. But those fringe hen-
efits...wow!
City schools sang culture: mu-
seum, art galleries, theatres, op-
era. Rural schools heralded
hunting, fishing, leisurely living.
And both signed people up, on
these grounds.
The birds who signed for the
city schools will spend all their
weekends, and most of their
money, going to the country for
swimming, fishing, skiing. And
the types who head for the coun-
try will spend most of their
weekends, and money, tearing
to town for the shows, the ballet,
the bright lights.
As I said, it's an interesting
time to be a teacher.
be a teacher. the spring. Even
before the snow has completely
gone, school boards and princi-
pals are flipping over logs and
stones, in the forlorn hope of
finding a teacher under one of
them.
There are three reasons for
the frantic spring scramble. The
first two are deaths and retire-
ments. The third, and major
cause for the panic is the popu-
lation explosion. Classrooms are
multiplying with the rapidity of
rabbits.
Every one of these classrooms
is full of kids. And the kids, like
baby robins, expect to have
something stuffed into them.
Therefore, according to tradi-
tion, there must be a body, how-
ever little it resembles a Mom-
ma Robin, standing up there in
front of the class, stuffing some-
thing — pebbles, or pearls, or
even worms — into the gaping
maws.
It is the time of year that has
principals grinning wildly at old
teachers, pouring on the charm
with potential new ones, -nap-
ping at their own wives and biff-
ing their own children about the
ears, because they've heard by
the snake -vine — that's the vine
that runs from the staffroom to
the bridge -club to the Saturday
night party to the after -church
coffee — that they're losing half
their staff.
It is the time of year that has
school board members deciding
to take a holiday in Jamaica, or
if they can't afford it, going to
bed with the 'flu. On the one
hand are the taxpayers, shout-
ing that school taxes are away
out of hand. And on the other
hand are other tax -payers, de-
claring that the board must hire
the best possible teachers.
And in between are the teach-
ers, with 10,000 jobs open to
them, every one, at first glance,
better than their present one.
Last weekend I was in the
MEDICAL SHORTAGES
Afghanistan has less than
400 doctors, 300 nurses and
three dentists for a population
of over 12, 000, 000. Canadian
and American doctors and
nurses sent by MEDICO, a ser-
vice of CARE, are helping to
treat the sick and train local
personnel for future service,