HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-06-10, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10,1992.
The Other Side
By Keith Roulston
Recession?
What recession?
If you have enough money and
security to survive it, there’s noth
ing wrong with a good recession
now and then, even a depression if
you're particularly well fixed.
Many of the big fortunes over the
years have been built on people
who had the financial resources to
take advantage of the bargain base
ment prices that come along in
tough times when most people are
in a difficult position. Writer Gor
don Sinclair, for instance, freely
admitted he made his money
because he invested during the
great Depression when everybody
else was bailing our of investments.
What's more, a good recession
has the added advantage of insert
ing a little "right thinking" into the
populace. Take a look, for instance,
at last week's policy reversal by the
Ontario NDP government when,
after years of fighting Sunday store
openings, it decided to pass a bill to
allow stores to open seven days a
week.
Public opinion has changed, Pre
mier Bob Rae said in explaining
why his government went against
his party's policy, and a vote by
NDP party members at a recent
convention. Indeed it has. Few
people supported wide open Sun
day shopping as late as a couple of
years ago. The bankruptcy of sever
al shopping chains, the continuing
problem of cross-border shopping,
and fears of the continuing reces
sion have all helped change atti
tudes about Sunday shopping. Big
businesses have complained loud
and long that they could compete
with the Americans or they could
E. Wawanosh school news
EDITORS: Ms. Thorpe-
Hearn’s Grade Five/Six Class
The Kindergartens are making
lots of things to do with June like
butterflies, and painted pictures.
They are reading many books but
most of the Kindergartens like
"Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible No Good, Very Bad Day,"
written by Judith Viorst and
illustrated by Ray Cruz, the best.
GRADE ONE
Mrs. Brydges’ Grade one class
had their first day of track and field
on May 29. They LOVED it!
Ryan Moran liked the running
races, Tony Dillon liked the high
jump and Amy Storozuk liked the
running long jump the best.
Everyone agreed that the worst part
of the day was that some people did
not win any ribbons.
Seven boys and girls went to
Howick Public School on
Thursday, June 4 to compete at the
Regional Track and Field
competition!
GRADE TWO
Mrs. Dodds' Grade two class
painted clowns for the School Fair
coming this Fall.
Friday, June 5, the Grade twos
went to the African Lion Safari.
Mrs. Hessels' Grade two class is
busy doing a butterfly craft.
Lately, they have been making lots
of books. Those in their classroom
who went to Howick to compete in
the Regional track and field day
were Heather Black, Kim
Frieburger, Kristyn Gerth,
Samantha Gibson, Travis Hopper,
Chris Kuntz, Kenny McCracken,
Devin Moffatt, Candace Procter
and Katie Van Camp.
GRADE THREE
save jobs, if only they could remain
open. Faced with the continuing
story of lost jobs, Ontario residents,
like the government, finally gave in
and said "let them try".
It's been a skillful campaign by
big business to gain an edge on, not
American competition, but compe
tition in their own back yard. You'll
notice it wasn't the little business
people who were pressing for the
change. They're the people who
usually staff their own shops and
will be the ones who will have to
work on Sunday if they can't afford
to hire more staff. It's the big
chains that threatened to open their
stores illegally, and finally pushed
the government into capitulating.
Take a look at the possible
results of the move and see who
has the most to gain. In days when
profit margins are either non-exis
tent or very small, it's difficult for
stores to survive if they lose even a
small portion of their business. So a
store in the city, beside a competi
tor that is going to remain open,
had better think seriously about
being open as well, even if they
don't want to.
Towns outside the larger cities
will likely be affected too if their
residents get the Sunday shopping
craze too strongly. If stores in
Kitchener and Stratford and Lon
don are open, stores in Listowel
and Goderich are likely to open. If
stores in those towns are open and
shoppers from Blyth and Brussels
start driving out of town in appre
ciable numbers, our local stores
will have a choice of staying open,
or endangering their future. Even
staying open may not help because
it will spread their business over
seven days, driving unit costs up.
Miss Mathers' Grade three class
was excited about their trip to the
African Lion Safari on Friday, June
5. They have learned how to use
division frames and now think that
it is EASY! They made bubble
letters with their Kindergarten
buddies. It was a messy exercise
but a lot of FUN! The threes have
a bulletin board full of puppets that
they made with their Grade five/six
buddies.
GRADE FOUR
Mr. Fisher's Grade four class is
finishing their books for Author's
Day on Wednesday, June 10. They
are having a bean growing contest
and learning division in Math class.
They are reading the book called
"A Journey to the Center of the
Earth."
GRADE FIVE
Mr. Kerr’s Grade five class will
be seeing "The Sound of Music" at
the Huron County Playhouse in
Grand Bend on June 12. On June
9, they went to the Children's
Festival in London to enjoy
musical performances and to learn
from many different kinds of
Jirti Qt'Q
GRADE FIVE/SIX
The class has begun working on
Fall Fair activities and also began
their Puppetry unit! They made
paper bag puppets with their Grade
three buddies, and will spend the
next few with them making sock
puppets.
Grade six has completed their
study of Mexico while Grade five
continues with their exploration of
Canada during Social Studies class.
The students reading Roald
Dahl’s "The BFG" during teacher
continued on page 16
The only people likely to gain by
the whole thing are the big business
owners who will gain more market
share at the expense of their smaller
competitors.
They’ve learned how to use a
recession well, the proprietors of
big business. Recession means a
worry about loss of jobs and that
can bring workers nicely into line.
That loss of jobs means people are
less likely to support environmental
regulations if they fear these may
result in lost jobs. In general, the
voice of big business is more likely
to be listened too in tough times
than in good times where every
body feels prosperous and secure.
Yup, there's nothing wrong with
a good recession, as long as you're
rich enough not to notice you've
had one.
When Canadians
work together we can
take on the world and win.
To succeed in today's world,
Canadians must be able to com
pete because our jobs directly
depend on it. Preparing ourselves
through training will help us to
compete and secure the prosperity
we want for ourselves and our
children.
We have to invest in ourselves
and be a country that says ...
yes we can.
This Ontario company
tured 50% of the world market
with CorelDraw, a software
graphics program for IBM and
compatibles. It exports 90% of its
products to Europe and the U.S.
and attributes Free Trade to the
fact that it can operate so success
fully from Canada, using
Canadian talent and initiative.
Yes we can.
We've got the proof.
Canadians are succeeding
every day. Many individual and
business successes exist... with real
benefits for individuals, the com
munities they live in and for
Canadian industry.
Hundreds of Canadian compa
nies are achieving remarkable
international success. They're cre
ating jobs, developing new skills
and opportunities for thousands of
Canadians and creating markets
around the world for Canadian
products.
Intent on their work
Andrew Hodge and Leanne Mullen were just two of the
pre-Kindergarten class at East Wawanosh Public School to
enjoy some creative work during story time. Last
Wednesday was the last day for the future students to
spend a morning getting familiar with the school.
The Prosperity Initiative's
Steering Group is developing a
consensus-basedplan of action to
be presented to Canadians in
September. Canadians told us
that they wanted to participate in
developing this plan of action. We
listened..
Through a series of
"Community Talks", thousands
of people in 186 communities
across Canada have contributed
their ideas. They talked about how
to address the challenges and
opportunities facing us all in the
areas of competitiveness and
learning. They talked about how
to maintain our standard of living
and secure our economic future.
They concluded that all of us have
to play a part...and the govern
ment is listening.
Yes we can.
We've got the ability
to buila on our
successes.
We have a history of working
in co-operation with others for
world-class achievements in
peacekeeping, medicine and space
exploration. Now, with business,
labour, governments, academic
and social groups working togeth
er, we can achieve prosperity
through international competitive
ness. But there is one more critical
factor: Canada's ultimate potential
depends on the commitment of
individual Canadians to being
the best.
'T had to make a decision to
change careers. 1 chose to go into
computer programming and part
of my course was on-the-job
training at BC Tel where I now
work as a programmer analyst.
Training really opened up a
promising future for me in a
fascinating industry!"
Yes we can.
We've got the people.
It's time to focus our energies
on our most important economic
challenge yet... and prepare
ourselves for a more prosperous
future.
Y?szwecan!
Canada