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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-08-12, Page 4fl '/amtn wr PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12,1992. Outside looking in...again People are happy, an author explained in a new book recently, when they have a sense they have control over their lives. People are most worried when they feel their future is out of their hands. Is it any wonder then that Canadians are so worried and cranky now when their future is being decided behind closed doors? Two sets of negotiations that could change the lives of all Canadians are taking place this week and ordinary Canadians haven't the slightest idea of what's going to come out of them until the men who are behind the closed doors decide to tell us what our future will be. In Canada, the constitutional talks continue and the agreement that was thought to have been reached is now the subject of disagreement. For a while last winter, Canadians thought they were actually going to have a say over what is going to be the future of Canada. Ordinary Canadians... well relatively ordinary Canadians... had taken part in a series of conferences across the country. They had more or less reached an agreement on how to reshape the country to accommodate the aspirations of both Quebec and the West. It was a sham, of course. Everybody knew the provincial premiers were going to have to get back into the game before it was over and everybody knew that the premiers would be dreaming and scheming on their own agenda of grabbing more power from Ottawa. Now we've got exactly that. The agreement reached between the nine premiers from English-speaking provinces has been rejected by Quebec's Robert Bourassa who refused to attend the earlier conferences. Now we have the sight of 10 premiers arguing on how all provinces can be "equal" and not equal at the same time. The rest of us wonder if we'll have a country left when it's over. Meanwhile down in Washington, Canadians are about to get a trade deal that very few people really want. The people who really want it, the people who have something to gain, are the multi-national companies who think they can get Mexico's cheap labour and Canada’s high consumer prices at the same time. Ordinary Canadians, who have suffered from a three-year-old recession that seems stubbornly unlikely to end, who have seen hundreds of thousands of jobs disappear through the earlier Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S. without seeing many of the benefits we were promised, now see an agreement that they feel endangers even more jobs. Even worse, they see the Americans, who seemed to get whatever gains there were out of the FTA, trying to rewrite the rules further... rules they have shown no interest in upholding anyway as witnessed by the constant trade harassment of Canadian pork exports, softwood lumber exports and car and beer exports. Canadians' cynicism is at such a strong level because we have political leaders who are constantly telling us they know what's better for us than we do ourselves. It's an attitude that is demonstrated by talks that are being held in secret, where once agreements are reached we'll be told we don’t have a choice but to go along. If we don't, as in Meech Lake, the fault will be ours instead of the politicians. It's got to change.—KR The aftermath of separation There’s a sad, sick game going on today in what was once Yugoslavia ... a game that should have lessons for us in Canada. Amid the civil war that's going on between Serbs, Croats and Moslems is something far worse: ethnic cleansing. It's a mild sounding term for systematic murder, torture and forced migration. The area has long been an ethnic powder keg. Now, with old Yugoslavia breaking up, the Serbs in particular are ready to make sure the issue is settled once and for all. Serbs are trying to grab more and more land from what is claimed by Bosnia and Croatia, any land where there is a considerable population of ethnic Serbs. They then are forcing the Croats and the Moslem population from that land to prevent further ethnic trouble in a new Serbia. It's hard to picture Canadians behaving so cruelly but it would be arrogant to suggest we're superior to these people. We too will have ethnic enclaves if Quebec separates. There will be English enclaves in Quebec, French elsewhere. We must fight hard to keep Canada whole. If separation does occur, we can't let this hatred happen here. — KR .Photo by Keith Roulston The pause that refreshes Looking Back Through the Years ONE YEAR AGO August 14,1991 Mr. Hugh Ives, of RR 2, Blyth and two unidentified men per­ formed a heroic rescue as they pulled Mr. Kenneth Graber, of Brussels from a flaming car wreck. By the time the Brussels Fire Department arrived the car was completely engulfed in flames. St. Ambrose Roman Catholic Church in Brussels and Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Wingham welcomed a new priest, as Father Joseph Nevett began his pastoral duties. The Brussels 1991 Mosquito soc­ cer team finished an outstanding year with a record of three wins, one tie and five losses. THREE YEARS AGO August 9,1989 Local field fires induced by dry weather kept firefighters busy. The Grey and Blyth fire departments responded to two calls within the week, while Brussels responded to five fires. A Blyth-area woman was taken to hospital after being struck from behind as she prepared to turn her car into the gas station on Queen Street in Blyth. Doreen Wilson of RR 3, Blyth was taken to Clinton Hospital where she was treated and released. FIVE YEARS AGO August 12,1987 Norman Alexander, of Londes- boro, became the first person ever to receive a Conservation Award of Distinction from the Maitland Val­ ley Conservation Authority. The new award was presented in recog­ nition of Mr. Alexander's many years of conservation work and public education in preserving the province's land and water resources. East Wawanosh farmer Murray Scott, of RR 1, Belgrave was the recipient of a Conservation Award Certificate from the Maitland Val­ ley Conservation Authority in recognition of the conservation work he has undertaken on his own property over the past number of years. Former Ontario Premier David Peterson pounded out an impromp­ tu rendition of "This Land is Your Land" on the drums of a country music group, No Notes Jug Band, at Jack Riddell's annual barbecue near Exeter. Letters THE EDITOR, Bravo for Margaret Anderson's letter in the August 5 Citizen, “Plays are the big problem at the Blyth Festival.” May I add a footnote? The recession did not prevent a capacity audience from enjoying Ted John's “Back Up and Push, or the confessions of a reformed cynic”, in the uncomfortable Garage. Jo Manning. 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