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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-11-04, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1992. Saying no to fear One of the positive happenings in the results of the constitutional referendum last week was the rejections of fear-mongering by the Canadian electorate. In fact, the turning point of the referendum debate may have been Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's ill-advised tearing up of the Charlottetown accord in front of a Quebec audience mid-way through the campaign. Like his "roll the dice" comment during the Meech Lake debate, it proved one of those events that stood out in people's minds and symbolized why they shouldn't vote for what he believed. The Prime Minister wasn't alone in his use of fear to try to frighten people into supporting the constitutional amendments. The business community too tried to scare people with dire predictions of what might happen if the proposals were rejected. Perhaps those predictions may come true in the long run, but the reduction in interest rates and climb of the dollar the day after the referendum, the exact opposite to what the business community has predicted, helped ensure people will be less inclined to accept fear as a reason to support a government (and business) policy in the future. And that's a good thing. Too often fear has been used as a weapon against our own people. The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was sold by the government and business, not on the basis of the positives it would bring, but on fear for how Canada might be penalized by the Americans if we didn't go along (while opponents sold the fear of what might happen if we did). After months of pounding by the Prime Minister and big business leaders, the Canadian people caved in to fear in 1988 and re-elected Prime Minister Mulroney's government. In Quebec, fear has been used to frighten Quebecers out of supporting separation while in the rest of Canada, fear of Quebec's separation and the consequences for the rest of the country have been used to win support for changes in the constitution in the past. It's time now for politicians to grasp a revolutionary concept: people want positives for a change. We have had so much bad news for so long that Canadians will support a leader who can come out with a positive image of what we can be, not a frightening picture of how bad things can be. If politicians learn to stop using fear-mongering, the result of the referendum could in the long run be positive ... in more than one way. —KR The cost of leadership Maurice Strong got a new job last week as head of financially- plagued Ontario Hydro. He got a new salary too: a rate of $425,000 a year. Donald Lander, president of Canada Post Corporation makes a salary of $260,000 a year... with a performance bonus that can bring his salary to $312,000. The similarities? Both men head companies that are owned by you the public and are in constant financial danger. Canada Post lost money last year. Ontario Hydro customers face huge rate increases in the next few years because of the financial plight of the huge utility. Under the circumstances, are they worth their salaries? Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-PotExecutive salaries in recent years have taken on at a rate that can rival even baseball players' salaries. The salaries of upper-level private enterprise companies have spiralled, even as the performance of many of those companies has declined. Few major companies have reported profits in the last couple of year of recession and restructuring yet most executives have had salary increases, even as low-level workers have been laid off to cut costs. Even executives who get fired because their companies are floundering (like General Motors) get tremendous "golden parachutes" when they leave. Get to the top in the business world, and you can't lose. Those booming salaries have created an inflated "market value" for top executives. Why should a Maurice Strong head Ontario Hydro at a bargain-basement price of $200,000 a year, for instance, when he might have gone to a private firm instead at a half-million a year? At $425,000 a year Ontario residents are actually getting a bargain, if they only look at it in the right frame of mind. So Donald Lander managed to alienate his workers, many of his customers and a good-sized portion of the public he's supposed to serve, and Canada Post lost $128 million last year . . . remember he could probably get twice as much money losing money for some private corporation so we should be grateful. If you want qualified people, so the market-place idea goes, you have to pay them what they’re worth. One has to wonder, however, if any of these leaders can really provide unique leadership to be worth what they're being paid. Would the company go on even if a less expensive leader were hired?—KR Looking Back Through the Years ONE YEAR AGO November 6,1991 After years of complaints, wor­ ried Brussels parents got their way when village council voted unani­ mously to hire two crossing guards to guide children across busy inter­ sections. Halloween vandalism cost Brus­ sels taxpayers close to $2000 for repairs to damage plus the extra wages of town firemen and work crews who had to patrol the streets, putting out fires in leaves and bales of straw and replacing street signs tom down. The Belgrave Novices got their season off to a good start as they defeated the Goderich 1 team 6-1. For the 21st consecutive year the George Menzies Endowment Fund provided substantial cash awards to each graduate of the Brussels Pub­ lic School who has gone directly into post-secondary education from high school. Recipients were Jason Gropp, Dawn Engel, Lisa Penning­ ton, Shirley Ann Bridge, Janice Heise, Shawn Jacklin and Andrew McCutcheon. Ruth and David Webster were the winners of the trip for two to the Valhalla Inn, Kitchener in the suitcase dance held by the Blyth Rutabaga Festival Committee. THREE YEARS AGO November 1,1989 Skating duo Kevin Wheeler and Michelle Menzies received the bronze medal at the SunLife Skate Canada International competition Continued on page 5 C itizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429,P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont.BRUSSELS, Ont.Publisher, Keith Roulston N0M1H0 NOG 1 HO Editor, Bonnie Gropp Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Sales Representatives, FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil and Merle Gunby The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.) for local; $31.03/year ($29.00 plus $2.03 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Ustowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $60.00/year for U.S.A, and 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 © Copywright. 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