HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1984-02-08, Page 6tOelMoir Sentinel
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Wadneaday, FOISMmy' St 198#'4,014e.
It's d ,, ult:notto.become even.nore.
at then?Ay
business'
at Queen's
' Mara Lalo
e haughty
wa andthe.
-- idly any
res
€aft
kcal when=you loot
w U t�h}e� cy■opunjtjry�,9's
7,.ativ ,hnc4e'le af[aias •li
ed' Finance• Ministear:
attempt to slander
t � ►yt> singinformation from
-lett nt to bei uliiiri ;leader of the=federal
a Tint srl'"blithnue to rantand rave
s .l?ime .Minister. Pierre Trudeau-,returns
n. to Eastern Europeand announces he
ll,Fcbi accept Lalonde's resignation .
one wonders why the Tories Waste.. their breath. The
allthe b .
federal liberals of breach ,t fgQ�a � *$ y Safi `to
promise no o impose wage and price controls in the 1974
election ca n Since that time they have continueec4 y'to
1 J i .M'Yy"Li �.+aiVf ...
frautttr the public st for the` sake of their own self interes 4
iOn beet one;long . each of trust. The origin-
al tee Paper de aid no legislation was contemplated to •, h
make aageneral Use of Mettle mandatory. Indeed legislation
was net contemplated; Ever;.since .the governmentC'has made
metric mandatory through .Orders -in -Conned.
The government's, Six and Five program began. with ,.a
breach of contact All collective bargaining 'within the civil
serviee, was suspended for the program's two year .period
Just last week Energy Minister Jean Cretian announced in
the! House;of Commons that the : just' under one cent a litre
collectedeach .,.time you fill up. at thelgas:pump is not going, as
promised, to finance an increase of public. ownership in they:
energy sector .The money. will: now be used for "other
purPeses: n government". TO cover the'budget deficit, to bail
out lV tislin Trucial)* or for any Other purpose the politicians•
happen to fancy: x ;,
° The Conservatives in Ontariod believe they have, a divine
right tri rule handed' down from . on high:' Why should ' the
members of the' commission to' study a proposed site for the
dome stadium be paid : their fat wages to submit a proposal
whin%. will close; lde Havilland and put 3,000 'people out' of
work. Why should the taapajiers ,of Ontariopay for a study
which did not even take into consideration an : industry
situated .across" the road. The ` commission neverk. even
consulted De Havilland. What kind of planning expertise is
that?
The Ontario government has been no better at keeping -
promises than their federal counterparts. Consider 'their
advocacy., of day care in the 70s when they 'built day care
centres in municipalities around the province and indicated.
they ;were firmly committed, to providing day care for
everyone who needed the service. •
Now they are saying the province has never had a policy of
universal public day :.care and the 80, -per cent ; operating
subsidy was a twisting of" the rules. 'The government is
abdicating their responsibility, handing the -financial' burden
. of the program they initiated and promoted, back to municipal.
government, while they blame : the federal government for
Pcutting transfer payments.
i As Richard Gwyn points out in his national affairs column
in The Saturday Star, government has taught Canadians to be
cynical. They are no longer either shocked or surprised to
learn a contract has been broken. Because they can get away
with it, government will continue to break any promise they
feel like.
inter eat
EDIT r'
NOTE
By Sharon Dietz
The ;outlook for 84 'is optimistic
according to the area businessmen
who attended the 1984 edition of, the
Canada Farms Show in Toronto list -
week. The response to the show was
good especially on th e Wednesday
and Thursday when attendance was
exceptional.
Farmers were not only looking
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they were seriously interested'in the
exhibits which e9uld mean a success -
fes' year.• ahead;. �, ' '
The computer exhibits were espec-
ially . interesting. There, is a' 'wide.
variety of software available for
farmers looking for farm manage-
ment systems. Computer software
has been developed for farm busi-
ness use, which allows the farmer
not only to record information, ' but.
also to analyse it and apply it to their
day to day farm management
debisions.
Lucknow's Juvenile hockey team
has been successful in defeating
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Teeswatier for the first time in, three
years to take the OAA. champion-
ship The, Juvenilealnow .enter'their
(_
quarter 'final aeries' with Erin and it-•
looks= as: though this year's Lucknow
`hockey season could -stretch to all
,. -Ontario.. finals. The' prospects are
there for the Midget 'team Which has
had a consistent year. The Bantams
and the Atoms also have good
Chances for playoff action. Some of
the best hockey tin. Canada is played
in the Lucknow Arena so get out and
support our minor hockey players,
Come watch playoff action at its
best!
one foot in the furrow
Few people would agree that the present
recession in Canada has been worse than the
Great Depression of the Dirty Thirties.
Employment is high now but not as high
as it was in 1935. Bread lines are long but
not as long as they were in 1936. Bankrupt-
cies have increased across the nation but
fewer people are going broke now than in
1934, just SU years ago..
Except in agriculture.
Statistics Canada recently released figures
which prove beyond doubt that things are
tough on the farm. Farm bankruptcies
doubled across the Prairie provinces in A983
to the highest level ever recorded, up 16 per
cent from 1982. Figures from the Consumer
and Corporate Affairs show 3 Canadian
farmers declared bankruptcy in 1983,
compared with 410 in 1982. Ontario had the
dubious distinction of leading the nation's
provinces with 165 failures. Quebec had 125
bankruptcies in 1983. In western •Canada.
Saskatchewan farmers were hardest hit with
62 bankruptcies, up from 30 in 1982.
Manitoba failures hit '45 farmers compar-
ed to 24 the year before and in Alberta, farm
bankruptcies totalled 47 compared to 27 in
1982. • ,
Wheat prices across the Prairies in 1983
were at exactly the same level as they were
10 years ago while production costs have
been climbing at an alarming rate. The
escalation in production costs come from
energy costs, fertilizer costs, equipme,it
costs and labour costs.
What other sector of the economic pie is
getting the same price today as 10 years
ago? Can you name any? The important steel
and auto industries are getting more than
double the price' received in '1973 and they
are still in trouble. Yet , farmers are being
forced to accept exactly that much: -
Few people even remotely connected with
agriculture agree with the confrontation
tactics of . the Canadian Farmers Survival
Association. This group has been more
militant even than the peace organization.
They have blocked roads and lanes. They
have held penny auction. They have spirited-• -•
livestock and equipment off farms and from,
barns. They have thrown -dead animals on.
the doorstep of .at least one bank. They have
used hunger strikes to emphasize the 'plight
of farmers
Garfield Stephenson), vice president of the
Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, admitted that the
economic squeeze has led some farmers to
confront bankers and stage demonstrations,.
"We (wheat pool officials) ' do not think
that is the way to solve problems but we are
hard pressed tocome up with any other kind
of solution," he said. "It's very difficult to
remain rational when . a, farmer sees
everythingle has worked for taken away."
And there is the pathetic part of the whole
story. .
"....when a farmer sees everything he has
worked for taken away." .
How galling, how frustrating. how heart-
breaking,
eart-
breaking,. to see this happening almost 500
times across this nation in 1983. And for
bob trotter
every farmer who has had to go bankrupt,
there arejiisf as many, who got out by selling
everything., paying of'the debts aiid walking
away freini the lands .
The pathetic part , of all is this: These
farmers are usually young men with a 'spirt
of adventure. They are the, innovative people.
who • are willing to take a` chance. They are
not the older men'and wotnen,'tonally. who
have been on, the land• for', geneight* with
the faith paid for and enough in reserve to
weather. these present financial. <storms.
They are the Men and women who shouild
be staying on the land to .produce food for
future generations, .
The new bloodis being drained' and this is
sad. '
The day will, come when Canadians will
wish the young men had been given. help 'to
stay in farming.
• "Old MacDonald had a farm:...' the song.
goes.
Old...had...VVlieti the old ones leave,.who
will take their; place??? -