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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-01-05, Page 5r [Arthur Black THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 5, 1994. PAGE 5. Permafrost —a vintage Canadian concept Permafrost n.: subsoil and rock that remains below zero degrees centigrade for longer than one year, usually beneath a layer of thawing topsoil. Colombo's Canadian References Permafrost. Now there's a vintage Canadian concept for you. California doesn't have permafrost. Residents of South America, Africa and Australia wouldn't know permafrost if they stubbed a surfboard on it. But here in Canada the stuff runs like an icy underground blanket all across the Far North tundra, and sporadically through all the mainland provinces with the exception of the Maritimes. If you're a farmer, a roadbuilder or an architect, you don't have a whole lot of use for permafrost. It's fine as long as it's undisturbed, but try to drive a road through permafrost or gnaw out a subbasement, and you've got problems. Not surprisingly, permafrost thaws when exposed to air. And what was once an iron- hard surface turns into a slurpy, fudge-like gumbo that can swallow rubber boots, Caterpillar tractors and even whole houses r International Scene Debt, debt and more debt My dictionary tells me that the world 'debt' comes from the Old French world 'debte'; the modem word in that language is "dette." At any rate, the French, and everybody else for that matter, are up to their proverbial eyeballs in debt; a sad state of affairs since the same countries that owe money all over the place also have high rates of unemploy­ ment but, like a family who has started using credit cards as a way of life and then learned to regret it, there is little that can be done in the near term to alleviate this deplorable situation. All the money that would normally be used is now paying the interest on this colossal debt. This sounds remarkably like the current situation in Canada and it is. However, we can take some consolation in the fact that other countries are having as much trouble coming to grips with the situation as we are and nowhere more so than in Belgium where, on a per capita basis, they have close to twice as much as we do. We are Number Five on the black list and between us and the Belgians are to be found Italy, Ireland and Greece. Just below us are Holland, Japan, Sweden and Denmark, followed by the United States. An easy way to measure this debt for readers who are not up to date on the current economic jargon on the subject is to measure the debt as a percentage of the total amount of spending which goes on in a country in any given year. The Belgians are at 140 per cent of this level of spending while the Italians are just under 120 per cent. These are the only two countries in triple figures. Where is Canada, you ask? We are just over 75 per cent but not slowing down one iota, certainly not according to the figure released earlier this year. Anyway, back to the Belgians. What are \ like some primeval swamp monster. Permafrost is one of the reasons it's so hard to keep a highway in the Far North. Each summer whole sections of road bed simply disappear into the ooze. Permafrost dictates that government buildings "north of Sixty" sit on stilts, that oil pipelines snake across the surface of land, not buried the way they are down south. And needless to say, you're not going to have banana plantations, com crops or even apple trees on turf where a wall of solid ice lurks just a foot or so below the lichens. Still, our Northerners are ingenious by nature. They spend their lives figuring out ways to make use of resources the rest of us would turn our backs on or toss in a landfill site. So naturally you just knew some enterprising opportunist would figure out a way to make money from permafrost. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to Inuvik's newest and fastest- growing industry: Funeral services. Specifically, entrepreneurs in the town of Inuvik have figured out a scheme whereby people can have their remains interred beneath the permafrost forever. For Canadians outside the Territories, the price tag is $5,000. Foreigners can expect to be dunned an extra 10 grand for the experience. What's the attraction? Well, permafrost By Raymond Canon they doing about the mess their country finds itself in. Like the Canadian dollar their currency has fallen on money markets, although since both countries are export- oriented, this is not totally a bad thing. The Belgian situation is complicated by the fact that the country is divided into two distinct parts, the Flemish (Dutch) speaking north and the French speaking south. Each watches the other like a hawk on the look­ out for any legislation that would give more comfort to one group than the other. However, since both are in the same financial boat, there has to be some agreement. The government's approach has been to introduce legislation that will, introduce a three-year wage freeze, cut social security, health-care and child benefits and put new taxes on property and investment income. The level of unemployment in Belgium is marginally lower than here and to get the figure down to single digit levels, the government would like to cut social security contributions to low paid workers and deregulate the labour market. If you are wondering what that might entail, this would mean getting rid of such things as a minimum wage which, as most economists (including this one) are happy to explain, does cause unemployment and in the very areas where unemployment rates are the highest. Can you imagine Bob Rae getting up in Queen's Park and announcing that he is doing away with minimum wages? I can't for a minute and yet I have to point out that every province has one and the Belgians are going to be just as hard to move on such changes as are Canadians. There is a lesson to be learned here. As I pointed out, the country is divided into two distinct linguistic groups and for years the government in Brussels, the capital, has decided to buy off each linguistic pressure group instead of keeping an eye on how much fiscal damage this was doing to the country. will keep a corpse in a lot better shape than all the embalming tricks used on King Tutenkamen - or Ronald Reagan, come to that. Customers are investing in the age-old dream of Eternal Life. They're putting their bodies in the deep freeze and betting that doctors in the future will be able to defrost them, hook up their vital functions and put them on the road again. Other northern towns are entering into the spirit of competition. Igaluit is proposing a special cut-rate mausoleum menu: for residents, $600; for other Canadians, $3,200; and for foreigners, $7,200. For that all- inclusive price, friendly attendants will put your carcass on ice and pay your rent in perpetuity - or until medicine comes up with some way to reactivate your circuits. Will it work, or is this just a frosty pipe dream? Beats me. But I can think of scarier fates for our Far North than becoming undertaker to the world. It's peaceful, doesn't involve neon signs and it's an environmen- tally-friendly source of income. Besides, if the Global Warming gloom- sters are correct and earth's temperature is rising, that means the permafrost will melt and all those bodies will err-umm...melt too. And our Far North could end up with some of the richest soil this side of the Napa Valley. Canada's Arctic - breadbasket of the world. Are we ready for it? However, the sobbing sound you hear is not only the Belgians crying into their vin blanc. There is great wailing and gnashing of teeth going on all around them. The German economy is flat, unemployment in Holland is rising and in France it is even worse than in Canada and likely to go higher. The Dutch have a public debt about as bad as Canada's: the French and the Germans, on the other hand, have per capita debts somewhat lower. To all those readers who are old enough to remember, all this may have a familiar ring to it. The 1920s were frequently called "the roaring twenties" because of all the high levels of spending going on. This was followed by the 30s and we all know what happened then. If you think back, the 1980s were very much a decade led by high levels of consumer spending, much of which was fed by debt. In a decade when we should have been reining in our debt, we were doing exactly the opposite. When you factor in the restructuring in industry going on in Belgium, Canada and everywhere else, is it any wonder why we are taking our time getting back into the peak phase of the business cyr’e. There is still validity in the old adage that those who ignore the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them. The Belgians, and I would imagine everybody else, are learning this to their sorrow. Paul’s Perspective Continued from page 4 will be a prohibition on "tied selling". This is where the purchase of one product is conditional on the purchase of another product. Credit Unions must also disclose how much deposit insurance they have. Huron County has several Credit Unions and the changes in the Act will allow them to provide for locally directed financing and service. The changes to the Credit Union Act and the programs by the Ministry of Agriculture will allow rural Ontario to keep and use its savings for its own economy. The Short of it By Bonnie Gropp A resolution for true equality It was coming to a close and as the countdown towards the new year began many people were caught up in the excitement shared by all awaiting the moment of "Auld Lange Syne". Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. In spots across the country the voices of New Year's Eve revelers crescendoed with the call until finally replaced by a cacophonous choir of horns and noisemakers. We were a small group at our party, though no less exuberant as we ushered in 94. Close friends who had celebrated together for almost 20 years we had many memories to bring to this, as every, New Year's party. We knew of times when a year had been kind to some, less kind to others. We had seen growth and change in and around us. We knew when there had been suffering or rejoicing. And we all had some idealistic hope for tomorrow. Never before did I sense the frustration and fear which eventually crashed this gathering, however. As the minutes clicked past into the new year and the champagne bubbles fizzled, our gaiety ebbed until an almost somber mood overtook it. New Year's Eve is traditionally a time for soul searching, to think of rejuvenation. It is often the time when we look at the mistakes we make or our imperfections and resolve, usually frivolously, to fix them. This year, however, the flaws discussed belonged to a broader group, the bureaucrats who have presented us with a Canada we know longer recognize or understand. After countless maneuvers which show about as much common sense as a dog that bites the hand that feeds it, politicians have lost our respect, our patience and our trust. The bureaucratic debacle that raised the most ire in discussions at our party was the BS of being PC (the latter stands for politically correct, the former I presume you know). We all agreed that the whole thing had not only gone too far, but that it was ludicrous. It has made us afraid for the future of our children and for the culture of our country. That these supposedly intelligent human beings should fail to recognize, of worse choose to ignore, that the reverse discrimination being displayed with such moves as the screening of job applicants for sex and race and the idea that Christmas no longer be celebrated in the workplace and schools as a religious holiday because not all Canadians are Christians is misguided and dangerous. The males at this party no longer shake their heads when the topic comes up, they get mad! Their arguments are justified and sound, but unfortunately the realities have made them harsh. People may argue that white men are spoilt, they've had it their own way too long, but we'd better remember that a tree will break if it bends too far, no matter what the direction. The government needs to open its eyes. Any parent will attest that playing favourites only spoils one while alienating the other. Forgetting what's important to some to appease a few festers hostility. If government could make a resolution for the new year perhaps it should be to look first at each Canadian, as a person, to be judged on his or her merit, not on colour or gender, then at the culture that built this country in the first place. Otherwise someone had better be prepared for the spawn of intolerance I see breeding here.