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The Huron Expositor, 1995-05-10, Page 44 -THE HURON BXPOSITOR, May 10, lits Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 TERRI-LYNN DALE - General Manager & Advertising Manager MARY MELLOR - Sales PAT ARMES - Office Manager DIANNE McGRATH - Subscriptions t1NDA PULLMAN -Typesetter TIM CUMMING - Editor GREGOR CAMPBELL - Reporter BARB STOREY - Distribution A Burgoyne Community Newspaper ,SSIBSCRIPTION RATE*: LOCAL 28.00 o year, in odvonce, plus 1.96 G.S.T. SENIORS: - 25 00o year, in odvonce, plus 1.75 G.S.T. Goderich, Stretford addresses: 28.00 o year, in advance, plus 7.28 postoge, plus 2.47 G S.T Chit -of Of -Area: 28.00 a yeor, in odvonce, plus 1 1.44 postoge, plus 2.76 G.S.T )JSA & Foreign: 28.00 a yeor in advance, plus S76.00 postage, G.S.T. exempt U RIPTION RATE*: Published weekly by Signal-Stor Publishing of 100 Moin St., Seoforth. Publication moil registration No 0696 held ot Seaforth, Ontorio. Advertising is occepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising spore occupied by the erroneous item, together with o reasonable allowance for signoture, will not be charged, but the bolonce of the advertisement will be paid for ot the applicable rote. In the event of a typographical error, odvertising goods or services of a wrong price, goods or services moy not be sold. Advertising is merely on offer to sell and moy be withdrawn of any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or domage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions and undeliv- eroble copies are to be sent to The Huron Expositor. Wednesday, May 10, 1995 Editorial and Business Offices • 100 Main SIreV.,Seoforttt Telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858 Mailing Address • P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Ontorio Community Newspopers Association and the Ontario Press Council Is hockey lost cause? It might seem rather amusing that a Canadian cabinet minister met with representatives of the National Hockey League when it became apparent the Winnipeg Jets were going stateside. In the middle of a recession the activities of a hockey team are deemed to be of national importance. For many Canadians, however, there is a fear that Canada is losing its national game. If the CFL can become ,a Continental Football League why not the NHL? Will there come a day when Canada has as many basketball teams as hockey teams? More and more American's are becoming top NHL hockey players. More and more Canadians are leaving this country for hockey careers in the United States...and staying there. Small cities are being shut out of the high-priced stakes of big-time hockey. As hockey takes off in the U.S. will it become out of reach of Canadian ownership? The debt -ridden government of Canada should be careful not to put money into professional sports. Ilut it will be a sad day, indeed, when the sport that binds us together as Canadians becomes the domain of another country. - (TBC). Work towards s Dear Editor, For the past year the Huron County Health Unit has been working with the Town of Goderich to establish a non- smoking bylaw. The proposed bylaw would require Goderich restaurants to designate two thirds of their seating areas non-smoking, and designate enclosed public places and municipal buildings as smoke- free. The bylaw was defeated on a four to four tie vote at a Feb. 17 council meeting. The aim of the bylaw was to protect people from second- hand environmental tobacco `Six-gun' Steckle wild west hero Holy cow, Paul Steckle isn't just a Member of Parlia- ment...he's Wyau Earp! It seems Huron County has its very own hero, just like in the movies. The villain in this story, of course, is 'Mean Jean' Chr&lien, For those of you just tuning into this wild west saga, 'Mean Jean' is the man who had the audacity to expect a Liberal M.P. to vote for a piece of Liberal legisla- tion. Tsk! Tsk! Sure, other Members of Parliament might feel bound to more than a century of Parliamentary tradition, but not 'Six -Gun Paul'. Who is `Six -Gun Paul', you ask? He is the man who campaigned as a Liberal but voted with Reform when he was elected. He was elected by those who supported a liberal agenda but proceeded to support a right-wing agenda. Oh, and here's the ironic twist to the story...people are praising him as a democrat! Why is he Huron County's new White Knight? Because he has "voted according to the will of his constituents." This is the part of the story where I get really confused. How does Paul Steckle know the will of his constituents? Because a few gun -lovers phoned his constituency T,s BIT BY TIM CUMMING office? I haven't heard Gallup or Environics conducting any polls in Huron County. I certainly haven't been asked my opinion on the new gun law, let alone have the chance to vote in a referendum. Amazingly, Paul Steckle is not only the most heroic cowboy since Billy the Kid, he is also a mind reader! Because Paul Steckle says he knows the will of his consti- tuents, it must be true. (Just as an aside, in cities 28 per cent of homicides involve guns. In rural areas, 41 per cent of homicides involve guns). 'Mean Jean' and his nasty Grits are being called Dicta- tors! Paul Steckle has not lost his seat, he has not even been kicked out of caucus...yet the Liberals are the bad guys. Why? Because Paul lost his position on the standing com- mittee on agriculture. If you would permit me to abandon my wild west anal- ogy for a moment, I would like to pretend Jean Chretien was a hockey coach. Let us say one of his players didn't like following the coach's play book and took to criti- cizing the coach in pub- lic...what should the coach do? Let's ask Jacques Demers, whose Monti -6a' Canadiens have missed the playoffs for the first time in decades. What does he think he did wrong? He didn't get rid of the whiners soon enough. The team suffered. I know what you're think- ing. Hockey is not a democ- racy. 'Iron Mike' Keenan wins Stanley Cups by being a dictator. Prime Ministers are supposed to be spineless nice guys (or gals) with an infinite tolerance for dissent. I suggest to you that any leader who doesn't exercise some party discipline in pub- lic will pretty soon be a lame - duck politician who doesn't command the respect of the people. The MP for Huron -Bruce has damaged his political credibility with a fruitless, counter-productive stand in favour of corporal punish- ment. (Was this the will of his constituents?) He wasted political capital on a dead-endf Flashback crusade...without presenting his much -vaunted petition to Parliament. Now, he loses clout in Parliament for the sake of opposing a law which is wildly popular to the majority of Canadians. Paul Steckle's clear eyes beam from the pages of the recent Focus newsmagazine...in a soft and warm photo which must make his supporters feel all gushy inside. Some of his supporters think he's very brave to stand up for what he believes in even if it costs him his posi- tion on the agricultural com- mittee. I disagree. Paul Steckle is the big winner in this fiasco. The constituents of Huron - Bruce are the big losers. Paul Steckle will benefit politically. He will be Huron County's maverick who isn't afraid to take on Ottawa. But has he helped his con- stituents? Not on your life. He has lost a chance to work for the farmers of Huron and Bruce. This riding would be luckier to have someone working behind the scenes instead of someone who prefers to grandstand. Get back to work, Paul. Forget the theatrics. YAn old photo of SS #t1 Hullet, submitted by Edith Baker of Seaforth. Exact date uncertain. From left: Jack Carter, Stewart Freeman, Ray Freeman, Keith Dale, BILI Holland, Anderson Bell, Tom Carter, Clive Carter, John Bell, Ron Freeman, Lawrence Jamison, Ken Carter, Harvey Nott, Mervyn Nott, Tillie Fowler (teacher), Helen Phillips,� Johine Dale, Veronica (?) Freeman, Eva Holland, Edith Dale, Betty Glazier, Kathleen Ross, Theda Freeman, Dorothy Holland, Clarissa Date, Marjorie McMichael, �nEthril Dale. Submitted by Edith Baker. oke -free environment Letters to the Editor smoke. Second-hand tobacco smoke has immediate adverse effects on people suffering from asthma, chronic bronchitis and heart disease. As far back as 1986 environmental tobacco smoke was recognized as the most important preventable cause of disease and death in the developed world. There is solid overwhelming evidence that tobacco smoke is an important cause of respiratory 'symptoms and disease in infants and children whose parents smoke and in non- smoking adults. People who are addicted to tobacco are quick to remind us that they have the right to smoke, tobacco is a legal prod- uct and this is a free country. Smokers do have the right to poison themselves and degrade their health. 1 hey have Inc right to engage in this high-risk behaviour. If people which to risk their lives by racing auto- mobiles on a race track, they have their right to do so. If however they wish to race their cars down public highways they are stopped, fined and imprisoned. Smokers have a right to poison themselves but they do not have the right to poison innocent bystanders. This prosed bylaw is a small step in the right direction. It is however just thc first small step. This bylaw will help to create a general climate of disapproval of smoking. This win help to protea children and young people from the example of those, who despite its grave risks, continue to smoke. I would urge residents of Goderich to contact their coun- cil members and let them know how they feel about the smok- ing bylaw. The residents of other towns should also lobby their council members for a public environment free of tobacco smoke. Yours sincerely, Dr. P. Englcrt President, Huron County Medical Society Coalition seeks non-smoking night for bingo Dear Editor, I am writing on behalf of the Huron County Smoke -Free Coalition. Our group consists of local residents and agencies who are concerned with the right of all people to a tobacco - free environment. We are aware of a number of persons in the county who would prefer a smoke-free environment in bingo halls. May 31, 1995 is World No - Tobacco Day. In celebration of World No -Tobacco Day, we are challenging the local ser- vice clubs to host a non-smok- ing, bingo night during the week of May 29 - June 3. Our proposal is for one night only, as an experiment, to see if the concept of providing a smoke- free bingo evening might be received on a more regular basis. As a result, many indi- viduals in the community may have a renewed interest in bingo. Please support this initi- ative by encouraging the ser- vice clubs who host bingo to participate in the smoke-free bingo night. Sincerely, Anita Looby, Huron -Perth Cancer Society Member, Huron County Smoke -Free Coalition Is it .any wonder that I love my mother? My mother Margaret is not playing with a full deck. Granted, she's not as young as she used to be. As a matter of fact, she's not even as young as Sir Robert Borden used to be, but she's still a lot more fun. I wasn't sure if she wanted to celebrate her most recent birth- day so it was a last-minute affair, hastily arranged at my place. And, of course, I forgot to get a cake. Dashing into town and then to No Frills, the only store open, I found the perfect cake. As soon as we carved off "Gct Well Soon" and camouflaged thc cut with whipped cream, I was off and running for home. After making a wish and putting out the candles with some assistance from one of those hand-held Black & Decker Vac 'n Mulch leaf blowers, Marg cut the cake. "Where did you gct such a lovely cake, Dear?" she asked. This was the question 1 dreaded. But you can't Iic to your mother, at least I've never been able to in more than four WILLIAM THOMAS decades of trying. "No Frills" I mumbled, sheepishly, "Where?" she asked. "No Frills, I said. "Where?" she asked. "No Frills!" I shouted. "Oakville!?!" she said with some surprise. "You know Dear, a lot of sons would not have gone all the way to Oakville to get their mother a birthday cake," she said, beaming with pride. Naturally I...I shut the hell up and changed the subject. Mod- esty, after all, is something my mother taught me. There are several recurring problems in having my mother out to my place for these three - or -four-day visits. The first is they're not one or two day visits! Hey I'm kidding, the woman is a saint and I worship the...excuse me... "Mom, that's the blue box you just set fire to. The stove is over here and it has an automatic starter." Seriously, Margaret doesn't always remember what's in her bags when she comes to visit. She always tries to leave with the bed linen and, when she puts dishes and other household items away, she puts them exactly where they're supposed to go - at her place. On her last visit, the two of us were having a quiet moment when we heard scratching and gnawing noises coming from her room. I knew it wasn't a mouse. Since I got Weggie, mice have not been spotted east of Manitoba. We went into the room to find Weggie had gone through all her bags until he retrieved my gift, a hard stick of hot pepperoni sausage. Then he ate both ends of it. I distinctly remember asking Mom if she had any food in her bags. It was not a first-time incident. This escalates into a 3 -way argument when Weggie's glare reminds both of us that, techni- cally, we've infringed on his exclusive marketplace, i.e. the floor. Whenever she leaves my place, much like sports teams that stay at the Holiday Inn, Marg attempts to smuggle out the bedding. It's a very gra- cious gesture. She insists on washing and ironing them at her place and bringing them hack to me next time she visits. I say don't bother. She says it's no bother. Weggie says finder's keepers, give me back Mat damn stick of sausage. Between the forgotten food, the hidden linen and the Miss- ing kitchen items, my mother has become a smuggling sus- pect at my house. Weggie and I arc seriously considering being fitted for blue customs uniforms and wearing police hats and badges. Me: "The facts Ma'am, just the facts. The kitchen kettle which I keep on the stove, has been missing for several days now. I'm getting tired of cold coffee and my partner here misses the gravy warmed over his meaty mixed grill of minced intestines from larger, more domesticated animals than himself. Suspect: (Reaching down into a cupboard) "It's right here where it's supposed to be Dear...in the cupboard where you hide your Scotch." Weggie: Arc you concealing any contraband perishable goods, Ma'am, like hardened and compressed pork parts?" Suspect: "Dear, you're so talented. I didn't even see your lips move that time." My mother loves the simple things in life and she's ever so appreciative. She phoned me several times to thank me for buying her a new deck of cards for her afternoon solitaire games. (None of the men in her apartment building Neill play strip poker with her anymore ever since they caught her cheating). And that's why I say, she's not playing with a full deck. Yesterday I was shaking out the linen I'd confiscated from her bag before she Icft and the five of clubs fell out. But she plays on nonetheless, smiling and hopeful. The women is a saint. As I've said before, I'd glad- ly send off a request to thc Vatican to get her recognized on the list of beatification. But every time I mention that word she says the same thing: "They're so expensive, Dear. I'll just gct your sister to give me a perm:" Is it any wonder I love this woman?