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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2009-01-14, Page 44 January 14, 200'9 • Pap Huron, Expositor Opini�i Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 1.3. Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK 1WO Infrastructure needs should come ffrst A tax cut has nothing on a job, especially when you've recently lost yours. But this week Finance Minister Jim Flaherty hinted tax cuts will probably be part of the Jan. 27 federal bud- get, "as another way of supporting the econo- .y+t Those cuts need to take a back seat to infra- structure and any other spending that will cre- ate jobs, especially at a time when people are more likely to save money resulting . from a tax cut than spend it. Canada, said TI) Bank economist Craig Al- exander, can look to stimulus cheques handed out in the U.S. last year to see just how inter- ested nterested people are in holding on to their money: 'It boosted growth ... but for every doer pro- voided, 80 cents were saved, 20 cents went into spending and 10 cents of that went into im- ports. So probably only about 10 cents of ev- ery dollar Americans received went into stimu- lus:' A poi by the Boston Consulting Group found Canadians are more reluctant to spend in 2009, with 62 per cent of 1,000 respondents saying they intend to cut spending this year, com- pared with 58 per cent of Americans surveyed. And with more Canadians struggling to make ends meet — economists suggest labour force. numbers to be released tomorrow will show a loss of more than 20,000 jobs in December, fol- lowing November's loss of 71,000 jobs -� you can see why even those who still have their jobs would be happy to just pocket any extra cash. In terms of the big fixes, spending on infra- structure is key (and there are shovel=ready projects, such as fixing decrepit university and college 4aa►fraucture, a plan being pushed by Canada's post -secondary representa- tives). It will create jobs -that provide regular paycheques. Flaherty needs to listen to people who have been telling him infrastructure spending needs to come first. On Tuesday he said, "what.. I've been hearing across Canada and also from my council of economic advisers has been that we need to invest more in infrastructure, and that is one way, of course, of supporting the econo- my:: It is more than one way; it needs to be the first way. London Free Press 44417 ' Your Consnuadty Newspaper Since 1860 Publisher - Dave Sykes Y:. Editorial and Business Offices -11 Main Street, Seaforth ?telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, ON, NOK 1WO Visit our home page at www. sea forthh umnexposito ,icom - Canada QUESECOR WPM • ,a; "WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, THROUGH THE PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (PAP), TOWARD OUR MAILING COSTS." Former ayor looks r , on the benefits of volunteering David Scott grew up in Seaforth and is currently the editor of the Gazette, the University of Western's daily newspaper They say time is money and organi- zations who rely on volunteers know their value, That desire to 'give back' starts at a young age and probably has a lot to do with the home of your childhood. Living next door to the Seaforth Manor in the early 1970s was 'interesting' as a child. There was a mixture of regular elderly and off-the-wall borderline psychotic resi- dents, the overflow from regional psych units. Because of •our close proxrnity and the fact my mother worked there part-time as a nurse, I became th'. with a nunber of the resi- dents. Some had relatives who never came to visit or just no relatives. It made for lonely scenes at Christmas. I would occasionally play checkers with. an - old guy named Cecilwho had fairly revere cerebral palsy. He beat me in checkers every single game (even when I tried). Someone bad given him or the Manor one of those tabletop -hockey games. The only way he could score on me with his sh hands was if. I left my goalie wide open, whic h did. I suppose you can classify my time spent. with Cecil as volunteer. Not really formal .or structured, and benefitting an individual more than an organization. Hanging around the. Seaforth arena as a kid and watching the now defunct Junior D Cen-. to es hockey team play was an entertain - Ron & Dave David. Tobogganing isajUlt n metaphor for life Scott ing thing to do on a Friday night or Sunday afternoon. Along with all the other 'rink rats' we would help Roy 'Red' McGoni- gle shovel the snow off the - ice or scrape the remnants the ice flooder left behind, in . the years before the Zamboni. That was more spontane- ous,:unstructured volunteer time. Maybe it makes sense after liv- ing in Toronto for about eight years, I returned to my hometown to work for the Huron Expositor and volunteered on the executive of the Seafortli Centenaires for four years. If you want to learn what makes a communi- ty tick,, go to the arena. Or work the bar at an arena function. Bleary-eyed and shoes sticking king to the floor cleaning up spilled -drinks at 3 a.m. on New Year's Eve when all the revelers have left the building. Your love of community and hockey or something keeps you motivated. It was probably that community contact and a desire to give back that led me almost on a w to run for mayor_of Seaforth in 1997: My one -term foray into politics was 'an eye-open- ing, passion evoking, 'exhausting and reward- ing three years. -s That `extra, . money' I made ($4,000 and change), above my meager community paper editor's salary at the Lakeshore Advance in Zurich and Grand Bend, was thinned out even. more when I realized there were many events I was expected to attend and not be paid for in a volunteer mayoral capacity. See VOLUNTEER, Page 7 by David Lacey Let's go again! SUBSCRIPTION RATES: LOCAL - 38.05 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. SENIORS', - 36.14 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. Foreign: 38.05 a year in advance, plus $195.00 postage, plus G.S.T. U,S.A 38.05 a year in advance, plus $99.84 postage, plus O.S.T. Published weekly by Sun Media at 11 Main St., Seaforth. Advertising is accept- ed on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signa- ture, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to sell and may be withdrawn at any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes.' w r PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT 40064683 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 7605 om. For any non deliveries or delivery concems please CAN 519-S27-024 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:` Circulation Department, P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, ON., NOK 1 WO Susan Hundertmark Editor seaforthnews@boweenet.com Dan Schwab Reporter sea forthed itortal@bowesnet. com Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association & the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Bernie Pugh Advertisin: / Office sea forth.ofc- ^ otvesnet.raom Maxwell Bickford Advertising Rep. sea forthads@bowesnet. com Dianne McGrath Front Office seaforthclassifed8?, • owesnet.conn