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Times-Advocate, 1981-03-25, Page 4Page 4 Times Established 1873 Times -Advocate, March 25, 1981 Advocate Established 1881 Imes - • dvocate SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind Phone 235-1331 Amalgamated 1924 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Regestration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada 517.00 Per Year; USA $35.00 WW: IM.\ 'LS*AM' . `Zi AW BIuE RIBBON A,'. ARD Mainstream Cana J Good news for small business By W. Roger Worth Canada's politicians are starting to comprehend that small and medium-sized enter- prises are cresting a majority of the country's new jobs. Indeed, three provinces have emphatically under- scored that recognition in the last year or so by dramatically Voter apathy Thursday's provincial election has resulted in an extention of the Progressive Conservative domination in Ontario. However, even the winners must be more than slightly chagrined and con- cerned about the voter apathy that was evident across the province. In some ridings. the winners were put into of- fice with the support of only 20 percent of the eligible voters as people stayed away from the polls in droves. There may be some plausible reasons among a small percentage of the voters for staying home, but generally speaking it reflects an in- difference for which there is no other definition than shameful. What has brought us so close to the point of bankruptcy in our responsibili- ty. dedication and enthusiasm? Almost half the people in this province should he asking themselves that question. What should concern the other half is that it is a disease that is extremely contagious. One of the humorous incidents on the campaign trail in the provincial election was Jack Riddell's failure to remember the name of his own Liberal party leader. Jack drew one of those "blanks" that periodically arise to embarrass public speakers. Perhaps he'll write the name on the cuff of his shirt for future engagements! However, it is apparent that the -a local MPP would be well advised not to use indelible ink, because the naive of the party leader could be changed in view of the fact Stuart Smith failed to lead the party out of the wilderness in which they have now been wandering for as long as the children of Israel. There's a growing tendency on the part of political parties in this country to follow the practice of professional sport teams by firing the "coach" whenever the team has a losing season. In sports, it doesn't matter that the coach can't score goals or drive in runs or that he can't force people to work with the enthusiasm and ability necessary to win games. The parallel in politics is much the same. The party leader is blamed for most of the short -comings, despite the fact it is basically the team that has failed to produce. However, that does nothing to prolong the career of Dr. Smith. The Liberals are faced with the situation that party leaders play a major role in elections, and unless they can convince voters to change that attitude, they'll have to change leaders. But they face another parallel with sports. and that is that people will only support a winner. When they face their next election the Liberals will have been without a winner for some 42 years and it is obviously difficult to at- tract fans in the face of that type of los- ing consistency. Roger Worth is Director, Pubik Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. • reducing corporate tax rates for smaller firms, making it easier for them to expand and grow. Alberta was first off the mark last spring when the government cut the small business tax rate to 56/0 from 11%. Now both Quebec and British Columbia have joined what is fast becoming a national trend. In a recent budget, Quebec Finance Minister Jacques Parizeau announced a whop- ping 10% tax credit for smaller firms, effectively reducing the corporate tax rate to 3% from the previous 13%. British Columbia has re- duced the small business tax rate from 12% two years ago, to 10% last spring, and in its latest budget further chopped the tax rate to 804. For years the 57,000 -mem- ber Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been battling for such tax cuts. In fact, the organization has been successful in convin- dng almost all provinces that smaller firms deserved a lower tax rate than that charged to larger companies. Nine of the country's 10 provinces have now accepted that policy. The additional small busi- ness tax cuts in Alberta, Quebec and British Columbia may convince other provinces to follow suit. The small and medium- sized enterprises creating a majority of Canada's new jobs deserve the recognition. "Don't walk around with that story while daddy's doing his taxes!" 4 • `s> The future is tough CAGE, The Citizens Action Group tor Education, a concerned group of citizens and parents fighting to keep courses dropped from area schools, faces a tough uphill battle in their fight with the Huron County board of educa- tion. The hoard trustees have been caught in the middle of a battle that will eventually change the face of education in the county. They are faced with declining enrolments and hence lewer grants on one side, demands from teachers on the other side for smaller classes and more pay, while all the time trying to pay attention to the taxpayers., demands for smaller in- creases in levies. It's not an easy spot to be in, and being a trustee in this day and age will mean making some tough, and very un- popular decisions. It's not going to be the easy job it once was, where an elected representative went to a couple • 'of meetings a month, rubber stamped a few recomniendations from the ad- ministrators. and went home smiling with his or her $3,600 annual stipend. The closing of a number of courses presents only the tip of the iceberg, as anyone can conclude after looking at the projections of student enrolment for the next five years: student pop- ulations will literally plunge. It will mean further belt tightening by the board, more class cuts, more teacher lay-offs, and even, horrors of horrors, the closing of a couple of public schools and maybe even a secon- dary school. The party is over in the education sector, the never ending supply of megabucks is gone, and we're going to have to learn to live with a shrinking population, something new to this generation. The adjustment period will be tough, but everyone must be willing to give a little and listen to the other side, and that includes the trustees and ad- ministrators, who seem to think they know better than those paying the bills. Clinton News -Record Getting a real bargain Ratepayers in Exeter appear to be getting a real bargain in terms of the stipend paid to members of the local council when it is compared to those being received by council members in the other four towns in Huron County. Because they are among that special group of people who have the oppor- tunity to set their own wages, it could be suggested that past councils have recognized their worth and set their remuneration accordingly. Basically. members of municipal councils are subject only to the dictates of their own conscience when it comes to the matter of setting their stipends and there is little doubt that previous members have been more than frugal in that regard. To a great extent there has been an unwritten and unstated philosophy in most small municipalities that the stipends should never reach the state where they become a contributing fac- tor in anyone's desire to serve on coun- cil. It is a philosophy that may have some drawbacks, but on the whole, should be continued. It is the basis for the community spirit and dedication that makes a com- munity alive and viable. It is, to a great extent, part of the volunteer aspect of a municipality that parallels the work of hundreds of other people who donate their time and talents to other impor- tant segments of municipal life. That list is extensive and includes those who belong to the service clubs which contribute much in tangible and intangible ways; those who devote time to the youth of the community for sports. religious or Scout activities; the many who sprearhead organizations such as the Cancer Society, hospital board or auxiliary; and those involved in other municipal endeavours such as the planning board, cemetery board, By SYD FLETCHER In some parts of the States when you are pulled over by a police car for a speeding ticket. you are ordered out of the car and told to keep both hands visible as the of- ficers approach you. guns at the ready. Because of the violent nature of parts of American society. it would seem that the police are probably Perspectives justified in this cautious ap- proach. where the gun is the first line of defense. Here in Canada we are for- tunate that the police have, )ver the years. earned a much more respected at- titude from the public in general. and consequently force and the gun are used only as secondary techniqes. The OPP have undertaken a massive public relations effort. in the form of a full time community services of- ficer in each detachment who is highly visible in the schools and in the local newspaper. Two or three times a year my school is visited by this constable. He talks about bus safety. the dangers of accepting rides with strangers. or of flying kites near hydro wires. The kids have developed a personal. ' friendly relationship with the con- stable and do not hesitate to ask him all sorts of questions I think this is good. Children should look upon the police as their protectors. not their enemies. Hopefully. as the children grow up into young adults this same attitude will per- sist. and out of this type of program will come a con- tinued respect for law and the people who are paid by us to enforce it. fang by Smley recreational board, etc. When you take a close look at many of the volunteer efforts in the com- munity, they could be seen as the responsibility of the municipal govern- ment in a large number of instances. While it would be virtually impossi- ble for any municipal council to under- take all of those tasks it must be recognized that a real danger exists when one segment of the so-called volunteer operation Is paid and others are not. It can create some jealousy. In fact, Exeter council members have already subjected themselves to that type of thinking when they decided tb" investigate what other municipalities were paying council members. To carry that point through, what happens when the local planning board start to take a look at their efforts and responsibilities in comparison to coun- cil? Indirectly, two members of the board are paid for their efforts as it falls under their responsibility as members of council to be members of the planning board. In essence, members of the planning board undertake some of the work of council. They study matters referred to them and make recommendations for council, thereby making the latter's job easier. If council's pay is boosted con- siderably, members of the planning board could be excused for suggesting they deserve some of the "gravy". The situation takes on even more alarming proportions if the rec centre board feel they should get some remuneration for undertaking some ofthe town's work. Volunteers involved in minor athletics could then follow suit by suggesting they do some of the work to aid the rec board and they too should be paid. Of course. compounding the problem is the fact that some positions that were voluntary in the past have moved into the sphere of receiving remunera- tion. Two examples in Exeter are the fire birgade and the committee of adjust- ment. There are, of course, valid reasons 'for paying people in these positions. but the point remains that it does open the door to extending the same consideration for others who work on the municipal scene. While council members may argue that their stipend has no affect on other types of volunteer effort, or that they are set apart through being elected, it all becomes relative to some extent and many factors must be a considera- tion in their decision. The question does not even boil down to being as easy as waiting for an elec- tion year to raise stipends, nor what other councils decide to give themselves, although they too may be factors to be considered. In fact. if council members wanted to take the easy way out, they could name a committee of ratepayers to come up with the answer on how much they should be paid. The 'committee could consist of former members of council who would have an insight into the work and responsibility involved and could also include members from some of the non -paid municipal groups in the community who could compare their work and responsibility with those of council. At any rate, it is not an easy question to answer. Looked at strictly in the con- text of the time and effort, to say nothing of the criticism they periodically receive, they are under- paid. Are you getting sick of Hello. out dere! Are you as sick as I am of the whole foofawraw concerning our unpatriated constitution. Are you fed up with the daily battle in Parliament: the finger -pointing, the jowls -shaking. the threats of coercion by the Liberals, the howls of defiance of the Tories. the yelps of frustration of the NDP? And all over a piece of paper that has been residing quietly in Westminster, London. England, for more years than most of us are old. Are you becoming a mite nauseated by having your tax dollars used to bolster infirm corporations like Chrysler and Massey -Ferguson, that could not hack it in the market place? Or the same tax dollars (yours), used to buy up oil companies, paying about p thirty r cent more than the shares are worth on the stock exchange? Are you tired to the teeth with the constant bickering among the provinces. and the constant squabbling between them and Ottawa? Are you totally ticked off with the constant threats of separatoin from the Wealthy West. the Querulous Quihecois. and recently, of all things, the New -01 Newfies? Are you thoroughly disgusted with unions who serve the public - postal, hospital. transit - thumbing their collective noses at the law? There you are. A lot of rhetorical questions It's exactly like the questions for alcoholics. If you answer ,"No'' to one of them you are an alcoholic. trying to hide in the closet. If you answer yes to all of them you are also an alcoholic. If all my readers are as angry as I am, or even half as angry, with all this raucous shouting, all these cries of "Gimmie." or "Me, too" there must be a long. slow burn, like a dynamite fuse, creeping across this country. My kid brother, who spent thirty-five years in the uniform of his country, and not at any desk job, retired recently, with the Distinguished Flying Cross, among many other decorations. He was a full colonel in our armed forces. He has a pretty good pension, and is young enough to undertake a secopd career. One would think he'd settle down to write his memoirs, or perhaps run for parliament, or at least resign himself to writing caustic letters -to -the -editor, signed "Col., Ret'd.," from his comfor- table home somewhere in Canada. One would be wrong. He picked up stakes, turned his back on his own country, and retired to Florida. He had "had" Canada upto the ears. And I don't blame him. Let's go back to the constitution. What a lot of poppycock! If the govern- ment had quietly asked the opposition parties to agree to requesting the British government to send ,the silly thing to Canada, there would haveSeen no problem. The Brits are used to it. Nobody is against motherhood or a con- stitution coming home. But now that we don't build statues of public figures, Pierre Trudeau wants one built of paper, that will find its place in the history books. As a result he and his centurions are bull -dozing their way through Parlia- ment, alienating the provinces, and radiating an arrogance that hasn't been seen since the days of C.D. Howe, and his demand for closure, because Parliament was, getting in his way, back in the Fifties. And the Tories, stung bitterly by be- ing turfed out of office after only a few months wandering the corridors of power. are equally intransigent in their opposition. They won't give an inch, even should the Liberals offer one. On the sidelines, the NDP runs around in circles, trying to attract some attention. They supported the ' Liberals on the Constitution only because they hate them less than they do the Tories. How about those tax dollars used, without so much as a by-your-leave, to prop up near -defunct manufacturers? Sure, some would go bankrupt. Some jobs would be lost. But couldn't more jobs be created by using those hundreds of millions positively, than by handling crutches to foreign-owned cor- porations? What in the world was ac- complished by using money out of our back pocket to buy Petro -Fina at a ridiculous price? True, we have more Canadian -owned gas stations. But this company will not put one more litre of Please turn to page 10 t To the Editor: Sometimes on Sunday mornings we would go out to buy the Sunday edition of the New York Times. It is the sort of publication you buy in Toronto when you've slept in, and„ having wakened in a famished state. run out to the corner deli for bagels and fresh cream cheese - pick up the Times - buy a quarter of a pound of the best Columbia coffee available - run home, grind the coffee, lay the tableandsettle back in a lazy attitude with the Times Book Review. Everybody in our neighbourhood lived like that—renting, fashionable. Recently we've moved— the corner deli is now a car drive's distance -the closest news depot for the New York Times is even further—and now we go super market shopping on Saturdays and buy Loblaw's No -name brand everything —because we have mortgage payments. furnaces, leaky roofing and questionable plumbing. Hence. we read the Satur- day Globe on Sundays in- stead because Saturdays are filled with Lobfaw decisions and attempts at handy -man repair projects. My parents prophesied so many years ago that it seems like hazy voices from another century that I would one day know everything that they know. Such prophecies fell on smoulder- ing, burning and raging ears - that much remains as clear as Waterford. However, now that I am a home -owner I am culling up experiences from bygone times and it is ironic what comes to mind. For instance, when it first came to light that $2.50 for a quarter of a pound of coffee was just a little extravagant, and $1.45 for the New York Times was a high price to pay to read about books that were not even available un- less specially ordered, and certainly not yet at the Public Libraries, and that fresh bagels from the deli had to include the price of gasoline to get them, and the fresh cream cheese at 12.00 per quarter pound might have a reasonable sub- stitute. I started thinking back and remembering our own Sunday mornings when my parents were about my age, and it was then that I had to concede that the "oneday" when I would know was certainly upon me! Which brings me to the point. I don't remember a New York Times in our house - but I do remember an Exeter Times Advocate. It came in the mail, and no matter where we lived my grandfather made sure that we kept abreast oftheExeter Times news. My mother and aunt were born and raised in Exeter. My grandparents likewise - and so - the Exeter Times was to us as the New York Times has become —filled with information about everything we wanted to know! —except not 11.45 per issue. THE EXETER TIMES: More than once my name appeared in ' print in those days that I am now recaIlIng.More than once my brothers name also. We were what was referred to as "visitors" to Exeter. I can still hear my grand- mother picking up the phone and announcing proudly: "I think that I'll call the Times and tell them that you and Peter are visiting." Sometimes, if I was invited to my Aunt's in Grand Bend or Crediton (depending on summer or winter), prac- tically the whole family would make it into the Times at one blow'. After we had returned from our vacations in Ex- eter. sure enough, the Times would arrive in the mail and my mother would read out the social announcements and my brother or I would have made it into print once again! My grandmother could read the Times in about 30 minutes and she read every word. In fact she could read the London Free Press in about the same amount of time but she didn't read the classifieds except the births and obituaries. Nothing missed her eye and I can see her now sitting in the living room with her knitting folded on her lap with the spare needle in her apron packet with glasses set well down on her nose, scanning the Exeter Times and without taking her eyes from the print announcing each and every news item which she thought my grand- father would be interested in. So-and-so sold his farm, or such -and -such a friend was going to Fort Lauderdale for a winter vacation, or the IGA had bacon on special. Once in a while she would get out the scissors and cut out an article for Aunt Lou. Now as I sit in my nearly completed modernized kitchen. and pen these few little remembrances about the Exeter Times and what it was like with it in my life I think to myself that there are no doubt more than just a few good souls living in Exeter still who were sub- jected to my presence on those occasions when I would visit my grand- parents. I think humbly of their kindness and patience when Gram would insist on us bringing our music books along on vacations as "Mrs. So -and -So. would so love to hear you play, dear". And before you knew, newly srhocked and starched dresses would be going on, and out the door you would be marching in Sunday shoes and Mrs. So -and -So did not have a chance. And oh the way home Gram would be so pleased and tell me proudly how well I had played and how Mrs. So -and -So didn't have many to listen to anymore, as piano was a dif- ficult study. especially to play well. The next day she would go back on that anouncement and say, "I think you should practise for a half-hour, dear, if you want to !earn to play well. that is." Last weekend I saw a well - furred model type woman getting out of her pearl -grey Seville, the New York Times clutched under her arm and a bag of goodies from the deli I can no longer -afford and I thought to myself that if she could sit and have a raisin tart fresh out of my grandmother's, oven and listen to the highlights from the Exeter Times she would probably cry real tears - at least that's the way I see 11 Penny Venton, 367 Howland Avenue, Toron- to, Ontario M5R 3C1 Telephone 416-925-4845