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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1981-04-08, Page 34Page 4 Times -Advocate, April 15, 1911 1111119mmutilmax1811Mouvimitermatothumenmasstimme Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 :Advocate CFmes - dvocate -, rr ..-........r-. 1— tart r.. -r Mit. ecau aar-3w v SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' AND ABC MEMBER ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL 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 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Regestration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $17.00 Per Year; USA $35.00 Good lesson If Huron school board members have their way, the strap will remain in the school system in the county. It's not a major issue, as evidenced by the response from the public and the schools when asked for their opinions on the matter prior to the board making a decision. In truth, the board is asking only that the strap be administrated to students who will stand for it. That argument is supported by the fact it is used occasionally in elementary schools in Huron, but hasn't been in the secondary schools for a number of years. BLUE RIBBON A1`.ARD It's not much of a threat to a 6'2" macho male high school student to know that his 5'6" pedagogue has the right to administer the strap. It's a right on which only the most foolish would embark, unless he/she knew the student considered the whole thing a big lark. In that way, it becomes an unfair tool for correcting behaviour because it can not always be administered without fear of favor. However, it,does prepare childrenfor the real world, where there are many examples of there being one rule for the big guy and another for the little guy. Worth a try Huron board of education trustee Frank Falconer is quite correct in suggesting the board is being led astray by the press in consenting to a change in their monthly meeting date from a Monday to Thursday. At least, he's correct as far as his own situation is concerned. Mr. Falconer, apparently, is equipped with one of those lightning -quick minds that requires little time for research on which to base a decision or opinion, even on such complex matters as may face the board of education. However, he should at least excuse those of us not so richly blessed when we suggest that working under less stringent deadlines may result in better press coverage for the board, and as a result perhaps, better understanding by the public of the decisions made by that group. Having been a proponent to the change, this newspaper is in no way qualified to guarantee those im- provements. However, experience does lead us to believe that the job will be done better and will therefore be a benefit to all concerned. Mr. Falconer, as readers may have noted, suggested that the reasoning behind the change was nonsense and added that "If they had a week to print the Lord's Prayer. they would still make a mistake". While there is a temptation to use some space to prove him wrong, we'll not be led into that temptation and will go one step farther and forgive him for his trespasses against our abilities. Sitting ducks In spite of the gradual increases doled out to our elderly, says The Bann - croft Times, Ontario's 800,000 old age pensioners are "sitting ducks" in the country's economic crisis. Many are running out of ways to cope with the soaring cost of living. Worst of all is the fear. Fear of get- ting sick. of being alone, the fate of the singles, the widowed and the un- married. To most of us statisticslike an infla- tion rate of 11.2 percent, an all-time high bank rate of 17.36 percent and a one-month increase of 1.2 percent in food prices are just numbers - annoying but bearable if we make cuts here and there. For the senior citizens of this province. on fixed incomes, every in- crease in the consumer index is quickly translated into real suffering. They can't cut back on luxuries because they have none. And yet, this considerable portion of the province's citizens are bearing up, managing somehow to cope without fuss or publicity. It was to these that Ontario's new lieutenant governor, Hon. John Aird, referred when he said in his New Year's message: "I have learned anew about the role our senior citizens play in the mainstream of life, as well as the historic role they have always played in family structures." Breakage expensive We'd like to pass along a reminder to Grimby's slobs: those beer bottles you're breaking in parks and other fun spots now are worth 10 cents each. Brewer's Warehousing Co. Ltd. has announced that the deposit on beer bottles increased to a dime on Monday. Of course, the refund value is also 10 cents, and that even includes those bottles purchased before Monday. Beer drinkers may find the extra $2.40 for a case of 24 bottles to be a hef- ty tab. but it should ensure' that more empty bottles find their way back to the By SYD FLETCHER Little kids never cease to amuse and interest me because of their complete honesty and logic which always seems to come com- pletely to the point. A good example of this was the case of the little grade 3 boy who was asked on a Science test to tell whether milk was a liquid or distributor. It could also be worth somebody's while to collect all those empties they see scattered around; obviously, our sloppier beer drinkers prefer to throw money away. Actually, Brewers' Warehousing reports that only three percent of the 2 billion bottles used in Ontario annually are not returned. It probably only seems that most of them are shattered in our parks and parking lots. Grimsby Independent Perspectives I a solid He replies, "It must be a liquid How else would it get out of the cow?" Then there was the little story in the header's Digest recent ly about the little girl who came hople from school and said to her mother, "To- day at school we learned to make babies " As calmly as possible the mother asked, "And how do you make babies?" "On it's easy," the little one replies "You just drop the y and add i -e -s." One of the little kindergarten kids has finally learned my name. Instead of "Hey teacher. do you want to see me skip?" she now says. "Hey Fletcher, do you want to see me skip''" Maybe by the time she hits grade one I'll graduate to 'Mr. Fletcher.' The hilarious thing about the whole situa- tion is that she never has a skipping rope. She just pretends that she has one. I'm better off though than the librarian' who was telling me that as one little grade 1 boy handed in his hook, he casually remarked, "Ili, chicken... then walked on about his business. She chuckled. "At least he didn't call me an old hen or I sup- pose he could have said "Hi, turkey " As Art I.inkletter used to say. "Kids ids do say the darndest things." "Say Ralph — do we take blood in payment?" Inflation is guaranteed You can stop wondering why inflation has become so rampant and why there appears to be so little hope of bringing it under control. All you have to do is consider the pay increases granted by Exeter council last week. On February 16 of this year, council agreed that one of the positions in the municipality should have a maximum salary allotment of $22,500 under the new grid system. Less than two months later, it was decided that because of in- flation. that maximum should be ex- tended to $28,326.37. That is not an isolated incident. In fact. council increased all the salaries on the grid system for all employees by that same 25.895 percent. It is significant to note that the in- flationary increaseapproved by council is actually greater than the total in- crease that could have been expected by the employee in the example cited above during his move from step 1 on the grid system through to the final step 5. . The grid system for the position had a starting salary of $18,500 and allowed for four merit increases of $1,000 each to the total of $22,500. While there is no stringent guideline for the amount of experience or the ability of the can- didate to merit the respective in- creases, it would be fair to say that most candidates could expect to take up to 20 years to move along the grid from step 1 to step 5. • However. as it can readily be seen, inflation of the nature envisioned by council, makes the grid system of salary advances rather inconsegden- tial. After all, a $1,000 increase based on merit is rather small in comparison to a $5,826.37 inprease based on infla- tion. The main problem is that the in- flationary increase dramatically erodes the value of the merit increase and provides very little incentive for any employee to improve his/her qualifications to move along the various steps in the grid system. If inflation is running at the rate for which the salary increases were ap- proved. then moving along the grid system is the only way in which employees actually better their posi- tion in terms of their financial status in life, but as noted, that becomes dif- ficult to comprehend or to motivate, when the inflationary increase is so much greater. In fact, it would almost appear to mRke a mockery of the grid system, and the fact that it was increased so dramatically in less than a two-month period, almost renders it useless as a standard. • While there may be valid reasons for going to a two-year contract period, that move does stimulate inflation. In fact. it guarantees inflation. Basically, council and the town staff have agreed that inflation has in- creased nine percent from the period of January 1, 1980 to January 1, 1981. There's little argument with that, and it may well be an under -estimate if anything. However. they are also agreeing that inflation will run at a five percent level between the period of January 1 of this year to July 1 and that it will increase another 10 percent by January of 1982. They will, of course, be absolutely correct as far as town wages in Exeter are concerned. That's been guaranteed and it is that type of action which in fact guarantees that inflation in all aspects of our economy will continue to escalate. Once inflation is built into a long - Su ar and Spice Dispensed by Smiley Add to death and taxes An old folk saying has it that there are only two things in life of which we can be certain: death and taxes. For Canadians, I think we couldand one more item: the periodic request from Bell Canada for an increase in rates. There's another one in the works right now, and unless the CRTC shows some gumption, and the Canadian public screams in outrage, it will quiet- ly slip through, another stone in the pyramid of inflation. I won't go into the nitty-gritty of the increases. They are complex and vary from one area to the other. But I'II give you a rough idea, supplied from Bell Canada itself. The increase is requested for September 1st, 1981. Here's an idea of what it will cost us. Your ordinary residence rate would go up by 30 per- cent. Your primary business rate would go up by 30 percent. Certain business auxiliary services would go up anywhere from 20 to 100 percent. Service charges to install a telephone would increase by $8.50 residential and $25.00 for business. The old reliable pay phone. which not too long ago jumped from a dime to twenty cents, would go up to a nice round quarter. Long distance calls, which Ma Bell urges us to make often, in a series of treacly television advertisements, will soar substantially. Now I'll be the first to admit that Bell Canada is one of the best services in the world. Ever try making a long- distance call in France, Germany, England? And I'll be the second to admit (after the company itself), that the rates are reasonable, compared to those of many other Countries. This is a tribute to the company's ex- pertise in keeping up with advancing technology. It has done an excellent job of this. And I'll be the third to admit (after the company and its employees) that inflation is driving up its costs for wages and materials, as it is doing to every other industry in the world. But. And I have some but's. The ser- vice is not as good as it once was. Diall- ing Operator nowadays is not receiving personal, friendly advice in making a difficult call. It is more like speaking to a rather cross computer who makes you feel stupid. Long gone is the feeling that the phone company is part of the community. Customers are now dealt with at arms length, and rather brus- quely, like retarded children. To be honest, some services have im- proved. I can call my daughter, 800 miles away by dialling a few numbers. and have her on the blower in thirty seconds. That's as it should be, with new equipment. But the Bell has become tight and cheese paring, in many other aspects. Operator assistance now costs you. It's even a dime more to ask for local direc- tory service. In other words, it will cost me an extra ten cents to find out term agreement, it cannot escape. It becomes the vheicle by which inflation continues. What is alarming is that the salaries become astronomical when inflation is built in. To use the figures of the previous example, it has already been noted that the maximum salary for one position has jumped from $22,500 on February 16, 1981 to $28,326.37 on January I. 1982. If inflation continues at that rate. and it must be remembered that it has been virtually guaranteed, that position could be deemed to have a maximum of $35,661.48 on January 1, 1984. Small wonder that predictions are that people will need wheelbarrows to carry their money when they go to the corner store for a loaf of bread. It would be comparatively easy to argue that the wage settlement granted by council last week was excessive, in addition to being inflationary. In fact, time may prove that the settlement does not keep local employees in line with inflation if there are other employee/employer groups agreeing that inflation will increase by more than the 25.895 percent establish- ed in Exeter. But the ramifications of such settlements must be frightening to even those who are subject to them, to say nothing of those who will not be able to maintain the same inflationary pace in their income. The danger for employees is that their salaries take such a large portion of the funds available, that there is lit- tle left to Pay for the projects which require their services. Unemployment, rnfortunately, is born of inflation. whether J. M. Smith is Jack Smith or Jeffrey Smith. . It will cost me a quarter to phone a cab, instead of a dime. And if they're too busy to come, it might cost me a dollar for four calls, instead of forty cents a couple of years ago. Bell Canada is honest enough, and smart enough, to explain why it needs the increases, aside from inflation. It wants to raise the return on its shares from 12 percent, established in 1974, to 14.50 or 15 percent, to encourage in- vestments. How many of us were mak- ing 12 percent in 1974 on our in- vestments, and ever §ince? Finally, it comes down to a matter of principle, and dignity. On principle, I have been fighting Bell's perennial re- quests for an increase for about thirty years, and have seen all too many of them ooze through with barely a mur- mur from the customers. And I think, in a trying time for all of this country, that the corporation might have enough dignity to tighten its belt and like the rest of us, while still giving its share -holders a fair return, and keeping its standards up. Alberta is willing to sell its oil well below world prices, to keep along the same lines, without losing its integrity for borrowing money, for attractingln- vestors. "The unfavorable economic con- ditions in the Company's servicing area" is another reason for demanding new revenues. How in the holy old heck p Mainstream Canada Rent controls: a dicey issue By W Roger Worth Rent controls are fast becoming a major issue in Canada and governments are having a great deal of difficulty dealing with the politically contentious problem. The reason: a great number of Canadians believe landlords would dramatically raise rents if they were left to their own devices. Naturally, politicians are particularly sensitive about an issue that affects so many voters. Roger Worth is Director, Public Affairs, Canadian Federation of independent Business. That's one side of the coin..- The people who develop' and invest in rental properties have an entirely different point of view. Many of them argue they are not receiving a fair return on their investments, particularly at a time when the payout on ordinary invest- ments such as Canada Savings Bonds is 12% - 14% or more. As a result of the low rate of return on property invest- ment, together with high in- terest rates, construction of new apartment dwellings has slowed to a crawl in many areas of the country. The evidence: apartment vacancy rates in many cities are extremely low, producing what is becoming a mad scram- ble for available housing. In addition, many land- lords are culling back main- tenance spending in efforts to remain solvent. • Already two jurisdictions in Canada have recognized the difficulty by scrapping the rent controls that were introduced in the 1970s In conjunction with wage and price controls. Other provinces are consider- ing either dropping or phasing out rent controls over a period of lime. There is support for that position. Members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, for example, recently voted to drop controls. They apparently see the need to en- courage construction of rental housing. While apartment dwellers may complain about rising rents following decontrol, there is an even more impor- tant question involved. Unless landlords receive a fair return on money invested in property, a lot of renters may eventually find there is simply no place to live. ENERGYSCOPE Installing a heat pump. can reduce heating bills A heat pump greatly re- duces high heating bills. This electrically operated device extracts heat from outside air in the winter and brings it inside; extracts heat from inside air in the summer and pumps it outside. The concept is really quite simple. Refrigerators work on a similar principle to extract warm air from the cooling compartment. That's why the coils on the back of your refrigerator are warm. A heat pump circulates a coolant, such as freon, which is a liquid under high pressure, and a vapor under low pressure. The coolant absorbs heat when it vaporizes. Pres- sure is applied and the heat is released -- outside the house in summer, inside in winter. In winter, the warm air is circulated by fans. But you are probably wondering how a pump can drag heat out of the frosty air. The fact is, there's always some heat in the air unless it is absolute zerti — or -273°C. (-459°F.). Normal-sized heat pumps for homes work best down to temperatures of -10°C. (14°F.). Below that they cannot extract enoughwarm- th to heat a home a ficiently. That's why a homeowner needs a backup system such as a conventional furnace in addition to the heat pump. Energy Ontario Even so, a heat pump used in conjunction with a sup- plementary heating system can save up to 40 per cent of heating costs in some cases. Homes heated by hot water cannot use conventional heat pumps. OK, so what's the draw- back, why doesn't every home have a heat pump perched outside? Well, they are expensive -- 82,000 to $4,000 installed. That's why Premier Davis has asked Ontario H dro to start a program to make heat pumps more readily available to the average homeowner in the province. In addition, the Premier wants Ontario to lead the way in the development of this energysaving technology. So a homeowner with an aging heating system which must he replaced and who is also considering installing air conditioning should look seriously at installing a heat pump. Although the heat pump will cost more now, it will be far less expensive to operate over the years then either electrical forced-air/central air conditioning, or natural gas and air conditioning. For further information, write to Energyscope, care of the Ministry of Energy, GMS Box 37, Queen's Park, Toronto, M7A 2B7. ENERGYSCOPE is prepared by the Ontario Ministry of Energy as part of Energy Ontario is a fat increase going to aid these economic conditions? In a far-flung country like this, the telephone has probably become more important, economically and emotionally, than the postal service. Not much of an argument, mine, but I have a feeling the increase is wrong. If you feel the same, badger your federal MP into badgering the CRTC into a refusal. Improved technology should reduce prices, not increase them. But Ma Bell and hershareholderscouldn't care less, apparently. Let's end this column on a happier note. Some weeks ago, I wrote about an old song that went: "You'can bring Kate, with the partial plate, But don't bring Lula," and so on, for verse after verse. 1 couldn't remember what was wrong with Lula. Dave Lister of McDonald's Corner, Ont., and Mary Tilden of Nepean, Ont., have filled me in. Mary writes: "Words I am sure you are longing to hear," "You can bring Pearl, she's a darn nice girl, but don't etc." She adds, "Sorry I only know the last line:" "Hullabaloola, don't bring Lula, I'll bring her myself." Dave corroborates this with, "There was nothing wrong with Lula. The last line of the song said, "I'11 bring her myself." Certainly glad that's cleared up.