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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1983-01-12, Page 4• • • Times -Advocate, January 12; 1983 IIIIIMMIIMMINSWIRV.. 1%4 imes - Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 'NAV dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILI. BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ''ABC' A risky decision When,law makers knowingly become party to law breaking, they undermine the authority which they have been given and risk losing the power to enforce other laws which they have established. That's why it becomes difficult to comprehend the thinking of the majority of Exeter council in their deci- sion last week to grant an application for a business to establish in a zone which every member of council and their bylaw officer appeared to be of the opinion was in .contradiction of the, local zoning bylaws. The very fact of granting one year to meet the zon- ing requirements acknowledges that those re- quirements are not currently being met; yet that *CNA should be the sole basis on which the application is granted. The anticipation of tax revenue and employment for the community is an understandable basis of con- sideration in these difficult economic times; but 'it is surely not justification for bending or breaking the rules. The proper procedure is to change the rules if the need indicates that course of action. That is the mandate elected officials are given and it should obviously serve their needs. To circumvent one of their own laws is to place in jeopardy the authori- ty to enforce others. It can be a most dangerous position. Wood choppers scramble The return to wood heating in many homes in the area has resulted in an unexpected benefit for the peo- ple who previously had- to clean up after storms. Fallen limbs and toppled trees are no longer Left along roadsides awaiting removal by township or highway workmen. No sooner does the wind calm than • a host of people with chainsaws and pickup trucks des- cend upon the carnage to augment the stacks in their woodsheds. The salvage rights appear to rest with the first on the scene, although some squabbles have arisen over the territorial rights to which property owners lay A • claim for the increasingly valuable commodity. There are some scavengers who totally fail to recognize the difference between private and public property when it comes to harvesting the wind -fall and more than one has experienced the sad fate of spen- ding several hours chopping up a fallen tree only to have a property owner descend upon the scene to lay claim to the efforts of the toil. The day of getting wood merely "for the taking" is quickly disappearing and even municipalities may have to start taking a look at the source of revenue left strewn along their roadsides after a blow from nature. Why they see red Canadians will soon be receiving their income tax - forms in the mail, so it is perhaps an appropriate time to explain why people operating small and medium siz- ed companies are so angry about the number and com- plexity of the forms they are forced to fill out for government. The issue is timely because the changes in the per- sonal income tax form during the last 20 years or so are but one example of the kind of paper -burden en- trepreneurs are forced to contend with. Let's flash back to the 1960's. At that time, Revenue Canada was satisfied with a four page tax form. Canadians reported their income, lopped off a few deductions and either paid the tax bill or filed for a refund. It was a relatively simple exercise. Now, Canadians are faced with a 30 page form, together with a multicoloured booklet explaining how easy it is to fill in this document. . This once simple process has become so complex that more and more people are forced to visit accoun- tants and tax preparation experts as they attempt to save money. Thankfully, this is a once -a -year happening. Such is not the case for business people. They are forced to deal with such government -oriented paper- work on a week -to -week basis. They have to report federal and provincial government sales taxes, Workers' Compensation and unemployment insurance changes and dozens of other pieces of paperwork, in- cluding information for that federal government monster called Statistics Canada. In fact, most smaller firms are spending 10 hours a week or more handling the government's paperwork and red tape. The tragedy, of course, is that the time could be better spent operating the business, allowing the en- trepreneur to expand and create new jobs, or at least maintain present employment levels. The hard fact is that governments are placing too heavy a burden on business people who would rather hustle new' sales than spend hours filling in forms. So this year when you're completing your tax return, give a little thought to the entrepreneur's plight. If you were in his or her shoes, you would be completing such forms virtually every week of the year. .Don't expect balanced study Although the exact quotation escapes me, there is an adage that suggests that a doctor who attempts to diagnose his own ailment and treat himself has a fool for a patient. It's an exercise that often ends in futili- ty for other professionals and businesses who attempt to solve some of their own problems. The point is, that having made the mistake that placed them in jeopardy in the first place, they are ill-equipped to turn around and solve the problem. If they knew the exact nature of the problem, they probably wouldn't have allowed it to arise in the first place. or at least to have continued to the point of requiring some remedial action. However simple that philosophy may appear to most people, it has obviously escaped federal •industry minister Ed Lumley. At the outset, he appeared to have his head screwed on correctly by deciding that some type of study was required in an attempt to solve the problems relating to this nation's auto industry. There's no doubt that industry is in serious trouble, and as one of the country's major employers and economic contrihuters, it is certainly in the best interest of everyone to try and find some solutions to get the auto makers back on their feet. Unfortunately, he' decided that only those involved in the business should be called upon to investigate the situation and to propose the solutions. • So, he named the representatives of top management of the three auto makers, auto parts manufacturers and the auto workers' union to act as a task force to tell BATT'N AROUND with the editor the government what the nation should be doing for them to get them out of the mess in which they, in no small measure, plac- ed themselves. • • While the task force may come up with some plausible solutions, there is a well- founded apprehension that they will make recommendations strictly on how the government, through tax dollars or im- port restrictions, can assist. It is highly unlikely that the group will delve too deeply into the management and union practices that have enabled foreign manufacturers to cut sharply into the domestic market. Obviously, some representatives from outside the industry should have been named to the task force in an effort to bring about a more objective and balanc- ed viewpoint. Unfortunately, the recommendations will be viewed with about the same a __Jam - SSI -r - !L.m• .•••2m.. Amm . ._- credibility as the bald-headed salesman peddling hair restorer. The blame for that, of coursewill fall squarely on Mr. Lumley, but the sad result is that the auto industry will continue to wallow in its cur- rent despair and that affects the entire nation. Of course, most Canadians have come to expect that type of thinking from the people who attempt to run this country. The annual reports of the auditor -general give them further cause for concern. The reports from the auditors -general of both federal and provincial govern- ments were released just prior to Christmas and not surprisingly, both reports were loaded with proven in- stances of spending folly. Not surprising, because the annual reports have contain- ed the same examples of mis- management and over -spending for the past several years. All-in-all, governments do not emerge with the appearance .of being very bright when it comes to doing business with our money. Part of the horror is that the Canadian economy is drained through the costly blunders and yet there are no examples of those civil servants responsible being called onto the carpet to face the conse- quences of their actions. Even more sad is the fact that we Canadians are such an apathetic lot that we allow the practices to cdntinue. That makes us about as smart as they are! 1 ti t. • House discombobulated It never fails. Never fails. Every holiday season, my wife, in desperation at what's ahead, hurls herself into some PROJECT that discombobulates the household, turns her into a vixen, and drives me right out of my skull. I well remember the year she decided to have some brickwork done in December. Of course, the weather turned wild, the bricklayer couldn't work, and we wound up with four thousand wet bricks in the back kitchen. Dripping and smelling like wet brick. Another time she decid- ed to have the whole fami- ly for Christmas; her parents, aunts, and assorted relatives. By the time she'd finished scour- ing and scourging, that old house was shining like two bubbles in a chamber pot, and groaning in every board. That's the year the kitchen floor was waxed so highly, I dropped the turkey on it when I slipped en route to the dining - room. She didn't speak to me until about Valentine's Day. Sometimes, it's sewing. All else is forgotten as she tries to make clothes enough in three weeks for her daughter and grand - boys to wear for a year. Material, tapes, patterns, pins andneedles everywhere. And I have the wound -marks to prove it, should I pull my pants down. If she can't dream up something to push away the thoughts of Christmas, she'll tackle it head-on, with a baking spree. Every mixing bowl in the house is activated, the oven goes full blast eigh- teen hours a day, and if you're not stepping in flour, while the fancy cookies, cakes and pud- dings pile up to the point where the inmates of -a logging camp couldn't eat them all. This Christmas, she out- did herself. Back in the Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley painted. She got the ceil- ing done, with the resul- tant chaos of moving fur-. niture and taking everything out of the closets, a half -day's job. Just then she was struck by a desire to start taking piano lessons after some fall, some idiot mentioned on the air that ttlere were only eleventy-seven shop- ping days until Christmas. The old lady immediately when into her mechanic's routine. She bought 'a caulking gun, a wood chisel, :a hammer, and a key -hole saw. All the door- knobs were to be changed; because they have a habit of coming away in your hand, a new lock put on the back door, though there was nothing wrong with the old one, except that you could open it with a credit card, and all the windows were to be insulated. Now, none.of the door- knobs work at all, and you have to pull doors open with your toes or finger- nails, the lock is on the back door and it's a can- dy, but we have to leave the door braced open with a slipper when we go out, so that we can get back in, and the wind coming in• around the windows would make your hair stand on .end. Halfway through this job, which is why it wasn't finished, she declared the master bedroom must be years away from the machine. Anybody knows you can't paint and prac- tise the piano at the same time, so she hired a.chap to finish the painting. This made the bedroom so dazzling that the bedroom suddenly ap- peared sleezy, and it had to be painted. By some strange osmosis, this in turn made the kitchen woodwork absolutely shabby, and the paint job spread downstairs. Had your' kitchen painted lately? I wasn't against having the wood- work done, but I can see no point in painting the in- sides of cupboards. She can. After they've been emptied and thoroughly washed. We have enough cupboards, in the front and back kitchen, to hold enough stuff to withstand a three -year's siege. As I write, it's all sitting in liquor boxes, on the kit- chen floor, in the front hall in the vestibule, the living - room and the basement. If you want to make a sand- wich, you go to the base- ment for bread prowl through eighteen boxes to find a knife, look for the butter in the box with the winter boots, and find a slice of ham in a box on the attic stairs, in with the soap, the adhesive tape, and the thumb tacks. You'd think that would be enough to keep Christmas at bay. Not at all. She suddenly decided that after 36 years of mar- ried something or other, we absolutely must get a stereo outfit, with cassette, the whole works. Simple enough. We had only two hi-fi machines and a cheap cassette. recorder. For three: isteeks, I huddled in my chair in the living -room, surrounded by liquor boxes, listening avidly while she ex- perimented with two dif- ferent sets of speakers, various microphones and about 300 yards of wire all overthe floor. Whichever speaker she liked, I eagerly agreed were the best. Then she'd change her mind. She wanted_ to get perfectly clearly the mistakes she made while practising the piano,.in order to correct them. It made a nice change, to be'tripping over wire in- stead of stubbing my toe on a paint can, or stepping in my sock feet, on a chisel. Of course, it all came right in the end. The turkey smelled of fresh paint, I was awakened every morning at 5 a.m. by a squeal ofk a microphone, and you still lock yourself in the bathroom if you pull on the knob. But the butter's back in the fridge, the grandboys have chipped all the fresh paint away, and at last everything's back to normal. Throwing some rocks At this time of year it is customary to throw a few rocks toward the people who did some terrible things in the previous year and a few rose bouquets to the ones who really tried to improve the world a lit- tle. This week I'm heading for the quarry to get a few boulders for those who I think deserve it. First of all, a telephone - booth -sized one for Gerald Bouey whose Bank of Canada policies of high in- terest have forced thousands of people out of business and out of work. It's hard for me to justify the hardship that this man had caused. Beating infla- tion has not been worth the pain and suffering that has been caused for all these people. Many boulders 'for the soldiers in places like El Salvador, Guatemala Iran, Iraq, Israel and Lebanon, who pretend that they have some great purpose in mind when they murder innocent women and children, all the time knowing that all they crave is power. A rock for the 'punk the country is reeling. One for the prime minister who could not come up with a better salutation for his consti- Perspectives By Syd Fletcher rockers' who shout all kinds of violence in their music, influencing our young people in the worst possible ways. A few rocks for the "big five" chartered banks who piously put adver- tisements in the newspapers about the im- portance of businesses having a good profitif the country is to prosper, and meanwhile record their biggest profits in recorded history while the rest of tuents than the upraised finger, who wasted the country's time for three consecutive nights on television and said nothing of any importance, somehow leaving us all wondering where the leadership was to, come from to pull us out of the mess we are in. Another one for Clifford Olson, self-confessed murderer whose family was paid 190,000 because of his assistance in finding the graves of 11 of his victims. A great big one to Michael Pitfield. In case you don't know that name, he's the fellow who work- ed at Trudeau's side as an advisor for eight years and retired recently (at 45) and was appointed to the Senate. There he will get $58,500 a year. If he stays there till he is 75 years old he will get 1.6 million in salary, plus another quarter of a million (tax-free) plusan- nual pensions totalling, get this now, over $100,000 annually. Howdo you like that, you pensioners out there surviving on $6000 a year? Then again, Pitfield is really suffering. He on- ly got $107,000 severance pay when Joe Clark fired him in 1979. There. I've got rid of some steam about a few of the bad things happening in '82. Next week 1 11 talk about some of the good ones.