Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-12-08, Page 4Times -Advocate, December 8 1982 lae'!s.`• Amt imes -/idv�cate Times Established 1873 \dsocate Established 1881. • •kmalgamated 1924 • :c);:•i .Ef!)% Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published 131 J.W. Eed. Publications limited :):.. RO"" H Al.(;H A• Editor D'CK O\C,kI\D B .. \;snager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario .` Second Class Mai Registration umber 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCkIPTION RATES: Canada $20.00 Per year: U.S.A. $55.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Stick with guideline PUC manager Hugh Davis is no doubt justified in noting that a two cents per day increase for Exeter water users is a reasonable adjustment after five years in which the rates have remained constant. During that period. the Commission has absorbed higher costs for fuel. labour. truck maintenance and taxes. while at the same time revenue has-been reduc- ed as some major industrial consumers have moved to reduce their costs by decreasing the amount of water used. _ However, the fact remains that the 10 percent in- crease suggested is above the provincial guidelines, and every effort should be made by the Commission to keep the increase lower and within the guidelines. Those two cents per day may appear miniscule, but it is the percentage that must be considered. Lumped together with other percentage increases over the guidelines, the effect further erodes the battle against inflation and results in a double standard in terms of what people are expected to receive in their pay cheques and what they in turn have to payout for the goods and services they require. The Commission need look no further than their own employees to see the unfairness of boosting water prices over the guidelines. The employees have been required to stay within the guidelines for their salaries and should expect. as water consumers themselves. that their cost for that commodity will be within the same guidelines inflicted upon them. In view of the fact the Commission has absorbed - the increase in costs over the past five years without a rate increase Would indicate the price established five years ago was much too high. Is the 10 percent hike being suggested to cover the anticipated cost increases over the next five years. or just those facing the Com- mission in the coming year alone? Certainly. the Commission can point to the in- creases they face from Ontario Hydro to point out that even some branches of the Ontario government don't follow their own guidelines. but two wrongs never make a right. It's even logical Somewhere, it must be written, that when the government does something,, it has to be confusing•. Because of this belief, many people are finding the new "Plate to Owner" vehicle registration more difficult than it really is. In reality. the new system is quite simple and. believe it or not, logical. On December 1, when the -1983 licence renewal stickers go, on sale, Ontario is introduc- ing a new vehicle registration system whereby the licence plates for your vehicle will be registered to you. not to the vehicle. Contrary to popular misconceptions, you will still have the two months grace that you have always had, giving you until February 28 to pick up your 1983 renewal sticker. Unlike previous years, however, individual owners will not be paying forthe period of January 1, 1983 un- til -December 31, 1983;'but will pay for the months bet- ween January 1, 1983 until the next birthday after June 1,1983. For example, if your birthday is in October you will pay $40 for 10 months. If your birthday falls in April, you will pay $64 for 16 months. You will not have to pay again for licence renewal .sticker until the birthday you are paid up to. At that time you will pay the annual fee of $48 for passenger cars. Your renewed licence will then be valid up until your next. birthday. If you are the current owner of a vehicle. you will retain your present plates. and not be issued a new plate. If you sell your vehicle, remove the plates and keep them for your next vehicle. An invitation to renew will be sent to y9u approx- imately 45 days before your renewal date. There will be space to list information changes. which you take to a licence issuing office. Beginning June 1983. you will be denied: renewal if you have an unpaid parking ticket or if you have given the ministry an NSF cheque. The invitation to renew will tell you if you have any mid fines for which you may be denied renewal. You mist pay fines when you renew. There are many benefits to the new system. It . should eliminate the long lineups at the local issuing office. This office will also be able to replace- lost or stolen permits. Not only will it facilitate the collection of parking fines and other unpaid lees,' it will eliminate parking tickets or summonses going to former owners. There will also be`a more accurate and up-to-date record of vehicle registration. • Shouldbe . leader, not -foliower When Canadian taxpayers coughed up • and move quickly to correct either the in - millions of dollars for Petro -Canada. many shrugged off the costs with the hope that at Least their very own firm would bring some competition to the market place and ensure them of fair prices at the . pumps. It is. therefore. with some raised eye- brows that Canadians viewed. the recent announcement by Environment Canada that the thousands of motorists who are forced to -buy unleaded fuel° for their cars and trucks'are being ripped off in the wide differential between the unleaded and regular gas prices. �. The spokesman said the cost factor in the process bywhichunleadedgasis made costs the manufacturer oni}• .44 cents per • litre more than the process for unleaded fuels. Not surprising. especially for . con- sumers who have been told in the past that many major oil companies were reaping excessive profits. is the fact that when they go to the pumps they are .ei- pected to pay many.times over the stated manufacturing cost per litre of unleaded gasoline. What the major oil companies charge for thier product. • of course. is their business. With one noteable exception' Canadians should not expect to get rip- ped off by their own oi1 company Peer- . Canada has been in business long enough to sort out its own business and establish .prices in keeping with its costs. The investment is a waste if Petro - Canada *merely going to follow the ques- tionable practices of -other oil firms and it is no consolation whatever tokno�ithat ' the excess charge for unleaded gasoline is ending up in the public coffers. • Either Environment Canada is wrong or Petro -Canada is wrong. Surely it is not 'difficult to determine which is in error formation or the price. • No taxation without representation' From words similar to that stemmed the famous Boston tea party. BATT'N AROUND with the editor It is also the basis for the current study into changing the electoral boundaries in this province. changes which are not be- ing welcomed by many people as they see themselves moving into new federal . ridings. in rural. Ontario. theboundariesarebe- ing extended in most cases to add population to bring the various ridings up to the average population cited as being equitable In. urban Ontario. of course. more ridings are being added as the population moves in that direction. . While there may be some consternation among those voters being shifted into new ridings. or.from MPs who see their ter- . ritories being changed. the majority of Canadians may be more concerned over the final effect of all the changes: mbre MPs in Ottawa. What the peopje at the Boston tea-par- ty quickly learned to their chagrin. was that with added representation comes addedtaxation. It does not. unfortunate- ly. naturally follow that it will be better representation. ( • • •Most Canadians long ago gave up on the hope that some knight in shining white ar- mour would arrive upon the scene and deliver them from the evils of dragons. big governments and. despair. However. Peter Pocklington. the Ed- monton multi millionaire.. apparently seen himself in that role. and as hope springs eternal. it is perhaps not surpris- ing that he is gaining some support for the ideas being espoused in his cross -Canada speaking tours. Pocklington. of course. does not have a • white horse to ride upon in that he does not even sit in the House of Commons. But he has ambitions. ,Having gone through the basic rags to riches process already. he's not anxious to start at the. bottom. He simply wants Joe. Clark's job at the helm of the PC party and he anticipates that • such a job .would quickly lead to.the one to which he aspires the most. the Prime Minister of Canada That's prett}- heady stuff. but don't count him out. Man Canadians are about ready to try anything as opposed to con- tinuing on with the current mess of political .bungling. . Too many decisions :in the past have been made for sound political reasons rather than sound economic reasons. The • room boys- have contributed in no small part to -the policies wlgich have drained the economy and people keep liv- ing in the hope that someone comes Monti who could turn 'things around and make decisions that were more in the interests of the nation than being intended primari- ly to be in the interests of any particular political party. • Whether Pocklington could ever be that person remains to be seen, but at least it is adding some interest to the upcoming national convention of the PC party. Grow steadily more One of the nicer things about growing older is that we grow steadily more pure. ' It's astonishing how we shed sin and don morality with each passing year. One night about 50 years ago. for ,example, • I was climbing overa stone wall with my shirt stuffed with ' grapes when a stentorian voice bellowed. '-Hi' You! " My heart leaped in- to my mouth. I leaped to the ground. the grapes popped out of .-mv shirt. and I tookoff like missile, purt.ed by outraged roars and heavy boots. . • Later.' in the sanctuary of my bed. did I regret my wickedness. revile myself for shattering one of the •commandments and. swear.that I'd never do it again'. Not exactly. What I did was regret losing the grapes. revile myself for being scared half to death. •and swear a return visit to the vineyard as. soon as the heat was off. Th is what I mean_ To- day. I'd never consider suc thing. Oh. I might gig' y golf ball a very sm 11 kick if it was in a particularly bad lie in the rough and nobody was looking. I might tell my wife I'd paid the hydro bill in time to get the discount when I knew perfectly well that it was in my pocket. unpaid.. But I'd never dream of doing anything dishonest. like stealing grapes from a millionaire with a huge estate and a, huge gardenerdoubling asnight watchman. Other people are the same. The older they get, ' the better they get. Not long ago. we visited an old i think that I had best get my eyes checked. in fact ,I think that they bet- ter bring along that little machine that checks the ears too because I'm hear- ing and seeing things that just can't be true. Let me get a fewfacts straight. Yep, there really were '40 percent more bankrupt- cies this year than over the same period a year ago and already more than in any. previous full year. Bankruptcies in all in- dustrial countries are at acquaintance. a woman in her early 40s. She had a teenage daughter who was out to a dance that night. The kid was to be home by one. As the hour neared, the another kept breaking off her monologue about her church activities, her eyes flitting toward the Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley clock. By one -fifteen. we had to restrain her for- cibly -from calling the police. The kid showed by• at one -thirty. You should have heard her mother. You'd have thought the youngster was utterly depraved. Later. as mama served tea and vehemently! wondered what was going to become of these un- disciplined. irresponsible teenagers. I couldn't help_ casting my mind bank. Twenty-five years earlier-. our hostess had been a regular young rip, whose Specialties were drinking gin out of the bottle in backseats of cars, and go- ing for mixed midnight swims au naturel. Recently. I spent a weekend with an old col- lege friend. He had . distinguished himself at university. not through academic or athletic ppro- wess. but for an incredible memory that could recall the words and tunes of all the bawdy songs ever sung. Saturday night i tried to get a few verses of Riley's Daughter. or Cats on the Rooftops out of him. but he was strangely reti- cent. In the old days you had to hold him down and stuff a sock in his mouth to make him stop singing. Sunday morning. he acted kind•of mysterious. Wanted me to go for a walk with him. I decided - he. was taking .me to the bootlegger's so naturally •demurred; but he insisted. Ten minutes later my mouth was still hanging open as 1 sat in the back row of the Sunday •School and watched my friend. arms waving. face beam- ing. leading about eighty small types through the strains of Jesus Loves Me. Last spring I bumped in- to. an.. old •Air Force sidekick in the coffee shop of a city hotel. Hadn't seen him since Brussels, 1945. His name was Dick. but we called him. The Count in those•days, becasue he was reputedly. and en- viedly, living in sin with a beautiful. rich Belgian countess. Ile was a big, handsome, .devil -may- care chap then. - Anyway. we chatted. Ile was.. pretty fat. pretty bald. pretty dull. "Remember when we us- ed to call you The (bunt?", 1 asked, in an ef- fort to establish. somii Say it isn't true post-war record levels. Experts note that many firms don't bother declar- federal' crOWn corpora tion, lost a -staggering $45.4 million in the first Perspectives By Syd Fletcher ing bankruptcy but just quietly close their doors while still others just go in- to receivership. Canadian National, a nine nionIhs Of 1982. A . world economic sonitori tatedt bluntlyrganization tthat world trade was showing alarm - pure common ground. He mut- tered something like. "Count me out",_and laun- ched rapidly intoa spiel on the work • he was jjoing with juvenile delin- quents. through a church group. ile finally ran out of breath. there was an" awkward pause. then: "Guess you haven't met the wife," he said. turning to a large red-faced woman sitting on the stool beside him• eating a vast sundae. .It was not the Countess. And so it goes. You can see them everywhere: people who • were once. steeped in sin and now pass the collection plate: who were once steeped in gin and whose inflamed noses now light the way for the valiant armies,of the temperance •movement. Reformed (eaters lead the attack on pornography and prostitution. Reform- ed poachers want the game laws tightened. An- cient golfers will take off as few as five strokes from their actual Score.. Sex fiends become saintly. it's as plain as the wart • on your\nose that people improve with age. moral- ly, if not physically. But I'd still like, to know why. is it because they have learned to respect the law and other people's proper- ty? is it because they know the day of judge- ment is bearing down and they're trying to. cover their flaming youth with a nice coat of camouflage Rey? Or is it that they simply don't have the stamina to be sinful any more? Perhaps sonnei of you old sinners could ou enlighten me. ing parallels tothoseof the great Depression and show's no true signs of recovering yet. Chrysler Corporation ,has just gone through the worst _three years of its corporate history and is just now, nicely recovering. Yep, all those things are really true. Tell the then. Why do i keep hearing and reading that a whole bunch of t'hrysler, workers have gone out on strike to get a substantial raise. • Please tell me it's not true. •