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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-12-11, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, December 1 1 , 1985 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Imes Ti?.1440� Published Each Wednesday Morningeat Exeter, Ontario, NOM 150 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519.235-1331 LORNE EEDY Publisher OM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIE$ Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor . DICK IONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $23.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' A benefit to all In an unexpected about-turn, Huron County council decided last i week to throw open its committee and board meetings to the public. While the county should be lauded for the move, the commendation has to be tempered slightly by the fact it was a move dictated by propriety. Obviously, it is difficult torejoice too ardently when the decision is merely one that is dictated by com- mon sense and duty. • Nevertheless, county councillors had to overcome a long-standing tradi- tion to move the public business into the public domain, and that obviously had to be difficult for some members to accept in view of their long -held at- titude that county council was some type of private club that should not be held up to the scrutiny of the people whom it was serving. • Members will probably find little change in their meetings that were previously closed door sessions. In general, members of the public are not particularly interested in atten- ding meetings of council deliberations, and the new openess will probably not attract any great influx of visitors. However, the decision on whether any ratepayer wishes to attend meetings of any group conducting business on his/her behalf is one that should rest entirely with that ratepayer and there should be no im- pediment placed on that basic right by elected officials. The move at least removes the suspicions and charges of wrong -doing that are often associated with groups which meet in secret and county of- ficials will probably find they are the prime benefactors in their decision. The onus for telling the public what goes on, at closed sessions rests with those who conduct them; while 'the onus for knowing what goes on when the doors are open rests solely with the public. Flush them out At a time when many Ontario residents were of the opinion that en- vironment officials were taking steps to make their water and air cleaner and safer, the current problems being experienced in Lake St. Clair indicate quite conclusively that is not the case. The lake has been described as a "toilet bowl" for Sarnia's• chemical valley and each day appears to bring. new evidence that residents in the area are at considerable risk. • . There is little doubt that the situa- tion is,serious although it will ap- parently take some time before any clear indication can be given to the - damage done' and the ramifications for the future. One of the more worrisome aspects is that environment personnel have been less than forthright in bringing the matter to the attention of . the public and that prompts concern that there may be similar situations elsewhere in the province where peo- ple. have not been advised of the risks which exist in their midst. While some considerable clean-up is now .underway for the St. Clair River and its adjoining lake, it is evi- r .dent that it should be quickly followed ' by the necessary action to see whether a considerable clean-up is re- quired in•the;bureaucracies of. the pro- vincial and federal ministries respon- sible for the environment. It would appear that some flushing out is required in more than the lake and river. Need book for losers too This is the time of year that most people would be happy to be among those "big winners"• in a lottery as they set about the cost- ly venture of celebrating Christmas. Much of the glow has gone from lotteries as they have been relegated to a mundane position in the daily lives of most people. That's not to suggest that ticket sales have diminshed to any great extent, just that the excite- ment and interest has waned considerably. Buying tickets is now in the same category as going grocery shopping. shovelling off the front walk or the hundred and one other things that people do in the course of any average week. While the dream of winning still exists. the fact is that few people will find it necessary to read through a new booklet recently published by the Ontario Lottery Corporation. it's entitled "Winners' Hand - hook" and gives all sorts of valuable advice to winners on how to handle their new-found wealth. even to the point of some hints on handling the news media and the donation requests which come from those wishing to share in the fortunes of others with their tales of woe. It didn't escape the writer that "how to handle -news media and donation requests" is lumped in- to one title. suggesting that the tactics are somehow on the same level and should. tfe handled in similar fashion. The fact is. the Ontario Lottery Corporation wants all the media attention possible for the win- ners, because it is only through such publicity that other people have the dream of winning rekindled and continue to buy tickets. Lottery officials require that a 1 winner's name, address and photograph lie released to the news media for the very publici- ty that those officials recognize as a very important aspect of the success of their ventures. While the booklet explains to winners that people are in- terested in hearing their story, it fails to acknowledge that the lot- tery officials are the ones who promote that idea 'to the fullest Batt'n Around ...with The Editor and to turn around and suggest that they have those winners' best interest at heart in listing methods to "handle" the media is beingbtwo-faced. * * * Given the fact there are a million losers for every winner in most lotteries, it would appear that the Lottery Corporation may be misdirecting some of -their funds in publishing a colorful booklet directed at those few winners. Most of the current losers would be more than willing to be placed in a position of having to ferret out their own advice on how to handle their new-found wealth. in fact, it is rather ironical that representatives of Canada's trust companies, banks. accounting and real estate associations have contributed their expertise to the booklet. Chances are, if any of the losers • were to ask those same financial wizards about thewisdom of "in- vesting" in lottery tickets, they would be advised that it was down near the bottom of the list, either above or below investing in buggy whip factories. The booklet tells winners "your first concern is probably to put your money in a safe place where it is working tb your advantage". That's sound advice, buCunfor- tunately if all lottery players followed it, there soon wouldn't be any lotteries left, or lottery of- ficials for that matter. That's probably why the booklet contains this statement: The Ontario Lottery Corporation bears no responsibility for advice contained in this material. , * * * ,* As you may have guessed, the writer does not hold the concept of lotteries in very high regard, although it is acknowledged that the cdntributions of the millions of players do provide some wor- thwhile funding to groups in the province. Howeverr there are many in- stances when the projects of some groups would not be sup- ported by the buyers if they were asked directly. How many, for instance would. support the production of a Video Culture international interactive broadcast event in Don Mills? $10.000 was earmarked from the province for that project. presumably from Lottery funds. The lottery dream is often in direct opposition to the dreamer's ability to pay for the chance of that dream' and in many households it creates a financial burden. Lotteries have also created im- possible competition for the small area draws which support wor- thwhile ventures that often bring direct benefits to the supporters. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited 1 1► 1141/4 OUR "Think they'!l ever pull wines that contain a REALLY dangerous substance ..like alcohol. off the 'shelves?" It's a tough life A strange bird is our. Hugh. An' odd bird, indeed. He can be an Egyptian bazaar merchant. Next moment, he can be as naive as a six-year-old who has been slap- ped for doing something un- thinkable in our rectitudinous Canadian society. ' I observe him more closely than I have in years, becapse of geography. For some years, he attended, occasionally, various universities, from Toronto to Halifax. He worked on a boat on the Great Lakes, and another on the Vancouver -Alaska run. He spent five years in Paraguay. There were sidetrips to Mexico, Israel, Guatemala, Costa Rica. He's been to Brazil, Argentina., Peru -and Bolivia. As a result, we didn't see much of him. Now, he has rented a winteriz- ed cottage at a beach near me, while maintaining his practice in the city. Nqbody but laugh would rent a cottage which he must vacate from mid-June to Labour Day. But he did. He arrives from the city on Fri- day evening. Does he rush out to his beloved cottage, which he rented to "get away from the ci- ty?" Not on your life. We have cups of tea, some food, a little yatter. He plays the grand piano and some new tapes he's discoverd. We watch late TV. He sleeps late, -showers, brings me a cuppa in bed, plays more piano or guitar, and halfway through Saturday afternoon, I almost have to kick him out to go to his retreat in the country. He returns to my place Monday evening and the same routine is followed. Tea, shower, music,. TV. He catches the early bus Tuesday, usually, and goes back to work in the city, where he sleeps on a bed in the clinic he shares. A tough life. We spat, infrequently, but fair- ly fiercely. I'm a sceptic: he's a believer. in everything: holistic 'medicine, astrology, reflexology - the mind -boggles when he gets on to the relation between music and the entire body. I ask snarky questions until his dark brown eyes begin to smoulder. But he has a great personality, and a wonderful curiously. He is very fit, because he eats only the right foods, except that every time he leaves, my refrigerator is almost cleaned out. He charms people, and opens Sugar &Spice 'Dispensed by Smiley up to them. He is an excellent listener, except that he gets a bit of a glazed look when I go on about something he doesn't agree with, or has' heard before, or doesn't fit into tris scheme of things. He is completely amoral about money. He, received a small in- heritance from hifi'grandfather, and admitted that it was just enough to pay' his debts. ( it wasn't, of course) . He has frief ds all over Canada and the U.S., and sees nothing wrong with "dropping in for a visit' and staying a few days. And he's just as hospitable with his friends. He's asked them all up to his cottage, where he has an electric piano, courtesy of you - know -who, a TV, all the ap- pliances, and electric heat. This may sound as though i thoroughly dislike and am suspicious of my son. Not so. it's just that he has a human spirit that is not easy to pin down. He loves his sister (who is another f • weirdo), his nephews, and, at times, his father. He Went on a long trek to see his grandfather, who is in his nineties. He came home the other night, and found his father draped in his favourite armchair. with a wet towel on his head. Was aghast. "Dad, what's the matter?" I infortned him that I had come home late, left no lights on, car- ried four bags of groceries. had made a misstep on the back porch, and fallen (still holding two bags of groceries), and had cracked my head on the sharp side of the porch: By the time he got there, it had almost•stopped bleeding down my neck. My mother taught me that a cold compress would ease the bleeding, years ago, when there was no such thing as an emergen- cy ward. But Hugh was horrified. He in- sisted, over my objections. that we go to the hospital. (He loves driving my car. ) 1t turned out that the cut was fairly deep and wide, 'and the doc stuck some stit- ches in it. -Did you ever try to get a in a hospital? It's like getting an engraved invitation to a garden • party at Buckingham Palace. ex- cept that I doubt the Queen's signature would get you in. I'd been 'waiting three weeks for a bed, and there i was. with of little cut on .my head. being cosseted and sewn. ()h, it was worth it. They put.a great, flapp- ing bandage on the cut. and then tied athingaround my forehead, so that i looked like a hippie or an Indian or a long-distance runner. My neighbour was delighted by my band. But it fell off in a few hours. It was apparently design- ed only to hold my head together. So. You see? -1f Hugh hadn't come home. and wanted a chance to drive the car. i could be sitting, dead cold, in my own blood. still reading the paper. Time for slaughter With Christmas coming up soon the annual slaughter will be renewing itself on the highways and despite the efforts by the police with their regular spot checks and their warnings about new crackdowns on drunk drivers the same people will continue to drink and drive. In this case i don't blame the police at all. They are doing their job. They are throwing out the safety net but are being sabotaged by a judicial system which is sometimes tolerant of drunk driving unless somebody actually gets hurt. Am 1 being cynical or unfair^ 1 think not. Let me give you a recent example. A driver was convicted of his third impaired driving charge with in two years. The driver was so drunk that he could barely stand up when was Ity the Way bN, Syd Fletcher arrested. His license was suspended for the mandatory period of time. The judge had no say in this area as that is laid down by provincial' statute 1. The defense vfent on to say that the man was a 'responsible' worker a'id had a steady job. Could the judge please let him serve his sentence on weekends? The judge`agreed that that would be a good idea. Ile then assessed the ab- solute minimum dollar fine possible. and sentenced the man to 14 days in jail. to be served from 6:00 p.m. on Fridays to 6:00 Monday mornings. The man went out the courtroom door laughing. Now I'm not a policeman. but if 1 saw that sort of thing happen week after week f would start becoming a little disillusioned about the whole system as it is set up at present 1