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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-01-22, Page 4Pog. 4 Times-Advoeat•, onuory 22, 1986 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgama ed 1924 imes , dvocate Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. ledy Pub$katinns Limited Need comprehensive study The mt 'lnting crisis over liability in- surance has given Ontario's opposition parties the basis for one of the first ma- jor attacks on the government of Premier David Peterson. While the Liberals have moved to ap- point a task force to look at the problem, opposition members note the action has been too slow in view of the fact that alarm signals of the pending crisis were evident several months ago. The gigantic premium increases be - faced by private and public bodies has many of them reeling from the severe impact and each day there are new stories about groups being faced with the prospect of eliminating many programs because they either can't af- ford the insurance protection, or they can't even get a company to underwrite that protection. Insurance companies claim they have a plausible basis for their action, citing the high court awards being made as the reason for the increases. However, there is every indication that the in- creases they are demanding are difficult to substantiate. When added up, the premiums being faced by all concerned add up to countless millions of dollars over last year and yet the famous "Brampton case" involving a six million dollar court award is the lone award cited by the carriers in their argument. - There are two realistic suggestions to explain the crisis. One is that the in- surance firms want to get out of the liability business entirely, or that they hope their action will force governments to enact legislation that will effectively eliminate sone of the ridiculous awards being made by the courts. In the latter regard, their action can be supported. Some common sense is re- quired in the area of claim settlements, particularly when many victims appear to be handsomely compensated for their own misadventures. If, however, it is found that the com- panies merely want to get out of the business and turn it over to governments or force various groups to come up with self-insurance schemes, then the in- surance industry should be forewarned that their blackmail tactics should result in those governments or various groups becoming completely involved in pro- viding coverage for other aspects which the insurance companies now find more profitable. While the opposition parties may have legitimate concerns in the delay in the provincial government addressing the problem, the task force report would fall short, of the requirement if it does not include, an in-depth study,of the insurance industry to answer many of the questions of paramount interest to the consumers who watch their premiums for most coverages increase disproportionately to other segments of their budgets. Less worthy record Grey Township reeve Leona Arm- strong set a noteworthy precedent when she became the first woman to be elected as warden of Huron County. She may have come close to setting a less worthy record for inane comments coming from a warden when she advis- ed a fellow member that she agreed with a motion to discuss department head wages behind closed doors because she didn't want the new_ members in- timidated by the public during those discussions. Of course, Warden Armstrong im- plied that the intimidation could be sup- plied by the press, and not the public, but the two are inseparable. The press members" -enjoy no more rights than any other member of the public whom they are representing at county council sessions, nor do they represent any greater intimidation. If, as Warden Armstrong suggests, members of county council are in- timidated by the public presence during discussions on public business, those members should resign their public of- fices and allow others.with the required regard for basic democratic rights to take their place. If that includes the warden, so be it! Hustlers still find There are still people around who will buy hair restorer from a bald headed salesman and its difficult to find much sympathy for people who are frequently gullible enough to fall for get -rich schemes. In the past year, Ontario residents have wasted thousands Of dollars on such schemes i11 - volving real estate. Promoters -- mainly from the United States --- have been prey- ing on people's dreams of wealth by marketing programs on how to make fast money in the real estate market. The programs have been wide- ly advertised through fast -paced, slick television campaigns which tantalize viewers with testimonials from people who claim to have made fortunes in real estate. The lengthy televi- sion commercials are set up to look like feature programs. Their main purpose is to get people to attend free seminars held around the province. i'he cvangeiist-style salesman- ship. 1ypica1 of the TV spots, con unties at the seminars. Par ticipants are urged to sign up for courses or buy books, tapes and other materials. Audience members are repeatedly told they could all get rich if they follow the advice contained in the promoters' material. Most of the schemes are hased on buying real estate dirt cheap and selling it for huge profits. Some programs suggest ways to find distress sales houses that have to be sold quickly for various reasons. The plans also promote the pur- Batt`n Around ...with 11111kThe Iditor chase of property with no cash down payment, a situation that is difficult to find at any time, and often suggests the house is built on a swamp. Although the promoters are ex- perts at rousing greed ih a crowd and are smooth talking sellers for their courses and books, there is one glaring flaw in the sales pitch. if it's so easy to get rich in real estate with no money to invest and no risk involved, why do the promoters waste their time on soap boxes letting everyone else in on the gravy? The fact is, with few excep- tions, the only people who stand to make a fortune are the pro- f victims moters who follow the age-old theory of never giving a sucker an even break. • i ()ne of the problems associated with the schemes, other than the direct victims who spend money to fill the promoters' pockets, are those on whom they end up prey- ing in an attempt to recoup their investments. Al Coleclough of the ministry of consumer and commercial rela- tions, notes that while the schemes don't appear to be il- legal, they may teach largely "immoral" practises. "Some of these people are say- ing, 'Go out and find the little old widower or widow who doesn't know the value of his or her pro- perty, then take advantage of them'. They're teaching hun- dreds of people to be immoral, if not downright dishonest." So, while there may he one or two great legitimate deals out in the market place, there are now hundreds of seminar graduates after those few rare deals. The success they enjoy appears to be solely hased on taking ad- vantage of desperate people and so they become no less greedy than those who have taught them. Society is already plagued with enough greed without having peo- ple out teaching new ways to compound its vicious repercussions. "Looks like you bottomed out before the economy did." A negative action Looking back at 1985 is a par- ticularly negative action. Don't do it, unless you want to remind yourself that human life is pret- ty cheap in the eyes of the gods or whoever is running the joint. India took some heavy lumps. First, the mess at Bhopal, where a carbide company took a leak (no pun intended), and thousands were killed or made gravely ill. Then the mysterious crash of Air India" Off the-coakt of Ireland. No survivors. Just ordinary peo- ple, going home to visit relatives. Can you imagine the terror as they plunged toward the sea? Screaming, clutching babies. To no avail. The brutal cold of the North Atlantic gave up almost nothing - a few bits of flotsam and jetsam, a few bodies. And other air crashes, not so spectacular, but just as deadly for those who died. And the ghast- ly shoot-out at Malta, where nobody seemed to know, or care, whether the rescuers were shooting terrorists or passengers. And the hijacking of an entire cruise ship in the Mediteranean. But even these events paled when compared to the grotesque tragedy of the earthquakes in Mexico and Colombia. Not only about 40,000 dead, but thousands of others with their lives over- turned, their crops destroyed, their homes lost. And we worry because the price of Christmas'trees has gone up again. Things haven't been much sweeter at home, even though Canadians live in the best coun- . try in the world, and seem to be immune from great disasters, ex- cept for the danged winter. Rancid tuna, tainted buffalo meat (who eats buffalo anyway?), crumbling banks, and a government that can't seem to put one foot in front of the other, without putting the first one in its mouth. Mr. Mulroney'S' gang, without his personal public rela- tions facade, makes you start thinking rather longingly for Pierre Trudeau, who at Last despised the media and made no attempt to conceal it. However, we mustn't be mor- bid. We must look up, not back. I saw a black squirrel yesterday looking up athis home in one of my oaks, and calculating whether he had time to sock away another five hundred Sugar &Spice Dispensed by Smiley acorns for the coming months, when all the squirrels do is have sex, sleep, and eat. And I saw a solid citizen, look- ing up at the sky and saying, "Jeez, more snow coming." These are the positive attitudes we must adopt if we are tp emerge next spring, pallid, blit survivors. Looking up. I've painted a rather dark pic- ture of 1985. Forget it, and look up. And if you get some freezing rain in your eyes, don't blame me. Just go to the liquor store and buy some wine with the anti- freeze in it. That'll clear your eyes, though it may not do much for your liver. Personally, things have gone well with me. I've only been waiting for, a hospital bed since Thanksgiving and will probably be tucked in, waiting for some of those unspeakable "tests", by April. None of my old friends has died recently, and I hope they can say the same for me. I've lost only one hub -cap this winter trying to get into my garage. I've pretty well mastered the art - and it is an art - of cooking for one. I sit down at the crack of noon and figure out my menu for the day. Man does live by bread alone. He needs peanut butter, as well. While I'm working on my menu, I have bread and peanut butter and a banana. Lots of protein'. Then I (itite some notes' 'to myself. It's unhealthy to think about food all the time. Memo: Get that tea-pot, the only one in the house fit for guests, back from Hugh, who "borrowed" it last weekend; call Kim and see if she's still out of a job; stop smok- ing; stop drinking anything stronger than barley water; get windshield wiper fixed; pay 1983 income tax. And so on. They cer- tainly take my mind off food. By that time, I'm pretty ex- hausted, so.1 have a little "Zizz," or, as the bourgeois call it, "snooze." This takes a lot of energy out of me, because I dream of not having paid the utilities bill, thehone bill, and the gas bill. 1 wale up in a ner- vous sweat. At this moment, it's time to think about dinner. So I plod through snow to the garage, go downtown, buy a paper, cigaret- tes and booze, and drop in at the delicatessen where I order a take-out of their delicious hot goulash. That takes care of dinner. Sometimes i strike it rich. Turkey dinner, wonderful with all fixings, with some old friends. Talked the lady into half an ap- ple pie. Unfortunately, my son came home that weekend. He likes pies. Mustn't goon like this. 1985 was great, if you're still alive. 1986 is going to be a fine, fine year. That is, if you keep looking up. But keep an eye for seagulls. On -the- job training One of the problems that many young people face when they are out looknig for their first job in their chosen field is that the boss will often say, "Well what kind of experience do you have?" The youngster is then forced to say that he/she doesn't have any ex- perience whereupon the boss says, "Sorry, we need some sort of recommendation from a previous employer or at least some indication that you can han- dle this type of job." It seems to be an unsolvable vicious circle. You don't have a job because you don't have ex- perience and consequently can't get experience to get the dad - blamed job. At the same time you can see the employer's position in that he doesn t want to train a person at full wages. There is a solution, at least if you're betw@en the ages of 16 to 24 and figure that making $4.00 an hour is better than staying at home living off your parents, or ending up on welfare. The name of the government By the Way by Fletcher program is the 'Futures' pro- gram and it has actually been around for about seven or eight years. The idea of the program is to let young people work for an employer at no cost with the understanditlg that there will be a certain amount of traininJ tak- ing place. The government will pay the young person's wages for 16 weeks at which time the employer may or m ' not decide to let the person s y on as a worker. Here are a couple examples. At present i have two young peo- ple working at my school. One has been trained to work with computers and is acting as a tutor for people taking the night school courses there. The other person is training to be a teacher's aide, working with han- dicapped students. Both of these people are getting good on-the-job training which is hound to help them in future years. 1 have been able to get to know them well and will be able to give them a hearty recommen- dation when they leave. As I said before, it's far Netter than sitting around doing nothing.