Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1986-02-19, Page 4Pogo 4 Timus-Advocoto, February .19, 1906 Imes Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0366. LORNE FEDY Publisher Phone 519-23S-1331 JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager voca Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by l.W. Eedy Publlkations limited �c a;ET, 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' Re -inventing the wheel Governments have a penchant for re- inventing the wheel and that certainly ap- pears to be the case with the recent an- nouncement by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources that public meetings would be held to determine support for suggested resident angling licences. Executive members of the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters ex- plain they are pleased with the proposal to seek the opinions of sports fishermen, but they point to earlier surveys which clearly indicated overwhelming support for such a licencing scheme. They note the ministry did a com- prehensive survey in 1977 during some 30 separate meetings and similar opinion polls were conducted by the O.F.A.H. in subsequent years. All the surveys indicated over- whelming support for the licences, but with the strong provision that the revenue generated be used to improve Ontario's sagging sports fisheries and not lost in the general treasury. In a June 1984 proposal to the govern- ment, the Federation again endorsed the licence proposal and suggested the fees be placed in a separate trust so all the net revenues could be identified and ear- marked for fisheries enhancement pro- jects. It even offered to assist with the ad- ministration of that fund. Now the ministry is planning another extensive round of public meetings, despite resounding support from various interest groups already much in evidence. While further public input appears unnecessary, hopefully it will at least result in some positive action for a plan that has been in limbo for almost 10 years. Needs some courage Finance Minister Michael Wilson will be in the limelight in one week as he brings down his much awaited budget. Indications are that he will probablyrank among the least popular Canadian) when he completes his task. Economiic conditions in this country are highly volatile at the present and only some courageous acts by the government are going to defuse the situation. Paramount to stablizing the Cana- dian dollar and interest rates is a claer indication from Wilson that some con- certed effort will be made to reduce the nation's frightening debt. That, of course, can only be done through decreasing government spen- ding or increasing government revenue. Neither is particularly astute from the political sense, but the time has come for the Mulroney government to realize that most of the problems that are compoun- ding for this nation are due to political, decisions that now,must be paid for by tough common sense approaches. Wilson's last attempt brought a vocal outcry from some of the groups asked to tighten their belts, and in the end, the government wilted and loosened up the belts. That type of wishy-washy ad- ministration may have scored some political points, but the ramifications were clear to those who watched the dollar plunge and interest rates escalate. Wilson knows government spending must be drastically reduced. Wilson knows that most Canadians can not af- ford to furnish the coffers with any addi- tional tax dollars. It remains to be seen whether he is swayed by that knowledge or will once again buckle under the political pressure that has plagued his many predecessors who helped get us into the current mess. Keep up good work Almost every day I walk to my mail box and put in a couple of letters. They always disappear. They must arrive at their destination, because I get replies. Obviously they are picked up by our reliable rural mail service. I'm not around when "the mail lady" comes. But I'm told that she drives a big old car and that you can set your watch by her ar- rival. For years I've been wondering who she is and what she looks like. I)ay after day she takes what we leave and leaves what comes to us from around the world. She is our link with friends and family, with business associates and suppliers. If it weren't for her, i wouldn't get my bank statements or my income tax returns. I used to live in the city where mail service was taken for granted. We put letters in the nearest mailbox at the corner, and our mail was delivered to the house. By nice people, too. But there was no mystery about them. in the country, the mail lady is an institution. Part of rural liv- ing. She must be a determined woman. Not easily defeated by snow drifts or black ice, by rain storms or fog. The mail must get through. Our mail lady is the modern version of the pony ex- press and the stage coach. Letters from Toronto or Win- nipeg may take a week or more. Even letters within the same ci- ty usually take days. Only in the country do we still have next day delivery. Our rural routes func- tion better than any other mail system in the country. My hat's off to those people! In a world that is becoming more complex and sophisticated and at the The Peter Hesse) Column same time less efficient and less human all the time, the rural mail remains as steady as ever. Friendly, experienced people do- ing a conscientious job with a minimum of technical devices. Maybe if the director general of Canada Post had been recruited from the ranks of the rural mail service, they might be in less trouble. Scrap all those electronic gadgets, the light sensors and other mechanical sorting con- trivances. Throw out the studies and commission reports and white papers and purple papers. Forget about the army of con- sultants and experts and advisors that feeds on the post office like leeches. Bring it all down to ground level. Hire some people and send them to the rural post offices for training in basics. Maybe they'll learn to do their jobs well and in a friendly manner. But we'll never see that kind of change. Too simple. We only listen to the technocrats and com- munications wizards. A letter is no longer a letter but "postal matter, first class". ,After our mail is picked up, it enters the bowels of Canada Post where it is "processed" by bureaucrats with titles like Allotment Control Assistant, Service Assessment Supervisor, Corporate Data Pro- cessor, Qaick Response Service Coordinator, Planning and Evaluation Officer and Material Management Specialist. That's why the mail is slow. Except the letters that stay within the district served b' our little post office. If they dont get there by the next day, the next day must be Saturday or Sunday. I salute you, my "mail lady", and all the other mail ladies and mail gentlemen across the coun- try. You're the last vestiges of trustworthiness and pride in a system that's long gone to the dogs. Keep up the good work! We all appreciate it. So, George did it! The Rev. George Anderson, who is naturally familiar with the stories of the lost tribe, called recently to -suggest that he had become a part of a modern day counterpart to that tribe. He, explained that he was among the, many Ontario residents who had a birthday this past January and had the added pleasure of receiving the usual congratulatory notice from the ministry of transportation and communications that he was due for renewal of his driver's licence. Similar to other Capricorns, George dutifully sent off his remittance for $21 and received his renewed licence. However, he found that those renewing their licence in February were required to have a photo taken and. the ministry explained that the renewal fee of $21, which was up from the previous figure, had increased to compensate for the costs involv- ed in having one's countenance included on that licence. While the retired cleric carried no great displeasure at being born one month too soon to have his photo included on his licence, he did become rather perplexed that he had been charged the new $21 fee without receiving the benefit of the photo for which the licence had been intended. In addition to advising the editor of the situation, George called the local police station in an effort to sort out the situation, and while he was unable to find out many answers at that source, he did get some more members for the lost tribe as two of the local staff at police headquarters had suffered the d�aame fate. Unwilling to bttry his bone of contention, George pursued his cause to greater lengths and was finally rewarded with the infor- mation that he, plus other members of the lost tribe, could indeed get their photo included on their licences without the addi- Batt'n Around .with The Editor tional fee of $7 being charged to others who may want that prior to the normal renewal time. However, the service is not available to members of the lost tribe in rural Ontario. To receive the photo inclusion, which they have in fact paid for, January children must travel to a "larger centre" to have the service provided. While that is some consolation for George and others in his situa- tion, it does point out that the ministry did try to pull a bit of a fast one and probably never ex- pected to encounter George Anderson, who either wanted to get what he paid for, or not to pay for something he didn't get. If private business tried such a stunt, the ministry of consumer affairs would probably be poun- cing on them. When its another' government department... they let George do it! K While the writer is among those being vocal in condemnation of the insurance industry for the un- fathomable premium increases being experienced these days, some of that was tempered the other day following an estimate for repair damage to my truck. Someone backed into it and managed to knock a few pieces out of the plastic grill in one corner. The estimate for repairing that part of the damage alone was $239.50, including tax. Grills, even the cheap plastic type in existence today, are in keeping with the uni-body system employed in today s auto manufacturing. You can't mere- ly replace one small piece or sec- tion... the whole thing has to be included. Not only that, but the plastic guards over the turn signal lights are included as a part of the grill. Small wonder that auto in- surance costs are jumping! But that's not all. The damage included one small bump on the front fender. It was no bigger than a silver dollar, but unfor- tunately managed to span both colors on my flashy two-tone vehicle. The estimates for repair- ing that, which includes painting in two colors, was $100. That still leaves the insurance company about $600 ahead of me this year, but it doesn't take much imagination to indicate that a fellow can quickly catch up in one fender -bender. Probably the whole side of the vehicle would have to be included with the new fender. Better part of valour After a certain number of years of adult life one is sup - posted of have gained a certain degree of wisdom, an awareness of 'what one's limitations are. That was the thought that was crossing my mind a couple of weeks as I stood at the top of the Niagara Escarpment at the Talisman Ski Lodge, looking down a near vertical crop of about one hundred feet. The first half of an hour on skis had been simple. I had con- quererd the cable tow, had learn- ed how to do a snowplow stop how to turn left and right. It all seemed so easy and when my in- structor, a friend who does a lot of skiing every winter, suggested the chair lift I said, "Sure, why not." Now my impression was that the chair lift would let you disem- bark at various intervals up the big hill. Not so. There was only one place to get off and that was at the top. Just nicely off the lift I fell flat on my face. Having been stan- ding up for a goodly portion of my life without too much problem I By the Way by Fletcher thought that I would arise just as easily now. Wrong again. The boots that go with the rental outfit are like two overgrown vises which lock around your leg like an alligator's jaws. By the time I got up my poles were slightly bent out of shape and so was I, and I hadn't even looked at the hill yet. "We'll just take it easy," my friend said. "We'll criss-cross the hill. When you want to stop just turn your skis toward the upward part of the hill and you'll stop." Away he went and neatly came to a halt about forty feet away. My turn. To my horror I realized that I was at the brink of the precipice and despite my mental pleas to my skis to turn up all they did was slide and slide some more, and definitely not in the right direction. About that time I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and placed the best -cushioned part of my anatomy on the snow. As I slid 'gracefully' down for a good hun- dred feet. I thought, well, at least I'm snowplowing, even if it isn't quite the form that i was taught. For some reason my friend suddenly decided that I'd be bet- ter' off on the 'baby hill'. I can't imegine why.