Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-01-02, Page 4.Y Page 4 Times -Advocate, January 2, 1991 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager. Don Smith Composition Manager. Deb Lord hbMshid Each Wedsasday at 424l m Rt., Exeter, Ontario, NOM u._ by JRM enO-0 'iMoatloas LW. Telephotoll000ad Class Mar R.Qotradoa Mambos 0310 • BURS 8IpfON MTES; Canada: *27.00 plus 8.1.89 G.S.T. Per year U.S.A. $88.00 plus $4.7, G.S.T. GALT. •Ri0i210ai$ "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they dlkcuss it freely." Thomas Macauley l:lli"l.OR .\LS Don't expect too much t has been a while since a New .Year has appeared so grim in its initial outlook. New Year 1990 seemed to hold such good news. Only a few weeks earlier a hole through Berlin Wall signalled a new era for European stability. Indeed, • Germany did unite last summer and the world appeared to be genuinely making progress towards an era of sanity and peace. Only a few days later that dream was shattered as Saddam Hussein decided to expand the borders of Iraq into Ku- wait. No one is mincing any words about what the first few weeks of 1991 hold for the world: outright war is all anyone is calling it. The warmongers at the Pentagon rub their hands in glee at finding them- selves back in the driver's seat. They will now get a chance to test all that high-tech hardware theyve built up oyer the years, and have excuse to build _More when it's all over. The rest of the us can shake our heads sadly, wondering at what will be sacri- ficed and wasted on the sands of the middle east this year - although no sane alternatiye is forthcoming. If . Hussein's aspirations are not clipped back bluntly and quickly, the whole gulfcrisis has the potential to get worse, much worse if United Nations support erodes. Even if you can ignore the events in the Persian 'Gulf, things tddn't look that ;much better here at home. . The Goods and Services Tax is obvi- ously going to take a bigger bite out of the Canadian income than the govern- ment is pretending. Those of us waiting to see prices drop as the big bad evil Federal Sales Tax is. eliminated are go- ing to find that it didn't apply to nearly as many things as we thought and that it was charged on the wholesale cost of an item. The GST will apply to the full re- tail price. , Rumour has it that 1991\ Canadians will live in the third highest taxed nation in the world. In 1990, Meech Lake failed, as it should. In most parts of the world, pro- vincialism is used as a dirty word in po- litical circles. In Canada, our govern- ment actively pursues it. Predictably, our regions are so divisive that they wouldn't even approve an accord that 'of- fered them more power than ever before. And Oka. We're not .going to see the end of that one for quite a while. , The gloom of recession, while real, is__ likely not nearly as bad as most of the media portray it. Economic downturns are common and survivable. So what can we say about 1991 that of- fers us any light at the end of the tunnel? Not much, which in itself is perhaps something of a blessing. While we had high hopes for 1990 and were left some- what disappointed, we can take the op- posite approach with '91. If we don't set our hopes too high then maybe we'll get something brighter than we bargained for: A.D.H. No business like sn W business Happy New Year! Before I other snow and ice related activ- jump into the first column of.2ties $500. Grand total: $2650 a 1991, I must announce the win- ners of my "perfect spelling" contest. In November, when I sent the story "Which Witch is Which?" to the papers, I issued a challenge to all typesetters to produce that tricky column with- out introducing a single typo. The prizes (a copy of my latest book, "Fathering, Mothering and Kidding") were mailed just before Christmas to the follow- ing winners: Superior Sue (Star & Times, Swan River, Man.), Competent Colleen (Review, Foam Lake, Sask.), Congratulations! And let your bosses know how perfect you are. Now to the sudject at hand I've often Wondered how much cheaper we could live in a more reasonable climate. Why do we have to freeze in darkness for one third of the year? Why do we put up with. snow, this perennial nuisance? • Having sweated through our 1991family budget (I'm fore- casting another record deficit), I got out my pocket calculator and did a little figuring. Here's what the luxury of snow is costing this particular family of 5 (all ex- penses are on an annual basis): St $ ploughing by contrr*tor: 5200; new equipment si h as shovels and ice picks; 520; chil- dren's snow suits, snow pants, . gloves, etc. $350; adults' snow 'v wear $15�, -snow boots: $300; removing snow and ice From ' roof: $50; snow and i amage .to roof, paves, troughs etc.: $100; heating wires.on j in- cluding electricity 575; extra gas due fp driving in snow (2 cars): 5250; replacement of windshield Wipers 515; rust and corrosion caused byylkaa1t on roads; $500; /subtotal:'$201 : GST on above: 140; workin time lost because of -delays,. w shovelling and year. That's without any unex- pected problems such as brok- en bones and nervous break- downs. At a 4.5% inflation rate, we can expect to spend close to $40,000 in the next 10 years be- cause of snow. This does not take into account any voluntary PETER'S POINT • by Peter Hessel snow and ice related activities, ; such''as downhill and cross country skiing, tobogganing, outdoor skating, etc. We need these to survive (we tell our- selves). Of course, we can't af- ford them. But how boring life would be if we did only what we can afford! Let's figiNconsider these $40,000 worth of necessary ex- penses. If instead of throwing them away because of snow, we could invest them in Canada Savings Bonds, we'd stand to double our money in 10 years. According to my arithmetic, this means a total loss of 580,000. No wonder there is a mass exo- dus from Canada to Florid* and Califomia. . So why do we stay? Because • we're a bunch of masochists. We love suffering physical pain, emotibnal stress and nancial damage. Instead of flee- ing from these inhospitable. practically uninhabitable subarc- tic regions, we tell ourselves end each other that we Ilkt snow. Life could be easy and so _ cheap. Just imagine living in the tropics! All you'd need is two pairs of shorts and a couple of T- shirts. No heating bills. No snow blowers. No felt -lined boots. Not a parka within a thou- sand miles. Just heart-warming sunshine, crimson hibiscus, bar- becued steaks, refreshing drinks, and tanned bodies with happy smiles on their faces all year round. Forgive me. I am dreaming. Of course, we must stay where we are. It's our duty. It's our desti- ny to battle the elements. This is the true north, strong and often partially freeat least to a certain' extent - GST, federal debt, bu- reaucracy and bad govemment notwithstanding. If we didn't stay here in and hack it in the snow, who would? ' Voltaire said in 1759, when the British and French were, having it But on the Plains of Abraham: "You know that these nations have been at war over a few acres of snow, and that they are spending on this fine struggle more than Canada itself is worth." And the US poet Carl Sand - burg observed in 1928: "If two Canadians understand new, they are then both Canadi- ans. If one Canadian under- stands snow and another Canadi- an doesn't undo land snow at all, then one is a Canadian, and the other is no Canadian at all." Well, I consider myself very, very Canadian indeed. And I un- derstand snv perfectly. I know what it does to me and what it prevents me from do g. I even like snow for a brief period. I wish it would drop in for a visit 'the week before Christmas and 'drop at the end of January. To be . . aced by what the Euro - peens call pm -spring. 1 hope 1 haven't offended 100 many snow lovers out there. My own family included. Don't wor- ery. Next week's topic; Snow Forts. IT5 MIDNISf.- 1YE SlAIVED 1990! PSK N 1 resolve to ... Nah! Well this.year I'm going all out. - I resolve to quit smoking, start exercising and lose 20 lbs. Nah! Infamous' and tiresomo New Year's resolutions have been broken for as long as they have been around - so, why bother? Well because they are fun and a bit of chgenge.I must say, es- pecially vAilen you tell your co- workers about your resolutions or worse yet make bets on your own success. "Aha! Smoking I see - $50,, please!" I pondered several ideas while the ball dropped at Times Square in the last minutes of 1990, but most of them were ec- onomics related like - quit going out to eat to save on the GST - quit travelling so much to save on the qST and keep sending my GST "rebate" cheques back to the government to let them. know what I think of the GST. Say what? B Cheryl By Clark But, that was common sense and as I flicked my Bic I real- ized - smoking is a major cause of fund deficiency in my bank account. With a deep breath of 1991 air - I . pondered the possibilities - did 1 reallywant to quit? why should 1 when I do in fact enjoy smoking? and what is the latest price for a 15 -pack? But oo wait! Common sense dictates that when an inanimate object (for example - the Prime Minister) stands in your way of financial happiness something must be done. So, I stubbed out my last cig- arette and wondered one last time if I had quit because I wanted to or because the federal government had taxed me into it. I know the answer - but I am going to try and quit smoking anyway. So there. The T -A French bureau Greetings from the land of endless bottles of wines, loaves upon loaves of bread, cafes, cha- teaux, and poodles. Three months have quickly slipped by, and I can confidently say that I've successfully integrated my- self into the French 'culture. Well, almost., • • , At least I knothat 1 hove be- come m ch more open-minded through t my stay. For exam- ple,' I o have two meals a week with my host -family, but when they discover that I'm eat- ing with them that night, they begin concocting ancient French cuisine that I'm sure no one eats in real life. A couple days ago while I was preparing my su r (soup and grilled cheese andw%hes), the aroma of a norm chicken mast. was escaping the stove. Howev- er, the following day, the night to eat., with the Moulinier's, we had cow's tongue. Tonight we're ,supposed to be having a "meat" that looks like sausage but is comprised of 90 percent pig blood and. 10 percent water. 'Can'twait! Fluency in the language hasn't miraculously occurred, but I have reached the stage where I am able to express complete • • thoughts and understand most of what is being said behind my back. I no longer feel ripped -off when going to the cinema or when renting a mbvie because I can now understand the plots (by the, way, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" arrived last Week). I was also able to de- scribe a hairstyle to a "coif- feuse" and leave the shop with- out a bag over my head. My latest language accomplishment was explaining to a French woman how the clothes dryers at the laundromat operate... I have finally ac that I am basically a • with which my Fren can impress guests. ment, my "parents" joy is the new bath been installed next Mom. Visitors are d ,three flights of stairs the fact wpieoe family the mo - pride and thlit aft r h ed i• ,a good look at "l'Americaine" and then the "salle de bain". (At least I rank, higher than bathroom fix- tures). I could write pages on experi- ences and impressions that I have had over these past three months in Nantes, Fra'thce. Per- haps I'll conch de with a few "facts" about France (as seen by Rhonda): • every older woman owns a mutt which she carries into res- taurants, perfumeries, art mu- seums, etc. ▪ 95 percent Of college s4r- dents smoke, and it's no surpiW to see 10 year olds lighting up. • clothing fads are important to follow. For winter, 75 percent of the population own brown scarves with a black, white and red plaid print. • a stronger sense of sexism exists in comparison to North America. They don't think twice about having naked women ad- vertise yogurt, or showing a "playboy" program at 10:00 p'•m. • 400 cafes exist in Nantes (ac- tually a Dict)' • .The Theneh aren't stuck-up snobs. They ate friendly, always helpful, and willing to share the lture with others.