Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-02-27, Page 6Page 6 Times -Advocate, February 27, 1991 i Publisher Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager Don Smith Composition Manager. Deb Lord Second Class Mali Registration Number 0396 S 1UBSCRIPTION RATES• CANADA Within 40 miss (65 km.) addressed to non letter cantor addresses 530.00 piss 52.30 LILT! Outnsd. 40 nese (85 km.) or any letter santor address, 530.00 plus 530.00 postage (total 560.00) pias 54.20 CULT. Ootalde Canada 586.00 Men are never so likely to settle a question right!) as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley Poirdb.d FSM W,d...+or Exeter, Ontane rtr J.W. Taispiteae iblab St., iie Ltd. OAT. dittIMOMASSI Is this our negotiator? prime Minister Mulroney came out fighting for Canada last week, making two major speeches in which he promised to fight to keep Canada together. While it was good to at last hear somebody speak out for Canada, many Canadians must be nervously wondering if Brian Mulroney is the man they want in such a key posi- tion at this tome in history. The Prime Minister, in his Toronto speech for instance, pledged to redesign Canada. "We have every intention of re- structuring Canada," he said. "We have absolutely no intention of dismantling Canada." But what is Mr. Mulroney's idea of restructuring? The majority of people outside Quebec weren't happy with the weakening of a strong central govern- ment contained in the Meech Lake pro- posals. Times have passed the Meech Lake proposals by. The recent Allaire report of the Quebec provincial Liber- als called for virtually all powers to be given to the Quebec government with only a few powers left to Ottawa. As he tries to form a package to lure Quebec- ers' back to support of federalism, what might the PM beprepared, to give away? Tile fact is triat the vision rl, Tv an- ada should be held by Mr. Mulroney, and the vision held by most ordinary Canadians seem to be two totally differ- ent things. Canadians are not opposed to changes if they can see the reason be- hind them. There was little fuss,for in- stance, when Quebec was recently granted more control over immigration to the province even though this is obvi- ously a federal power. Canadians have also shown a willingness to listen to western proposals for an elected and equal senate in which all provinces would have equal representation. But in their rejection of Meech Lake, ordinary Canadians showed they wer- en't content to see powers handed out to the provinces like candy just to keep provincial power brokers happy. Most Canadians would like to see some pow- ers, in fact, go the other way. At a time when there is free trade with the U.S. and an agreement being negotiated with Mexico, people wonder why there are still so many interprovincial trade bar- riers. Many people would like to see a national education system, not the patchwork of provincial systems. There must be very good reasons for provinces to administer programs be- fore the country should be cut up more by giving powers to the provinces. The problem for ordinary Canadians is Mr. -Mulroney seems to thinka decentralized d unt y is to'Se esu ori adians wanting a strong Canada it's questiona- ble whether having the PM come out fighting is a victory for Canada or not. The Blyth Citizen Check my what? Don't forget to check your oil! Guess what I found out the hard way last week? Yes, that's right folks I let my poor little en- gine dehydrate, so to speak, and now I must suffer its wrath. My car and I have been be- grudging mates for 10 months..I begrudge how much I owe on it, and it begrudges me for not put- ting more money into it. And now the day of reckoning has come ... At least I didn't give it the sat- isfaction of actually seizing on me. I simply let it knock for a couple of days before I took it I knew It was sembdi ng seri- ous, but I told myself, "Maybe my eroding muffler has crawled up under the hood or maybe it's Say 111 what? Cheryl Clark BY Cheryl Clark a rock band." Then I saw the mechanic's face and I sensed it was much worse than I could possibly have guessed. "Gee what's - that funny knocking noise?" I innocently inquired, and when I heard those words ... those cruel words, I knew my wallet would never be ' the same. "You've cooked your engine." "Cooked?! How can you cook an engine?" I exclaimed. "It's cold outside." Cracking a lame joke was the only way I could handle the harsh reality of it all. If I only would have spent a few bucks ' on oil, I could have saved sever- a al hundred on repairs. Live and learn, I guess. So before your engine goes ka- boom - don't be a dipstick - check one. Dear Sir. It has come around to Minch again - Easter Seal Month - and the mail -in campaign Last yeagr we trod a new ven- `paiaigne lled the with the mall-in worked out very► well sited 2*tent ent pin toe& This year the Superthon will be aired on CBC (channel 40, cable 6 in Exeter) this weekend with hours of 7-8 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The Buys Lion will be man- Letter to Editor Easter Seal ning the phones at the Geiser Kneale offices at this time, ready to take pledges. The phone number is 235-2440.Ilienarienis of $S0 or more during�l the donor to Ow vouchersfor home games of the London Tigers along whit Uct- deductible receipt.. All funds . raised loony will be divided between the district lode quartets and the Buser Liodle Chit for our case load in this area. The money sent to headquarters will in tarn be used in this area ttootptay the Seal nurse and suppstaff Lions case load -is staying. the same in nuptbers, but the cost of . eat needed these cldldrea plat w all the time As in the past, we aro oonndng 0n youar p Lsupport for this Baster Said Chairman: UMW Lions Club I Learning about money Alex turned 12 last month. When I was his age, I was al- most totally ignorant about mon- ey. It could be argued that I still am. y genk eynehtheco o rad el Sr dime. A quarter was big-time. I discovered long ago that our children don't regard coins as le- gal tender. "Change" now means a couple of tens for a twenty. Dollars that is. To instill him with some re- spect for money and to teach him how to balance a budget, I opened a chequing/savings ac- count for Alex a year ago. For twelve months now I've been paying him a "salary" of $50 a month. This is what I was paid as a faun hand in 1952. The only difference was that I had to work hard 12 hours a day, six days a week, to eam it. With this salary, he has to buy most of his own clothes and such things as Christmas and birthday presents. I didn't think it would work, and I considered it an experiment. I mustsaythattheboyhassur- prised me. He spent most of his money, but none of his cheques have bounced. He keeps all his banking papers in a neat folder, and he balances his monthly statements like a pro. He's even earned a few dollars in interest. I thought he was ready for high finance, and I said to him last week: "Alexander, we're in a reces- sion. Maybe this year you should try to spend a little less. Maybe by November you'll have enough left over to buy a little Canada Savings Bond." He knows all about these, be- cause we've bought some for him in previous year. He's been watching them grow. He didn't give me an answer to my proposal. But I noticed that he was working at this desk for quite a while. Late in the evening, past his bedtime really, he came to me and said: "Dad, I have to talk to you about the money." id you find a way to, save mom`'„ "Yes, I have." "Smart boy." "I've got it all written down. Here it is," and he handed me a sheet of paper with neat rows of figures. PETER'S POINT e Peter Hessel "I'm planning to buy a $100 bond by the end of the year." he said. "Congratulations! Way to go!" "Did you read it all?" "Give me a chance," I said, and I studied the calculations some more. He had allowed so much for jeans, so much for T-shirts. The amount for running shoes seemed too high, and the one for winter boots too low. But by and large it looked like a rea- sonable forecast to me. "Good," I said. "So it's O.K. with you, Dad?" "Sure." "Can I have my cheque, please?" "You may have your cheque," I said, and I made one out. I was trying to get back to my TV pr'ogriun• "Dad! It's only for $50." "Right. That's your salary." "Dad! You didn't read the whole thing. Look on the in- come side!" He pushed the paper in my face again, and to my amaze- ment I realized that I had over- looked one major item. He had increased his monthly salary from $50 to $75. That's how he was able tek,i1Welg4 WW1 ins by $200txldihavc'S WOEiett over at the "end. I had been too preoccupied to notice. 1 was dumbfounded. "What on earth made you think I'd give you a 50% raise?" "Dad, you said it was O.K. af- ter you read my budget!" "I hadn't looked at the revenue side," I said. "These things have to be discussed beforehand. You can't just assume that I'll pay you more than last year without asking me." ."That's why I showed you my budget. You looked at it. You said it was O.K." "Do you know what a reasona- ble raise would be?" I didn't wait for his answer. "Five per- cent, not a nickel more." "How much is five percent of $50?" He answered his own question. "That's only $2.50 a month. That's nothing." "O.K. I'll settle for nothing, then." He did some quick figuring with his pocket calculator. "Dad, $2.50 would only get me $30 more than last year. 1 wouldn't even be able to buy a $50 bond." "The idea was that you'd spend less, not more than last year, and that you'd have some money left over for a bond be- cause of your cut in spending." "You know, there is 7% GST on everything I buy," Alexander argued. Your 5% doesn't even cover that." I don't know why I agreed to a 10% pay increase. 1 guess I'm a sucker. But I have to hand it to the boy: he'sleamed about mon- ey. Which after all was the ob- ject of the lesson. I think I'm going to let Alex have a crack at my income tax retum. a. 1 A HAVE AN OPINION? The Times Advocate welcomes letters to the editor. They must be signed and should be accompanied toy a telephone number and address should we need to clarify any information. The newspaper also reserves the right to edit letters. Letters can be dropped off at the Times Advocate Office or mailed to: Exeter Times Advocate Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM ISO 1 A