Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-03-13, Page 4Pape 4 Times -Advocate, March 13, 1991 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte • Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager. Deb Lord • Secant Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (65 km.) addressed to non letter canter addresses 130.00 plus 112.10 0.6.T. Outbids 40 miles (65 km.)'or any letter cantor address $30.00 pars $30.00 postage (total 1160.00) Plus =4.20 Q.S.T. Outside Canada $66.00 neon "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley Published Eask Wednesday at ain Exeter, Ontario, NOM ase by J.W. 'Yb NoaM6onsat., Ltd. Telephose 151.3235. GAT. IPnioill0sii At the last Exeter council meet- ing, Dorothy Chapman noted, almost in passing, that the town should be taking steps to preserve more buildings under Heritage designa- tions. Hopefully we will hear more on this in the future. Offhand, there are probably a few buildings in town that most of us would agree should be around for future gen- erations to appreciate. Most of us can probably also agree there are a few buildings which now exist only in memory. Obviously there was a flurry of con- struction activity in this area in the 1880s. That's when most of the com- mercial buildings and older churches we see now replaced their more tempo- rary predecessors. Both Trivitt Memo- rial Anglican Church and Mt. Carmel Catholic Church are fine examples of the better architecture of this period. However, Mt. Carmel is a full 30 ye younger than the original St. Bonifac Church in Zurich - a church that woul have been built by some of the earlies settlers in this area, those who arrived before Confederation. St. Boniface un fortunately no longer stands. Although it's tough for local council's to be seen as standing in the way of progress, somebody has to try to ima- gine what life would be like aroiir'1 here if all these grand old buildings continue to disappear from our land- scape, year after year. It's almost inconceivable today to re- call that only a few years ago, council nearly elected to remove the bell tower off the old Exeter Town Hall. Thank- fully it is now preserved .under the Her- itage Act. Save our early days Some of the finer churches in the area should definitely be preserved under the Heritage Act. In fact, government grants from the program may even help maintain the buildings. It's tough for a shrinking congregation to support a cen- tury old place of worship, beautiful as it is. At least one of the local one -room schoolhouses should be set aside for posterity. Most are long gone, others are crumbling, and a few are no longer recognizable after , decades of renova- tion. Exeter's railway station may be worthy of preserving. It sits almost forgotten on the west side of town, but it does repre- sent an era when it would have been Jx- eter's biggest symbol of properity. There must also be a few grand old residences in town that speak well of the past. Of course, many homeowners may be reluctant to place themselves under the tight regulations of the Heritage Act, ars and would also worry about resale po- e tential. But there could be a few people d proud of their homes and who under - t stand the stature of such residences in Victorian Exeter - people who would - . like to know their homes will stay that way and not allowed to deteriorate and then be replaced with the latest creation with plexiglass skylights. The Heritage program may not be the best solution - in fact some plans in of-''° fect in European countries are far more flexible - but something has to be done to save the architectural evidence of this town's early days. Otherwise, how long will it be until all we have left are senior residents who can only point to a park- ing lot or strip mall and say "Yes, it used to stand right over there". Green with envy Why did God punish me and make me un -Irish? It's not fair. The Irish are having more fun than any other ethnic group in Canada. Read on, and I'll pro- vide you with some scientific background to that great Canadi- an tradition: St. Patrick's Day. The Irish are more special There is a very good reason why the day of the Irish patron saint has become almost a na- tional holiday. We're all special. Whether we're of Scottish or English, Icelandic or Italian background. But everyon knows that the Irish are mo special than others. Do we go absolutely banana on St. Andrews day? Of cours not. Few people know or ca when the Scottish Saint's day r And 1 have yet to come across department store that promote paraphernalia for St. George' Day (the day of the English pa tron saint). But across this multi cultural nation, the stores are set ting up their displays o shamrocks and green hats a soon as the Valentine hearts are cleared away. Si. Patrick's Day is big business. Which proves that this is really an Irish country. Oh, how I wish I could be Irish. I've only set foot on Irish soil once, a long time ago. During a 45 -minute stopover at Shanon Airport. Some day 1 hope to explore the Emerald Isle, from Moville to Skibbereen, form Galway to Du- blin fair city where the girls are so pretty. In the meantime, I'll have to be satisfied with what Irish eyes I can find smiling between Pa- kenham Bridge and the Calabo- gie Peaks. My green -letter day St Patrick's Day. How I look PETER'S POINT usual sober self and takes on lively look. I see people who ordinarily drag their feet and per manently wear a fret or frown on their face. Now they step out talk to total strangers, even try t manage a smile, and act as i they were alive again. It's noth ing short of miraculous. "WHEN'S THE OV[RNME T GOING TO BE BROUGHT DOWN?" Spicer: mega -dollar meaningless You've got to love this Ken Spicer. There he goes, rushing across the country with his multi- million dollar commission, ask- ing the average Canadian on the street what he or she thinks of their country's future, pretending the government actually cares what we think. If you need proof I simply have to ask whether any Royal Commission or travelling com- mission in this country has ever done anything - or at least writ- ten anything anyone has paid at- tention to. You aa ;n. bet that no matter what Spicec,:or MacLean's mag- azine, pretends he is doing, the next magnificent plan to unify Canada is already on the 'draw- ing boards in Ottawa. Son of Meech, Revenge of Meech, Meech Strikes Back. The sad fact is nobody really wants to hear what Canadians have to say on any subject of concern to Ottawa. Not that that comes as any kind of surprise. A perfect example is those won- derful little public meetings Canada Post conducts in towns where they are "considering" closing the local office and re - a placing it with something obvi- ously superior. When all the townsfolk show up to complain about being taken off Canada Post's map, the officials dutiful- ly take note of all the dissent, f tell the people how misinformed they are, and close the Post Of- e by Peter Hessel e forward- to it every year! It's a re highlight, a green -letter day. As soon as my clock radio comes s on in the morning with an Irish e Rovers recording, I jump out of re bed and sing along with them, �s. whether Elizabeth calls me crazy a or not. I wake up the kids, pre - s tending I can do an Irish accent, s which I can't, of course, and it only makes them want to miss school and sleep through the en- - tire day. They don't share my f pro -Irish enthusiasm. They're s not Irophlies like me. And this year, sadly, we're being cheated because St. Patdak's Day falls on a Sunday. No fair, no fair. As a rule I'd put on one of my shiny green ties, no matter what colour shirt I'm wearing, and drive into town, where things are usually off to an early start at P.J.s. Everybody knows that P.J.s is a Greek place, but you wouldn't think so on the 17th of March. I don't come home all erhy, because I meet happy Irish faces everywhere,. The town is trans- f4?t1ed._4 � des its • We all had Irish ancestors Don't tell me it's just my imag- ination. I know what I see. It's the Irish in them that wakes them up. Somewhere, way back, maybe thousands of years ago, we've all had some Irish ances- tors, and its their genes that are dancing around inside us and heating us up on St. Patrick's Day. There can be no other ex- planation. Because the entire human race had its origin in Ireland. This is a little-known fact. Most scien- tists have looked in the Wrong places like the highlands of East Africa or Mesopotamia. It's all nonsense, believe me. The real truth lies buried somewhere in Leinster or Munster or Conne- mara, waiting to be dug up. When God created man and woman, how could He have done it anywhere but in Ireland? Tell me: what self-respecting deity would pick any other place on earth? Clearly, the Garden of Eden was the Emerald Isle. It all started with the Irish, and that's the real reason why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day the way we do. You don't believe me? Prove me wrong, then! If you present irrefutable evidence to the contrary, I'll eat my green paper hat in public. fice anyway. What happens to all those notes, I wonder? Nobody writes down opinions anymore. They're just too lengthy. Polls are what the gov- Hold that thought... By Adrian Harte emmera freAts - a phone call, asking whether you think Brian Mulroney is: a) a brilliant and insightful leader, or b) a dedicat- ed and forceful leader. Spicer wants to take the credit for saving the nation. He says alarming things to the media like how he merely "thinks" there will be a Canada in the fu- ture. What, does he imagine the government is going to declare the experiment over, shut the country down and send every- body back to their native lands? Everyone seems to think it's Quebec causing all our prob- lems. I get a fair amount of hate mail each week suggesting there is some kind of inherent evil in those who do not speak English - or that bilingualism is naturally corrupt. Personally, I think bi- lingualism is great, although I would have to disagree with how it is held over our head like the sword of Damocles. Our governments throw money at bilingual programs in order to please Ottawa and Quebec. The reality is Quebecers don't give a hoot if they can go to Windsor and read a bylaw in French, they just want some reassurance their language and culture is not go- ing to fade away in the increas- ing tide of Americanism. What I especially don't like is this idle threat of separatism. Anytime it Looks as if Quebec is not going to get its way on the national scene, they throw down the rattle and scream for out of the sandbox. I can't see it as a realistic scenario. On its own, Quebec's identity would be even more vulnerable than ever - and I bet they know it. The whole problem is being so close to those Americans. We have a notion we should be just as prosperous as they, even though far fewer of us live in a arger, colder country, separated y large tracts of ice, snow, and crest. It's just got to be more xpensive to live here. We should instead be counting ur blessings and trying to guess how many street gangs would be between Winnipeg and Regina if this was the States. Spicer won't want to hear that ill he? He'll be too busy play - g on the insecurities and fears f Canadians. But no matter, we know where his report will s ports go, whe go. re all Commission re - 1 b e 0 w in 0 all International Babes' Day You've come a long way? Last week, thousands (millions even) of women marched thei cities' capitals and proclaimed their joy in celebrating Interna tional Women's Day. No one can argue women's rights have come a long way in the Blast century.. Women have (fill in the appropriate word here) "eamed", "acquired", "re- ceived", "were given (?)" the right to vote in the early part of the century and acquired the le- gal title of "persons". It's hard to believe not so long ago, men didn't consider their wives or their mothers for that matter as people. Women earned their way in the workplace during the first and second World Wars which left young mothers and their families to fend for themselves. The struggle to surface to the top in the workplace continues, but at least now the govern- ment's on women's side. And last, but certainly least, women have strived for total "liberation" most notably with the bra-buming days in the 1960s. The '60s were also noto- rious for making feminism syn- onymous with chauvinism. Times have changed and lo r and behold some will say sex- ism is no longer a problem. Sexism still thrives and it is apparent in even the most meni- Say what? By Clark 111 al task. Even filling out a form includes a dash of sexism: Are you a Ms., Miss or Missus? Why is it that men can only be Misters? There is nothing in a man's name to denote whether or not he is married! Some men cringe when they see a woman has kept her maid- en name or hyphenated it after marriage. Somehow, even in 1991, some men believe once a woman is married; she is a non- entity. There doesn't seem to be a fin- ish line in the battle of the sexes. Few can deny, (but many will • anyway) there are many charac- teristics which set apart a man and woman - intellectually and physically. Women and men have proved they can work together harmoni- ously in •a business environment, but women still have a long way to go to succeed in the public service sector. There are not too many wom- en firefighters or police officers, but that does not necessarily mean women arc not qualified to do the work. There aren't too many male nurses and secretaries, but that does not mean men are incapa-_ ble of those jobs either. As times passes, more and more barriers are being tom down in the name of equality and in time sexism may become at the very least, a little bit less obvious. Maybe some day everyone might even view comedian An- drew Dice Clay as a great phi- losopher who is not really a sex- ist or a racist, but someone who sees the hypocrisy of a society which denies the existence of prejudice, but abides by its re- strictions anyway.