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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-06-26, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, June 26, 1991 Publishers Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord CCAlai Second Class Mall Registration Number 0388 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (66 km.) addrsssod to non lotto/ carder addassas 530.00 plus 52.10 o.:.T. Oatlade 40 miles (65 km.) or any latter cantor address 530.00 plea 530.00 postage (total 1¢0.00) plus 44.20 Q.L.T. Outside Canada 166.00 • 1 inion "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." ... Thomas Macauley MINIM Easb Wednesday Metaled at 424 Male St., WAN, Oetarte, NOM tae by 1.W. Etmly PvbNoattena Ltd. Tslesbeee 14111-233-1231 SAT. #R1Oa210aad Shortsighted As reported in the St. Marys Journal Argus last week, the provincial government has nixed plans to go ahead with a test burn of scrap tires at that town's cement plant. Company officials have long contend- ed the burning of tires is a very clean way of getting rid of the troublesome waste. In fact, they say the emissions from a 15 percent mixture of scrap rub- ber with the usual coal is actually cleaner than burning straight coal - as has been proved at European plants that use the mixture. The test burn was to prove or dis- prove these claims. So why has the Minister of the Environment, Ruth Gri- er, cancelled the test? It appears the whole philosophy of burning waste products,including tires, does not fit in with the government's environmental agenda. Reuse and recy- cling are the current buzzwords that are in vogue. They would rather see tires being used in experimental asphalt blends and other such projects. Noble intentions, yes, but they are ig- noring one key point to the cement plant experiment: the plant has to burn some kind of fuel, and unless alternatives are found, that fuel will be coal. If indeed, adding old tires to coal is truly a cleaner alternative then it should be considered. It's at least a better place for them to burn than Hagersville. At the very least the burn could have gone ahead to find out the facts. This "philosophical" approach to find- ing Ontario's environmental solutions is poor, to say the least. Thinking with one's heart is not going to find the answers that require brains. Sidewalks inevitable As one councillor noted Mon- day afternoon, projects cost- ing in the millions of dollars have managed to go through with less debate than this issue of whether or not to put sidewalks on Pryde Boulevard. Granted, the initial idea to place the sidewalks on the property line some six metres up the lawns of the homes on the west side of Pryde was a poor idea. This kind of arrangement would get anybody upset. However, the works department have since decided it is possible to place them closer to the roadside in a more natural location, albeit over top of some existing services. So what's the prob- lem? Normally, when sidewalks come to a neighbourhood in most municipalities there is no debate. Stakes appear on the boulevard one day, and a few days later there is a strip of cured concrete on which to walk. Usually everbody is happy. In this case, however, we have home- owners who are suffering from a NIM - FY syndrome (Not in My Front Yard). Despite the fact we are talking about a sidewalk and not a toxic waste dump or landfill site, they don't want the walk- way, and are prepared to come up with any number of extraordinary reasons A.D.H. why it should not be there none of which bear any scrutiny. Council, nonetheless, has a greater problem on its hands. Having done the surveys on pedestrian and vehicular traf- fic, and knowing there is a perceived and demonstrable demand for a side- walk along Pryde Boulevard, they have only one decision open to them. They cannot refuse the pka, for side- walks because should an accident occur;., on that street in the future, the town' would be legally responsible and negli- gent for not installing sidewalks when it could and should have. We would hope the Pryde Boulevard homeowners will not demand an acci- dent statistic before relenting to side- walks. Providing a. safe place for children to walk while on their way to school is the prime concern here, so council can't be blamed for biting the bullet - even in an election year - and approving the side- walks at their next meeting, as we can expect they will. The concession to put the concrete in a more practical location really ought to be enough to please most homeowners. And it may just be that after the con- crete has dried, the sun will still rise on Pryde Boulevard. A.D.H. Letters to Editor Drivers should be well mannered Dear Editor. I am the lady who walks 2-3 miles daily from the boundary (Osborne). I am sore you have all aetta Me. 1 would like to inform you that some truckers are well mannered. They will slow up and go over to the shoulder as far as they can as not to hit me with stones or dust. Others could care less. They speed rightby me pre- tending not to even see me. The gravel111) trucks are very busy on our roads. They don't slow down, move over and seven out of 10 don't even stop at the stop signs. eve had much bigger trucks slow down and most wave. Some cars are bad mannered also but, most slow down. Lots of peo- ple drive to town and walk, howev- er concrete bothers my back terri- bly. So gravel runners I'm not giving up, Fm going to keep walking, nurse my gravel burns and wash the grey (dust) away in my pool. Doris Hamilton A walk in the sun Dear Editor. After distributing a generous amount of seeds to feed the birds and squirrels, its off on a daily walk around this pretty town, with its well -tended lawns, colourful flowers and friendly neighbours. Special attention is always paid to "Kathy", a grey mourning dove who waits patiently every morning for her t of sunflower seeds. Although a dove, "Kathy" �is ve is fending off the blckbirds and blue jays or her daily feed. She may be beautiful, but she bears a good left hook! Many local citizens exchange views with a walker. "Its a great day!", "How's your prrden?", "Do you miss Mexico?", do you think of the Reform Party?" And, to paraphrase, how much we miss good "'or Charlie McNaughton who did so much for Exeter and Huron County and what would he think of those clowns whopresently inhabit Queens Park. Not much! Give Boy Scout Bob Rae and his misfits long enough and they will run this to the edge of disaster. Witness what the Socialists did to England before �yQo� Thatcher - and to B.C. and hewan. People aro worried about violence and 111) rape and the growing number of senseless murders. Many say its time for restoration of the death penalty. You don't have to hang the thugs who murder, give them a lethal shot, like we do a dog. Atleasta dog deserves a kind end, perhaps its too good for the dregs of socie- ty? People arc tiring of the seeming- ly endless dialogue about Quebec and separatism. "If they want to go, let them go" is the sentiment of many. A walk in the sun is rewarding in many ways and proves that people think about our problems and are fed up with politicians who are elected and pard to solve problems. They should take a walk in the sun and listen. Yours truly, Gibby (J.M. Gibson) Exeter Black cars I accept full and complete re- sponsibility for Saturday's weather. It's all my fault and I know Usually just washing a black coy 'et>rough to tempt fate, but l ' .1Pn a Friday ev6riin isIo make a rainy weekend a certainty. As I watched the rain drops neatly bead up on the for- merly glossy hood, I concluded that there must be nothing mom offensive in the sight of God than a freshly -waxed black auto- mobile. Mind you, there are probably other people out there who made the same mistake I did and also share some of the guilt. There are those who will laugh and say that I had it coming. They always say that. "Black car, eh? Isn't that hard to keep clean?" I always used to think that this somehow referred to the proper- ty of black paint to show up eve- ry speck of dust and make a thin film of road grime look like fun- gus. This isn't true, as I've now come to understand. Black cars are hard to keep clean because it always rains moments after you put the chamois away. I used to own a white car. 'White car, eh? Isn't that hard to keep clean?" Yes, but not as impossible as black. Anyway, I lovingly waxed and polished the car in a gesture of good will towards It. As people Hold that thought... By Adrian Harte around here know, it's been driv- ing me (no pun intended) a little crazy lately. Nearly every mechanic in town has had a chance to offer an opinion on what will cure it. I'm almost ready to sign up for the "part of the month club" (I discovered that my wheel rims cost $500 each). It also hasn't helped to have a few of these experts tell me how finicky these front -wheel drive cars are. Then I have to find a way to politely point out that my car is rear -wheel drive. Even so, just when I thought all my problems would be solved, I somehow managed to pick up a nail in a rear tire. The nail neatly pierced the shoulder of the tire, where it was beyond repair. A ride on a new pair of rear tires only seemed to make things worse, until it was discov- ered that one of them was Slight- ly out of round and had to be re- placed. Ah well, Sunday afternoon I sat down in front of the televi- sion set and managed to find the IMSA GTP (grand touring pro- totype) race on in New Orleans. Here were people I could identi- fy with, with more problems than my own. As these 800 horsepower Nis- sans, Jaguars, Chevrolets, and Toyotas screamed around the city street course, they burned out brakes, snapped suspension arms, blew up engines, and wore out their tires. They got great gas mileage, somewhere on the order of two litres of fuel for each kilometre travelled. And when a light rain sprinkled the course, more than a few lost all control and went spinning into the barricades, smashing up ex- pensive bodywork. It made me feel better. Some- how the black car in the drive- way seemed not so unreliable af- ter all. Canadian, Period. This column appears in Bal- dur, Manitoba, where many of my readers are of Icelandic ori- gin. It goes to Humboldt, Sas- katchewan, which is proud of its German tradition. And it is pub- lished in Bumstown, Ontario, where a large percentage of the population is of Scottish ances- try. It reaches a large audience in the Leamington, Ontario area with its many Italian families, and I could go on and on. I am certain that my readership includes almost every ethnic group in Canada. So let me get something off my chest on this Canada Day, which marks the 125th anniversary of Confedera- tion. Hardly a nation of immigrants Canada has been called a na- tion of immigrants. That is not entirely true. While a large per- centage of Canadians were bom outside the country, the over- whelming majority are not im- migrants but native Canadians. Yes - native is the opposite of immigrant. It simply paeans "born in the country". A child born yesterday to im- Peter's Point • Peter Hessel migrant parents who arrived last week is a native Canadian. A naturalized Canadian who emi- grated 70 years ago is not a na- tive of Canada, although he or she may have contributed im- mensely to this country's growth, wealth and culture. Who is native? And then we have our Indian, Metis and Inuit population whom we (and sometimes they themselves) falsely single out as "natives". Their ancestors have lived in Canada for thousands of years, but Indians living today 4 are either more nor less native than other people born in Cana- da. (I prefer to call them "First Nations"). 'You can't be a little bit native. Either you're bom here or you aren't. Every man, woman and child in Canada is either native or foreign-bom. The vast majority of those who were bom abroad have decided long ago to be- come Canadian citizens, and it is wrong to label them "immi- grants". Strickly speaking, im- migrants ate people who have come to live in Canada and have not (yet) become Canadi- an citizens. Tired of labels In fact - and that's what this Canada Day column is all about - I am extremely tired of labels. Let's put labels on fos- sils in museums, but not on liv- ing specimens. Canadians may swell be the world's most labelled individu- als. People in other countries have varied backgrounds, too. Please turn to page 5. 1