HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1992-09-30, Page 4Pa • e 4 Times -Advocate S
mber 0
1
Publisher: Jim Beckett
News Editor: Adrian Harte
Business Manager: Don Smith
Composition Manager: Deb Lord -'
Publications Mall Registration Number 0386
SURSCRIPTION RATES_ CANADA
WSW 40 miles (85 km.) addressed
to non letter carrier addresses $30.00 pias $2.10 O.$.T.
Outside 40 nide. (85 km.) or any letter canter address
=30.00 pw $22.50 (total 52.50) + 3.88 O.S.T.
Outside Canada $88.00
•
inion
I•;I)IT()f' I.\l.S
"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
.. Thomas Macauley
Pub$ehed Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Male St.,
Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1.86 by 1.W. Eedy Publication Ltd.
Tel.Oheee 1416-2961991
e.$.T. eitiOz210ei11
Ten reasonable men
o you agree that the Constitu-
tion of Canada should be renewed on
the basis of the agreement reached on
August 28,1992?
Yes, or No?
If you think back to 1982 when the
Constitution was brought to Canada,
and so widely hailed by Trudeau and
his colleagues, you might be led to
wonder what all the fuss is about this
time round. Aside from a slim red
hook to add to your bookcase, was your
personal lifestyle affected in the slight-
est by the new Constitution and the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms?
Can we expect a revision of the Con-
stitution to change our lives at all?
Probably not much.
Strangely enough, the Free Trade
Agreement has probably had more ef-
fect on more Canadians than the Con-
stitution, but no one ever offered us a
referendum then.
Yes, the Royal Bank did release a re-
port predicting dire economic conse-
quences if Canadians should reject this
unity deal, but in all likelihood, a rejec-
tion of the deal will only send all pre-
miers and experts back to the table to
draft up Revenge of Meech Lake III in
a year or two. Montreal won't become
Sarajevo.
Voting yes won't make Quebec separ-
atists shrivel up and blow away either
(how would you vote if it did?).
They'll still be there ten years from
now, believing Quebec to not be a part
of Canada, not realizing that Quebec
largely defines Canada. The rest of us
are just Americanized hangers-on.
This vote on the Constitutional accord
is basically a revision of the way in
which the provincial governments deal
with the federal government. Real peo-
ple won't be involved that much at all,
except for the novelty of voting for sena-
tors every few years.
The problem with the question posed
on the October 26 ballot is that any Ca-
nadian can likely find 10 good reasons
for not doing something than one reason
for doing it. It is very easy, as many po-
litical experts, leaders, and former lead-
ers are proving, to see shadows lurking
in the corners of each clause.
Anti -Quebec bigots are quick to criti-
cize the deal, believing the province's
distinct society class will make Quebec-
ers "more equal" than the rest of us.
Again, we must ask if legitimizing Que-
bec's distinctness in the Constitution
makes them any more distinct than they
have been all along.
Pushing the scare tactics of critics
aside, and also the flag-waving hard -sell
campaign of our government, the ques-
tion comes down to whether or not Ca-
nadians trust those premiers and federal
politicians who hammered out the agree-
ment they felt they could all live with.
We may not trust any of them all of the
time. We may not agree with all of their
politics and policies, but can we find it
in ourselves to trust that they, as reason-
able elected representatives of Canada's
regions, have formed a basis to create
something to make our country better?
The answer ought to be yes. 'October
26 will be its test.
A.D.H.
No space for Rae
he outrage newspapers have
felt over the last months concerning the
proposed changes to the Labour Rela-
tions Act received a littler more fuel
this past week with a fax from the Pre-
mier.
Bob Rae has personally asked the dai-
ly and weekly newspaper associations
to provide space so the government can
run advertisements in support of the
legislation.
This is about "open and fair dia-
logue," according to Rae.
Businesses across Ontario have band-
ed together to fight this legislation with
a massive ad campaign in what many
believe to be the last stand at the Ala-
mo.
This legislation is viewed by the busi-
ness community at almost every level
as the most noxious emanation to have
ever come from Queens Park.
Let's not confuse this with complaints
about increased employer 01 -HP contri-
butions or disgust with parasitic cabinet
ministers lumbering around the coun-
tryside in limousines or outrage over
flip flopping on Sunday shopping or tax
grab with gambling casinos.
The labour reforms are simply viewed
as a most • tendentious (to borrow .a
word from Mr. Rae's fax) piece of leg-
i:,lation that will effectively hand own-
ership of private businesses over to un-
ions.
It puts a gun in the hands of unions
they will not hesitate to employ at the
very first opportunity.
There is only one part of this legisla-
tive package that is causing the reaction
Mr. Rae is so concerned about, and that
is the section which bans the use of re-
placement workers 'they're called scabs
by unions) during a strike.
Union members admit candidly in pri-
vate that it is this aspect of the legisla-
tion they too are most concerned with.
They know it's almost a guarantee
that the tables will be turned forever in
their favour.
The effects in the newspaper industry
would be profound and immediately.
For example if the editorial department
of a small newspaper unionized and
went on strike, the publisher would not
be able to replace those workers; yet, his
striking employees would be well within
their rights to set up a competitive news-
paper across the street and publish.
Mr. Rae has had the scenario described
to him publicly on a number of occa-
sions, while his deaf committees have
played out the charade of listening to the
concerns, complaints and fears of many
people about this law for months.
Last year, Rae faced scores of commu-
nity newspaper reporters, editors and
publishers on this very issue and failed
utterly to respond.
The newspaper industry has a great
deal to lose by this legislation and we
make no bones about it.
There is no way on earth we are going
to give Mr. Rae equal time to sell this
unionist dream to the public masquerad-
ing as some piece of worthwhile social
legislation.
But the threat is not alone for us to
bear.
What about the direct hand this perfidi-
ous administration will then have in the
only free media operating in the prov-
ince.
This legislation was given a real boost
last week and you heard it right from la-
bour minister Bob MacKenzie's mouth.
If there had been legislation like this in
the Northwest Territories, the strike at a
Yellowknife gold mine would have end-
ed much sooner and •without the vio-
lence, he claims. Talk about an obscene
lobby.
What is he really saying - if the legis-
lation had been in place no-one would
have had to kill those nine men?
That, Mr. Rae, is an advertisement
"clearly intended to arouse fear".
Ss. Marys Amami Anes
4'
t
The end of a perfect day
The day started off fine. Actu-
ally it started off great. I was
ahead in my work schedule and
had received a letter and a pair
of phone calls from some old
friends announcing their engage-
ments. To top it all off, our
darkroom genius Nic, presented
me with the ultimate gift, an au-
tographed picture of my hockey
hero Guy Lafleur. It was a fine
da} So of course, you knew
something had to go wrong.
My sister recently started uni-
versity. Unfortunately, a dental
appointment meant a trip to
London Tuesday afternoon. She
is in Kitchener, so it also meant
someone. had to pick her up.
Nov‘, 1 don't usually do a
whole lot around the house, so
its a momentous occasion for all
concerned when I do. Feeling
like it good samaritan, I decided
to take the pressure off dad and
make the trek.
Monday nights are exception-
ally busy. but 1 decided if I left
for Kitchener immediately fol-
lowing the council meeting I
u a5 covering. 1 would have time
to type up the minutes on the
l)ortable computer if my sister
obliged by driving the return
route You can certainly under-
stand then, that time here was
definitcl, a tactor.
I o say my arrival at her resi-
dence was ill-timed would be an
understatement of grandiose
proportion. This building is
high security; we're talking Fort
Knox. To gain entry, you first
must enter the access code of the
person for whom you arc search-
ing. No problem, once you do
that they buzz you in. Unfortu-
nately. the buzzer works off of
the phone line, so if someone is
on the phone, the person in tine
lobby gets a busy signal. What
makes it worse is that the
phones are all party lines. Get
the drift?
Off the
head
by
Ray
Lewis
After 20 minutes of buzzing, a
don (one of the persons assigned
to patrol the building) comes to
see what I want. I explain the
situation to her and she informs
mc the entire hall is in a meet-
ing. 1 will have to remain out-
side.
"But my sister isn't at the
meeting, she's in her room wait-
ing for me."
"So buzz her."
"The line's busy."
"I'm sorry, I can't help. You'll
just have to wait."
After another 10 minutes, I'm
tired of waiting.' Two girls walk
by and I ask them to find me an-
other don and considerately they
oblige. In the meantime. a sec-
ond don comes along to whom 1
again explain my predicament.
Having once been a don myself
at university, I even offer solu-
tions. Perhaps she could go
check my sister's room, or even
call security to escort me them.
"Sorry," she says. "You'll
have to wait until the meeting is
over."
"But my sister's not in the
meeting."
Li'ttot to [tithe
"They'll only be another 20
minutes."
And here's the kicker. It's a
weeknight and almost 11 p.m.
Because I'm a male visitor, she
tells me I'll have to leave the
premises entirely at that time.
Like I'm not frustrated enough
now.
Finally the meeting lets out.
Now there arc 75 girls on the
other side of the doors, but of
course they can't let me in. A
third don reluctantly comes to
my aid. She shows some com-
passion, although a little leery of
my story.
After giving a full description
of my sister, room number, ac-
cess code, phone number and
what type of cereal she cats for
breakfast, the don decides to
walk an additional 20 feet and
ask the don of my sister's floor if
my sister is indeed in her room.
With the speed of a govern-
ment agency, my sister is
promptly delivered to the front
doors to my rescde. It's taken 45
minutes. It only took me an
hour to drive there!
By now my frustration starts
to show, and I'm tired of being
polite. This does me absolutely
no good, and because society
now deems it, I'm immediately
labelled as a typical male and, of
course, the reason for such high
security.
Now it's 5:30 a.m. Tuesday
and I have to finish typing my
council notes and get ready to
do some layout. I've got an as-
signment in Goderich right after
and then have to take my sister
back to Kitchener. 1 wonder if
they've got the wrinkles out of
that red carpet?
Cast an informed vote
Dear Editor:
On October 26 of this year, eli-
gible Canadian voters will have
the opportunity to participate in a
National Non -Binding Referen-
dum. In order to do justice to the
Constitution of Canada, and to
substantiate the 150 million dollar
cost to ourselves, we should try to
cast "well informed" volas.
The document entitled "Cotwen-
sus Report on the Constitution" is
quite readable and can be obtained
by calling 1-800-561-
1188. Simply
request that a
copy be treat to
You.
It is an Iron Law
of Politics that
Woe who choose not to
involve themselves in the politics
of their country are destined to be
governed by those who do. Every
Canadian who values this country
and the Democratic Process should
endeavor to cast an informed vote
on Referendum Day.
It's ow choice.
Sincerely,
Len Lobb,
Reform Party of Canada
Huron -Bruce Riding Association
J