HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-05-05, Page 4Pitge4
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. Deb Lord
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Alore than a few Ontarians must
have been struck by the -irony of the im-
ages of seeing Premier Bob Rae's "so-
cial contract" ignored by balky public
sector union leaders last week.
Rae's party has been long trumpeted
as the champion of labour, as looking
rafter the little people overwhelmed by. a
:fag business economy, and which
boasted of not taking political contribu-
-xionsfrom business, but seldom made it
known much of the 'money did come
-from siphoned fanion dues.
Looking k over these past few
years, it would seem the NDP arrived
in power convinced (trio was inade-
: quately governed, and that Queen's
`Park didn't do enough to :protect the
province's to stakeholders (a favour-
ite NDP -buzzword). They spent money
on .consulting, studies, and commis-
sions to :seek. out Ontario's problems
and where new legislation was needed.
They .:eagerly set about relocating
ministries into shiny new offices, al-
though :they -preferred to view it as re-
disttibuming the province's power and
"lig a infrastructure", even At
if was justgovernment infrastructure.
The. answers came back that Ontario
was already over -governed, and spent
too much money on studies, commis-
sions, and legislation, . and had too
-many-bureaucrats clogging the econo-
y. The deficit proved it, the econom-
icindicators provedit -.and that realiza-
- tion must.have hurt.
-Throwing-money into the recession
_.didn't heip,and the interest on that debt
Mires its toll. Finally, the government
An Unsociable Contract
' is taking steps to undo those miscalcula-
tions and the unions are fighting them
all the way.
Rae wants to see public sector employ-
ees, already among the province's best -
paid workers (although they pale in
comparison with Ontario Hydro) to take
unpaid leave, accept wage freezes, and
accept that some jobs will have to go, as
many as 11,000.
The union leaders snort with disgust
and walk away from the table.
Is anyone really entitled to the "virtual
iron -clad job security" boasted of by -tire
federal public employees, which -was
foolishly given by Ottawa when they
needed concessions from a•bloated civil
service?
Is it really fair to the taxpayerthat re-
- iundant employees in obsolete govern-
ment departments are either promoted or
-placed in makework projects just to
-meet contract obligations?
_ifow will Rae be able to forge ahead
*ith .his "social contract" when being
faced down by _unions that probably be-
lieve -they own the goveming-} trty after
-paying into their coffers forso long?
The Premier, who has spent considera-
ble aime!ngiand,inust surely realize
that country suffe d .considerably and
Aluged well -bathind3the rest Lof rEurope
*hen :poweriti.awisns - -
overthel.abour Party.
Ontario has to put its house in order.
This "social contract", a sugar coated
Mune .if ever there was one, may be a
good step in that direction, if it evemets
off the ground.
A.D.H.
Mother's Day hardly enough
There are many reasons to
honour your Mother and moth-
ers in general on Mother's Day.
There are the usual.00nsidera-
tions. they carried us in their
wombs. they brought' s Into the
world, they nourished us. And
so forth.
Some mothers manage better
than others so ••protect, guide,
teach and love their children.
Some set good examples, sonic
bad. But by and large, mothers
are ;doing an excellent job, and
they dese�vlto be commemorat-
ed on the second Sunday in.
May.
My argument therefore is not
with Mother's Day. It's with the
other 364 days of the year.
I write this column primarily
for our kids, not for yours. Be-
cause your kids are probably
grateful to their mother all year
round. Your kids probably never
forget to say thanks and to do
nice little considerate things for
their mother on a routine basis.
So. read on only in the unlike-
ly event that your kids are Iikc
ours. Only if by sheer coinci-
adence, your kids - like ours - are
Acing in praise for their Mom on
y t 1other's Day morning and short
-in showing their love at other
times.
There arc different kinds of
families, of course. Not every
home has both, a mother anti a
father. Some of the closest -knit
- a mother or a father. Many
children arc also very lovingly
and effectively raised by their
grandparents, by other relatives,
or by foster parents.
Our kids are being raised in a
"traditional i.family" with two
parents. But while I always try
to contribute my share to every-
body's happiness and well-
being, I must give credit to Eliz-
:4beth: she carries by far the ma-
torload.
Peter's
Point
•
Peter Hensel
I don't believe our kids ever
ratop to think about it, though.
-Their Mom cares about them
and works for them from early
morning till late at night. She
goes out of her way to please
the kids, to make them feel
wanted, important, loved. Shc
plans and implements. She
schedules and improves. Shc
copes with a crisis, and she
manages by objectives.
Take yesterdry, for instance.
A very ordinary day. And al-
most every day of the year
could be another such for -
instance.
Mom got up at seven to wake
you up and to make your lunch-
es. She doesn't have to do that.
You're all old enough to get up
by yourselves and to fix your
own lunches. Shcsdlidn't expect
you to say: 'Thanks, Mom, for
doing this." But it would have
been good if you had said it.
Duncan had forgotten to take
some books which he needed
that day. So Mom drove to
school to deliver the books. Did
Duncan throw her a grateful
smile? Nothing.
After school, Stephanie had to
be taken to piano lessons, Alex
to guitar lessons. Mom rushed
them into town, waited around
for an hour, and drove them
back. What did she get for her
trouble? Some snarls and com-
plaints: "Why didn't you pick me
up first?" A sibling fight in the
van. Several requests for snacks.
Not a kind word. Not a hug. Not
even a pat on the back.
Supper was nourishing, tasty,
prepared by Mom with thought-
fulness and expertise (as it usual-
ly is). The reaction was also as it
usually is: Duncan: "I hate broc-
coli". Alex: "Not ham again!"
Stephanie: "What's for dessert?
Don't tell me it's just fruit."
Nobody said what they did
like, and nobody praised Mom
for having crea?ed a dinner at all
when she had to drive into town
for the lessons.
"Who is going to clear the ta-
ble and to load the dishwasher?"
Everybody suddenly remem-
bered all the - homework that
needed doing. The great disap-
pearing act. But wait, Stephanie
was coming back.
"Mom, can you help me with
my math?" Thanks to Mom's pa-
tient explanations, Stephanie
soon understood clearly what
she was expected to do.
And yesterday was just an av-
erage day.
Yes, thanks to Mom, things get
done at our house. Every single
day. Oh, Mother's Day is fine.
But is it really good enough?
Think about it kids! I'm expect-
ing you to come up with an an-
swer by noon on Mother's Day.
And don't tell me. Tell Mom.
"Men are never so likely
to settle a -question righty
as when they discuss it
freely."
...may
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The weeks get weaker
It is said lost causes are the sheets, statistics and press re -
only ones worth fighting for. I lease -eon no:lessthan five differ -
can find many reasons to agree sot .soloars of -paper, `a letter
with that philosophy. 'Atom the Canada: Safety Council
I cannot..however, find myself presicientiandta11,assapari up in
agar -i a,irh r'- s..ip bah
of a problem.
'We in the media are supposed
to stop the presses, put a stop to
all that news some might call in-
teresting, anoint ourselves with
ashes and fall prostrate at :the
feet of whoever is raisin 'the
next flag for a new cause. It is
somehow our bounden duty to
bring their new message to the
masses, whether they care or
not.
In addition to the disease -of -
the -week club, there are horrible
social evils that require immedi-
ate abolition, lest civilization
certainly perish. Huge sums of
nioney are apart on these cam-
paigns each year. There are pos-
ters, contests, seminars, presen-
tations, flag raisings, and, of
course, press packages - mil-
lions and millions of press pack-
ages.
Everyone knows about Bicy-
cle Safety Week, Farm Safety
Week, Trampoline Awareness
Month, Better Sleep Month,
Nailclipper Consciousness
Day....okay, I'm making some of
these up. I'll leave you 10 guess
which.
Monday, on my desk arrived a
press package on National Cel-
lular Safety Week. Here it is, a
whole week we must set aside
for boneheads who can't safely
use a telephone. It arrived with
no less than a gold embossed let-
ter from Perrin Beatty, tip
Hold that
thought ...
By
Adrian Harte
L
a nice folder with an out of fo-
cus shot of a telephone.
Fortunately, the reference
shelf indicates that the Canada
Safety Council is a "non-profit,
public service organization dedi-
cated to the prevention of acci-
dents and health hazards in the
traffic, workplace, home and
recreational environment. Mem-
bership includes industry, la-
bour, professions."
I'm not sure whose money
they're spending. I hope it's not
mine.
So what, pray tell, is the aim
of National Cellular Safety
Week? Perhaps we are to be
wanted about not puncturing our
eardrums on the littl- nnae
of the hand-held c g
hair caught in the range.. o, a
foldable phone is also bad news
I understand. Maybe there arc
few people out there who have
yet to realize sticking their
tongues in the cigarette lighter
socket before plugging the
phone in is also a no no.
Well,. naturally llttere ,are no
bits of wisdom like this to ix
found in the press releitses.
There's just the usual common
sense stuff that is ordinarily
found in every .cellular tele
phone owner's manual: don't ge
distracted from your driving, us
speed dialing features to keel
your eyes on the road, don'
make notes while driving
(egad!), and don't use a hand
held phone while driving - jus
pull over to talk, or get a hands
free set.
Since this week-long celebra-
tion (May 12-18, by the way) is
partly sponsored by the cellular
industry, we don't find any inter-
esting facts in the press kit about
how many nimrods bend their
fenders each year because they
were yakking on the phone in-
stead of driving. We do get lav-
ish descriptions of the positive
use of mobile phones, how
they're nice in emergencies (like
telling the OPP about the guy on
the phone in front of you who
just headed for the ditch), and
how just everyone who's anyone
has one.
Having been read, my press kit
is heading for the bin. Its main
use has been to remind me how
much this nation needs an in-
stant moratorium on new
"awareness" weeks. My solu-
tion for phone idiots on the
mads would be much simpler.
All mobile telephones require a
federal License anyway. ,Anyone
caught driving like a je,lk while
on the phone should lose that li-
cense, at least for a year.
Enough said.
Student sees govesnnint in action
Dear Editor:
1 have just tburaed home after a
week in Ottawa (April 17-24), par-
ticipating in the Forum for Young
Canadians.
'the Forton prograasre provicial
potential leaders with the opportu-
nity to gain a practical understand-
ing of the processes of govern-
ment. by watching it work in
Ottawa. 1 bad apportuniWes to
speak with the decision makers
and experience what it is like to be
involved with federal politics. Ac-
tive participation of epbriaet
miters. senators, senators, MPs, .atastth.rs of
the judiciary, saAior public ser-
vants and repteastatives of the
press, minority groups, business
and labour, provided an informa-
tiveaod busy week.
I petsonaly , learned a lot from
the experience. 1 had the opportuni-
ty to meet a diverse group of peo-
ple from ally Mei the
country. This
programme
pave me valu-
able insight about
the country in
which we live, and
the possibilities for
the future.
1 would like to lake this opportu-
nity to express any sincerest thanks
to the sponsors of my study of the
,41
processes of Government in Cana
da: 'Exeter Legion, Exeter Lion:
Club, Mount Carmel & Exete
Knights of Columbus and South
Huron District High School Stu
neat Council. 1 would also lila. 1(
thank Mrs. Macy Dietrich, Lxete
Sod Mr. and Mrs. Ian Cook, St
Thomas for helping me to mak(
this trip possible. 1 believe that this
programme is very imponaat fog
Canada Sud its future. Forum, fog
me, was a week which demcuutrat
ed what it means to be Catadian.
Yours truly