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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-03-16, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, March 16, 1994 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor Adrian Harte Business Manager: DonSmith Composltlon Manager: Deb Lord Publications Mall Registration Number 0386 LIBSCRIPT1ON RATES: CANADA Within 40 mile. (6S tun.) addressed to non letter carrier addresues 130.00 plus 1210 O.S.T. Outside 40 miles (6S km.) or any tatter carrier address 130.00 plus 130.00 (total 60.00) 4. 4.20 0.S.T.Opinion Outside Canada 199.00 (Includes 188.40 postage) Unity, can it work? The prospect that southern Hu- ron County might one day be one mu- nicipality seems a little daunting to many local residents used to the notion that all our communities need a certain amount of autonomy. The fact that a different elected gov- ernment represents the interests of say, Stephen Township residents, than does Exeter residents does help make our communities distinct and unique. But the truth of the matter is that those distinctions are blurring over the years. The years ahead might bring considera- ble strife to those trying to preserve community identity in the face of con- tinual urban expansion. Exeter council is right to recognize that it can't feasibly annex east to the second concession of Usborne Town- ship without considerably damaging that municipality's tax base. The City of London took so much of Westmin- ster (the township that tried to be a town), that it was left with nothing that could survive. The extension of hard services has tra- ditionally defined the boundaries of lo- cal towns and villages, despite frequent requests over the years to break the rules. A better sense of cooperation be- tween urban and rural municipalities may allow those rules to be bent: the very kind of cooperation put into motion by three townships, two villages, and one town in the past few weeks. Hard services are only part of the sto- ry. Despite avoiding annexation con- flicts, the six may find ways to share "soft" services, and make better use of things like recreation facilities already in existence. New projects might take on a new light, given the prospect of looking out for a larger population base - we al- ready know for instance that Exeter's township neighbours make good use of the public library. A better cooperative effort amongst the "group of six" in South Huron might prove of far more benefit to local resi- dents than overall county government ever has. Not only do our local politi- cians have to approach this concept with open minds, but their efforts must be given the same respect by general popu- lation. Otherwise, we may never know what we missed. A.D.H. UIC changed its tune ...i was assured that receipt of this money had no bearing on U.I.C. benefits." Dear Editor: Thank you for printing the article last week re: Provincial Wage Protection Act. There was an error however, with regards to the statements made by Mr. Michael Meidinger. Contrary to what was print- ed "he can not even see how U.I.C. arrived at the amount they are requesting to have paid back." He is not alone in this dilemma. Worth noting, is the fact that U.I.C. was supplied with a list of names and S.I.N.'s of those wishing to meet with their representatives. According to them, U.I.C. needed this information in order to have all the necessary files to meet individually all those caught in this trap. This request made sense to me but it's odd though, that on the day of the scheduled meetings, representatives arrived with no individual records to refer to. This made it impossible for the meetings to serve any purpose. Further to that, I would like to add that upon re- ceiving the cheque owed to me from the wage pro- tection act program, I questioned the legality of keeping it itis cnntarting hath the Ontario Ministry of Labour (who came up with the plan) and Mr. Paul Klopp, I was assured that receipt of this money had no bearing on U.I.C. benefits. Still feeling un- sure, I contacted the London office of U.I.C. who re- plied that as this was termination pay and not separ- ation pay, it was of no importance to them and it was not necessary to claim it on our reporting cards. In a nutshell, U.I.C. now says we are guilty of not reporting this income to them in October 1990, even though no one dreamed of receiving it until October 1991. This apparently constitutes fraud, and gives them the right to garnishee our wages. I fail to see why, if this were our intent, we would then claim the money (on our income tax forms for the year in which it was received) pay taxes on it. Tose portions of family allowance, tax credits etc. In conclusion, I say U.I.C. is guilty Of taking four years to get this far, wasting a huge amount of my tax dollars on meetings, phone calls, time etc. Of course, even though I'm paying their salaries I can't garnishee them. Yours truly, Jim Switzer, Clinton "Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they discuss it freely." . a . Thomas Macauley Pub6shsd Earl Wednesday Mendng at 424 Mab ft., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 158 by 1.W. lady Publications Ltd. Tsierbu s 1-515.235-1331 a...T. ea1.s21os3e Guide to spending grant funds in Exeter What the mayor planned As public works saw it As the admtiistrator saw it As the executive approsed it As council amended it What the ministry was told What the public wanted As it turned out Welcome to have-not land Agriculture minister Elmer Buchanan was hailing last week's announcement that he would now have Rural Issues added to his portfolio as a step forward for we folk in the boon- : ies. t Somehow, I don't feel quite so reassured by the fact that a min- istry now has to be on the look- out for all Ontarians not fortu- nate enough to live within the protective boundaries of a city. If there's one thing I've learned about rural Ontario is its sense of pride. There has al- ways been an overriding senti- ment that we don't have nearly as many problems with life as do the cities. Sometimes those perceptions are a bit mistaken. Just because we live out here doesn't mean we don't have problems with wife abuse, child abuse, teen pregnancy, drug use, alcohol- ism, crime, or whatever seems to ail the inner cities most. But at the same time, I think most of us believe we don't have those problems as badly as do our ur- ban counterparts. Canadian and American litera- ture has long reflected an im- pression of the moral superiority of rural life. A strong connec- tion with nature and the land is often portrayed as being less corrupt and Less evil than living in the cities. You might find that self evident and obvious, but I should point out European literature often paints rural life as ignorant and unsophisticated. Let's face it, we all thought we were pretty well off living out here. We have better social con- nections. We take care of our own. We look out for our neighbours. We go to church more often. We're less depen- dent on government interven- tion, and we don't need as many crisis centres as do the cities. Well, we had it all wrong. Apparently we are a have-not community right now, requiring immediate government assis- tance and many ministry min- ions to study our myriad prob- lems before our rural life collapses into ruin. We have a ministry looking out for us: the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Elmer Buchanan tells us his people's "focus will now intensify on providing rural communities with the advice and assistance they need to take full advantage of their own po- tential for growth". Better yet, he says "ministry staff have built up good rela- tions in rural communities throughout the province". Doesn't that make you feel like we're animals in a zoo the zoo - keepers have befriended? Have we now joined the ranks Of other have-nots that need to be constantly supported by a ministry to assure survival? • Queen's Park has a Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, just to make sure all those MPPs in Toranna remem- ber there is life north of Musko- ka. Ottawa has to look out tor Indian Affairs and Northern De- velopment as well as the mari- time fisheries and other regions that used to be proud and strong but have since been beaten into submission. - So while all those people in the provincial legislature are breaking out the party hats and noisemakers, and patting them- selves on the back for finding another way of taking control of our lives, we out here in the im- poverished rural areas can hang our heads a little lower. We must pray for the swift transfer of urban wisdom to our regions, so our soil -infested, backward ways may be cleansed to return us to the prosperity we thought we once had. Oaf It. j. "Who tuned the thermostat up to 25 de- grees?" "Who left the door open?" "Who forgot to lift up the toilet seat again?" If you have kids, you know the answer to all of these questions. "Not me!" One, two or three children are either Tying, avoiding the truth, or suffering from a serious loss of memory. I once heard a_ child psycholo- gist argue that guilty children are blocking out reality, thus creating a different truth - their own. Maybe. And maybe some adults do the same. However, I felt that the time had come once again to lay down the law. "Listen to mel Somebody in this house is not telling the truth. Somebody within the last ten minutes peed on the toilet seat in your bath- room. I know it wasn't Mom or I. So it's got to be one of you." • We have neither a torture chamber nor a dun- geon in the house. So Elizabeth and I used the old deprivation trick. "There will be no TV, no videos, and no Nin- tendo for anyone until the guilty person con- fesses." "No fair!" "Who told you that life is fair? We're not in- terested in fairness right now, but in solving this crime." "What crime?" "Lying." "Lying isn't a crime. You can't go to jail for lying." "Yes, you can," said Elizabeth, "for certain kinds of lies." "Ya, but not for peeing on the toilet seat," said Duncan. "We're not sending you to the penitentiary," I said. "But the TV will not be turned on until this case is solved." The children conferenced for 10 minutes. Then Alex announced: "Duncan has something to say." White, off-white, grey ..... "Yes, Duncan." "It was me." "Do you know why we were angry, Dun- can?" "Ya, because I accidentally peed on the toilet seat." "No, Duncan!: Elizabeth said, "Because you didn't tell the truth. Everybody makes mis- takes. But what makes us angry is that we can't trust you to tell the truth." "Now can we watch TV?" I really don't know whether we are getting through to them. How do children learn to lie? Elizabeth and I don't lie to them or to each oth- er. We might tell the odd little fib. About being busy when the phone rings at an inconvenient time. Maybe we say that we like a present when we know it's awful. "How fast are you going?" Alex asked me from the back seat of the car the other day. "About 90 kilometers, 1 think", 1 lied, when I knew it was much closer to 120. "Why did you cut that corner, Dad?" "I thought I saw a big patch of ice on the road." Where exactly do we draw the line between white and off-white lies, grey lies and black lies? I'd hate to think that the kids Team "dishones- ty" from us. What made me write that word in quotation marks? Could it be that we dislike ad- mitting our mistakes as much as the kids dislike admitting theirs? If that's the case, should we take a closer look at our own bad habits? How about easing up on the kids for a while and concentrating on our own behaviour modification? Counting the so-called white lies, I guess we're all tiers. If we know that everybody is doing it, who do we get upset when we catch the kids at lying? Do we want them to be ab- normal? Maybe we have to make a choice. Either we stop lying ourselves - completely. Including even the tinest little fibs. Or we relax when the kids turn out like us.