HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-26, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, March 26, 1997
Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett
Business Manager: Don Smith
Production Manager: Deb Lord
Advertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy
Neyis. Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos,
Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke
Pro(fuction• Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray. Barb Robertson
Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner •
Transooftation: Al Flynn,:AI Hodgen
Pront Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings, Ruth Slaght
Ruthanne Negrijn. Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple -
The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers
10
"00 `O"'Muw, providing news, advertising and information leadership
• 'C)
' 1919 1904 OCA
Publications. Mail Registration Number 0386
3IBSCRIPTION RATES;
• One year rate for Ontario subscribers - S38,00 + GST
Two year rate for Ontario subscribers - $83.00 -045T
One. year subscription - S63.00 + OST •
Two year subscription - $119.00 + GST
OTHER RATES
Outside Canada - 5102.00
Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St.,
Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd.
Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0766
small address: tlmss.advocatsd sdy.com O.S.T. *R1052108`
Children need to be reminded about
« safety
pring has sprung, the grass front of the television make them forget
has riz, I wonder where the birdies is?" safety rules, and during the first few
It's a bird, it's a plane... no, it's a little warm days, they go crazy. It's some-
thing to do with the nurhber of hours of
sunlight addling the brain.
- Those wary little ones who always
looked both ways before crossing the
street in October will be running and
laughing and chasing each other through
major intersections. Small, polite little
girls will. be borrowing their big sister's
roller blades and skating backwards over
curbs and knocking over pedestrians.
Calm, sensible little boys will be riding
kid in his hare feet and shirtsleeves, fly-
ing a kite in the middle of the road:
Who cares about ice and snow? There
is something in the air that speaks of
soft, warm breezes and SPF 15, of road
hockey and bumble bees... something
stronger than eau de skunk and more
intoxicating than multi -colored magic
markers:
Let this serve as a warning. it happens
every spring. All those little children
who have been cooped up in front of . . bicycles no hands (and no brains) while.
the television all winter will be jumping weaving in and out of traffic and talking
playfully into'traffic from between to their friends on the walkie talkies they
parked cars, chasing baseballs into the got for Christmas. -
street and riding bicycles every« here. It's time for drivers to slow down and
Of course, they do that in the winter, be extra careful. especially near schools.
too. But short winter days, combined' Until the children come to their senses,
with the necessity of donning coats, and until the police and teachers can do
hats, mittens, boots, scarves and heavy their bicycle safety lectures, drivers -
sweaters, tend to keep kids off the should be prepared for anything.
streets. Just a hint to parents — don't wait until
As the temperatures swing toward the
plus side of freezing, the hats and mit-
tens will he forgotten. Soon there'll be
sunlight after supper. And before you
know it. the bicycles will come out of
the basement. along with the .baseball
gloves. skipping ropes and roller
blades.•
It's a scientific fact that as the snow
melt:, skunks aren't the only creatures
whien het spring fever and stumble
aroutt'd in a lovesick daze. Human chil-
dren do it too. Teenagers gaze longing-
ly into each other's eyes, oblivious to
the screeching of tires: Time loses all
meaning. and danger ceases to exist.
All those long winter evenings in
a child is struck by a car. Before the bike
comes upstairs; make sure it's mechani-
cally safe to ride, and make sure the
children are wearing helmets. Take a
few minutes to go over'the safety rules
with them — always ride with the flow of
traffic, signal all turns, and leave the
Hollywood -style stunts to the people
who get paid to do them. •
Don't assume your children know the
rules about where they can and cannot
skateboard. Don't even assume they
have more sense than to draw hopscotch
squares on the middle of the road. For
the next little while, spring fever will
rule supreme.
Saugeen City. News
.our Views
Letters to the editor
Union Gas increasing prices
When are these people going to
stop treating the public as idiots?
Dear Editor: •
Just like many other organirations. I see Union •
(',as has mastered the art of increasing prices. A.
sshile.ago they were telling as to convert to natural
gas because it was much cheaper than oil or hydro.
Great.. Now they are saying that "strong demarid for
natural gas in North America has sustained gas pric-
es at high levels!"
Another reason they gave for upping the puce is.
"This rate increase is necessary because the cost of
purchasing gas is forecast to exceed...-. Forecast to
exceed' What -would be the response of an employ-
er if this employees asked for a raise because they
forecast a cost of living increase''
•What if .the cost of gas doesn't -exceed the
amount currently included in our rates':' Do we all
get a refund'' 1 don'rthink so! •
When are these people going to stop treating the
public as_idiots'' Why don't they just'come out and
say "We want more money: you need the gas: so
we're jacking up the prices"-? 1 wonder if anyone
feels the way 1 do.
Yours sincerely,
John Sanderson, Exeter
A View from Queen's. Park
TORONTO - Ontarians Have just seen some-
thing akin to a preview of their ne"Xt election,
vt ith'the big difference thing that Premier Mike
Harris lacks it couple Of the. weapons held.by a'
Ralph Klein. ' .
Klein, Alberta's premier and a Progressive
Conservative like Harris, has been re-elected
w ith 51 per cent of the vote and a con)fortable
ntaiority in his legislature, and has Tories here
salivating.
The two premiers have followed almost the
sante agenda and become the most celebrated
for cutting the size and cost of government:
Klein started before Harris in 1992 with a $3.4 -
billion annual deficit left to him by an earlier
Tory government Tess concerned with costs.
By cutting public service jobs, teachers' sala-
ries and social and health services while oil rev-
• enues were booming, Klein in five years wiped
out his province's deficit and started reducing
its $32 Killion accumulated debt.
Harris (Allowed suit after becoming premier
By Eric Dowd •
Simple Cruelties
- Brenda Burke
The glory of gardening
Ahhhh, spring...a chance:to
dig in the dirt and give pale -
fingernails an earthy treatment.
What can be more exciting •
than rushing out to buy little
packs of seeds and longing to
get,them into the ground where
you can nurture them and begin
new life, the veru essence of the
Season?
With home and garden shows
in the air along with an
abundance of sunshine, millions
are looking forward to
gardening bliss - those moments
when you wipe the sweat from
your brow, stand back with
gloved hands on hips and take a•
good look at your garden.
My favorite flowers are the
ones you buy in pots. They're
already growing! That means!
don't have to wait and worry for
tiny, sleeping seeds to do their
thing.
As a beginning gardener; 1
tend to get things in the ground
a little on the late side, so
flowers already in bloom suit
me just (Inc. The only drawback
is you have to buy and plant
them all over again the'
following year.
Gardening requires the proper
equipment. Each year I
rummage through my shed for
rusty hand tools -'the kind.that'
usually come. in sets of three or
four including one long,; narrow
spade. t to dig big holes) one
short. stocky spade. (to dig little
holed one fork -like law. thing,
Ito break up the -dirt) and a;long
spike t to stab at weeds'?) -
Last year 1 broke down and
bought a hoe and rake in one. 1
always manage to Lind some
kind of shovel lying around..
For me. the fun part of
gardening is definitely the .
planting (of already -blooming
flowers).
Once all the hard
ground -breaking digging.
weed -wrenching and rock
tossing is done, the relaxing task
. of deciding what goes where is •
always rewarding.
' - The biggest challenge of
• gardening. besides keeping up
with the weeds. -is remembering
to water the stuff, especially
when you have water
restrictions to adhere to.
Let's see, when 1 get Rinne
from work on a long. hot
summer day to the sound of
humming layyn mowers and the •
sinetl of barbecues-. 1 nota&&e my.
wilting hums or `:etaniutnor •
hazel_oldens.
..Gotta wat. rthegarden." I
ponder. wondering it it 1s trills
an allowable watentig•da•,
• it thins out 11 Isn't- so -1 tor_ct
•,iboui it•.itiJ fi..the time
a terin_ hours ,helve the best
daV, l rel JUt•ot town on some .
tong distance mission that will
keep me away front nn beloved .
flowers who are d% mg. wilting
into the earth I have diligently
Jing. trtked.:hoed. ler ililed and
:rmettinits '.latched.
When `,earn_ ilew. garden
ideas.•it also,'s best- not to !hulk
too hire at tir-t ilntll %oil gel the
.h,ln_ of il.. Last spring. in .111 act
of sudden! domesticated
passion: 1 decided to stove -
house, renovate and dig up huge
amounts of new garden space.
.-fitter a lot of s'.v eat and time •
and money. l realized l
•
.wouldn't have much of a chance
to weed and water -let alone sit.
ut the garden,utd the •
. colors. l'hat was the e.ir
(earned not.to plain It1in,1 'es rel
the shade.
in 1995 and said often he admires Klein, but he
should.not be regarded as merely copying. Har-
ris was demanding cuts in govemnlent from the
moment he became opposition leader iii 1990.
before Klein. even becamea party -leader.
Harris has•started reducing an annual deficit
that was $10 billion under his New Democrat •
predecessors and has a target of balancing his
budget by 1999. when he is due •to seek re-
election. • The only substantial difference in
policy between the two premiers is that Harris is •
giving away a large part of savings from cutting
government costs by reducing provincial income
tax, supposedly to spur consumer spending.
While Klein has handed out some tax cuts, he.
has focussed more on using money saved to re-
duce debt. To appease some of the offended,
Klein put some brakes on reducing and even re-
stored a few of his earlier cuts, notably in health
and kindergarten education, shortly before he
called his election.
Ontario Tories would have thought of this tac-
Harris has a long road to travel
tic long ago. but their resolve to look kinder be-
fore an election will have been reinforced by
Klein's success with it.
This all sounds like the perfect scenario for
Hams to follow. But one obstacle is that Alber-
ta is
lber-tads inherently conservative, haying had Tory
or Social Credit governments for the vast part
of a century. while Ontario Ghas had Tory. Lib-
eral and NDP governments in little more than a
decade and therefore has a more organized op-
position.
Klein, a'former radio and TV reporter and
public relations director, also is helped im-
mensely because he is genial, folksy, flamboy-
ant, rumpled, willing to admit a fault and
known to swear and take a drink at times and
accordingly felt to be very human.
Klein explains himself in down-to-earth ways
like saying his job is like renovating a house
and the major construction is over but he still
has a few cracks to fill. This is on top of a
reputation for keeping promises, so he has an
image of being likeable and trustworthy,al-
though not among those whose "jobs he cut.
that is hard tobeat. •
Harris also is respected for keeping most, al-
though not all, promises, and many admire him
forhis cost cutting and are glad to have his tax
reductions. But he invariably sounds h•
kish. His cuts have angered many so polls ow
him with considerably less support -than he ad
a year ago.
When he tries to get down-to-earth, he says
things like hospital workers have to be fired be-
cause they have gone out of fashion like hula
hoops and seems to go out of his way to belit-
tle.
Legions of p.r. men are now trying to make -
Harris sound warm and human, including put-
ting out his recipe for baking chocolate cake.
But they have a long way to go before he will .
win votes for being likeable.,