Times-Advocate, 1999-02-03, Page 98
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Editorial&Opinion
Wednesday, February 3. 1999
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1 TIM .S--ADVOc.fiT___1
PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511
jim Beckett
Publisher and Editor
Don smith
Deb Lord
General Manager Production Manager
Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited
424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850
Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331
EDITORIAL
Going once, going twice,
sold to the highest bidder
he Olympic Games have come to repre-
sent the best in sports - idealistic young
amateur athletes from around the world,
competing for the sheer love of sports and not
for material gain. The Olympic Games have
symbolized theu
p rfty of the human competitive
spirit when it is freed from the constraints of
national borders, political influence and corrup-
tion.
How the Olympics have come to represent the best in
sports is anyone's guess, with all the drug scandals and
rumours of bribery. Accusations have been flying
around for years about judges who decide the winners
of an event before the competition takes place. The def-
inition of amateur status seems to depend on the ath-
lete's country of origin. And while there are no cash
prizes, justmedals and the honour of having one's
national flag raised high above the others, athletes in
more than one sport have calculated to the nearest dol-
lar the worth of a gold medal in endorsements and tele-
vision commercials.
Now it appears the Olympic organization is rotten to
the core. The only questions are why it took this long
for the mess to blow wide open, and why anyone was
,surprised when it finally did..
The Olympic Games have becomebig btatdiscas
indeed, with plenty of hands" for a piece of the
grasping
pie. And a tasty pie it is, with millions of dollars in tele-
vision contracts and other goodies.
Add to that the fact that the Olympic Games are con-
trolled by a relatively small group of about 100 people
who are appointed to their positions, the chief require-
ments seemingly being royal blood, or at least diplo-
matic status, wealth and influence. A proven commit-
ment to furthering international sports competition is
unnecessary, yet these people determine where the
Games are to be held, and how that extremely lucrative
pie is divided up.
Sad to say, the combination of power and wealth
with no controls creates great potential, for abuse.
Human nature being what it is, potential for corruption
virtually guarantees it will occur.
So what we have are Olympic officials who put price
tags on their decisions about which countries get the
Games. They make it clear they are to be wined, dined,
and treated to expensive gifts and services. How deca-
dent and corrupt, we say. We must remember that in
the circles these officials move in, important people
expect to travel first class. The wining and dining,
chauffer driven limos and expensive prostitutes are as
much an ordinary part of doing business as, say, the
expense account lunch is at the middle management
level.
It is time to eliminate elitist power brokers
from the Olympics, replace them with people who know
something about international athletic events, and
bring in some professional sports management people.
It would likely prove cheaper in the long run, and
would certainly enhance the efficiency of the Olympic
organization.
About the Times -Advocate
Address & Office Hours
Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P:O. Box 850,
Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to
Friday, 8:30 am to 5:00 pm.
Bre
e
Nobody said it would be- easy, but it seems. the local
amalgamating areas are having a' tougher; time than.
everybody thought wound:
The group with the biggest problems is that grou
affectionately ehllti* itself. the ''Original Six': Thi
group — flensall, Zurich, Ray, Bayfield, Stanley and
't`dciter -haw now hadmeetings eetings and.
has hit some major hurdles along the way.
The biggest problem for this group seems to,
be the fact at least two of the members don't
really want to be there. Zurich bas.iudd front
the beginning it would rather..
bS; Wrxh: the
group and seeinS unin-
terested in -the, `Original Six'. And Hay
Township,.which has said it doesn't want to
merge with anyone beyond. the 'Original Six',
threw a l+vreach into the; works .at the the
group's last meeting by.; declaring a new munici- ,
ND
pality involving the six should have two munici- THING
pal" offices, not just one In Varna as has been
proposed.
Many disagreed with Hay;, Suggesting the whole point
of amalgamating is to cut costs and get rid of duplica-
tion.
Zurich Reeve Dwayne LaPorte said any municipal
office should be in an urban centre, not Varna.
The ensuing argument could go down as one of great
importance because here's the bottom line: the six
individual councils will discuss the office location issue
at their next council meetings and .the group of six will
vote on it at its next meeting on Feb. 24 Hi Varna.
Things got so ugly during the last meeting that Stanley
Reeve Jack Coleman suggested those municipalities
disagreeing with the outcome of a location vote could
walk away from amalgamation talks.
Could this be the beginning of the end for the
'Original Six'? Things don't look promising.
The other group, Exeter-Stephen-Usborne, which has
named the proposed new municipality the Town of
South Huron, got off to a quick start with its first meet-
ing onJan. 12, but got"bogged down at its meeting last
week when representatives on the organization coin,
mittee began arguing about an issue — county council
p representation — many thought the group had settled
s act lb; first mese
The Town of South Huron. group, though, has eta
much more progress than tl t `+El tglnat` :.'
and has rely ,finishedits. work. It still has
stumbling block -- the proposed annexa-
don of Dashwood (whish is split down the
middle between Steitihon, and'Hay townships)
r and the xnr of Hay property
_',. pridpased
1, west of Exeter ineftidizig.the ,cemetery and.
landfill sites. •
Since the 'Original Six' appearsheaded
towards disaster,, here; s h> proposition:
Zurich; Hay and' HensalFshoiild join with the
Souk Sumn group, a group that has said
from the beginning it is willing to leave the
door open for any other municipalities who
want to join. .
Zurich L. Juncil has been right all along. It only makes
sense for them to amalgamate with Exeter since they
feel a closer connection to this municipality than with
Bayfield, Stanley or Tuckersmith. Those three munici-
palities can amalgamate with each other or go else-
where, but it's clear from two amalgamation meetings
the six don't belong together.
And Hay should realize while it doesn't wantto amal-
gamate with South Huron, it's going to' have to bite the
bullet and amalgamate with somebody. And having
Hay join the South Huron talks would put to rest the
problems of Exeter wanting. to annex SO/2W of Hay's
land.
So here's to a new municipality consisting of Exeter,
Usborne, Stephen, Hensall, Hay and Zurich. Call it
what you like, it makes a lot more sense than the
group of six talking now.
There, problem solved. Sounds easy, eh?
tit
ANOTHER
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