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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-05-19, Page 7Wednesday, May 19, 1999 Exeter Times—Advocate 7 Opinion&Forum I OYEARS AGO May 17, 1989 - Councillor Morley Hall told fellow members of council Monday night that he was frustrated with the lack of progress in getting a recycling program going in the town. Hall said, "I'm plugging away at the project, but can't get it off the ground." An interesting ad appears this week in the classified sec- tion. Somebody brought in a copy of a "Lost Dog" ad which read, "Three legs, blind in left eye, miss- ing right ear, tail broken, recently neutered and answers to the name of LUCKY." 20YEARS AGO May 16, 1979 - Children 15 years of age and under will be admitted free to all Ontario's 128 provincial parks on Civic Holiday, August 6. Anne Armstrong has been named president of the Exeter Kinette club. A St. Thomas man was sentenced to thirty days in jail on a charge of mischief in connection with an incident during the Fleck Manufacturing strike on March 16, 1978. Five athletes from SHDHS were first place win- ners at Thursday's Huron -Perth track and field meet. They were Steve Pearce, Craig Degraw, Doug Fischer, Paul Wareing and Lucy Van Esbroeck. 35YEARSAGO May 17, 1964 - The sons and daughters of. Exeter Lions club members swelled attendance to • . 85 at their "family night" staged at the Exeter Legion hall. Guest speaker of the evening was Merle Tingley, noted cartoonist with the London Free Press. First official practice of the Exeter Mohawks, who have been entered in the Huron -Perth base- ball league will be held Tuesday night. Manager Joe Wooden has extended an invitation to all ball players in the area to try out for spots on the club. 'Joan Westcott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Roylance Westcott has graduated from London Teacher's College and has accepted a position With the Kitchener public school board. Bob Beavers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Reg Beavers broke his right leg while playing soccer at SHDHS. The bones have had to be reset and he is in Victoria Hospital in London. 40YEARS AGO May 16, 1959 - The Exeter Kinettes plan to pur- chase a cart of their own through South Huron Hospital channels for the purpose of selling confec- tions and sundry articles to the hospital patients. They have been doing this for some time but used a hospital cart. The Clandeboye station on the Canadian National Railway line has been sold by tender and is to be removed. Between campaign speeches in Stratford and Wingham, Ontario Premier Leslie Frost attended a luncheon meeting at Armstrong's Restaurant in Exeter, Wednesday afternoon. Joanne Mair of Exeter and Audrey Rhodes, an outstanding Stratford athlete, whose parents now live. in Exeter, were among the recent graduates from the St. Joseph's Hospital School of Nursing. 50YEARS AGO May 18,39 - W.G. Cochrane has moved into his new home on Senior Street. The Huronia Choir won first prize in the annual Woodstock Music Festival Wednesday evening. Winston Shapton graduated from the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph at the convocation exercises last Wednesday. Ed Hunter-Duvar will open his new service sta- tion at the south end of town Friday night with an old and new time dance. 60YEARS AGO May 16, 19 39 - The Ontario Department of Highways was endeavouring to cut down the num- ber of accidents and fatalities on the province's roads as a tribute to the Royal Visit of King George and Queen Elizabeth. Statistics showed an average of 100 people normally lost their lives on the roads of Ontario during the two month period encom- passed by the visit. 75YEARS AGO May 17, 1924 - Mr. Bruce Rivers left Monday for St.Thomas where he has secured a position. Rev. Linden Harvey of Coatsworth is spending a few days with his parents Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Harvey. ROSS HAUGH BACK IN TIME LETTERS TO THE EDITOR David Johnson replies to writer Dear Editor: This is in response to a "letter to the editor" that was placed in the Exeter Times Advocate on April 14, 1999. Thank you for your April 5, 1999 letter addressed to the Honourable Elizabeth Witmer, Minister of Health, and myself. In your letter, you inquire about the appropriateness of addressing the perceived shortage of doctors by pro- viding incentives to students who might wish to pursue studies in the field of medicine. In Canada, enrolment to medical schools is strictly controlled. The first-year enrolment target for the medical schools of Ontario is 540 students. This figure is a part of a nationally coordinated strategy that was endorsed by the Conference of Ministers of Health of Canada in February 1992. In 1993, the Government of Ontario negotiated this enrolment quota with Ontario universities during discussions that involved all the major stakeholders. The competition for gaining admission to any Ontario medical program is very keen. According to the Ontario Medical School Application Service (OMSAS), 3,553 individuals have applied for the first-year medi- cine places in Ontario universities in 1999. Policies and guidelines for admission to the Ontario medical schools are set by the medical schools themselves. The other points raised in your letter relate to mat- ters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health. Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. Sincerely DAVID J. JoHRvsoN.Minister Tragedy should not have happened Dear Editor.. It should not have happened -- the raitway au ident that was caused by some person leaving's switch open after working on the siding. In this day and age when people have walked on the moon and all the safety gizmos that could be in use, we have to have manual switches that are dependant on a person putting the switch back after using it. Manual switches should be long gone and be replaced with automatic ones, in conjunction with a signal switch and a red light. This would warn the engineer that the switch is in the wrong position and able him to stop the train in time. Tom EMERY Lucan The spin ofd of project is endless Dear Editor: After reading the letter concerning the need for a gym in the area, I decided to write. Our children are the most valuable asset that we have in this country. When are we going to realize this simple fact of life? In this area we have some very talented children that bring a lot to the lives of so many people now so think what they could do with the support of a community behind them. So many of our children do not care for organized sports or they cannot afford the extras that go with them. What is left for them to do? If we were to sit down and talk to our children 1 think we would be surprised at what we would hear. What would they like to seeln the area for them? Let's get their input and see how far apart WO are in our think- ing. A gym would be a good starting point for this but think of all the other uses that could be made of it. It could, become a community center so that all ages could work together, play together and grow together. It can be anything that the community could possibly want and need for our children. Wouldn't it be nice to see us all work together and set a good example by doing a project like this, one that would draw us together and make us part of the solu- tion before we have a very serious situation like we have been reading about and seeing on the tube. We are not unique. These things can happen any place, any time that we have young people with nothing to do and parents busy with their own concerns. Let's think really long and hard about putting this together as a community project, not just for our children but for ourselves as well. The spin off of this project Is endless. ANNE DrrrMER Fondness for animals TORONTO -- You can tell it is a tough election campaign when they bring on the wives and kids and -- for the first time in mem- ory in Ontario -- even a mom. Premier Mike Harris has used his family most trying to win votes. The Progressive Conservative premier got into a controversy when he took his wife Janet to a store to show A VIEW FROM how he helped a former welfare QUEEN'S PARK recipient back to work, and demonstrators pushed her as she passed through. Harris also has taken his wife into schools and child-care centres where he talked to parents and students She sat on the floor while he read sto- rieS, suggesting that she is unpretentious and down-to-earth just like her husband, who has been at pains to establish himself as an ordinary guy. The premier brought his mother in the fray when he took her flowers on Mother's Day and :allowed news media to take pictures of them, published under such heartwarming headlines as Harris Takes Time Off To Be With His Mom. Harris also has pointed to his two children, say- ing they remind him of the need for good health care, and how he favors uniforms in schools but one son disagrees, implying he is a tolerant father who permits dissent, and just before the campaign he was pictured holding his younger son's hand at a baseball game. It always amazes how cameras can pick him out in a crowd. Harris does all this for one reason. Many regard him as hard and unfeeling because he has cut some social programs to save money (although others, and possibly a majority, like him more because he cut taxes:) When he is seen with or talking about his wife, children and mother it suggests that he also is a loving husband, father : < • is a quick way of softening his ima Tories and news media justifiably have expressed concern that the premier's wife was pushed. Anyone in an election should be able to go to any event without being shoved around. The fact she was there to make Harris look good explains demonstrators' anger, but still is no excuse for pushing. Demonstrators also should know that the worst thing they could do is hurt her because they would be seen as thugs and Harris would try to pin the same label on all his critics. Harris's opponents also use their families for votes. Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty has been pictured being kissed by and walking arm -in -arm with his wife Terri, who tours with him. His four children were on view sending him off, and in speeches he often mentions that they remind him of the needs of youth. New Democrat leader Howard Hampton and his wife Shelley Martel, also an MPP, had their two small children on the front lawn at the legislature when he launched his opening salvo. - Harris's predecessor as premier, New Democrat Bob Rae, an intellectual who also needed to look human, told voters that he worried a lot more when one of his three children had a cold than when anything went wrong in his job as premier and there are more important things than affairs of state. David Peterson, Liberal premier before Rae, used to let media know he had three children and they were pictured playing, acting in school the- atrics and with Hulk Hogan at the wrestling. The biggest role a premier's wife got to play in an election oddly was when Frank Miller, a Tory who was premier for only a few months, caught intestinal flu in 1985. Ann Miller in her mid -50s spent a day making speeches for him, reading from notes she pre- pared using background information from his staff. Nobody ever said she cost him the campaign. But the most use a premier made of his family was when durable Tory William Davis put all his five photogenic children on his campaign litera- ture to illustrate why he wanted to assure a good future for youth. Davis even mentioned his dog, saying every fami- ly needs one and although he bought theirs for only $2.25, they would not part with it for a mil- lion. Harris mercifully so far has not preyed on any- one's fondness for animals. ERIC DOWD