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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1984-04-25, Page 40 Paw, 4 Times -Advocate, April 25, 1984 Ames Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by 1.W. Eedy Publications Limited EORNE EERY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager Bill BATTEN ROSS HAU(;H Editor Assistant Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $22.00 Per year; U.S.A. $60.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Some valid points A plea for a taxpayers' "Bill of Rights" was the central theme of the report of the Progressive Conser- vative task force on Revenue Canada, which was released at the party's recent policy convention in Quebec. . The Revenue Department has come under sharp criticism for the past several months following revela- tions about the manner in which it conducts its assess- ment and audits of taxpayers. It was revealed that the Department set quotas for its auditors and authoriz- ed so-called "fishing expeditions" where wide-ranging probes were approved with virtually no justification. The PC task force urges that Revenue Canada's vast powers should not be allowed to infringe on basic civil liberties --such as the right to privacy, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, the right to fair and courteous treatment, and the right to time- ly information from the Department. Many of the 76 recommendations should be seriously considered in an effort to make the Depart- ment operate in a more humane manner. People who will set about to complete their tax return in the next few days could probably add one more recommendation: a more easily understood tax return form. Waste is problem About a year and a half ago, there was con- siderable criticism of the federal government's an- nouncement that it had appointed one of its own faithful to head up a royal commission to study the nation's economic condition. The interim report submitted by former finance minister Donald Macdonald has now been released and indicates that the criticism was well founded. After spending 17 months and $10 million on hear- ings across the country, the Macdonald commission has come forth with a document that has aptly been described as a "bucket of mush." There are no recommendations in the report, but merely a list of challenges and choices for Canada in areas ranging from job creation and industrial and trade policy to education, social policy, government relations and electoral rgform. Now the high-priced group of commissioners will spend the next few months spending another few million dollars in hearings across the country,in an at- tempt to determine which of those choices the Cana- dian people find most palatable. Naturally, the answers will be political in nature, and therefore of questionable value to the nation. About the only tangible conclusion to be drawn from the interim report is that one of the major causes of the economic ills in this country is the vast amount of money wasted by the government in such things as the Macdonald royal commission. Respect the rules Now that the weather is more conducive to outdoor activity, children and adults alike will be out in force on their bicycles. The inactivity of winter will make the activity much more of an exercise in pain than pleasure for some but the point remains the same. Cyclists and motor vehicle operators can get along on town streets if both respect the laws of the road and each other's rights. The exhiliration of being out of doors, unin- cumbered by bulky winter apparel, can easily take one's mind from the rules of the road while on a pleasure bike ride. Children may tend to be a little careless and carefree, as the warm weather lures them to the streets in packs. Parents should take the time to re - instruct children on the rules of the road to ensure their cycling season is safe and accident free. While cyclists should take the time to familiarize themselves with the rules of the road, drivers should also be on the lookout for cyclists. Respect the cyelist's rights and don't crowd or force them off the road. At the same time, cyclists should keep as far to the side of the road as they can. Cyclists should avoid riding on sidewalks and children riding to and from school should do so in single file. By respecting each other's rights, and by keeping an eye out for the other guy, the cycling season should be a safe one for all involved. Goderich Signal -Star Shouldn't be left to whims of qthers Members of Exeter council, and to a lesser extent, the councils of Usborne, Stephen and Ilay have again left the South Huron rec centre board of management on the horns of a dilemma by failing to come to grips with the obvious need for some formal agreement regarding cost sharing of the board's operation. Each of the councils has informed the board of what financing it will provide this year. Those grants no doubt appear generous in the minds of those making them, but they represent nothing more than a stop -gap solution to the basic pro- blem which has been brewing ever since the facility was erected...a formal agree- ment regarding cost-sharing. Exeter council engaged in some sabre - rattling last year when various members virtually "promised" that the townships would contribute more this year either through direct grants from the councils or user fees from the township participants. That resulted in an increase from Usborne and flay, although the latter on- ly returned to the same contribution made in 1981, while Usborne's increase is $1,276 over last year but only $1,000 over its 1981 figure. Stephen remained fixed in the fee it has provided since the facility opened. Exeter advised the board that there would be no objection to initiating user fees, while Usborne made it clear that any such move would result in a decrease in the township grant equal to an amount of the user fees collected. That leaves the board between a rock and a hard place! * * * * While the rec board members have in- dicated they can probably cope with the 0 funding provided by the councils, surely the elected officials must realize the pro- blem that they present for the board in any planning. To put the shoe on the other foot, what would happen to the municipalitiesif the BATT'N AROUND with the editor ratepayers in each sat down at a meeting and decided each April what they were going to collectively grant to their coun- cils in the way of property taxes for the current year? Well, first of all, dere would be some _ _sort_of argument each year among the ratepayers. Yet, that is basically what the four municipalities are doing to the rec board and, yes, it can be almost guaranteed that the argument over the rec budget will arise each year until some basic agreement is reached. Similarily, the councils would have to admit that their tasks would be virtually chaotic if they had to wait until March or April each year for their ratepayers to decide what they were going to provide for the year's operation. That scenario should prompt some ad- mission from all those involved that it is time to take their heads out of the sand and come to some sort of agreement. At the present time, the elected officials 4 • are being totally unfair to the board in the manner in which their financing is arranged. The matter must be resolved by the elected officials and may he as simple as agreeing that the 1984 grants from each would form the basis of future funding with the normal inflationary increases annually. * « « * * What council members fail to consider is that the rec board budget process dif- fers from theirs. The board is basically in the rental business and as such must set rates that often overlap two fiscal years. As an example, half the ice rental time they can hope to rent in 1984 has already elapsed. They can not go hack and collect any more revenue from that on a retroac- tive basis. Similarly, the rate they plan for the 1984-$t season has to be based on current inputs. Commitments have to he male to groups for the entire ice season sethose groups in turn can plan their finances. Therefore, the board can not simply in- crease fees to cover the short -fall any or all of the municipalities decide to reduce their assistance in any given year. Hall rentals are also made well in ad- vance, and while the rates can be chang- ed, it is certainly poor public relations to do so and could cause problems for those who have made bookings on the basis of current charges. The board obviously needs to have some stability in the source of funding and it, is unfair that they should be left entire- ly to the whim of present and future elecfbd officials, particularly when they do not have the necessary flexibility to counteract those whims. • ROAD TO RECOVERY Keep batteries charged I noticed the other day that I can no longer add, subtract, multiply or divide. I guess I must have an advanced case of "calculatoritis" -- the in- ability to do any arithmetic without using a calculator. I knew I was very susceptible to this disease. I had all the early symp- toms back in the fourth grade. Miss Patterson would send me home from school each night with a foolscap sheet of paper covered in long columns that had to be added up. I spent hours agonizing over adding the long col- umns and trying to remember how to "carry". Then one day around in- come tax time, my Dad brought home a borrowed adding- machine. 1t was the big heavy kind with a handle on the side that you had to crank down each time you punched in a number -- really a far cry from today's ultra small calculators. But I thought it was a wonderful, magic machine las I hid in my Dad's den to do my math homework. Surely my parents must have wondered why I had com- pleted my adding homework on record time. I hated adding the long columns and remember- ing to carry, but even more, I hated subtracting and trying to keep "bor- rowing" straight. To this day, I still find myself crossing out numbers and writing the tiny numbers over top whenever I have to do any subtracting. I struggled through elementary school arithmetic, and then I was hit with high school math. Math, it turned out, was like arithmetic only worse. And things didn't get any better. I found myself stewing over geometry, algebra and other strange subjects. I fought my way through grade 12 math, ending up the year -by hav- ing to write the final exam (the only final exam I ever wrote in high school ; I was Mary's musings By Mary Alderson fortunate enough to be ex- empted from the rest) and obtaining the lowest mark I have ever received on any exam. I vowed I would never again get such a low mark on a math exam -- a vow which was easy to keep since I didn't take any math courses in grade 13, or thereafter. I realized the other day how much math I had forgotten when I was wat- ching "Reach for the Top" on television. (I like to watch that program, figuring that it's good for my Trivial Pursuit game.) After listening to the students' answers, I vaguely recalled something about sign and cosign and X -and Y. Only at one time in my life, did I feel at all confi- dent about my math. I worked at a catalogue outlet aftore ove? the Christffias rush for several years while I was going to university. When people come in and do all their Christmas shopping, you soon have long col- umns on their bills to add up. When there are too many clerks crowded around the cash register, you soon learn to add quickly. Unfortunately I lost that skill just as quick- ly as I had acquired it. Today I am fully depen- dent on the tiny calculator I carry in my purse. I realized I had a bad case of "calculatoritis" when I pulled the calcuator out of my purse to add up my grocery bill, and then noticed I was standing in the checkout line with just two items in my cart. Now instead of worrying about my poor math abili- ty, 1 live in constant fear of having a dead battery in my calculator. Please keep calm When I was a youngster there was an elderly lady who boarded with us. This lady was afflicated with epilepsy and at times would have a fairly severe seizure, falling to the ground, rolling, her eyes and frothing a little at the mouth. In a few moments the attack would vanish and although she would be very weak and tired would nem to have suffered no ill effe^ts. We children became accustomed to the seizures and would take them comfortably in our stride although outsiders would sometimes be very bothered by them. Not too many years ago epileptics were considered to be freaks, sometimes even were thought of as witches or as being demon -possessed. Things have changed con- siderably with new regular basis. In other cases it is possi- ble to operate on the brain Perspectives By Syd Fletcher understanding of the disease. Now epileptics are able to lead fairly nor- mal lives. For example, Garry Howatt, a player with the New York Islanders, is able to keep his symptoms under control with pills taken on a regular basis and is able to play on a 1 and remove the tiny patch of cells Which is causing the problem to reetir. These cells may have been caused by a high fever earlier in the person's life. The spectacular type of seizure that I mentioned earlier is referred to as a 'grand mal' attack. If you are presented by such a situation remain calm. Don't try to restrain the person in any way nor should you try to put anything between the - teeth or into the mouth. Seek medical attention if the seizure lasts more than a few minutes. 'Petit mal' may last on- ly q few seconds and there's really not much you can do. The person's hands or feet may tingle, or there Tay be brief periods of inattention or sleep. Bear in mind that the way people treat an epi a tic after the seizure ma very nasty, often beca se of ignorance of the disease. That is where you can help the most by trying to be an understanding friend. fr