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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1984-07-25, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, July 25, 1984 Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited IORNE EEDY Publisher JIM- BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN ROSS HAUGH 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' Unwelcome visitor Most area residents probably don't need to be reminded that it's been a wet spring and early sum- mer. The growth of their lawns, to say nothing of the weeds, is ample verification. However, what they may not know is that most of that rain has been bringing along an unwelcome visitor. Almost as regular as the downpours has been the high acidic content of the rain. Environment Canada issues reports regularly on readings taken at the Longwoods Road Conservation Area near London and the reports in May, June and July have been consistently acidic. Environmental damage to lakes and streams is usually observed in sensitive areas regularly receiv- ing precipitation with pH less than 4.7. On July 11 the reading was 3.8 and on June 2 it was 3.6. The latter, by the way, is nearly equivalent to vinegar. The acidic rain, unfortunately, has been matched in its consistency by the lack of political action on both sides of the border to reduce those levels. Clearly, time is running out! ! Ranks are thinned One person's gain is often another's loss and that is certainly the case regarding recent defections from the Ontario Liberal ranks into the federal field. Four MPPs have•already advised Ontario leader David Peterson that they will be joining Prime Minister John Turner's team for the September 4 election. Given the fact that incumbents in any election have an advantage over their opponents, the four ridings involved will become more difficult for the On- tario Liberals to defend when they are mustered to the next campaign and obviously that is a rather precarious position for a party which has not enjoyed much success over the past 40 years or so in this - province. - The loss of Sheila Copps, runnerup to Peterson in the leadership race, is particularly devastating because of the stature she has earned in political circles and the drawing power she has been able to generate with women. The situation is one that will not go unnoticed by Premier William Davis and his PC strategists. He may well decide to get to the polls while the Liberals are in a period of disarray and some despondency in los- ing four proven winners from a team that can ill -afford to lose any strengths. Issue continues The contentious retirement issue is back in the news again. The question? Should healthy individuals be allow- ed to continue in their jobs beyond the age of 65, or be forced to retire? With 73 -year old President Ronald Regan running again for the highest office in the United States. (he'll be 77 if he wins and completes his term) and a surpris- ing number of Canadian politicians who are over 65,the issue becomes fundamental. If Regan is capable of running the most powerful nation on earth, why can't healthy and capable in- dividuals handle ordinary jobs after the mandatory retirement age? Indeed, with many unionsnegotiating agreerrients that force workers to retire at age 60, or even 55, we seem to be swinging in the opposite direction. We're not suggesting that Canadians should be forced to work past retirement age, but neither should they be forced to leave their jobs. Politics, or course, is one of the few professions where there is no retire- ment cutoff date. The other is small business, where people still maintain the freedom of work after 65. Members of the 64,000 strong Canadian Federation of Independent Business, for example, fully support such a right. In a vote among members, a full 77 percent re- jected lowering the government -mandated retirement age. The open-ended retirement principle also seems to be winning some support from the courts. In at least two situations, courts have decided in favour of in- dividuals who wanted to work after they were 65. While the cases may be appealed, this seems like a move in the proper direction. Like politicians and individuals operating smaller firms, ordinary Canadians should -have the right to choose. Petting pigs proves profitable Did you pet your pigs today? That may appear to be an unreasonable question for a busy hog farmer with hun- dreds of screaming voices urging him in- to top speed, but it may well be part of a profitable management technique. Dr. Leo Bustad, keynote speaker at the recent Canadian Veterinary Association convention in Guelph, had statistics to point out that petted animals live longer and stay healthier. Experiments with mice and chickens show them to be more resistant to disease as a result of being "gentled". Petted pigs record faster growth, earlier sexual maturity and over double the conception rate of pigs that are fed but otherwise ignored. As president of the Delta Society, an -in- ternational body that studies the human- animaI bond, Dr. Bustad has come to ap- preciate the historical and universal nature of the relationship. As far hack as the 19th century it was observed that men- tal patients benefitted by caring for animals. Today, he said, we live in a world in which the 13,000 -year-old bond between humans and animals is being severed as far as city dwellers and apartment dwellers are concerned. "No pets" is a standard for many facilities, including in- stitutions into which senior citizens are placed. "We leave them to die of loneliness of the spirit, cut them off from the pets that might have sustained them," he explained. "They often suffer the loss of the only living creature that gave them O unconditional love and needed them. We are doing these people a great wrong." Bustad whimsically noted that when he gets to be dictator, there will be a change 1 in the architecture of buildings to suit the needs of old people and animals. Other interesting aspects of the work being undertaken between animals and humans is that of prisoners learning to be BATT'N AROUND with the editor trainers of dogs for the handicapped. There is a marked reduction in hostility among criminals when they have a pet to look after. In concluding, he noted that the Toss of a pet for some people is comparable to the loss of a child and he urged veterinary practitioners to "weep with them' and never say "it was only a dog". • Despite the value of pets that has been verified in studies with criminals, children, seniors and institutionalized people, there are many who hold different views of some members of the animal kingdom. Municipal councils know well the pro- blem that is associated with dogs running at large, as do farmers who have livestock killed or molested. The youngster who has been mauled by a pet, or anyone bitten or otherwise attacked, has good reason to question the keeping of animals as pets. However, it must be remembered that the basic problem in all but a few isolated instances is not with the pet, but rather with the pet owner. Animals that are properly trained and cared for seldom become problems for their owners or their neighbors. Unfor- tunately, few animals can rise above their circumstances. f t A recent issue of the University of Guelph news bulletin contained a reproduction of the "Veterinary Medical Tariff" which was adopted by the Ontario Association in 1875. Given the economics of farming in those days, the fees must have been considered fairly stiff. Surgery costs, exclusive of medicine ex- penses, ranged from $3 to $7 for remov- ing tumors and warts, parturition in horses and cattle was $5 to $10 with $3 for removal of placenta, castration was $2 to $5, extracting molar teeth $4, examination of horses for soundness $2. Vets expected a bonus for being hauled t of bed and charged 25 percent extra fo calls during the night. However, it is interesting to note that the time frame for the extra charge was between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. However, the biggest shock must have been for farmers who lived some distance from the nearest veterinary. The mileage rate was $1 for the first mile and 50 cents for every additional mile. Obviously, vets must have been able to feed the best of oats and have their bug- gies in tip top shape. Some You've possibly been wondering wh I haven't been writing out cur- rent affairs: the forthieth anniversary of D -Day; the Liberal leadership cam- paign; the Popes pro- jected visit; the Queen's projected visit; the lateness of the strawber- ries; the price of beer and other such trivia. I didn't write about the D -Day anniversary because it would have been contemptible of me. I wasn't there. My heart bled with the old veterans on TV as they searched the cemeteries of Nor- mandy for the names of oldcomrades who had died on the beaches, and wept at the waste of young Canadians. I got a lump as big as a golf ball in my throat, and wept a little too. But I wasn't there. On Ds -Day, 1944, I was playing softball in Nor- thumberland, a god- forsaken, cold, wet (even in June) pteoe of England , up near Scotland. Oh, we'd heard the news on the radio, and we were excited and a bit disap- pointed that we weren't in on it. But the casualties hadn't started yet, and a bunch of us who had been training and training and training, on Spitfires, Hur- ricanes, then Typhoons, were formed into a makeshift squadron to repel a counter-attack from Norway, just in case. There was no counter- attack. So we played soft- ball. Somebody sprained his ankle. That was D -Day for me. A year later, half of us were dead. I didn't write about the Liberal leadership cam- paign, because I don't like inhaling hot air unless it's current affairs good for me. But I did watch and hear the final speeches and the conven- tion. Could have been there if I'd bothered to get a press pass. No thanks. I've been to political conventions, and I've seen proud, ambitious men swallow their pride, ambi- tion, and dignity scrambl- ing for a few votes from displayed. Eugene Whelan, looking like an old elephant heading for that mystic elephant graveyard, made it first, big green hat and all. John Munro, about as much like John Turner as I am like Pierre Trudeau, made the long walk to Chretien. Then came John Roberts, -a handsome, elo- Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley _r �f delegates who don't repre- sent the people, but The Party. It's a bit sickening. Turner had it made from the beginning, because the delegates, at least a majority of them, wanted a Winner. So, as some clever man wrote to the Globe and Mail, we now have a smart, rich, good-looking chap representing one of the major parties, and a smart, rich, good-looking chap representing the other. Both are lawyers. Turner had better pro- duce or he's a gone goose. Mulroney had better pro- duce or he's baloney. Slic- ed. Take your pick. What. was interesting about the convention was the reaction of the losers, who knew they were going to lose long ago. Mark McGuigan, who even look- ed like a jackal, scampered to Turner after the first ballot. It took some guts to go across to Jean Chretien. And some guts were quent cabinet minister. Hugs and kisses. The only thing missing was the ghost of Judy LaMarsh, whose famous, "We've gotta stop this bastard," did not endear her to Pierre Elliot T., at whom it was aimed . when he donned the crown, about fifteen years ago. Just remember, these guys were laying their political future, and about $65,000 a year, on the line, when they joined the loser. It was a display of loyalty and guts and damn the torpedoes which made all the sweaty, shrieking. bor- ing parts of the convention worthwhile. Enough about the leadership campaign. Which it wasn't. It was really a Liberal campaign for the next election. And all the hysteria produced might last two weeks, in a Canadian summer. So. We wind up with a guy on one side who never won an election until after he was leader, and another guy who hasn't been in office for ten years, squaring off to be P.M. Lord help us. Now, let's get back to the Pope. He's coming to Midland, where I live, in September. There's a bit of panic, naturally, about security, traffic, and whether the stores can stay open on Sunday after he's left. I'm sorry, but you're too late. I'm completely book- ed up for the Popes visit. I've divided my entire house into two by six feet sleeping spaces, and the entire space has been taken by a Pittsburg group called the Holy Moses Maria Polish Socie- ty. They get kitchen and bathroom privileges. There will be only two hundred of them at $100 for the weekend. I over- sold just a tad, and will be sleeping, myself in the toolshed. Two of my closest friends, whom I couldn't refuse, will be sleeping in my car. With their wives. Well, that takes care of the • Pope. Unless he cancels his visit because John Turnercalls an elec- tion for that day. If he does, there'll be a Polish massacre. Of John Turner. As for the Queen, we've never been close. She's been ticked off at me ever since I didn't go to the Garden Party in 1945, for ex -Prisoners of War. She wasn't the Queen then, of course. She was just Princess Elizabeth, but apparently she was check- ing the list and she circled my name in red. Red! That's the name of the girl for whom I forsook the Garden Party. The system stinks "To discredit the former prime minister and the Liberal party for the patronage appointments is to give the public a par- tisan and misleading view of the Canadian political process. The patronage basket of appointments to govern- ment boards, the judiciary and the Senate is there to be used. Can anyone ex- fect party leaders to orego this prized source of largess.': - Mario Iacobacci, Parliamentary Intern, House of Com- mons, Ottawa. (Maclean's, July 23, 1964) Phooey. And phooey again. As far as I am con- cerned the whole patronage system stinks. Pork -barrelling is exactly the right word for it. You grease my palm and I'll grease yours, eh? The problem is that the approached about such a job and the first question asked her was whether she was Liberal or Conser- vative. (I guess the NDP �agiASVIUMINA ayaent .:_ f ito Perspectives patronage system extends right down to the local constituencies when of- ficials are hired for depu- ty returning officers and enumerators in the com- ing election. A lady was By Syd Fletcher weren't even being considered). To me we are ap- proaching a blatantly cor- rupt society when a depar- ting prime minister gives out 255 patronage appoint- ments, jobs that are full of prestige and excellent pay benefits. To butter it all over as Mr. Iocabacci does by calling it a part of the political process makes it no better. If it is part of our political system then it is about time it was changed. If theseobs were available and necessary (which I somehow doubt in the case of many of them) then they should be applied for properly and applicants chosen on the basis of their ability and qualifications, not how close they snuggle up to the person in power. Patronage is wrongand I'll vote for the person who plans on changing such a system.