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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-10-29, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, October 29, 1997 Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett Business Manager: Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Advertising: Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy News- Heather Mir, Kate Monk, Craig Bradford, Chantall Van Raay, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transportation: Al Flynn, AI Hodgert Front Office & Accounting; Sue Rollings,.Carol Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slaght, Sheila Corbett CCNA The Exeter Times Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership F 1)I'F()R1.A1, Power struggle undreds of Huron County teachers, including the friends and neighbors of many readers of this newspaper hit the streets in the largest labor demonstration Exeter has ever seen. These teachers are following the lead- ers of what could be described as the most powerful combination of unions in the country. The unions have con- vinced teachers the only way to fight the controversial bill 160 is to walk away from one of the most trusted posi- tions anyone could have. Teachers have been entrusted with shaping the minds of our children, from the time they enter the system until the time they graduate from high school. They broke this trust Monday by de- serting the children and youth of this province, although they sincerely be- lieve they have no other choice. Princi- ples have been placed above the law. Killing bill 160 is the mission of union leadership who seem willing to risk a potential backlash from the public. Both the Harris government and teachers say they're fighting for the children. Education Minister Dave Johnson has continually repeated his now familiar phrase "for the sake of the children." Locally, Huron's teachers have resorted to the same tactics by trotting out a couple of children to car- ry signs as they marched up and down Exeter's Main Street Monday. This illegal strike is not about our children, no matter who cries the croco- dile tears saying they're doing it for them. It's about power and control. The government has grown tired of investing more money than any other province in Canada on an education system that has been tagged for years with an underachieving image. Harris Publications Mail Registration Number 07511 SUBSCRIPTION RATE: One year rate for Canada subscribers - S35.00 + GST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - S63.00 + QST 0116 e,AM^N�r Outside Canada 02.00 �/1 K r 1919-1994 ,p1 �rt✓S ASSOCA Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 156 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 • Fax: 519-235-0786 O.S.T. #8105210835 told electors he would be taking action before the Conservatives were voted in as the government. He was given a man- date by the electorate who were fed up with the spend and tax policies of previ- ous governments. It was inevitable a collision course was coming with powerful unions. These same unions have had the upper hand over weak school boards for years. Many times new contracts were nego- tiated that saw teachers getting raises while, at the same time, other govern- ment employees such as health care workers were facing cutback after cut- back. Ask the average nurse what they've gone through lately. The government has decided that now is the time to take control.. They've pub- lished slick ads and TV commercials simplifying how they're going to pro- vide a better system. They seem pre- pared to live or die in the eyes of the public on Winning this battle with un- , ions who are determined not to give an inch. They say they are up to the chal- . lenge of cutting out the fat and improv- ing the system. ' So far; the "middle ground" which must be reached in any labor dispute is something neither side is willing to dis- cuss. The public hasn't suffered enough....yet. Harris is reluctant to use more govern- ment power to legislate teachers back to work, a move that could inflame many , other unions in the private sector. And so, for the moment, our children are be- ing deprived of the very thing both sides claim to be fighting' over in the first place. It's a current events lesson about one of the biggest power struggles this prov- ince has ever experienced. Unfortunate- ly, it won't be learned in the classroom. Your Views Thank you from Epilepsy Huron/Perth Letter to the editor Dear Editor; On behalf of Epilepsy Huron/Perth, i would like to thank all those who supported our organization during our 1997 Glad Day Campaign in Exeter. A special thanks to all the volunteers, who worked so diligently this year. Thanks to Exeter Sales Coor- dinator Esther Hillman, Exeter Legion Ladies Auxil- iary and Mary Fims. Thanks to Frayne's General Store, Holizmann's 1GA and Shoppers Drug Mart for allowing us to sell our (lowers outside their locations and to Exeter's Town Council for permission to sell glads. With the help of the,United Way and thc funds raised during this event we will be able to continue with Support Services and to send children with Epi- lepsy and special needs to camp. Everyone welcome to attend our Annual General Meeting November 1, Upper auditorium of the Mitch- ell Town Hall, 169 St. David St. Guest speakers Dr. Simon Levin - Pediatric Neurologist from Childrens Hospital (London Health Sciences) and Dr. McIntyre Burnham - Research Pharmacologist from University of Toronto and Bloorview Children's Hospital - To- ronto. Topic "Anticonvuisants/Ketogenic Diet". Sincerely, Marj Vere, Executive Director A View from Queen's Park By Eric Dowd Political masterstrokes are sometimes no More than an accident, and this includes the catchy slogan that helped put Premier Mike Harris in power. The mostly young advisers to the then un- known Progressive Conservative opposition leader were helping him draft a platform for the 1995 election of cuts in spending and taxes un- heard of in middle-of-the-road Ontario and so drastic some of them started calling it a revolu- . tion. Harris's closest aide said this did not fit Harris because the small businessman from North Bay represented common sense more than revolu- tions, so they combined the two and called it The Common Sense Revolution. The commit- ments to cuts, the clear, direct way they were promised and even the easy -to -remember title won the election. The origin of Harris's slogan - - how come no one asked before? -- is revealed in an account of the Hams years, Promised and, by John Kibbitson, a former reporter at the That's my opinion By Chantall Van Raay ,Won't you smell my feet? Don't you wish that sometimes you could put on a costume, paint make-up all over your face and ask people for a trick or treat? • Maybe have them smell your feet? Well, I'll admit it, I wish I could. I asked my nieces and nephews what they're going to be for hallo - ween and their faces lit upas they beamed, "A witch! a cat! A pump- kin! Mr. Potato Head!" They go out so proud' on hallo- wecn night in thcir wonderful cos- tumes, skipping, hoping and jump- ing through the streets with their bags full of treats. It's such a' wonderful holiday, isn't it? it's so wonderful that I think people often miss' the bizarity of it:. Children dress up. No problem there. But then they go to complete strangers homes demanding food and then• warn them of the dire con- sequences if they don't get ,it. (Smell your feet? No thanks I'd rather give you candy). It's already dark and children. are running through the busy streets dodging cars. Many children dress in dark colors, and i think this is a terrible mistake. if they're dressed in black no one will sec them and they can become a target for a hor- rible accident. So, the kids go home with a bag full of goodies. Parents check the apples to make sure there arc no, touch wood, blades hidden in them. You throw, out the candies that are not completely wrapped, you go' through every bit and piece to make sure you're not getting fed poison. And you continue to think what a great time you're having and how wonderful halloween is. Think about it. Your children arc getting food from complete strang- ers, and then you strip search the food to make sure these ,strangers aren't trying to poison your chil- dren. For weeks, sometimes months (although not often) kids munch on junk. it's a hay day for the dentist if nothing else. Tummy aches and tooth aches -and lack of energy is common for the month of November. Why? No it's not the weather, although some people try 16 blame•it on that. It's all of that candy your kids have been ingesting. Ask any dietician. You can't let your children mow down on a bag of candy for an en- tire month and expect them to be 100 per cent active. But they look so cute when they're dressed up as goblins and ghouls, and,l wouldn't want to scare anyone away from the holiday fun of halloween by focusing in on the dangers. Like I said, I wish I could still trick or treat. I am being a slight bit hypocritical by listing thc negatives of hallo - ween, because I used to do all of those things myself, if not more.'1 won't list some of the tricks we did for treats for halloween because we never got caught so there would be no message or moral to the respon- sible article I am attempting to write. But I think it's important for peo- ple to consider the dangers of hallo - ween and take precautions serious- ly. Check all of the 'candy, try to visit only those you know. Make sure your kids arc wearing light col- ors and reinforce in them that they shouldn't talk to strangers on the street. And last, but not least, if you have any extra candy left over that you want to give away I can be found at the Times Advocate on Main Street. Thank you very much and have a happy and safe Halloween. legislature, which is the most detailed and infor- mative so far. It also shows the Tory team up to tricks. Economist Mark Mullins, it says, phoned th'e Harris advisers offering helpbecause he sup- ported change and joined them as finance expert to make sure the numbers they used made sense. While the book does not mention it, the CSR pamphlet boasts that Mark Mullins, Chief Econ- omist at Midland Walwyn, one of Canada's most respected securities firms had evaluated all its promises and found them achievable and realis- tic, as if he was an independent appraiser and not a partisan who helped write it. Harris had ambitions early, this account shows. He told a friend soon after being elected an MPP in 1981 that he "might take a shot" some day at becom- ing premier, although his first years as an MPP were so undistinguished others would have felt he was overreaching. It is a little short, as others have been, of tracing precisely how Harris de- veloped his political beliefs far to the right of Having difficulty keeping up with Harris the long line of other Tory premiers of recent decades. It says Harris formed his core values running a small business in a small city, which instilled opposition to state intervention and taxes, and that as a backbencher in the govern- ment of Premier William Davis in the early 1980s he grew restive at increasingly interven- tionist policies which included investing hun- dreds of millions of dollars in the oil company, Suncor. Harris was not brave enough to show his dis- approval, because only two Tory backbenchers spoke publicly against the Suncor purchase and they were given a hard time by Davis. One, Bob Runciman, 'who never ceased fighting for his right-wing views, is now Harris's solicitor - general. Harris owes a huge debt to his youthful be- hind -the -scenes advisers, in that they helped put him in power. The book suggests he could not have done it without them. But it also acknowl- edges that they could not have done it without Harris, who developed views independently, helped write the platform and proved the ideal vehicte for conveying it -- tough, firm, seem- ingly sincere about what he would do, and thick-skinned enough to let the many sneers roll off his back. The book blames the same whiz kids for getting the Tory government in trouble through their lack of experience, but also rightly points a finger at Harris for giving them too much power. The one big flaw of this account of the Harris years is that its last chap- ters were written in June, so it cannot take note of more recent Tory problems, including their battles with unions, slowing down on cuts, di- minished reputation for keeping promises, ad- mission that some ministers had become an em- barrassment by moving them, and fall in polls, to 32 per cent support. The political landscape in Ontario under Harris is changing so quickly and sometimes beyond his control that some who chronicle it have difficulty keeping up.