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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-03-06, Page 4Public40one Med Registration Number 0386 WIIM. 40 nee, (0$ las. int/reseed to 060 to carder addresses 0113.00 plus 42.3141.4.T. Outside 40 nodes (N kw) or say lsttsr cadet address $311.00 plus 030.00 (tom 011.00) • 4.33. 0.$.T. Outside Canada $00.00 plus NAMOST (Includes $$4.40 poste.) Published Eaob Wednesday M 424 Mels MM., Exeter, Oi wls, NOM Iii by LW.Ee MdMostlens Ltd. Telephone 14114014231 • Fax: 760 e.e.T. 6tulsa 0531 Unwanted pet syndrome Last month a man slammed a Adog on the pavement after it 'knocked down a child. Recently a litter of black puppies was `tossed off the Kippen bridge and cleft to drown. These instances of animal cruelty have not shocked me. It is aggravating however, to ' find people are still harming and killing pets. When I was a kid I heard stories of folks drowning litters of kittens in toilets or putting old dogs to sleep because they were simply tired of keeping n them, but I guess 1'd forgotten these and worse acts of cruelty still happen. The unwanted pet syndrome seems to be a never-ending disease. And some think it's funny. Whether it's baby alligators let loose in the sewers to grow or the row over whether pot -belly pigs should be allowed in London, the media and public have often made a mockery of such issues. Of course more of an outcry is made over cruelty to cute, cuddly puppies and kittens than over reptile bashing or pet pig Tftl -Adanaltfe, Man* 6,1996 DOn Smith Product Willi0.01117 Deb Lord �8a*tb Consitt, Cillld tem Hbather J*, Chris Shafts. : . Roos Hatydl. Brenda Burke 9ndliGllQn: Alma . atlantyns, Maly McMurray, Seib Robertson Brands t?em, to ce Weber, Laurel Miner Ininagnctation,,Al Firm. P4 Hodgen - Elaine Pinder. Sue Rornnas, Ruthann Negrjjn, Mita McDonald, Cassis Dalrymple The 9keter TitnesAdVoottio'la e Member ()Wonky only of community news, p rovoirw newt; adt4ausing and Infonniffon learloathip • • pinion -- T Strike won't work he 100,000 unionized workers marching in Hamilton last Saturday made its mark. It was the largest protest rally in the history of Ontario. But will this protest change the policy of the provincial government? No, it won't. The reasons why it won't,work are. many. But first, it should be noted the major- ity of non -unionized workers in Ontario - and this is the majority of workers - have considerable sympathy for many members of the Ontario Public Service Employee Union who are not highly paid. This is because non-union work- ers can relate to unionized employees, public or otherwise, who end up with gross earnings between $15,000 and $30,000, depending upon years of ser- vice. This is the payrange for most On- . tario workers. There is little sympathy for public employees making more than $15. per hour. There is no support for public employees grossing over $50,000, who have generous, indexed pension plans. These are the people who have been jamming bank counters this past week, trying to find the most lucrative venue in which to invest RRSP dollars. There is little sympathy for what is seen as a bloated bureaucracy. Since around 1989, when it was known a ves gong toInch vi 6ficers li thtp.rii+ \' , sector have been subjected to brutal re- structuring. The number of workers has been slashed. Those lucky enough to be left with jobs are working harder than ever before with little hope of seeing any increase in pay for additional ef- forts. For the most part, small business owners have had to tighten their belts as much as their employees; they are as far removed from the huge pay given to CEOs of banks and multi -national com- panies as their workers are from $20 per hour, or indexed pension plans. Most workers question the sincerity of unionized brothers and sisters. If they are so concerned about job security, then how come well-off workers haven't talked about taking pay cuts in order to keel more younger (and less highly paid) people employed? We would all be better off with more nurses and teachers sharing the workloads in hospi- tals, nursing homes and schools, for ex- ample. Finally, the public won't support the province -wide strike because they know there is no such thing as job security - not in Canada, or anywhere else in the world. The kinds of policies now being rammed through by the Harris govern- ment are being undertaken throughout the developed world.The only difference is in the implementation of the cutbacks. For example this past week the Australi- an government announced an across-the- board cut of 15 per cent in pay to all public employees, including elected pol- iticians. We mention Australia because in re- cent international surveys, it has been the only nation to top Canada its the best pt in the world li4 whiCh�tti I#'vd:.a` � Ontarians will put up with disruptions and cuts in public service because they believe if we are to maintain our safety nets of basic healthcare, old age and worker pension plans and unemploy- ment insurance, then costs have to be cut in order to get the deficit under con- trol. Listowel Banner Speak Out! I I I 1 J R I() 1111 I I)ITOI� The Times Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP YOUR LETTERS TO A MAXIMUM OF 300 WORDS. The Tunes Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published. TORONTO --Ontario's forgotten northland suddenly is trampling its snowshoes all over the corridors of power. By odd coincidence, all three party leaders in the legislature are from Northern Ontario, which has only one-tenth of the province's vot- ers. Progressive Conservative Premier Mike Harris is from Nipissing, Liberal leader Lyn McLeod from Thunder Bay and New Democrat Bud Wildman from Algoma. (And even Har- ris's deputy premier, Ernie Eves, is from what the province classifies as a northern riding, Par- ry Sound.) McLeod and Wildman admittedly are leaders only temporarily. McLeod, after losing the 1995 election, will step dolrn as soon as ber panni finds a repittoemem*it1,wiklrnsrf is fi11- ing in while the NDP lookil Cot a successor to . fora r premier Bob Rae, " But the landmark is ttllibl iPt,tiog and chroni- cles a remarkable change in Staten. Until the Tories ebose,Hartl: id 1990, only one leader in any of the three major panes since Confedera- tion in 1867 was elected from the north. Wil- liam Howard Hearst, a Tory, represented Sault Ste. Marie and was premier from 1914-19. A region with so few voters obviously should not expect to provide many leaders, but ambi- tious northerners have faced special obstacles. The north has only 16 of the province's .130 ridings -- a small power base from which to mount a campaign for leader when candidates usually rely heavily on drawing support from their own geographical regions. But the north also is by no moms homogene- ous and interests often vary sharply between notdtea st and northwest. Northern cortsramities often are far apart in distance and transport links better to the south than between northern cities, so there has never been a ghwtmtee that a candidate San the north would fed all north- erners trooping solidly behind him. Traditionally, candidates for leader, particu- larh''lbriea and Liberals, also need a lot of roasting. The reasoning is obvious but disheartening. We tend to side for attractive, non -threatening species. I think that's why it frustrates us as witnesses of violence against cats and dogs. The woman who along with her children watched the man raise the big dog above his head and slam it on the ground was obviously upset. Also, the people that tried to rescue the bag of drowning puppies felt exasperated at the thought of not being able to save them. To witness these incidents makes one wonder, as the old cliche goes, what the world is coming to. Unfortunately violence is a part of human nature. We see it unleashed on animals, kids, wives, the disabled and the elderly. As much as we'd like to close our eyes to it, it surrounds us. Some people laugh at the antics of animal rights activists who, driven by their emotions, have had it with senseless cruelty. Their extreme reactions are often in reaction to extreme offences. Humane societies, and animal limiters, as always, are filled to thebnm witti:a'bused and unwanted animals. One simple solution, which is time and again ignored, is to neuter or . spay. The thought of having funny little brown -spotted Dalmations running around my house someday had me waiting to neuter my dog. Also, I thought it wouldn't be natural to eliminate some of his body parts. But in the end, the possibility of homeless, neglected pups wandering the streets forced me to make the , decision. Some feel a big, unnecessary fuss is made over pets, some of whom are undoubtedly pampered. It's easy to snicker about a lady who feeds Fife at her kitchen table or chuckle over a man who stuffs Rover's carcass and puts him by the fireplace. "Some pets get treated better than their owners," we are told. Unfortunately, most don't. Northern Ontario people in high places money and those from southern Ontario usually have stronger connections to business donors whose head offices are in or close to their rid- ings. Pat Reid, a former Liberal MPP for Rainy River who on merit should have run for leader in the early 1980s, once noted, "you could walk a couple of blocks down Bay Street and find mora people willing to donate big money for leadership than you could knocking on a thou- sand doors in the north." Harris, it should be noted, was able to win leadership of the Conservative party only after it was weakened and potentially strong candi- dates from the south turned up their noses at it as a prize not worth having. His only opponent was relative newcomer Dianne Cunningham from London. Big money from Bay Street also for the first time was not a.factor because the Tories ran a scaled down, economy convention. Candidmes from the north also were once seen as less likely so attract the attention of bigger news media in southern Ontario, al- though Harris has dispelled this a bit by his knack for publicity and radical ideas. If anything characterizes northerners politi- cally, it is that they are fiercely independent. Harris's Tories swept the province as a whole, but won only two of the northern ridings. Northerners also know how to repay a snub. Then Liberal leader Stuart Smith, campaigning in 1981 in chilly Sault Ste. Marie, told a report- er that one good thing about the election was that it was nearly over and he would not have to return there. The Liberals were almost wiped out in the north, and for some years thereafter their par- ty's critic on northern issues was Ron Van Horne from the well-known northern outpost of London. 'limes have changed and the north now has more people in hi$h places than any region has ever had, ai d iiia' 'question is how much good it will do it. • •