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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-08-21, Page 3a. c s OX JACK RIDDELL • No doubt you have been aware .of the con- troversial question of pension funds. There is a great deal of concern about .the best'nner in <Which to prepare for the enormous burden .which , will, be placed upon these fundsin the early part of the 21st century. . A recent article on this subject pointed out that by the year, 2031 - projected as the peak year for the number of elderly in society something like 67 percent of the population will be over 65 years .of age (33.7 percent) or under 18 (33.3 percent). Comparisons have been made between these projected figures. and those for 1961 (at the height of the so-called baby boom), when 87 percent of the population was under 18 (72.8 per- cent) or over 65 years of age (14.3 percent). This represented 'a much higher dependent- population ependentpopulation than at any time in the next 50 years. 'At the present time, the dependent group (those over 65 or under 18 years of age) represents some 61 percent of the population, with 46 percent young people and some 15 percent senior citizens. Some people may try to argue that everything ottings of substituting the care of the .elderly forthe care of young, people.. What cannot be overlooked, of course, is the fact that the costs of f ' raising children are, for the most part, borne by the parents of the children themselves. On , the other hand, the ,Highest proportion of the expenses of helping to 'support elderly people is "paid for through taxes or levies raised" by gover- nxnents It 'should also be remembered that the burden of caring for young people in the year 2031 will not be noticeably lighter for those In the work, force (one child per worker is projected compared with 1.2 in 1980) . On the_other hand,_ the number of dependent elderly will have more than doubled (from 0.45 per "worker to 1). Moreover, the un- fortunate truth is that the hoped for savings in education costs are not occurring, despite declining enrolment. Against the background . of these facts, we have to consider the question of the responsibility of future working age populations for those drawing pen- sions. Obviously, we need to give some very serious consideration to the need to direct sufficient wealth intosavings and productive investment in willeven out, because it order to cover the will simply be a question demands which rill be rom made upon pension plans i.,tli� future.- One of the problems in this connection is that, because the whole question of 'pension funding is somewhat complicated, it is difficult to make it a focus of great public attention. Over the last three years or more, .my colleague David Peterson • (Liberal Member for London Centre) hasbeen trying, as one reporter phrased it, to convince the public that "we're hell-bent in our own complacency for economic disaster if we don't start paying ' at- tention to what gover- nments have and haven't - been doing with the billions pumped into the universal and special - sector pension plans. And he has been arguing for at least three years now that many of the private funds are in just as much of a mess." What he has been saying is, in effect, that there is likely to be a collision between demographics and economic realities which could leave a lot of people in their late 30s or early 40s wondering what happened to _ all that security they thought they were buying in pension packages during their working years. To put the ,question in fairly simple terms, twenty years from now in the year 2000, there will be 50E percent more He tried to consol me by saying that I had just spent two o weeks in Beautiful B:C. "What more could 1 ask for?" he sighed. But he just didn't un- derstand. He's not a native of the Lake Huron shoreline but I tried to ex- plain, "B.C. was great, I wouldn't have missed it for anything, but my summer just hasn't been complete this year." "I didn't get down to Grand Bend once," I wailed. Not heading for The Bend on a hot summer night is like never putting on a bathing suit or eating a dripping ice cream cone when the thermometer hits 90 degrees. For years, we've packed a car full of girls and headed for the resort- town to; the south for an 'American Graffiti styled night out. The evening has always been spent eating tacos, French fries and sipping on cold beer, cruising up _ and.: -._down the main drag eyeing each sports car and all the cute guys. But with only one week of summer to go, I haven't hit The Bend yet. Heaven forbid that I'm getting older and my interests are changing. If I think hard enough, surely I can come up with a good reason why summer has passed me by and I haven't done all of my favorite things. Instead, I only become more discouraged when 1 realize that I haven't been out on the old mini golf course yet. Heading out for the links has always been a traditional way to spend another hot summer night. Mind you, I'll never make it to the mini golf pro tours, but it's still a great way to spend an evening. Mini golf and me always make an exciting couple and during the course of the 18 holes I'm always bound to putt the little "ball into a corn field or off someone's forehead. But nevertheless, mini golf's a lot 'of fun. Too bad I couldn't find some brave person to take me on in a match. Then there's my body, it's definitely not seen enough suri`this year. I haven't even been burned once and the freckles on my face are dying from loneliness this summ er. My days at the beach have been few and far between this year. I have yet to stub my toe on some hidden rock in the water or burn a _hole in my shirt from a wld spark ata beach barbecue. And speaking of barbecjies, I haven't had one hotdog this summer and no mustard stains to rub out of my white shorts. In fact the last barbecue I prepared was in the middle of February amongst piles of snow. Perhaps 1 just have my seasons mixed up, but all is not lost. I still have two weekends of summer left to go and not even, clouds, rain or even snow will stop me from cruising The Bend and getting the last rays of summer sun. you need for one-stop shopping on all your back -to -school stationery needs. In- cluding: papers, binders, dividers, markers, pens, pencils,- tapes, and much much more! 7 Albert St., Clinton 482-9766 cen's Park: pensioned Canadians over 65 demanding their pen- sions. On the other hand, there will be fewer people paying "the bill',' or contributing to pension funds or contributing to taxation revenues. At the present time, there is a debt of something like $14 -billion against the pension plans, with interest being paid at about a percentage point less than the market rate. Ontario for instance borrows more than 90 percent of its money from ' ublie pension plans,, mainly the Canada Pension Plan.. Blame for the -low in- terest rates paid to the • plans cannot be entirely - attributed to the Turn to page 13 elphone rates °up 13 BY DAV SYKES It is now costing you more to use the telephone, Last week the Canadian radio - television and Comxnunciations Commission approved a rate increase for Bell Canada that will mean an average 13 per cent increase in monthly bills. • . The rate increases will apply to household users as well as business --phones-.and-although not requested -by ---� Bell, the CRTC granted a 10 cent hike in pay phone rates. ft will now cost 20 cents to use a $el1 pay phone but don't expect any change drone a quarter. Bell officials said the ' costs of converting pay phones to give change was prohibitive but there will be some time con- cession if a quarter is used. Manager Peter Croome of'Stratford said the pay phones in the Goderich area should be converted to the new rates by next week. The increase means that monthly subscribers in the Goderich area will now pay a base rate of $6.80 up from $6. Users of a two-party system will pay the same $4.40 base rate while the rate for four -party -Line users has gone from $3.90 to $4.40. Rural lines accommodating up to 10 subscribers will now pay $4 up from the multi -use rate of $3.55. The increase also affects business lines and the base rate for individual business phonesj--has shot -to--$15:90 front $14.05. A two-party business line ,has gone from $10.85 to $12.25; four - party business line from $7.45 to '$8.40 • while a multi-party line has risen to $7.45 from $6,60. Switchboard trunk lines have risen to $24.75 from $21.90. - - Croome said all the new rates have not been finalized but indicated that the cost of long-distance calls in the 519 area code would rise by an average 14:8 per cent for customer dialed calls. The increases affect subscribers in uebec and Ontario and will enerate an extra $1 million a day, or $385 million a year for Bell. Bell was seeking an increase of 23 per cent for residential users and between 23 per cent and 27 per cent for business customers. Other changes include higher telephone installationcosts for residential users, a 31 per cent in- crease for new business installations and 10 cents has been added on to the 30 ' cent charge for directory assistance. Customers are still allowed to use the service free three times a month. Croome said that Bell does not break down the rate increases in the customer's monthly bill but said his office is willing to discuss anything with the customer. "Because of the diversity of equipment in use it is impossible to break it down in the bill," he said. "Anyone can call thje busineps office and discuss their phote bill." The* Bell Canada business office can be reached in Stratford through the following toll-free number; 1-800-265- 8515. Rash of thefts break-ins:,. • from page l entered the east ditch and finally stopped against an embankment: - A parked car owned by Bert Greidanus received $400 in damage Pool party... • from page 1. to see for yourself. Those swimming lessons you see being conducted in they'' mornings may someday save ai life, and that in itself is worth more than we could possibly imagine. By being open during. •the afternoons and evenings, the young people are kept off the streets and out of trouble in a youthful, healthy and beneficial at- mosphere. What kind of price can be put on that aspect. If you decide to make your donation now and mark September 13th on your calendar for the big function,, just contact a member from one of the organizations mentioned and they'll look_.after__you.it's only a_fe.w weeks - - away so make your move now. Get involved with everyone else and know that YOU had something to do with Clinton's new swimming pool. ROSE MILK following an August 16 accident on.5th Avenue in Vanastra. A second car driven by Geraldine Bell, 24, of Clinton received $200 in damages. William Ray Talbot, 41, of Bayfield was taken to Clinton hospital were he was treated for minor injuries following an August 15 two -vehicle crash on Highway 21, south of Huron Road 13. The August 15 accident occurred when the Talbot motorcycle and a car driven by John Siertsema, 43, of Bayfield collided. The Siertsema car was not damaged, but the motorcycle will require $500 worth of repairs. The readers write Dear Editor: Re: "Words of Wisdom." We find the "poem" in the current issue of your paper (Aug. 14, Bayfield Bugle) to be in exceedingly poor taste.. You 'cannot ,cure ga-rbage__with_. more of the same. The Richard Dicks, Bayfield. SKIN CARE CREAM Sao •vim. -;/• CHOCOLATE BARS a BAR PACK • r Wheat Gtrm pal r & {{ffflP\ Shampoo r NABOA COFFEE • 1 L6. ONLY $ 29 9 .SHOP THF TRIANGLE Stbitt IN YOUR TOWNI THE SOU ARE MAIN CORNER CODE ICH CLINTON & SEAFORTH TRIANGLE DISCO U NT. a.. .The long sidewalk and the front steps at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Clinton are being renovated and will be topped with a new coating of concrete. Show readying. the_ sidewalk for forms are Brian Evans, left, and Pat Phillips of Ken's Carpentry. (James Fitzgeraldphoto) vYNA-guARD II DOUBLE HUNG TILT & HORIZONTAL SLIDER EPLACEMENT WINDOWS"-' FEATURING: The Tilt -In Window - so yo CCM clean from the inside Great for the second floor. • ENERGY SAVER - will reduce heating and air conditioning costs without the addition of storm win- dows. • CUSTOM SIZES - and a wide choice of styles • STRUCTURAL STRENGTH — designed to withstand Canadian climate. • EASTY INSTALLATION • EASY TO CLEAN & MAINTAIN SIDING./SLIDER WINDOWS PATIO DOORS./ AWNINGS TROUGH For free estimate Guaranteed Workmanship Phone MATHER'S HOME IMPROVEMENT 8 KING STREET, CLINTON 482-7606 Don't touch another thing untilyotireadthisad. he most important thing to remember when you're working with electricity is simply this: always keep a.little common sense between you and your electricity. Common sense. means always unplugging the toaster or any electrical appliance before you fix it. It means' never removing the third prong from your three -pronged plugs. It's there to ground the appliance and. protect you from shocks. There are many other ways to practise electrical safety. And r 9. they all have one very important thing in common. Common sense. Think ab . t it lease. • x: ontario hydro