HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-05-22, Page 44
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ICNAL-STAR, THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1968
aEditorial....
17,
Water safety program
This' is • an age of unprecedented
affluence for a great many people. They
,have more money and leisure time than
ever before. But this affluence also brings
problems. •
Our lakes are rapidly becoming as'
congested as our highways. The callous
disregard for other people by reckless
drivers on the water is causing untold
suffering to the victims and their families.
Last year, 361 people drowned as a
result of boating accidents, many of 4°
which occurred because of ignorance and
carelessness. Some of the accidents -were
caused by overloading a boat with
passengers or baggage .... the failure to
wear life jackets .... lack of attention , to
weather warnings. ,.
The Canadian Red Cross Society
believes that the' annual drowning toll can
be substantially reduced if Canadians will
yearn and practice the basic rules of water
4
safety. To help with this problem, the°,
R
ed Cross has a" comprehensive
programme ranging , from . teaching
beginners to swim to instructor training.
.. A special course — Survival SwirriJning
— is designed • to teach 'swimmers and
non -swimmers what to do if they . find
themselves in danger. Anyone yvho has
fallen, or been pushed, into the water
knows how easy, it is , to panic. You
struggle to reach the surface, you gasp for
air and swallow water, and you become
weaker by the minute. The Survival
Swimmi►g,, course teaches you bow to
meet such situations. And through its
Water Safety Programme, the Red Cross
4helps people toenjoy water sports with
minimum. , risk. Courses- areavailable in
most communities this summer. ,
June .1 to 7 is Red Cross Water Safety^ -
Week. This week and all summer be water
wise!
Ignoring four per cent
The Ontario General Farm
Organization campaign committee
.considered that /he enabling legislation to
'4provide for a GFO gives Ontario Farmers•
every opportunity to build and operate
their own organization, 'consistent ,,with
minimum controls to safeguard all.
farmers. a
• This was the gist of a. statement made
by Malcolm Davidson, chairman in
'Toronto on May F3, following a meeting of •
the campaign committee.
Th'e legislation in essence gives to the
founding, convention the -power to
establish the'structure and membership of
the organization. The bill establishes the
fact that checkoff money,_ collected by
marketing boards and associations .must
be forwarded to the G.F.O. ,1t also
establishes the maximum checkoff that
, may be' collected.
If the vote succeeds, the legislation
provides for aninterim management
committee which will be allowed to do
three specific things, conduct elections of
delegates; conduct election of Provincial
Coupcil directors; and hold the first
annual convention.
The committee suggested that no
member of the interim committee should
be eligible for election to the executive of
the GFO at the founding convention, and
that all members of the interim
committee should be farmers.
Until the founding convention all
Ontario farmers will be members of the
GFO, and will elect three delegates per
1,000 farmers on the basis of the 1966
census.
•
The campaign committee forsees a real
danger -that, should farmers fail to get
together through a G.F°O,y they will be
driven from their farms by thousands.
What this means, ,,Mr. Davidson
commented, is that four percent of the
labour force can be easily ignored by
'society in general and by politicians. in
particular. To achieve equal recognition •
with other Segments .of -society, farmers
must make .maximum; use 'of _marketing
legislation •and• the legislation - n a GFO
which is now be.fore the 7 fl rnario
• legislature.
"Farmers must work together," Mr.
Davidson said, "using all available help to
maintain an industry of independent,
.,businessmen who also recognize that some
collective actiqn is essential for their
individual survival. The situation in'
agriculture is just that serious."...
The need for a single .'strong general
farm organization in Ontario was sparked
by ;the report of the Special Committee
on Farm Income which suggested, among
other things, that some farmers might be
better off if they left the farm.
The G FO Campaign Committee is
pressing for. a strong general farm
organization but the committee neither
approves nor disapproves other parts of
"" the report. -
Indeed, the Campaign Committee
believes that a new G F O should give
priority to study of the report to
determine •which parts it can approve;