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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-03-29, Page 4PAGE 2—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR. THURSDAY. MARCH 29, 1973 ED'ITORJAL COMMENT Why should wpay? ,. Here we are sitting at home after a hard day at work with our feet up and our eyes glued to the tube. The television fare is running along at its predictable mediocrity, interspersed with these wonderful items called commer- cials, and then one commercial message stands out. A group of rather professional looking men and women are =sitting around a large table and they are. discussing the closure of smaller hospitals, the cost of drugs and medical care in general. Its not a bad commercial as far as its production goes. Superimposures are flashed on the screen as each person makes his or her point showing that the group is doctors or other members of the medical profession Some of them even seem to havd some good points but one begins to grow suspicious when it becomes ap- parent they are in total agreement with the policies of the Provincial Health Department. Then the final insult. As the commer- cial draws to its close another superim- posure shows that the message has been brought to viewers by the Govern- ment of Ontario. At present there is considerable debate and dissent in communities ail across Ontario, and indeed among mem- bers of the Legislature at Queen's Park, about the Provincial Government's han- dling of health care in general.° Mostly the arg,_:ment centres around cutbacks of hospital services in smaller corn - munities with larger hospitals available' in theirs,area. What the "Message from the Province of Ontario", paid for with taxpayers dollars, is attempting to do is quiet the dissent by brainwashing the voters of this Province into thinking Dr. Potter and his crew are doing the right thing. We do not intend at this time to discuss the ins and outs of.. health care - legislation in Ontario. What we do protest is the propaganda tactics which have been undertaken by the govern- ment of this province. What it amounts to is the spending of public money to sell voters on the party policies of Bill Davis and his Conser- vatives. No doubt the opposition parties wish ,they could finance their campaigns out `of the Provincial treasury, and do. so during the term of office, not just during an electron campaign as the Conser- vatives are doing. With the majority Mr. Davis carries in Toronto it is doubtful any protest about his tactics in this matter will be given much of an ear but voters are urged to keep in mind that medical services in Ontario may not be as top notch as Mr. Davis' propaganda indicates. Voters should also remember, when election time rolls around again, that the "Big Blue Machine" has been keeping its momentum with "such advertising at the expense of the taxpayer, not al the expense of those who support the Con- servative Party. support the cancer fund The Huron Unit .,of The Canadian Can- cer Society is planning a kick-off to end all local kick-offs for the annual April, cancer campaign. The event to be staged . next Wed- nesday, Apri' 4 at the new and wonderful White Carnation at Holmesville will feature a Daffodil Coffee Party. The per- formers will 6e two Goderich musicians, Marjorie Hays Dunlop, a fine singer and a member of the Canadian Opera Com- pany,,and Paul Baker, presently organist at St. George's Anglican Church and a talented pianist. - report hopeful indications that cancer can and will be beaten permanently. Discussion is presently` underway in the Goderich Branch of Huron Unit con- cerning the third annual bike-a-thon when cyclists sign up -willing sponsors for their .10 .refile peda10,44twir,past two years, significant'- ' arntpU,ntt-„jpf extra dollars for ''cancer were ' re2TIized by Goderich and area volas Leer riders. It is to be hoped that this' year, the bike-a-thon and the campaign, locally and throughout the county, will catch fire and enthuse even the most passive citizens. Every year the Huron Unit is Statistics reveal that cancer will likely producing bigger and better fund raising touch most people in some way or campaigns for cancer ' research and another during a lifetime. With- this in patient services. It . is particularly__mind, lets really dig deep when the can-_ gratifying that every year cancer resear- vasser calls in April. Let's put even -more chers and service-to-patiett chairmen hope in an already hopeful cause.,, Unfair competition Hospital officials in the Chatham area recently protested the fact that they were unable to keep good staff person- nel when the nearby Ontario government operated hospitals have a considerably high rate of pay: as much as 30 per cent higher. They have. a valid point. If community hospitars were in a position to go onto the labor market and bargain for their staff members it would be a different story. But the going gets rough when the same government which pays the higher wages in its own in- stitutions also dictates that hospital ex- penses in the community institution are limited to a pre-set increase --this year a meagre five per cent. Just what the differential is at the present time we do not know, but ex- perience in previous years has certainly been that the local hospital cannot com- pete with the government institution. Nor is this*.unfair competition limited to the medical -field. Lots of businessmen have lost secretaries anti clerks to govern- ment offices, because they could not meet the dollars offered and the•fringe benefits available. Government officials are just dandy at dictating what minimum wages must be and 'in scoffing at the independent businessman who finds that sharply in- creased salaries are driving him to the wall. Naturally, so. The, government of- ficial doesn't have to operate his organization at a profit. He happily pays the big wages out of the taxpayers' pockets. The business community, generally is getting very weary of being told how to run their own affairs and at the .same time meeting the gobbling demands of money hungry governments.--Wingham Advance Times. lit/�/ ?? ELL K iD5, Back two THE �jC;sU S 1 (so to) Pts tTLvoKS LIKE�RI TRf OFF A C,it4 IN Tt3 l S Y 26IGs A4 R 04,01.1 OWN. Ma 4 Frye OboDcricry SIGNAL—STAR —0— The County. Town Newspaper of Huron --I]-- Founded rn1$4S and published everyThursday al37West St ,Goderich, Ontario Member of the Audit B ur•eu of CrrcuIatron the CWNA andOWNA Advertising rates on. request Subscriptions payable in advance, Si 00 in Canada, $9 SO in p1I countries other than Canada single copies 20 cents Striond class mail Registration Number 0716 Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of typographical error, that portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous .tern, together with reasonable allowance for signature will not be charged for but the bti1 ante of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate In the event of a typographical error advertising"goods or services a1 a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold Advertising t merely an offer to sell. and may be withdraw. st •y I..ne Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT .�. SHRIER—president and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLER—editor R. W. SHAW ---editorial staff EDWARD J. BYRSKI—advertising manager DAVE R. WILLIAMS--advertising representative Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524.8331 res cods 519 Second class mail registration number -0716 DEAR READERS The life of a newspapef editor is seldom sweet, but once in a long, long while there are rewards - - small, intangible rewards which are more like little victories than anything else. in the March 15 issue of the Signal -Star, I wrote an article which attempted to point up the deficiencies of the commit- tee system used by Goderich Town Couni•il.. it showed that decisions could be reached and finalized without one single word being spoken in open session. It also showed that the press who could attend the committee meetings hut could not report from them for at least one week could not inform, the citizens about pending decisions Until the reconlnlen- dations had been .approved by the C+bh 'i•ciitffl•ipt'Hrurti:i4'that' time, it _was t0( 14i�e' Ih ttheJ eVEirft' tPtA't Thricto i'MOns' Wli4ild have wanted . to raise objec- tions. • At the March 22 meeting of Goderich Town C'ounc•il, mem- bers unanimously passed a motion which Permits the press and the public to attend the committee meetings. What 's more, the press is' entitled to publish the report of the com- mittee meeting with the clear understanding, of course, that. rett'ders are iiifortrled there cre- no final decisions made, only' recommendations' to the whole council at its next regular meeting. Whether the Signal -Star or Dear Readers can take any credit for that decision I cannot he certain :... but somehow in my editor -mind, i see it as a kind cif little victory wit h t he people,. of Goderich benefiting the most. • On behalf of the people of Goderich, therefore, I wish .to thank.council for its swift and courageous action. It will snake for better- municipal govern- ment, I'm certain. * at the committee meeting con- cerning the county's' ap- plication for.the ` permit to demolish the jail wall, had he not been hound by the "honor". One might ask Deputy -reeve Profit what type of honor he was referring ' to. Was •it "honor" to his fellow coun- cillors? If it was, and if he believes the greatest benefit tiv.ill he derived through the people being informed ,of all recommendations, was it not "'"honor to the ratepayers" which should have been con- sidered first and foremost? If Deputy -reeve Profit really would have "loved" to reveal the recommendation because he felt the public was entitled to know, was his "honor" not ,gravely misplaced? 'Whereupon Reeve Deb nhew.fett told • Deputy -reeve Profit' that- Cbuncillor Haydon bair1,,i•dnne nothing amiss by re'ealing the content of the recommendation from the com- )nittee meeting. Reeve Shewfelt said that committee meetllgs always have been open to the press and to the public•. The reeve said that he has never had any qualms about telling anyone who asked about the recommendations of the com- mittee to the whole council. In effect, the reeve told the deputy -reeve this thing. -about "honor". was pure poppy -cock and never did exist at all, ex- cept perhaps in Profit's own mind. One could ask Reeve Shewfelt where he was 'when the press was cautioned about committee meetings and their rights, to report from them. Was Reeve Shewfelt out selling a house each time the press was reminded it could attend the committee meetings for background information only I was a little surprised at the minor skirmish which developed between Reeve Deb Shewfelt and Deputy -reeve Stan"'Profit over the motion to open committee meetings to the public and to the press. Here we have two men in rather important positions on our council who obviously have not understood the workings of • their own council for a year or so now. First of all, Deputy -reeve Profit said that while he was never in favor of 'closed com- mittee - meetings_ - or •closed meetings of any kiTttl, for that matter 1 he must certainly ad- monish Mrs. Elsa Haydon for divulging the content of rt' motion concerning the wall at the former 'Huron County .Jail following the March 8 commit tee meeting of council. He admitted that Mrs. Haydon was legally within her rights to do what she did and that many people in town believe she:did the right. thing. Deputy -reeve Profit said it. was more a matter of "hont►r" than anything else which kept him from revealing the motion himself. He said that's the reason . he "pussyfooted around" when pressed for some disclosure from the committee meeting, and added that he would have "loved" to tell the people what -actually did go on Thank you and that nothing whatsoever could be published' abQut the, committee meetings until the recommendations were- ap- proved by council at the open meeting . the following week? Was the -reeve at the arena refereeing a hockey game whilst Free Press reporter Don Murray wasx cautioned at the March 8 committee meeting not to report anything from -that meeting? Does Reeve Shewfelt really and truly consider that kind of procedure an open meeting? It is obvious from lio:t Thur- sday's council meeting that both Reeve Shewfelt and Deputy -reeve Profit have some rather strange - and conflicting - ideas about the very basics Of membership of town council. It may he high trine these dif- ferences of opinion were aired - along with any others which May' he hidden from view among councillors. It way also interesting to note at last week's meeting of town council that the chambers were filled to overflowing .with interested people. Granted, there were many people to hear the discussion on the jail wall. But -there were other people in attendance who came "to oh - serve town council at work .... and these are the- people to __whom I_ extend, a _j.hearty "thankyou".. As the people gathered in -the council chambers,, it, appeared that council would be com- pletely surrounded by ratepayers. in fact, at one point in the meeting, Councillor Leroy Harrison found it dif- ficult to stand up to address the Mayor's chair because he was hemmed in by spectators. Although some members of council made unquotable ut- terings before the meeting got • g Shirleg J. Keller underway about giving up their chairs = maybe permanently - .for the ratepayers who pressed into the council chambers, I believe council for the most part was happy with the in- terest shown by the people. To say the very least, it tests the metal of a couti illor and deter- mines whether he or she is able to stand - tip under public pressure 'and_ speak his or her mind as openly as he or she might in a "closed";session. I think it was was obvious at last Thursday's meeting w1iich councillors are endowed with ':-the courage to speak freely and 4. without reservation, whether popular or unpopularr. It is he hoped that all develop this im- portant ability very soon. And maybe, just maybe, after a few months of meeting before a capacity (or near capacity) audience, council members as well as ratepayers will have a clearer understanding ,of what "responsible government means to a community. Let's have more people out to the next meeting of Goderich Town Council set for April 5 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. (County Council is meeting today in the court house.) * * * 13y the way, during the press question period at the end of the meeting _ permission was granted for .the Signal -Star to publish a story about the items upcoming on the council agenda -for the meeting on the Thursday in which the newspaper is printed. 1 hope this newest agreement between council and the local press will serve to remind ratepayers that a meeting is being held and to inform them of certain topics of interest which will be on the agenda for ' discussion. Dear Editor: To begin we would like to ex- press our appreciation to Mr. and. Mrs. Bruno La Paine for the use of the old Eaton's office for our one-week coffeehouse. The coffeehouse offered ping- pong, darts, cards, free coffee and a warm place to sit down. The coffeehouse was open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. The majority of the people who frequented the coffeehouse were aged from about 12-18 years. Throughout the week they expressed the fact that they ,had no place to go in Goderich and how much they appreciated our efforts to provide them with a place. The coffeehouse also accom- modated quite a few Pee Wees, in Goderich during Young Canada Week, and gave them a chance to meet some of the local kids. We would like to thank all the kids .who came to the cof- feehouse for their support and, their help in cleaning up. The success of\ the Co -Pilot coffeehouse is only a further in- dication of the need for a petr- manent centre of this type for the young people of Goderich. Co -Pilot Staff Moe Blanchard Nancy Wardrop Brian Grace .John Vance .Janet Huckins John Paminger Cathy Herlufsen Hearty thanks Dear Editor, On behalf of the Goderich Lions Club and the Young Canada Committee I would like to express my gratitude to the residents of Goderich both for their assistance in providing billets for the players and• their support by attendance at the games. I would also like to thank the Signal -Star for the excellent daily publication during the tournament. it's the support of the local fans and participating businesses that allows the tour- nament to carry on from year. to' year and provide the ex- cellent competition to our future leaders. Also a hearty thanks to the members of the Lions Cluh, lOOkIN6 80 470 Yin March 29,114 The two -masted Rh. Julia Larson, Capt, Strachan, was the of the season firstt' at She came in the Thursday, ning, light, from Sand ;• and after_,- undergoing repairs will take a load of to Southampton and.p Elgin. This was the eat arrival of a schooner at port for some years. The public library bud committee had a meetiol Saturday evening to dlscun specifications for the bull prepared Mr. Fowler, will meet again next'ftu, to open the tenders. Two handsome new altars have recentlybeeap at St. Peter's church, ad• greatly to the appearanced interior. They are the gi Mrs. McCarthy and Mts.!: and were constructed bv' blatt, of tit. Clements, Ber'in,heing -designed 1 niches for the l►eautifulfi1 of the Virgin.and Childaar .Joseph that previously st the recesses at the side chancel. Special serviceswC held in • a few weeks t arrangements are ci;mpl., for lighting the altars br tricity. theirwives, the Ladies Auxiliary of the GM H A , the arena management, St. John Ambulance, Goderich Police and the fine young men who kept scores, announced, and kept time. Yours sincerely, Don Shortreed Goderich Lions Young Canada Committee Just the facts 25 Years March 29,1948 Proceeds from the haste flowers on :which tickets sold in aid of the Food Britain campaign real: $13.5.- Little Mks Paul; Lowery was holder of them, ticket and Jackson Fir delivered a lovely hair roses - to her on Sato. evening. All is activity in thehar in preparation of the yes,* the winter fleet for a season's business. Thelis the grain cargoes has discharged, steam isapoo of the vessels; and the us outfitting is going on sten Fear that the entrance nel plight be blocked te' extent by the washing our,• portion of the north pr recent flooding of the ha' have been largely removed Government engineers have been here Iookingocr situation and taking sous' report that the mass of crete, instead of being u; into the channel simply: 'in the line of. the pier present no obstacle navigation.' - • Re`L. Robert -G. Mac: 'r late of Athelstan, Quer. arrived in town with his this week and tomos! evening will he inductel minister of Knox Presby, church. The traditional "piug for the captain of the: vessel into Goderich ha, was presented to Capt. fl McLelland of the Imperial coe in a ceremony at toss' Dear Editor, SAVE THE .JAIL?? WHY?? LET'S HAVE THE FACTS. How much will it cost to renovate the Jail to make it suitable for use of any kind. What will it be used for (another Museum, when the one we have on North Street has never in all the years since it opened, shown a profit). The taxpayers in Goderich have been supporting it, even though hundreds of people tour this museum every summer.' How many walls` inside the jail will have to be torn out to make the rooms a decent size, (Continued on pogo 3) this afternoon. is ntinuf ,t1rposi y the T Ile' s 111s1( .emu\ a cave I at do are auntv that belt) ellars the; 'rich, rt\ a1 sole rtv t tame • �a�t Dere r of whet n it h', s the to h „rt th cupid the , WI) of make wer- 5 Years March 29, 1968 Noted Canadian author • broadcaster Harry J. Boyle named last week as chairman ,of the newly Canadian Radio -Tele Commission, which is to ceed the Board of h el Governors as the Canadian hroadcWssnbora Mr. Bovie, 52, Stine, kr raised in St. Augu•tlne Auburn, and has a nunibei relatives in the Goderichl, 6- Undaunted by a Ili' snowstorm and f crash the (lay' before, Minister of Agriculture.i Greene and a cont' of assistants broughtsmall bo Deign for the Liberal leadership into Muton'" Saturday morning The minister met with" County delegates to th leadership convention, asabout 20spec;atorsjehour-longinformalstheBedford Hotel Friday afternoon a, scheduledtocarryand Wi to Goderich field threecrashed in a kthrtwestofwoodstoc (i:el s to take off from a p way" Goderich Lswyer 0. J' phy, Mr. Greene's ro tario campaign msnetr! taken to hospital 10 sprained ankle efts down the wing' one else visa injured. st \' ()\y I ill I trig (tine wilt he ome �'erlt rte erect aye to c ell gh er ing ;in tin •ri. by f3 g, +of F fl Buil :s\ arc of er II;