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THE BLXTH STANDARD
J. HOWARD"AITKEN - Publisher
SHELLEY M*PHEE ® Editor
GARY HAIST Advertising Manager
MARY ANN WILLENBECK - Office Manager
MEMBER
Mullerr advertising retire
eirellleilo on rorlue.t. Ash for il+
Rete Card. no. U1 offensive
Ostokier
A
MEMBER
Avoiding conflict
Hcy -w important is the Conflict of_Interest Act to municipal councils? --
Our local municipal leaders can take a piece of advice from Strathroy council.
Councillors `there are taking their share of political embarrassment after it was
alleged that a council member voted on a matter jnvolving a numbered company
in which he was an officer. and shareholder.
What actually happened around the Strathroy council table is not yet clear,,but
the incident acts as a word of warning to all local councils.
Such controversies and the subsequent charges that can be laid may be avoid-
ed if councils pay greater attention to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The
legislation requires a council member to disclose interest and refrain from taking
part in any discussion of vote pertaining to matters in which he or she has direct
or indirect financial involvement.
Any contravention determined by the judge can result in a politician being dis-
qualified from holding office for up to seven years. It fulls upon an elector to in-
itiate action within six weeks of learning of an alleged contravention.
The act was established in the best interests of council and the communities
they serve in, by offering a way to avoid controversy and bias in municipal
• business that -could -benefit -individual -council -members. . ---
Every municipality is aware of the law and no council member is exempt from
it. Conflict of interest is an issue that can affect everyone at some point in time.
while they are holding public office. It could, for instance, pertain to a councillor
whose spouse is a municipal employee or a reeve whose line of business could
benefit from maintenance work done in the municipality. As in the case in
Strathroy, it could pertain to a council member who had an immediate or indirect
interest in a land transaction, it could affect a councillor who may have a family
member directly involved in some council issue.
Some local councils, Iike,Clinton and Bayfield, for instance, hove made it a
standard procedure for council members to declare an conflict of interest at the
beginning of each meeting. Councillors in Clinton are well aware of the problems
---------that may -result -if-conflicts-aren't-declared anal conscientious efforts -are -always
mode to avoid this.
The Conflict ,of Interest Act is designed to protect the councillor from unfair
judgement and the municipality from biased decision making. Councils who
maintain to be honest and objective will realize the importance of the act. -By S.
McPhee.
Behind The Scenes
By Keith Roulston
The dream sellers -
The next federal election matchup is
already determined, if the media opinion -
makers are to be believed. It'll be Brian
Mulroney versus John Turner. It also ap-
pears it will be the election of the big lie.
Neither man has spent long explaining his
policies as yet. Mr. Mulroney is protecting
himself from having his campaign shot
down before it even begins. Mr. Turner has
—Hest deelared his- candidacy for..the-..Liberal
leadership after eight years out of politics
and says he'll have more to say on policy as
the campaign goes along.
But so far both mer: are saying the same
thing: the thing the voters want to hear, the
big lie.
Both give lip service to tackling two major:
problems in society: massive unemploy-
ment and a huge deficit. Both promise to
find more jobs yet also say they will attack
the deficit. But in case that sounds too much
like Ronald Reagan and Reaganomics, they
also pledge their undying allegiance to
social projects and the universality of
medicare, family allowances, old age pen-
sions and so on. They promise to build a
stronger defence policy but also say we need
to decrease taxes on business to stimulate
growth of the private sector.
They go on with their vague policy
statements but what it really comes down to
is that they're selling pie in the sky, trying to
Convince -people that we can have it all, the
government services we've come to expect,
and less government at the seine time.
You can't blame them in a way. If they
really told us thetruth we'd turn against
them. We want to think that government.can
be all things to all people, both big and small.
at the same time, stimulating business and
providing a safety net for the disadvantaged
and not costing a cent. We dream of perfect
government the way we dream of winning
$14 million in the lottery.
We aren't ready to face the truth that if we
want social programs they will cost money.
If we want a larger army, it goes directly
against lower taxes. We can dream -all we
want about the government -able to cut_.
out waste and still give us the programs we
want while still cutting the deficit but it's
• precisely that: a dream. There isn't $30
, billion in waste in the government. To cut
the deficit we're going to face either
massive cuts in programs we've all come to
expect or massive increases in taxes.
There's no magic formula for having it both
ways.
Yet politicians continue to feed us the
hoax that there is. They spout the platitudes
about jobs and lower taxes and less deficit
and never really explain how they'll pull off
this magic act because they know that's
what we want to hear. We don't want to face
up to the fact that, powerful as the govern-
ment is, it hasn't as much influence in the
world as people think. We don't want to
know that we're likely to face years of
.unemployment because of the massive
upheaval in the way business and industry
operate . We prefer to think that we only
have unemployment because - the -incompe-
tent, almost malicious, bungling of a pre-
sent prime minister who we blame for all
that's wrong.
And only when one of these new dream-
sellers
reamsellers becomes leader will we find out sadly
• that we've bought a bill of goods.
Ganadair receives aid
If the federal government can bail out
Canadair, it can bail out farmers having
economic problems, the president of the
OFA said recently. The federal government
has announced that it would assume
Canadair Limited's $1.35 billion debt.
Harry Pelissero said, "The bankruptcy
statistics show how bad life is in Canada's
rural communities. Our industry needs
assistance too, and we sure could use a
billion -dollar boost." There have been 32
farm bankruptcies in Ontario this year,
compared to 28 last year. The total for
Canada is up 58 percent from last year. .
"The federal government can't even
guarantee a market for Canadair's planes,"
Pelissero said. "There's always a market
for food. But little encouragement is given
to the food producers. We need emergency
help."
Pelissero said there is "a feeling of
frustration in the rural areas." He said that
the bad times in farming over the past few
mailaw �sA ,. z . .rs: ..4Er ill
Spring tonic time
agar and S.PkQ
by Shelley McPhee
A trip in the old Chev
Driving down the highway last Sunday
night, I found myself cursing with a fine,
taut vehemence that sounded vaguely
familiar.
The object of my affection was an ap-
proaching driver who refused to dim his
lights, and I nearly went into the ditch in a
combination of blindness and rage.
When I• had cooled down I tried- to
remember where I'd heard those particular
phrases before, in just that' tone. Then I
knew - my Dad had used-thernr in identical
tones .and an identical situation, about 55
years before. Except that he HAD gone in
the ditch.
I guess my father, and I say it with pride,
• was the worst driver that ever came over a
hill right smack in the centre of the road. He
wasn't reckless, careless or a showoff. He
was just an incredibly bad driver.
Of course he was about 40 when he bought
his first car. I believe it was a 1923 Chev. He
was the steadiest man alive, but every so
often he'd do something -on the spur of the
moment. -That's the- way -he got -the car:
Plunked down the cash, took a ,driving
lesson, which consisted of twice around the
block, and drove it home. He tore in the gate
at full bore, completely forgot how to stop, ,
and went right through the back of the barn.
I'll never forget the annual trip to the cot-
tage in the "Old Chev" as it is still fondly
known- in the family. It• was about 85 miles,
and an all -day journey, in those days. My
Dad would be up bright and early and would
lash all the heavy luggage to the bumpers,
roof and - running -boards. As soon as
breakfast was over, he'd go out, walk
around the Old Chev, give the tires and kick
and climb in., There he'd sit and honk the
horn angrily, while my mother ran around
years have discouraged prospective
farmers from buying farm businesses, just
as the bad economic times discouraged
buyers from buying jets. "And farmers who
are trying to get out of the business have
discovered that there is no market for their
property," Pelissero added.
The low return farmers are getting for
their products, especially in the meat in-
dustry, is also a big part of the problem, he
said. "The federal and provincial -ministers
of agriculture have been dragging their feet
too long on red meat stabili.iiation. The time
for talking is past. We need a plan right
away, and it has to be retroactive to be real-
ly effective."
Pelissero said the OFA supports the Cana-
dian Federation of Agriculture's- demands
for legislation that allows farmers to appeal
to the courts before bankruptcy procedures
are launched.. "These decisions can't wait
till there's a new leader or a new govern-
ment. We want action now," he said.
By Bill Smiley,
thethouse like a demented person, grabbing
up babies, lunches, jars of preserves and all
manner of,things.
Then, with us kids piled in the back, on top
of the bedding, we were off, with 'a great
grinding of gears and lurching until wegot
on the open road. After 10 miles or so, my
mother would be almost relaxed, when Dad
hadn't hit any loose gravel and had manag-
ed to avoid several cars coming from the op-
posite direction.
But then we'd cometo a detour. In those
days, the detours weren't the simple swing-
; outs we have now, on' a highway con-
struction job. They were sheer tests of nerve
and skill, with wobbley wooden bridges,.
cliffs of crushed rock,holes you could lose a
hippo in and murderous bits of bog.
The next five minutes were sheer terror.
We kids clutched each 'other in the back
seat, all eyes and" white as paper. My'
mother clasped the baby close to her breast,
dropped her head and moved her lips rapid-
ly. My Dad glared ferociously at the
d s : his - teeth- and-:.: pressed hazards, g ground
through, hitting the holes' with a bone -
jarring drop, skidding perilously near the
edge of a minor precipice, and confounding
the blasted idiots who had created the
detour. -
Limp and sweating, we were always glad
of the flat tire, that inevitably followed the
detour. We'd pile out, hop the fence and dash
about like animals let out of a ca e. My
mother would head thankfully for the shade
of a tree and change the babe's diaper, while
Dad changed the tire, with appropriate in-
cantations.
Next major panic was getting the Old
Chev onto the ferry. We had to cross Cite Ot-
tawa River, and it was a great thrill each
a ieidoscope
you to
Dear Editor
Crisis Centre
needs support
7
Dear Editor:
We feel that there is a marked urgency in
publicizing the fact that although the Huron
County Crisis Centre house in B,a. yfield will
be closed as of April 1st, a new one will be
opening in Vanastra.
Since the Centre opened 11 months ago, it
has served twenty-two women and their
children, granting them sanctuary from
'violence, and sometimes a new start in life.
We feel that this has been an impressive
figure for its first year of operation, but also
feel that the facility is not widelylmown, due
to a lack of publicity, and a lack of funds for
advertising.
Women Today strongly supports the work
the Crisis Centre Board is doing, and hope
this will help make the facility known to
every -citizen of tbe.Har-on area.- -
Tankyouvery:much foryour ssistance;.
if I can provide any further information for
you, please call me at any time: 482-9706
(work) or 482-3415 (home).
Sincerely,
Toby Rainey,
Co -Ordinator
Need names
Dear Editor:
For the past two years, I have been
researching a book detailing the ex-
periences
xperiences of Canadians who served or work-
ed in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam
Era.
To date, I have confirmed several hun-
dred Canadians who served with U.S.,
Australian and New Zealand Armed Forces
in Vietnam as well as Canadian troops who
served with the series of International Con-
trols Commissions between 1954 - 73, Cana-
dian journalists, doctors, nurses and others
whose duties ranged from covert operations
to rescuing orphans.
I am appealing to your readers, who may
have served or know someone who did, to
contact: Doug Clark, 7 Douglas Crescent,
Fergus, Ontario, N1M 1C1, 519-843-4019.._..._ - .
Thanking you in advance for your
assistance, I remain,
Yours truly,
Doug Clark.
RRSP facts
Dear Editor:
One or two enlightening facts about RRSP
':.. if a person wishes to draw money from
the pension fund, he or she is deducted 10
percent for up to $5000, 20 percent anything
over.
When a per -son -reaches-the- age _of -71- that
person has one of two options, to withdraw
thewhole amount, thereby shouldering the
penalty -of20_percent of signing:saxne.over to
a trust fund ( annuity )°jiendlty? free, and tali-
year.
akyear. But watching Dad trying to get that ing a monthly payment. -For. example,
capital in the RRSP $11,995.21, the max-,
imum annuity trust company would pay $50
per month.
We all know what use $50 per month is in
these days, so, this person cashed in the
$11,995.21 in the 1983 penalty of 20 percent
imposed of $2,399.04 leaving the amount of
$9,596.17 cash money of which he spent
every damn cent.
As a passing . thought, money was
withdrawn from this particular RRSP in
1980 fora charitable donation of $2,611..11,(10
percent penalty) to purchase a used car for
a person who was unemployed, whereby
said person could travel to,and obtain a iob.
He was reprimanded by the tax man, and
penalized for this action. I know this to be
true, because I was this person, and have
documents to prove same.
' Signed,
Frederick H. Jackson.
•
car onto the ferry was enough to mark a
child for life. Year after year, when he saw
my father drive up, the ferry captain would
rollhis eyes and run for help. He'd enlist the
engineer, the wheelsman, and every inno-
cent by-stander, warn them, and arm them
all with large chocks for throwing before
and behind the wheels. '
Eventually, Dad would get the Old Chev
wedged across the ferry so that nobody else
could get on or off. The skipper would throw
up his arms, shrug eloquently to the rest of
the waiting cars and castoff. Dad would sit
triumphantly in . the car, ready to scare
everybody out of Mother year's growth
. when we got to the other side of the river.
There was onlyone other obstacle that
really put us through the wringer, and that
was The I3ig Hill, a few miles before we
reached the lake: We'd go down a long, steep
hill and right back up another one, longer
and steeper. Each year we prayed we'd
• make it. Each year -we all—threw body ,Dear Editor: -,.—• -_..-. _ .._..
English into the halting climb. And each All day Peggy and I'sit at the dining room
year, Dad would forget to change into low table, a great pile of letters between us. We
soon enough, and stall about 20 feet from the address these letters to Members of Parlia-
top. Then there was the dreaded ordeal of ment. We sign them and we seal them and
backing down for another run, and the final carry them to the local post office in neat
ignominy of going and fetching the farmer bundles of 50. '
with his team, after three futile and fearful I look acrosss the table and see this
attempts. woman bent upon her labour and my mind
Nowadays, when I see a movie about goes back to a time when she was involved
teenage hot -rod drivers, playing "chicken" in a labour of a quite different sort, the
and taking supposedly awe-inspiring labour of bringing her babies into this world.
chances, I just sneer. One trip to the cottage It was a world we believed in then. It was
in the Old Chev with my Dad, and those a world of hope and faith and we held those
punks would never have the nerve to climb tiny infants, each in their turn, close to our
into an automobile again. breasts and our tears of joy fell upon their
innocent, upturned faces. We held new life
in our arms and it was a miracle that we
shall never forget.
Now, with all life on this earth threatened,
I see her writing. Her brow is furrowed and
she writes with a kind of quiet desperation,
for she is deeply troubled. The foreshadgw-
ing of the hot winds of nuclear death is. so.
close now. All the beauty and hope for the
future that was once hers in her young
motherhood may soon end in a world of
searing flesh, bulging, sightless eyes and
the screaming agony of untold millions trap-
ped in afissioned hell that was never of their
Human survival
Finally, it's spring.- What a great feeling it
is to fling open the doors and windows, to
smell fresh air, to curl up in the front room
in a ray of sunshine, even to watch flies
cavorting on the windows.
Spring's a wonderful season, but then
again so is summer, autumn and even
winter. I've never been able to decide what's
my favorite time of the year, I think I like
the changing of the seasons the best.
Each change in nature is special. It's
invigorating, exciting, comforting and
romantic.
With spring comes the traditional house
cleaning work. Some say it comes from a
burst of energy and a new lease on life after
winter's end. In my house spring cleaning
comes out of necessity. With all that extra
sunshine streaming in the windows, I can
really spot the dust and cobwebs!
Spring also brings on the gardening urge
and my green thumb's already aching to get
out there in the dirt and do its stuff.
Gardening's a relatively new venture for
this homeowner so I'm crossing my green
thumbs in hopes that this year I can actually
grow more than weeds.
Actually, my beans and tomatoes fared
pretty well last season and I learned on the
By Shelley McPhee
weekend from Margaret Chapman of
Bayfield that those_ two veggies are
companion plants. I wasn't aware of that
before, but maybe I have gardener's
intuition.
I've stocked upon gardening reading
material and many o ese articles and
ideas will be feature our upcoming
Home and Garden Special Edition. The
special section will be included in a mid-
April edition of the News -Record.
In the McPhee-Haist household, spring
also marks our first anniversary as Clinton
homeowners So far Gary and I can happily
report few regrets in our choice. The late
Trucker George Elliott maintained a good
home and we're happy to be its new owners.
+ + +
Spring also means daffodils and the
Sorority ladies will be, out and about on
March 29, 30 and 31, selling the flowers for
the Canadian Cancer Society. .
The daffodil sales are popular here and
the flowers sell out quickly, so be sure to put
in your order.
In connection with the Cancer Society
fund raising month, the annual Daffodil Tea
will be held on April 6. Fore more details,
see this week's Community Calendar.
Maple syrup lovers will be pleased to
know that the sap's running freely now. In
Bayfield's Pioneer Park the big maples
have been tapped and this year's batch of
syrup will be served at Lions's pancake
making.
The stacks of letters are piled around us in
this special effort of ours. This is something
breakfasts this summer. that we can do in this isolated little valley.
Monica Beaumont, a food and nutrition We can bring our fears to the attention of
specialist with the Ontario Ministry of those we have elected to positions of trust.
Agricultue and Food, recommends that I reach across the table and place my
maple syrup be stored unopened in a cool hand over hers. "Thank you Peggy," I say
place to prevent it from spoiling: to her. "Thank you for these beautiful
Once - open, keep tightly closed in a children and grandchildren and great
refrigerator. For longer storage, keep grandchildren that you have given to this
frozen up to one year or put in sterilized world. Thank you for your understanding
sealers. To store in jars, first boil syrup then and for seeing the Clanger clearly. Thank
pour into sterilized sealers and store in a you for the honesty and courage you have
cool place for several months. shown and the work that you have done in
Maple syrup doesn't last long in most the interests of human survival."
homes, but there's nothing like a shot of Her face brightens in a smile. "Really
sweet spring tonic in the dead of winter. dear, you give me too much credit," she
Best take Monica's advice and store away a says. "Any mother who has raised a child
pint or two. must feel as I do. I've had my time on this
beautiful earth. I just want to ensure that
the children of tomorrow will have the same
opportunity." And with that she reaches for
her pen and another envelope and returns to
her task.
Yours sincerely,'
G.H. Rutherford,
Hedley, $.C.
+++
Happy birthday wishes go out to Beatrice
Voting of Huronview. The former Clinton
resident is 90 -years young and a family
celebration was held in honor of her
birthday.