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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-03-04, Page 4r'' PAGE 4--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1987 ®r Barely 40 hours past his sixth birthday, my son has developed some rather pointed and definite views on the roles of men and women in today's society. To be more precise, the child's mother fears that as a result of those definitive prejudices, the kid will have his lights punched out by every self-respecting female by the time he's nine. I'm willing to bet he'll last until 12. But only if he's willing to compromise on a few key issues. While this sensitive scribe has provided only the finest example and has been an exernplary role model for the child, I fear that television has severely jaundiced his outlook on the adult world and the rela- tionships developed therein. ' Television's version of family life bears little resemblance to the lifestyle at 132 . Cambria Road. My son, however, is liv- DAVE SYKES U ing somewhere inbetween. The child stuck his six-year-old foot in his moth before engaging his 40 -year-old brain on the very day the calendar ticked off another year of existence. With the birthday supper out of the way, the mother of the child prepared to light the candles on the birthday cake before her efforts were` interrupted. "You better let dad light those candles mom," he offered with the aplomb of a veteran who has seen countless women scorched beyond recognition in vain at- tempts to ignite birthday candles. "It's man's work, you know," he con- cluded in earnest. The mother of the child had to muster all her inner strength to keep from in- itiating a chance meeting between the chocolate cake and the kid's innocent face. There was a lot of emotion on her face and I must give her credit for resisting the overwhelming urge to shake some 1980s sense into the child. "Man's work'? Man's work?," she kept repeating with an incredulous look on her face, all the time sneaking ever closer to the seated child with the birthday cake poised in one hand. • Just what do you think is man's work, and where did you learn about it." Sensing that something about the ,birth- day celebration had gone terribly awry, the child blurted out the entire sordid story as witnessed on a popular. television show. "So the lady said she was going to go outside, in the cold, and get some fire wood to keep warm. But the man told her just to stay where she was because get- ting fire wood was man's work," the child offered innocently believing televi- sion mirrored the real world and wouldn't lie to him about something as important as that. All the time he's glancing nervoulsy at the cake, percariously perched near his face, and looking to his father for im- mediate solutions. I shrug my shoulders wanting to steer clear of the whole mess. Afterall, the kid got himself into the mess and 1 was intrigued to see if he could talk his way out of it. It is carefully explained to the child that man's work is something of a misnomer and that persons are capable of performing all kinds of tasks. There is no distinction between the abilities and tasks performed by either gender, he learns. And he is cautioned that when he plays farmer with his little sister, he is not to instruct her to go in the kitchen and cook stuff while he works the land. But like I said at the top, I've been nothing short of exemplary. Where did he get those ideas? Opinion THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SiNCE 1848 e,• EST ALL ROUND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IN CANADA INA) .ih,11,, 4 ILrtwi IGH1 SIGNAL -STA_ insimineMEMIlersainostr 13.0 '2O HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK OOOERICI-I ONT. N7A 428I PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded in 1849 and published every Wodnoodeiy at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA end OCNA. Bubacrlptlone payable In adveince 8388.00, (Senior Cititeno 888.00 privilege card number required) in Conade, 880.00 to U.B.A., 8380.00 to all other oountriee, Bingle copies. 80C. Dleplay, National end Claoelfied edvartleing retain available on request. 6aleeee eek for Rete Card No. 18 effective October 1, 1888. Advertlping fa accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the edvertleing epece occupied by the erroneouo Item, together with the reasonable ellowence for signature, will not be charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for et the applicable rata. . In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or nervlcee et a. wrong price, goods or oervicoa may not be mold. Advertising to merely en offer to well, end may be withdrawn et any time. The Bignel-Bter io not raoponeiblo .9 or the loom or domega of pneolioitod menuooripte, photoe or other metoriole umod for reproducing purposen. General Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER • Editor DAVE SYKES Advertising Manager. DON HUBICK FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...please phone [5191524-ES14 Second class mail registration number 0716 Member: eNA CCNA A divisive issue True to a promise made before the last federal'electio.n in 1985; the Conservative govern- ment of Brian Mulroney will be initiating a debate and "free vote''. in the House on the con- troversial issue of capital punishment says the St. Mary's Journal Argus. The government hopes a vote will be held by June on whether to reinstate the death penal- ty, a form of punishment banned in Canada in 1976 after a long and emotional debate by parliamentarians. . Certainly the issue is an important one, and scoietyisprobably no less divided on the issue than was the case when the last free vote on the issue was taken in the House of Commons in 1976. One question the government should be asking itself, however, is whether this is enough of a priority to warrant the extraordinary length•of time the debate will undoubtedly take. As it stands, each MP will be allowed 20 minutes to speak on the,question, and the leaders of the three major political parties will have unlimited time to make their positions known. A promise is a promise, but Canadians would surely prefer their government to be paying More attention to regional disparities (specifically job creation in the west and in. New- foundlandl, to environment protection (a greater priority among Canadians than free trade, according to a recent Gallop Poll), and to issues such as day care funding, and transfer payments to municipalities require(' for deteriorating "hard services" such as roads, sewers and bridges. - And this short list doesn't include )esti„ .,.g thegovernment's tattered. credibility- not through a slick public relations campaign, but by the prime minister impressing upon his people in Ottawa the importance of integrity in conducting the government's business. The questions put to a special guest on a recent episode of Peter Growsky's Morningside radio show was, and is, apt: Since most MPs already have a firm position ori the capital punishment question, why not simply put the question to the vote? Would the outcome not be the same with or without the debate? -Our position is that the death penalty should not be reinstated. There are still far too many offenders, repeatedly convicted 9f violent crimes, who are let loose on society after serving oplay a fraction of the time to' which they are sentenced. It is this aspect of Canada's justice system which is most in need of reform. Duty should be recognized Ontario Hydro has successfully argued its case with the Consolidated Hearings Joint Board and has been given approval to proceed with the construction of a high voltage transmission line. The three member board, after over 130 days of public hearings, recommended to the On- tario cabinet that Hydro be allowed to establish a transmission corridor to bring power from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development ( BNPD) plant to southwestern Ontario. 'The corridor will pass through Colborne Township and near tfie town's municipal airport, carrying a double circuit 500 Kilovolt line to Hydro's new transformer station south of London, The Foodland Hydro Committee expressed disappointment at the announcement that Plan 1 had been recommended. They fear some .of the best farmland will be lost to produc-. tion and that secondary effects of the corridor will be felt in the immediate area. Hopefully, those concerns can be allayed nd Hydro should recognize its duty and re on- sibility in keeping the land uppermost in its plans. It can sometimes be interesting, from our north -of -the -49th -parallel perspective, to take a relatively detached look at the continuous cold war activities between the United States of America ( Americka?) and the Soviet Union. Not the boring .stuff mind you, like the hi -monthly expulsions of real and imagin- ed espionage agents from both countries, and the consistantly-pointless debate on whether each side should retain enough nuclear weapons to blow up the the entire universe seven times over, or cut back to just enough to destroy the earth once. No, what I find most interesting is concern expressed by both nations about the perception the average people in one country have about the other. he Kremlin fears the effect of Ar erican film such as Rocky IV, Red D wn and Rambo II, on the western at- tutide toward Soviets; while Washington decrys the Soviet propaganda system which labels Americans as greedy manipulative capitalists. Here in Canada, by the way, we don't pay much heed to such debates. We'll play hockey with anybody we figure can ice a decent team, so we have no really divisive quarrels with either side. Recently, both sides have become so concerned about the mutual image - bashing, that they have organized an "entertainment summit," a sort of celluloid reflection of the arms talks. Next month, Soviet and film makers will meet in Los Angeles to compare depic- tions of each other. It should make for some interesting exchanges. "It appears to me, Comrade Stallone, that your recent films are nothing more than a thinly -disguised excuse to portray the Soviet Union as a ruthless, autocratic nation of oppressors, bent on nothing less than eventual domination of most of the globe." "Arerf't you?" "Yes, but is that any reason to tattle on ° '$'7110V, E7 ARE RAD Enblica)-1, BUT THE QRST PART 1UJA4 I AL4Oi'J TAXING. THE POP)CO9& Staff requirements for new Ontario hospital expected to be about 175. 25 YEARS AGO March 1, 1962.: The new Ontario Hospital being built on Number 21 Highway south of ,Goderich is scheduled to be "ready for occupancy about the middle of the coming summer and staff requirements will likely be about 175." This information was relayed this week to The Signal -Star by the Hon. M.B. Dymond, M.D.,' Ontario Minister of Health, through the Hon. C.S. MacNa'ughton; MPP for Huron.. The news release further statgd that the Hospital Superintendent will be a qualified psychiatrist who will head up the professional treatment team which is likely to consist of three additional psychiatrists, two to three psychiatric social workers and the same number of psychologists. "The nursing staff will consist ideally of approx- imately 25 registered nurses; the re- mainder of the staff will be female nurse aides and male attendants." The body of a big rat which attacked a man on Hamilton Street about 9 p.m. Mon- day may be sent away for a rabies test. As the East Street resident slipped out of his car, he noted a large rat run out from underneath a nearby parked car and head towards him. The rat bit the cuff of his trousers but before any further skirmishes, the man kicked the rat a hefty blow and kill, ed it. The police obtained the body the following morning and took it to Dr. T.R. Melady for possible rabies analysis. A 12 -unit apartment building costing more than $70,000 is to be built at Clinton. Mayor W.J. Miller informed The Signal -Star that application was Made at a PUC meeting Tuesday evening ,for his extra water ser - us?" "Well what about you? Your media portrays the United States as a .country of greedy military industrialists and racists, teeming with crime,.„ homelessness and unemployment." "Isn't it?" "Well, to a certain'extent, yes. But you're not showing the whole picture. There are some nice people here too." "How many?" "Three." "I see." Instead of attempting to reach an agreement on filmy portrayals, the two superpowers should agree to an im- mediate ban on the production of films involving the other country. Then, they should proceed to arrange for a cultural exchange of television pro- grams which have been successful in syn- dicated re -runs. .. After a yeah or so, of viewing such fare as Three's Corrina y, Two Close for Com- LO(7KING BACK vices for the building. It is to be located on Princess Street somewhere between the hospital and Albert Street. A permit for the building is being applied for by John Dzus Construction -Limited of London. 50 YEARS AGO March 4, 1937: In the first game of the WOHA semi- finals, the Goderich Sailors turned'back the visiting Stratford Chair factory team by 4-2 and will now carry' a two goal lead into the return game at Stratford. The game, played on a very soft ice surface, was featured by roughing and slashing throughout, although a comparatively small number of penalties were handed out due to the leniency of the referee, who proved very unpopular with the Goderich fans for seeing only the Sailors misdeeds. Considering the condition of the ice, the game was fairly fast and well - played. The stork was 'rather busy last month in Goderioh, but February February was unusually pretty brisk for him, six babies having been born last month and, the same number ,in the same period last week. Despite,the fact that Valentine's Day comes in February, Cupid was apparently in hiding, for there were no marriages in that month either this year or last. The Grim from this,. angle Patrick Raftis fort, Gimme a Break and The Facts of Life, the Russian audience would have no choice but to change their opinions of Americans. "We were wrong comrades. America is not full of violent capitalist exploiters. it is acountry of shallow, ineffectual simpletons? Please accept our Reaper took six persons in this community' in February, as compared with only one for the same time last year. 70 YEARS AGO March 8, 1987: At a meeting of the Huron County Medical Association held recently in Clinton, a uniform tarriff for the county was adopted and the following being a partial list of fees: ordinary day visit within one mile - $1.50; night visit - $2; visits in the country the same as in town and villages with 50 cents a mile in addition; office consultation - 50 cents to $1; telephone consultation - 50 cents to $1; fulling insurance claim papers or transportation certificates - 50 cents to $5; written opinion - $2 to $10; vaccination - 50 cents to $1; certificate of insanity - $5; medicine and mileage in all cases extra. The list goes on and includes fees for minor operations ($2 to $50) and major operations ($75 to $300) . 'a The sale of the Doty Plant to Mr. W.H. Hutchinson has practically been completed. The initial payment of $5,000 is now in the Bank of Montreal here to be paid over to the town as soon as the agreement is signed by the officials. The town council meets this evening to complete the sale. It is understood that operations will commence almost immediately on a government con- tract for marine engines and that men will be put on to work as quickly as they can be procured. If the men are available, 200 may .be employed, one hundred each on day and night shifts. apologies." While this may not be an appealing im- age for Americans to put forth, they could at least be assured the Soviets would no longer consider them dangerous, except to themselves. ' Conversely, after watching bland state- controlled Soviet programming for a similar period, Americans would likewise change their perspective. "You Soviets aren't treacherous. You're just boring. We had you all wrong." With the image problem out of the way the arms control negotiators would then he able to get on with their job, in a far less-predjudiced fashion. "Tell you what Ivan. You people pull out of Afganistan, keep your nose out of Nicaragua and point those missiles toward Siberia - and we'll send you The Cosby Show." ' What the heck?, Nothing else has worked.