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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1982-06-02, Page 4PAGE 4—GODERICH SIGNAL : i \ It. WEDNESDAY. JUNE 2,1982 DAVE SYKES i /• Oh well, another day another eighty cents. Of course, the old standard addage boldly proclaimed that a day's work was worth a dollar, in the days when a dollar was a real dollar. Today that's not quite the case and tomorrow the day's toil may be worth 79 cents. . Such is the unpredictable state of the economy and the Canadian dollar. —Everythingisis up and -down ona-daily-basis and it's difficult for a fella to know, exactly what he's got or what he's getting into. There were days, naturally, when the Canadian dollar was worth a dollar but that takes us back to a time when a person received change from a dollar when pur- chasing an item valued at 99 cents. Ah, the good old days before tax. And still, there were other days when a dollar bought more, but inflation has taken a chunk out of buying power. Some will even recall a time when the dollar was not 80 cents but $1.04, but that was eight years ago and the poor Canadian greenback has been the subject of an austerity program. The government may let the Canadian dollar, er 80 cents, float on the international money market but we find it's a cruel joke. Our poor dollar doesn't float, it plummets like a handful of loose change, worth ap- proximately 80 cents. Ih0se-with-fond-mernor-iesof halcyoadays when currency didn't lie called nickels nickels and pennies coppers, Copper is too ' expensive to waste on pennies and perhaps the government would consider renaming the five -cent piece. Something like cheap alloy. Regardless, put a few alloys and pennies together and it still doesn't buy anything. A copper will still buy a book of matches for those who can't afford push-button start barbeques or light a package of 20 cigarettes that is taxed to the filters. Remember penny candy? Try that one on your kids. To them it's more like nickel and d�sne candy and kids can nickel and dime you to death. Despite my youthful appearance, even I can recall the days when a pocketful of change was referred to as silver. But 10 or 25 cents worth of silver does not constitute a coin anymore and the poor old Canadian moose is standing guard on cheaper metals these days and the BlueriossN is Sailing on less than shiny waters. Such has been the degeneration of Canadian currency. Today our dollar is at it's lowest point, compared with the American dollar. So in Canada the dollar is still a dollar, but -worth only 80 cents and if taken to America, it should net 75 cents, or three shiny quarters. Now if my math and grasp of the economy is sound; it means that Florida will be more BLUE RIBBON AWARD Second class mail registration number -0716 SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT Pounded in 11141 and published *very Wednesday at Ooderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OWNA. 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SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor P.O. BOX 220, HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL. PARK GODERICH N7A 4B6 expensive next winter, even if prices don't rise, but you won't have to pay tax on toilet paper there. If you make enough trips to the bathroom, the cost could net out. Now it's bad news when the dollar is not really a dollar but it can lead to good news, the experts claim. If the dollar is recognized as only 80 cents outside the border, spend your dollars in Ontario and face only the burden of an additional seven cents in sales tax. A weak -d illar means p tet goodseost- more and if people buy more Canadian goods it tends to help the local economy, which could make the dollar worth 83 cents elsewhere in the near future. It can also make our goods more at- tractive to foreign buyers which stimulates exports, although not immediately. So the dollar is not a dollar, mortgages aren't six per cent and your- child's allowance demands can't be paid off in loose change. Memories are sweet. FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please phone (519) 524-8331 Decision with speed Governments are often accused of foot dragging when it comes to enacting legislation but debate and referral are a part of the democratic process. There was little hesitancy on the part of the county government last when changes were made to the school • electoral: districts. The changes were made•a-ceording,t0. residential assessment and the result leaves Goderich with :oneless member. on the Huron County Board of Education. • Representation on the board will remain the same with a total of 16 members, with two members representing separate school supporters. . Director of Education, John. Cochrane explained that the total number of trustees on the board is determined by, population. However, the number of trustees reliresenting a municipality, depends on the ratio of that municipality's . assessment against the overall' assessment of the school district. The county's required to review the representation and assessment every four years and last week made the changes based on assessment. While Goderich loses a trustee, the combined municipalities of Seaforth and Hullett and McKillop Townships, gain one trustee. The board of education has no real objections to the redistribution -and its only concern is thatthe people of the county are fairly represented on the board of education. The board made those concerns known to the executive committee ofcounty council. The town of Goderich has had the privilege of being represented by two trustees on the board of education. And, it is only natural that the town's representatives at . county council, Reeve Don Wheeler anddeputy-reeve Bob Allen would raise concerns about the shift in represen- tation. • ~ Allen tried to have the .motion tabled for a month small councillors could study the formula used to determine representation and the ramifications. His efforts to delay the motion one month failed and on the recommendation' of the executive committee, the motion was carried, although councillors weren't exactly familiar with it. Allen simply wanted to check the motion through and rightly so. About 55 per cent of the town's tax dollars are used for education purposes and .perhaps the situation could have been looked at. Elections will not be held until November and Allen could see no problem in delaying the motion for a month but obviously other county councillors could See no reason for delaying the motion. While the representation . at the school board level is based on residential assessment only, itdoes not always reflect the true tax dollar paid. Many rural residents are afforded the luxury of rebates. Perhaps it reflects a rural -urban conflict as Allen claimed, but it seems there was no urgency in passing the motion and a,month's delay would not have made a dif- ference. D.S. Econorny falls short The federal budget didn't paint any rosy pictures for the Canadian economy in 1982 but even the bleak forecast didn't materialize. Most news on the Canadian economy has been of a decidedly negative nature and that negative philosophy ran rampant through business, commerce and industry. Unfortunately. much of that philosophy has now filtered down into the total growth figures for the year. The federal government has admitted that the Canadian economy will actually decline this year and the projected modest growth rate has turned into a shattered dream. The country's gross national product, which is the true value, of all the country's goods and services, will decline for the first time in nearly 30 years. While the decline will be a modest half of a percentage point, it at least serves to offer concrete evidence of the state of the economy. The government finally recognizes that growth is not a likely prospect until sometime in 1983 and that growth will be modest at best. The government had expected growth in the range of two to three per cent for both years. Inflation has decreased below expected levels for the year but unemployment remains one of the big problems. not only for Canada, but for many nations. This year the unemployment figure will run close to 10 per cent. The United States is experiencing the same decline in terms of Negative growth but Japan and several European nations are expected to achieve moderate growth rates by the end of the year. Many of these countries will be gathering for an economic summit in Versailles next week and many ideas on boosting global economy will be presented. The general consensus 'for all countries is that unemployment will remain fairly high but all industrialized nations will achieve growth with anti-inflationary policies. There also seems to be some agreement that govern- ments cannot provide immediate or substantial relief 'from high interest rates, a move that may not dent the unemployment figures. The United States has attempted to do just that, but the jobless' figures remain high and the government deficit grows in proportion to the interest rate decline. So. our economy is not living up to meagre government expectations and it's falling well short of taaxpayers' hopes. D.D. ' Makeup your mind At week's end we received a crisp new Ontario road map, sent out by the Ministry of, Transportation and Communications. Always an informative and accurate guide to the highways and byways of the province, this year's edition includes several innovations, among them a new system, of numbering exits f rorn,f lighway 401 Starting at Windsor, the exits bear numbers which indicate the mileage from the western terminus right across the province to the Quebec border. • Thus the traveller who wants to go to Kitchener would swing off the 401 at Exit 278 The exit for Cambridge is numbered 282; Trenton 525 and so on. .t seems like a sensible system.' since the old exit number hero e6 relationship to distance between one exit and the next. However, according to a reporter from the Toronto radio station CFRB, the new arrangement didn't suit the resort owners of the province. They protested that motorists seeking turnoffs toward vacationland would be utterly confused. They would no longer know where to leave the freeway. So, according to this same report, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications is now taking down the ne v signs and replacing them with the old ones. If that is the case it would appear that a great many motorists need a few courses in map reading. Wingham Advance Times. - At sunset By Dave Sykes DEAR READERS SHIRLEY KELLER That letter I received a month or so ago from a fellow Canadian now residing in the United States got me to thinking., Quite a bit. The author of that letter talked about the •-concept of Canada which 1 espouse .,and I began to wonder exactly what is the concept of Canada that I espouse. • • • One thing I know for certain: I do not think of Canada in the terms of the MacKenzie brothers, Doug and Bob. In fact, their concept of Canada is one that turns my stomach. While their sketches were humourous, and cer- tainly made Canadians smile as they recognized bits of themselves portrayed, I like to think there's more to being Canadian than drinking beer, eating back bacon and wearing earmuffs over a toque. There's no doubt the search for Canadian iden- tity is on again, intensified perhaps by the MacKenzie brothers' inane commentaries con- cerning it. I See last week's column in The Signal Star by Editor Dave Sykes and a letter to the • editor this week in reply. And it`Might'lre an interesting• exerciselor" each Canadian -to undertake - to dig deep in his or her own thoughts to come up with what he or she feels is the most appealing concept of Canada. A couple of years ago, I wrote in this column that I see Canada as a tossed salad - a country where individuals are mingled together without losing their own individuality and held together by different regional dressings, each with its own colour and taste. • This is in direct contrast to the, great nation to • the south of us, The United States. of America, known to the whole world as the "melting pot". . " There everyone is thrown into ':i kind of giant stewing cauldron and comes out whistling Yankee Doodle. Which is hest depends on your own personal preference - but there is a distinctive difference. While I prefer my tossed salad concept of Canada, there are lots and lots of difficulties in- herent in it. In the first place, a gond tossed salad depends entirely on the quality of its 'ingredients. A spicey dressing doesn't do much to liven up limp,. lifeless components. Imperfections are clearly apparent no matter how hard you try to disguise them. What's more, you can easily separate the in- gredients of such a salad, even after it has been tossed and mixed with the dressing. Each part is easily distinguishable from the others, and you don't hake to accept those things which aren't to. your liking. `fake some; leave the rest. You're still having salad. And a tosses' salad is a fragile thing which must be handled with care and attention if it is to retain its delicate balance of tastes and textures. No. A tossed salad isn't at all like a virtually in- destructable stew which can be heated and reheated, stirred and strained, thickened up with a bit more of something or thinned down with anything handy, and stored just about any way for just about any length of time.. But what a delight a good tossedsalad can be - full of natural goodness, a multitude of flavors that, complement each. other, a myriad of col- ours, shapes, structures and differences that break the monotony and add zest and excitement every time they are served up together. That's the adventure of Canada. it's not anor- dinary country in any sense of the word. It's so vast there are millions of acres and miles of rivers still to be charted and explored for their secrets and their riches. • It's so young there's still the • promise of phenomenal potential that hasn't even been tap- ped much less depleted. It's so wide open and wild, it is still calling forth the pioneer spirit in her youngpeople, com- pelling them to claim her wealth of deposits and manage her teeming resources. It really should be enough to rekindle the same love of adventure that drove our forefathers to abandon the comforts of their velvet britches and lace pillows and to embark on a new direc- tion where living offered some mystery but no guarantees. Canadians though, like so many other people in this world, have been dulled by inactivity and softened by dependency. We are outdoorsmen who recline by thefireside; we are en- trepreneurs who wait on others to lead and develop; we . are builders and inventors who whimper and whine when the going gets tough. 'Our tradition is all muscles' and courage;. our present is flab and fear. Maybe as inflation erodes away one ease after another, the forgotten valourwill swell within us once more and our dream of a powerful nation hewn by our owninitiative will be restored. Maybe we'll be less awed by our parochial wants and more inspired by the tremendous power there is in pooling our strengths, controll- ing our. weaknesses and making a national salad tossed with one Canadian dressing that will bind us together without sacrificing our God-given rights to be individuals. Maybe then we'll fan out from the narrow strip .of development across the southern reaches of . this country and find ways to open new doors and new opportunities in every part of this exquisite land. Maybe we'll break down the ancient provincial barriers and start to train all the Canadian peo- ple to do all the tough jobs Canadians have to do. Maybe we'll -admit we are too sparsely populated . and develop incentives td attract adventure -lovers to the hinterlands of Canada, who will share our dream for a unique and vital ' dominion with a new face and a new purpose. Maybe we'll lose our negative view of newcomers as intruders and more welfare reci- pients, and look at them as much needed workers who choose to live in Canada despite the hard- ' ships of climate, distance and uncertainty. Maybe we'll begin to demonstrate to the world all over again that Canada is a contender to be' considered, and that her people are stout- hearted men and women. who do the impossible over incredible odds because' they just never ad- mit defeat. That's my concept of Canada. What's yours? Reader applauds concessions by employees Dear Editor: I just heard that the em- ployees of a large and very important industry in this community have given wage concessions to their employer. I would like to take my hat off and thank each and Livery person that took part in this. The act itself proves that we have some really true and loyal Canadians that are more interested in the economic future of Canada than a few dollars- gained momentarily. • This same week we have heard that the leaders of our ETTER public service unions have said "to hell with con- cessions and let's demand 12 percent to 18 percent each and every year." If these public employees were true Canadians, would they listen to leadership like this? Would they ask for a 12 percent increase even though they are not going to teach twelve percent more children at school, deliver twelve percent more letters during the . next twelve months, or shuffle twelve percent more red tape or paper work across their desks? If the men and women in the private sector that generate all the tax money from which they are paid (and very well I might add) are willing to make this concession, should our civil servants not follow suit and show us just where they stand? Sincerer, Gus Chisholm Flood problems Dear Editor: 0 little town of Goderich How still you seem to lie High above Lake Huron Where the seagulls love to fly. Where the sewers antiquated They have bee{ there for so long They use storm sewers for sewage You and I know this is wrong. And when they have a flash flood Like they had down on Hincks Street The sewers back up in your basement And the droppings are never sweet. And it really boggles the Turn to page 9 e