HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-04-13, Page 4W0?I51.18V caa:4rra
l
column*
ludipcgs
coo ro so. 0
The: anther
Human lights .
cried bilityt esus l g wap.
thefi*skpmcet byt .ars0
into a faree' t1sn►!rgln tl!a
figures.'
In essence, the -study lnd(eatee-that *et
1.5 million Canadian men and: women
believe they are victims of sexual
harassment.
One would have to seriously contest the
study's definition of harassment, which it
claims ranges from suggested- glances to
forced sex. For my own,; simple thinking
apparatus, an out and out clutchiandggrab of
the secretary would definitely .constitute
harassment of the sexual variety. Some
would eagerly suggest my mere presence
constitutes some form of harassment or at
the least, cruelty.
Obviously fictitious and misleading
statistics designed to produce a desired
it'en'.
eered «in t
sexual haraslsment,1` gg folio l
illcenal! 4t ilea what 'ate egekM40410.
study reveals.•
Harry had hadenough and =While
•had nagger dee
is he sh ,
machine and Strode' confidently
foreman's otceadetermined 'to remove tb1e,
burden of guiltfrom chest. Even just -
°',talking about the problem, he reasoned,
�``rrou d- help bim come to grips with his
feelings.
He knocked quietly on the door and en-
tered the dingy officeat the invitation of the
foreman. Re Smiled politely, :closed the door
and waited for - the foreman, Bill, to
acknowledge his presence.
The foreman wheeled around from his
cluttered desk and motioned for Harry to
occupy the spare chair in the corner. As
Harry slowly loweredhis angular and
muscular body into the chair, his mind
'th ough.a ealdred MOS' ,.
wale tide t ► 1>s i he had
Nee
and the eiNation too hila beck to •
grade Ay-- l tea 'aPea re the
ele04-431 .broketithsa ai}ea 4 u ,
�� don l some!. rry said, rulmmg
his hands together in nervols fashion while
staring at the Door I hope sol Look, 1 feel
foolish maybe -I-should lust get ick . .
work.'
"No, no," Bill saidholding out his hand: I
like toknow what's happening on'the floor
with my employees. '
Harry"mlistered up bis courage and began
to tell his story while clutching the top
button of hisshirt.
"My work hasn't been good lately as
you've probably noticed. but I've been under
a lot of, ;pressure," Harry said by way of ,
ealplanatwon.. "This may sound silly to you,
but lately some of the women have been
leering at me suggestively. It makesme feel
so disgustingly cheap."
"Is that all that's °bothering you?" the
foreman asked._
"Well, no, there's more. Not only are the
woien'llterunil t t't#tlneslx soh
hands are Alecuple ell tike machin f t ..
come over o 4 makf 'suggestive remarks
about flings we could 09 atter work.
feel ;so ashamed. For so long, have
masctlllT i'ty l now 1
must free
lived wi � Provoked a ,, tics 4n M'►
from this bondage. There is no reason.fo a
man in the 19800 then, vict�..l of the fan-
ies .,sof some -wa ..ton,, ;slllh letcherous
women. 1 just can't take it anymore,"',
Harr)! vas surprised that he had blurted
out the whole story to his boss, but now
somehow, he felt relieved. He looked at the
foreman and while he expected the boss to
eachibit some signs of shock, a hint of smile
appeared on Hair's face.
°See, .you think it's funny and rut crazy
for bringing sot up don't you?" Barry said as
the relief°turned to humiliation.
"Not at all hid," Bill, offered* comforting
fashion. "You've, got a lot to learn thOugh. 1
put up with -that from my female boss but
silence boosted old Bill into the foreman's
office. Principlesand moral integrity is
great. stuff kid, but if you want to get ahead,
you gotta put up with that stuff from women.
It's a cruel world."
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New initiative
At the beginning of tills year, the Roman Catholic
bishops released a controversial document on the
Canadian economy.
While church and state have seemingly gone their
separate ways, the bishops, statements on the economy
fuelled a debate on the church's role in the community.
The bishops loudly cried for government to make em-
ployment its primary policy.. Widespread unemployment,
the bishops contended, was a social evil.
Many economists lauded the economic statement as
sensible and practical but others suggested the bishops
were way off course. Still others were of the opinion that
the church had no place recommending public policy.
Regardless of one's preferences or leanings, or religious
affiliations, the announcement by the Catholic Church this
week that it will contribute $4.6 million to a make-work
program in Toronto is welcome news.
One has to admire the fact that the church is going to put
into practice the beliefs of its bishops. They have set a
decent example that others could well follow. That
example is backing up words with affirmative action.
In essence, the church will participate in a provincial -
federal job -creation program that will provide work for as
many as 700 individuals for a period of 29 weeks in the
Toronto area.
The government committed $6.5 million to the work
project and the church chipped in with $4.6 million.
The money will be used mainly to create construction-
related
onstructionrelated jobs for the unemployed. The funding will help
build a summer camp, student housing and church
renovations to make them accessible to the handicapped.
Many . public buildings . -have: been reconstructed in
recent years to allow the handl lapped equal access, and
the move to include churches will mean the handicapped
will have the opportunity to participate fully in the life of
the community. -The, church recognized the need to
provide jobs in the community and is doing something
about what it considers our major social problem or evil,
unemployment.
Maybe now is the time to inject- money' into such
projects, as long as they provide jobs and meet the needs
and requirements of the community.
The government has provided funding through a myriad
of make work programs but it is a pleasure to see others
participate in the healing process. Private sector and
government funding, especially in the construction field,
can go a long way towards nudging economic recovery.
D.S.
Dirty tricks not welcome
Quite a few Canadians were shocked last week to hear
the details of the "dirty tricks" employed by PC riding
associations in Quebec in order to secure voting delegates
for the candidate of their choice at the upcoming leader-
ship convention.
The responsibility for appointing voting delegates to a
leadership convention rests with the party organization
within each riding. Thus the trick is to select a delegate
who will be sure to vote for the man whom the guys back
home want to see in office. To secure the delegate of their
choice the workers for any one particular leadership can-
didate round up all the voting members on whom they can
depend to cast their ballots the right way.
It appears that rules governing party membership are
extremely lax. Any person who has been a party member
of five days may vote for a delegate. Supporters of Joe
Clark and Brian Mulroney went all the way. They openly
paid school children and semi -senile old people to attend
the delegate meetings and vote as they were paid to vote.
Disgusting as the practice appears to be, we found it
even more unsettling when the leadership candidates
themselves appeared before TV cameras, unshaken by
concerns about such_ questionable voting practices. Joe
Clark simplified the whole affair by saying this is a
democracy and buying votes is an old and accepted prac-
tice.
Maybe it is, but, personally, we think it stinks. The final
outcome of all this jockeying for place will be the election
of one man to the leadership of his party — a man could
become the prime minister of Canada. We would all like to
believe that a future primeminister should be a person
who is scrupulously honest in every aspect of his personal
and political life.
Coming'al
A°
art at the pams
ash
„ .4r
•'1^54' l!? •,.y 1
B,.y Dave Sykes.
EAR READERS
SHIRLEY KELLER
• A nuclear war isn't a happy prospect. Most
people are like .me I imagine .... willing to push
that thought into the dark recesses of the mind
where it remains undisturbed and undisturbing.
But last week2 caught an hour or so of a talk
show on radio which dug out those old fears and
brought themrto the surface of my consciousness
with a tremendous thud. On that 'show, I heard
ordinary folks.: like me saying that in. their
opinion, nuclear war was not only probable but
imminent.
One caller who identified herself as a Roman
Catholic, said that a recent revelation from
Jesus Christ' to the same woman who has had.
several previous illuminating visions, warned
that Russia will align itself with China to attack
the United States and Canada.
According to the caller, the message from
Christ was that mankind has continued to ignore
God's signsthat things were not well with Hie{
God, she said, was showing his , displeasure
through natural disasters and hardships which
plagued the whole human race. . •
• The root of the problem, she said, was sin -
total disregard for God's will. The solution, she
suggested, was to turn from disobedience and
return to God's saving plan.
The moderator of the program was obviously
skeptical about her viewpoint. And I would
wager that a good many' of you who are reading
this column share that skepticism.
But for Bible scholars, it will not be considered
beyond the realm of possibility. Anyone who has
read the Old Testament particularly, knows all
about God's wrath. '1Fhev have seen that when
God gets tired of having short shrift. He uses
some devastating methods to prove His
supremacy.
There's no doubt that nuclear war would be
devastating to this world as we know it. Such an
attack would fry the majority of people caught in
its wake ... and those who survive would exist in
a kind of living hell: Nothing at all to recommend
it.
There's also no doubt that the nations of the
world are moving closer and closer to nuclear
war. It's getting difficult at this point to decide
just who are the aggressors in this battle for.
strength .... and who are merely protecting their
own interests.
One thing seems sure - Canada is stuck in the
middle and will get involved. It won't matter
who's right and who's wrong.
I had lunch last week with a woman who en-
joyed a trip to the Orient last fall. When we
discussed the nuclear issue over our North
American bacon, lettuce and tomato . sand-
wiches, my companion said that in her opinion,
China was every bit as much of a major power in
the world as is Russia or the USA.
She noted that nearly everywhere she went in
the Orient, China. was in control. She regarded it
as no surprise that China was listed as an
aggressive nation with designs on Canada and
the USA. Coupled with Russia, their nuclear
clout would be awesome.
And she said, "I try not. to think too much about
it. For I fear that nuclear war is certain." --
There are those who believe that' Russia and
- China could never get together long enough to
mount a joint attack on anyone anywhere. But to
a non-military mind like mine, it seems logical
for Russia and China to see the 'wisdom in
combining their force against the Western world
... and then ince the victory is assured, they
would . determine which of them would rule
what's left of things.
Which brings me back to the Roman Catholic
lady's call. •
She said essentially it's God's way or no way.
She said repent and be saved from destruction.
There are still those who believe that mankind
can save itself from nuclear war - through un-
derstanding and co-operation. Through loving
our neighbors as ourselves.
But when youget right down to it, that's just
another way of saying,"Do it God's way." That
was His plan too. Remember from your Sunday
Schooldays?
I really hesitated to write this column, dear
readers. I know that many of you are turned off
by my constant references to things spiritual'
But more and more I find that one cannot see the
. solutions unless one is attuned to God's way.
There just is no solution to anything outside Him.
He really does have the last word. On
everything:
The Roman Catholic caller claimed that God's
patience was at an end ....that nuclear war was
imminent because it was too late now for
mankind to change course.
In my humble opinion, it is never too late with
God.
It is also my personal opinion that it is too
much to hope that the nations of the world will
suddenly become allies - friendly and peaceful
without policy disagreements or ambitions for
power.
But as the song says, if everyone lights just one
little candle, what a bright world this will be.
Light your candles, dear readers. And do it
now.
One picks one's way gingerly through the
daily minefields of statistical conclusions,
contradictory evidence, an increasing lot of
doublethink, newspeak and a growing
number of other 1984 -style regulations for
the improvement of our thoughts and ac-
tions, even our smiles.
Much of it can be shrugged off in the
knowledge that statistics can be used to
make a point in favour of anything or of its
opposite. However, if some of the nonsense
comes to us under the auspices of the noble
intentions of suchhvenerable and powerful
institutions as the Canadian Human Rights
Commission and its confederates, it
becomes more difficult to pretend that the
naked emperor is wearing his robes, to
paraphrase a known parable.
Even as a case may be made that in many
instances individuals and business en-
terprises have seen a number of their
traditional rights actually fade since the
inception of the Human Rights Commissions
and similar institutions, I am not trying to
mock or belittle the .basically decent and
exalted dreams of such agencies.
However, the Commission exposes itself
as a hilarious caricature of the Ministry of
Love and Thought Police by underwriting
and solemnly publishing such studies as the
sexual harassment, polls with which our
consciousness was expected to be raised just
recently.
No doubt some forms and degrees of
harassment can be found in many human
relationships. Without such conflicts and
tensions there would be no great literature,
drama or opera. In the name of individual
dignity we no longer trust individuals to look
after their own personal affairs, but en-
courage expensive bureaucratic solutions.
Frequently this appears to go hand in hand
with financial compensation for "loss of
dignity", "mental stress" and other in-
timate sentimei s one -would ordinarily
never expect to purchase with money.
- Whilst genuine and serious harassment in
the workplace is not acceptable and should
not have to be tolerated by anybody, the
Human Rights Commission lost its
credibility and turned the whole serious
subject into a farce by its remarkable
manipulation of figures, and worse - by
including among the legislated misdeeds
such offences as suggestide lochs, subtle
hints, teasing, and "condescension or
paternalism which undermines self-
respect" - interpretations in the eye of the
beholder.
Since its formation in 1978 the Commission
has had just 38 sexual harassment com-
plaints. Of these 13 have been dismissed,
five have been substantiated and settled;
the remaining 20 are being investigated or
processed.
By means of a poll surveying 2000 persons
and by some most remarkable and ex-
travagant projections the above mentioned
ss complainants have turned into no less
than 1.5 million "victims of sexual
harassment', as headlines quoted Com-
mission sources last week.
Itis interesting to note that more men
than women chose to make a joke of the
matter when the poll was'taken. And one can
see the importance of being earnest while
smiles and teasings are grimly weighed and
interpreted in the Commission offices at
public expense!
When one multiplies such efforts by the
number of the provincial human rights
commissions, one can easily see that indeed
it not a laughing matter, but a severe case
of expensive, meaningless and repetitious
overkill where huge hammers of several
layers of legislation and bureaucracy are
used to subdue the small birds of our human
interaction, in the name of the rights which
were ours to enjoy and to defend long before
the,commissions were created.
Many millions of human beings on several
other continents live in the torments and
deprivations of famine, wars, earthquakes,
massacres, coups and other destructive
situations in which the most basic and
primitive human needs are not met. I am
not suggesting that we should stop living our
lives as well as we can, but I would like to
see the other dimensions broaden our
outlook to the extent that those who make
laws and speak and act on our behalf could
recognize the important concerns and stop
luxuriating in the wailing over what really
amounts to trivial musings over whether our
smiles are pure or whether suggestive hints
can be imagined lurking in the background.
I am glad that we can have the lesiure and
the pleasure of smiling at all.
Good heavens, I just remembered
something. When I was in Toronto recently,
several gentlemen entered the hotel
elevator in the morning, smiled and said
"Good morning". Were they just pleasant
and polite or did I miss something?
ELSA
HAYDON