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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-07-27, Page 4eitsioN a11+PSa ESID*yj YML A' Y , 1983 'rr DAVE SYKES 0 u A r a There is a vague and general rule or ax- iom xioan at the office here, that suggests employees taking a week's holiday in- variably steal two weeks in company time. Knowing that vacation looms large on the horizon, employees are generally useless Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in an- ticipation of a week's holiday, a ranking of- ficial proclaimed. That official boldly suggests that that same employee will take a day or two to get back into the rigors of the work routine after vacation. Naturally, I was able to laugh haughtily at the very suggestion of employees slacking off before and after a vacation. Not only does it go against my nature and personal integrity, but in my naievete, I never dreamed that employees would actually slow down the pace of productivity , at the mere prospect of going on vacation. Slowly, my eyes are being opened to the fraudulent ways of the business world. With those startling facts in mind, employees are encouraged, naturally, to take their two or three weeks holidays all at once. It potentially eliminates the slowing down and starting up procedure that runs rampant in the company. Being an exception to almost every coin- -pally vale and ---axpectstiea:r-m auaevaiunt maintains that this callous correspondent neither slows down prior to vacation, nor is slow to gear up after returning from holidays. "You only have one speed, Sykes," the publisher was heard to mutter in the office recently. "In fact you're so slow...well let's just say it appears as if you're on permanent holidays around here." Critics abound in this business. Naturally, I countered with the plausible theory that my busipess affairs were so adroitly organized that it required a minimum amount of movement or effort to get my well oiled machine in gear. Ef- fortlessly dihd efficiently, were two of the key words in my argument. Somehow, the job always gets done. There was much raucus laughter - and nee as misag_:at Lhe-..ver, .auggestion. that ,... my business affairs were that well organiz- ed. I have difficulty getting respect in the workplace. Regardless, while disparaging remarks about my organizational abilities run wild in the office, I will seek respite in such exotic places as Cambridge, New Dundee and Oakville over the next 10 days. That's right fair folks, this sedulous scribe is off for 10 titillating days of fun, frolic, boogaloo and barbecue. Actually, the holiday holds more promise for golfing and golf -gazing than. anything else. While the clubs have been abandoned for most of the season they will be resur- rected, dusted off and thrown into feverish action in the next week. After some minor tuning, my suspect game will be tossed into the competitive tournament scene at the Dundee Golf and ,..,,c.santeaegabeinranzanual bash avased by a Mr. Molson, I believe. Excellent refreshments_ Immediate following my poor display on the course, I will take a day to watch the professionals at the Canadian Open at the Glen Abbey Golf Course in Oakville. Hopefully, by the process of osmosis, or semthing equally as obscure, my golf game will be vastly improved having watched the professionals do their.thing. It never works that way but holidays are made for dreaming. PCNA BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1983 Second class mail registration numbe 0716 SINCE 1848 THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT Founded In 1011 and published every Wednesday et f oderlch, Ontario. Member of the CORA and OWN.. Adver, tieing rates on request. Subscriptions payable in advance .10.30 in Canada. '50.00 to U.S.*., '10.00 to all other count. t tries. single copies 10c. Display advertising rotes available on request. Pleas* ash far Rota Card No.13 affective Oc- tober 1, 19/8. Second class maid Registration Number 0710. Advertising is accepted on the condition that In the event of typographical error. the adver$lsing space occupied by the erroneous Item, together with reasonable allowance for signature; tall° not be emerged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the op- pilsob'te rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising Is merely en offer to sell. and may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited monuscripls. photos or other materials used for reproducing per. poses. PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED ROBERT G. SHRIER-President and Publisher DONALD M. HUBICK-Advertising Manager DAVID SYKES-Editor P.O. BOX 220, HUCK INS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH N7A 486 FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES please phone (519) 524-8331 Time to put heat on While the weather has kept people warmer than usual over the past week or so, some of the recent news related to the loss of public money should make them even hotter under the collar. A special inquiry into the actions of three Ontario trust companies indicated that three financiers and their of- ficials knowingly broke provincial regulations for per- sonal gain. Inslications are that the personal gain enjoyed by those involved will be at the expense of the taxpayers. Taxpayers have also watched several million dollars go down the drain through the financial predicament of Maislin Transport Ltd., a firm which the federal govern- ment attempted to rescue with a $34 million loan guarantee. In London court, a woman was jailed for three months for defrauding the provincial coffers of more than $10,000. The county judge who handed out that latter sentence blasted social aid officials involved for the "sloppy, ineffi- laSgs cient way" they handed out taxpayers' money, which he said, prompted people to cheat the taxpayers because it was so easy to do. The inquiry into the trust company fiasco also criticized the government's regulatory process and took issue with the cabinet's decision to approve rapid and massive in- creases in the authorized capital of the three firms and allowed them to participate in other activities which, in turn, threatened their stability. Opposition spokesmen have indicated the taxpayers will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in the deal and have called for an immediate, independent inquiry due to the involvement of several prominent PCs with the three trust companies. Perhaps it is time that the taxpayers started putting some heat on those who waste their money. Some major housecleaning is obviously in order! Festival bouquets Another Festival of Arts and Crafts has come and gone in Goderich. It was enjoyed by many people, attracting tourists and local residents alike. It is time now to toss a' few well-deserved bouquets to the people who worked so hard for the success of the event' First and foremost is Lu Legg who has been the energetic convener of the Festival for the tourist com- mittee for the past few years. Mrs. Legg starts sending out brochures for each year's Festival as early as March and has many other responsibilities which begin long before the actual date of the event. Mrs. Legg says the Festival has a tremendous potential for growth but more people would be needed to do the actual physical work required if such growth was to take place. How about it? Any volunteers out there? Mrs. Legg is quick to praise the town for its support and in particular the recreation department and the parks department for their work. This past Saturday, members of the parks department spent 3'sz hours, along with Mrs. Legg and her husband, in dismantling' the booths which had previously been set up for the 107 craftspeople who took part in the Festival. A bouquet (if you'll pardon the pun) is also in order for the Goderich Garden Club for their much admired Flower Festival held every year in conjunction with the main Festival. One area of concern for this year's Festival was the number of entries in the photography competition. Although the quality of entries submitted was excellent, only nine entrants displayed between 30 and 35 prints. The Maitland Valley Photographic Association which organizes the event for the Festival would like to see more entrants, both local and out-of-town, next year. All in all, the Festival is a great boon for this town, both financially and culturally. And it is a credit to the hard- working people behind the scenes, both those who originated the idea and those who continue to carry it out and improve upon it annually.—JI,B •sol Thirst quenching 5' SS by Joanne Buchanan DEAR READERS SHIRLEY KELLER I was reading during the weekend that Dr. Henry Morgentaler is a Jew who escaped from not one, but two death camps operated by the Nazis during the Second World War. Morgentaler, the champion of Canadian men and women who approve of abortion on demand, lost his mother, his father and his sister to the -Nazi ovens=during that hideous outrage against the Jewish nation in Europe. And somehow the two things just don't seem to be compatible .... or are they? One would suppose that Morgentaler would have developed a healthy respect for life during that time in his younger years when he and his family were hunted like animals with the intent to murder them like worthless pieces of bone and marrow. Then again, I suppose it's possible that Morgentaler became so intense about the right of human to be free to choose his own destiny, that he now willingly risks his personal career and self-esteem to win that "prize" even for Canadians caught in the traps of their own design. I do not wish for this column to trigger a debate about the right and wrong of abortion. Each person has his own beliefs concerning that subject, and in a democratic country like Canada each person has a perfect right to his own viewpoint. But with all my heart I wish that someone, somewhere, Mould introduce some sanity into this important issue before the situation wor- sens. I understand where Dr. Henry Morgentaler is coming from ... at least I think I do. His sym- pathy is for the present ... and with the pregnant woman who for any number of reasons, feels she simply cannot cope with giving birth to the child growing in her. And I understand the woman's plight -.- believe me, almost'every woman does. .No woman really and truly believes the fetus growing inside her isn't real or alive. How could she believe that? For she knows for certain that if she lets her pregnancy go full term, she will produce a real, live human baby ... not a plastic replica or some inanimate thing, but a breathing, hungry, feeling human being. If that were not true, she wouldn't have any concern whatsoever about her condition. The choice she makes is when to deal with her problem ... now or in the future. Should she give birth to a squirming infant or will she settle for haunting memories of a baby that would have been? A woman knows these scenarios better than anyone else ever could. What Dr. Morgentaler provides is a method to lift the unwanted burden. And to some women tortured by past regrets and fearful of future responsibilities, Dr. Morgentaler looks like a saint. It may be too much then, to expect either Dr. Morgentaler or these kinds of women who are (or fear they could be) caught in an unplanned pregnancy, to make the best decision. They are in the eye of an emotional storm requiring fast, drastic and final action. There's no time for citizen petitions and government commissions for the doctor and the woman with a deadline. What is required is a hard, factual look at the way the majority of Canadians want -this nation to go. Do we want a nation motivated by un- paralleled greed, by total irresponsibility for their own deeds, by disrespect for human life with all its strengths and weaknesses? It's time to face up to the truth that the basic beliefs of the average Canadian have changed - that the principles upon which this country was founded have been shelved and that the historically conservative Canadian way of life is vanishing. In my view the bitter, fruitless battle waging now on the abortion issue ... and other equally important issues ... has to do with the failure of Canadians to keep our Judaeo-Christian heritage as a vital part of the everyday life of the average citizen here. It has to do with the mistaken belief in Canada that ordinary men and women in government have all the solutions for every kind of human misery. It has to do with the blatant evidences throughout Canada that God has been relegated to second place so that men can alter His guidelines to suit their own needs and desires. God's teachings used to be a strong force in Canada, used to temper our activities, form the base of our laws and give substance to our decisions. No more. Now the debates rage on and on without resolve, because Canada is rudderless, without a common point of agreement. As politicians vascilate and church people argue and Canadians disagree, Dr. Henry Morgentaler and his associates continue to be an alternative for a woman who is pregnant and doesn't want to be. Shutting down Morgentaler clinics is like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. Opening up the eyes of a sluti'ibering nation to the wisdom of our God-fearing forefathers is a must if we are to make prudent choices for this generation ... and more importantly perhaps, for the ones to come. The things i have to defend and to promote - dogs, municipal governments, art establishments, cyclists! No wonder my banner is blank - it flies over such a variety of subjects and causes. The "Dear Readers" column on cyclists is so provocative that it practically demands to be taken to task on several accounts. Sorry about that, Mrs. Keller. • Mr. John Slykhuis, who is quoted ex- te` ssively and on main points, has a right to express his views and opinions, but he also has a duty to check his facts first, and that he did not do. His most glaring inaccuracy is to per- petuate the myth that "cyclists don't pay a cent for using the roads, unlike motorists..." Everybgdy pays for the construction and maintenance of roads. As the Huron County Engineer, Mr. R. Dempsey, confirmed - "Even people who do not own a bicycle or a car, help pay for the road system". All the money the government collects - income tax, gasoline tax, all kinds of licence fees, sales and other taxes, and the many other headings under which the govenment finds it necessary to take our money - all of it goes into the general coffers of the treasury. Out of that total, the government decides what allocations are made for health ser- vices, education, transportation services, and the myriads of other sgrvices needed for the everyday lives and happiness of all or part of the population. Since several levels of governments participate in the provision of some of the services, a different and complicated for- mula is applied in every category. As, in other areas, within the Town of Goderich and the Huron County the building and maintenance of the roads is paid partly out of locally collected property taxes and partly by M.T.C. (Ministry of Tran- sportation and Communications) subsidy. The subsidy formula depends on all kinds of factors and applies only to certain types of roads. Mr. Dempsey estimated that all things considered and averaged, one could say that roughly 60 percent of Huron County road cost is covered by subsidies, meaning that approximately 40 percent is paid out of the property taxes collected by the municipalities for county purposes. For the Town of -Goderich, 41,eanes,tilig -4,to Administrator Larry McCabe, roughly the same percentage applies. Under certain programs the proportions vary. No doubt the same principles are valid, with some variations in the figures, in the municipality where Mr. Slykhuis lives, works and believes that cyclists "have no right to be there". As he had done no homework before declaring that motorists pay for the roads and cyclists "don't pay a cent", I now suggest that he consult an engineer for an estimate of the cost of constructing bicycle paths along our high- ways. The example used to illustrate the lot of a 'poor motorist' in a particular scene with a cyclist, shows only bad driving habits on the part of the motorists. The gravel truck on your back bumper is obviously tailgating and creating a dangerous situation. And whether it is a slowly moving piece of farm machinery, a cyclist, a child, a cow - what sort of driving do you do if you just suddenly discover the object smack in front of you when it was ahead of you all along? If Mrs. Keller had not quoted Mr. most of the points. The eight rules she lists are most sensible and I have no doubt that a cyclist complies automatically. You see, I make a distinction between a cyclist and simply a person on a bicycle. In a latter category are many children in this or in any town. Don't the parents care enough to make sure that the eight points are ob- served? Mr. Slykhuis may agree that if one wanted to name the shortcomings of the motorists and their names, the list would be much, much longer. If you hear of a person crip- pled or killed by a hit-and-run cyclist, let me know. How many motorists travel within the speed limit; how many signal before they turn? Perhaps we should not think merely in terms of motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, riders. Maybe we ought to think in terms of simply people like ourselves who want to go from one place to another and have chosen different means for doing so. Courtesy, fairness, consideration, tolerance are still in order whether you go on four noisy and smelly wheels or en two quiet and clean ones. LSA HAYE)ON m. r •