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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-10-22, Page 444 PAGE 4 —GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1986 M i splaced Last week I was slightly saddened by two small events. Having to examine some ideas, ideals and activities is not a bad thing; otherwise one could slide gently into the habit of taking far too much for granted. , I am mentioning these episodes here, because - although with personal over- tones - the incidents touched directly on some aspects of public life and directions, even a bit on municipal history. A young woman with an active intrest in getting a municipal day care centre established in Goderich wrote to me stating, among other things, that "in the beginning when the day care issue started you were opposed to municipal day care. However I realize you have .gained more knowledge on the s kbject and now support the idea". It has always been young people's prerogative to feel that everything wor- thwhile is just starting with them and their critici s, public lecture saddened n�. ELBA HAYDON generation and nothing much could have been done or known before their time. In fact, as a town council member I was already working for establishing municipal day care, among other services, when the letter writer must have been a pupil in one of the earlier grades pf elementary school. During the 12 years I worked on council (1970 to 1982) the Town of Goderich, after establishing the now solidly accepted and very well run municipal nursery school, in- itiated on . two occasions thorough and businesslike investigations into the possibilities of a municipal day care centre as a parallel service. No doubt there are many people who ti.is writer reinemper our meetings Ill 4IIG=coun d cil intelligently appealing and convincing ap- have done, on and off town council, in the chamber, on the main floor of the town proach is disappointing. hall. Mrs. Judy Cooper, who has been with In the second somewhat saddening inci- the Ministry of Community and Social Ser- adent I was public lecture on civiclpride beauty d to receive vices for many years participated already at that time as a resource person. Public affairs and tendencies lend There were not enough seriously in- themselves to a welcome variety of views terested parents to make day care a viable and suggestions. Expressing my own opi- operation and both times the matter died mons is always an invitation to others to of natural causes. Some things have changed recently° come out with their thoughts and reac- tions, whether in agreement, opposition or There -is now a clear and actively ar in-between. - ticulated demand, but the recent collapse of a private enterprise day care centre The point is not whether a person agrees seems to leave council members with or disagrees with my recent assessment of legitimate concerns and reservations. the obvious excesses and falsehoods in While supporting a service one might municipal promotions here and in general° have to object to some methods used in at- There have been both kinds of reactions. tempts to obtain it. Successful and viable The point is that I would accept as fair a municipal operations, particularly of the lecture on the need to "instil and maintain discretionary and social variety, can hard- an essence of pride in our town" only from ly be created and sustained by trying to a person who has worked harder, more ram theta through in a contest of who will steadily and with greater dedication on outwit whom. In this case, the shortage o Opinion f furthering civic beauty and pride than I last 16 years. I have not been'the only one to do so, but my contribution to the general advance- ment has often been an extra ounce of in- itiative here and a pound of purposeful en- thusiasm there, in many cases long before certain trends and values become popular and fashionable; I have loved every minute of it, whether working as the parks and waterfront chair- man (before the now helpful commissioner of works department was even thought of ), helping save historic sites or fighting for the improvements and beautification of our unique Square. I have no intention (or room) to compile a list of the civic beauty and pride projects in which I have participated actively. In my book the town's handsome countenance and obvious lifestyle pride has no need .to resort to phoney claims, among friends. THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 theEBT ALL ROUND COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER IN CANADA nvWuon C41.3500 4500)CC^iA Eetu:r Newspaper eUtllp,luuon 1984 Goderichi i jjjj IG R� S NAL _ A S P.O. BOX''20 HUCKINE ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK GODERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded in 1648 and published every Wednesday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OCNA° Subscriptions payable In advance see.00, [Senior Citizen. 3319.00• privilege card number required] In Caned., 860.00 to U.B.A., 590.00 to all other countries. Single copies 80C. Display, National end Clessifled advertising rates available on requeet. Posse eek for Rote Card No. 1B effective October 1, 1986. Advertising is accepted an the condition that in the event of a typographical , the advertising apace occupied by the erroneous item, together with the reasonable allowance for signature. will not be charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rata. In the .vent of typographical error advertising goods or services et a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertleing is merely an offer to sell, end may be withdrawn at any time. The Signal -Star 1a not responsible for the lows or damage of unsollclted manuscripts, photos or other materiels used for reproducing purposes. General Manager Editor SHIRLEY J. KELLER DAVE SYKES DON HUBICK Advertising Manager FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...please phone [519]524-2614 Second class mail registration number 0716 Member: +CNA ccNs Why is he -complaining? i So, the former clerk of the Ontario legislature, Roderick Lewis, is "disgusted" by the way the media has handled the business of his retirement package. Tough bananas. If Mr. Lewis is disgusted, he might wonder how the Ontario equivalent of Mary and John Doe feel. If they ever get beyond being madder than heck, chances are they too will be disgusted. Disgusted at an elderly, so-called civil servant who,' in effect, conducted a sit-in, refusing to leave his plush office until he was showered with riches. Disgusted at the Liberal government of David Peterson which rather than standing up for justice, caved in to the imperious demands of an elderly man with an elevated sense of his own importance. Just because the former Davis government, the same lot which saddled this province with Suncor, was weak-minded enough to promise Mr. Lewis his position for life is no reason for a successive government to compound the error. Two wrongs don't make a right. If it is true that Mr. Lewis was threatening to take his case to court if he didn't get his way, the govern- ment should have let him do just that. To summarize the all but unbelievable facts of the case of Mr. Lewis, 75, one must first understand he inherited the position of clerk of the legislature in 1955 upon his father's resignation after 29 years. Rather than having him retire at age 65, ten years ago, the Davis govveerrnm wis'd ys were named Roderick Lewis clerk for life. When the Liberals took office in 1985, numbered. At age 75, he was pulling down $85,000 per year and on the surface was eligible to a pension of $38,400 per year and a one-time severance payment of $136,800. That wasnt' good enough for Mr. Lewis. He refused to vacate his office and make way for the new clerk until the government of the day lived up to promises of the government of yesterday. Fearing a court case, the Peterson Government ended up giving Mr. Lewis an annual pen- sion of $38,400, and purchasing an annuity which ensures him an additional $21,600 a year for life, bringing his total annual retirement, benefit to $60,000. Mr. Lewis was also engaged as clerk emeritus (surely a bit of black humor) of the legislature at a total cost of approximately $75,000, including an annual stipend of $31,500, the cost of an office, secretary and word-processing equipment while he researches and writes a couple of books. In addition Mr. Lewis received about $118,000 to cover vacation pay, banked vacation time and an attendance gratuity. He will also be supplied with a car and driver. It turns out Mr. Lewis in retirement will be getting almost $115,000 per year for life, or about $30,000 per year more than he was earning on the job. • It is indeed disgusting. In an effort to pay back the taxpayers of this province, perhaps in one of the two books he is writing Mr. Lewis will enlighten the People of Ontario as to how one climbs aboard such a gravy train. emeritus himself, has, heard alone l hthey want to hear ad have to think but Roderick Lewis.one, with the tion of the clerk Good clean fall air Goderich and area folks are enjoying these beautiful fall days just like the rest of On- tario's drenched residents who have lived through what seems like weeks and weeks 'of, endless cloud and rain. It's great toget up in the morning and see the sunshine peeking through the curtains. It seems worthwhile to jump out of bed and become involved with life and living. But here in Goderich, we have 'Something extra to be thankful for these lovely autumn days. And that's the fact that in this municipality, we don't burn leaves we vacuum them. It's easy to forget what it's like to live in a community where the air from about the first of October to the end of November is filled with smoke ... or the remnants of smoke. It's easy to forget how people choke and sputter; how their eyes water and their noses drip; how their throats burn and their heads ache in the days when there",s not much choice about what to do with leaves and burning is the favourite option of people who are trying to dispose of nature's discards. It's easy to forget how the children come home with their clothes reeking of smoke and their shoes dusted with ashes and the occasional pair of pants ruined by the sparks from the neighbourhood leaf -fires. Oh, there's something vaguely pleasant about the odorof a fresh fire in a pile of dry leaves. And we "may even sniff the air as we drive through the countryside, catching a whiff of smoke here and there and remembering those falls of yesteryear In Goderich when we too burned leaves. But it's something like remembering "the good old days" ••.• and .permitting nostalgia to improve the positive parts and fade the negative aspects of what it was really like then. A little goes a long, long way. And by the dine the fire gets down to the smouldering stage, and the smoke has hung 'over your yard for a few hdtirs, the iriemory loses much of its delight and becomes more and more unpleasant. So it is hats off to the'Goderich tO'Vfl council of several (hOW Many?) years ago who made the gutsy decison to buy the leaf sucker-xntllcher and remove our abundance of leaves by vacuum rather than by burning. It's this time (Able year that we realise our great good for- tune ... and give thanks for it. SA Birds eye view By Dave Sykes not, be a tax burden Day care should ® you are every problem solved. Yopr Dear editor, children are all set for life and the world, but Justc because eoaleare not 't loud, as the LETTERS_ you did not want the responsibility for your day care people are, doesn't mean that own children anyway, did you? everyone supports you. Day care motion are going on just as if the day care has There are many ways been passed. One question comes to mind. How come when it's called babysitting you can make money, the more kids the more money and when it's called day care you can't make money? The difference is for pas in- flated. and anything they pay But who cares? It's only the tax- payers' money. They need more, just raise taxes.t Day care will just. another cons- Why not a night care centre? tent demand on the tax dollars. �/ There is a day nursery in town, and just what good is it to anyone that works? The hours are o work to live, 9:00 to 141:30 am and for anyone 1:00 to 3hat has :30 pm. that is okay if you want to get rid o f o getr young baby for a few hours to play g your hair done or just want a little time to yourself. Where is the good for a working mThe rsalaries may start at $17,500 and $15,000 a year, that breaks down to about $7.50 an hour. Try telling that to a working mother making $4.35. She can't afford day care but the woman now working for day care can afford it. Just who are the day care people trying to kid? They only want day care for the well-to-do in this town and have Dear Editor, the tax payer foot the bill. In very short The University cif Western Ontario will be terested in the following courses nix t fall: order, the day care staff can be just like the. setting up their 1987 Fall Courses at the end Sociology, Aging in Canada ; Children's Aid, $45,000 a year. It used to be 'of October. They offer many credit courses Sociology; Biomedical Ethics. low pity and vohtnteer workers. Now it's a in their Extension Centres (Goderich and If you are interested; please call me at heal good paying job, paid by the taxpayer. Clinton - locally) providing there are enough 524-7184. Deadline is October 30. The day care people should also have the people interested in taking a particular These are senior courses. Connie Osborn council pass a motion to make every course. to make day care reasonable for everyone without it being a tax burden. It should be private and respon- sible like a business and not justanother T "Run Away Gravy Train", just in ke everything else the taxes support Goderich. employer in town, pay at least $7.50 a hour so everyone can afford day care. But it's okay, the taxpayers can pick up the tab. After all, the town council is already so very good at throwing tax money down the drain. Why doesn't the government just take your children at birth, raise, clothe and feed them and at age 18 give them back There T.A. McGuire Dear editor, Does Goderich need a day care centre? If there are single parents in Goderich, who are the sole support of their family, a day care centre is an absolute necessity. They should be given a first priority, at a reasonable fee. When both parents are working, they should be well able to afford to sponsor a babysitter or pay a higher fee in a day care centre. To sponsor the needy is a must, but the greedy do not need assistance. Maybe we should also have a night care facility for those individuals who educate the teenagers, that they may come and re- juvenate their nervous system, and also for the mothers who stay at home and provide a home environment for their children, and the educators at the primary level. Sincerely, N.J. Minaker Who is interested in these? I am looking for people who might be in-