Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-01-06, Page 5sfi Y?, mss of 's in to in ie ie ►s to Dt to ig to Dr Ty te .s, iy to al he ve lie m fr. se la be. ill be re.. es or ad of in to ss 'ne in gu e gi Na le ?p as im th s rid td r co ge to to ag n la he c ;e te 1W 4; the ecoiit n71e `aituatt(ii i )sat° ",what>Nit could be, , right? Prices are up and the pay packet Isn't any father. Christmas is .'expensive.' So what'sthesoglution? There really is no ideal- solution, - our "government: leaders are continually calling for "restraint" so this Christimas (keeping in mittd that it's not the gift... but the thought that counts) we decided ,to practice r little of,this 'economic belt tightening of our oWn. "No expensive gifts this "year," the little'lady said. "Right on,". ,'agreed. -"Last year it took us nearly si,x month s hi pay for Christmas," she reminded. "Yea, and all that;peace and goodwill degenerated into matrimonial warfare as we started to get monthly bills with collection agency warning . stickers all over them," I added. "The mortgage company nearly took awav the !Immo herauce wr+ spent the paynagnt on your new ' suits," she recalled. "Which didn't even fit," I reminded. So this year it was agreed, no getting ourselves in hock up to our armpits. just because the commercial` interests urge us to buy, buy, buy. All our creditors /would.be kept happy with uninterrupted monthly installme is and divorce would be averted as peace reigned in the household. Good enough. So what can you buy these days for under $100? Let's see... .games! For a few bucks we could pick up a couple of the flashy -new games. There would still be plenty of parcels under the tree and bankruptcy could be avoided. On Christmas morning we gathered around the tree to celebrate the tradition of gift exchange. With visions of in- tellectual competition as the stereo plays softly inthe backgroun#, •'some ` gei< .,.. cheese and crackers and a bottle -of piec-es.,1 chilled wine on the sideboard, we opened sets of packagescontaining a chess set, .structjo Mastermind, Monopoly, Backgammon and various other mind teasers. With Christmas dinner and visits from seldom seen relatives out of the way we decided to fill the Christmas to New - Year lull with a few of those envisioned scenes of quiet, relaxing game playing. Chess was old hat but nether of us had ever played Backgammon. A game, we had heard, which was very popular with the jet -set and high rolling gamblers. The hero of so many' recent paper backs had drawn much of his "cool" from his supposed ability at the game. Perhaps, we supposed, some of that macho would rub off on us. It was a beautiful game, all self contained in its own attache case with Oh there was measurin g about fpttiwl ` claiming',to'.explain least, butthe diagrams Were b rz d d the print' was too .aenall to read with magnifying glass. it w is aIsso cotifi flag, My better half said "it goes;:litte'this' and I said"no,'it works like this.""'''That•'. general trend in the conversation con- tinued at every increasing volume;; for' about 20 minutes. ..then it ceased. In a '- stoney silence the board was folded and placed on a shelf where it has remained, with the others, ever since. Next year we're going to buy a color TV, a .movie camera "outfit and a`- half dozen other things we can't afford. At least we'll be able to get some use out of such gifts whilewefight. a 'INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION Voters in Clinton will go back to the olls in March to elect a new mayor. The arch vote has been necessitated bythe eath of mayor -elect Donald Kay who ied, December 15 before being sworn to office. Clinton town council had the option of hoosing one of its own members to eplace Mr. Kay, but the majority said opular opinion seemed to favor another lection. The decision to send voters ack to the polls was madeat a meeting f council on Monday evenln', eedless to say the whole situation has aused some confusion • and some HERE councilors wondered if Clinton had actually been without a mayor since December 15. Clerk Cam Proctor ex- -Pi -air -led however that the vacancy was not created until Monday evening when the new council was sworn into office for the 1977-78 term and former mayor Don Symons stepped -down. The town clerk said he had checked the procedure at least four times with the municipal government branch of the ministry of the treasury, economies and intergovernmental affairs and said he. had been told by that office that council first had the option to appoint one of its members as mayor. He said the IP. HURDN ministry had indicated that an election should only be a last resort. Deputy" -Reeve. Frank Cook introduced a third option. He said the ministry's London office had said council could appoint a private citizen as mayor. Mr. Cook questioned whether council was doing the correct thing and won- - dered if they had examined all possible options. "Why would the people in London'say this tome and tell our clerk something else?" he asked. Mr. Proctor then told council that he had spoken to ministry officials about that matter and was told that they denied having ever • made such a statement to the Deputy Reeve. The Clerk then suggested that Mr. Cook had misinterpreted the Ontario Municipal Act.-" He stressed that the only choices open to council were an appointment or an *'election and indicated that he preferred the election even though it would cost the town money. Mr. " Proctor said that the electors of Clinton wantedan election and reminded the councillors, that none of them had been elected to be mayor. "If any of us here wanted to be mayor of Clinton, why didn't they run for mayor?" One councillor, Roy Wheeler, in- dicated that he would be interested in the mayor's position but no one took him up on the offer. Ron McKay, just beginning. his first term as colrncillor, said he preferred an election. "The majority of people, in fact all the people I talked to, are in favor of an election for mayor." Another councillor'Ernie Brown, told the meeting that he had been ap- proached to take over as mayor but said he wasn't interested. "They didn't vote for me for mayor and I don't want to be mayor." On a motion by Mr. Brcw.irthe Town Clerk was instructed to prepare a by-law setting the election date. ,Although it's not official yet, Mr. Proctor indicated ,,that there will probably be a nomination period on February 16 and 17 with February 18 as the deadline for withdrawals. In such case an advance pollheld on February 26 and an election on March 7 would fulfill requirements under the Election Act. Former Reeve Harold Lobb, who was defeated by Mr. Kay in the December election, 'has indicated his intention to run again noting that after nine years on council it would be fitting, to end his career in municipal politics. Toronto Mayor David Crombie is a tale less than pleased with a twenty; inute segment of I TV News' eekend program which kiggests that. ntario's largest city suffers from cism.. '... like a "time bomb" ticking ay. It is estimated that about two million mericans saw that program. Toronto' officials admit there is the otential for racial conflict in their city, ut say the NBC, program, went too far. rombie said he planned to write a; letter the American Television network t. PROVINCIAL POINTS telling them to "peddle their irresponsible journalism somewhere else". The film focused on what it called the gradual, . disintegration ..of Toronto's social fabric,_resulting from the influx of foreigners, legal and; illegal, over the past 10 years.- - The program described racial mur- ders, racist political parties and the shattering effect racial epithets have on children. It said illegal immigrants in Toronto were hunted like animals. In one of the film interviews a young The cold war, which has been going on - r some time between the Canadian roadcasting Corporation (C.B.C.) and e Association of. Canadian Television d Radio Artists (ACTRA), seems to be arming up again. CBC officials have ncelled "The; Great Detective", a TV, ries pilot due to beginrehearsals this eek, because ACTRA has refused to. ant a -union' work -permit` to British for Ian Cuthbertson who was to have ayed'fhe lead. The latest dispute, has put 30 ACTRA embers outof work and .follows .a-; ries of .deadlocked ,talks between the work :and the union over,ACTRA's mands for more say in the casting of•. CAN foreign • performers used in network drama and variety,programs. Vice-president of the CBC's 'English section', Don MacPherson, says the network is "not at war with ACTRA over the border issue. We agree with them. But treating us like .this isn't going to help." MacPherson also=says "The last thing :fiend the corporation want to do is cancel programs." In- addition tb the " Ian Cuthbertson case, the actors'..union has also refused togrant work permits to Maggie Smith, Nehemiah Persoff and Melvyn Douglas for two other scheduled dramas. The white man suggests "it's time the politicians listened to what the citizens have said the last couple of times they've , been asked. They ought to close the doors (on immigration)." Narrator Lloyd Dobyns then explains that this attitude is not radical for a Toronto resident. Also quoted is a member of the right wing, racist, Western Guard Party, which claims 300 to 500 "card carrying members" in Metro Toronto. The Toronto• Star reports that police say the actual membership is closer to 40. , SV IN CBC has made no mention of cancelling those efforts as yet. All this has a rather special ironic twist. Although he is not Canadian Douglas happens to be a member of ACTRA but has stili been refused per- mission to work by his union. Maggie Smith has w'ithdrawn' from "Miss Sugar Plum" though and..Persoff has' said that if the battle between the CBC and ACTRA gets worse he'll drop nut of "The Making of the President: 1'944" in which he -is supposed to co-star with Douglas. ACTRA president Don Parrish Otits the union's position this way. "We are "We' should get rid of some of them (nnn-whites); "the party member tells the interviewer,". and send them back. You have a rotten apple, you throw the rotten apple out ','..„ The film opens and closes with films of actual arrests of illegal immigrants. One film clip shows a frightened foreigner being pulled out of a closet, handcuffed and led away. The NBC film crew, which spent two weeks An Toronto making the program segment., says that "instead of playing down the differences between groups, Canadian immigration policy tends to SEVEN against the importation of too many people. We have never said that we want to close the border. I regret that there's a Maggie Smith and a Melvyn Douglas involvr'd in this. A Nehemiah Persoff. . .no. '.'. (' love him and he's great, but I don't • lieve we need him." Pat r ,sh said ACTRA had "no control over what the CBC does. CBC says it can't shoot "The Great Detective" without Cuthbertson, and we say there's no need for him. Many of our members who were supposed to be in that cast agree." In the last three years, according to MacPherson, CBC -TV's ,drama emphasize them. In bad times, it's awfully easy to pick out.a target group not to like". Another scene shows a famkly celebrating Thanksgiving while oche narrator says that Thanksgiving "may soon be foreign to a majority of Toronto residents. What has been traditional in Toronto may soon disappear." Voicing over a scene. at Toronto International Airport,' Dobyns says, 'visible minorities in strange dress pass through gates to a country that does not welcome them with open arms." In another interview a .black youngster department employed 2,800 actors and of the 932 principal roles involved, only 28 were taken by foreign talent. presenting three percent of the total. The ACTRA membership is voting now on a new contract with CBC that would continue to give the network sole right of casting foreigners. If it is ap- proved and Actra blocks more foreign talent, the possibility exists of an in- junction against the union. Parrish concedes that the union will- continue ilycontinue to block virtually all- foreign talent that CBC wants to irliport over the next little while. The CBC has informed ACTRA that it of about 12 tells how he was taunted by three white children.. "I felt so stupid;" he recalls. ;;'I wanted to be white." •A black Toronto resident talks about white people's readiness to- fight when they see a black walking the street. He . . explains he can't understand that, "I cut you, you cut me ... gonna see blood." On the positive side Toronto en- trepeneur (Honest) Ed Mirivish says, "The mixture of different nationalities gives a city color and excitement and ,flakes itgreaa" Weekend is a monthly show calling itself a "television newsmagazine." is willing to discuss the border question on an industry -wide basis, but Parish said the union is unwilling because it would be outnumbered by represen- tatives of all TV productions in Canada and feature movie producers. As a viewer, one is inclined to at least one observation. If Canadian actors are allowed to totally, block- the import of offshore talent, • the quality of en- tertainment on,,.,:.C,B,C,.,,.,.is.....,.bound to deteriorate. Only through open com- petition can Canadian actors achieve their full potential and can Canadian viewers hope to enjoy the best dramatic productions possible. The ;first, half of +this• decade' withdrew from. the international stage presented the.years of South-east Asia and Attica' took its lace. s Newspaper'' s, :As We 'take.. step number two tnto,the gazines.,:.and, the el : • i ,, arms- of world. new a ectronlc' rnec�ia _second half of this decade, there, is every. mmitted the bulk 'of, their spade or rndication'•that• the next few. yieats:;wiii,,. e to°idevelopnients 'Otiosity Violent)'in belong as'mu'ch to Africa as the "astfew. at:_ cornu oP •the globe ,Vietnam, , 'itae e.be)nn ed -to letnam.`Thespo'u`ther m.bodi" cam g Y n and ..rThaltand 'becartye rniliar, almost' household -names. . Aboutrni way:tlrr'ou h7the h a 5 1 .. p '�, t. hittedThe A crier ica ?le" frog " ietna'tn Navin neg%tli►' at th e " � iled fae , eaC W t � hbrf the co'f t niat t " .ccs ori'ft'e'inti 4004 t u a l etnan e lfnit� ►r 'portion of the so-called''dark continent wtl take ry ter stage. , ' No' one seefnts to , realize,: t�fll$ tti`b " ciearlyi th'an`the'A'fricans, bothMack,a'►d`' wit . In'htsrYear s .., a'Willi' adore"�t'lli�ie t e b' ffi .o e .h hi? pe;4le,,;"Ili ti p'... --tu�olm0ilnistN d agaln$t'Sotith,Africa,�di e der :i'trrtmntifln'i'r, thi n'tnlr will have to face it alone." Vorster said .the Communists wanted to ,- ill;,p,tu�idate" South Africa- so they could dominate the southern tip of the continent. Ho characterized, the West as' -floun- dering, weak wilted and militarily in- ferior to the Comm anists.' "They have decided their only- c'ltance of weaning ,..,,. .;.,: , gthe Third World" from Mar tists-is-to accede to their every Wish7 he said, . i:in the event of a"cin rontatio J1' n in outh'ert :Africa, nation that "even iii ifess to be anti Comintinist will refuse elf arms-: to 'South.' f tics " V r ter iii+ Communist conventional li. especially on land but also in the air, on and under the sea, outstrips that of the free world. The West has not only lost the .initiative, is not only p i the defensive everywhere. but what is saddest of all, it has lost the will to take a firm stand against the ever increasing menace." "Ttics%a'rm-h s notu . r m struck yot, We are only expo, iencing_the whirlwinds that go 'before, it. It can 'pass Or' spend itself t f be ore f t strikes in7all,Its fur �ar►d even if the; signs arePositive thatit will strike we must -riot fear. Let ,the world know ware not to lie had for free," ,;Continuing to blast the West, Vorster .said the Soviets• had been allowed to I!: gamble and win in Angola. He said events in Angbla, Rhodesia--and-2-arnMn' had created uncertainty and had ad- versely affected foreign investment in South Africa. Alluding to recent riots -in the South ...African black townships he said his government's doors were open to black grievances. He said the riots "harmed South Africa inno uncertain manner", - I hope that nobody -will lend their. ears agitators, that hinkng, rown people will not allow young intimidators to lead them up the garden path," he said.. _ .-.._ Meanwhile the future of thg,Gent. .► conference on Rhodesia, set to resume on January 1.7, is far from secure. British chairman of that conference, Ivor Richard, hinted this week that the seventeenth might prove too early -surd said if such was -the -case.it-would have to be postponed. Talks on that situation are staletf5ated- over -the composition of an interim" government whictr would lead ,Rhodesia) during a two year transition to black Rhodesian Prime Ministe I rule; The s r an Smith will not 'agree to a British;.lnr:. -. volvementinthat, goyernmentand black • -::. 1raders,do`not went, to see control'of'the.: lice;' find .armed forces rt.‘maining white hands for possibly tv.. moieyears 1!