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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-03-17, Page 4ti 4 SIICsNAL•STAR, THURSDAY MAtC�H ti-, l5xi� People put down When Goderich`,Town Council agreed to rescind a motion to provide two or three complete packets of information for spectators at every council meeting, it lett itself wide open for some bitter criticism, There is no doubt that some people in this com- munity will,,,construe council's action as just another effort to block the flow of public information. What's worse, the net result will probably be to give taxpayers yet another excuse to stay home on Monday evenings and let council deliberate all by itself. To be fair, those council members who voted against the prepared packets were interested in two things - saving money and saving face. In the first instance, council was told Monday evening that each packet cost about $5 to prepare. It wasn't difficult then, to reason that if less packets were prepared, re dollars could be cut from the bud t - as much as $15 per meeting; $45 per month; $500 over a year. Nor was it unreasonable to project that if the production of the packets were not. carefully controlled, the numbers needed 'for- spectators might grow to a cumbersome and extremely expensive number. Better to rescind a bad motion immediately, council seemed to agree, then it let it get out of hand. In the second instance, some councillors were concerned that certain confidential information would fall into the hands of the public before' it had been thoroughly discussed by council. As Deputy -reeve Eileen Palmer pointed out, it was dangerous to allow copies of certain papers to be released before discussion had been heard on the matter, before all aspects of the problem had been explained and clarified. Councillor John Doherty said it wasn't proper; Councillor Bob Allen said it was "treading on delicate ground". Also in fairness, it must be admitted by this newspaper that Goderich Town Council is among the most open and forthright public bodies Signal -Star reporters work with. In almost every case, there is complete co-operation between the town council and its ad- ministration with this . newspaper's editor and staff. It is a pleasant and rewarding relationship. Still, there is a low level of public participation at council meetings. When council approved the inclusion of a citizens' question and answer period at the close of each council meeting, this newspaper cheered. When council agreed last week to supply up to three copies of the agenda plus all related letters and committee reports in a prepared packed, this newspaper was encouraged again that gradually, more ratepayers would get down to town hall from time to time to sit in on a council meeting. That's a healthy situation in any community. In the past few years, it has only been rare occasions when the council chambers was visited by spectators. Council itself has chastised Goderich citizens for their lack of interest in municipal affairs. Surely in the interest of public participation, $15 per week ... a high and grossly distorted estimate ... is a modestinvestment to make, especially when the request for the expenditure came from the people in the first place. - SJK The impression Who hasn't heard the stories abo the Ontario Good Roads Associate conventions in .Toronto through t years? Who hasn't picked up the ide either from comments by council lo or from items in the news media - th the O.G.R,A. convention is a bigboo bash in the city to'which, municip councillors from the length a breadth of the province flock masse? Why, even Goderich's ow elected representatives joked this ye about the need to get to the,conventio ' 'the night before it began in order become "accli`matized". Conventions can indeed have mor hospitality suites than seminar room more hanky-panky than learning Anyone who has ever been to a co vention anywhere knows that ever convention has its share of delegate who arrive at the meeting plac determined not to let business interfer with pleasure. ' But conventions - even O.G.R.A conventions - can be tremendousl enlightening gatherings. Sometimes Conventions are the only opportunitie people have to meet with men.an women with similar problems an goals. For those who take convention seriously, they are worthwhile ex periences. Apparently Goderich.. Town Counci delegates Don , Wheeler and Eileen Palmer went to Toronto to be informed at the O.G.R.A. convention. While both Councillor Wheeler and Deputy -reeve Palmer- complained about the net results of the convention, Wheeler took the time and the effort to put his ut thoughts down on paper so that those on ideas could be presented to council in,. he a form which would invite further' a - . study and thought. rs According to Wheeler, not only did at the convention fall short of meeting its ze own objectives he found the voice of al _ individuals and individual rad municipalities seriously "diluted".. en Wheeler feels strongly that delegates n. to the O:G. R.A. convention sjiould band ar together into larger delegations - his n suggestion was for a Huron County to delegation so that collectively the delegates would have a stronger, more e authoritive impact on the s, deliberations, In a sense, Deputy -reeve Palmer n- said the same thing, for she told y council most of.the topics at the con- s vention were geared to larger e municipalities. Perhaps the deputy - e reeve would have felt less sidelined -if she had been part of a larger delegation which could have lobbied y effectively for greater emphasis on , Smaller centres. s Many of Councillor Wheeler's ob- d servatiohs provoke thought, and it is to d be hoped that his comments will reach s some of the delegates and convention organizers before the next convention rolls round. In the meantime, O.G.R.A. officials should consider well The Toronto Star editorial about the convention which left the distinct impression that high finks and merriment are the ,main order of business when "the boys from rural Ontario come into the big city" for the O.G.R.A, convention. - SJK Ka) the 4otit rich - SIGNAL—STAR —0 — TM County Town Newspaper of Huron —0 — Founded in 1676 and published every 'Thursday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of tib CWNA and OWNA. Advertising rates on request. Subscriptions payable in advance 112.00 In Canada, 215.60 to U.S.A., 620.00 to ail other countries, single copies 25 cents. Display advertising rates available on request. Please ask for Rate Card No. 7 effective Oct. 1,,, 1676. Second class mall Registration Number 0716, Advertising is accepted on the con- dition that, In the event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with reasonable allowance for aignatwe, will not be charged Inc but the balance of the advertisement will be paid Tor at the applicable rate. in the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goads or nervi e may not be sold, AdvenMing Is merely an offer :ascii, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Sigaai-Star is not reipanslble for the loss dr damage of umoikfted masaacrlpha or pia. Business and Editorial Office TELEPHONE 524-133i area code SH Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. ROBERT 6, SHRIER -- president and publisher SHIRLEY J. KELLER editor EDWARD J. BYRSKI — advertising manager Mailing Address: P.O. BOX S20, Ooderk$, . . id dam mliil, rat lild t1vmb,,— 716 Spring breakup BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER "We have a first-rate education system in. the Province of Ontario. Yet that is not the impression we get from the ,instant com- mentators of nightly television, itinerant soothsayers from our universities /or itchy politicians who seem bent on creating a vote -getting issue for the next provincial election." That was; the .introduct ori statement made by Man Murray, president of the Ontario 'Secondary Sehool TeachersFederation, second vice-president of the Ontario Teachers' Federation and a director of the Canadian Teachers' Federation when he spoke recently to the Ontario Secondary School Headmasters' Council. And that's quite a mouthful, but it is indeed a thought that is shared by a good many school teachers in this province today. Mr.' Murray went on. "So what has the man on the street been hearing? If he has DEAR read any daily newspaper in the lastsix months or listened with reasonable faithfulness to any radio or television newscast in that' time, he has heard that Ontario high schools turn out graduates with unacceptable readingor writing skills, graduates who lack appropriate skills in mathematics. The public, I'm sure, pictures a walking educational disaster area who would score fifty per cent if asked .. to spell- his -+iown name, without coaching assistance." To be sure, Mr. Murray is exaggerating for the purpose of his speech. Speaking now for this area of H.uron County in particular, I would say that while people here are con- cerned about the way in. which the educational system is administered - that is to say, the remoteness of the board and, .the loss of that personal contact with the board trustees - few actually would dispute that most children are leaving school better prepared to meet the By Dave Syk READERS world head on than they did. TO be sure, there are some youngsters who .can't spell - well ... some who can't solve a mathematical problem without a calculator at the elbow. But in general, the young men afid women who leave high school these days are well informed in- dividuals, with a limited knowledge of many, many subjects and a specific ability to question, to think, to reason . ARO that, - after all, s what education is all about. To be able to spell 'sanguinary' correctly is not nearly so important as to understand how a municipal council functions and for what purpose it is main- tained, + • Mr, Murray has a point. He feels that "an entire generation of students is being unjustly maligned" by sensation -hunting, news media and uninformed politicians looking for 'votes. And Mr. Murray feels that teachers will! have to counter with contrary facts to prove that today's young people are among the best educated young people to ever leave school at any time in the province's history. statistics which show .that in just '20 years, enrolment in the province's schools has increased byleaps and bounds. In 1955, there were 61,911 Grade 9 students in Ontario. Twenty years later, in 1975 there were 163,004 Students enrolled in Grade 9. :. But wait: Twenty-two years, ago. in 1955 there were 10,799 students in Grade 13 in Ontario. In 1975, 20 years later, there were 54,141 students enrolled in. Grade 13 in this province. From this, it isn't too dif- ficult to see that a larger and larger percentage of Ontario young people are graduating from high school. In 1954, 42 per cent of students coming into highschool stayed in school and finished Grade 12. In 19-4, that percentage had risen to 61 percent. In 1955, only 12 percent of the youngsters who came into Grade 9 graduated. from e Leave her alone Dear Editor: I would like to comment briefly on some news of the past two weeks Margaret Trudeau. The reaction of the news media and general public has made me furious. Why can't people leave well enough alone? She is just human and for some reason if she steps off the pedestal "we" have DEAR EDITOR created for her "we" are there to condemn. The London Free Press of last Friday contained . an excellent article by Alice Linden. It should be read by everyone: it's so truthful it almost hurts. Sure, she is our Prime Minister's wife and what she does -in that capacity is of concern to us but her private life is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. Try putting yourself in "her shoes" and see how you feel. Brenda Thompson R.R. 5, Goderich Jubilee suggestions Dear Editor, Thank you for sending the February I7th issue of your, paper: Please find enclosed 50 cents to cover this. I read where they are looking for promotional and money making ideas. I know what I would be in the market for: photograph albums with pictures of the Goderich landmarks on the cover. They produce these now, with plastic pages and beautiful covers. Lots of photos will be taken during your celebrations. Pictures are available of the railway station, down by the - beach, the jail, 'the Square. etc. Perhaps some conipany could mass produce some of these in time. The Grade 13. By 19; percentage had gone per cent. In 1956, only 22,869 were . fulltime stud Ontario universities number had incr 155.558 by 19-5. In .42 per cent of Ontario population university. By 119 figure had risen to cent. ' Even though mo arooing through th and more and m people are receiving level of educatioq -universities have recognized that theq the average stud changed, for the bett Universities have an increase in the n A marks earned bys "These facts can only one of two cont says Murray, "Ei universities are some of their marks, are receiving a level of student from (continued town Crest could corporated also, ' All Mrs. R udo c Poor altern Dear Editor: A previous lettet editor showed my ;(continued p 0 ul oc .pi int m y iei rt to gh ast Joh era (1 e Ina log e sa ied A redi e fi y fo nce he e Co a cas inmi uld a 1 an 96 - e Act ctiol tial Une durif eeks ter, 1 ent Umpi ion 46 75YEARSAGO The members of Inverness Camp, S.O.S., are specially requested to turn out on Friday evening to a smoking concert to be held after the regular meeting. A good program has been provided by the entertainment com mittee and it is hoped to make this a happy and successful beginning .01 a series of en- tertainments, Allen P. Warren informs The Star. that .he ,has 24 chickens. all - brown Lejhorns, except three, for Setters.' From the bunch he received during the last week in February no less than eleven dozen eggs. On Saturday evening about 8:00 'p m. the watchman at the Organ factory detected smoke, and a search showed that it ' Came ' from tale finishing department.;. 'He Called Out, :but instead of running . to . the ' telephone, ditlected the: eempany's hese and. in a few rQomentsthe fire *St'.under. control.,. KING 25 YEARS AGO One of the smartest stores of its kind in this part of Western Ontario, a modern groeeteria; is opening soon on. The Square in the Bedrod Hotel Block, Proppriefor'of-the new store is Hoa%trd Blue. the. 'Alexandra Hospital Board is going, to ask the Town, Council for fitlancial assistance to the extent of '55,000, the estimated amount - of; th operMlng deflclt for the current year • There *IP - , a bi • meeting held in the town hal!, auditorium next Wednesday evening to discuss the question of a suitable celebration for the ]25th anniversary of the founding of Goderich. It is apparent that the Department df highways ' is. willing to approve a town bylaw setting a speed limit of 20 . miles per hour an the Square; 5 YEARS AGO The Nature Group at Out Goderich. and ' Di$tehat 1, • Collegiate Institute: that about 100 si from Goderich Wer on their petition loot tial regulate' snowmobiles, and forwardeci'to prime William Davis. Although ee been no formal thrp made to the Hurst` Board of Education, Ontario Depart Education 'upd toric Soba "on the bo Dii°ectoe M gd hranit. ng tc Pra, edete die airs lona rig � 111q k+� ar