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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-04-07, Page 5,1 Now wait a minute. Don't go away. You're disappointed right? After madly dashing for the paper, ripping it open, and smiling in nticipation of devouring another week y dose of wit- ticism from Ron Shaw, you couldn't find him. Now you -are wondering who the hell Dave Sykes is, where Shaw went. Well Ron has decidedthat his future was in free lancing and as he hastily left., the office was mumbling something about the drudgery of the weekly newspaper business exceeding his low boredom threshhold. When Ron rejoined the staff of the Signal -Star in September, one stipulation was that he write a series of columns on local, national and in, ternational affairs, topped off with his own column. Thus, The Week After page was created. Tlie page achieved a hint of notoriety and 'with Ron's departure a replacement was required to write the five columns. Although -„I have honed my knack for avoiding work, I also seem to draw it like a=magnet�, Thu editor stormed into the pulsating newsroQrrt` one morning, breaking up a euchre game in progress, and explained, "Well guys Shaw will be leaving at the . end of March and we need someone to continue writing the five columns. Seddon what have you been up to lately,?" "When I finish writing five stories from the Board of Education that leaves me .with Housing Action Committee, Police Com mission, Industrial Com- mission and... T "Sounds good" to me," the editor said, • A Cana rocery e of ;uch Js, co cocoa, ake a )ntaria ecomei 0meon manif McC y, the ns w )tato file ca e in much ed a e taxa ests." ur gr -asp of. rot to rs •' the past year municipalities in unty have been forced to close, or rebuild several public ng the controversial closing of er of hospitals across the most notably Clinton and Psychiatric Hospital, the followed up with the inspection sequent closure of arenas. ing reports indicated that' ed arenas did not conform to "How about you Sykes? What have you been doing the last couple of months?" My attempted escape to the darkroom was halted at the editorial office door and I was forced to confront the situation. "Uh, Who me? What have I been doing? Well, let me see... Why just last week there was a hockey game and I'm pretty sure I was there and the seagulls are back on the beach and that might be worth a picture." The editor refused to buy my alibi. "1 expect to see the five columns on my desk no later than Monday," she said, "And I trust the quality of material will be on the level to which we are ac- customed." I felt naus � us. Certainly there must exist some (ort of work ethic that protects a man in. this ,s:#itat�fc _r magnet was drawing in full force, The major obstacle faced by -,p, columnist was what could 1 possibly r: write that people would want to read? Perhaps through my insight and pressive command of the language 1<' would become the champion of underdog, unveil corruption, extol the'. virtues of a just society and bring an end to crime, famine pestilence and disease. My better judgement surfaced and although the matter was approached with a bold confidence I still. knew I had nothing to write about. After all there was a certain personal satisfaction in playing euchre and my aspirations were limited. But life seemed so simple then. It's so much more complex now. K AFTER INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION HERE IN HURON building code and stress load standards required to meet approval for public safety. The, Province added a new chapter to the saga with the closure of seven race track grand stand facilities that could notkmeet safety standards. The seating facilities in Goderich, Clinton, Wood- stock, Elmira, Hanover, Owen Sound and Belleville were declared unsafe following a survey last fall by the firm of Morrison, Herchfield, Burgess and Higgins Limited of Toronto. A letter to the Goderich Racing Association from Racing Commission Chairman, Charles McNaughton, in- dicated that seating facilities in Goderich could be brought up to stan- dard at a cost of between $75,000 -and ',100,000. Clinton, on the other hand, is faced with an expenditure of $165,000 to repair the existing grandstand or +_.50,000 to build a new one. The Ontario Racing Commission has 'd,96,000 in its purse that was earmarked , for race track expansion or im- provement on matching grant basis, but with seven tracks closed the fund will be spread thin. If the grandstands are not' repaired, the Commission will not be able to issue alicence for the 1977 racing season. Following a special meeting attended by council members, the Clinton Agricultural Society and represen- tatives of the Kinsmen race committee, it was decided to proceed with the construction of a new grandstand at cost of $'50,000. The group also received 1 a guarantee from Michael Goddard, of Twin Locks Iron Works of Niagara Falls, that the grandstand would he complete for the first racing date, tine 26. Clinton council also made a 4me, mitment not to use tax dollars or obtain funding through a community canvass. It is hoped that tax dollars can he avoided through the use of local con- tractors, volunteer labor, Community Centre Board and Wintario grants and a financial commitment from the Kin smen Club. The town of Goderich has not made any commitments as council awaits a reply from the Ministry of Consumer and Corporate Affairs on a report filed last week by the Kleinfelt Group, an engineering firm retained by the town. The hope here is to convince the Ministry that the grandstand is only in seasonal use and therefore snow load factors cannot be taken into account. Regardless of the decision both• communities are continuing plans to ensure racing for the 1977 season. 11 are th idyb rthisy rev nuedoi lay ready for an election? It may rialize but many government mitred they were itching for an nd with the NDP party intent ucing a vote of non -confidence, tive survival will depend on the ader Stephen Lewis said his prepared 'to propose an am - to the throne speech, which onstitute the ,vote of non - and although it hasn't been would include economic and policy. PROVINCIAL POINTS The Liberals, the least likely party to eagerly seek an election, are trailing in the polls and leader Stuart Smith said the caucus would have to review the ammendment before making any decisions. Smith did admit after the throne speech that although it was full of generalities it did not contain anything offensive and he wouldn't propose a non- confidence motion. Lewis meanwhile conceded that the Tories did make some concessions in the speech but that the NDP could demonstrate in its motion ;w.o ye )ayef las gi r co sport which' ,pprec )ur A Hill 'il 29th' r Day nessa impo. ricture. •ance leanli phasi ope rued oa an Finance Minister, Donald ld, in handing down his second ince his appointment to the 18 months ago, has been for his unemployment relief s and concessions to business rations. nd price controls will remain a life until October 14 or until and lahr groups can agree to a of oluntary restraint. Macdonald's central issue was g out of controls an attempt to the economy was made • by corporate and personal income how much further the government should have gone with its programs. Lewis wouldn't expand but explained that there was a range of additional legislation that should be implemented and the motion would include the alternatives that the NDP Party could offer to the voters. Lewis introduced the amendment on Monday and the vote will come on April 18 at the conclusion of the throne speech debate. Also in the opening ministerial statement of the fourth session of the legislature of Ontario, Treasurer Darcy McKeough, stated that the Ontario budget deficit will he $158 million higher than anticipated. Surprise! Earlier statements from that Ministry indicated that the pro.vinces financial progress was on target as laid out in McKeough's budget of last April. McKeough explained that the govern- ment simply overestimated the revenues which could be attributed to a poorer economic performance than was CANADA IN SEVEN taxes by almost $1.2 billion and an ad- ditional $100 million was allocated for a job creation'program. the major citicism offered by Con- servative and New Democratic Party spokesmen was that the $100 million job creation program could at hest produce 50,000 man years' employment, which would hardly dent the record 932,000 unemployment figure recorded in February. Macdonald's stimulus was cautiously applied towards increased investment and relieving unemployment in poorer regions of the country. Mac- donald said the budget was to achieve two objectives; to keep inflation down and to encourage n steady and non- inflationary growth in the economy or to simply provide jobs and reduce the unemployment figures. Despite the job creation stimulus, the unemployment figures will likely remain high and could extend into the next year or until the labour force is ready to expand. The relief in personal income tax was directed at Canadians earning less than $:'3,000 and will increase the federal tax credit to nine per cent and add 4100 to the $150 employment expense deduction. Two other changes that will cost the government $390 million in taxation dollars are that Canadians will be able to claim an . additional $50 for each dependant child under age i8 and under the tax credit scheme, designed to give some relief for lower and middle income wage earners, taxpayers may claim between a minimum of $:'00 to a maximum of $500. The corporate tax changes are geared to promote investment and improve the business cash flow to accommodate ekpansion and cash flow. A five percent originally anticiapted when the budget was drawn. The government expenditures were under the estimated figure of W'.576 billion by $11 million but the estimated revenue decrease of $169 million leaves a net loss of $158 million. McKeough in- sisted that the deficit would not necessitate public borrowing since outstanding bills were reduced by $195 million during the year. The affected revenues were personal income tax• retail sales tax. corporate income tax and liquor price increases. tax credit that was instituted as an in- centive to manufacturing and resource industries will stay in effect for three years. To promote growth in slow regions the tax will rise to 71,4 in certain cases and -10 percent in others. In an effort to rejuvenate shareholder investment the tax credit on dividends will rise to 50 percent and capital gains income will be iricluded in the $1,000 exemption for interests and dividends and the capital losses a taxpayer can offset will double to $2.000. To promote business, inflation will he taken into account for inventory values McKeough also blamed the anti-inflation control program and the economic uncertainty created by the Quebec election last November. Liberal leader Stuart Smith said the province is in trouble and challenged McKeough over the province's estimated growth rate for the year. Other MPP's challenged that the deficit was much larger.than the budget showed but McKeough refused to comment. He is expected to introduce a new Ontario budget April 19. and capital gains have been deferred on the sale of businesses and farms provided the sale is pegged to a related purchase elsewhere. Canadian sales and production has hcen growing too slowly the past year to absorb the labour force growth. The hudget has attempted to deal with unemployment but critics, view the measures as limited. The hudget is laced with caution in terms of dealing with the pressures of inflation but Macdonald claimed that inflation cannot he solved with short term stimulation. Parti ane. son it nt. ugutal -uro', sick bie P ndit9 ill fu argot stern wed the iof8ii iva! I, y: Ys have finally been cleared of n Santa Cruz De Tenerife the worst aviation disaster in at claimed more than 570 lives d several others. mg almost a, week of con- + Dutch and Spanish in - r8 said that the KLM Royal rlines jumbo jet aircraft was ted takeoff clearance when it Pnhe American ayand slammed e • an Airways jet. ator also atihe Dutchn Am jet investiproceeded e point at whichit was hit, by WORLDWEEK the KLM jet. Working from taped conversations between the two planes and the control tower,,Franz van Rejsen, head of the investigating team from the Dutch Civil Aviation Authority, said the KLM pilot had been given preliminary clearance but not final takeoff clearance. Rejsen said that contrary to normal procedure the KLM plane started, presumably resulting from a misunderstanding in, the KLM cockpit about the'position of the Pan American lane on the runway. Grouind fog at the airport had reduced visibility to 330 yards and the . Pan American plane was hit at a 45 degree angle as it swerved onto the grass to avoid the KLM plane. Four electronic boxes and a tape recorder were flown to the United States late last week to- help answer some questions surrounding the crash. Cock- pit voice recorders and digital flight recorders were turned over to U.S. investigators in Washington by Spanish authorities. U.S. Chief Investigator, William Haly, said the information supplied would reveal'' the, speed` and direction of both planes and' possibly confirm the theory that the KIM jetliner L'1 was airborn'at ttie time of the crash. investigating authorities were already bent on laying the blame on the KLM jel and further investigations are being conducted to answer crucial questions. There is still uncertainty as to why the KLM jetliner tried to takeoff without clearance from. the control tower, whether or not the Pan Am plane taxied beyond the runway exit that would have taken it out of the path of the Dutch plane and also in question are the instructions from' the Spanish control tower. Investigations carried out by the Dutch team indicate that the KLM plan`ie was not cleared for takeoff but they could not determine why the pilot ignored airport rules and prepared for takeoff. This statement has caused concern among KLM officials who have asked Spanish authorities to repudiate statements that blamed a veteran Dutch pilot for the disaster. An airline spokesman said that it was unthinkable that their most experienced pilot, Capt. '2.A. Veldhuizen van Zantcn. would ever have set off without final clearance from the control tower. Meanwhile teams of dentists have been sent to the site to identify the remains of the charred bodies, as dental records were the only alternative in identifying, 90 percent of the bodies. Insurance companies are going wild as the Pan Am jet was insured for $23 million and the K LM jet for $40 million. international treaties also call for N60.000 payment for each European passenger and 4.75,000 for each American passenger killed. When the controversy is settled, the worst aviation disaster in history can only do for Pan Am and KCM what Legionnaires disease did for a hotelitt• Philadelphia. ,