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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-10-27, Page 5'ay C by 'arnet Stand ecause ods due .a power, re MF. orce th eau an ick do ;o be ick c jointed ;er to task' rs ac ently in 0 t of use Fr don't ch s 'urn to lke open )the .ea. has, :ausiog is and, ern, Sunk actio )uth. ma h g and da the sgkes Journalists across. the country waited in agony as the details of the story un- folded Monday afternoon. And when the drama had ended, late in the evening in a north section of Mon- treal, a 22 -year-old journalistic confrere was credited with saving the lives of 13 bank employees held hostage by an armed robber who was determined to die to avoid capture. Serge Labrosse, a reporter with the tabloid newspaper Journal de Montreal, acted as mediator when the robber was trapped in the bank • by police and later drove the getaway car containing three other hostages. Following a discreet tracking operation police recovered the money, hostages and have a 35 -year-old male suspect. Naturally the first impulse of editorial - writers, columnists and jocks across the country was to jump up on their typewriters and applaud the noble and unselfish deed of our Montreal munities in Huron County have tentative approval to a county- olice communications system. ve municipalities in the county ceived approval for the system at uncil level. Exeter town council ed the concept in principle at ast regular meeting after only a iscussion. ussion on the proposal was held in the meeting with Exeter Police Ted Day, and the group was in ent to enter into a new 'central communications system with the er municipalities. one veteran councillor, Derry colleague. But quite frankly the ramifications of the heroic; Lave some of us clutching our carriages in despair. "It was truly a noble deed by that fellow Labrosse and perhaps a major triumph for journalists but we still cannot regard it as a cause-6elebre," a compatriot of the pulsating newsroom commented. "Will we be expected to leap from our typewriters at the command of the Defense Minister or even the Prune Minister to quell a -disturbance in a Burlington suburb or come to grips with organized crime on the city streets?" "Truly a disturbing, thought," I countered. "But I can't imagine that criminals would give themselves up in fear of facing our lot." "Do the heads of government and the general public now, view their local editors as champions of justice?" he insisted. "It is a most distressing situation but GOIDERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 1977 --PAG M: certainly the country cannot expect city editors to be more powerful than a locomotive or leap tall buildings in a single bound," I said. "Surely it is common knowledge that journalists have trouble, clearing low bar stools at best." "Exactly my sentiments," he replied. 'Why this Labrosse fellow, with one deft display of heroism, has ruined a reputation that took journalists years to build. One that any foreign correspon- dent could take pride in," "But what admirable reputation is it! that you speak of?" I asked. "Surely ypu jest?" he said. "Why our. journalistic fraternity ranks among the heaviest drinkers in the world and any consuming columnist would boast of that." Now I see. And this young upstart Labrosse is trying to steer us on the path of righteousness and champion of the underdog," 'I said. "Then it is not in- conceivable that the day is soon upon us -- when RCMP officials, after having exhausted all lead in pursuing a public enemy, will turn to the editor of the.. Beaver Bi -weekly and say we have done all we can, you must serve' your coun- try." "Yes I fear it will soon come to that," he said. "And it will become impossible for anyone to stray from the law for fear that a managing editor or copy boy is lurking in the shadows to ensure that justice prevails." "I guess we must just accept our new role," I said. "But certainly many reporters, in the persuit of justice, will be injured leaping from third floor office windows." "Quite true," my colleague replied. "And what conscientious newspaper accountant would approve an expense account that included a bill for the in- stallation of a phone booth in the newsroom?" WEEK AFTE INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION HERE. IN HURON Boyle, objected to the proposal and said he was not convinced the town needed it. Boyle's opposition centered on breaking the cost down on a per capita basis. He believes that all towns should share equally in the project, However the motion from council did not indicate whether the location of the system was preferred in Goderich or Clinton. Council did not make any suggestions on a cost sharing sch'me either. The system which will connect all county police departments to a central system in either Clinton or Goderich; is expected to cost Exeter approximately $14,000. But the Provincial Government will pick up about 75 perceiit of that ,-under a cost,sharing agreement with the municipalities. The monthly operating cost for each municipality has been estimated at $827, That cost is comparable to what .the community is paying for an answering service.. But while the system is appealing for police protection some concerns have been directed towards fire" emergency calls. Clinton was the last council to approve the communications system and did so at their last council meeting this week. But the site of the communications system may not be resolved for some time. In other county news, Goderich town council agreed to pursue the Neigh- bourhood Improvement Program (NIP) for a 23 -block residential area in the north-east corner of town, after learning 'that a federal government grant of $400,000 has been approved. Derek Little, of Municipal Planning Consultant% informed council that although the cost is shared by the federal and provincial governments and the municipality, only the federal share is allotted until the town decides what has to be done. The town had originally intended to spend an estimated $1.6 million in the area on improving sewers and water - mains and vpther related services, The section of town eligible for the grant is bounded by Victoria Street, Elgin Avenue, •Albert Street and Gloucester Terrace. Little told council that the federal government would pay half the cost of soft services such as parks and other recreation facilities leaving the town and province to pay 25 percent each. If the town proceeds with hard services it will share 50 percent of the cost with Ottawa and the Province splitting the remainirg 50 percent, Little explained that since the federal government grant of $400,000 is ap- proved the town can proceed with the second stage of the program, which will involve allocation of funds. Public meetings will have to be organized to determine many of the neighbourhood needs. The town can pull out of the project any time before actual construction and be responsible for processing costs only. nickel mining community of was shocked last week as the dose to 100,000 now faces the. lityof losing 2,800 jobs. Ltd„ announced last Thursday at onto head office that it would the work force by a fifth at the mine and refinery that are the ne of the Sudbury economy. ompany is eliminating about 650 its mine and refinery in Thom- anitoba, a town whose only in - is nickel mining. The United Steel sof America, union of 1,800 of the yworkers to be laid off, called the PROVINCIAL POINTS layoff the worst blow to hit Sudbury in memory. The union predicted that the cutback would take $40 million out of the Sudbury economy annually. Now Sudbury merchants for the first time, are worried they may be driven out of business and some ' are even considering moving to other towns. The Inco layoffs came as no real surprise since the company had predicted such a move for -months after sales fell and inventories piled up. The same type of situation existed in Falconbridge but this week all 4,000 employees of the smaller Falconbridge unto 1 ;hr a eel Ib till girls nby gS tel ned arse is tl. six ng dian Finance Minister Jean n unveiled a mini -budget in last Thursday that featured tax for middle-income earners, I removal of wage and price Is, 'spending on make-work s and further- subsidy for job on. the announcement the federal ent's wage and price control will be phased out over,a year ext April 14, but wage controls 'tightened until then, that means trol program will continue for signing new wage contracts until ,1978. nickel mines went back to work after a four-week layoff. Workers there still face short term layoffs until inventories dwindle and sales pick up. The industry sells nickel and other base metals and has been in a slump since the start of the current recession. Inco's sales for the third quarter this year were $425 million compared with $512 million last year and production will be 10 percent lower for this 'year. The layoffs had a marked effect on the stock exchange as news drove the company's stock down $1.25 a share to $19.75. But the layoffs are also going to have a disasterous effect on the community that basically relies on the payroll of Inco. An assistant hank manager claimed the layoffs would involve a payroll of about $3 million which will hurt the com- munity in many respects. Banks have indicated they may be forced to lay people off and many of the merchants are going to have to evaluate their financial situations more carefully. The union called it the equivalent of closing down a town the size of Elliot Lake. Many of the workers who were laid off at the Falconbridge mine simply moved CANADA IN SEVEN In a televised speech before the House of Commons Chretien announced more major measures to boost the economy that were contained in the last budget of Donald Macdonald on March 31. That budget has still not been passed by the House. In the speech Chretien announced personal tax cuts of up to $100 for low and middle income taxpayers. Therefore a married taxpayer with two children and an income of $15,000 a year will receive an additional $50 in take- home pay during the months of January and February. Under the tax break scheme about six million taxpayers will receive the full $100 cut and about 1.5 million people will receive a tax cut of up to $100.' The maximum $100 benefit will go to single taxpayers earning $6,000 to $15,000 while married taxpayers with children will he eligible for the maximum benefit while earning up to $16,000 per year. • Chretien was pessimistic about the economy and will shell out another $150 million to be spent between now and March 31 on work projects. The $450 million in job -creation programs the government had already announced for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1978. will be extended with another $450 million being spent on job programs such as Canada Works. A new program of employment credits to promote , job creation by private business will be introduced at an ex- pected cost of up to $100 million in saved federal taxes. To pay for these programs the government's deficit forecast has been increased by $1.6 billion. That will now increase the national deficit to over $7 billion more than twice the deficit of the revious year. If the anti-inflation regulations were left untouched then wage increases of more than 8 per cent would have been allowed because the government was to other towns like Elliot Lake where the uranium mines were hiring additional workers and it will likely happen in this case. But if several workers seek em- ployment in different towns it will remove a lot of money from the Sudbury economy. But the union claims the 2,800 layoffs are only scratching the surface of the potential problem. Union officials said that 1,100 students were hired last summer; 1,400 the summer before and probably none next summer. Some of the unable to meet its inflation cutting target. But now the government will tighten wage controls until April 14 allowing a maximum of six per cent for wage increases. In his address Chretien said the Canadian economy is'' facing difficult times for which' there were no miracle solutions. He added that progress would he slow and require hard work, more productivity, lower expectations and greater responsibility on the part of all Canadians. Chretien emphasized the fact that the solution to the problems were not easy and will not come from the government. remaining 80 percent of the employees will bedemoted and their pay cut. But the union is bitter and claims that Inco was passing on to the employees the burden of its own bad planning. They believe the company should have dipped intothe profits to offer early retirement for senior employees. However the union is still optimistic. thatthe nickel market will improve late next year, With the reduction in the labor force the company will cose its Copper Cliff North Mine in Sudbury and its Birchtree mine in Thompson. He claimed the resources of the government were limited and we must avoid building Canada into a society where everything comes from the state. To avoid that situation there were no new social programs or greatly in- creased government spendin Chretien has put some of the imus on Canadians and said that to maintain our standard of living, which may he the highest in the world, we must work harder, be more efficient and more productive. He' reminded members of the House that the country had been too gond for too many of them to let it be destroyed. to the regularity of hijackings the world, many of which are .d from terrorist organizations bcity, money and the freedom of the group members, pilots ke world have threatened a two - 'lots want some action from the Nations general assembl and a aldeim, secretaryy l, has the head of the AiirlinePilots tion for talks on ways to cure gs' But Waldheim admitted it , robably take months for the WORLDWEEK world body to pass a motion condemning air piracy. Pilots have threatened to start a 48 hour strike in protest against the slaying of the captain of the West German jetliner hijacked last week. The strike could strand thousands of passengers at airports around the world but Derry Pearce, president of the Pilots Association, said it could be avoided if the UN listens to his demands for an international convention against hijacking. In fact security is. so last at many airports around the world that hijackers can strike any time they choose. The exception is Tel Aviv's heavily guarded Ben-Gurion international airport. The military dictatorships in South America have their own form of security precautions; there is no bargaining with hijackers, ransoms are not paid and hijackers usually end up dead in an airport shootout. In Ethiopia, armed guards aboard the planes shoot hijackers first and then ask questions later. The methods may vary with some countries but the result is generally favorable in deterring hijackings. A worldwide survey by United Press International shows that with the ex- ception of the United States there are few, if any; security restrictions on in- ternational flights and that checks on international flights range from good in a few countries to very poor in most. Following the massacre of the Israeli sports team in the 1972 Munich Olympics the West Germans imposed ultra tight security precautions at its airports. These airports are now guarded with the Union there are few security checks on same federal border protection troops domestic flights using short-range who staged 'the rescue mission at planes. 14 gadishu; Somalia last week. The survey indicated there were tight controls on international flights in Switzerland and perhaps among the toughest in the world. Other airports with tight security included Cairo, all Scandinavian countries, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Buenos Aires, Moscow, Manila, Amsterdam and San Juan. The survey also named some foreign airports with fair to good security but in most countries, including the Soviet Controversy still shrouds the hijacking of the West German airliner, the killing of the hijackers and the subsequent suicides or murders of four other gang members in maximum security jails at Stammhein near Stuttgart. The prison director was -fired immediately when it was learned that the gang members had attempted suicide. But now officials are questioning the possibility of murder because of the angle of bullets found in the bodies and the fact that it would have been .i•m- possible for the prisoners to have guns in such a tight security prison. ti Pry