HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-03-22, Page 4. rt
PAGE 4 —GODERICH SIGNAL-STe►R, THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 1979
Goderich`
SIGNAL—STAR
The County Town Newspaper of Huron
Founded In 11140 and published ovary Thursday at Ooderlch, Ontario. Member of the OWNA
and OWNA. Advertising ratan on request. Subscriptions payable In advance •14.30 in
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Business and Edjtorial Office
TELEPHONE 524-8331
area code 519
Published by Signal -Star Publishing. Ltd. •
ROBERT G. SHRIER - president and publisher
SHIRLEY J. KELLER — editor
DONALD M. HUBICK - advertising manager
Mailing Address:
P.O. BOX 220, Industrial Park, Giaderich
Second class mail registration number — 0716
United solution too
Canadian unity. Those words strike fear into the
hearts of politicians across the land. Canadian
unity. The seemingly elusive dream of many of this
country's brightest minds. Canadian unity. The
desire of thinking Canadians who believe in the
union of provinces and people.
According to the provincial minister of consumer
and commercial relations, the Hon. Frank Drea,
the fate of Canada rests with Ontario. He says
Ontario is the centre of Confederation. He says
Ontario will lead the way to Canadian unity.
It was a pleasing speech by Mr. Drea in Exeter.
Just the sort of thing the Progressive Conservative
party supporters in the area would like to hear. In
fact, any Canadian who really believes in Con-
federation and loves this great country, would be
delighted to learn that Ontario has the answers to
the dilemma.
But alas, it doesn't seem likely that Ontario has
any more solutions than any of the other ten
provinces. While the viewpoint of Premier William
Davis may appear reasonable and acceptable to the
people who live in Ontario, there are widening
barriers of thought among all Canadians ... distinct
differences that aren't isolated to the province of
Quebec.
One only has to watch the 10 provincial, premiers
in discussion for a short time to perceive that there
are many serious difficulties between Alberta and
Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and British Columbia,
New Brunswick and Manitoba. Certainly Ontario
has a role to play but it is no more and no less im-
portant than the role of any other province in
Canada.
Surely the answer rests with the people of all 10
provinces who are being educated through a series
of sometimes frightening and dangerous actions by
Canadians from coast to coast, to understand and
respect the regional and provincial differences that
exist now and forever. Surely to love Canada is to
be tolerant of all Canadians, their heritage, their
cultures, their aspirations. - SJK
Area surgeon writes to Minister
Rules cannot control disease
OPEN LETTER
TO HEALTH MINISTER
HON.
DENNIS TIMBRELL
Dear Sir :
I am writing to you with
regard to recent
"directives" from your
ministry pertaining to the
provision of health care
the number of beds in one
local hospital (Goderich)
from the present level of
71 to 43.
Over the last few
months the level of oc-
cupancy of these beds has
been 90 percent (I agree
that this is already above
the level of safety and
means mixing young and
in this province's - old patients, clean and
hospitals. infected cases etc., but
I. You are suggesting these measures have
that existing hospital been forced upon us by
beds be left unoccupied in previous reductions in the
order to reduce the hospital's budget).
numbers available to an. This means that if your
arbitrary level of 3.5 beds proposals become reality
per 1,000 population. we shall be forced to turn
Why? away a number of people
Please don't trot out the requiring acute hospital
hoary' myth of runaway care. Where shall we
send them Mr. Timbrell?
When our "allocation"
is full, what shall I say to
the parents of the child
with acute appendicitis -
take your child home - its
chances of surviving any
resultant peritonitis is
one in. ten?`
Certainly that is an
emotional argument and
advisedly so - some
people actually care
about what happens to
their families.
health costs - health -
care's percentage of the
GPP has been declining
for the last three years
and is now, at 4.13 per-
cent, at its lowest point in
this decade.
These figures are from
the Ontario Hospital
Association - if you are
not familiar with them,
try reading the findings
of your own Elgie Select
Committee on Health
Care Costs.
The number of
available beds for active
treatment patients in this
province went down from 3. Do you think that by
5.25 per 1,000 in 1960 to 4.5 legislation you can
in 1976; that is the lowest control the amount of
ratio of any province disease in society?
except Newfoundland. Well, history is full of
So, why? examples of a little power
going to the heads of little
+ + - men - remember King
. Canute and his advisors?
2. Your proposed I am told that Idi Amin,
"formula" would reduce in Uganda,,has attempted
71- + -1-
to abolish certain in-
fectious diseases by
making them illegal - an
intellectual feat on a par
with your own-.
-l- -F- +
4. ,? You are also
proposing that if a
hospital provided ser-
vices to sick people
beyond the guidelines
that you have thought up,
such a hospital would be
fined ($12,000 per hospital
bed in excess of your
formula).
Now let's look at that
one. The people of this
community have spent
millions of ' dollars and
years of their lives in
building up their local
]ro-spitat; it * "'is their
hospital and their
property.
Are they ' now to be
treated as criminals for
tending to the sick? Are
1we to prosecute the Good ,
Samaritan?
This is not just a silly
proposal based on
stupidity - it is a proposal
couched in the language
of insanity.
5. You are proposing
Turn to page 5 •
Canada best
Did you ever wonder how Canada got its name?
Why Canada?
It seems that Jacques' Cartier was the first _to
introduce the name Canada to the world. But not all
the Fathers of Confederation agreed that Canada
was the right name for this new land.
Some of the names proposed ere Albert Land,
Albionora, Morealia, Britannia, Hochelaga,
Norland, Superior, Transatlantic, Tuponia and
Victorialand.
There was even a suggestion. for Efisga - the first
letters in England,France, Ireland Scotland and
Germany with an 'a' on the end to kind of make it
slip over the tongue.
But it was D'Arcy McGee who put it all in per-
spective for the boys. In the United Canada
Legislature on February 9,1865, McGee is reported
to have said: "Now I ask any honorable member of
this house how he would feel if he woke up some fine
morning and found himself instead of a Canadian, a
Tuponian or a Hochelangander?"
That question is perhaps just as apt today as
when D'Arcy McGee first asked it. - SJK
•1 .
,.6
Spring bank
Good work
Dear Editor,
Congratulations on
receiving the General
Excellence Award at the
Ontario Weekly
Newspapers convention
in Toronto.
Best wishes for con-
tinued future success.
Yours sincerely
R. E. McKinley, MP
Huron -Middlesex
Vote Clark?
DEAR
them with his 200 odd
advisors and offi'ce staff.
The suggested House of
Federation should -lie
renamed The House of
Trudeau.
Trudeau allowed,
without hesitation, stop
over privileges in Canada
for airplanes carrying
Castro's Cuban soldiers
destined for Africa. But
why did Trudeau take his
own sweet , time before
allowing R.A,F.' Harriers
stop over privileges at
Goose Bay on their way to
reinforce a British
possession - Belize - in
Dear, Editor, . Central America back in
I contend Trudeyau`` is July 1977?
minimizing the authority It certainly musthave
of the House of Commons ,..been surprising to many
and the Senate. And he 'Canadians—. Ftirther 'it
appears to. be replacing looks like Trudeau favors.
ENV
•
By Dave Sykes
EDITOR
the Castro communists. I
wonder if Trudeau favors
the Italian communists
over and above the duly
elected parliamentary,
government in Italy?
Trudeau allows Rene
Levesque to bah the
Italian language, as well
as the Ukranian and
English languages in the
Province of Quebec.
I contend this is too
much for Canadians to
put up with - everyone
should vote for Joe Clark,
give the young man a
chance and vote
Progressive Con-
servative.
Thanking you editor, I'
am,
Yours truly
-J. Dalziel Johnson
St. Thomas, Ontario
Competition
50 world records between
them.
Two national teams
Dear Editor, will be selected in'
The Ontario Ampdtee 'Hamilton to represent
Sports Association is Canada. The first for
pleased to announce that World Games in England
they have.been asked to in August 1979 and the
host the 4th National second for the Olympiad _
Amputee Championships for the Physically
for the Canadian Disabled in Arnhem,
Association. Holland in June 1980.
,The Championships More than 30 countries
will be held at McMaster will compete in each of
University in Hamilton these events and.. it is
from June 30 through Canada's aim to finish in
July 2, 1979. Competitors, the top five.
from every province and John Gibson
territory have been in- - • President
vited to these cham- Games Co-ordinator
pionships and it is hoped
that more than 100
ath l ete s w.il1....p.ariicipate..
Twenty •of the invited
athletes hold more than
Write
today!
75 YEARS AGO
Skating commenced at
the West Street rink on
November 2 so that on
Monday our people had
had exactly four months
continuous skating, a
record for Goderich.
• Friday evening a large
number of Collegiate
Institute pupils, with all
the staff, left Goderich
for Clinton in sleigh loads
and by train to attend the
return debate between
the two Collegiates.
The Reverend Dr.
Daniel was the speaker at
the gospel temperance
meeting on Sunday af-
ternoon.
Sunday was a busy day
at the G.T.R. depot, three
long freights reaching
town that day and two
departing for the east.
The inward trains had
eight cars of way freight
so the storekeepers got
their long ordered goods
and the outward ones
were made up of flour,
LOOKING BACK
wheat, salt, lumber,
machinery, organs, bath
fittings, and furniture.
Among the many cars
ther"e was not a coal laden
one much to the disap-
pointment of those with
empty coal bins.
The post - office
department has decided
to institute a system of
insurance of inland
registered letters.
The Kensington Fur-
niture Company has been
forced to reduce daily
hours of labor from 10 to 8
on account of the failure
of the railroad company
to deliver" lumber
required in the com-
pany's manufactures.
25 YEARS AGO
A record high of
$836,130 in the value of
building permits issued
was reached in 1953 and
the figure for 1954 will
possibly, be higher, ac-
cording to figures
released by Town Clerk -
Treasurer S.H. Blake.
First boat of the
season, the Imperial
London, is expected to
arrive in Goderich today,
according to Imperial Oil
Company officials.
Town Cou,zcil was
virtually assured last
Friday night by Deputy -
Reeve Joseph Allaire that
a clock would be included
in the new Huron County
Court House building.
The old court house,
which also had a. clock,
was destroyed by fire
four weeks ago.
Goderich Memorial
Arena's ice surface was
given a smooth shave on
Sunday. The ice was
becoming too thick and
increasingly more dif-
ficult to freeze over. So
workmen shaved the
surface down a 'few in-
ches with a machine and
took an estimated 45 tons
of ice shavings out of the
building. The job is an
annual one.
5 YEARS AGO
Jim Britnell, Huron
County engineer, was
elected chairman of the
Ontario Good Roads
Association during its
recent 1974 convention.
Goderich may lose its
local police force if the
Ontario government
irnplements recom-
mendations of a task
force report released last
week stating that small
town police forces with
populations under 15,000
will disappear.
The Goderich
recreation committee
will meet March 28 with
Huron County health
inspectors in an effort to
settle the problem of the
Judith Gooderham
swimming pool. The pool
has .sub standard shower
and change room
facilities.
Four students from
G.D.0:I. have applied for
an Opportunities for
Youth grant to canvass
the town and area for
public opinion on the
proposed recreation
complex for Goderich.
Richard D. Hunter,
manager of the Maitland
Valley Conservation
Authority at Wroxeter,
told Goderich Town
Council last Thursday
that while the
organization recognizes
the "substantial con-
tribution" made by
Goderich ih the last two
years toward the MVCA,
the removal of the san-
dbar at the mouth of the
Maitland is one project
that is beyond the scope
of the authority.
Young Canada Week
celebrities crowded
around the Goderich
Memorial Arena
Saturday afternoon for
the official opening of the
1974 tournament. A
plaque was unveiled
commemorating •the
tournament's 25th . an-
niversary.
DEAR
READERS
BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER
A very wise man once told
me,"Shirley, yob catch more flies with
honey than with vinegar."
This week I've been mulling through
a booklet entitled "Bits and Pieces"
which is a monthly mixture of horse
sense and common sense about
working with people. And I came
across this bit of wisdom I thought I
would share with the people of
Goderich and area who happen to read
this column.
It goes like this:
A few months after moving to a small
town a women complained to a neigh-
bor about the poor service at the local
drugstore. She hoped the new
acquaintance would repeat her 'com-
plaint to the owner of the drugstore.
Next time the new small towner went
to the drugstore, the druggist greeted
het -with a big smile, and told her how
happy he was to see her again. Hemid
he hoped she like their town anno
please let him know 'if there was
anything he could do to help her and
her husband get settled. He >rhen filled
her order promptly and efficiently.
Later the woman reported the
miraculous change to her friend.
- "I suppose you told the druggist how
poor I thought the service was?" she
asked.
"Well, no," the woman said. "In fact
- and I hope you don't mind - I told him
you were amazed at the way hehad
buirt up this small town drugstore, and
thatx.you thought it was one of the best
run drugstores you'd ever seen."
Goderich is a small town and for
people who have liy, ed in small towns
all their lives, Goderich is easily one of
the nicest small towns , anywhere to
live.
Small towns do have a different
atmosphere than cities and it is
precisely this atmosphere that must be
preserved if small towns are remain
good, healthy places in which to live, to
work, to raise families, to retire.
There is little doubt though, that
whilc'everybody thinks it would be
great to live in a small town it takes
some adjustment to move from the city
or a large urban centre to a small town
like Goderich. Folks 'who move ,from
heavily industrialized communities
like Hamilton,for instance, like the
clean air and the beautiful sunsets in
Gode.ricn, but they really can't com-
prehend the small town way of living
and doing business. That takes some
learning.
Every once in a long while, Signal -
Star gets a telephone call from a new
Goderich resident who has a complaint
about small town living. Often the
complaint isn't really serious ... it just
demonstrates a difference in
philosophy between small town and
city.
When that sort of thing happens, it
would be best if the newcomer could be
endoctrinated quickly and painlessly
into the ways of small town people. It
would be helpful if they could be
pointed to a chart which would set out
in clear, concise terms how to make
friends and influence people in a small
town
Basically of 'course, small towners
aren't any different from, people
everywhere. It is just that small town
people are closer to each other, they
are better known to each other and
really care in an odd and indefinable
way about each other.
Whereas city people are conditioned
to live their own lives and go their own
way, small towners live their own lives
in harmony with the everyone else who
lives in the community. It works to
your disadvantage when you can't have
company over without everyone in the
neighborhood knowing about it, but it
has its advantages when your small sen
is accidentally locked out of the house
in a rainstorm and the neighbor
willingly welcomes him inside his
home without hesitation.
Sadly,small towns appear by be
losing this unique caring for each
other. It could be because small
towners are made to feel ashamed of
their way of life ... just a little seedy
and unsophisticated ... by people
moving into the area who tiavZin't yet
learned how to change what's bad
without destroying what's good.
Getting back t� our little bit of
homespun philosphy at the beginning
then, it really does follow that more is
accomplished by spreading honey than
vinegar.
A