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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-04-12, Page 4PAGE 4—GODERICH SIGtiAL-STAR, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1979 •CNA Godericth SIGNAL -STAR The County Town Newspaper of Huron Founded In- 164. $ and published every Thursday at Goderich, Ontario. Member of the CWNA and OWNA. Advertising rales on request. Subscriptions payable In advance '14.50 In Canada, '35.00 to U.S.A., '35.00 to ail other countries, single copies 35'. Display advertising rotas available on request. Please ask for Rate Card No. 8 effective Oct. 1, 1078. Second class mall Registration Number 071A. Advertising Is accepted on the condition that in the event of typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item, together with reasonable allowance for signature, will • not bo charged for but the balance of the odvertlsomont will be paid for at the applicable rote. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services at a wrong price. goods or service may not be sold. Advertising Is merely an offer to soli, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Slgnal.Stor Is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts or photos. Business and Editorial 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, Goderich Second class mail registration number — 0716 Town taking a gamble When Goderich town council chose to ignore its official plan and permit Mauric.e Gardiner to operate his ice cream stand outside the town's bylaw it gambled that no one else would try to take advantage of the situation. Council basically chose to permit Gardiner to break a town bylaw that it doesn't agtee with..,.a situation that could backfire on council. Council's intent is admirable but its procedure is somewhat questionable. An ice cream stand is a harmless venture and is probably something the public will take advantage of. The building housing the ice cream parlour is relatively attractive, poses no threat of becoming an eyesore on The Square and will create no irritating pollutants, packing or traffic problems. But that's no reason to ignore the law. just because councillors don't agree with it. The town's official plan is outdated and council is caught in a situation where it either delays the business ven- ture until that plan can be reviewed or it leaves the door open for anyone in town to ignore bylaws simply because they don't agree with them. The problems council could create do not stop with planning. A possible precedent could be set that will spill over on other town bylaws. Council could be faced with difficulty enforcing some of the bylaws many residents of town disagree with. How can council fine a taxpayer for burning rubbish in an open fire within the town limits if it is not prepared to ensure that Maurice Gardiner obey the town's bylaw. How can council argue with someone that parked illegally simply because he disagreed with the parking restrictions imposed on that street: Ratepayers in Goderich may agree with council's reasoning that the official bylaw is too restrictive and should permit the ice cream stand to operate on 'Stanley Street. But council had better be prepared to agree with' -'a ratepayer who feels the town's watering bylaw -is too restrictive and should permit wholesale watering of lawns and gardens. JS. Budget a tough job Ontario Treasurer Frank Miller was to introduce his first budget Tuesday night that was expected to go over $15 Miller, former Health Minister who closed hospitals in this" area, has at least taken a more realistic approach to the budget than his predecessor, Darcy McKeough. Miller claims spending will rise about six per cent this year bringing the total expenditures to $15.3 billion, the highest in .the history'of the province.. McKeough promised Ontario residents a balanced budget by 1981, a commitment contained in the Conservative Prty Charter for Ontario, an elaborate campaign platform. McKeough couldn't deliver and shortly after 'his proposed OHIP premium hikes were defeated, he retired to take up residence in the business community. Miller has put off balancing the budget until 1984 quickly after McKeough admitted the 1978-79 budget deficit would be around $1billion. The deficit will likely be around $1.5 billion. Miller faces a tough job after saying he would continue the government's restraint program while making concessions to industry' in job creation programs to llelp ease unemployment. Narurally the main targets of the budget are expected to be liquor and cigarettes and imported wines and liquors are already increasing in price because of the devalued Canadian dollar and labor costs aborad. The government will have to take risks' in in- vesting in small Ontario business and enterprise to stimulate growth and provide jobs. Over $26 million has already been set aside for the Ontario Youth Employment Program to provide summer jobs for 40,000 students. But that doesn't help it you drink, smoke and are out of work. Consider children's rights The Year.., of_th.e_.Child. It's a catchy phrase that is being echoed across the length ,and breadth of the country. The Year of the Child. Everybody is getting on the bandwagon to make this a time to consider the rights of children and to remind the world that children are people, too. The Year of the Child. Who could possibly be against it? But from some corners of the country is coming a soft but steadily growing voice that is urging society to think carefully before rushing headlong into a blind love affair with The Year of the Child syndrome. The message is to be certain that the family doesn't suffer because of The Year of the Child. There are some people who aren't absolutely certain that The Year of the Child isn't a prelude to something sinister. Sound ominous? Sound silly? Consider this. There is said to be a young woman from a European country who can remember that as a child, she was spanked by her father. These days the young woman understands why her father spanked her and is even ready to admit that she deserved it...and benefitted from the spanking. But in those days, the young woman was only a child who was upset because her father whipped her arid wanted to get back at him. She knew her rights, too. She reported him to the authorities. The child was subsequently taken out of her home and put into the custody of the state, raised in a commune en- , _vironment. . That same young woman today regrets she was so hasty in reporting her father to the authorities, but more than that she resents the fact the authorities had the power to overrule her father's rights as a parent and to take her out of her home. That young+woman believes today that children do indeed have rights, but she hesitates to remove the parent from between the child and- ' the state. And she suggests that when the child can bypass a parent, great harm can result. Surely that kind of action is unthinkable as far as the majority of Canadians is concerned. It would be safe to wager that 98 per cent of the people in this country who are supporting The Year of the Child haven't even considered the possibility that parents could lose the control of their own children, even when there are no extenuating circumstances such as the ones society recognizes today - severe beating, mental cruelty or perhaps exploitation. But the growing voice of fear is suggesting again and again now that at the bottom of the publicity for The Year of the Child, could be an organization bent on making the child superior over his parents, an independent person in every sense of the word who need not put up with even so much as a father's loving punishment applied directly and firmly to the butt. That kind of idea is frightening, terribly frightening to the majority ot moms and dads in Canada who believe in the family. What's more, it is terrifying to all Canadians who accept the premise that the familyis the backbone of this nation, and that children,.though a vital part of the family with certain rights and privileges that must certainly be protected, must remain with and under theiroarents if Canada is to continue to be a world leader in these troubled times. - SJK DEAR READER BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER Icy April By Dave Sykes Congrats Dear Editor.: Congratulations to Dr. Mario Cauchi, my family physician and hopefully friend, for his courage to openly express his views in the Signal -Star. The quality and con- cern reflected in his medical care merits full confidence and he has every legal :and moral right to opt out of OHIP. Choosing to' express his views is also his right. However, theseviews strike me as reflecting the medical profession's isolation from the realities of life faced by DEAR the rest of us land the unrealistic expectations of a pampered professional minority. In this . spirit, I feel com- pelled to reply to Dr. Cauchi's "bleeding heart" letter to your paper. Dr. Cauchi claims that the government has no place in the field.- of ., medicine and that O1 -.14Y;' does not pay•hirn;enough. He may well be right, but, the views which he ex- arrange presses do not • con- evening, vincingly "s,upport"`-f5is -holiday case. coverage. When OHIP was in- troduced some years.ago, physicians' incomes rose remarkably under the beneficence of the "Good God OHIP" as doctors of my acquaintance coined EDITOR socialized medicine. Suddenly the medical profession no longer had to concern itself with the patient's ability to pay. Admissions to hospitals increased as well as the duration of treatment and payment was available from friendly discussions in hospital corridors (consultations) . Some doctors found it no longer necessary to make house calls. or to government is inherently inefficient in most matters but probably the only body with enough clout to take on the OMA. I'm not aware of' any measures taken by the medical profession to reduce the cost escalation of med cal care. Dr. Cauchi went to medical school for 10 years to learn his trade, at the expense of earned incofne. for adequate So what? He must have weekend or chosen this route with full mea i c a'1 -knowledge of its requirements and very income. He could few people earn their full income potential during these early years anyway. Besides, we all assist in medical and other training subsidies through taxes and sub- sequent grants to universities. that argument cuts no ice. I attended university for 8 years to earn engineering and business degrees, as did many others, and none of us got any passports to higher earnings. What makes the medical profession any different? Dr. Cauchi relates a return to school and waking long .hours .....to _a requirement for higher Indeed, things looked quite bright for a while until the new cost structure became ap- parent. Cost control had to be exercized. Unfortunately, use a basic course in economics. This is still (thank heaven) a capitalistic society in spite of strong socialistic 75 YEARS AGO The Engine and Bicycle Works closed down for a few days on Monday, on account of being out of coke. Chas Knight has purchased from the Canada Company the corner lot opposite his present residence on Waterloo Street. The old -carriage shop and blacksmith's forge so long known as "Passmore's" have disappeared and the bricks from them are all cleaned and piled, ready to be used on the two new dwellings about to be erected on the lot. The .snow storm of Friday gave us five in - This weekend is Easter 1979...and it is somewhat more special this year than in previous years. This Easter Sunday is the 25th anniversary of my marriage. It seems like only yesterday that I was planning my wedding for Easter weekend. It was simply a matter of convenience. I was teaching school at the time; school let out at 2 p.m. Thursday. We set our wedding for late Thursday afternoon so that we could have Friday, Saturday and Sunday for a brief honeymoon. That way my new husband would only have to miss one day, Saturday, at work. Those were the days before vacations and long weekends, you see. I remember that our wedding had set the whole community on its ear. I wa's very young according to the village scuttlebutt and not from the area. My groom was probably old enough to be married, hilt to take nn an immature LOOKING BACK ches of snow and in many places east of us they had 7 to 10. Complaint is made by some of the town coun- cillors of the dumping of garbage over the river bank near the G.T.R. station and on the Canada Company lots or old gravel pit. The past week cedar posts were shipped out in large .quantities by the Harbor Mill and Lumber Company and the docks are now nearly Cleared of these necessities for wire fencing. The tug Evelyn Will be launched from the island in a few days. She has been thoroughly overhauled and repaired and will fish from this pbrt for the season. ,wife who wasn't even of German blood - was inviting disaster. It was agteedby the whole town we were either crazy or "in trouble". The wedding came off without any problems, except for the fact :that I wept from the time I started down the aisle until we were well on our way out of town on our trip. I don't know why I cried. I still don't know why I cry at weddings. But I do recall that my o tand was worried sick that I had married him without wanting to...or that I had some horrible confession from my past to make to him as soon as we were alone. But he was only to discover that I cried even when I was deliriously happy, which was the situation on my wedding day 25 years ago. In fact I still Weep when I'm happy. The trick is to tell whether it's happiness or anger that's turned on the waterworks, for I also cry when i get so mad I'm out of control. We were married as you may have suspected in Zion Lutheran Church at ' 25 YEARS AGO Negotiations to open a market in South America for its products have proven..su.cc.essful for the Dominion Road. Machinery Company Limited of Goderich. Fire which broke out shortly before I p.m. yesterday gutted a frame building at the Waxman Salvage yard on Albert Street. Goderich's tax rate was set at 57 mills, the same`' rate as the past two years, at a special meeting of town council last Friday night. Goderich took another step away from "horse and buggy" methods on Monday when formal delivery of a motor grader was made' in a brief ceremony at town hall. First entry from Western Canada in the Goderich Lions Club and WOAA Young Canada `We'ek " Pee.. Wee "Hockey tournament is a team from Winnipeg. The Manitoba team will be here next Thursday to play an East vs. West game against Kingston in the "AA" series. 5 YEARS AGO A; lbca.l dentist, Dr. Thomas Jasper, has been selectedto visit South Africa bn a Rotary Foundation Group Study Exchange project. As a result of heavy rainfall in Goderich last week, the flume, an open pipe which carries, water Dashwood. You may also -have heard that last Friday night, that beautiful old church was totally destroyed by fire. Somehow that adds a solemn note of sadness to our celebration this Weekend. That church has been very much a part of our married life.. It was where we had all our children baptized and where our two eldest children were confirmed. It was our place of worship for more than half our married life -and is still the home congregation of our entire family. It. was to have been the scene of my niece's wedding ;in mid- May...the first of the grandchildren to be married at Zion. It was like losing a member of the family to hear that the church was in ruins, and it has caused us to become just a little sentimental about our silver wedding anniversary. There's just a little tarnish on the occasion for us. 'But all is not gloom and doom by any means. There are lot's' of jokes flying around the house these days. The kids think it is really some kind of a circus from the Suncoast ditch intcr,Lake 'Huron, was wasted out. Police Chief Pat King is getting ready for the summer boating season with the Starcraft`rescue boat which was donated last" year by C. Earl Empey and the late Mrs. Empey of Goderich. How • does •'a person place almost 400 job seeking students when he has only 22 jobs available? That's the problerri facing Gary Walden, student placement officer at the Canada Manpower Centre in Goderich. Last Friday evening the PUC honored•retiring long service employee John Wood and resigning office clerk Mrs. Paul Betties. having parents who are, not only over 90, but married for a quarter of a century to boot. The "old folks" are the centre Of attention this weekend, but care must be taken not to tire them with parties or to excite them with unexpected guests and friends calling, they tease. As for me, I'm reflecting on 25 years of joy. Sure there's been some sadness and even some misery. But it really has been mainly good and even after 25 years, I'm a firm supporter for the institution of marriage, to hold marriage in high esteem and to do everything necessary ..to help married couples work together to keep their unions strong arid healthy. Of course, I would urge husbands to take a lesson from my wonderful spouse. To overlook their wives' faults; to praise her evenwhen she doesn't deserve it; to let her be her own per- son; and to stick by her through overweight, wrecked cars and rins around the collar. Thanks honey, wind happy an niversary.