The Wingham Advance-Times, 1988-06-28, Page 43t
Published atWinghara. on%ii? o. r.;*
by Wenger li.rIM
Barry Wenger, Pi b ichor
David Wenger, President Norman Mae, laennan, -,
Robert Murphy, Editor Audrey Currie, Advertising:
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A fair approach
Faced for some time wittehaving to eventually hire a ,
full-time chief, the Wingham Area Fire Board Last week
gave the job to Harley Gaunt, the present volunteer chief. -
Last year, Mr. Gaunt's employer Wingham Public
Utilities Commission ® advised thein harp' Area Fire
Board that it could no longer continue gtagreement with
the board relating to the chief spending time on -fire
department duties during his regular PUC working hours. -
Although extensions had 'been granted, the final deadline
allowed by the PUC for a board decision was July 31. With
this in mind, the board set about its deliberations on -the
dilemma and all indicators ultimately Pointed to the hiring
of a full-time chief as a solution.
The suggestion was certainly not a surprise one' for sotrie
bOard members, a report from the Ontario Fire Marshal
some years ago made just that recommendation, but the
board at that time considered the move too costly' and
opted instead to maintain the status quo. A similar report
requested by the board shortly after receiving the PUC
advisal and released last month, makes the same recom-
mendation among others.
Although to some it may appear as though the board's
decision has been made in haste, that is not so. It has taken
at lebst a year of stUdy, diScussion and reports by an ad
hoc committee as well as the board itself. However, there
are still those who will criticize board members for
'moving too swiftly on such a major decision. For that,
perhaps, fhe board can be faulted as for too long, _ its
deliberations on the matter were held in camera. in our
opinion, any discussion on the position of a full-time fire.
chief ®-- and not a personality — could have, been held, in
open session and, perhaps, should have.
Having made its decision to hire a full-time chief, how-
ever, the board chose the fa i r- est approach when it offered
the position to Mr. Gaunt, and rightly so. There wi Ii,_no
doubt, be criticism of this decision from those who feel that
fhe position should have been open to the public and
advertised.
We wonder how any critic would feel, however, if he had
been a long-term, part-time capable employee of a
company which suddenly decided it could afford a full-
time employee for his job and didn't offer the position to
him? It's all a matter of perspective.
In search of equality
In sort of an offhand fashion, it appears that women have
finally reached equality in the sports arena at 'least.°
No one can deny there has been a rood- advance of
women into fields of activity once occupied exclusively by •
males. Not even the occasional grunts of eco
who feared for the demise of sport have. c��erte�d
:e
determined - push of females into the fuer - male_
. dom i'nated bastion of hockey. Even the Supre - CO/I
itself upheld a.woman's .right to play hockey Wlth Mem
Whatever the merits of that dec$10no Weeirtaltitya ears' that .sexual equality ••on..Ice -has deflhitsi n
.
,yeachid. Recently; an'Onfairio, i tri
yr 3 ct Court
.womane - ayer flty.of ass`, fo"'kr -
Ice. The judge _
' a the:pia-.
IWo Years probation and orderer her
o rr t li wor •
y n G<•.
Move over -CfaveleiiiertkOs
,` key ue team
Y riliiTs L64.,ti..: Y.:ShclRati '..L ,...lie: .M Wit_.
day be far off when =earth
employs a "poHce,person"-: o:
rrte�..,,-- �
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