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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-02-22, Page 4Editorial Viewpoint Y KNEW •WOW 2 , 1M.M.5...,. 1bt tuibattt b1)anct-It anto Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road, Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 Phone (519) 357-2320 Fax: (519) 357-2900 J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 We are: Jim Beckett - Publisher Audrey Currie- Manager Cameron J. Wood - Editor Norma Colley - Ad. Rep. Jim Brown - Reponer Stephen Pritchard - Comp. EveBuchanan - Office Louise Welwood - Office Memberof: OCNA CCNA The W ingh amAdv ante -Times is a member of a family of community newspapers pro- viding news, advertising and information leadership. Letters to the Editor All letters to the editor must bear the writer's name, telephone num- ber and address. The Advance -Times wel- comes letters. We re- serve the right to edit, but will endeavor to preserve the author's intent. Deadline forleuers is Monday before 10:00 a.m.. Some exceptions may apply. Fax: (519) 357-2900 or mail to: P.O. Box 390, Wingham, Ontario, NOG 2W0 arising Cries have been sounding fQr the past decade or more about the need to get the Fed- eral Government's .finances under control. But, as the years kept ticking away,, so did Canada's debt time -bomb. The budget which Finance Minister Paul Martin will deliver within the next few weeks just may be the last chance to defuse this explosive situation. Since the early 1970's, the Federal Government has adopted a standard of living which exceeded its income level. Today we are left with a mountain of debt which simply can not be ignored a moment longer. Government services are being rapidly stripped away as more and more money is paid out in interest on debt. In a global 'debt' perspective, Canada enjoys the compa- ny of Uganda, Burundi and Kenya. We can only aspire to being in the situation of Brazil, Mexico, Poland or Gha- na. While some special interest groups, and even academ- ics, still consider this debt to be some concocted 'boog ey-man', the reality is that this huge debt in affecting Ca- nadians in a variety of ways. High debt means high taxes. High taxes cut into consumer spending, which forces businesses to trim prices often by shedding work- ers. Increased unemployment puts greater strain on social programs. It's a vicious spiral, with every tightening twist pulling us further down. Now add to this mess the impending sovereignty refe- rendum in Quebec. If Paul Martin fails to act on this huge debt, separatists will claim that Canada is a sinking. ship and Quebec should build its own life boat. If Paul Martin cuts federal spending, separatists will benefit from increased public animosity towards mean, insensi- tive Ottawa. This may look like a no-win for the Finance Minister, and in short-term political terms that might be so. What Paul Martin needs to do is build his budget upon a few basic principles which have been virtually ig- nored since the time of the Trudeau regime. Principle 1 - Ottawa must move ASAP to stop spend- ing more than it receives. Borrowing to make interest payments is one of the final steps before total bankrupt- cy. That's where Canada sits today. Principle 2 - Taxpayers have rights too. To deny this, as has been done, strips the marketplace of one of its most critical components -- incentive! Principle 3 - Today's generation can not be allowed to postpone its debt for our children and grandchildren to deal with. If Paul Martin keeps these fundamental principles in mind, then there is no question about what needs to be done. Please Mr. Finance Minister. Just Do It! The reality of coping with our indebtedness may hurt, but the alternative is far worse. And Budget '96 may be too late! Ken Bosveld, The Guelph Tribune x""ew;?a? T7 -T i�' :Hi::.:�r? �':`..g''r 7,"/-1R7.»:%;'<.;�': <>: >°52::z;.3'3,:,t;.e;�::.:;.>:a.,:.s:S<�:. .,:,?s`.Y9+....:.?::o A reason to snide WingFtaan •ffi..,a��nr' fy ., 1.. �'i' ,�, ;1,.. ... F:E. Madill athletes. After a lot of hard work, commitment and practice, .several sports'teams and individuals have achieved championship status. Great work all. with Margaret Stapleton FEBRUARY 1948 The directors of the Morris Federation of Agriculture have appointed a committee to secure signboards to be placed at each end of the concessions in the township with the name of the township and concession number on them. Last Wednesday morning, a chunk of ice fell of the Dominion Bank building and completely wrecked a baby cutter. Mrs. Froome had her baby downtown while doing -her shopping and it was a miracle the child was not injured. Lieut. D. C. Irwin, assistant ca- det inspector, presented George Gammage with the Strathcona Medal for being the best rifle shot in the Wingham High School ca- dets. Mr. A. R. DuVal, fox and mink rancher, sold the large brick build- ing in which he has housed his mink for several several years, to the Western Foundry. ' Next Wednesday, Rutherford's Superior Food Market will change over to self -serve. Delivery and phone orders will be continued as in the past. • FEBRUARY 1961 "The Rocket", Maurice Rich- ard, Montreal Canadiens' hockey star, visited Wingham for a televi- sion appearance last week. "The Rocket" was hemmed in by the small fry seeking autographs at CKNX after his TV appearance. A rink representing the Wing - ham and District High School won the WOSSA curling title at Wingharn last weekend. The win- ning rink was skipped by Sue Nast'nith and also included Jane Hetherington, Carol Crawford and Sandra MacLennan. Two Morris homes were daft - aged by fire at the weekend. The f rK call was to the farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Pletch on the fourth line. Quick work by mem- bers of the brigade, however, kept the damage to not more than $25. But the results were different in the second call to the home of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Gamble, on the first line. The entire east side of the house was gutted and damage from the smoke was extensive throughout. FEBRUARY 1971 Darlene Coultes, a Grade 8 stu- dent at East Wawanosh Public School, took first place in the fi- nals of the annual Huron County public speaking contest. Harry D. Page, who hasbeen manager of the Wingham Public Utilities Commission since June of 1969, tendered his resignation at a meeting of the commission last Thursday. At the same meet- ing, the commission appointed Ken Saxton Jr. as manager, his duties to commence immediately. Howard E. Fuller, well-known Wingham resident, passed away suddenly at his home on Monday. He was in his 69th year. FEBRUARY 1981 Stephanie Gaunt was crowned Frostyfest princess at the pageant held during Friday night's variety show at the town hall. Runners-up were Joelle Reavie and Jenny Bender. Rain, combined with melting snow, raised the level of the Mait- land River and its tributaries over the weekend. Mike Marritt, a 33 -year-old farmer of RR 1, Wingham, Turn - berry Township, is this year's winner of the Nuffield Travel and Study Scholarship, an annual competition for a four -to -six month trip to Great Britan, where winners study the agricultural top- ic of their choice. Despite the soggy weather, Frostyfest '81 is being called a success. The event "ended with a torchlight parade Sunday evening. Who was it that said it can't be done? Tmust first say that I have been a supporter of preserv- ing the former rail bridge since I was first approached with the idea. It was back last fall, about a month or so ' before our municipal election; and not long after I wrote an editorial about the preservation of the bridge and the possible uses it would have if it remained erect. Now, the idea wasn't mine. It came from a conversation I had one night with another local, who like me, had an idea in his head. From that, another .'local caught wind and headed up ;a; ,community interest (tee "to°Save' the bridge. c r o then P'the ' handful of us' thought` it would be a great addition to the Ecological park and nature trail that lay in its shadow. Our thoughts were to take the current 'U' shaped trail and make an "0". Then something even better hap- pened. After garnering support from many different walks of life in town, and council, we soon gladly handed over the reigns to an entrepreneur who has instilled more life into this town than we credit. Wescast Industries took our initial idea and said, "What if..." and from that was born this incredible concept that now lay before town council. Over the past couple of weeks, Adrian deBruyn has represented Wescast to Wingham council, ex- pressing an interest in creating a link The • Outer Edge Cameron J. Wood to the foundry from the main street of Wingham, across of r beloved bridge and to their front doors. The whole project - building addi- tions to both the foundry and ma- chining plant, landscaping, parking. lot paving and general enhancements is scheduledto run $5.5 million, }N, But, what'sgt about th wl1 1e^.. ir a dea is that l'6r `'onEe' tt seems `like" ` some real direction is being estab- lished with the appearance of our community, and interest in its better- ment. The community seems uni- formly aligned. And this speaks volumes for the state of Wingham in the dawning of a new year. Oh; of course there are those who view the project with a little skepti- cism, those elected officials who say the plan was to straighten Minnie Street, which could only be done by removing the bridge. But, when it came to the detailing of the proposal, those voices were absent? Could it be that preserving a bridge came across as something the community at large wanted? Could it be that all those people who "urged" council- lors straighten a road that has been crooked for, well, ages, were actual- ly nothing, more than a councillors' own plan? Could it be that the voices of those.whb truly move and shake this community matter? Well. lets hope so. All things considered, preserving an abandoned railway bridge over a small river in Midwestern Ontario probably isn't something that will bond the tears in the fabric of Cana- da. But it is something that strength- ens what remains. It is an example for those who said "It can't be done." Consider. all the parties that managed to get together over,'one simple idea that was shared in a sim ple conversation in passing. ' And with that in mind, just ima- gine what we all can accomplish in this town. Precedents have been 'set; goals loom ahead. There's someone in the driver's seat and we now hold the keys. There is definitely a new feeling at council these days. A feeling that projects can be completed. That pro- posals can be met, and deals can be worked out for the betterment of everyone involved. A sentiment that public interest in an issue matters. It inay be just a bridge. And it may be just another access road to. another Canadian industry. But above all, it is something that was accomplished. There is a new attitude in town. And we are all the better for it. Finding that cutting voice TORONTO Any party that can convince voters that it is serious about cutting the cost,.of delivering government programs stands to win a lot of support in an Ontario elec- tion within months, but the parties so far are merely scratching at the sur- face. The public's yearning for signifi- cant savings has been emphasized by the approval it has given' provincial governments which have implement- ed them and the Liberal federal gov- ernments now talking about elimi- nating 45,000 jobs. In Ontario the New Democrat government has its so-called social contract, which aimed to cut $2 bil- lion a year from the payroll of 900,000 employees in the broader public sector, which includes munic- ipalities, schools and hospitals. The NDP rarely is given enough credit for cutting pay despite know; ing this would alienate many of its traditional supporters, wito now say they will not vote for it again (al- though clearly it would not have cut unless forced by the recession). The Liberals and Progressive Con- servatives, despite promising cuts now, were far more to blame when they were in government for build- ing a public service grossly inflated in size, pay and perks and shied even from supporting the NDP in the vote on its cut. " But the NDP's reduction which horrified many in the public service has still come nowhere near close to curbing unjustified spending., Among some recent high -prefile with Eric Dowd examples, many teachers are al- lowed to take a specified number of days off sick each year and accumu- late any they do not take off, so they retire with up to $30,000 sick pay on top of handsome pensions simply for going to work as healthy employees are supposed to. Police also commonly collect sim- ilar perks, so that a police chief re- cently retired with sick leave pay of $207,000 in addition to a $70,000 pension, although moving to another well-paid job in the public sector. Examples, of excessive pay in - chide a director of one school board receiving $164,000 and executive as- sistants making up to $91,000. Reporters who cover the legisla- ture find it difficult to gauge the worth of many in the recesses of government,' buts notice mediocre colleagues going into the bureaucra- cy and gtttckly,; getting into pay rang- es up to moo, double their pay in the .Media, 'Which was sometimes more than they werekworih. l)epts'ty ministers, the most senior public 'servants, are retiring in their mid -50s with lavish • pensions of $70,000 after only 25 years in gov- ernment and it is difficult to blame them for grabbing the money and running. An obvious example of govern- ment being too big is the legislature itself, where a large staff has been set up geared to keep it operating every day of the year, although last Year it sat only 71 days. Cabinet ministers sometimes have a dozen or more so-called executive and special assistants, while those of a decade ago got by comfortably with two. A government which stopped this unwarranted spending could cut tax- es or alternatively avoid reducing help for handicapped children and threatening university students with more tuition increases, or do a bit of both. Tory leader Mike Harris says he will reduce the government's own workforce by 15 per cent, where possible Through attrition and retire- ment incentives, but "where neces- sary cutting some positions." Liberal leader Lyn McLeod says even more vaguely she will eliminate waste and duplication and streamline the bu- reaucracy. •13ut the parties are not rushing to say they will stop teachers and po- lice being paid lavish sick leave packages on top of generous pen- sions. They are not anxious to take on these powerful voices before an electionand from experience there is sone'' question whether they ever will. ' O