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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-04-11, Page 4tuatara Zibbance tme Published at VO!.ingham, Ontario, .1140. Box 3911 - NOG ZWO by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger. President Henry Hess. Editor Robert 0. Wenger. Sec.-Treas. ' Audrey Currie. Advertising Manager Member Audit Bureau of Circulations Member — Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario (ummunitNewspaper Assoc. Subscriptions 120.00 per year [ ` ® Six months $11.50 C n. Second Class Mail 'Registra t ion No. 082 I a Return postage guaranteed Taxes are out of line too Perhaps the kindest thing which can be said of the Wingham Town Council's recent decision to award itself a substantial hike in pay is that it suffers from a poor sense of timing. Certainly councillors are justified in claiming they have been paid more poorly than their, counterparts in other towns—though it might be argued they knew what the job paid when they took it — and human nature being what it is, no one likes to get Tess than someone else is getting for the same job. How- ever for council to choose this year, in its own words one of "extraordinary expenditures", to give itself the golden handshake suggests either unaware- ness of the financial straits in which a growing number of their fellow -citizens find themselves, or conplete indiffer- ence. The question of pay for municipal councillors has always been a thorny one. Do we pay enough to make the job attractive, or count on a sense of com- munity loyalty and responsibility to bring forward capable candidates? Traditionally, small communities were- able to count on their leading citizens to volunteer a few years of their time in municipal government for remuneration which amounted to little more than a vote of thanks. It is likely such an arrangement provides the best government, since there is then no pos- sible question of motive, but that, like everything else, is changing. Still, far too much can be made of the claim it is necessary to pay well to bring forward good people. One look at the antics which discredit Queen's Park or the House of Commons, where representatives are paid salaries well above the national average, supplies convincing proof that money alone is no guarantee of performance. Perhaps there is a brighter side to council's evident desire to ensure that this town should be on a par with others in the area. Wingham has had the low- est council pay of any town in Huron County; councillors have now taken a big step toward changing that. Wing - ham also has the highest taxes of any town in the county. We trust our coun- cillors will not rest until they have cor- rected that discrepancy as well. Security versus justice In the wake of disclosures about il- legal acts on the part of the RCMP, the Canadian government agreed that national security should not be left in the hands of a police force and prom- ised that a new Canadian security force would be established. That was two or more years ago and so far the new force has failed to'materialize. Reasons—for—the--del s ome -_ thing ,beyond the customary bureau- cratic hurdles of red tape. A civilian security force, entrusted with the re- sponsibility of guarding the nation against the infiltration of foreign spies or the treachery of native traitors will have a delicate task. Its powers must include the right under law to employ the types of surveillance which are, under ordinary circumstances, totally odious to a freedom -loving people. During the perilous days of the FLQ troubles in Quebec the RCMP se- curity branch engaged in several operations which have since been judged by the courts to be illegal. They seized an° copied the membership lists of a grog which later became a legi- timate political . party. They .burned a barn which was believed to be a meet- ing place for revolutionaries. Their actions were condoned at the time as •necessary to the security of the nation. William Stevenson, author of the fascinating book "A Man Called intrepid" and a recent release, "In- trepid's Last Case", provides the de- tails of the Canadian government's blundering disbelief at the time when the first major Soviet defector, Igor Gouzenko, revealed the extent to which vital defence secrets had been handed over to the USSR. In those days we were virtual babes in the woods of in- ternational intrigue. We did not have a security force with adequate foresight or power to meet the needs of national security. When dealing with totally unscru- pulous infiltrators who would betray the nation, or with totally unprincipled drug dealers, it is obvious that the re- —quired tneihods of surveillance rhusf include such acts as wire -tapping and mail -opening. The question is: who is to decide when such extraordinary pow- ers can be justified? The methods by which desperate and dangerous crim- inals canbe apprehended are the same methods by which political dissent has been stifled in other nations, such as Argentina. Who is to draw the line between na- tional security and political repres- sion? That fine line, once crossed, has changed many nations from democ- racy to dictatorship. "Secret" police are abhorrent to .a free people — but national security demands a certain amount of secrecy. Stevenson, in his books, lauds the efficiency of the Federal Bureau of In- vestigation and its founder, J. Edgar Hoover in the operation which brought numerous Soviet spies to justice in both Canada and the U.S. But that same agency and its chief were so feared by many law-abiding American citizens that even holders of high public office felt insecure, and lent credence to the McCarthy witch hunts. The ground rules for Canada's new security force are difficult indeed to delineate. The balance between effec- tive power and legal limits is a delicate one. Don't rock the boat President Ronald Reagan seems to be intent on introducing a new concept of government to the United States. He spent 30 minutes last week lecturing the members of Congress on their be- haviour. Reagan told the elected represent- atives of the American people that they had no right to openly critiicise his for- eign policies. He said that hesitancy,on the part of Congress to support his Bilingualism The question of official bilingual- ism in the province of Manitoba has be- gun to create problems fpr both of the major Canadian political parties. John Turner, seeking the leadership of the Liberal party, was caught out of step when he said the province should be left to settle its own language problems. Brian Mulroney, new leader of the fed- eral PCs, Is caught between his de- clared support of bilingualism and the opposition of members of his party in Manitoba who are determinedly op- posed to official bilinguallsrn in their province. However, there is some doubt that two -language rights are viewed the same way in all parts of this country. Councillors of the Town of Bucking - peace -keeping efforts in the Middle East and in Central America has seri- ously damaged his attempt to contain warfare in those areas. In other words American foreign policy is not to be determined by the will of the people, but rather by the de- cision of Reagan and a few of his close advisors. If that's democracy they can have it! for whom? ham, r..ar Montreal, recently voted six to one to defy an order from the Quebec government. That government's French language commission has or- dered that .a sign at the town dump, printed in both French and English, be replaced by a sign in French only. Says Gerald Godin, Quebec's lang- uage minister, "We just cannot allow every city and municipality In this province where there is an English minority the right to bilingualism." If that's the way the two -language' rule is supposed to work, one wonders why we see the ,words "Bureau de Poste" adorning the local post office? If we have a .French minority here we have never encountered one of its members. A page of ori e opin �-on 4)1 G/M5 rx MA' OA/ ME /710/48R5 IN THE CORi'44 Items from Old Files APRIL 1937 At a meeting of the Retail Merchants' Association it was decided that the stores would close on Wednesday afternoons from May 1 to the end of October, except on those weeks when a public. holiday occurs. C. H. McAvoy was elected president of the Association. On Monday, the price of bread in Wingham went up one cent per loaf to` 10 cents. This price is effective in practically all of Huron and Bruce Counties. The Murray Butcher Shop in Wingham was purchased by W. G. Tucker of Strathroy. Miss Donalda Douglas of Lucktrowwwiro was—married on Saturday to Gordon Davidson of Wingham, was twice showered last week. A shower was held at the Lucknow Presbyterian manse and members of St. Peter's Anglican Church, where Miss Douglas has been organist for six years, also honored her. The charred remains of four places of business and one home in Dungannon are all that is left after a fire caused $30,000 damage. Destroyed were Mon- tgomery's General Store, Montgomery's house, Robert McKenzie's hardware' store, Lorne McKenzie's garage, and Rivett's restaurant -and hotel. APRIL 1949 The local curlers let the contract for the installation of artificial ice in their rink to, the Canadian Ice. Co. The contract price is $14,200. It is the curlers' plans to tear down the old club room, excavate a basement the full width of the rink and build a new club room. Miss Mary Porter of Wingham, formerly of Turnber"ry;"`who recently completed the commercial course at the Wingham High School, has accepted a position in Kerr's Drug Store. The third annual oratorical contest in public speaking for rural public school pupils in this district was staged at a capacity house in the Community Hall, Bluevale. The silver trophy was presented to Bruce Robertson of Browntown School; second award went to Cavell Ruttan of Ramsay's School, Morris, and third to Phyllis Hamilton of Bluevale School. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Keil and the boys have moved to the fourth concession of Howick Township. APRiL 1960 The first step in a move to provide more accom- modation at the Wingham General Hospital was taken when a committee was appointed to survey hospital needs. The committee will be headed by John V. Fischer and will include R. B. Cousins, DeWitt Miller, G. W. Tiffin, Mrs. N. D. Cameron, W. B. Anderson and Dr. P. J. Leahy. For more than two years the hospital has been badly overcrowded. On the evening of the board meeting last week, there were 127 patients under care in the hospital. The eighth annual music festival of the Wingham Public School was held and winners were selected. Top winners included Teresa McGuire, Douglas Thomson, Anne Meyer, Donald Collar, Brenda Ellacott, Peter Callan, Sandra Cameron and John Donaldson. APRIL 1970 At the March meeting of the Howick Lions Club, a new member, Wayne Evers of Gorrie, was inducted and welcomed into the club. The meeting was also the oc-, casion of the club's annual public speaking contest. Winners were Wayne Strong, junior, and Linda Langen- doen, intermediate. Charles Bosman has sold his Bluevale-area farm to Thomas Miller of Orangeville. At the spring Tliankof- fering of St. Andrew's WM a life membership w presented to Mrs. G' . on Godkin, one o the Auxiliary's m r. valuer members. o6e7rtm-p-tite/Edirtiv Shorter work week n essary &lnevitable Io Or Dear Editor, Your editorial "Who pays the piper" makes me suspect you have not actually read "The Future of Work", the report of the NDP Caucus Task Force on Work, People and Technological Change. You suggest that a 32 -hour work week would be highly inflationary. What you fail to recognize is that a shorter work week is not simply pro- posed to deal with unem- ployment, it is primarily a method of dealing with the increased productivity of the production system. The report actually calls for a strict 40 -hour week with a maximum of four hours of overtime now and a proposal to move to a 32 -hour week by It's about time to say `enough' Dear Editor, Just recently I read that the councillors are going to give_thems'elves.a 50 per cent. raise. At a time when everyone else is being asked to limit their wage increases to five per cent, I find this to be excessive. I think it is about time the people of Wingham say this is enough. Why does Wingham need to have the highest-paid police force and now the highest-paid council? No wonder Wingham taxes are high. If this keeps up, people will not want to buy houses in Wingham. This is already starting. Therefore, if the coun- cillors don't want to accept what they are already being paid, they should resign, not Pat Bailey, one of our best councillors. If we had more councillors like Pat, Wingham would be a better place. Furthermore, if Chief Wittig isn't satisfied with his salary, he can go up to (a local industry) and see how he likes the money up there. I'm sure the town could get along without him. Gordon Dale Wingham Editor's Note: In fairness, despite the recent increase Wingham council is not the highest-paid. Also Chief Wittig's presentation to council dealt with his depart, ment budget, hot his own salary. the early 1990s. ' Let us ponder what con- dition our society would be in if we still had the work week of the 1920s. Then workers put in a 10 -hour day, six days a week. Currently we have at least 10 per cent unem- ployment. If we were to go to a 60 -hour week, we could reduce the number of workers by a third. According to your theory this would reduce inflation, BUT• it would increase unemployment to 40 per cent. If we were to then add in the increases in produc- tivity expected in the next 10 years as a result of the computer, we could probably look to unemployment in the 70 to 80 per cent range. The increased productivity of our industrialization made the 40 -hour week AND in- creasing real wage rates possible. The increased productivity of the electronic revolution also makes shorter working hours inev- itable, the question is how will we share them. Will fewer and fewer people work long hours at high -paying jobs while our young people and hundreds of thousands of older Canadians stagnate in unemployment? Or will we try to ensure that the work will be shared so that all can contribute to their society and enjoy earned rather than imposed leisure? For a market economy to work, purchasing power must be distributed so that people can buy the economy's output. The NDP believes sharing the available work is far more desirable than increasing the costs of unemployment in- surance and welfare. "The Future of Work" is an incisive analysis of the challenge ahead of us with a number of sensible recommendations. I- would be pleased to supply you or any of your readers with a copy. Tony McQuail RR 1, Lucknow Thank you for UNICEF support Dear Editor, Throughout 1983, the news media across Ontario has been most supportive in bringing the message of UNICEF's work to the at- tention of its readers and public in general. Your active involvement has been invaluable. Thanks to you, your staff and to Ontarians from all walks of life and all ages, UNICEF Ontario is able to announce the com- pletion Of another successful year. The news coverage receiv- ed from you for our two ma- jor fund-raising campaigns and the interest thus genet', ated will mean that the for- ward thrust of one of UNI- CEF's main objectives — the breaking of the' vicious cycle of infection and malnutri- tion, which is a major cause of infant deaths in the de- veloping countries — will be carried 'on. Throughout the past year, Ontarians contributed more than $1,000,006 toward UNICEF programs in health, nutrition, education and community develop- ment. This amount, matched by the CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) will help lessen the impact of the current economic setbacks facing so many of the developing countries. When stringent measures must be taken in these countries it is the social services affecting the welfare of women and, in turn, the children which are the first to be cut. These services are essential in preading the message of better health and nutrition to those in most need of it — health and nutrition which could save the five million young lives lost to the world each year through lack of this knowledge. I and all the other UNICEF volunteers across this great province wish to express our deep appreciation for the very real concern shown by so many for the thousands of children around the world who now may be able to face a brighter, happier future. Elizabeth Gordon Edwards Provincial Chairman Ont. UNICEF Committee 6 April 11, 1984 SPOTLIGHT -1 KATIE ELMSLIE, flanked by brothers Michael and Trevor, didn't mind being the only girl on Wingham's pre -Tyke team this season, although she hopes more girls will join up next . year. Katie is a student in the afternoon Kindergarten class at the Wingham Public School and is, the daughter of Raye and Brian Elmslie of 'Shuter Street. A third brother, Mat- thew, is not pictured. Katie Elmslie holds own on local pre -Tyke team By Margaret Arbuckle "Gliding . down the ice with pigtails flying, Wingham's Elmslie shoots and scores." With pigtails flying? What is this, Wingham's answer to Boy George? Not at all, it's five-year-old Katie Elmslie, a bona fide memberof the local pre -Tyke team. Katie has caused quite a stir around town as the ' only -female registered in minor hockey. But, judging from the reaction of several Wingham parents and their kids, she likely will not be alone next,. year. Raye and Brian Elmslie of Shuter Street, Katie's mom and dad, said other parents have reacted with surprise at their enrolling their young daughter in hockey. Not that they are against it, they just didn't realize girls could play hockey. But Mr. Elmslie said the registration form clearly states "boys and girls". That Katie would become involved in hockey came about as a natural progression. Her three older brothers, Michael, Trevor and Matthew, all have grown up in the Wingham minor hockey system so it was natural their young sister would follow.' There definitely its no shortage of hockey equip- ment around the Elmslie home either, so when Katie expressed a desire to play hockey after watching her brothers at hockey school last sum- mer,'her parents said "Why not?" Another bonus is that pre -Tyke registration is free, brother Matthew astutely pointed out. Last October Katie was 'signed up with her brothers. She was so excited about playing hockey that she cried when she got her first helmet, reports her mother. Since her father helps out with the pre -Tykes, Katie did have a slight advantage at least in having somebody there to help do up her skates. But other than that, she was on her own. Like_many of .theother children in her age group, Katie could not skate when she first started last fall, but she has progressed at the same rate as the other children, said her dad, and now is able - to skate unaided with no problems. As a matter of fact, Katie scored two hat tricks during scrimmage hockey matches played during the last few minutes of practice during the season. Katie learned the basic skills of forward and backward skating and stickhandling. Mr. Elmslie said he ,feels it also has helped her coordination because this spring she just picked up a bicycle and started riding it, something she could not do last fall. The little boys Katie played hockey with treated her as an absolute equal, possibly because they are too young to have formed many prejudices yet, suggested her dad. Her three brothers think it is "neat" to have a hockey -playing sister and help her, as much as possible. Matthew knows what tough competitors girls can be since he played against a Tyke team from Palmerston this year with a "hot" girl goalie. Katie's hockey career has in no way harmed her schooling. She's an A -student in the afternoon Kindergarten at the Wingham Public School. She said she thinks some of her friends will play hockey too next year and she'll like having the company of other girls. So far she wants to play again next year and her parents are all for it. They even would send her to hockey school in the future if she wants to go. These days Katie still is excited about a recent trip to Disney World in Florida where she saw all her favorite cartoon characters. She also enjoys playing dolls, coloring and playing house. , When asked what she would like to do. when she grows up,. Katie said maybe play hockey in the NHL if it decides to allow girls. But even if she doesn't make it to the major league she surely would settle for something like prime minister Or astronaut.