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Wingham Advance-Times, 1977-07-06, Page 41VAACE Timis L Well worth the money There has been a lot of sarcastic griping abgttt the apparent waste of some three and a half million dollars to promote Canada's 110th birthday, but the response would certainly appear to have been worth the Investment. Anyone who watched the three-hour TV coverage of Canada Day cele- brations across the nation would have to egree that the average Canadian responded wholeheartedly. Obviously the attention given this year to Canada's national day has been occasioned by the threat of separatism in Quebec and thus there was cynical fear that all demonstrations of nationalism would be merely contrived or purchased by govern- ment grants, No amount of money however, would have purchased ,the voluntary re- sponse which was evident in all parts of the land. The entire celebration was evidence of a phenomenon which this colurhn predicted last fall — that the danger of a split in the nation would, for the first time in Canadian history, make all of us keenly aware of the values Canada represents for all of us. We have taken our country for granted ever since it became a free nation. Now we are starting to realize that it is not some second rate neighbor of a great power, but instead is our country, tFte place we call home and we want to be on guard for all it means to us. Out of all the -scenes of celebration presented to us on Friday evening we found one more impressive than all the others combined. That scene was filmed in Van- couver, where several hunched. new Can- adians, immigrants from dozens .of lands in other parts of the world, took the oath of allegiance as first-time citizens of Canada. Here were people who had come half way around the world because Canada was the land of their hopes and dreams. They chose us as their neighbors; they want to live with us, not separate from fis. Canada isnot a'perfect place ... far from it! But it is a land where we can still do something about our imperfections. Here we can argue, disagree and protest. Over the years our children can strive for improve- ment without fear of suppression. It was a good birthday party. Ziemba sets a precedent Two weeks ago a member of the provincial legislature was ,sentenced to seven days in. jail and spent six of those days behind bars —the first time in the history ot\ the province that a sitting member has been ,jailed. That man is MPP Ed Ziemba, a member of the NDP. He accepted the jail sentence because he refused a judge's order to. dis- close the source of what Ziemba considered ' confidential information. The MPP had re- leased statements about puwortedly crim- inal activities on the part of a private medical laboratory and when ordered by the judge to tell where he got the information Ziemba refused. The matter is not closed. In theory and in- deed in practice, the MPP may be sentenced repeatedly to prison if he .continues to deny the judge the information. Two very important principles of demo- cratic freedom are involved in this Case. The first, of course, is that Ziemba disobeyed an existing law. This he did not deny and accepted the jail sentence without argu- ment. On the otherhand, his action may,well be the firststep toward the revision of •that law. His purpose in refusingthe judge's demand was to protect the person°or.persons Quite a project The western world learned about three years ago that the Arab nations are not lacking in imagination. They had the fore- sight to realize that if they doubled and tripled the $rice of crude oil the rest of us would have no choice but to pay the bills. Now they have come up, with another brilliant idea. Their most recent proposal is that icebergs from the Antarctic Ocean could supply their arid lands with vast supplies of fresh water. What they have proposed is that they should rent or buy an atomic powered submarine, locate some of the big bergs and pusFi them northto the Indian Ocean and into port for melting down. The icebergs, of course, are not salty like the ocean waters, for in the process of freezing only the' fresh water solidifies and the salt is left behind,. All this sounds pretty weird, including the eory that the bergs could be wrapped in mplete overcoats of insulating material to event too much melting during .the rney: They believe that the submarine Id operate at about 130 feet below the sur' ,whd told him about the wrong doing on the part of the laboratory's principals. Ziemba contends, that he is honor bound not to disclose the name,of his informant. Since the television disclosures of organized crime. in Canada it might wellbe that the informant's life or physical safety could be endangered ,were his identity to become known. Mr. Ziemba'reasons that as a representa- tive of a certain number of citizens of the province one of the basic tenets of freedom would be sacrificed should any individual be afraid to tell his member of government 'something that relates, to the public good. Several newspaper reporters have taken the dame course.of action where•+sources of information are concerned. They have accepted jail terms rather than disclose the names of those who p1(ovided them with im- portant information. ,Their contention has a great deal of validity. You can imagine how quickly the Watergate investigations would have ended had The Washington Post re- porters, Woodward and Bernstein been forced to disclose the names of those close to the White House who were talking about wrong doing in high places. ' • It will be interesting to `see the outcome of the Ziemba case. Right or wrong, the man has the courage of his convictions. face, thrusting against the ice at a point close to its centre of gravity and well below the turbulence of storm -tossed waves.' Probably 'it would take some pretty smart , engineers to determine•whether or not the plan is feasible, •but let's give the Arabs credit for active imaginations at least. One lthing, of course, is in their favor . . . they have plenty of money with which to carry out the experiment. Another thing the Arab world has in abundance is sunshine. With all that loose change and plenty of space to work in it wound be interesting if they devoted some"of their energy and imagination to practical experimentation into the field of solar energy. The unlimited, power of the sun might provide them with a feasible method of distilling sea water into life-giving fresh water for human, and agricultural uses. But, on the other hand the advent of a practical way of converting solar heat into energy would inevitably bring down 'the price of crude oil, so we can't really expect the Arabs to lead the world in that direction. L'st wishes to GoderIch Vv' extend best wishes to our sister town of Goderich as that community celebrates its 150th anniversary of incorporation. No other community in this part of Western Ontario has a history which reaches so far back into the early days of settlement. The old Huron Road, now No. 8 Highway, was the first trail to be cut through the woods from Dundas at the west end of Lake Ontario to the shores of Lake Huron at Goderich. That road became the "base line" for most of the surveys ;in the area and provided access for the earliest of the settlers who began to carve farms and villages from the •forest. None of those hardy people could possibly have visualized the tremendous developments which would occur within the next century and a half: The pioneer with his axe could hardly have imagined, as he cleared threes from his holding on the north bank of the Maitland River that some day airplanes would be landing and taking off on the acres stilt dotted with stumps. Goderich became a town 40 years before Canada became a nation and over the years its citizens have contributed in no small part to the progress which has made not only the town but the country great. Today it is a leading community, not merely because of its scenic beauty, but equally because of its importance to the area as a centre of commerce and industry. The people of Goderich have good reason to celebrate their birthday with pride. THE WINGHAM ADVANCE -TIMES Published at Wingham. Ontario, by Wenger Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President Robert O. Wenger, Secretary -Treasurer Member Audit Bureau of Circulations ober — Canadian Community Newspapers Assoc. scription $12.00 per year Second Class Mail Registration No, 0821 Ontario Weekly Newspapers Assoc. Six months $6.50 Return postage guaranteed A page of editorial opinion Wednesday, July 6 "He wants to know, we're so democratic, how is it you don't have an opposition in Alberta?" Letters to the Editor Adv,anc.e-Times Wingham Dear Editor: We wish to invite'any of your readers who have had an associa- tion with Goderich Collegiate• to renew old acquaintances at a re- union, at the school, on Sunday, July 10th, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. This event is a part of the Goderich week-long, 150th an- niversary celebrations. Thank you, F. MacDonald 0-0-0 ATTENDED PROGRAM ON•PARLIAMENT HILL Wingham, Ontario July 4, 1977 Advance -Times Dear Editor: Nappy Anniversary and Best Wishes Canada. This past week- end we have celebrated the 110th anniversary of the Dominion of Canada and great were the festivities planned for,, -the occa- sion across the country and mainly in the nation's capital, Ot- tawa.' I, among others, was privileged to attend some of the -program on Parliament Hill and especially the Canada for Christ pray -in for unity held July 1st at 2 p.m. in the Ottawa • Civic Centre. Rev. Bill Prankard, well known Canadian evangelist and TV personality, took charge of this service intro- ducing a, number of government officials, and using as his theme "He shall—have dominion from sea to sea", Psalm 72:8. Rev. Prankard, speaking in hushed tones to a near -capacity crowd (10,000 seats), called. Que- bec separatism "Canada's cross to bear", "Who else will stand on guard for our country if Chris- tians will not?" The message was a simplified mixture of patriotism and re- ligion. "There are no social or cultural problems in this country. just a spirtual problem. We can be happy God's people are on Parliament Hill." ' The Ottawa minister told his audience Christians have no right to condemn 'political leaders for whatever action they take to keep the country together. "We have never been ordered to criticize those in authority over us," he said. "We can only pray " And pray they did. Rev. Prankard told them they prayed to a God who is more anxious to see 'this land stay together than we are on earth. The evangelist did not mention Rene Levesque or the Parti Quebecois but he hinted "part of our family wants to go away and we don't want them to " • Prayers for Canada were later replaced by prayers for the weather, "The entertainment on Parliament Hill is of great magnitude and importance," said Mr. Prankard. "We pray the Lord will intervene and clear the skies," as thunder was heard rumbling in the distance Rev. David Mainse from Hamilton was called to dedicate a Bible to each of the three govern- ment leaders. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Mr. Joe Clarke and Mr. Ed Broadbent of the opposition parties. Among those from this area travelling to Ottawa were Mrs. Reg Moore, Ripley, Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Stapleton, Ailsa Craig, Miss Myrtle Carson, Listowel, Mrs.' drew :Gaunt, Lucknow, Mrs. IF Wallace, Blyth, Mrs. Arth efr Stapleton, Mrs. Marjorie McKay and myself from Wing - ham. Mrs. Edith Haldenby, a , resi- dent of Brookhaven Nursing Home, asked Mrs. McKay, a staff member there, to contact her son, Lorne Haldenby in Ottawa, which she did and he graciously offered his services as tour guide Saturday morning. His commen- tary as we ,toured places, of in- terest was most appreciated, and to •Mrs. Haldenby's son we -say thank you so much for a job well done. Rev. Bill Prankard and team will be coming to F. E. Madill, Secondary School, Wingham for an evening service on Tuesday, August 2, 1977. • Yours sincerely, Jean McGuire 0 -p -o DRIFTING HORMONE SPRAYS The Advance -Times, Wingham, Ontario. Dear Editor: What other subject creates more raised sensivities and hurt feelings than that of pollution? Nobody wants to be told that their auto is a terrible polluter, or that their burning leaves can make someone sick, or that they are careless or not living up to regu- lations when they spray weeds. So, it is with timerity that I dare to write about the subject' of care in using herbicides, even though many have assumed that like smokers, they have special rights. In early June the grain field across from us received its dose of a hormone type of week killer, according to one person. You may not know that hormone type of sprays are noxious drifters, so on the back of the poster "2,4-D Sus- ceptible Crops," e this is P \ found. "There is a definite risk in spray- ing 2,4-D, 2,45-T etc., within 'A mile of a, susceptible crop." (These are 'hormone sprays. At the time of the spraying, the wind was strong and blowing right at us from the spray. Order No. 76- 004 says, "Do not spray when winds are over 7 mph." The oper- ator could not have had a licence or he would have been more care- ful since licenced operators must show that they know 'what the regulations are. Publication 75 from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food says, "An extermina- tor's licence is required by a per- son applying herbicides on prop- erty other than his own domestic property." Though many regulations were apparently ignored the worst Spe �n convrctrfons g increase in -Ontario Over three-quarters of a mil- lion speeders were convicted by Ontario courts through 1976 — an increase of over 100,000, accord- ing to figures released by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Compiled from police reports \from across the province, the fi- gures showed that 809,039 drivers were convicted for speeding last year compared with 707,352 in 1975. "Of that staggering total, 6,587 drivers were convicted of driving 30 or more miles an hour above the local speed limit," comment- ed MTC Minister James Snow. "It's quite obvious to me that far too many drivers are simply ignoring the rules of the road. "We lowered the speed limits for two strong reasons: To reduce the number of high speed acci- dents and resultant deaths and injuries; and to conserve ener- gy." Convictions for failing to ob- serve stop signs — a major con- tributor to accidents — were also up. Last year, $8,377 drivers were caught running stop signs, an in- crease of 560 over 1975. • TODAY'S CHILD BY HELEN ALLEN Jamie is a happy, busy two-year-old, relishing every day with no idea that he is a handicapped child, Born with Downs Syndrome (mongolism) James can be expected to be below average both physically and mentally, Though he is, about the normal level now, if he follows the usual pattern he will eventually reach a plateau and not progress much further. Blonde, blue-eyed Jamie is cuddly and affectionate, a real joy in his foster home. His foster parents say he is the typical two-year-old — ihto everything. He walks and climbs well and has no fears. He is doing well at a nursery school for below average children. • Jamie is accustomed to much attention in his foster home arid it will be good if there are older brothers and sisters in hit; adoption home. He needs a mother and father who will appreciate his loveable personality and, while recognizing his limitations, help him develop as far as he can go, To inquire about adopting Jamie, please write to Today's Child, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Box 888, Station K, Toronto M4P 2112. In your letter tell something of your present family and your way of life. For general information about adoption contact your local Children's Aid Society. An additional 46,555 motorists were convicted of running red lights, a whopping 10 per cent in- crease over the 1975 total of 41,905. • "I can only suggest that driver preoccupation is the reason why so many drivers failto obey stop signs and red traffic lights," said Snow. "Common sense tells me that no driver would wilfully risk a serious accident by deliberately ignoring such critical traffic con- trols." And 3,123 drivers were found guilty of failing to stop • for a standing school bus while its lights were flashing. "This set .of statistics bothers me,'.' said Snow. "I introduced the regulation to protect the lives of Ontarie youngsters who use buses each school day. The media has given it wide coverage and we've publi- cized the law as widely as pos- sible — yet I still get complaints that some motorists wheel by standing buses as if they didn't exist. "I can only hope that their bet- ter judgment will prevail; that they will stop briefly in the inter- ests of child safety." part of all is that our early garden is inedible for us, since the spray- ing was done. That is bad enough for any family to have happen, but we cannot replace what was previously organic fruits and vegetables, because we have not been able to find any which are grown by others that agree with us, that is which do not make us ill. Peas, spinach; strawberries, rhubarb, ete., were ready for the freezer for the week following. Then in addition, three other families who are similarly af- flicted were counting on us for summer and winter vegetables. The mystery for readers will be how do you know that the garden has been spoiled (polluted) or how can they be tested., Fortu- nately we have had the help of clinical ecologists who are MD's specializing in allergy. These. MP's have discovered,a way for their patients to test whatever they eat and so learn how to keep reasonably well. Some symptoms were headaches, sleepless nights, arthritis like knee pains, and also neck muscle spasms. The latter had not been experienced in nine years, when our neighbor tried to kill Creeping Charlie, with a hor- mone spray. Dr. Randolph trains any medical doctor so he can be- come a clinical ecologist in about six months. They are shown the way in a 22 -bed Ecology Unit in a hospital dedicated to preventive medicine, north of Chicago. Every community will be better, off if such an MD ever arrives in the community as they help or cure most arthritics, migraine sufferers, some MS, hyperten- sion, hyperactive children, much insomnia, and other problems which have long been considered entirely mental in cause: For skeptics and serious en- quirers, please read, Dr. T. G. Randolph, Human Ecology and Susceptibility to the Chemical Environment. About 1950 he was dismissed from his teaching posi- tion in a medical school becuase he told the students that food could make them sick. Nowhe is teaching medical doctors how to help many and assorted ail- ments, by merely finding out what agrees or disagrees with each person. Another book is by Dr. Richard Mackarness, ; Not All In° The Mind. He is a ,psychiatrist. This book has been issued in the U. S., under the title, Eating Danger- ously. if these books are not on the shelves of The Wingham library we plan to get them there as soon as possible. There are other books, such as Environment On Trial — A Citi- zen's Guide to Ontario Environ- mental Law, which could be use- ful, as w 11 as membership in Pollution' Probe, If anyone feels th0.---*e should get togetherto help one another, we would be glad to hear from you. Never be- fore have we run into so many in- stances where we have been told that' sprays have adversely af- fected gardens and people. In unity is strength. Harold Marr, RRS, Wingham. RED CROSS SWIMMING INSTRUCTION' GORRIE — Peter Hilbert is the swimming instructor from Wing - ham again this year, with assist- ants Karen Hyndman, Joanne Sanderson, Valerie Peel and. Lynda Gray. Mrs. Don Ruttan will be part-time assistant, The Gorrie pool opened oh July 1st with approximately 200 en- rolled for classes for July and 100 for August. •