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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1973-04-19, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICI3 CITIZENS NEWS The air was unusually still around the Parliament Buildings this week. This was the week when the Ontario treasurer, John White, was to unveil his budget in the House. Government members were reluctant to voice their predictions for they were fear- ful that the taxpayer was going to be compelled to reach into his pocket again. Opposition members predictec some form of a tax increase to overcome the heavy debt load of the province, but they cert- ainly did not expect the treas- urer to employ a regressive syst- em of raising revenue which hits heavily at those making the least money. Well, it might have been a White Day in the house on Thurs day, but it was a black day for most people across Ontario. The sales tax was increased from 5 to 7%, and items like gasoline, furnace oil, natural or manufactured gas, coal, coke and electricity which were not previously taxed will now be subjected to the sales tax. Food drugs, children's clothing, gard- en seeds and plants, and pets will be excluded from the tax, Mrs. White's budget, by his own estimates, makes $333 million more for the Ontario Treasury than it would have had he not increased taxes. This will leave the Government with a predicted budget deficit for fis- cal 1973-74 of $402 minion. The Ontario Treasurer plans to give the municipalities app- roximately $180 million, now realizing that municipalities should have more autonomy in development of programs resp- onsive to community needs. Mr. White also plans to rebate the low income families in the way of tax credits which will amount to another $90 million to be taken out of the Treasury. . Whether these rebates will be sufficient, remains to be seen. The poor and the struggling majority spend a far higher proportionof their income as a tax on purchases than their well-to-do neighbours. They may not buy as many things but the tax on the items they purchase is more important to them than it is to the well-to- do. School boards, and post sec- ondary instututions will benefit from the additional money gran ted to them by the Treasurer. , Joni gs by Jack from Queens Ptak The family farm was also taken into consideration. Succession duties have been effectively removed altogether from family farms. The Government intends to snake provision for a once- in-a-lifetime gift of an interest in a family farm by a farmer to his children of up to $50, 000 free of gift tax. The Govern- ment also intends to double the grants it gives to reduce the property taxes borne by farmers. The 50% tax relief grant on farm property is equivalent to complete exemption from prop- erty taxation for all farm land, leaving nnly the farm buildings to be taxed. Non-farm people will no doubt think that the budget is unfair, but considering the flood of farm people to the cities to share in the higher incomes, they must realize that some program was necessary to keep the farm units viable, being that farmers provide that first necessity, food. There is no doubt that some segments of society will gain more than others, but it boils down to the fact that an inc- rease in sales tax affects all people, and that such increases are regressive, inflationary, and unnecessary. Regressive in that the low- income families spend a much larger proportion of their in- come on basic living needs, and thus will feel the pinch in the higher costs of practically everything they buy. Inflationary in that the budget impact will raise consumer prices, and higher living costs will encourage higher wage demands. Unnecessary in that the Gov- ernment really can not account for the large deficit in the first place, and in the second place the anticipated higher revenue generated by continuing econ- omic growth should be able to provide the money the province needs. The Liberal Party of Ontario held their annual convention at the Chateau Lanrier Hotel in Ottawa over the weekend with approximately 1500 people rep- resenting all areas of Ontario in attendance. There was more enthusiasm shown at this convention than there has been for some time, and the numbers of young people taking an interest and active part was overwhelming. ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 ��t w o Member: 0•�t, Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association; MI • Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association tenet Subscription Rates: $5. 00 per year in advance in Canada; $6.00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 15¢ THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1973 I AINE SHURE WHAT THEY MEEN by Bill Smiley English is going down the drain, going to the dogs, or going up in smoke these days. Take your pick. Maybe that first sentence is what's wrong with the language. There are so many idioms in it that nobody can speak or write the real thing any more. University professors have expressed their indignation pub- licly. A couple of them recent ly announced that students who expect to graduate in one of the prefessions can't write one sent- ence without falling all over their syntax. I agree with them But if they think they have troubles, they should try teach- ing English in high school. There has been such a marked and rapid decrease in the stand- ards of written and spoken Engl- ish that teachers of the subject can be found almost any day in the staff john, weeping into the washbasin. This winter, a teacher in a city school decided to prove something she already knew. She drew up a list of forty words, most of them of one syllable, and tested several classes. No- body could spell all forty. Many of the kids couldn't spell ten of the words. Her experiment and her sub- sequent indignation were airily dismissed by a public school principal, who said something like, "Oh, we don't worry much about spelling any more. They'll learn to spell when they need to." Hogwash. What employer of anything but brute strength wants a semi- literate lout fouling up his in- voices, order forms and every- thing he can get his hand on? What printer, for example, will hire a kid who can't even spell "etaoin Shrdlu" and doesn't even know what it means? 1 do a fair bit of gnashing and wailing myself when I'm mark- ing upper school papers and have to sort out something like, "The woman nu were she was going, as she when they're everyday." The thought isthere, but there is something lacking, when it comes to felicity of spelling. Everybody blames everybody else for the sad state of English, but, as usual, you have to read it in this column to get at the truth. Let us establish the a priori fact that the high school English teacher is faultless. And, some would add, that a fortiori, the Independent Shipper to United Co-operative of Ontario Livestock Dept Toronto Ship Your Livestock with Roy Scotc'hmer Monday Is Shipping Day From Varna Stockyard CALL BAYFIELD 565-2636 I3y 7:30 a.m, Monday For Prompt Service No Charges on Pick-up high school English teacher is useless. So be it. Now for the real culprits. They are not the elementary school teachers, much as we would love to blame them. They are victims, too. First, English had been derog- ated and eroded for the past couple of decades until it is now down somewhere in the area of brushing your teeth and saying your prayers. Remember, you older and wiser people who went to school longer ago than you care to pro- claim? You had spelling and grammar and composition and reading and writing and orals. This was English. Maybe you didn't learn much about sex or conversational French or how to copy a "proj- ect" out of the encyclopedia, but you sure as hell had English belted into you. Maybe you weren't given much chance to "express your- self, " but by the time you were, you had some tools with which to do it. Nowadays English is practic- ally crowded off the curriculum by such esoteric subjects as social behaviour, getting along with the group, finding your place in society, and the ubiq- uitous and often useless "proj- ect. Kids, one teacher told nte, shouldn't have to learn to spell words that are not in their own vocabulary. Now, I ask you. How else do they acquire a voc- abulary? But, I repeat, it's not the teachers of our little treasures who are at fault. It's the tink- erers, the dabblers in education. They are rarely found in a class- room, They are more often haring after some "new appro- ach" in education that has been tried and found wanting by the Americans or the Armenians or the Aztecs. Thus, out went grammar and spelling drill. The kids are sup- posed to learn these basic skills, not through their eyes' and ears, but in some mysterious way; possibly through their skin. Daily drill is deadening to the spirit, so off with its head. Let the kids be creative, write poetry: "I saw the moon ovary the cloweds it was sooper." Doesn't that give you a unique experience? The freedom of spirit, the originality, the creativity? Fortunately, I am able to shake this off, along with war and famine, death and taxes. It has it's moments. The other day, I threw this old chestnut at a class, and asked them to correct the gram- mar: "Forty cows were seen, sitting on the verandah." There was total silence. It seemed OK to thein. Then a pretty Grade 11 girl flung up her hand and flashed all her teeth. "I got it, Mr.,Smiley ! "' "Yes, Bonny, " I winced. Carefully she enunciated: "I seen forty cows sitting on the verandah." 0 Tim, Susan and Jennifer Deck- er of Nipissing, spent the week- end in Zurich visiting with relatives and friends, siness an Prof ssionai !rectory OPTOMETRISTS J. E Langstaff OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 527.1240 Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m„ Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 issac Street 482-7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. orman artin OPTOMETrtlgT Office Hours: 9.12 A,M. — 1:30-6 P. Closed all day Saturday Phone 235.2433 Exeter INSURANCES R be F. 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