HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-06-15, Page 4Page 4
Citizens News, June 15, 1978
Get -tough policy for feeding animals in national parks.
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Maintaining the core
A town's downtown core is the key for a com-
munity and as such, a vigil should always be main-
tained in order to keep the core as attractive as
possible. There are two methods in which im-
provements to a business core can be made: the
renovation of existing buildings or a "scorched
earth policy" in which existing buildings are
demolished and a new core established.
Fortunately, Zurich is in the position of having
an attractive, compact business section with only a
few sidewalks detracting from a nice rural shop=
ping area.
Other municipalities are not as fortunate with a
shopping area that is far from pleasant.
It appears that suggestions of downtown im-
provement are not limited to south-western Ontario
as a perusal through the Nanton, Alberta News
showed.
Referring to the business core of Nanton, the
president of the local Chamber of Commerce said
"Tear the damn thing down." '
According to the Chamber president, the 850
families in the Nanton trading area spend about
five million dollars per year with the Nanton
merchants picking up about 20 percent of that total.
In proposing a co-operative shopping develop-
ment, he said Nanton shoppers were faced with a
• downtown core that scared away shoppers.
In what must rate as one of the best quotes of
the year the Chamber president said "Shoppers are
not customers anymore — they're victims."
The predicament which Nanton is now faced
with, should serve as a lesson to municipalities in
this area who are being faced with intensive com-
petition from the larger centres. A regular
maintenance of the downtown core is in the longer
run better for the community.
Not a guarantee
"Sincerity is always subject to proof." John F.
Kennedy said in the address he gave at his in-
auguration as President of the U.S.A.
Was Kennedy being just a little cynical about
sincerity? Or was he being realistic, saying that we
should be suspicious of declarations of sincerity
and appearances of sincerity?
He had learned, as we all learn, that sincerity
is an ambiguous notion, that an image of sincerity
is not a guarantee of honesty and integrity. Most of
us have had the experience of being conned by
slickers who exude sincerity like cheap after -shave
lotion.
The late Lord Thomson, the Canadian who
became a press lord in Britain, once said this, with
a twinkle in his eye: "I'm frank, brutally frank.
And when I'm not frank, I look frank." What would
you make of that? A man being sincere about his
own occasional insincerity? As the popular saying
has it, "Whether you mean it or not, be sincere!"
Some expressions of sincerity are calculatingly
deceptive. And sincerity also has other popular
aberrations. There is the sincerity, the quite
genuine sincerity, of the fanatic. There is the
sometimes dangerous sincerity of the person who
believes that he, along with those who think as he
does, has a monopoly in some significant segment
of truth and wisdom: he may be intolerant, bigoted,
hating those who disagree with him and sometimes
cruel toward them, but you've got to give him
credit for complete sincerity.
Then there is the dangerous sincerity of the
person who combines initiative -taking, self-
confidence, and gross incompetence. If you have
much to do with such a person you learn that
sincerity can sometimes do more harm than
malice. But many of us from time to time fall into
that trap ourselves. We excuse our folly and in-
eptness by assuring ourselves that we are sincere
anyway. We sometimes assume that our sincerely
good intentions allow us to be incompetent and
foolish in their implementation.
We must not, of course, fall into the easy
cynicism which assumes that all appearances of
sincerity are deceptive. But we do need to be aware
that sincerity, no matter how genuine it may be is
not in itself a guarantee of truth, never a substitute
for knowledge, never an excuse for unnecessary in-
competence. Our sincerity is always subject to
proof.
Contributed
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1 J iseel1as eons
Ramblings
By
TOM CREECH
Racism
Part two
In last week's column a synopsis of a report on
Toronto racism by Dr.Francis Henry of York univer-
sity was given a brief examination with the major fin-
dings of the report mentioned.
The study was prompted by what appeared to be a
trend towards what could be termed as a more visible
type of racism such as the beating of an elderly
Pakistani gentleman in a Toronto subway station a
few years ago.
In addition to serving as a valuable source paper
on racism as practiced in a large urban municipality,
the report made five specific recommendations while
also supporting the recommendations contained in a
report authored by the former head of Ryerson and
former NDP leadership candidate Walter Pitman.
The report's first recommendation focuses on
education since there was a definite correlation
between racial tolerance and the amount of schooling.
Henry states that while the best solution would be a
wider exposure to education by a wider number of
people "a more realistic alternative would be to en-
sure that primary and high school learners are expos-
ed to a curriculum which emphasizes both information
on the cultures and backgrounds of visible minority
immigrants as well as specific instructions in the
general area of inter group and multi-ethnic
relations." Another item that Henry calls for some
consideration to be given is the introduction of
specific programs in mixed schools that would in-
crease contact between various groups.
In keeping with the social contact theme, the
report calls for the creation of community groups in
mixed residential areas in order to encourage contact
and heighten awareness at the local neighborhood or
community levels.. The place of work also plays an im-
portant role in a breakdown of racist attitudes and
Henry says industry could be the ideal place for es-
tablishment of social groups or encounter type
sessions which could extend beyond the realm of the
factory.' Returning to_the education theme, Henry
says "There is a need not only in schools but in the
adult population as well for greater information about
cultural background of immigrants in order to reduce
hostile feelings towards them and to decrease the
belief in outmoded and exaggerated stereotypes." The
report points out that the stereotype of a large
percentage of the black and Asian population being un-
employed is not true. The secretary of state office
could be used to !provide information on the various
ethnic groups to the Canadian populace.
A program which would appear to be innovative
would see the introduction of cultural information
programs to south and eastern European immigrants
before they arrived in Canada. A similar program for
those groups of Europeans already in Canada could be
initiatedin attempt to"counteract or decrease the im-
pact of negative stereotypes which are quickly -learn-
ed in the absence of better and more accurate infor-
mation."
Referring to the role of the church, the report says
those churches whose members are inclined towards
racism should attempt to , ensure greater contact
between its members and immigrants and should also
try to change the attitudes of its members towards
certain ethnic groups.
With respect to the finding of high amounts of
racism among certain sectors of the non working pop-
ulace (housewives and the aged) programs using the
media could be used in an attempt to limit the degree
of social isolation which these groups are in.
It goes without saying that the problem of racism
not only in our metropolitan centres but in the country
Please turn to Page 5
S 111151 WIIN IOCA{N[WS
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News Editor - Tom Creech
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