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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1975-09-04, Page 4Page 4 - Zurich Citizens News, September 4, 1975 Don't argue - just pay! The ramifications of gasoline and oil pricing seem, to be so complicated that the average driver and home owner has been left out in the dark, except for paying the bills. It was not difficult to understand the first move. The Arab countries simply decided to put the muscle on those nations which were dependent on them for oil and the other oil producers followed suit. What is a great deal more difficult to compre- hend is why the oil producers right in our own land feel obliged to jack their prices up just as high as possible. It would have been logical to assume that Canadians were in a fortunate position because our country is virtually self-sufficient as far as oil is concerned. The major oil companies here were not squawking about their incomes before the great price hike. Why, then, the sudden clamor for higher prices at this particular time? Probably because the Arabs proved that consumers could and would pony up with double and treble the prvious prices. Most incomprehensible of all is the federal govern- ment's new tax of 10 cents a gallon. There is only one explanation for that slap at our gas tanks. The government, just like the Arabs and all the other opportunists, could not miss the chance at a fast buck. There were some suggestions from on high that the extra tax would discourage unnecessary driving by those bent only on their own pleasure. That reasoning, however, doesn't really stand up. If the basic intention was to protest dwindling oil reserves the first move wold have been to ban all sport vehicles such as snowmobiles and pleasure boats. A more reasonable excuse for the tax is that it will provide funds to cushion the price of fuel in the Atlantic provinces which are farther away from our Canadian oil sources. If that is the reason, why place the burden of good neighborliness only on the car drivers? Surely that is an obligation for all taxpayers, whether or not they drive cars. There has even been talk of the government itself going into the oil business, presumably to provide us with fuels at a lower price than that charged by the existing oil companies. Judging by our experience with such government-sponsored services as the post office and the national railway, we cannot be tremendously optimistic about an Oil Canada operation. We would do better to take our chances with the boys who have been in the oil business for the past 50 to 60 years. They may be greedy, but at least they know what it' s all about. (Listowel Banner) Stanley rec news At the recreation meeting Wednesday, August 27, at Varna, plans were finaliz- ed for the Recreation Dance to b.e held Saturday, October 4, at Hully-Gully. Music will be provided by Tony Nother. A draw for a 10 -speed bicycle will also be held that evening. Tickets for the dance or draw will be available from recreat- ion organizers. Be sure to come to Huron Centennial School on Sunday, September 7 to the Town- ship slow -pitch games. Lad- ies at 1:30 p.m.; Men at 3 p.m. Anyone is welcome to play or watch. The Inter -Township Sen- ior Boys Tournament which was to have been held at Hully-Gully moved to the Benmiller Park due to weather conditions. The Labour Day event saw the Colborne lads emerge as champions over Stanley in the final game. Congratulations to our boys and their coaches for their fine showing in their first season of playing. ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Mail Registration Number 1385 Member: CNACanadian Weekly. Newspapers Association 0 Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association �'�F 115110. Subscription Rates: $6.00 per year in advance in Canada; $8.00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 20¢ ► The International. Scenel (by Raymond Canon) 11 CIDA HAS ITS PROBLEMS The word CIDA may not be known to many Canadians but they should be for it is an organization that is spending a great deal of their tax money. It stands for Canadian International Development Agency and is responsible for all the foreign aid programs that are run by the federal government. Some size of the operation can be gleaned from the fact that the budget for CISA is currently in the neighbourhood of one billion dollars. That is still a lot of money, no matter which way you cut it. Many countries are quite happy to get aid from Can- ada and we are ir,to this business in a big way, only the US., Britain, West Germ- any and France spend more than we do and so one would expect that we would have an efficient agency to do all this spending. The signs are, unfortunately, that this is not the case for CIDA has come under heavy fire lately for the way it goes about its business. First of all, it is extremely difficult to find out just how the agency is spending its money, as Opposition hM.P:..s discovered when they made inquiries in the Horse of Commons. Although the org- anization is technics lly an arm of External Affairs, it is run virtually as an independ- ent outfit under the leader- ship of Paul Gerin-Lajoie, a person about wh ch it is difficult to remain neutral. Because of this independence, the M.P.'s ran intJ a stone wall when they att3mpted to have an examination made of CIDA 's finances and management. First of all, a little bit about Gerin-Lajo&e himself. As I indicated, it seems that you either admire him or hate him and there are plenty in the latter category. He is Kippen (intended for last week) Mrs. Steve Pine and daughter of Sault Ste. Marie have returned home after a pleasant holiday with Mr. and Mrs. Ed McBride. Ladies of the St. Andrews church held a successful pie sale at the Zurich Bean Festival. Mr. and Mrs. William Cole- man and Mr. and Mrs. Tom Munroe and Ian had a pleas- ant holiday in Muskoka. Mr. and Mrs. W.L. Mellis, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Burke, Wroxeter, Mrs. M. Barnard, Hensall, spent the past week in Northern Ontario and report fine weather and beautiful scenery. Mr. and Mrs. G. Anderson, Livonia, Michigan, visited Mrs. Anderson's uncle, W.L. Mellis and Mrs. Mellis. Kippen East Women's Institute were pleased with their first venture into pie selling at the Zurich Bean Festival. Mr. and Mrs. Ken Alder - dice and Pam, Montreal, visited relatives and friends in the area. taken to taks for his imperial style, his desire to concentrate as much power in his hands as possible and for all the travel- ling he does. His propensity to attract controversy was never better illustrated last year when he took a trip to Cuba. Out of that trip came the promise of a 10 million dollar interest-free loan to Castroland, repayable over no less than 50 years. Those who rose up iri opposition included Finance Minister John Turner and, after a great deal of shouting, some of it in public, the loan was chang- ed to a three year one, for 12.6 million and bearing 3% interest, a far cry from the first offer. Even at that, there has been some evidence that there might be some hidden clauses in the offer which would result in the Cubans getting considerably • more than the 11 million. Another problem is the mor- ale of the employees of CIDA. A great deal of time is spent going around in circles, nowhere more so than in Kenya where the tesidents have been waiting more than seven years for a tech- nical teachers training coll- ege to be built. To date not one brick has been laid. Staff turnover is so high that few projects can be foll- owed through by the same team and the story is told of one member of External Af- fairs who turned down a job as ambassador in one under- developed country and accept- ed a lesser post elsewhere, simply because he did not want to get involved with CIDA activities in that count- ry With all that money to spend, CIDA ought to be run more on the lines of big business and less like a wel- fare agency. After all, it is controlling plenty of big projects where hard decis- ions have to be made by experienced people. The evidence to date is that these decisions are not being made due, more than anything else, to the lack of expert- ise by the employees. Whiule many countries in the world are grateful for the help which Canada is giving them, this gratefulness is going to turn into anger if they find that they have been saddled with too many white elephants, erected by the agency of a country' that had the best of intentions but was decidedly bush league in the way they went about translating. these intentions into reality. TODAY'S CHILD BY HELEN ALLEN THE TORONTO SYNDICATE Bobby, 12, doesn't want to move anymore. Through no fault of his, he has had,to move twice from foster hones where he felt secure. Now he very much wants to be adopted so he will have a family he can stay with — for sure. Indian and white in descent, Bobby is a handsome lad with brown hair, very dark eyes, medium complexion and a disposition to match his pleasant smile. He is in excellent health. A sports -minded lad, Bobby plays hockey whenever and wherever he can. He enjoys camping, swimming and bike riding. Though not an aggressive boy, he likes rough games like wrestling. He is looking forward to joining army cadets in the fall. Bobby was in grade six last year but because he was behind in the basics he will be repeating that grade. However his teacher said he showed great improvements and she found him en- thusiastic and eager to learn. Bobby hopes to maintain some contact with an older sister who is not being adopted. His winning personality will make him an asset to a family. To inquire about adopting Bobby, please write to Today's Child, Ministry of Community and Social Services, Box 888, Station K, Toronto M4P 2H2. In your letter please tell something of your present family and your way of life. For general information, consult your local Children's Aid Society. HE WANTS A FAMILY