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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1985-09-11, Page 2Huron Jxpositor SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST *CNA BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 527-0240 Published in SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER McILWRAITH, Editor The Expositor is brought to you each week by the efforts of: Pat Armes, Bessie Broome, Marlene Charters, Joan Guichelaar, Anne Huff, Joanne Jewitt, Stephanie Levesque, Dianne McGrath, Lois McLlwain, Bob McMillan, Cathy Malady and Patrick Raftis. Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association OntarioPress Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription .rates: Canada $18.75 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (In advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1985 Second class mail registration Number 0696 Created safety valve Ontario ombudsman Daniel Hill claims it's time his office was given an expansion of an already wide -spread and sweeping jurisdiction. Despite his honorable intentions of moving the good work of the ombudsman's office to new horizons, what Mr. Hill is asking for, could spread the resources of his ,off ice so thin, as to render it ineffective. The Ombudsman Act gives ombudsmen the power to investigate any decision or recommendation made by a ministry, agency, board or commission. The creation of the Ombudsman's Office was definitely a progressive step. it created an important safety valve, capable of stemming the flood of bureaucracy before it is able to drown the public in red tape. However, the ombudsman has no authority over municipalities, children's aid societies, universities, conservation authorities and marketing boards. Those ommissions are what Mr. Hill wants changed. While it's true these bodies receive major provincial financing, and so, should be subject to some form of outside review, the Ombudsman's Office is not necessarily the proper venue for people to appeal the decisions of those bodies. In some cases, having the ombudsman look into the decisions of these bodies would represent a duplication of services. Take municipalities. Is the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) not already empowered to act as provincial watchdog over the provinces' towns, townships and counties? Appearing before the legislature's committee on the ombudsman recently, Hill said his office has received more than 3,000 "non -jurisdictional complaints" in the last five years. Just because people may not be aware of the proper channels for their own particular beef, and try to use the ombudsman as a catch-all institution, does no mean the ombudsman needs to be able to deal personally with these misguided cases. Mr. Hill's staff need only be directed to steer these calls to the proper authority. Since its inception the Ombudsman's Office has proved its worth with the sheer number of people who have came to it for assistance. It is needed. However this same popularity is the reason the ombudsman's authority should not be extended. Already the workload is so large that iri all but the most blatent cases of injustice, the staff are able to make only the most perfunctory of checks. Many plaintiffs who receive no satisfaction from the ombudsman's office have complaints which would doubtless prove valid if investigated in detail. Rather than intruding into areas already handled by other authorities, the ombudsman should concentrate his efforts on addressing the concerns of those he is already empowered to help. — P.R. Finally, Bill 82 After a five-year implementation process Bill 82 or the Education Amendment Act is now In force. It came into being at the start of September. Designed to provide every exceptional pupil in the province with access to education programs suited to his/her special needs, Bill 82 takes a step to equating special education with "purposeful, task -focused" learning, as it defines exceptionality as gifted children as well as those who are handicapped, physically, mentally, auditorially, or are learning disabled, or emotionally disturbed. With some 300,000 pupils in Ontario recognized as having special needs Bill 82 comes as long overdo, and as a positive step to ensuring special education is a "continuing not a finite endeavor." While the recognition of the need for special education services began in the '1960s prior to 1980 the provision of special education programs at the school level was optional and therefore, virtually non-existent. Bill 82 has changed that. Through it all school boards in the province have been involved in the process of planning and implementing the provision of special education programs and services in their district. The five-year phased -in type implementation of Bill 82 has meant the planning and implementation of special education programs and services was done gradually and as a result perhaps with more care and possibility of long lasting results. Certainly it gave the Bill a chance to gain public exposure and notoreity--a notoreity that has wrought positive results in many areas. Originally a total of $75 million was to be granted to the boards for special education but by January 1, 1985, that figure had risen to $232 million, with an additional $16 million allocated for this year. In addition the five year implementation period meant the Ministry of Education was able to develop a planning guide designed to assist school boards with their planning of ways to meet the special education needs of their communities. Surely the intentions of the Seaforth District High School to install a third level of learning at their institution is in part in keeping with the intents of Bill 82, and an indication it is being taken seriously. Other areas are taking it seriously as well. Following a Ministry requirement in 1984-85 (the last year of the phase-in) each board submitted a report indicating compliance with the legislation - something the ministry called "commendable." With that In mind it is evident the special education legislation is being fully observed at present and should therefore under supervision flourish in the future. Perhaps then this can be called one example of something good that has emerged from what is often just a tangle of bureaucratic red tape, and stall tactics. Perhaps this, the Education Amendment Act, as it is now, was worth the wait. — H.M. Grazing Photo by Patrick Raftis Life could be so easy The mood of escapism has taken over in the summer of 1985 as people flock to movies like Back to the Future or Rambo or the latest James Bond movie or read detective novels or Harlequin romances while they lie on the beach but for real escapism, read the biographies of successful people. I just finished re -reading an old biography of a successful Canadian and, although it was straight fact, found it far more reassuring and pleasant reading than any fictional novel. The only thing I found slightly depressing was wondering "why can'trny life be like that." The thing about biographies about suc- cessful people is the success seems so preordained. This particular man went on to ame. Sure he had hardship along tof intentional e way but every hardship became important to his overall success in the long run. He went broke several times before he struck it rich but each time he made a mistake it just turned him more firmly to the route where he would make his fortune. Reading it, it all seems so inevitable. in real life many of us make mistakes that ruin our lives. Looking back, it's so easy to gloss over the agonies and the struggles in a life, The author made our millionaire -to -be seem a happy warrior who went from one failure to the next BEHIND THE SCENES by Keith Roulston success without a moment of uncertainty or worry. Although he was in terrible debt, just keeping ahead of the bill collectors at times, he never seemed to worry. It can make a reader who does worry about things like where tomorrow's meal is coming from, feel absolutely inferior. But none of us is like the man described by the biographer. Even the oeoole who seem so self-assured when we meet them in real life, have their doubts and uncertainties. In fact some of the people who seem most in control of their own lives are actually the most insecure when they're in a room by themselves. Our "hero" cheerfully admitted he had been unfaithful to his wife and the author left it at that. W e don't know the agonies the woman went through, the fights they must have had al ng the way. instead we see her as a paragon of motherhood, making do without much money, making do with a husband who was so obsessed with becoming a millionaire he was seldom home and knowing while he was off travelling that he was also sampling the delights of the local female population. The people around our success story are just rungs on the ladder for our hero. W e don't know how bitter they may have been at some of the actions our man took on his way up But through it all there's the sense of inevitability that comes through. In fiction our hero gets in scrapes and we wonder if he'll escape. Even in a continuing series like James Bond, suspense is built up so sufficiently we begin to wonder if this is the time our hero will get in over his head, But our hero in biography is bound to come out safe. He may make the wrong move now and then, may regret something but the road to success, to a happy ending, is never in doubt. If only life could be so easy. Weapons not always lethal My six-year-old son is fascinated by any form of fighting. He practices judo, karate and boxing. His toys include ray guns, six shooters, bow and arrow sets, and a variety of unlikely weapons. He has little interest in school. He just does not see the value of it. With his vast experience (mostly gained from television t he has decided that developing fighting skills is the way to get ahead in this world. i have tried reasoning with him. He listens and might even agree with me but it doesn't last The next television show or cartoon proves that poorold dad is mistaken after all. The hero always solves all problems with his fighting skill. I guess I can't blame the boy. ft would be wonderful (at least for the "good guys") if life were that simple. He is just selecting what appears to be the easiest philosophy. This week i may have gained a few points in my attempts to convince him violence is not always the best answer. He was showing me his weapons collection and bragging about how prepared he was for any possible robbers. i looked them over with feigned interest and stopped suddenly. There were. i told him, two important weapons missing. That got his attention. That six-year-old warrior wanted to have a perfect weapons collectioni told him i had them and he had COUNTRY CORNER by Larry Dillon not. Now we were getting places. He was interested and anxious. The weapons he did not have, and he needed were skills in english and mathe- matics. The lad expressed his doubt, but was willing to listen. We discussed how a person's ability to express himself, both verbally and in writing, would help him to achieve his aims and incidentally defeat his opponents. It was hard for me to explain. i told him about the power of a letter or a report that is in the right place at the right time, i remembered the quotation "The pen is mightier than the sword" and repeated it to him in very reverent tones. We looked at books and discussed how a person who is able to read well, can learn and use many different skills. The boy was interested. I was gaining ground He did not want to learn useless sissy skills, but this seemed important. This was the time to lead him on to arithmetic. I pulled down one of my calculus books and opened it to an illustration of the path of a projectile. He could understand the picture and he was amazed to learn that a person could calculate such things. We discussed how arithmetic skills were necessary for the operation of various weapons. machines and vehicles The boy was definitely hooked. He wandered away. leaving his toys strewn about, in search of a book on how to read. While i reflected on our conversation, i realized he was not the only one I had convinced. An ability to use the english language effectively is indeed an important tool (or weapon). People do attack problems and other people and they defend themselves through the use of written weapons A letter to a local newspaper or a complaint to a government agency are examples of this it is something many of us fail to use If we are willing to try the results can be spectacular. You should try it When was the last time you wrote to your local paper or to your member of parliament^ We've changed our manners There has been a tremendous change in the manners and mores of Canada in the past three decades. This brilliant thought came to me as I saw a sign today, in a typical Canadian small town: "Steakhouse and Tavern." Now this didn't exactly knock me out, alarm me, or discombobulate me in any way. i am a part of all that is in this country, at this time. But it did give me a tiny twinge. Hence my opening remarks. i am no Carrie Nation, who stormed into saloons with her lady friends. armed with hatchets, and smashed open (what a waste) the barrels of beer and kegs of whiskey. I am no Joan of Arc. i don't revile blasphemers or hear voices. i am no Pope John Paul II, who tells people what to do about their sex lives. I am merely an observer of the human scene, in a country that used to be one thing, and has become another. But that doesn't mean i don't have opinions. I have nothing but scorn for the modern "objective" journalists who tell it as it is. They are hyenas and jackals, who fatten on the leavings of the "lions" of our society, for the most part. Let's get back on topic, as I tell my students. The Canadian society has roughen- ed and coarsened to an astonishing degree in the last 30 years. First, the Steakhouse and Tavern. As a kid working on the boats on the Upper Lakes, i was excited and a little scared when I saw that sign in American ports: Duluth, Detroit, Chicago. i came from the genteel poverty of Ontario in the thirties, and I was slightly appalled, and deeply attracted by these signs: the very thought that drink could be publicly adver- tised. like any normal, curious kid, i went into a couple, ordered a two-bit whiskey, and found nobody eating steaks, but a great many people getting sleazily drunk on the same. SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley Not the steaks. In those days, in Canada, there was no such creature. The very use of the word "tavern" indicated iniquity. It was an evil place. We did have beer "parlours," later exchanged for the euphemism "beverage rooms." But that was all right. Only the lower element went there, and they closed from 6 p.m. to 7 :30, or some such, so that a family man could get home to his dinner. Not a bad idea. In their homes, of course, the middle and upper class drank liquor. Veer was the working -man's drink, and to be shunned. It was around then that some wit reversed the old saying, and came out with: "Work is the curse of the drinking class," a neat version of Marx's!?) "Drink is the curse of the working classes." if you called on someone in those misty days, you were offered a cuppa and something to eat. Today, the host would be humiliated if he didn't have something harder to offer you. Now, every hamlet seems to have its steakhouse, complete with tavern. It's rather ridiculous. Nobody today can afford a steak, But how in the living world can these same people afford drinks, at current prices? These steakhouses and taverns are usually pretty sleazy joints, on a par with the old beverage room, which was the opitome of sleaze. It's not all the fault of the owners, though they make nothing on the steak and 100 per cent on the drinks (minimum). It's crude and profane st that Canadians tend to be noisy and drinkers. And the crudity isn't only in the pubs. It has crept into Parliament, that august institution, with a prime minister who used street language when his impecable English failed, or he wanted to show how tough he was. It has crept into our educational system, where teachers drink and swear and tell dirty jokes and use language in front of women that I, a product of a more well-mannered, or inhibited, your choice, era, could not bring myself to use. And the language of today's students, from Grade one to Grade whatever, would curl the hair of a sailor, and make your maiden aunt grab for the smelling salts. Words from the lowest slums and slummiest barnyards create rarely a blush on the cheek of your teenage daughter. A graduate of the depression, when people had some reason to use bad language, in sheer frustration and anger, and of a war in which the most common four-letter word was used as frequently, and absent-mindedly, as salt and pepper, have not inured me to what our kids today consider normal. Girls wear T-shirts that are not even funny, merely obscene, As do boys. Saw one the other day on an otherwise nice lad. Message: "Thanks, all you virgins — for nothing." The Queen is a frump. God is a joke. The country's problems are somebody else's problems, as long as I get mine. i don't deplore. I don't abhor. I don't implore. i merely observe. Sadly. W e are turning into a nation of slobs. .e