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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1986-07-30, Page 2OPINION �I�uron S1 'tor SINCE 1880, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 NfI !q N.li',I�h GIiN'P1, 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 Lf: Pat Armes, Bessie Broome, Marlene Charters, Joan Oulchelaar, Anne Huts Joanne Jewitt, Dianne McGrath, Lolo MaLlweln, Bob McMillan, Cathy Melady and Patrick ' Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rates: N, y, Canada $20.00 a year, In advance Outside Canada $80.00 a year, In advance Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JULY 30, 1986 Second class mall registration Number 0696 Reduces injuries As another annual Ontario Farm Safety Week, July 25-31, draws to a close, it is encouraging to note the Farm Safety Assoclatlon has optimistic news to report this year. In the 10 years statistics have been compiled, the number of farm accident fatalities In 1985 is the lowest figure ever, down by nearly half, from the previous year. While 50 fatalities were recorded in 1984, only 27 occurred In 1985. This reduction Indicates measures being taken by the Farm Safety Association and other concerned groups and Individuals are working. Still, 27 fatalities did occur some of which could have been avoided If proper safety measures were taken, or if common sense rules were not Ignored. Such practices as double-ridIng on single -passenger tractors or farm Implements continue to claim lives. Sadly enough, the victims of these accidents are often young children, along for what turns out to be a tragic ride. The Instigation of Farm Safety Week Itself, can be said to be partly responsible for the Improving accident and fatalities statistics. The week helps to focus attention on the potential dangers, creating an awareness of them which surely saves some lives. Increased public awareness of the need for safe working practices on the farm Is the key Instrument in the fight against preventable accidents and the many workshops and seminars held around the province have aided in that process. Farm Women's Safety Workshops have developed Into one of the FSA's most popular and successful programs. One such program, held In the Seaforth area at Vincent's Farm Equipment attracted a large number of area farm women and indicates a strong Interest here. Local programs, like the 4-11 organizations in the various communities have been placing an Increased emphasis on farm safety lessons In their programs. This is a postive foresighted step, which introduces farm youth to the idea of safety -consciousness at an earlier age 'than ever before. Information and advice on farm safety is available from many sources. The FSA provides Information packets, seminars and courses for groups or Individuals all over the province. Local branches of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food are also good sources, as are local agricultural organizations. There Is no excuse for ignorance of safety procedures: Working on a properly -operated farm is no more, or {ess'dangerous than working in any type of Industrial situation. The main point is to remember the potential dangers are there. Recently, the provincial government commissioned a task force which held public hearings and presented recommendations to the Ontario government. When released, the results of this study should shed even more Tight on the various Issues affecting farm health and safety. If all these sources continue to work together, there Is no reason next year's accident statistics cannot show an even more encouraging reduction than this year's. Technological advances and mechanization have allowed Canadian farmers to be ranked among the most efficient food producers in the world. It is how up to the Canadian farmers to ensure they also become the most safety -efficient farmers possible. — P.R. Misplaced protests Screw ups a way of life People have accused me of intentionally doing stupid things sometimes, merely in order to have some mildly amusing anecdote to exaggerate into a column every week. I would like to dispel this rumor, by stating once and for all, that the stupid things that happen to me occur completely off their own volition, with no prompting or falsification necessary. If it is weird or unusual and unlikely to happen to anyone else, chances are it will happen to me. The other day, for instance, while driving around a curve, the front wheel of my car crossed the yellow line for just a few seconds. This in itself is not strange, ?s everyone occasionally allows their car to wander a bit before correcting it. Now if I had true bad luck, that brief period of wandering might have ended in a collision with a Mack truck, or at least a pokes: cauiser. However, as long as I can remember, I have had my own twisted version of bad luck, so instead of a collision, what 1 got was a strange splashing noise. The origin of this noise confused me until I had rounded the curve and saw one of those strange little vehicles the highway people use to paint the yellow lines. Upon stopping my car, I discovered that yes my recently -ac- quired automobile did indeed have a long yellow stripe down the side that was not there before" Now who ever heard of the yellow line jumping up at your car? It could only happen to me. Notwishing my vehicle to remain this strange two -tors combination of Midnight Blue and MTC Yellow, I had to proceed directly to a car wash and get rid of the stuff before it dried. The whole process made me late for work, which, as my employers will FROM THIS ANGLE by Patrick Raftis dourly admit, is nothing unusual. It was, however, one of my more original excuses. Actually, Isuppose I was lucky to be on the road at all that day, considering the night before I had committed the ultimate act of absentmindedness and locked my keys in the car Anyone who has ever had this unfortunate experience knows the effect' it can have on people around them. Hearing of a set of keys locked in a car brings out the latent car thief in everyone. Anyone who has ever seen a cop show on television is sure they know exactly how to unlock even today's theft -proof automobiles using only a coat hanger and a little ingenuity. On this occasion, it took only about an hour to get into the car. Fortunately this feat was accomplished without having to resort to either of two ratherdistressing suggestions -- breaking the windshield, or cutting an improvised sunroof into the car. And these suggestions came from my "friends," As annoying as"it was, this experience was a breeze compared to an earlier run in with imprisoned car keys. I had my father's car and my mother, my sister and her infant daughter for passengers on a shopping excursion. When we returned to find the doors bolted and the keys inside, we did the obvious thing and called the local police department, who those metal rulent er like devices that supposed- ly uppo edd an officer with one - ly open locked cars with ease. For several long minutes the embarrassed officer fumbled with the door, explaining sheepishly he had little experience with this sort of thing. Finally, he gave in and called for, an officer he was sure would be able to handle the situation. Before long, 1 had two policemen, complete with cruisers, a large curious crowd and several of my own relatives surrounding the car, waiting to see if anyone could undo my mistake. Finally, as I was considering . calling a garage to get price estimates on new doors, a ' savior emerged from the crowd. A large, grubby -looking fellow, who looked like he might be able to tear the door off with his bare hands if necessary. As the officers continued the futile fumbling with their nifty little tool, this guy took the coat hanger I had borrowed from a nearby store and had the door unlocked in seconds. The crowd applauded, the officers blushed and the impromptu locksmith disappeared before I could thank him. I had also wanted to ask him how he had become so adept at opening locked vehicles but perhaps, with the authorities present anti all, some questions are better left unanswer- ed. Men at work When the Commonwealth Games opened last Thursday, only 26 of 58 eligible countries, the lowest number ever, had sent their athletic teams to the games. Tiiis boycott, staged by nations who disagree with the British government's refusal to impose economic sanctions against the racist government of South Africa, has effectively diminished the quality of what is normally a great sporting spectacle. As is usually the case with boycotts of athletic events, the wrong people are getting hurt. The athletes from competing and non -competing countries alike are suffering, either from losing the chance to compete in an event they worked long and hard to qualify for, or by competing against a weakened field in their events. Britain is suffering from a lot of negative publicity and Scotland must bear the burden of hosting a less -than -successful major sporting event. Meanwhile, In South Africa, apartheid continues to divide the deuntry,, regardless of the outcome of the games boycott Athletic boycotts are nothing new. It's hard to remember ah, Olympic . .. Games that was not overshadowed by secs sort of politica{ in fighting However, at least when western 00untries boycotted the Moscow games, in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the measure was retitled directly at the offending country. Likewise, when Soviet. glee nations stayed home from the Los Angeles Olytripics, they were taking theft quarrel with the United States, right to then` intended targets. England has done nothing:to pt'omoteap'artheid and the country Bolds no Such racist policies of its own. They have Strrtply chosen not tel register their diSati `pProyal Of racishi in the tarntarnof econ'orinfc 'sanctiOna: Such hts. abstinence is surely within their rig, ., to the itis on not enter fight id t Countries who oppose. Britain s desist_,.. Manner Should remember that along With the rights of freedom to protest and freedorctof Speech, must t:e'rfainly,'corrie the'rights offreedom not to protest and freedom to hold your tongue. . Perhaps England, as a major democratic power, should have 'placed itself at the forefront of the movetoend a decidedly undemocratic practice, However, for whatever reasons, they have chosen not to: Democracy requires a united front, in order to effectively oppose evils like apartheid. Bacism in one country will not be halted while nations who oppose it are squabbling among therneeives. And, it certainly won't be . halted by the practice of 'lotions dropping out of international sporting everits, intended to promote goodwill between countries. y P.R. By Patrick Raftis Weird and wonderful weekend I should have known when I originally made plans to spend the weekend on Otter Lake thatit would be a different one - seems it always is when Imingle with this crowd, But my naivete being what it is I figured it would be your standard cottage weekend - riddled entirely with beach -related activities, with a little reminiscing thrown in for good mea- sure, ea- s Well'did enjoy myfairahareofswimming, sailing, wiudsurfng, rubber rafting and the like, and there was certainly some remint- sting, but there was more • much more. The weekend started out normally enough. L was, as I usually am for such occasions, keyed up to the point where 1 could best be described as hyperactive. And my friend, if not hyper was at least - very vocal. Now, not being ones to waste our time reaching ourdesthiatien you could say we put "pedal to the metal" and tried to make the tiepin what could have been record time - had SWEATSOCKS by Heather McIlwraith it not been for the arrogance of two OPP officers. Afterignoring our presence on the 401 for nearly 4.s hours they had the nerve to flash the red lights at us when we were but seconds away from our destination and travelling at the lightning speed of five kilometres per hour. That in itself wouldn't have been so bad, but these officers seemed to descend on us from nowhereride our bumper as we attempted to find' our way through some rather dense brush, then nearly cause us to drive the car into some swamp land when they very unexpectedly Flasher their lights. Wondering just how long they might have been docking us we waited apprehetlsivelyyas they slowly got out of their car and came over to ours. All we could see were flag is reflecting off the back of the hatch and w en after a prolonged wait, my friend, who was the driver at the time, finally gathered up courage to peep a ratheruestioning,. hello'? That prompted the police to fmally make their wiry to the front of the car, where their opening line was, of all things, "did you hit the skunk, or did we," Skunk? was that what ail the near heart failure about?tinued Page A141 Most productive session urns Ontario tpetoature recently adjoint K SJOTTINGS byJackRidde,MPP IJic' edforthesummerrecess afterwhat Premier Peterson called the mest productive session in the past 10 yyears. The record shows the liberal Government has been working diligently to address the various issues in the econorrac, social; and Justice policy areas. Po three Governrent Fills were introduced this session with 25 • beingassed into law. Thep beginning of the session was marked by the reading of the Speed1 from the Tlimne, whithsetaboldandinnovative course for the Government to achieve excenenee in educa- tion; health tare and international mrnpeti- tiveness: MMr otrer, Mr. Peterson pledged to adifeve these goats within a franlewoikk of fair, open and compassionate goveininent, Ttiesession included the passage of Bit 9'4, TheHeaythCareAccessibilityActwhich ends the imalice of eihe.billiag and ensures universal access to medical rare at the negotiated OHIP rate. With the paesage of_ this Bill, the Goventrientis now in a itiOTr tu' receive the aloin than $100 million in transfer payments which were being held back by the Medd •Governihent due ID the practice of extra billuig. Premier Petersof has indicated that this moneyiwilt be invested in the health tare •system. Also', two; additional pieces of legislation were passed which will bring, greater protection and more realistic drug prices to consumers in Ontario. 'lie. Liberal 'Government ensured that Ontario's valuable, rental housing stock would be protected by applying stricter and more extended marble to all types of conversions, detnolitiorls and leery renova- tions fora two-year period, with the passage ofleill11. Also, 1311151, the legislation Which reforms the rent review process, received second reading and was referred to a legislative committee which will hold public hearings ever the aunnrier. In' the Spm from the ''tion the Government indicated its 'intention to prove. "the "the elet ion legislation. I tistation WAS petted -which wily' bring greater equity, to the electoral otiose by piecing limits on the avowable expenditaree by candidates during an election cold' "pard Other reforms include Changes to contribu- tion limits as well as forcing candidates of partyIeadership conventions to disclose the 'Warnes of contributors. These Were the fest amendments to the lection Finances° f reform Act since it was fast enacted in 1$75; In recognition of the miportan&e of the Agricultural Sector, the Government 'moved-' to protect the Dairy Industry from unfair competition with the passage of the Oleoma'-; garine Act. As well, I, as Minister of Agriculture, provided interim stabilization paymentsfor Ontario's.soyabean and coni producers who are facing financial pressures because of low market prices. Moreover; the Ministry will spend $54 Million in, the next five years to enhance pork production and pthis province. In order in protect our environment from In order to acid raw the Government established stiffer regulations to guard against adverse affects. In addition, legislation was introduced which will strengthen sanctions against those individuate- and companies who damage our env'fronment by their pollution practices.. During the summer reams, the Select Corrinuttee on Economic Affairs will finalize its report on bilateral trade with the United States, The report is expected to toricentrafe on the issues of the Auto Pact; and countervailing duties Also theJustice Committee will begin the ppubfJu id consultation process on Bill 105, Which received seenid reading tit's session. The Legislation„ is designed to bring pay equity to the public sector The session was marked by many retina- lisshmenfs of the Liberal Government, and Premier Peterson said that he believed' "'many pressing issues had been addressed with great sensitivity and Competence by the Ministers." Also, he indicated his pleasure with the progress that the Government has made in a number of areas and ridded, "we have much still to' do ' (Continued on Page A7)