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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1990-08-15, Page 2Huron Expositor SINCE 1 SAO, UERVINO THE COMMUNITY PIIST lntorporotlog Tho 'consols Post Pub$slwd in Sooforth, Ontario Ivory Wodnfsd.y Morning so STOW. Oo>tpr.1 M.w.gesr MIATNit &ONNET. gator WWI STAN: hassle anlls/t Sen Oxford AOVII TIS1NO: Terri -Lynn Delo CLAsslr110S. wasanPTION$ ACCOUNTING: tit Armes seen.. MttG..th Linde Pullman Ms.nder Conodton Community Newspaper Assoc Ontario Community Newspaper Ass0(.10110n Ontario Press Council Comnwnweolth Press Union I,,ternottonol Press Institute Subscription Rotes Canada '71 00 o yeor, in odvonc• • Senior Citizens '19 00 o year in advance Outside Canada '65 00 o year in advance Single Copies 60 cents each Second class moil registration Number 0696 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1990 lrltorl.l end Business Offices - 10 Mein Street. Se.forth Telephone 1517) 527-0240 nest $27-0242 Melling Address - P.O. los Al, S..forth. Ontario. NOK IWO Three weeks enough The Provincial election is looming up in a scant three weeks, and Huron County voters have a lot of homework to do. With each candidate polishing up his arsenal of threats and promises, voters are going to have to take a long, hard look at every issue that effects him or her, and at each candidate's approach. And August 24 should be an interesting evening, indeed. The Huron County Federation of Agriculture has invited all 3andidates to Clinton to debate agricultural issues, and has extended this invitation to members of the public who wish to ome and hear their prospective representative's stance. 'Agriculture is important to the economy," the press release vaguely understates. This is an opportunity that should be leapt at. Go, confront the candidates, grill them. Now is not the time for apathy. It you think that you might have a bone that you want to pick about farming, don't wait until after the election to start picking on it. Too often, it seems, a politician is elected while riding high on the crest of a wave of popularity. Please -them -all stances are taken on blanket issues, the ballots are cast, and before you know it it's all over but the crying. And while some may argue that three weeks is a very short time in which to become educated about the Huron County candidates, in many ways it's an ideal length of time. Dragging out an election wearies everyone on the issues, and when the same answers are repeated again and again, both the public and the candidates become numbed. With only three weeks, the answers will have to come quickly, and they won't soon be forgotten. P.E. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Walton postmistress "backed into a comer" by Canada Post Dear Editor; I feel it is time to tell my side of the story behind the closing of the Walton Post Office. No, it wasn't too much work for me, and No, I didn't want to retire right now. I was approached by two representatives from Canada Post on May 30th. They "had an obligation" to talk to me. An early retirement incentive package or, in ordinary terms, a buy-out was )resented and explained to me. The ilternatives were - I would be classed as a surplus employee of Canada Post, subject to re -location, and with ninety days' notice the Walton Post Office could be closed. Walton was on the list to be closed. My answer must be in London in two weeks time. This offer was only good for two weeks. I notified my union representative it was Convention time. A copy of the offer was sent to them; they felt it was a fair offer. It was up to me to fight it. When the M.P.'s office was notified by a patron off the rural route, she was told Canada Post must close these offices to save money. After a lot of thinking, talking to a lot of people and facing facts, to make a long story short, I decided to take the buy-out. I felt the Post Office would be gone before the year ended anyway, and it was impossible for me to relocate. Then, it was my fault - "due to my retirement" that the people were informed of the changes being made at the Post Office. A date was asked for my retirement. They had given me two weeks, I gave them six weeks - Aug. 4. they had "no time" to do all the things that were promised at the so - called "meeting" in the Walton Community Hall. "You must have misunderstood" and it was just a "possibility" not a promise were common phrases in later conversations. According to the representatives at "the meeting", I wanted to retire and they had no notion of closing the Post Office. Why was I offered the package in the first place? I enjoyed my job very much because I liked the work, but more importantly i liked they people. I feel I was backed into a corner with no choice but to make the decision I did. Many thanks to my family, to all the patrons on general delivery and all the rural routes, to the rural route carriers and to all those who helped me in any way. It was my pleasure to serve you as the Walton postmaster for six and one-half years. Thank you Sincerely, Marjory Humphries. A different view of Caribana Dear Editor, Susan Oxford's article depicting her impression of the Caribana audience was a far cry from the reality experienced by the great numbers of white people that i saw having a great time. No matter where I went, the multiracial audience was enjoying themselves ILC one. As a matter of fact while in the midst of this great party it oc- curred to me that despite Oka, Meech Lake and English -Only laws, cultural differences could certainly be successfully surmounted if we really want to overcome them. I was quite amazed to read that "the music of past years was gone.... and only the chanting of violent lyrics could be heard". This was most certainly as we danced along the parade route, to the calypso and reggae of steel drums. I suspect that Ms. Oxford did not understand the language of patois in which most of the songs are written. in fact the most popular refrain was from the song We ain't going home", one of the winning road marches from the 1990 Trinidad carnival. This song relates to the reluctance of the revellers to end the partying. Turn to page 10 • Our system is better than some oth [JUST THINKING Thin past week 1 was puucuiar rly busy as 1 100k at awn carie working for Elections Ontario as an enilrnCfn r. I've found the job io be a quick way to cam extra matey since the federal election w 1979 and every other election since. There are imperfections in the system of enumeration and 1 saw how most of them are mare evident in the city than in a small town. Almost every election 1 ane a lour to the editor in some newspaper pointing out how easy it was for that person to fool the enumerators at their door. The elector will do something brilliant like get their dog, cat or kid enumerated and put on the list of electors. Not knowing the elector, and with all the weird names around anyway, I can see how someone's pet would make it to the list. 'ins dwalleet none 1 ever saw Moet Ike Wine given to a baby boy. His pts called bun Blugh (pronounced Blue.) To me the none loomed Wee Blugg or Bluff. By the time he's in grade two he'll probably want to be called Bill, Bob, or George. Anyway*, there is an alternative to the enuracraung systdn we have and that is to do u the way the Americans do. Have everybody register their names on a list them- selves. That would involve everybody getting off their lard and going down to an office to register themselves as an elector. With all the goofing around by electors we have in Canada Ws possible that in the future we will go the self - registration route. I personally like the system we r by Susan Oxford by Susan Oxford have because it is based on trust and honour and I Woe to think that it works. However, the actual act of voting is sell left up to the in- dividual. In Canada we can't be forced to cast a vote. When 1 was m Ecuador there were presidential elecuon cam- paigns going on. In that country it was law to vote; to not cast a vote meant a fine equal to almost as much as a person would earn in a month. People helped the old and infirm to cast a ballot and pretty well the only people who didn t cast a vote were very conscientious objectors. With a law like that 1 hear chert is almost 98 per cent turn out at the polls. I've worked at city polls for all electioas since 1979 and I've soon wealthy districts have a 95 per cent turn out, and poor districts have a 48 percent turn out if we were lucky. It makes me wonder how the are going to make things Ertirzr for iheingrivea if they won't even get out and vote for the chan- ges in government they want and need. I'm interested to find out what kind of a turnout Seaford) can boast of in the upcoming election. REGARDING THE MULTINATIONAL FORCE , GEORGE, I'D BE MORE THAN NAPPY TO SAND MY wHa-E CONTINGENT OF MoHAwK (AJfR)QR ! Of sticks and stones Yeah, yeah, so I'm the same one who said the London city council should dip into ifs coffers and come up with the dollars to save its his- toric Talbot streetscape. And I'm also the same one who countless times argued until blue in the face that destroying priceless historical architecture and memorials in the name of that grim reaper, progress, was so much short-sighted butchery. So crucify me. This bleeding- hearts -and -artists culture lover has turned traitor on her own idealisms. And it's all Col. Antony Van Egmond and Tiger Dunlop's fault. The issue of that funny little heap of stones, or cairn, out on the outskirts of Harpurhey has been laid on the Tuckersmith Council table. The old stone cairn, it seems, ain't what she used to be, and Council is wondering if the heap should be fixed up, or what. I'd like to cast my 'aye' for the "or what" option. I was going to do a little survey this past weekend, and see just how many people in this fair town ac- tually have any idea what that cairn stands for. in fact, I thought abut doing the survey late last week, then this weekend, then again early this week. Funny thing, though. Every time I started to mull the idea over, I got really dopey and fell asleep. Now, I haven't turned my back totally on all of my starry-eyed conservationist convictions. I feel that there is a need to safeguard our culture and heritage, and I'm all for historical trusts that work to main- tain buildings or sites for public enjoyment, not necessarily private gain. The Van Egmond Foundation, for example, and the Van Egmond estate. I also feel that certain ar- chitectural edifices should be preserved, where possible, in their original condition. As I've said before, I would hate to have my generation remembered as the one that turned the entire North American continent into a greeny - blue steel and glass terrarium. But enough is enough, already. Appealing to the Ministry of Cul- ture for grants to restore a pile of stones is going above and beyond the realm of 'enough' and into that shadowy netherworld of 'too far, too far'. Not that Council has appealed to said Ministry, yet. It has merely approached them to see if a grant is available. I have nightmares about such grants. Somewhere, in the same building that houses the Ministry of Culture, is a little door, maybe with stripes or polka -dots on it, and a sign that ROUGH NOTES by Paula Elliott reading 'Sub -Branch - Ministry of Silly Things To Do'. Behind this door sits a very, very bored man who spends the entire day shar- pening an endless succession of government -issue pencils, until a request to repair a pile of stones or something filt'rs down to him. He pounces! He has to pounce. He's being paid a lot of money to pounce, and if he doesn't pounce, They will give his job to some swivel servant somewhere who's just champing at the bit for a Ministry of Silly Things To Do posting. After much shuffling of papers, tying of triplicates, memo -issuing, misplacement of official documents and inconclusive phonecalls, Eureka. An answer is given to a council somewhere. "Yes, the Ministry of Silly Things....er, the Ministry of Culture would be only too happy to supply you with $1,000 dollars to fix your heap o' stones. Oh, sure, half of the town has no idea what it's there for, and no-one would probably notice for six or seven months if you knocked it over with a grader, but say, won't it look sharp after you sink exity-ex number of dollars into it?" And as the for -the -time -being - animated man from the Ministry hands over the cheque to the coun- cil, somewhere in another Ministry behind another door - this one plain brown - someone notices that $1,000 has been slashed from his budget, and a student is denied OSAP and has to take a year off before he can afford to go back and finish his schooling. Issue simplified to the ridiculous, I know, but as I see it, it's a ridiculous issue. And in the mysterious workings of the cosmos, that cairn will no sooner by repaired and restored to its original glory than some crazed reveller in a pick-up will bash into it some Saturday night and knock it into Kingdom Come. But there has to be a Ministry grant to cover that sort of thing, too... Take them to task Okay, there's a fall election and many people seem to believe that a summer campaign only gets a ho-hum reaction from the people in the province. 1 suppose there are people who find anything in life that happens outside of their own four walls too boring to contemplate. Hopefully these apathetic people, not being involved enough in the process to understand the issues, will remain asleep and let the rest of us decide for them. But that's not the way it's supposed to be. I'm serving notice. On the issue of agriculture in Huron County and Ontario, I'm going to be paying special attention as to how aware each candidate is of the agricultural scene. I'm going to ask myself if they know what they're talking about when they claim to support the farm community, and whenever i get the opportunity, I'm going to ask them direct specific questions to see exactly how they will represent the farm voice of Southwestern Ontario. I hope you'll do this too. What do we want from the government? Last spring, before the Peterson government brought down their budget, the OFA presented a brief in which they described in detail the concerns of the Ontario farm community and made several recommendations. Priority was given to the setting up of a long-term farm credit program such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec have. Farming is very capital -intensive and the high cost of borrowing this year has made interests costs one of the main expenditures. With an OFFR IR type program in place for a term of several years, proper financial planning could be done. Short term interest assistance was also requested and the budget provided funds to alleviate the situation this year, but while this ad hoc program gives some relief, it does not allow the adequate planning for RURAL ROOTS by Jeanne Kirkby the future that a long term legislated program would. We asked that the Province's commitment to the original terms of the Farm Tax Rebate Program be honoured, in that education tax unfairly charged on agricultural land be refunded. The provincial government's own task force recommended that this course be taken and said that the government should clearly explain the rebate to the general public. We have the rebate back this fall, but because it is by orders -in -council we may have to battle this one over again in two years. Where is the promised property tax reform that was to have legislated this? How does the party stand on the proposed Provincial re -structuring of municipalities with its effect on the agricultural community? If Huron County Council goes from 33 representatives to only 14, will the voice of the country folk still be heard? What promises have we heard from provincial party leaders to date? Premier Peterson proffers some items from the spring budget: something like wrapping the kids' clothes purchased after September and placing the parcels under the Christmas tree to make it look like a bountiful display. The man who announced S45 million for job training in Toronto re -states the S48 million land stewardship and soil conser- Turn to page 1 •