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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1983-04-13, Page 2,llellll'011 «xposifor Since 1860, Serving the Community first Incorporating rBrussels Post founded 1872 12 Main St. 527-0240 Published at SEAFORTH, ONTARIO every Wednesday morning Susan White, Managing Editor C.D. "Doug" Worrall, Advertising Manager Jocelyn A. Shrler, Publisher Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Ontario Community Newspaper Association and Audit Bureau of Circulation A member of the Ontario Press Council Subscription rates: Canada $17.75 a year (in advance) outside Canada $50. a year (in advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each ) Qp�r�6or�-. SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1983 Second class mail registration number 0696 A good shuffle While change isn't always good, it's almost always unsettling. Thus there will be a lot of adjustment going on in many, many Huron County households this week with the announcement of new principals for four of the county's five high schools. Besides the appointees themselves, those affected include teaching staffs, support staff and of course students and the families of all of them. In this case we think the change is an excellent idea. As present SDHS principal Bruce Shaw admitted in an interview elsewhere in these pages, anyone cap get stale on the job after a number of years. So, in a timely, perhaps daring, move, director of education for the Huron County board, John Cochrane, used the upcoming vacancy in one county high school (the Goderich p)'incipal is retiring) to make a major change in who says what goes in four high schools. We congratulate him, and the county board in approving the transfers he proposed. Had Mr. Cochrane not moved now, these momentous changes would necessarily have been delayed for a couple of years at least. Mr. Cochrane himself retires at the end of June and it would have been well nigh impossible for a brand new director of education to suggest and carry out big changes in four schools at once. Seaforth people we've talked to have all been positive about the shuffle. While there's no word yet on who will be the new principal at SDHS, there's some hope that he or she will live here in town. There's always been some regret that Mr. Shaw commuted here from Exeter, a regret he's shared. However, most people who are concerned about the quality of education at SDHS (and that should be all of us) will agree the present principal has done an excellent job, Mr. Shaw has had the conference of students, teachers and the community at large. Now it's time to say thank -you to him and to look forward with optimism to a new person in charge at the local high school. - S.W. - Row, row, row your boat. . .. Photos by Wassink a; -It's the future The evidence from the 100,000 Canadians involved says the federal government's work sharing program, designed to avert layoffs by having employees share jobs and receive unemployment benefits for part of their work weeks, worked. The evidence from the cost side of the program says it was darned expensive, costing $350 million since Dec. 1981, and nearly half the workers were laid off eventually anyway. . But employment minister Lloyd Axworthy says work sharing may have to be a big part of the future for many Canadians. And we agree with him. The pt'oblem of course, is to maximize the benefits of the program....many workers involved say work sharing helped them avoid emotional, health and marital problems...while minimizing the costs to all taxpayers. We're not at all sure it's possible to do that, but the federal government is looking for solutions and that certainly beats wringing our collective hands about record unemployment figures. . Work sharing recognizes the obvious...that we have more people than jobs and will continue to have until the economy pulls out of this recession.... or perhaps even then. It shares the burden of unemployment and keeps social costs down by giving many people three or four days of work instead of full time jobs for a lucky few. It signals a major shift in the work ethic that built this country and as such it's a huge change, one that beginners and veterans in the work force have to be educated to handle. But it avoids turnover in jobs (remember more than half of those 100,000 work sharing Canadians were not laid off); saves employers the average $395 that it costs to layoff and then recall an employee and it gives employees extra leisure time that could be used, among other things, to retrain for work that is in demand (if indeed such work can be found). Through some creative thinking there may be ways to cut the costs of work sharing. All Canadians should insist the federal government move in that direction. - S.W. Thanks for the photos, story tr© h@ @d of o? We want to thank you for the good pictures and story of our Dublin and District Diamond's party. Mrs. Cronin wrote a very interesting account of our past history. There are probably many who did not know we came to exist. Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Shea Dublin. Shut-ins miss meeting reports The members of the Fireside Fellowship Group of First Presbyterian Church are very disappointed that their meetings cannot be printed in the Huron Expositor in the future. Former members of our Church, who are living in various places, shut-ins. and members who are in Huronvicw and arc subscribers of the Expositor. complain to friends of theirs here about not seeing The after=Easter smell at home isn't chocolate It's always nice to go home after a hard day at work. But for the past week or so my homecomings have been just a touch uneasy. The reason is simple. (And no it's not because 1 fear an ambush inside my own front door by fans of The Thorn Birds). I'm waiting for the distinctive smell of a rotten egg to waft gently to my nostrils as I enter our humble abode. The problem. naturally, goes balk to Easter, As ip many other area.hous4ldsii Easier egg hunt was one of the highlights df our celebrations. . First, and typically. we had to hard boil and dye the eggs Sunday morning. "A little late, aren't you?" said a friend who phoned while the kitchen counters were awash with dye, crayons and a five-year-old. "$o what else is new`." I countered, "and anyway it's the thought that counts." In fact our daughter is so used to being part of a Johnny -come -lately family that she thought the Easter bunny came Easter Monday morning. "No, i think he came last night," I told her while we were R©imcAlhling 4o o©y by ,NJgaW \✓Gal @ having a leisurely chat on her bed Sunday morning. The kid was off that bed and downstairs faster than she's ever moved in her life. ONION SKIN Anyway, after the Easter Bunny's loot had been poked, prodded and tasted, next on the schedule was the creation of our very own Easter eggs. And no store bought kits for us. No, the kid had heard at school. (great influence school is on a five-year-old), that you could make your own dyes with exotic things like onion skin. So, we got dye pots going on the stove, using red cabbage and orange peel as well and vinegar to fix the colour. Sorry to report though, the resulting colours were decidedly dim. The day was saved for a crestfallen child when we found some food colours in the cupboard and they made our eggs look respectably bright coloured. But you have to do more with hand decorated Easter eggs than let them sit in the middle of the table as a festive centre -piece. Any five-year-old knows that. So, all the adults in the house had to make themselves scarce while the egg decorator hid eight eggs all over the Place for the people who were coming for dinner to find. ONE MiSSING An hour or so later, much hilarity ensued as we found hardboiled eggs in cups. on the bookcase, the silverware drawer, under the couch and other weird and wonderful places. When the hunt was over, the Easter basket thoughtfully provided by the chief egg decorator and hider contained, you guessed it, seven eggs. Now we all know it taxes a five-year-old's brain to remember where she hid one Easter egg, a couple of hours after the fact. We retracted steps with her. We checked all the obvious and not so obvious cubby holes we could think of. We turned up messes in the most unlikely places, found a few long lost items in the process and got 'the toy" shelf looking tidier than it has in years. But we didn't find that Easter egg. I know, from high school chemistry class, and from reading the vivid description in that fine child's book, Charlotte's Web. that a rotten raw egg smells tot rible, like nothing on earth. I have a feeling that a rotten, fermented. at-room-temi erature-for-a-couple-of-weeks hard boiled egg will smell nearly as bad. We'll find it, sooner or later. The scent will lead us right to it, And that's why I lead with my nose every time 1 enter the house. "1'11 keep you posted. Black becomes white in the pornography issue One of the fascinating things about politics (in the non-party sense) is watching the way people can convince themselves that black is white when it suits their cause. For instance, remember a few years back when Huron County was making headlines across the country because a group of citizens were trying to get somd books taken out of the curriculum of the schools because they didn't approve of the sex and language the books contained. Back then Huron County was portrayed as a neanderthal backwoods. Free speech and democracy were in danger here, we were told by liberal -thinking commenta- tors. columnists and writers of letters to the editor. Sonic well-known liberals even visited Huron County to try to beat back the approaching spectre of censorship. That battle tor censorship in Huron County was led by religious groups. They had a few tricks of their own to try to manipulate public opinion but religion isn't a popular media issue today so they didn't get a lot of support. anything in your paper about activities and meetings in our church and they feel that there is no need for them to continue subscribing to the paper if nothing is printed about which they are interested. Sincerely Henrietta Brown, Secretary Fireside Fellowship Group First Presbyterian Church Disabled appreciate gifts To the citizens of Seaforth area. Thank you for your generous donation to the Ontario March of Dimes Ability Fund during our recent campaign. We are most grateful for the willing efforts of our dedicated captains and the volucteers who made the door to door canvass in Seaforth• Egmondville and Harpurhey. Your contribution to assist the disabled adults of Ontario is very much appreciated. Sincerely Thelma Coombs Chairman of Ontario March of Dimes Ability Fund. Seaforth Seeks aid with teachers' history As a historian of nineteenth and ear:, twentieth century Ontario education 1 have become increasingly interested in the history of Ontario's teachers. To date my research has led me to census records and to the records on teachers contained in the holdings of the Ontario Archives in Toronto. But I am also aware of the likelihood that local families. historical societiel and museums may have invaluable materials in the way of diaries, letters or memoirs of Ontario's early school masters and mistresses. My interest extends to the personal and family histories of such individuals, as well 9s to the more obvious materials that have to do with their experiences. Alison Prentice Associate Professor The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education 252 Bloor Street West. Toronto, Ontario M5SIV6 by tit G°3otDMon Compare the reaction back then to the reaction today now that to woman's move- ment has suddenly found a new cause to fight in pornography. Now 1 can't remember the names of liberal media commentators who spoke out against censorship and have reversed sides since the issue was co-opted as a feminist cause but 1'11 bet there were a few. Take Michelle Landsberg for instance. writing in the Toronto Star, now beaming at the Gallup poll that shows that 76 per cent of Canadians think pornographic movies. X- rated and Playboy films should not be shown on television and that 61 per cent of Canadians think television should be censor- ed. Ms. Landsberg (wife of former Ontario ship. however, is once you've agreed that there should be censorship, who's to do it and NDP leader Stephen Lewis) chuckles over the way the women's protest to the Playboy Channel deal with First Choice Pay TV was organized by using a fib, announcing protests in cities across Canada before there were any, then getting the people who called to find out where the marches were. to organize the marches. Now before alt my own liberal friends jump on inc. let me be the first to say there is a lot of difference between blue movies. produced purely for the purposes of titillation, and literature by the likes of Margaret Laurence. John Stcinbcek and Alice Munro. The problem with censorship. however. is once you've agreed that there should be censor - decide what is to be permitted to be viewed by the public and what they must be protected from. The liberal view has always been that. unpleasant as pornography is. it is too dangerous to start curtailing free speech and free expressioqn tQ order to control it. Once you start censo- g. where do you stop? It will be interesting to see what happens if two "right" liberal causes meet head on in the next few months. On one hand you have this women's drive for censorship and on the other you have the continuing battle against the Ontario Censor Board lead by liberal thinkers.. It may be interesting to see liberals battling liberals from the opposite sides of the same rightgeous cause. In the meantime the religious censors have new hope if they seize the opportunity. Suddenly they're on the side of the gods of modern liberal thought. not just God. If they can work with the womens' movement they may vet get their Way. Only in Canada do we tax everything but air SugcoaQ owO opucca Only in Canada? Pity. But where else in the world could you have a situation in which international oil prices are dropping while national prices for gasoline and heating oil move relentlessly higher? This anomaly, of course, was a result of ferocious and frantic efforts by provincial and federal governments to tax everything but the air we breathe. The trick is to find something that everybody needs, and that is steadily rising in cost, and then slap a progressive tax on it. That, my friend, is the reason you're paying about $2.25 a gallon for gas when the sheiks of Araby are up to their navels in a glut of unwanted oil. Should we ever have a massive, Sahara - type drought in this country, guess what your governments will tax heavily. Water? Right on. if every cow in Canada suddenly stopped giving milk, you could depend on a stiff tax on milk and cheese. If the Western provinces had a total grain disaster — hailed out, rained out. rusted out, chewed up by grasshoppers — the logical move by government would be to stick a tax on bread that would rise automatically every time the price went up. Only in Canada. Where else in the world would a government try to bribe people to read a book by making used lottery tickets worth SO cents on purchase of a Canadian book? it's incredible. and readers in other countries must be chortling, but it's done in by ©6110 $In 6O*.y Ontario. So stluch for our cultural preten- sions. Only in Canada. In what other country would a political party turf out a leader who had a clear mandate from two-thirds of his party to carry on? And in what benighted country anywhere would a dozen or so idiots leap to fill that discarded leader's shoes, knowing full well they could expect the same treatment just down the road? Only in Canada. Can you imagine any other democratic country in the world where the head of government could give the finger to some of his people, tell some others to eat merde, utter obscenities in parliament, and still be re-elected? Only in Canada. Can you imagine another country that steadily destroys lush, produc- tive farm -land by turning it into asphalt and urban sprawl, or tearing it up for gravel pits to create more asphalt, more urban sprawl? Think of the hue and cry there would be in France or Italy if the government not only condoned, but encouraged, the ripping up of vineyards to build hamburger stands and gas stations and motels with lumpy beds and exorbitant rates. Only in Canada. Is there another country in the world that decided any building more than 60 years old should succumb to the wrecker's ball, be razed, and be replaced by a tasteful concrete -block and plastic abortion? Other countries preserve their heritage. carefully, and often expensively. restoring old castles. ancient city walls. cathedrals. country homes. Here we wipe them out. say. "Oops," and rebuild them as "quaint" restorations with all the artifacts of the original. but with all modern accoutrements. Only in Canada are auth6rs considered as second-class citizens who don't really "work" for a living, singers as inferior unless they've played Vegas, actors as malcontent long -hairs who should get a job, ballet dancers as people dancing about in long underwear and our national broadcasting system as a socialist drain of the taxpayer. Only in Canada can the government seize private companies without any explanation or compensation. 100 police raid a pseudo -reli- gious organization and seize all its papers on the flimsiest of evidence. and politicians get up and lie and lie and lie. without any repercussions. Oh. I'm not naive. I know this sort of thing is going on every day. all over the world. But in democratic countries? Only in Canada. Look at Quebec. In a lovely bit of irony, the teachers, who had more to do with electing the Parti Quebecois than any other group. are now facing that party, snarling, calling it "fascist", beating its cabinet ministers over the head with placards. Only in Canada. And finally. in what country in the world, is it possible to have a cold at any day. week or month of the year? Only in Canada. Pity. Got a bee in your bonnet? Write a letter to the editor today a 1 1