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Times-Advocate, 1979-04-25, Page 4Tim«»-Advocat«, April 25, 1979 Has possibilities There’s an interesting program being initiated in Switzerland that should be watched by area officials who have ex­ pressed the need for day care facilities in their communities, Some of the Swiss homes for the aged and senior citizen apartments have been fitted with rooms to be used as day care centres for children between the ages of three to six. Children are brought there by their mothers every Friday afternoon and are taken care of by substitute “grand­ mothers” who are residents of the homes. The plan is working well in three respects. The children some of whom do not have real grandparents, ex­ perience the loving relationship with the volunteers; the older women get a change of pace from the routine of in­ stitutional life or the lack of contact with young fry, while the mothers have free time to shop or just relax without the responsibility of having children un­ derfoot. Sounds like a great idea and one that could be attempted during this year of the child. Not above law To listen to organized labor follow­ ing the guilty verdict for Jean-Claude Parrot last week, one would have to believe it was time to get out the handkerchiefs. It was, labor said, a positive travesty of justice. Bullroar The question before the court was not whether or not Parliament’s passage of a back-to-work law for postal workers last October was just or unjust. The question was whether or not Parrot had defied the law. And it is indisputable that he had. x To state the facts, the postal union called a legal national strike Oct. 15, 1978 and Parliament passed a back-to- work law which took effect Oct. 19. Parrot at first advised his union members to defy the law, but then thought better of it and ordered posties back to work on Oct. 25. As one lawyer on the case rather facetiously put it, Parrot didn’t say “uncle” quick enough to suit the government. No, he certainly didn’t. Had the government, or the court let Jean- Claude Parrot away with his public defiance of a law which was enacted specifically for him and his union workers, it would be setting a prece­ dent to enable anyone to thumb their nose at any law of the land. Such bla­ tant disrespect of the law cannot be tolerated in a democracy. Eight other executives of the Cana­ dian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) face similar charges. Had the govern­ ment really wanted to get tough, it would be within its rights to charge every single postal worker in the coun­ try who failed to return to work on Oct. 19. Instead government is putting the blame where it belongs, on the heads of the union’s top men. The maximum penalty for the defiance of the parliamentary back-to- work order is two years in prison. Parrot will be sentenced May 7. It won’t only be members of the labor movement who will be interested in the outcome. Listowel Banner A I 1 “I sent the postmaster-general a letter protesting the postal rate increase — it came back marked 'insufficientpostage.5 ” BATTN AROUND ....... with the editor Ah ... for the life Ask and receive Memories of our youth recall the youngsters in a neighboring family who wangled money for candy ten times to our one. Naturally curious about a system which worked so much better than our own we finally got the ex­ planation. Young Alex disclosed his secret: “I just bawl and bawl till I get it?’ It would seem that the same system works equally well for the general public in a democratic society like ours. If we yell long enough the lawmakers give in. Right at the pre­ sent time all three parties in the federal government are prepared to legalize possession of marijuana without protest — not necessarily because it’s a good thing for those who will use it; not necessarily because it’s in the public interest, but simply because a lot of people are demanding it and they will soon be marking their ballots in a federal election. From the practical standpoint, of course, the legislators might just as well legalize possession of pot, for the simple reason that enforcement of a law against it is almost impossible. It is the same with alcohol and tobacco. No one in his right mind would concede that they are a benefit to the nation, but experience has proven that the choice will have to lie with the individual. Wingham Advance Times Varying employment op­ portunities between re­ gions of a province or the country as a whole have led to a very mobile work force in Canada, as the flight of moving vans and rental trucks along the nation’s highways testifies. When a move is made as a result of changing work circumstances, most General financial advice by members of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario. ex- lod- and and SYD FLETCHER Perspectives The knock came to the door about 9:00 o’clock one hot summer morning. It was my brother and sister-in- law, an'unusual time of the morning for them to be up and around as they had been on holiday, camping, about fifteen miles away. He was sick, complaining of severe pain in his chest and stomach. As he had had a go with ulcers two years before we thought it was a repeat but decided to take him to the hospital. No, he wanted to go to his doctor first. I drove him in, not too fast, as the pain had diminished somewhat. In the doctor’s office though, they took him.right in, past a crowd of patients, my first inkling of real problems. Then, two minutes later, the nurse came to get me. “This man is having a heart attack,” the doctor said, “Take him right down to _______ hospital. Go right past the emergency to admitting. I’ll call in for you.” At the hospital there was no one there to greet me. I went in and got a wheel chair, as the doctor had ordered, and struggled up the ramp with him. Still no one to help. Down the hall to admit­ ting. The little old lady wanted his OHIP number, his social security number, his telephone number, his place of business. His face is get­ ting positively grey. A nurse is on the telephone not five feet away. More numbers. “Look”, I said, getting angry, “this man is having a heart attack. Can we get him some treatment?” “Well, this is very irregular,” the little old lady said. “Usually...” I started to get hostile. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me. My brother-in-law is the next thing to death and the little old lady wants more numbers and the nurse is still taking her sweet time on the telephone. “Perhaps I can take him down to intensive care”, the little old lady said, sighing somewhat impatiently. We trundle down the hall. By this time his head has slumped over, so she pushed the elevator buttons fairly quickly. On the intensive care door is a sign saying, “Knock first, please! ” We knocked. A nurse comes to the door and I explain that it is an emergency. “I’m sorry”, she says, “but we’re full up. I don’t know where we can put him.” At which point I’m sure this is all a bad dream. However, fifteen minutes before it would have been too late, oxygen is finally ad­ ministered and he survives what is surely one of the consequences of govern­ ment cutbacks and staff shortages, where people are so overworked and so overexposed to pain and suf­ fering that the danger of callousness and hardness of spirit can sometimes result. ' < 'A Looking for the good life? While that search has taken local people to all cor­ ners of the world, a recent issue of the Financial Post Magazine indicates they’ve fallen into that old trap of assuming that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. The place for the good life, according to the article by Ernest Hillen, is right here is Exeter. At least, that’s the con­ clusion he drew after talking to three local professionals, lawyer Kim McLean, accountant Gerald Merner and Dr. William Steciuk. Hillen, who was asked by the Finan­ cial Post to investigate three professionals who turned their back on the bright lights in favor of small-town living, probably could have saved the magazine some money had he merely re-read the introduction he wrote for the article. He describes cities as “crowded, noisy, dirty, competitive, unhealthy and, sometimes dangerous ”. On the other hand his description of Exeter is that of being “basically a far­ ming community: the flat rich land that surrounds it is classified as “A” ground; there are' no slums; no real charity cases. About 85 percent of town dwellers own their own homes. The air is clean, the streets quiet, and at night the silence is complete”. Having said that, it was not sur­ prising thatthe three local professionals all appeared enthusiastic towards life in a small town, although the fact their incomes as outlined in the article may enable them to enjoy more of the good life in Exeter than the average citizen of the community should not be overlooked. However, many of the advantages of Exeter life as outlined by the three, all in their early 30s, would probably be among those cited by many locals for making their homes here, including the more relaxed and friendly atmosphere that doesn’t require a shirt and tie. While there are many who gripe and complain about life in a small town, no doubt they too would come up with some of the favorable comments ex­ pressed by the three if they took the time to assess the situation. The article was entitled “The good life in a good place”. * * * Speaking of the good life, that’s probably what is in the offing for Roy Moore, author of the CBC drama, Riel, which has received many accolades following its TV premier last week. In case you didn’t know, Roy is the son of Mr. and Mrs. George (Bud) Moore of Exeter, another escapee from the hectic city life. , Roy, who claimed some fame with the’feature film, Black Christmas, spent a year and a half in writing Riel and the $1.5 to $2.5 million spent by the CBC made it one of the largest endeavours undertaken since The White Oaks of Jalna. The story of Riel is no doubt one of the most controversy in Canadian history, but it also has some modern connotations, and Roger Blay, who plays Gabriel Dumont, sees a distinct parallel between Riel’s struggle and Rene Levesque’s. While this writer missed portions of the recent showing, it is a story that we’ve found most interesting, due in no small part to the fact we had the pleasure of visiting sites (such as Batoche) which were part of the story during a weekly newspaper convention in Saskatchewan a few years ago. Author Moore is convinced that Riel’s persona was and still is a reflec­ tion of Canada and had to wrestle for 18 months trying to mold 17 years of history into a cohesive plot and deciding how to present Riel, who was both an inspiring leader and an inmate of a lunatic asylum. There have been suggestions that the Riel story may play a part in the May 22 federal election, as Quebeckers have been reminded once again that it was a Progressive Conservative Prime Minister who let Louis Riel hang in 1885. Only once since then, under John Diefenbaker in 1958, have the Conser­ vatives won a majority of Quebec con­ stituencies. ** reasonable expenses in­ curred as a result are tax deductible. These include: • travelling costs, as well as reasonable penses for meals and ging for the taxpayer family; • transportation storage costs for household effects; • costs for up to a total of 15 days of meals and temporary accommodation near either the old or new residence; • costs of cancelling a lease for the old residence; selling costs in con­ nection with sale of the old residence; • legal fees and transfer taxes in connection with the purchase of the new res­ idence, provided a res­ idence was owned at the old location; The latter would include advertising and legal fees, real estate commissions, and mortgage prepayment or discharge fees incurred in the sale of the old res- idence. It would not include any capital loss incurred on the sale, however. One of the provisions of the Income Tax Act is that your, tax deductible ex­ penses can be claimed only against income that you earn after your move. This is aimed at preventing a taxpayer from claiming the deductions when his real purpose for moving is to re­ tire in a different location. The circumstances under which these deductions can be claimed are when you cease employment at one location, and begin employ­ ment at another,'whether with the same employer or not, and when you move your business from one location to another. Both the old and new lo­ cations of employment or business must be in Canada, and the new res­ idence must be at least 25 miles closer to the new work or business location than the old residence. When a taxpayer is self- employed, he must bring all his business activity in the old location to an end in order to qualify for the deduction. Expenses in­ curred in moving after closing a seasonal business are not eligible if you plan to re-open next year. The tax department con­ siders a residence to be the place where the taxpayer ordinarily resides on or­ dinary working days. That means the taxpayer does not have to give up his per­ manent home to obtain a deduction when he makes a temporary move. This is an important point which is often over­ looked by seasonal workers in such fields as agriculture and construction, who fol­ low job opportunities from place to place while main­ taining a single permanent home. Receipts -- such as those for meals, travel and ac­ commodation -- and other proof of expenses should be kept in case Revenue Canada requires them at a later time to substantiate your claim. Mr. Maclnnis is with Touche Ross & Co., Toronto. Advocate Established 1881Times Established 1 873 imes -2Skdvocate A Hw* UmUm l*w Nffl ,-fy SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N.A., O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eedy Publications Limited (LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager -— Harry DeVries Amalgamated 1924 Phone 235-1331 ^CNA SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $11.00 Per Year; USA $22.00 Business Manage)' — Dick Jongkind Published Each Wednesday Morning nu_ at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 Been caught by a radar device for speeding lately? Well, judging from the situation in Miami, it may be possible for you to advise the court during your hearing that you weren’t speeding, but it was actually the tree beside you that was picked up by the radar. A member of a Miami TV station had been suspicious for some time about the accuracy of the police department’s new radar. Somehow he managed to get5 hold of one, gave it a few tests on his own, and was able to show a judge a film in which he clocked a tree at 86 miles per hour. In another example, a house was recorded as mov­ ing at 28 m.p.h. (The Americans haven’t caught up to us with kilometers yet.) Now it seems that radar can pick up interference from air conditioners, CB radios and can even be influenced by traffic and road conditions. A New York microwave physicist has testified that it is impossible for radar to pinpoint one vehicle on the road and get an accurate reading of speed. However, before you throw caution to the wind, a spokesman for the OPP says the radar they use is accurate. Best let someone else make a test case of it before you start piling up demerit points and some of those stiff fines be­ ing handed out in local courts. r 5 down memory lane, Blooms like riotous garden Don’t ever try to tell me that teaching school is a dull life. Oh, it can be pretty gruelling, not to mention gruesome, in Jan. and Feb. But once we get that March break behind us, the whole scene blooms like a riotous gar­ den in May. For one thing, it’s spring. And as you walk arotind the halls of a high school, trying to pry apart couples who are so tightly grooved that you’re afraid they’re going to cave in a row of lockers, you can’t help thinking you were born 20 or 30 years too soon. For another, the cursed snow and ice have gone, or almost, and you know there are only 10 or 11 weeks of mar­ tyrdom left until you walk out of that shoe factory, (which most modem schools resemble) and kiss it goodbye for eight weeks. Then, in the spring, all kinds of things pop up. The drama festival. The teachers vs. students hockey game, in which an assortment of pedants, from nearly 60 down to the late 20s in age, pit their long-gone skills against a group of kids in their prime, who would dearly love to cream the math teacher who failed them in the March exams, or the English teacher who objected gently to their use of four-letter words in essays. As I write, our school is bubbling with excitement. First of all, our custodians are on strike. This gets the kids all excited, and rumours fly about the school being closed, and a free holi­ day. Then their faces drop a foot when they’re told they may be going to school in July, to make up for lost time. And they start cleaning up after themselves, instead of leaving it all to the janitors, as they usually do, and hope the strike will be over tomorrow. They don’t give a diddle about the strike. They are practical. They want to be out of here on the first possible day in June. Don’t blame them. It’s human nature. For the teachers, who generally respect the caretakers, it is an object lesson in how important are the latter — the guys who sweep the floors, vacuum the rugs, wash the windows, and generally do the hard and dirty work of keeping the school spruce and sparkling. As an old floor-scrubber and lavatory-cleaner, from the first job I ever had, I perhaps respect them more than anyone. Unlike other countries, like England, where unions are closely knitted, we cross the picket line and go to work, however much we respect and sym­ pathize. If we don’t, we’re fired.Simple as that, i But we / are forbidden, by our union, to do any of their work, such as emptying a waste-basket, sweeping a floor. Sort of fun. But the really big excitement among our staff, at least the males on it, is the shuffle-board tournament. Oh, I don’t mean the outdoor kind, where elderly people push with a pronged stick a plate-like object. No this is the kind you find in taverns across the land: guys with a beer in one hand and a two-dollar bill in the other, shouting their bets through the smoke. We don’t have beer in our staff room, but we do have a shuffle-board table. It’s no frill from the school board. A staff member built it, and the rest of us bought it from him. It’s the greatest relaxer in the world, after teaching four classes in a row the great truths of the world to 120 kids, 90 per cent of whom are about as interested as an aardvark. Shuffle-board is to curling what dirty pool is to English billiards. Curling is a gentleman’s game, theoretically, where you shake hands with the winners, and both teams sit down for a drink and discuss the fine points of the game. The spectators are either behind glass or up in the stands, where they politely applaud a good shot and groan with sympathy when someone makes a near miss. Something like a cricket match, with good manners as impor­ tant as winning. Shuffle-board is a game where you walk away after losing, face red with rage at your stupid partner, who miss­ ed a key shot. I have never seen any hand-shaking, but have heard a lot of mutteripg. The Spectators constantly heckle and offer coaching tips designed to destroy the player’s concentration. “Put a guard on it. No, draw around it. Tap yours up. Draw deep. Play safe Please turn to Page 5 55 Years Ago Rev. Dr. Fletcher, Rev. James Foote, Rev. G. M. Chidley and Mr. Henry Strang motored to Wood- stock Monday to attend the Presbyterian Synod. Mrs. Clifton Davis is moving her effects to London to join her husband. Mr. J. G. Dow shipped another carload of horses to Montreal on Saturday. Mr. A. Easton accompanied them. The property of the late Mrs. Makins on Andrew Street was purchased on Saturday by Mr. E. Harness for $1,000. Mrs. James Stewart and Miss Greta Harness of Windsor are visiting in town. Miss Fern Francis is visiting for a few days in London. Mrs. W. H. Gregg of Brantford arrived in Exeter Monday husband recently opened up a tailoring to join her Mr. Gregg who business in town. 30 Years Ago Mr. R., G. Seldon joined his son Dr. Harry Seldon of the Mayo Foundation, Rochester, on a trip to Vancouver. Doris Penhale of town, Marie Cronyn, Clandeboye and Shirley Regier. of Dash­ wood were graduates from St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing. Miss Margaret Dougall was in Toronto attending the music section of the Ontario Educational Association as the delegate of the super­ visors of music from Huron county. The Exeter District School Glee Club has several recordings winter which have heard over CKNX. Mr. Fred Dobbs Saturday for the West where he hopes to purchase a number of cattle. High made this been left Cancer 20 Years Ago Owner Grant Amos, McGillivray farmer, and his neighbours were able to move 135 head of cattle out of his barn before it burned to the ground Monday night. Loss included 2,000 bushels of grain and several tons of hay. James Street United Churchhas issued a call to the Rev. S. Ernest Lewis of Collier Street United Church, Barrie, to succeed Rev. Harold Snell who has ac­ cepted a call to Oakridge Acres London. Hans Exeter, the winner of the H. H. Dean Memorial award for the highest proficiency standing in practical work at the 1959 dairy school held this spring at OAC. A total of 50,000 trees will be planted in the Ausable watershed during the next three weeks, ARCA Field­ man Hal Hooke said Tuesday. United Church, Brand, 22, RR 1 has been declared 15 Years Ago C. A. McDowell Ltd. began pouring curbs this week for the rebuilding of No. 4 high­ way into Exeter. A Windsor dredge moved into Grand Bend harbor last week to begin a major sand removing operation to permit fishing boats to use the resort harbour. Crowds jammed the Exeter Legion hall to view the hobby craft show sponsored by the women of Caven Presbyberian Church. Exeter’s fledging Lutheran congregation has selected the name of Peace Lutheran Church of Exe.ter for their new church. Crediton Women’s Institute marked its 45th anniversary Wednesday night. Mrs. Lome Hodge had the honor of cutting the anniversary cake.