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The Brussels Post, 1972-10-11, Page 2v. • a a. Sugar and Spice by Bill Smiley At Brussels Fair There is one holiday during the year that is truly Canadian. Period. Any redblooded native of this fantastic country can name it without a second thought. Christmas and Easter are religious holy-days that we share with all of Christ- endom. The Twenty-fourth of May, the Queen's Birthday, used to be big stuff when I was a kid, but now it is the third Monday after the second Saturday immediately before the first full moon, or something of the sort. It has gone straight downhill from fire- crackers and shyrockets and burned fing- ers to a sort of Opening-up-the-Cottage day. No deviltry, no more fun than cleaning up the cellar. The First of July, latterly Dominion Day, and even more latterly and slatt- ernly, Canada Day, has degenerated into a hot day which is shoved toward the near- est Friday or Monday on the slightest provocation. Once an occasion for the planting of trees, the flying of flags, and the baying of speeches proclaiming our allegiance to the Empire, it is now most notable as the weekend nearest the opening of the bass season. Then there once was the Twelfth of July, when Protestants and Catholics alike turned out to watch The Walk, make snide comments about King Billy and his horse and inspect with a critical eye the red-faced, straw-hatted Orangemen, and smell the hot-dogs and beer, and thrill to the squealing .of fifes and the rattle and thump of drums. I'll never forget one Twelfth, in which an Irish Catholic, who had joined a Scottish regiment, led the Orange par- ade, in kilts, and my kid brother, about 15, made five dollars playing the bass drum for (I thing) Dalhousie Corners, which had found itself with two fifers and a drum, but no drummer. That was real Canadiana. And the speeches. Boys, didn't they lace it to the Pope. Almost as hard as modern R.C. theologists and Women's Libbers do. All gone. All that good, harmless hatred and intolerance sunk beneath our growing sophistication and tolerance. Who would dare, today, to stand up on a plat- form in a broiling July 12th sun and attac k the Papacy, the French and anything el se he could get his tongue to, while the loc- als rolled their eyes with delight, and sweated by the bucket? Next ( at least in some provinces ), is Civic Holiday, the first Monday in August. This, too, has become a dog of the first water. Originally a day set aside for civic pride and the be- ginning of Old Home Weeks and such, it has become a day when the local ser- vice club runs its annual skin game, whether it's a tombola, or a massive bingo or some other form of harmless blood-letting. Blood equalling money, Pity. And, of course, Labour Day. In the larger cities, there is still a small contin- gent which will march with banners,an- nouncing that Branch 49 of the Union of CWAF or HIC or WHAP or BUNK is still carrying the flag and fighting the good fight against the toils of that an- aconda, Big Business. But this is a little hard to take. Originally, there was immense pride in this day, which was wrested from the vested. But today, Canadians who know that the unions are just as big as, or bigger than, Big Business, sensibly pur- sue some other entertainment, like grab- bing one more weekend in the fun and sun. Well, as you can see, I've been lead- ing you relentlessley and inexorably to- ward the only holiday that grabs Can- adians right where they live, whether it's in the head or the bowels. Thanks- givingl Talk about flags and speeches and drum-rolls. We don't even have to lay them on. Nature does it all for us. The flags are not the Union Jack or the Fleur de Lis or the Hammer and Sickle. They are a blaze of scarlet and gold that don't speak, but quell the human heart in their magnificence. And, paradoxically, they speak. They say , ',You'll never see anything like this, anywhere else in your life, buster." And the drums roll, over golden valleys and blue water and purple haze, until you want to weep with the thought that all this cannot last. And the ducks duck, and the fish fly away, and the golf shot goofs, but you have had the unparalleled privilege of being a Canadian at Thanksgiving. Did you give thanks to whatever your god is? Did you say a little litany be- cause the Canadians weren't disgraced in ° nd Russia, a fought their good fight. And foght. And foght. Happy to be alive? Healthy? Old but not licked? Young but not confused? Give thanks, chaps. We're mighty, mighty lucky. arrtrge russe s Post WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1972 lot isittos Serving Brussels and the 'surrounding community published each Wednesday afternoon at lEirussels, Ontario by McLean Bros. Publishers, Limited. Evelyn Kennedy - Editor Tom Haley - Advertising ,Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and . Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association. Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $4.00 a year, Qthers. $5.00 a year, Single Copies 10 cents each.. Second class mail Registration No. 0562. Telephone 887-6641! Where the haulms go We complain about taxes and the amount each of us is called on to pay out of our income for govern- ment services. At this election time increasing reference is made to'the tax bite of the federal government without realizing that what appears to be a federal tax is in fact to a great extent a payment to the'province. We tend to think that because the federal government collects our taxes it retains all the money. This, of course, is not the case. "How your tax dollar is spent 1972-73" is the title of an interest- ing booklet issued by the Federal Treasury Board. In a chart 'prepared by the Board, comparisons are made between expen- ditures made in 1964-65 and 1972-73, revealing some interesting facts. Total spending by the Government in 1964-65 was $7.2 billion. Eight years later that has -climbed to $15.7 billion - over double. While some people continually complain with some -justification that welfare costs have escalated it is interesting to note that 24 cents out of every dollar goes in that direction now while 25 cents was allotted in 1964-65. Economic development and support now re- quires 14 cents out of every dollar compared to 11 cents back in '64. Interest on the public debt now requires 14 cents as compared to 15 cents eight years ago: Fiscal transfer payments to the provinces have risen from five cents to eight cents during the eight year period while spending on transportation and communications has slid from 11 cents to seven cents. Internal overhead expenses such as government office space, pension contributions, etc., has risen froM four to six cents per dollar and general government services such as administration of justice, tax col- lection, Parliament,-etc., has gone up one cent from four to five.,,Edu- cation assistance has risen from 0.4 to four cents and foreign af- fairs has gone from two to three cents while culture and recreation remains the same at two cents. The figures reveal not only a change in priorities but emphasize the extent to which money collected by Ottawa assumed substantial pay- ments for education which previously had been the sole responsibility of the provinces. Taxes at any time and under any circumstances are burdensome but in considering them we should re- member what they provide and the level of government that is respon- sible for spending them.