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The Citizen, 1986-12-10, Page 17the citizen, Wednesday, December io, 1986. page n. Brussels Twirlettes were stepping high, taking part in the annual Santa Gaus Parade in Brussels Saturday morning. The International Scene Continued from J>age 16 what eventually happened to Kondratieff; he lived during the Stalin era and it is possible that the Russian leader had him shot for real or suspected deviationism. The biggest problems that econ­ omists, in Canada and elsewhere, have to face is that posed by the politicians whogettheidea that many of our recommendations are too painful to get them voted back into office and so they either water down what we have to say or else discard it entirely. 1 agree that some of them are painful but did you ever put off having an operation that you really needed just because of the pain involved. The chances are that you chose to grin and beat ft and one of our biggest jobs is to get the public to do the same when it comes to their economic maladies. Almost all of my economic training took place in Switzerland and for this reason I could look at Canada and the United States from a more detached point of view. My own feeling is that we could become a much more prosperous country if we ever got around to learning some more economic self-discipline but that is a vain hope. In the meantime my job is frequently to decide what is going to happen to us if a Japanese finance minister decides to lower taxes or if the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board opts for higher interest rates or even if the famous wind ‘El Nino’ pays a return visit to the Americans. Who said that economics was dull or dismal? Not I! Brussels council looks at administration fee ' Some sort of administration fee is likely in Brussels in the future for projects like the swimming pool construction that must have large amounts of administration through the village office. Brussels village council got into a discussion over a proposal that the money owed by the Lions Club’s pool committee for interest charges be only $76.48. The village, in its initital agreement (during the term of the last council in 1985) had agreed to provide interim funding for the pool committee to pay the bills until fundraising was completed. Clerk­ treasurer Hugh Hanly explained that the interest was arrived at by figuring the amount the village had actually loanedouton a per-day basis and charging interest at a rate equivalent to the loss of interest the village would have had if the money had remained in the through the pool project and that for the next such project there should be changes, one of which should be an administrative fee for the extra work involved in the municipal office. Mr. Hanly agreed that there had been a lot of additional work involved in the office applying for Ontario Neighbourhood Improve­ ments Project (ONIP) funds and keeping track of money in and money out etc. Councillor Workman pointed out that there had been a $14,000 accountant’s bill earlier in the year and wondered how much extra accounting time was necessary because of the project. There was also the question of how much of the time of the engineering company, had been involved in the project that showed up in the village’s bill for ONIP supervision. the work keeps building up in the village office it will cost the village either through additional staff or overtime. Councillors Workman, McDon­ ald and Malcolm Jacobs felt there should be some sort of administra­ tion fee paid by these bodies. The cemetery board had been paying some money to a former village employee but it was agreed by council that in the new year, this should go into the village revenues because much of the work is done on village time. In the long run, the village will look at the whole area of admini­ stration fees both for committees having their work done through the office andfor future community projects. In the meantime, council agreed to consult the engineer to see how much of his bill should be applied to the pool project. village’s current account at 5-6 per cent. Councillor Gordon Workman objected that this was not good business. “Nobody does anything for nothing’’, he said. Councillor Neil McDonald sug­ gested that a lot had been learned Thediscussionopened up the whole area of added administra­ tion for things such as the cemetery board and the recreation commit­ tee. Starting January 1, all such sub-committees of the village, will have their books done in the village office. Councillors worried that if A perfect gift for students! Teachers take stand against kids fund raising men.The Huron District chapter of the Ontario Public School Teach­ er’s Federation (OPSTF), chaired by Richard Maertens, a teacher at Howick Central Public School, has endorsed a resolution passed by the organization’s provincial exe­ cutive that school fund-raising in general, and door-to-door fund- raising by children in particular, should be discouraged. The teachers feel that such an activity puts children at unneces-. sary risk in today’s social environ­ ment, presenting an Ottawa news­ paper’s story from last October about the sexual assault of a 9-year-old girl while she was engaged in door-to-door selling.for her school, to emphasize its position against the practice. As well, the OPSTF is concerned that school fund-raising activities allow companies, which are inter- estedonly in making a profit, to employ children as unpaid sales- Realizing that fund-raising has become a way of life for schools to acquire items not funded through regular channels, such as local field trips, computer hardware, playground equipment and gradu­ ation ceremonies, the OPSTFhave been lobbying steadily over the past two years to get the provincial government to raise the ordinary ceiling of expenditure for elemen­ tary school pupils to at least the same level as that provided for secondary school pupils. According to a survey of 1641 Ontario schools conducted by the OPSTF last spring, the’average ’school raises $3,000 to $4,000-per year through fund-raising activi­ ties. The teachers’ federation feels that the whole issue of fund-raising should be a matter of concern to all teachers and. parents, and one which requires a thorough investi­ gation.' 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