Loading...
The Citizen, 1989-02-22, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1989. Editorial Religion ridiculed Ifone could listen in on heaven these days, it’s hard toknow whether one would hear God crying or laughing his head off at the antics of humans on earth. The current fuss over the book “Satanic Verses’’, which many Muslim spokesmen admit they haven’t read but insist is blasphemous against their religion and the prophet Mohammed, would be funny if it weren’t so scary. The fact that a crazy old man in Iran, Ayatoullah Kohmeini has the power to post a $6.25 million bounty on the head of the book’s author Salman Rushdie and that there are death squads throughout Europe that will carry it out, in the name of God mocks the God they profess to serve. Surely God is big enough to look after Himself and there’s no need to worry about a few lines in a book. The protests of some Canadian Muslims that our government is discriminating against Muslims because if a book had been written like this about any other religion it would have been banned, is just hockum. Thecharges made against “Satanic Verses’’ are very much like the charges by Christians against the film * ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’’ a few months back. Then too many of the critics hadn’t seen the movie but were ready to call it blasphemous. Then too, the protests gave the film much more exposure than it ever would have had normally. As soon as the protests stopped, the movie disappeared. Much would happen with this book if only the religious zealots would let it. Toronto the expensive Politicians across Canada, from Alberta Premier Don Getty to Quebec’s Robert Bourassa arc blaming Toronto for the decision of the BankofCanadatokeepincreasing interest rates. Why should the whole country suffer to try to solve the problems of one small area, they argue. They have a point. The rest of the country is not blessed with the growth of the “golden horsehoe’’ or cursed with the problems that growth brings. High interest rates, to try to take some of the inflation out of the Toronto situation, have the effect of dampening the economy of the rest of the country when it doesn’t need dampening. Even if the higher interest rates did solve Toronto’s problems, the relief would be short lived. Soon Toronto would be bursting at the seams again, sucking off the growth that might have been spread to other cities and towns across the country. Maybe the solution is to let supply and demand take its course. If things get too out of hand maybe people and industries will be forced to discover that there is a world beyond Toronto. Maybe they might decidetomovejobsto towns and cities where the cost of doing business is lower. Only by letting market forces run their course may there be some sense brought to a silly situation where a huge proportion of the population growth in Canada is concentrated in a few square miles near our southernmost border. Use it or lose it li was a narrow escape but the people of northern Huron including Brussels and Wingham still have their railway. Unlike the people of the Walton, Blyth and Auburn areas who didn’t have much chance to argue to save the Guelph-Goderich CP Rail line, the people along the Listowel-Wingham CN line were given a hearing by the National Transportation Agency of Canada last summer and the case was made strongly enough for the retention of the line that it was granted a stay of execution. CN was told it must maintain service for another 18 months to see if the projections of increased use by some local businesses materialized. The case for retention was made most strongly by Premdor in Wingham, single largest user of the line and since that company made the biggest promises, it will have the heaviest responsibility in fulfilling the expectations it has raised. Other businesses along the line, however, should alsobe looking to see if there are ways they can use the railway to ensure it will still be around after the 18 months is up. Brussels in particular is looking at the rapid growth of industry in Kitchener-Waterloo with the expectation that sooner or later some of those industrialists will be looking for nearby centres with lower land costs. The loss of the railway would hamper those plans for some of those industries. The railway of late has been a white elephant but there is no telling when the situation may change and it may be an important asset again. One thing is sure: it’s easier to keep the railway you’ve got than to get a new one built sometime in the future if circumstances change. The NTA has thrown out the challenge to Huron county businesses: when it comes to the railway, use it or lose it. Sunday stroll Mabel’s Grill There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel's Grill where the greatest minds in the town [//’not in the country] gather for morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Filibustering So­ ciety. MONDAY: Billie Bean was saying this morning that now that the Ontario Conservatives have decid­ ed to have each member of the party get a chance to vote for the party leader, he just might pay his membership to get a vote. “Yeh,” said Hank Stokes, “you can get your choice of which lawyer to vote for.” Ward Black said he wasn’t sure he was all that in favour of the new situation. After all these years in the party he thought he just might be able to afford to get elected to go to the next leadership convention and see what all the fun was about and nc : they’re taking it all away. The question is, Tim O’Grady said, what will the party do for publicity if there isn’t any horse­ race to be reported on at the convention. Usually the drama of the leadership convention gets high television coverage and free adver­ tising. Now the party might have to buy ads instead. TUESDAY: Billie was saying that after all those years of paying high insurance rates as a young guy, he finally got older and got married and his insurance rate should have been going down but now the government brings in this new insurance scheme where he’ll have to pay more that the young guys can pay less. It’s not fair, Billie said. There ought to be some small benefit to getting older. And getting married, Hank put in. Ward said the only reasoning behind this new insurance scheme is that misery loves company. If some people are going to have to pay through the nose, we should have equality and make everybody pay through the nose. Regardless of age, sex or marital status we can all get rooked together. THURSDAY: Hank was kidding Julia Flint this morning asking if she would be joining this new organization called Spenders Anonymous. It was set up by a guy who once had 12 credit cards and was $55,000 in debt. Julia said that no, she never had problems with going into debt. She had too good an imagination to have fun shopping on credit cards, she said. Every time she saw something she liked and thought all she had to do was pull out her plastic, she got this vision of the credit card bill coming in at the end of the month and the desire quickly went away. Ward said this Spenders Anony- Continued on page 16 The Citizen. P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523 4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $17 OO/yr ($38 00 Foreign) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited Advertising Deadlines Monday, 2 p m - Brussels, Monday, 4 p m - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editors. Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager. DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968