Loading...
The Citizen, 1989-03-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 15, 1989. Opinion Giving it some thought Area councils are considering a resolution from the town of Fergus these days that makes so much sense it’s almost bound to be ignored by senior levels of government. The Fergus council has asked other western Ontario councils to support them in a call for a study of the implications of the removal of rail lines in the region. The council points out that while the federal government may be saving money in not having to subsidize the railway lines any more, no one really knows how much extra cost there will be from putting more trucks on the roads. It was recently stated ata local meeting, for instance, that one loaded salt truck puts as much stress on a highway as 10,000 cars. By closing railway lines the federal government may be saving itself money by putting the burden on the province and the county and municipal governments to pick up a bigger share of transportation costs for highway repairs. There’salsothesafetyfactor. The more trucks on the highway, the greater the danger of trucks and cars tangling with perhaps deadly results. The resolution points out that railway closures which will put more trucks on the roads, come at the same time as there is a crackdown on rules governing the trucking industry, including the hours truckers can drive. These restrictions, along with increasing fuel costs, may increase trucking costs and make it harder for industries far from rail lines to compete. Nobody in govern me nt see med to give much thought to such results of railway closure. Theyjustwantedtosave federal tax money and make the railway companies, who wanted to get out of the railway business, happy. It’s very difficult to make companies continue to run abusinesstheydon ’twantto. But if the big railway companies aren’t interested in running a railway in our area, there are those who would like to start a regional railway. Such railways have had some success in other parts of the country. Perhaps the regional railway idea won’t work. Perhaps there is no alternative but to tear up the rails. The fact is nobody seems to have taken the time to study the situation. This is the kind of problem that, if faced by a major population area, would be studied todeath by federal and provincial bureaucrats. The Ottawa or Toronto-dwelling civil servants, however, just accept it as part of natural evolution that more rural areas will shrink and industry and people will move to the cities. What’s as disturbing is that many local politicians often seem to accept the same feeling that this is a natural, if regrettable, situation and there’s nothing that can be done. The town of Fergus has a valid point. There should be a study into the side effects of this move and some questions as to why the regional rail idea hasn’t been given more serious consideration. It may be discovered that taking out the railways will cost us more than having kept them in, that we saved a few cents that will cost us big dollars in highway repairs. Bottom line society Buddies Mabel’s Grill The revelations of the Dubin Inquiry into the use of steroids in athletics have been disturbing toCanadians, though why they should be is a bit of a wonder. All Ben Johnston and friends have been doing is demonstrating in sports what the other parts of society have shown for years: that morality has no place in a society where only the bottom line counts. Why should athletes, who will gain glory and riches for winning, play by the rules when so many other people are willing to ignore or bend the rules to get ahead? What about the companies that will continue to pollute but say they can’t clean it up because they have to show a profit? Whataboutthe millions ofpeople who think it’s perfectly okay to cheat on their income tax? What about the employees who take things from their place of work because “they’ll never missit’’. What about the employers who ignore safety hazards for their workers in favour of a better profit? And what is the excuse all these people would use if they were challenged? Exactly the same excuse Charlie Francis, Big Ben’s coach used: “Everybody’s doing it’’. The old phrase “cheaters never prosper’’ is a joke in the 1980’s. It sometimes seems that only cheaters prosper, that the people who play by the rules are wimps and suckers. If the Dubin Inquiry can do something to clean up the widespread cheating in amateur sports it will be worth its high cost. Too bad we couldn’t have another inquiry into the cheating in the rest of our society. 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 [if not in the country] gather for morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Filibustering So­ ciety. MONDAY: Well, Billie Bean was saying this morning, at least we’re running neck and neck with the Americans in one area of world publicity these days. He was talking about the fuss in the States about whether John Tower with his abuse of alcohol over the years and his fondness for women other than his wife, should be allowed to be the Secretary of Defence. Mean­ while our athletes up here are making headlines around the world by seeing who can be the fastest telling tales about illegal drug use to make them stronger. The problem is, Hank Stokes said, even there we sound kind of dull. “I mean does injecting your­ self with steroids sound quite as interesting as messing around with half of Washington?’’ Maybe, Julia Flint suggested, we should put the politicians on steroids. Maybe if the side effects are what people claim they are the politicians wouldn’t be capable of getting themselves into a mess with women. Yeh, said Hank, but until the side effects took over if the performance gets as good with politicians as it did with Ben Johnston there won’t be a secretary in Washington who’ll have the energy to get work done. TUESDAY: Julia was wondering this morning why nobody around the table had even mentioned about Ed Broadbent resigning as head of the NDP. Maybe, Tim O’Grady said, because there are so few NDPers around here nobody even noticed. Well Ward Black said, at least Ed will be able to sleep on his back after he leaves the NDP which is more than John Turner will be able to do, at least until he has another back operation to remove the knives. Billie Bean said that with the speculation that it might be hard to find a leader for the N.D.P. he thought he just might offer himself for office. How much did the job pay, he wondered. Well, Ward told him, at least there might be some job security leading the NDP compared to trying for John Turner’s job when that one becomes open. The NDP knows it’ll never win while the Liberals think it’s their devine right Continued on page 5 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 pm. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p m - Blyth We are not responsible for unsolicited newscriptsor photographs Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor& Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968