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The Citizen, 1989-12-06, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1989. Opinion Help’s needed Given the apparent affluence of Huron County, it’s a bit of a shock to hear that last year some 700 children and 320 families benefitted by the service offered by the Huron County Christmas Bureau. Given that there are only about 56,000 people of all ages in Huron County, the number of people needing assistance from this volunteer-run organization is astounding. Poverty today seems to be hidden more than it was 20 or 30 years ago. With the high cost of living, even families who have work can be short on cash, especially if there is a single income in the family and the income is at minimum wage level. As well, the tragedy among farm families continues unabated. In some parts of the county, an unheard-of three straight years of drought has added to the burden of farm families struggling under too much debt and too low farm commodity prices. The difficulty is that while these people suffer, there have never been so many affluent people. Higher education levels and two-income families, have made some families rich beyond the wildest dreams of our parents. These people come to take for granted the good things in life. It’s nearly impossible for them to realize that there are many people out there who have to do without. The pressure on parents who can’t give their kids all the latest goodies must be unbearable these days. Not only do the children of the affluent neighbours seem to have all the gadgets from the latest toys to ghetto blasters or personal televisions but there is a constant demand for money in the schools for field trips or fundraising projects. Sports that once were free now cost money as the expense of ice time and equipment soar. Forparentsinthiskindofbind, Christmas can be a depressing and stressful season. The guilt and frustration that’s always there can be much harder to bear when you realize you won’t be able to give your children the kind of Christmas they’re dreaming of. Those of us who are more fortunate should take time out to remember how easily it could be us who have those frustrations this Christmas season. The Christmas Bureau and the Salvation Army are doing what they can to make Christmas a little more bearable. But they can’t do it without our help. We can discover again that it really is more blessed to give than to receive. It's about time Winter magic The jury is still out on whether Audrey McLaughlin will make a great, or even good leader of the New Democratic Party, to know if she will lead the party out of its fringe status to electoral success, but she has already done Canada a great service by being the first woman to lead a federal political party. She herself doesn’t make a big Seal of her sex saying people shouldn’t support her just because she’s a woman (she most certainly wouldn’t, she says, vote for Margaret Thatcher who is a woman). She’sright. Peopleshouldneithervoteforheroragainsther because she is a woman. Still, there’s no doubt there’s been a psychological barrier to be crossed to have a woman finally accepted as a political party leader. For women in leadership to become commonplace, it requires the hardy pioneer. To have a first woman prime minister, we must first have a woman party leader. Audrey McLaughlin has gotten that necessary first step out of the way so that we can hopefully move beyond the silliness of “firsts”. It should be the ideas she puts forward that win her or lose her support, not her gender. We take it for granted that a John Crosby and an Ed Broadbent shouldn’t be lumped together because they are men because there are so many men that we listen to what they stand for. There are still so few women in high political offices, however, and those that are are often put into the position of leaders of the women’s movement,'that we often don’t listen to what they say on other things in the world. The sad thing is that Audrey McLaughlin will be put under the microscope just because she is a woman. If she does well, she may make it easier for the next woman to rise to the top. If she flops, she confirms the suspicions of some neanderthals that women haven’t got what it takes to be party leaders. Here’s hoping she does well enough to at least keep the door open for those whofollow. The sooner we get to the point we support people simply for the ideas and their integrity, the healthier our country will be. Letter from the editor Underdog victories rare rOTrCH^ these days BY KEITH ROULSTON The outcome of the 1989 Grey Cup game, with underdog Saskat­ chewan Roughriders winning in a thrilling championship was a moral victory for all those who like to see the little guy win. It happens so seldom these days either in sports or in the “real world”. The Saskatchewan team came from third place in their division to upset the second place team, then the hugely-favoured, first-place Edmonton Eskimos, just to make it to the championship. They came east, underdogs again and fell behind early, then rallied to win in what some people are calling the greatest football game ever. To add drama, it’s 23 years since the team was in the Grey Cup and the fans of the smallest city in the league, have stayed with their team all these years despite the lack of success. This was an underdog’s victory to end underdog victories. It’s always been a part of North American mythology: the little guy who starts with nothing and makes his way to the top. It came from our common ancestry of coming to North America to make a new start. The story of the little guy making it through hard work and determina­ tion was immortalized in the stories of Haratio Alger. The same plotline has been used over and over again in Hollywood movies, almost al­ ways with happy endings: movies like Rocky. But today it seems to be more a pleasant myth than a real possibil­ ity. Today is the age of the big winner, not the underdog. Today the odds are stacked against the little guy to the point he can’t hope to overcome them. Today is the age of the brash, “Bash Brothers’’ of the Oakland A’s, big and powerful and arrogant, not the little guy who triumphs despite the odds. Look around these days and it appears the big guys are going to win everything. In our newspaper business, for instance, the inde­ pendent newspaper is becoming as rare as a robin in December. Last week it was the Kitchener-Water­ loo Record being bought out by Southam. The little Rural Voice magazine was just swallowed up by Signal-Star Publishing which in turn had been swallowed up by a bigger chain a year or so ago. That same big fish swallowing up the smaller fish and then being swallowed in turn by the killer whale. Our whole society seems geared up for the powerful. Free Trade is designed to not just let it happen, but make it happen. They call it “rationalization” or talk about the need for competitiveness but what it is really doing is reducing the possibility of competi­ tion because only the very powerful can afford to play the game. This attitude takes it for granted that the small farmer will be replaced with a bigger farmer, probably eventually a corporation. It takes it for granted that it’s natural progression that the small town should wither and people move to the huge metropolis. It takes it for granted that people won’t huge corporations that deal across international borders and there is no sense of human scale, where your ultimate boss is somebody Continued on page 7 work for themselves but for O P.O Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 O The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19.OO/yr ($40.00 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. L Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968 J