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Times-Advocate, 1983-02-09, Page 4Page 4 Times-Advotate, February 9, 1983 imes MIN dvocate Times Established Serving South Huron, North Middlesex (2 & North Lantbton Since 1873 C n Published by j.W. Eedy Publications limited -_-� 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 LORNE EEDY Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising; Manager l' BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager .l1: �4:u..J. *CNA Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class s Man Registration Number 0386. Phone 235.1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Need some answers Crown Trust depositors may have heaved a sigh of relief last week when the Ontario government gave itself unprecedented power to sell the assets of the trust firm which it seized early in January. The alternative, according to a beleagured Con- sumer and Commercial Relations Minister Robert Elgie, was liquidation of those assets and undetermin- ed (butmassive) losses for depositors. The move, of course, has severe repercussions for proped+ty rights and due process of law for shareholders of Crown Trust, as Swell as. other private institutions and companies operating in the province. The opposition parties have noted that the Ontario government has been lax in moving to prevent pro- blems in the financial community over the past 20 years during which time people have Iost enormous sums of money through the experiences of Atlantic Ac- ceptance, Argosy, Astra Trust, British Mortgage & Trust and Re -Mor Investments. The government, it seems, is also going to let the depositors in Seaway Trust and Greymac (two other firms whose assets were seized at the same time as those of Crown Trust) suffer whateverr-consequences will befall them when the said government completes its investigation .into the firms. Throughout the entire mess, Elgie and his cohorts have been frighteningly secretive as to the reasons for the seizure of the firms' assets as well as for assum- ing the powers to sell Crown Trust and not those of the other two. Whether Elgie and the government can come up with some plausible reasons for their actions in the en- tire Mess .f°emains to be seen, but there's little doubt they're on the hot -seat and each day that passes without answers adds to the suspicions that they plainly don't want the answers known. Grassroots message Neither big businesses nor governments are about to create the jobs that are so badly needed in a coun- try where more than 1.5 million people are unemployed. In fact, the only real hope for additional employ- ment are the nation's small and medium-sized enterprises. 44.„4 That. was part .of a. ` `ins g 4 om the grassroots" tbaL.thq'0,000-member :Cansidi rFederation of In - 'dependent •Businefs . delivered' o. Finance Minister 'Marc Lalonde Ai a recent pre- udget meeting. In its comprehensive brief, the Federation blunt- ly warned Lalonde the government must ensure that interest rates will continue to fall. "Declining interest rates are crucial to the success of small and medium-sized enterprises", said Federa- tion president John Bulloch. "But the sector also re- quires specific policies to take advantage of the coun- try's pent-up entrepreneurial potential." To support its case for new small business policies, the Federation pointed out that 150,000 new firms were created in the last year. With lower interest rates, the CFIB estimates 200,000 more new businesses will be started this year. • "If new government policies enabled each of these firms to hire one additional person, 200,000 new jobs could be created," said CFIB vice-president Patricia Johnston. So rather than seeking direct grants, loan guarantees or interest rate .subsidies, the CFIB has proposed a variety of new policies,many designed to provide tax breaks for entrepreneurs, accepting risk by expa . ! ' ' ' or t u Jle usi s, • , � 0, . t1on,7o fntlpasa .are tobentice ordinary individuals ir}i<,o.funnelling '.e badly need- ed money ititb ttie Smbii business sec i~iv. "Many Canadiens are prepared taadcept the risk of investing in small and medium-sized enterprises, but some of the rules must be changed to put them on an equal footing with big businesses," says Johnston. For example, people with money invested in self- directed Registered Retirement Savings Plans are not allowed to invest in private corporations, which eliminates smaller firms. "A simple change in that rule alone could free -up at least $1 -billion in job creation money at no cost to the Treasury," she says. Bulloch said the country is at a critical point and Ottawa can either help lead us to economic recovery or hinder progress in this area. Too late to turn back now The move by 37 Conservative MPs in opening their Freedom to Measure Ltd. service station near Carleton Place last week creates a ,i t ua t ionthat will be follow- ed closely. . The MPs are selling gasoline by the gallon, in direct contravention of a federal government edict that service stations must adopt metrication. Two service station operators in Toron- to were charged recently with violating the federal Weights and Measures Act by selling gasoline in gallons and the MPs are hoping they too wilt face the same charges. They plan to take their case all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary, to get a ruling on whether the government edict is justifiable. The move will be welcomed by metric opponents, of which there are a vast number in this country. Strangely enough, many of the opponehts admit that the metric system is a more logical way of handling weights and measures. They gust don't enjoy being forced into the change. Even more strange. perhaps, is the acknowledgement of those same op- ponents that it is okay to teach today's school children their weights and measures in metric. They just don't think adults who have grown up under a dif- ferent system should be forced to change. Well, if the kids can learn the new system, why can't adults be expected to do the same? It's just another example of the double -standard to which many adults prescribe when they tell their kids to "do as I say, nut as I do." . . . • Obviously, this nation has progressed too far on the change to metric to back- track. The Freedom to Measure Ltd. ser- vice station is one of only a handfull at- tempting to stall the move and the MPs are clearly much too late in mounting • their attack against the system. Were they asleep when the conversion started several years ago? That was the time to voice their disapproval and bring it to a head. But being astute politicians, they waited until. they could determine the public reaction so any move they made would meet approval from the voters. The MPs, in a move that clearly BATT'N AROUND with the editor smacks of anarchy, have apparently decided there is considerable opposition to metric in the country, but perhaps of equal consideration, is the fact that the majority of Canadians "can take it or leave it". No doubt they're also counting on the fact most Canadians enjoy seeing their government set upon. However, the move by the MPs is clear- ly a dangerous one as it implies that peo- ple have the choice of whether or not they comply with the rules. Surely there is some provision in this country's legal system whereby in- dividuals or groups can test the validity of a law, withouthavingtctake the course of action followed by the MPs in flaunting the law in the hope that the government will charge them and thereby get it before the courts. . • . . . The writer is no more enamored with the conversion to metric than many other people. I have certainly not mastered it to any great extent, primarily through no great inclination or action to do so. There is, however, less tendency now to attempt ' to convert weather temperatures, because through repeated use of metric, I have a general idea of what to expect when the figures are reported as to current or anticipated temperatures. A look out the window or the calendar helps confirm decisions of when to put on an overcoat or a pair of shorts. I never did buy gasoline by the gallon; rather by a set dollar figure or a tankful, depending on the state of cash resources or the length of trip planned. Anyone who isn't intelligent enough to know it's cheaper to fill up at the service station selling gasoline for 39.9 cents per litre as opposed to the one selling it for 41.9 doesn't get much sympathy from this quarter and as a refugee from the good old days I often feel I'm better off not knowing the current price of a gallon of gasoline. Those kg. prices on meat are frighten- ing, but a quick look around the counter will show even the most slow of mind the relative costs and weights of various cuts. If it's too intimidating, ask some public school kid to accompany you or invest in one of those handy converters. The real problem is that most people are afraid of change, regardless or how beneficial it may be, or they're just too lazy to make an attempt. The bottom line is still the same, whether the item is in metric measure- ment or not. There is no magical time that could be set on the basis of everyone being prepared for the change. If it was 10 years from now, most of us would still not be ready for anything else but complaining. So we may as well carry on, similar to the small boy crossing the puddle; hav- ing his feet wet already, he may as well continue on to the other side as go back. As for those Conservative ]VIPs, they're a little late and may as well go back and • pump their normal gas and not gasoline. "Your money's being recalled ... by the tax department!" Prepare for bitterness Depressing, isn't it? And I'm not talking about the weather. Although I could. Came home from work yesterday, mid- January, in pouring rain. Didn't even bother to plug in the block heater. Got up this morning and it was below zero. Guess what didn't happen. And how about that rampant 'flu that is strik- ing down huge, burly men as well as little old ladies. I fall somewhere between the two, and it has certain- ly stricken me down - about four times. Twice in the last two weeks we have scheduled a party for friends. Everything set: fire laid; glasses polished; booze bought; rug vacuumed almost to death. And twice Ole Mistah Floo has knocked everything into a cocked hat, whatever that is. Do you have any con- ception of the effort re- quired, when all you want to do is die and be in- cinerated, to have to call, up about fifteen people; tell them the party is off? And 80 percent of them are out on the first, and se- cond, and third call? But what the heck. That's what this country is all about in winter, and it is only then that I curse me ancestors, not loud but deep, for setting forth from the peat and potatoes and deciding they'd go to Canada. Why not Australia, or South Africa, or Tahiti? The only smart person in my entire family collec- tion (connection? That's The Floo) is a nephew who went to Costa Rica, started a small business, A made a happy marriage,. and has three little girls. We had a happy Christmas card from him. Everybody else in the family is sick or stupid or broke or old or having marital problems. And that includes yours truly. with a crazy Ukrainian?. A columnist is supposed to have a theme, state it, de- fend it, •and leave the reader in a state of sereni- ty, a problem solved, a dif- ficult dilemma made clear as crystal. And all I've done so far Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley Why didn't I go to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, as Roman Woychuk and I planned to do as soon as - and if - we got out of prison camp alive? And I wonder wfiat has happened to Chuk. He was a brilliant cartoonist, but had an eccentric streak. Last time I saw him, we were out at a nightclub with our ladies. Toward the 'end of the evening, he picked up his glass, pretended it was a grenade, pulled the non- existent pin out with his teeth, and hurled it through a mirror that must have cost twenty grand. Ile probably couldn't even pick up his glasses now, let alone a glass. But I hope he has some of the old esprit left. He was a Canadian Ukrainian and coached us in a few words of Russian, because we knew The Russians Were Coming. All I. remember is, "Nistrali," meaning, "Don't shoot." 'But what am I doing in the Yucatan . Peninsula is muddy the waters, ob- fuscate the obvious, and leave the reader with rais- ed eyebrows that indicate Smiley should be put out to pasture. What I really wanted to talk about was The Depression. And don't talk to me about a recession, a slow -down, a shake -down or any other of the cant phrases used by economists who are able to tell us, in double-talk, and at fifty thousand a year, that things are tough allover. We're in a Depression, and note the capital D. How do I know? Well, gen- tle reader, I've been there before. I know , the territory. A few years ago, in my youth, I stated that we could never have another Great Depression, like that of the '30s. After all,' we had unemployment in- surance, a reasonable Old - Age Pension, medicare: all sort of buffers against poverty, hunger, humilia- tion, raggedy -asses, and the like. I was wrong, and though I hate to admit it. as everyone does who is wrong, I was. Oh, we're not quite back to the thirties, but we're on the way. In the town where I live, roughly thir- ty percent of the people. are without employtnent. In the town where I liv- ed during the Great Depression, the figure grew to about forty per- cent. That's why my Dad lost his business. He was a softy, and gave credit. People couldn't pay their bills. He went broke. What's going to happen in this country when the unemployment insurance whatever runs out of money? When there isn't enough left in the govern- ment coffers to pay the doctors? When there isn't enough money to pay the interest on the massive deficit we've.acquired by borrowing on the future? When there isn't enough money left to pay old age pensions, and child-care subsidies, and welfare, and look after all the prisoners' and retarded people and insane? Well, it'll be interesting, at any.rate. There's going to be a lot of bitterness in the land. Personally, I'm going to buy myself a double- barrelled shotgun. And when I go down to collect my old -age pension, and the twerp who still has a job tells me there's no money left, I'm going to throw down on him, and make him extract it from his own hip pocket. And then I'm going to go out and shoot up some metric signs, just for the hellevit. rewarding moment A friend of mind is a tool and die maker. He often feels frustrated with his job because of its repetitive nature but also admits that it has its rewarding moments. An example of this happened recently. The tool that he was working on started out as a piece of hardened steel about three feet (one metre) long. The blueprints he was given for the job showed that it was to be part of a larger machine which would cut out little pieces of plastic. for a child's toy at a rate of a couple of hundred pieces -per minutes. The job took almost six months to complete, with him having to cut into the steel a little bit at a time, the job he asked if he could shaping, chiselling, deliver it to the factory polishing. The tolerances where' it was to be used. Perspectives By Syd Fletcher for error were ex- cruciatingly small, the pace nerve-wrackingly slow. You can imagine the final cost of that little piece of steel which started out in the raw state at a value of only two or three hundred dollars. When he finally finished figuring that after all that work he would like to see it in•operation. He took a few extra minutes and helped the millwright install the tool. Pretty soon it was work- ing, cranking out the little pieces of plastic, just as it had been planned to do. Now this might not 1' seem like a very great ac- complishment to some people but my friend said that he really felt good standing there watching the results of his work clicking away as smoothly and cleanly as one could possibly hope it to. He didn't have someone to tell him he'd done a good job. The proof was 'in the pud- ding you might say: I like to think that there are a lot of people around like him who still take a bit of pride in their work, even though it may not seem important to others. Maybe if we could instil that same quality of pride of workmanship in our children we could compete a little better with the Japanese industries.