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Times-Advocate, 1978-08-17, Page 4 (2)Times-Advocote, August 17, 1978 Shimld be impressed One of the events associated with the annual International Plowing -Match is the farm and home beautifica- tion contest which awards prizes to residents in the host county who im- prove their surroundings. About 135 residents of Huron have submitted entries in•conjunction with this year's plowing match near Wingham. That may appear to be a small number in view of the total pop- ulation and may suggest to some that Huron residents aren't interested in beautifying their abodes. however. a drive through the coun- tryside will quickly dispel that sugges- tion In fact. most Huron residents keep their properties looking extreme- ly neat throughout the years and don't need special,contests to spur them on to that end. Visitors to Huron this year no doubt will be most impressed with the general well -kept appearance of "the ur- ban and rural environs. including the 135 where people have taken the time to enter the match contest. If"you're not included among those 'who have entered the contest or taken the -time to get the place tidied up. recently. you still have enough time remaining to perform that task and join your neighbours in presenting a welcome sight for visitors. Jobs versus pollution Once again it appears that employ- ment security in Ontario is being used to blackmail efforts to correct hazar- dous industrial pollution. The Ministry of Environment has reneged on an order 'to Inco which would have compelled the Sudbury nickel company to reduce the amount of sulphur dioxide it puts into Ontario• air eveiiy day from 3600 tons to 750 tons. Although the reasons given by the ministry for the variance in orders t� Inco did not say- that employment and economic . issues were expressly in- volved. most observers would agree that this is the.main reason.. • Instead. the ministry chose to use . its own brand of bureaucratic babble to explain the about face.- "There is strong evidence that the. abatement .program has been successful in achiev- ing environmental'- and human health objectives." stated Northeastern Regional -Director C. E. McIntyre. Then McIntyre went on to say that the order to cut back on•sulphur dioxide pollution was "unjustifiable from an environmental perspective and un- realistic from a technical point of view.' The statement from the ministry and the order come at a time when many observers• in the scientific com- munity are becoming increasingly con- cerned about a phenomenon known as "acid ,rain" which seems to have the - _ effect _of -damaging agricultural land. polluting rivers and lakes. and killing the fish within them. It is especially prominent in the Sudbury area. There has even been a study done to show a disturbing relationship between the -amount of sulphur dioxide in bodies of water and levels of mer - curt' contamination. which has been known to be fatal to human beings when consumed in large quanfities. As a matter of fact. Mr. McIntyre reported only back in April that one fifth of the 209 lakes studied within a 125: -mile radius of Sudbury are acidified and an additional 50 per cent show "vulnerability to continuing_ acid inputs." Unfortunately. bureaucratic catch - phrases such as "There is strong evidence that the abatement program has been succe§sful in achieving en- vironmental and human health objet= tives" do not change the scenario of a.• Northern Qntario contaminated by acidic lakes and dying fish. • Itf ourpollution abatement programs are going to be totally depen- dent on an industry's willingness to clean up without threatening to lay off all its workers and moving to a less en- :4vironmentally concerned region.then it looks like the situation is hopeless. In the case of. Inco. however. the company- needs; to stay -in Su_ dbury because that is Where the nickel is. We find -it difficult to believe- that the government Lcould not have been tougher. And there may still come a time 1 perhaps when it is already too late when a company's willingness or in- ability 'to correct a major pollution .preblein--means the-demise--of-that in= dustry regardless of how many jobs are lost. .. Jobs are important.: but are they important to the degree that they become socially and self-destructive'. That is what possibly remains_to be, seen. , St. Marys Journal -Argus Facing hard times The University of Western Ontario at London anticipates a 15 per cent drop -in new- enrolments this year as high school graduates take what jobs they can find and senior level universi- ty students dropout of their courses. Many other universities in the province are facing a similar problem. The reasons are obvious. Universi' ty education no longer guarani a high -salaried job in fact it oesn't guarantee a job at all. One recent report suggested that many of the har- -monica players and • leatherwork salesmen on city street corners are Ph.D.s making the best of a bad situa- tion: It 'appears that we have simply over -supplied our economy_ with un- iversity graduates. A good many young people are awakening to the -fact that the high cost of university education and -thee several years` investment of time may be a hazard rather than, an advantage .in . the job market. In or- dinary times the unsuccessful , job ' applicant was often told that he was not qualified for the position. Nowadays some applicants are learning to their disappointment that they are "over- qualified". There is no way of knowing how closely the universities are in touch with Canada Manpower. If they're not they 'should be. Despite the high level of unemployment there ;;re many gaps in Canada's supply for knowledgeable workers. Industries which employ highly skilled workers in their researt,h and production departments have to scour Europe for some of their staff people. Community colleges have met some of the needs in the skilled trades but there is a need for a higher grade of excellence where jobs demand a high level of training, There has been far too little use of the "co-op" training plans in which students alternate between classroom and on-the-job experience: Government interference and com- pulsory minimum wage laws have all but destroyed the apprenticeship train- ing programs under which industry produced its finest skilled workers in years past: Itis deeply_ disturbing to find un- iversity graduate's either unemployed or working at jobs much below their mental'•capabilities. On the other hand • perhaps our society has over- emphasized the status of the university graduate. Maybe we should be paying equal tribute to the 'person who is a master of the manual skills. ase t•ia arooie0., Tomes Estobhshed 1877 • Adveeats•Estobloshed 1 881 - '-•tom • . Ames diipcate - SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND .C.W.N.A:, O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' and ABC Published by J. W. Eddy Publications limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor •1111 Batten Assistant Editor = Ross Haugh Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Monger — Harry DeVries . Business Ma'i'►Lger — Dick Jong kind Phan* 23S-1331 • •CNA Amalyomored 1024 Published Eath Thvrsdoy Morning at Exotet,'Ontgrio Second G3... Moil Registration Number 03116 Paid in Advance Circulation September 30, 1975 5,409 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada =11.00 Per Year; USA $22. • J r DO YOU HAVE THE 1300K►HOW TO 5UKVIVE ON A FIXED INCOME'? BATT'N AROUND . IT'S 1g'FICTION' 5ECTICI TD1� • s'. with the editor .Rather presumptuous offer Judging from the recent offer of the Ontario Heritage Foundations to provide • an additional �,grant for the restoration pf the ExctAr town hall, agencies operating under the Ontario government appear -to have differing standards. the,. additional grant of 517.500 offered by the Foundation is contingent upon council matching that amount. Under the terms of provincial :assistance for other projects. such as the new arenas which were built in Ontario. no municipal funds could be used in a- bid to receive matching provincial grants. • The Foundation "people have placed council under a considerable onus with their recent offer of additional funding. They have. in fact. said that the local project deserves to be- supported by public funds. .. It is. unfortunately. a suggestion that is not shared by many local people, in - eluding some members of Exeter coun- cil. although some of those attitudes no doubt have softened considerably now that people can see the beauty of the building and the fact that it can be operated almost on a self-sustaining basis. •It nevertheless does appear rather presumptuous of the.•Ontario Heritage Foundation to be basically demanding that the taxpayers must support - the fund raising. If they have 517.500 available and feel that the restoration warrants that expenditure.' surely they could provide that assistance regardless of whether the matching. dollars come from the public purse or private individuals. Their offer is a form of "black mail" being held over the taxpayers of Exeter and could result in council be- ing placed in a damned if they do or damned if thev'don't,positionObvious- ly. the history of the project suggests A few years ago. I picked up a paper- back novel entitled. I think. The Last of the Crazy People. written by, one Timothy Findley As usual, i turned to the back cover to find out something about the author. There wag nothing to find out about -the author: There was - nothing. and I a voracious reader and a teacher of literature. had -never heard of him. i began reading the novel. and soon thought, "Oh boy' this is' an excellent writer Who the heck is he?" And that was the end -of my curiosity. This year. I rea� in the paper that one Timothy i in ey had won the Governor -General's Award for a novel called The Wars. That suggested he must be a Canadian writer: Never heard of him. but remembered the name and the othernovel I'd thought sq good. Since. I've read The Wars. -It is powerful. sensitive. beautifully struc- tured. Probably the best novel that has won the G -G's A some of the other winners were sleaze. Recently. Findley wrote a newspaper article in which he pointed out the appalling lack of ability among Canadian critics. i don't blame him. He was, right on. With a few excep- tions. I find our critics to be narrow- minded. nit-picking people who ap- proach' anything new with pre- conceived prejudices only exceeded by their desire to -reveal how clever and witty they themselves are. But _ the _point that interested me most in his article was its concluding one. He stated. unequivocally, that we are in the midst of Canada's golden age of writing. and suggested it was a pity -that such an unpleasant position is one that should be avoided. • • I. • The fact remains. of course.- that every effort -should be made to collect the additional $17.500 being offered, regardless of what strings may be at- tached. While council members may be per- • suaded to provide some assistance from the general offers, thei is con- sidera6le doubt that they would go for the full amount. - - If therefore, behooves tib Exeter 'Heritage Foundation to come up with some scheme for copncil to consider so - the full allotment can be received, if council members don't see their way clear to provide the $17.500. • • • -Grand Bend residents must have been pleased to see a film crew on their beach recently preparing an adver- tising program. It is one of the finest beaehes-to-be--found-anywhemand-ob= viously an advertisement program would encourage more tourist traffic. Unfortunately, the advertisement be- ing prepared by CP Air was not for Grand Bend. The scene depicted will apparently be used to promote air flights to the golden sands of the Carib- bean.. However, it's an ill wind -that doesn't blow some good. Area residents who can't find the time or the money to head off to the sunny south this winter will be able to take their lawn chairs and -sit 'out on the shores of Lake -Huron. All they'll need is a con- siderable imagination to make .themselves_ believe they're in the Caribbean. A considerable imagination that is...come January or February! While CP Air no doubt -was looking at the cost element in using the Grand Bend beach to depict a gunny, winter's Sugar and Spice Dispensed by Smiley Z - ,Canadian critics• lack ability that no one would say this until fifty or a hundred years from now. Well. he's wrong. This one small voice in the desert Of Canadian critics agrees with him about 94 per cent. Not quite golden. There's some dross among the glitter: But Absolutely high- grade ore. with the occasional diamond popping up, and a lot of silver threads among the gold. Fair enough? What is a golden age? In writing, it's a time when a rich vein of talent is dis- covered, and minded. and turned into vessels and shapes and pieces that will delight and enhance life for many - years. England had one in the late 16th cen- tury. when Marlowe and Ben Johnson and Will Shakespeare served as lucid, brilliant witnesses to the vagaries, foibles. and magnificence of the human species. • Russia had one in the 19th century, with Tolstoi. Chekhov, Dostoievsky and a dozen others. America had its golden years in this - century. with Willa Cather, $teinbeck, Dresiser. Hemingway, Sandburg, Frost and a host of smaller fish cruis- ing along in their wake. A golden age in writing is not something, planned. It cannot even be foreseen. -It can only be backseen. It's a seemingly spontaneous outburst of literary fireworks, for which there seems no provocation. O.K. End of 'thesis. But, as •I -so seldom do anything- useful in this column except expose the darker side of our national psyche — crazy wives; rotten kids, bewildered politicians -- perhaps today i can render a service. A little digression. i teach a Grade 13 • day in the Caribbean, one wag suggested -it WAS a far different ap- proach than what one of our senior levels of government would have chosen. They no doubt' would have flown three film crews to the Caribbean for a week's shooting. Private enterprise, of course, has to be a little more frugal. - - Looking through our notes of last week's council session. one item on which welailed to report was Reeve'Si Simmon's concern about -the new streets being built in the community. "They look smart," he suggested, but noted that they were in effect reducing parking to a considerable ex- tent because they are narrower and also include curbs. He suggested they should be -built wide enough to provide as much park- ing as possible and we certainly agree with him on that matter. The width of Andrew St. in the core area has eliminated street parking on one side and the amount of parking has also been reduced considerably on Wellington St: in the vicinity of the rec centre with this year's road program and we presume also in the area of the Legion Hall. Parking is already a major concern to downtown •merchants and in the other areas mentioned and it is rather disconcerting to see it being reduced even more through the elimination of parking spots on one side of the new streets. Hopefully, council in the future will see fit to alter their policy, particularly - in areas where parking is needed. • Even in some residential areas, it does create a problem and a bit of a hazard. course in contemporary literature First term, all Canadian; second term, all American; third term, all British. At the end of this year, I had the kids write an assessmept of the course; no names, no pack drill. About 80 per cent of them said the Canadian section was the best, that they'll become ac- quainted for the first time with great Canadian writing, and that it should be extended for the full year. This was after meeting perhaps 20 Canadian writers, to print. What does that tell you? First, our own children don't know our own writers. Second, their parents don't have any Canadian books in the house. Third, Canadian publishers are l6isy promoters. End of.di sion. is summertime, time for re. t ;. T e for my public sevice bit. If you can ou eyes for a' mo- ment off the go en • oulders of all those golden girls; eck this list, when next you decide to pick up a paperback novel. If the store doesn't have it, de- mand why, hotly, If you like Westerns, read anything by: Jack Hodgins, Paul St. Pierre, W.O. Mitch Robert Kroetsch, Rudy Wiebe, Mar et Laurence. Every one is genuine', t, and I've missed othe - If our taste is with the effete East ( , and Que.) read anything by M rley Callaghan, Hugh MacLennan, Alice Munroe, Margaret Atwood. And three dozen others, including Marian Engel (Bear). - • Think small 1 by Jim Smith I A Glimmer of Hope Somewhere in Ottawa, a the importance of the small group of_civilservants alternatives -10 1teaLy ,o4 and fear for their jobs. They are nuclear cannot be overem- clever people,perceptive peo- phasized. If we, as a nation, pie. well ass are of ihe realities choose to concentrate on of Canadian life. But, collec- these two- capital•intensive tively, they slipped up and forms of .energy. we will -- violated one of the most quickly run out of capital to stringent ndes of the bureau- invest id‘other areas of the, cratic code of conduct. • economy such as building Specifically, the bureau- new industries. Solar power crats did something right. and other types of renew - They put together a govern- able energy- on the other ment program that, while hand. relies more on labour modest. may help Canada for installation and mann- pass smoothly out of the era facturing) and less on capital of cheap petroleum. investment. so it could solve The program was armour= some of out labour problems ced recently by federal Ener- without draining our capital gy Minister Alastair Gillespie resources. And the possibili- and commits Ottawa to sup- ties for new small businesses port of the infant Canadian are endless; renewable energy solar energy industry. Ot- would eliminate much of our tawa has promised to spend dependence on a handful of S125 million installing solar • mammoth energy corpora - space and water heating tions. equipment in government Gillespie'= program does buildings. There will be 25 > not cover all the bases; wind S10.000 grants for.research power,- for example, has pro - and S350.000 in prize money mise. But it's a major start for contests to encourage de- _ inasmuch as it will provide velopment of -more efficient funding and a market for the solar systems. 5114 nrillion first generation of the new will go into joint projects technology. Mass markets with the provinces and pri- won't spring up until this vale industry. And there is first generation of techno- niore than SI 00 nrillion for logy has been perfected,lead- • research into e5ergy possibi• . ing t6 lower costs. lilies of the forestry industry lander Ottawa's plan, that — such as space-age wood- technology' will be developed burning systems, a natural There is more for experimen- • technolo,• for Canada. tation and the promise of a Al!•told, that alirounts to guaranteed government mar - a little less than S-400million, ket for manufacturers of the which is still small change in new equipment. There is also the energy business. The sig- moral support from Ottawa. nificance of the program far A11 that's really missing at outweighs the dollar value,'_ this stage is a set of tax incen- however. fives for developers and indi- Up until recently, govern- viduals who install renewable ment energy pundits thought energy systems in their build - only in terms of heavy oil ings:Given proper tax breaks, (tar sands) and nuclear ener- we can expect rapid advances gy. To some extent, that is in this vital industry. . still true. But Gilles= an- nouncement: at least indi- i cafes that overnment is now Th rk small ,s an edhlonai g message from Ire Canae,an aware that there are alterna- I Fede•atBonuso1nes=InCeperjent fives. i </own mem°t`y lane 55 Years o A beautiful a . ay flowers was gathered the basement of •the Public Library Friday and Saturday last • for lithe first flower show of the Exeter Horticultural Society. Mr. S.M. Sanders has purchased the Exeter" and Hensall branches of the Jackson Manufacturing Company. The • Exeter factory is located in Mr.-S.M. Sanders' building. Mr. Davis will still be in charge of the Exeter - branch, and Mr. Goodwin will still be in charge of Hensall. Mr. J. Decker of Zurich shipped a car of prize horses to Toronto to compete in the stock show at the Toronto Exhibition which is now in full swing.. • _ Miss Blanche Senior is appearing_ this. week atthe Allerifnreatre, London. Miss Senior upon completing her engagement in London will make an extensive tour _of the larger' theatres in Canada and the United -States. t• he Town Hall the raising of of' the status of Exeter from a village to a - town was • -discussed. . 20'Years Ago Work began Tuesday _ on the development of a fairground and playground beside the community centre at Zurich.. Senator W.11. Golding, Huron -Perth received moving tributes from his colleagues in .the Senate ss -hen he returned- to the Chamber recently after a period of ill -health. He was described as a "great parliamentarian" and as a "true -; honest Grit of Ontario." • The Exeter Fall Fair is being held September 16. 17, and 18. Included in the three- day event will be the third annual trades fair. - Misses Helen Taylor and Ruth Ann.McBride of Exeter and Marion .Gill, Grand Bend, for SHDHS students are attending London Teacher's College this year. - - 15 Years Ago Dalton Finkbeiner, Exeter won the senior champion • stallion award in the Arabian class with his Ibn Imaraff in the horse show -at the Canadian National Efihibition this year. Iron. C.S. MacNaughton won the PC nomination in Clinton last night. He was unopposed. Hon. William Davis, minister of education, spoke at -the meeting. A large and new steam- boat whistle installed at the Dashwood Planing Mills Ltd. let forth with an unscheduled blast in the middle of the night recently and caused some consternation among the residents. The enrolment at SHDHS is expected to -be down from about 760 to 710 owing to the opening of the' vocational training centre. of Clinton. 30 Years Ago Huss Snell' and Ken Hockey were winners of the new trophy donated by the 'Jones Mac Naughton Seeds - Co. also a suit of clothes or topcoat in a scotch doubles tournament on the local, greens Wednesday. The hay And straw baler owned by the Jarrott brothers, Kippen was partly .destroyed by fire on Monday. Murray May, representing Exeter ..High School left Wednesday for Longford Mills on Lake Couchiching to attend an athletic leaders camp. The interior of Shipka Public School • is being remodelled. -At a meeting of , the Chambetr of Commerce in Not to mention, all from Quebec, Modechai Richter, Marie-Clajre Blass and Hoch Carrier, And forty-four others, like Yves Therriault. Way down east, Ernest Buckler, Alden Nowlan, Ray Guy, and 14 more. The book' will cost you a little more than that porno U.S. novel with the cover of a girl being raped and whipped while she's stuffing pills down her lovely throat. That's because our publishers have a small market, because people like you ,don't buy their books, and'have to charge more. • But you'll be'doing our' writers, our country, and, more importantly, yourself, a seryfce that will make the Canadian Golden Age of Writing a fact, not a footnote in the future.