Loading...
Times-Advocate, 1981-09-02, Page 4i Page 4 Times -Advocate, September 2, 1981 Amalgamated 1924 Times EstobLshed 1877 Advocate Established 1881 Imes - dvocate ,......_,�....... Ionian SERVING CANADA'S BEST FARMLAND C.W.N. A.. O.W.N.A. CLASS 'A' AND ABC MEMBER ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL R)�bshed by I W Eedy Publications limited LORNE EEDY, PUBLISHER Editor — Bill Batten Assistant Editor — Ross Hough Advertising Manager — Jim Beckett Composition Manager — Harry DeVries Business Manager — Dick Jongkind Phone 235-1331 Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $17.00 Per Year; USA $35.00 ♦� • vr 4110 44.• Lose accountability There's mixed reaction over the suggestion by municipal affairs minister Claude Bennett that the terms of municipal politicians be extended to three years from the present two. Those in favor note that it takes new council members up to a year to get acquainted with their new tasks and they're just hitting their stride when the two-year period is completed. Some then decide not to run for a second term, or the voters decide to give them a forced retirement. The suggestion by Bennett would give those members two years of more productive administration after their initial one-year learning program. While there is no question. that new members encounter some difficulty in determining their role, a suggestion that it takes up to a year is an affront to their intelligence and dedication. In small communities, newcomers usually know what is going on around them and it takes only a few sessions before they get into full swing. The problem with the three-year 1 • ,�•/. t,, 1.0 40 term is two -fold. First, it may dis- courage those who contemplate such positions. Three years is a long time and there will certainly be those frightened off by the prospect of such a lengthy term. Secondly, it adds one more year to the term of someone who just doesn't measure up to the task, resulting in ad- ditional onus on the other members of council. Three-year terms may be okay for major centres, but two years is enough for those in smaller urban and rural areas. Extended terms reduce the oppor- tunity for the voters to let their full feelings be known on issues, and provide politicians too much time in which to go unaccountable to those voters. Short terms tend to keep people on their toes a little mor._g, and the present example of the federal government should be testimony enough as to what happens when politicians have things their own way for too long. Precious cargo It is quite pleasant, actually, to see a family on bicycles on a lazy summer evening, enjoying a group outing. But the Canadian Safety Council has warned that a child seat mounted on the back of bike is a risky proposi- tion and the council openly opposes the practice. In fact, the council suggests that bicycles were made to carry one person and that additional carrying devices only puts the child in a poten- tially hazardous situation. Experts have argued, and rightful- ly so, that the addition of a child carrier alters the balance and handling of the bicycle. Experienced riders may be abl to overcome the added weight or b ance shift, but it could be a big pro on the occasional outing. P g The child -carrier seats are legal, however. and studies indicate accidents involving the seats are few. But that fact should not eliminate the initiation of strict controls for the carriers. Children have been injured as limbs fall carelessly into moving parts of the bicycle. The potential for serious injury is always there. A doctor with the federal product safety branch is concerned about the flimsy construction of some brands and claims that some lack seat belts and have sharp corners and edges. Children should at least be strapped in when riding on a bicycle and it would also make sense for the regulatory agencies to enforce strict controls on the manufacturers and the use of child carriers. The cargo is a precious one and riders should take the time to ensure that children are seated safely. Goderich Signal -Star A good story If there is a term which could best describe our present era it could be the rather simple eight letter word 'negative'. Problems abound in the country and around the world and receive such wide -spread publicity these days thanks to advances in communications equipment that the 'good' stories tend to get ignored. One such 'good' story was the court case concerning a London woman who was accused of stealing food. In the case Judge John Seneshen suspended the women's sentence and By SYD F.LETCHER On a trip to Vancouver Island a number of years ago we stopped to gawk at some of the huge redwood trees there. I took the time to measure one with arm - lengths. Stretching my arms out I worked my way around one monster - 8 sets of widths it took me or about 45 feet in circumference. Some tree, eh? We then went down the west coast right into California and the San Joaquin Valley. At a road - directed her lawyer to find a used television set. The court was told that TV was the women's only form of entertainment once she had paid for her accommodation and food. The lawyer came up with a new colour set which was donated by a Lon- don merchant. All parties involved deserve a pat on the back for it shows people still care for other people and that the legal system while appearing heartless at times. can go beyond the letter of the law. Mitchell Advocate Perspectives side fruit stand, for a dollar we purchased a huge box of fruit: black Emperor grapes about the size of plums and plump nectarines, my first introduction to that fruit. f keep on buying nectarines here in Ontario in the hope of matching those first ones - just like a juicy peach with the advantage of a smooth skin like a plum - but have never been suc- cessful. They must be ripened on the train or something on the way up here but are always too hard or too pulpy. Then we hit Sequoia National Forest: a reserve for sequoia trees. FP never forget that drive • miles and miles of switchbacks, sharp turns which took you back the same way you'd just come from. A car would be a half -mile ahead of you by the road but only a couple of hundred feet away from you down the mountain. The road was so steep that you could smell your brakes from the constant stopping. It was worth it all though when you got to see those magnificent trees. The king of all of them is called the General Grant. 1 thought that the one I saw on Van- couver Island was big but it was just a baby in com- parison. This General Grant tree is unbelievably huge. It took thirty sets of arm lengths to go around it and was so high (around 400 feet) that you could hardly see the top. It is estimated that over 4000 birds and mammals live on or in that one tree. Just an amazing piece of nature. Something man never hope to duplicate with all of his inventiveness and ingenuity. JONA* fp...* mows. s s s He's right...for once (The editor has been on holidays and the following is one of Bill Smiley's columns that was delayed due to the postal strike.) Prime Minister Trudeau suggested a while back that Canadians had never had it so good. As usual, his rather abrasive bluntness raised a good many hackles, but by golly, he was right. At least in one sense - materialistically. Despite our increasing panic about inflation and pollution and the shrink- ing dollar and the increasing taxes, we're so much better off in the sense of worldly goods than most other people in the world, that our gloom and doom attitude would be laughable, were it not a bit pitiable. Certainly interest rates are horrific, but our ability to pay them is probably better than it was 35 years ago, when standard interest rates were about five percent. When I went into business about that time. I had to borrow almost 620,000, with no security ( try that sometime), and my take-home income was about $35 a week. It was like purchasing your own personal albatross and tying it about your own neck. Certainly it's a pity that young couples have little hope today of buying a house, even with both of them work- ing. When I was their age, my chances of buying a house were just as remote, or moreso. And in those days, very few couples had two incomes. because we could not plan our family. as you can today. Oh, we tried. but every so often another lit- tle stranger would pop into the family, and there was no such thing as the mother dropping the infant on a baby- sitter, or into a day-care centre, and rushing back to her job. Our first home was a one -room flat, with a folding couch. a two -burner gas stove, and a bathroom up the stairs and along a hall in which people were frying things. mostly onions. It cost 650 a month. and our total income was 680 a month. • spy %4; Our next abode was a step up. For 670 a month. we had a real bedroom, a real kitchen and a real dining -room. All fur- nished from second-hand dealers, but with a precious private entrance, a bit of backyard and a loopy old landlady. Then we took a real leap, sharing a house with another young couple, each of us with a child. Two bedrooms, liv- ing room. kitchen, share the bath. And get up every morning in winter, light the stove in the living -room, thaw the waterpipes. and get a real blaze going in the kitchen stove, after tossing the half -frozen infant in with his mother until the place was not unbearably cold. We thought we were in clover. And then another place with another g couple, and then another with r young couple. By this time, e were four of us and four of them. You could hear their kids screaming and they could hear yours. You could hear the other couple fighting, and they could hear you. Finally, we had a house all to ourselves, complete with mortgage. As I recall, the mortgage payments were $35 a month, practically for life. And believe it or not, we fell behind in our payments. But we loved it. This place had a real furnace and a fair amount of property. The furnace was of the coal variety, and from trying to keep it go- ing, I finally realized why my father, a gentle, quiet -spoken man, used to go to the basement and send up a volcano of profanity accompanied by shovel - banging of the old furnace. My point is that it took us nearly 10 years to acquire a house of our own, and we were still up to the navel in debt. Along about the eighth year, we bought our first car, second-hand, naturally. 1 wonder how many young people to- day realize that in most cases their parents went through the same thing, living in sleazy little apartments, doing without so they could buy a home some- day. I wonder how many young couplesto- Sugar and Sp Dispensed by Smiley day do not have at least one carIt seems that they want instant security: house, furniture, appliances, automobile. holidays in the south, and a short work week, right after they are married. Theyfeel deprived if they don't have a patio, an expensive barbecue outfit, a power mower, a freezer, a boat, a van, you name it. And because your friendly bank manager or jovial finance company practically force loans on them, they get in so deep that when a bit of a crunch or recession comes along, the weep and wail and demand that the government do something about it. I worked my ass to thebone, about 60 hours a week. and so did my wife, before we could afford any of these things. In those days your smiling bank manager wore an habitual expression of dour disapproval. You'd swear the loan was coming out of his own pocket. He might loan you 500 if you had 10,000 in security. How many kids today get out and make their own money? I know many teenagers do, but most younger kids get an allowance to blow on pop. junk foods, records, and those star war elec- tronic games which have replaced the old pinball machines. How many kids today in this country ever go hungry? How many farmers, despite their outcries, are forced off the land because they can't meet their mortgages, compared to the Dirty Thirties? How many billions of dollars do we spend on booze, cigarettes and other poisons, when people in other countries are literally starving to death. Think it over, friends, and give thanks. At the beginning of this polemic, I had to admit Trudeau was right. It hurt to do so. But I did add the word materialistically. I think we never had it so bad in the other direction: spiritually. A bummer of a summer I don't know about you but for me it was"some bummer of a summer. Oh, the weather was great, and I hope you and yours had a super holiday. But nothing else was much good, nationally and personally. Now, I'm not going to say one word about the postal strike. If I started to write about it, the paper I'm writing on would go up in flames. I'll just take a positive attitude and observe that because of the strike, I didn't have to write a column for six weeks. A nice holiday for me, and probably a welcome relief for those who feel forc- ed to read my meanderings every week. Nor will I fly into a rage because our members of parliament, just before sneaking off for a long holiday in the middle of about 18 crises. voted +hemselves a whacking great increase 'in salary, pensions and all the gravy thak accompanies them. It's a tough job and they deserve every 40 or 50 thousands dollars that go with it. Again, I don't feel incensed that the Prime Minister should go off to Africa for a holiday while the country is being engulfed in unemployment, Inflation, separatism, and science -fiction in- terest rates. He probably enjoyed listening to some gentle Swahili after months of putting up with the bellowing and ranting of the various opposition parties. 1 I'm sure he came home rested, refreshed, and just as determined as ever to talk about North-South relationships rather than East-West ones. Perhaps I should be furious about the way in which Canadians completely ig- nore the energy crisis. I'm not. Must admit I was a bit perplexed when I .was forced to take to the highways one day and saw literally thousands of cars belting along, just over the speed limit, rushing from one hot place to another. And when I trundle down to the dock, 1 look at all those big cruisers, nuzzled cheek to cheek, and can't help wonder- ing what their owners are going to do with them about five years from now, when they can't even heat their own homes. Visiting friends at a cottage on a big lake up north, I saw dozens of teenagers whizzing around in motor boats, going absolutely nowhere, just joy -riding. However, all this hedonism doesn't bother me deeply. There's a certain feeling that permeates our society, even though it's seldom expressed by those indulging in it. It's quite a bit like the decline of the Roman Empire. People are saying, un- consciously, "To hell with it. Can't cope with inflation so might as well go deeper into debt. The buck is Worth 40 cents. The vandals are coming. Let's live it up before it's too late." It was a feeling that a great many people had during World War II. No use worrying about tomorrow because there might not be one. It's a sort of fatalism that is fatal to the human spirit, which demands constant striv- ing, enduring, and suffering in order to make things better. Those latter at- tributes are going out of style fairly rapidly. Historians tell us that we study history so that we won't make the mis- takes man made in the past. Well, the Roman Empire lasted about a thousand years. Things are quicker these days. Our society looks as though it would last about a hundred. However, "Wotthehell, Archy, Wotthehell", as Mehitabel the cat used to say to Archie thecockroach inthe Don Marquis poems. f'm no old Roman senator brooding over the decline of morality, law, order, justice, ready to quietly enter his bath and slit his wrists when he could stand it no longer. But I did come close to slitting my wrists a couple of times this summer. Went to a Saturday wedding on a beautiful July day. It was outdoors. Me and the old lady dressed to kill. Bride's parents old friends. Bride a former stu- dent. Many of her guests other former Mainstream Cana Pensions: a hot issue By W. Roger Worth Pensions are fast becoming a hot issue in Canada, with at least one federal government minister pressing for a com- plete overhaul and expansion of the Canada and Quebec Pension Plans. In fact, many groups and organizations in the country are seeking to double both benefits and contributions under the government oper- ated schemes. Roger Worth is Director, PubUc Affairs, Canadian Federation of Independent Business. The review of pension plans arises because many Canadians do not hale adequate retire- ment income, even though they've paid into privately operated programs for years. While agreeing there are problems with some private plans funded by employees and the companies they work for, the pension Industry believes coverage can be im- proved to overcome the diffi- culties. The basic question, of course, is whether the govern- ment should intrude even fur- ther into the private sector. It should be noted that even without expanding the Canada and Quebec Pension Plass CPP/QPP, contributions will have to be raised sharply In coming years, simply to pay for indexed benefits. In addition, the govern- ment plans are underfunded, which means future genera- tions of Canadians win have to pay the cost of supporting retired people. There are a lot of people who don't believe doubling CPP/QPP benefits and con- tributions is desirable. In a recent survey, for ex- ample, 66% of the members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business rejected such a move. About 26% of members supported the pro- posed change, with about 807o undecided. Judging from these results, it appears the small business community would prefer that private pension plan operators upgrade their programs, pro- viding better and expanded coverage. 1f they don't, it seems dear the federal government win move further into their terri- tory. ENERGYSCOPE Propane -powered Vehicles Already Being Driven on Ontario Highways The gasoline station of the future may be a supermarket of fuels. In addition to the usual gasoline blends and diesel fuel, a motorist may be able to choose something more exotic — such as alcohols or propane. Moving even further into the future#fuels such as compress- ed natural gas or hydrogen may join the list. The Ontario government has just begun a 875 -million, five-year program to stimulate the development and use of these new transportation fuels as alternatives to gasoline. While many of the substitutes are indeed fuels of the future, others are already in use on Ontario roads. Take propane, for example. It has been used as a motor fuel for more than 40 years. Yet until recently in Canada, where there is a stable supply of the fuel — a byproduct of oil refining and natural gas processing — propane has been used mostly in off-road vehicles such as fork-lift trucks in factories. It became popular for on - road fleet vehicles only when the prices of gasoline and diesel fuel began to soar. Now, 3,000 propane -pow- ered vehicles are travelling on Ontario highways. Most belong to fleets because propane dis- tribution centres are still rather scarce when compared with retail gasoline stations. There is also a need for careful quality control over conver- sions and maintenance. It is still not certain whether propane will ever be widely used by motorists as opposed to fleet operators. Propane costs the consumer less than gasoline and it is cleaner because it burns as a dry gas, leading to mainte- nance savings through cleaner engines, fewer oil changes and • longer spark plug life. Owners considering pro- pane as a fuel for their vehicles are eligible for a variety of provincial tax incentives, including exemption from the seven -per -cent provincial sales tax for the vehicles them- selves and the 20 -per -cent ad valorem road use tax for the fuel. The federal government also offers a taxable grant of up to 8400 toward the costs of a commercial vehicle conver- sion onveysion to propane. Propane is'a safe, efficient fuel. Owners of fleets ranging from taxicabs to delivery trucks are generally pleased with the performance and economy of their propane - powered vehicles. There are even police cars in Ontario which use propane as a fuel, yet perform as well as standard gasoline -powered vehicles. The Ontario Ministry of Energy anticipates that 40,000 propane -powered vehicles will be on the road by 1985. To help meet this target, the Ministry, together with the Ministry of'Ilransportation and Communications, is conduct- ing DRIVE: PROPANE — a demonstration which com- pares propane -powered vehi- cles with those using conven- tional fuels. The Ontario government is also using more propane -pow- ered vehicles in its own fleet, as well as reviewing the safety and performance of propane vehicles and training me- chanics to service them. Energy Minister Robert Welch points out that pro- pane is just one of several fuels which will help Ontario and Canada reduce their de- pendence on gasoline. Trans- portation fuels are vital to this challenge because half of the crude oil consumed in Ontario is used for transportation — and most of this is used in automobiles. For more information, write to Energyscope, care of the Ministry of Energy, GMS Box 37, Queen's Park, Toronto M7A 2B7. students. Delighted to see and talk with them. Excellent reception afterwards. Dined like Roman senator and his consort. Mu ic. Bride and friend anterwards discoed, the girls like Botticelli creations, Superb, Awoke Sunday morning to scream of horror. Wife had gone to basement to do one of her twice -dally laundries. Thought there must be a rattlesnake. Tottered down. Sewer had backed up. Cellar full of water and stuff. Sublime to ridiculous. Spent all day Sunday swabbing up, in dirty shorts, sweaty T-shirt. Mopped up 14 palls of grunge and threw them in jungle out back. (Should be some great growth there next spring). Couldn't flush toilets. Plumbers didn't work Mondays. Had to use potty. No relief until Tuesday noon. Twas then I took a long look at wrists, but knew my razor blade was too dull. Had a bad foot, arthritis. Could play only nine holes of golf, in some pain, but game.F ourth time out, made such a bad golf swing, tore muscles in left elbow. End of go': for summer. Who needs a bum foot and an elbow that feels like a branding iron when I swing? They make artificial ones these days, don't they? Went to specialist for foot. He took 10 minutes, charged me $47 and didn't even take the foot off. Gave me a prescription for an arch support! Hadn't bothered telling me he had his own price scale. And so it went.