Times-Advocate, 1987-07-29, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, July 29, 1987
Times Established 1873
Advocate Established 1881
Amalgama ed 1924
Ames -
dvocate
Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0
Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386.
Phone 519-235-1331
an
nas
eNA
LORNE EEDY " BILL BATTEN
Publisher .Editor
JIM BECXETT HARRY DEVRIES
Advertising Manager Composition Manager
CCNA
ROSS HAUGH
Assistant Editor
DICK JONGKIND
Business Manager
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Canada: $25.00 Per year; U.S.A. $65.00
C:W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A'
Polls have credence
Many Canadians were down -playing
recent political polls which showed that
the NDP had skyrocketted to the' top in
popularity. However, even the. most
skeptical have now been forced to give
those polls some credence with the par-
ty's stunning sweep in last week's three
byelections. - -
One was not unexpected, having
been held in the Hamilton Mountain
-riding by high profile NDP spokesman
Ian Deans. The other two were different
stories:
The Yukon r. iding, previously held by
former PC deputy prime minister Erik
Nielsen, was expected to be a tough fight
but his successor- was a dismal third.
That was also the same ranking for last
week's PC candidate in St. John's East,
Newfoundland.
The voter -turnaround was amazing
in that one. The past Conservative
member had won by over 25,000 votes in
the last election, while the NDP at that
time recorded less than seven percent.
Byelections are not always in-
dicative of true voter allegiance. They
are often used to slap the wrists of the sit-
ting government when there is little at
stake. -
However, last week's results will
give the NDP a stronger push into the
limelight, while at the same time bring-
ing more pressure on to the leaders of the
Conservative and Liberal parties.
In fact, the Liberals may be worse
off than the PCs, given the fact the lat-
ter still control power and can make
some moves to correct their position
before the next general election. The
Liberals- have fewer opportunities and
the John Turner leadership will un-
doubtedly come under some - close
scrutiny in the next few months.
Many voters who have jumped back
and forth from the Liberals and Conser-
vatives in the past may now have to
recognize that they will have to get
squarely behind one or the other and
make it a two-way battle between that
one and the NDP.
Those who have never been troubl-
ed too much by which of the two major
parties they supported may now have to
take an entirely new look in the realiza-
tion that the NDP could squeak through
under normal conditions.
Canadian politics could take on some
interesting aspects.
Offer worth considering
It's not often that local ratepayers of-
fer their services without even a call for
same ( or even with) but that's what Joe
Darling did last week.
• Council quickly declined his,offer to
sit on a committee reviewing impost fees
and that may be explained in part over
his recent squabbles with the elected of-
ficials on that topic.
However, in retrospect, it's an offer
that should have been given some serious
consideration and in particular on the
basis that he would have been a minori-
ty on the group which will be making a
presentation after a study.
Getting an opposing viewpoint, even
if that is what he wants to present; gives
the entire topic a much greater scope and
would probably present some informa-
tion and opinions that the elected officials
would possibly pass over or to which they
would not give any serious consideration.
In reality, his presence on the com-
mittee would keep democracy in action
as it is practiced at the two senior levels
of government. Even under one-sided
governments, members of committees
from the minority parties bring points in
that end up being placed in the final
legislation because they are deemed
valuable and important.
The local businessman involved in
the development business undoubtedly
has some differing viewpoints regarding
impost fees. He quite possibly has some
that may even work out in the best in-
terest of the town as well and end some
of the situations which have led to recent
squabbles.
The worst they have to do is give him
a deaf ear. Surely that's not much ofa
sacrifice to make for the possible
benefits.
Water line exciting
This summer has peen an ex-
citing one for my family as we
drive along the road in between
Sarnia, Forest at)d our house.
As we go along we comment,
"Look how far they've got today. I
Isn't it amazing how much pipe
they can put in in one week." !
You might gather that we're
talking about the new water line
which is being constructed from
Bright's Grove to serve a number
of communities in the middle
Lambton County area.
People in Forest watched their
lawns get progressively. drier
over a long hot summer. Many of
them also saw the huge mill burn
down earlier in the summer and
realized how fortunate they were
that the day was relatively calm
as much of the central town could
have gone up due to a shortage of
water.
However most people take
by
Syd
Fletcher
,
water coming out of their taps as
a matter of course. I always did
until I started hauling it, once a
week; from the Army Camp at Ip-
perwash, I have a large tank on
a trailer which I hook up to my
truck. The water goes into a
cistern in the basement which
then acts as a well for our
pressure system.
Most of the time it's just a
minor inconvenience. In •the
winter though when the snow is
deep and the roads are icy I start ,
thinking about having a local
trucker bring some water in for
me.
Sometime during the next year
or so the water line will be com-
pleted to our house and I'II be
able to turn the tap on without
thinking about whether I should
fill the tub up to the top or not.
Believe me, I m looking forward
to that day.
i:7/%
%/.
eivireAr
Serving South'Huron, North Middlesex
& North Lambton Since 1873
Published by I.W. Eedy Publkations Limited
MAwNU tr1E
WORD PFE FOR
FAS<<:ri
"HOW SWEET— OUR LITTLE BOY'S GOiNG TO 6E ANOTHER OLLIE NORTH !"
Quick ..support
Exeter council's quick decision
to support a resolution from
Wingham to allow for more com-
petition from private industry
and institutions for the postal ser-
vice is probably one most area
residents would as quickly
endorse. - -
The present postal service is
the subject of continual criticism
and complaint, heightened all too
frequently by strikes and the
threats thereof that make the
situation tenuous.
However, residents in small
towns and rural areas could be
placed in considerable jeopardy
through competition being put in-
to the postal service, particular-
ly if the current public service is
to be put on a paying basis rather
than the sizeable drain on the tax
dollars it now represents.
Some industries and institu-
tions would be only too happy to
get into the business, but it is a
very safe bet that they would on-
ly skim off the more profitable
sections and leave the losing por-
tions to the postal service. By
balancing out the charges for
short distance .delivery against
long range ones, the postal
department still loses millions.
Those losses would be almost in-
comprehensible if the profit por-
tions were removed.
The difference in cost of getting
a letter to a neighbor down the
street in comparison to a relative
on the west coast or in some
remote sector of this vast. coun-
try indicates that the 36 cents
covers more than the expense for
the post office in the former and
falls far short of the cost for the
latter.
The difficulty arises in ensur-
ing that the post office and the
new competition work from the
same rules while still providing
all residents 'with equal service
and charges. to get their mail
Picnics
Picnics are a symbol of sum-
mer. We dream of thein wherythe
icy January winds howl ar6und
the house, when we button up the
hoods of our parkas and climb
over snowbanks to get from one
side of the road to the other.
Picnics have been romanticiz-
ed in musicals and movies, by
composers and painters, by poets
and novelists. And maybe there
was an age of grand picnics, of
dainty ladies in flowery long
dresses serving exquisite tidbits
from intricate wicker baskets. An
age of gentlemen in straw hats
sitting peacefully in the grass on
neatly spread blankets, being
served by said dainty ladies. An
age of pink=cheeked, Meticulous-
Iy dressed, well-behaved children
dancing in the background -
always at a respectful distance -
while their elders enjoyed the
food and the pastoral scene.
i guess it was inevitable that
picnics had to be ruined along
with everything else. The dainty
ladies have become liberated.
They have exchanged their flow-
ing gowns for no-nonsense Ber-
muda shorts, the tidbits for hot-
dogs, the wicker baskets for
plastic coolers. The strawhats
have become baseball caps, the
blankets picnic tables, and -
nobody serves anybody any
more. The children have moved
into 'the foreground, everything
tastes of ketchup and relish, and
distributed. The alternative iS to
make people pay for a stamp that
would cover the entire cost and
leave the company providing the
service with the necessary profit
to keep it going.
One of the ironies of council
wanting to seemore competition
for the post office is that the lat-
ter is similar in many ways to the
Batt'n
Around
...with •
The Editor
elected body in that each pro-
vides public services- without
competition at present to any
great extent.
While there are few faults to
find with town services, there
may be some ratepayers who
would think that snow plowing on
their block could be improved by
better scheduling if they hired a
private contractor to do the work.
Works employees could then
face some job jeopardy (as would
postal employees through com-
petition► and if even a bare ma-
jority of ratepayers were paying
directly for snowplowing en it
FA reasonable to assume t `then
would put pressure on council 46.
force everyone into the same
position, or elect a slate who
would follow that dictate.
Natepayers who live in rather
remote or sparsely populated
sections of town would find their
snowplowing charges much
greater if they had to hire their
own plows.
But that's similar to what com-
Summer
everybody is too busy to pay at-
tention to the scenery, pastoral or
otherwise.
in short, picnics today are
chaos. They always take place
either in blistering heat and drip-
ping humidity or at the precise
PETER'S
POINT
•
moment when mosquitoes and
wasps are at the peak of their out-
break. They may begin under a
perfectly blue, cloudless sky, but
before anybody can say "pass the
pickles, please", black
thunderheads roll in, a minor tor-
nado sweeps the paper napkins
away and plays frisky with the
paper plates.
So instead of enjoying a plea-
sant summer meal in the cool,
clean, convenient kitchen, we
transport our food to the hot out-
doors where fifty-seven species of
insects fight over the butter and
the salad dressing and the hard-
boiled eggs. Preferably under a
tree populated by flocks of birds
with diarrhea.
1 have discovered another law
petition could do to some people
under the post office if the latter
was required to make it pro-
fitable \vith competition coming
only for cities or direct routes.
it could . be that people who
communicate only in town
through a postal system would
still be charged only 36 cents for
a letter. while the writer would
get thumped with something to or
20 times higher than that to send
"a letter to his son in Yellowknife.
However, it may be that those in
small towns would be charged
double the present rate and rural
customers would end up- with
more exorbiant ince eases than
that.
That. of course, is one of the
dangers that town councils
should investigate slightly before
endorsing any Move to competi-
tion for the postal department.
Going on record in support for
that move nay make it too late
to withdraw'if it is found to not be
in the best interest ,of people in
their size community. •
The reality is that the basis iot-
a
uia good postal service in this coun-
try stems from the development
through its many years and
would probably be nowhere near
what it is if it had been left in the
hands of private enterprise at the
outset.
It has deteriorated greatly over
the past couple of decades, due to
.door management, greedy labor
unions and the inability ofboth
sides to resolve the deplorable
conditions.
Ilowever, surely the people of
this nation have enough strength
and resolve to demand an im-
provement through government
action without making the situa-
tion worse by introducing com-
petition that appears impossible
to make fair.
symbol
governing picnics: When we ar-
rive at a picnic area, the place is
always deserted. But before we
can open our containers, the table
to the left of us in occupied by the
Satan's Angels motorcycle gang,
the one to the right by a group of
dog obedience trainers.
As soon as Duncan and
Stephanie sit down, they have to
go to the bathroom. _Unless our
picnic takes place in our own
backyard. the bathroom is usual-
ly so far away that by the time we
gel hack from it, the kids have to
go again.
And there is never enough of"
•the right kind of food. Elizabeth
may prepare a huge hamper full
of sandwiches, eggs, pork chops,"
cheese, pickles, fruit, and zuc-
chini bread. Plus one cookie per
person. Duncan and Stephanie
Will each nibble on a sandwich,
destroy two eggs, gorge
themselves on pickles and fight
oyer the cookies. And spill their
drinks. And pick pieces of old
chewing gum from under the pic-
nic table.
But we never learn.
Without a doubt when winter
comes around, Elizabeth will
say: "1 wish we could eat outside
again. i can't stand being cooped
up inside any longer...'
And nobody ever remembers
the mess, the flies, the mosquito
bites, the bother and frustration
of picnic time. Nobody but me.
e
4