Times Advocate, 1992-01-29, Page 4Tense iiesmits, ,awisferisto,
Jinn NOM
' Rnementrasite.•
1111nimMilileni11118,1 we taloa
Oenepuriillva tMusiolgu :flab laid
wrw..11wtetWilasolsestaten *wasp One
agigagliPTInn nips; mar
«+•a$i+.a.r•M.•ossi
to e tants uauLr allr.a.ea MO M.I.a .tt6:i,7.
anwe ab sollsol tt /w.) or aselisleoessoolorathhoos
MAD Nuys $OOJOO paaasge Hoard lO0:00) Ina 114.NQ.f T.
oaaa eo aw.ra t1Os roe
It ryas fun while -it las
Exeter council's cidisobe-
dienee in protest against in-
creasing provincial control over town
police expenditures was a cause worth
fighting. Some may not believe that,
" but they are wrong.
The province, everconfident it alwa
does the right thing, has no qualms
about putting its policies into effect all
over. Ontario, especially when it is not
ministry budgets it is spending.
Another problem with provincial poli-
cy is that not all areas of the province
are created equal. Big issues of polic-
ing Yonge Street do not necessarily ap-
ply on the small town Main Street, but
it takes reams of papers and studies to
prove why any one jurisdiction is dif-
ferent than Toronto.
We can now all tell Exeter was fight-
ing a just fight when police budget con-
f
•
io,n
444
`'Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
.. , Thomas Macauley
Pubtautwi Exotor, Ontario, NOM 1.116Emir Wailarimay
J W ENy « 424 Vain M.,
MNsfI.M Ltd.
Telephone 1-5111413S1.321 •
.�.T. etaaes21ee*e
Tfi'e empire strikes back
trot became a concern -of the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs. But whether the
Ministry of the Solicitor General is will-
ing to give up the new-found control re-
mains to be seen.
Certainly, we can expect Exeter's new
appointees to serve in their new posi-
tions diligently. But as appointees they
timately answer to the ministry that
a .' , inted them and not -to council. In
m'. ths, few will remember their names,
an, they will not be. found on any bal-
l. at election time, but their decisions
ill affect a significant pqrtion of the
murbicipal budget and town property tax-
es.
Something has been lost in Exeter, and
even though council has vowed not to'
let the matter rest, we can all wish they
had been able to hold out just a little
longer.
A.D.H.
It works both ways
n same ways, last Tuesday's
oat -nook by Premier Bob Rae
was not what we wanted :to
hear.
We did not really want lo -hear that a
recession economy is firtnlyentrenchetd
in this province and that shortfalls in
taxation are going to do a lot more
harm before there is light at the end of
the tunnel.
We also did_,not re 1y want_ to hear
that Queen's Park has little to offer us
than a "wait for it to go away" plan.
It is evident that last year's monster
spending $9.7 billion deficit budget did
nothing to help the situation, as the
province now realizes. Some munici-
palities, including Exeter, now have
shiny new services to offer ratepayers,
but the province is stuck with a bill it
really cannot pay.
You have to credit Bob Rae's speak-
, ing ability. He comes across as sincere
and forthright, and often is able to
sound more conservative in thought than
most tories. But while his message of
belt -tightening for recipients of govern-
/tient funding has been tog long in com-
ing, iitcan only be hoped that this policy
will- be turned inward on Queen's Park
itself.
The provincial government, with all its
ministries, departments, and sub -
departments, has grown, under the ex-
cesses of the. late 1980s into something
the taxpayer .can no longer support. In
fact, some of these jurisdictions overlap
and usurp federal powers, bringing the
provinces to challenge Ottawa's authori-
ty enough to contribute to 'the current
Constitutional crisis.
The Premier must surely realize that
government cutbacks are inevitable, but
the question remains is if his party's so-
cialist agenda can afford to give up
some of that control and spending.
A.D.H.
Winter - if you can't beat it, enjoy it
Everybody gripes about Win-
ter. Especially when the temper-
ature hovers around minus 30
degrees 'Celsius. When snow-
drifts pile up in front of garage
.doors, .and snow: ploygtt .clump
white mountains,. aCfuss Iir-
ways. When it's as common to
freeze and shiver one day as it
is to slip and slide in freezing
rain the tract day. Of course we
coWe should have teamed years
ago that the weather belongs in
,the same ,category as death and
taxes. Why don't we accept the
fact that from October to May
we can expect anything? Why
don't we just relax and enjoy
whatever the wind glows our
way? -
Are you ready for some posi-
tive thinking? I71 give you posi-
tive. What oould.be more pleas-
ant than a crisp, sunny Jaswary
day with a bright We sky ,and
white smoke deitu� t up
fmm'the chimneys? Do you re-
sniinber suffering tiuin t at.op-
hMmh cy i MY?
on, take a deep b with of
this invigorating clean air! It
blows the sludge out of your
lungs. Enjoy it while it lasts!
Or look at the ,sparkling crys-
tals on a loose layer of freshly
fallen snow. They're as pretty as
a carpet of spring towers. Push
back the hood of that parka, and
look! You're in the presence of
natural beauty!
Behold the hoarfrost on the
Peter's
Point
•
. Peter Hessel
.tines and .stubs.. Listen to the
crunch your boots make as you
walk through the bard snow.
What a wonderful sound!
Let's sop bildtingnbout win-
ter. But almost everybody can.
learn to cross-country - from
age two to ninety-two. You
don't have to traverse the -most
difficult. trails. Just plodding
along through the snow at your
own pace is great fun. And the
Cost is minifnal. Just over a hun-
dred dollars will buy a complete
outfit that laits forever. Or you
can. rent skis and boots for a pit-
tance. The enjoyment value is in
no prpportion- to the small in-
ve strnem. Anybody who hasn't
tried cross-country skis hasn't
lived.
And there is skating. My kids
are the experts on that subject,
not me. Bufif someone paid me
a reasonable amount of motley,
even*? could be persuaded to
Wm. I guarantee I would make
a fool of myself, but what else is
new?
Tobogganing isn't only for
children, but adults have more
fun when there are kids around.
v If you don't have children, bor-
row some! They'll award you
With their laughter, shining
eyes, red checks and ninny nos-
es. Treat thea to a cup of choc-
olate and some cookies after-
wards. and they will love you.
Sleigh ` ,s ate another sub-
ject very close to my heart. We
• don't organize than often
enough. There are ply Of
farmers and ,psn.time fanners
around wit. .would just Jove to
give their homes a Amid .work-
out. You'll give don what it
costs.to huy a few bags of oats.
There is no excuse for apt hav-
ing at least•,pne sleigh ride a sea-
sons. So why don't you plan a
good old-fashioned winter par-
'ty?` Invite some city slicker
friends fora Saturday afternoon
Please turn to page 5.
"Osgood really likes to get„into the spirit o
Letters to Editor
the game.-
Answer
ame."
Answer in the Bible
Dear Editor.
I'm one Canadian taxpayer who
is totally fed up with the exorb-
rant expense and wrangling over
the Constitutional debate and the
"distinctive" society clause.
They do not have to re -write the
new constitution. They just have
- to copy it from the Holy Bible; I
Corinthians 12: 12-30.
This scripture was brought to our
attention by our minister
Rev. Ed Lak-
smanis of Credi-
ton United
church in his pertaining
sermon
to the "Week o
Prayer" for Chris-
tian unity.
Without this passage of scripture
in the new constituuon 1 question
if those involved are "scholars" or
only overpaid parasites living off
of all Canadian taxpayers.
Respectfully,
Harry SAchroede
RR #2, Centralia
Furtherinfo on satellite issue
Dear Editor.
Ow the past few months I have
read in your paper the article "En-
trepreneur
En-
tr pr neur Takes Crack at New
Market" (Mark Heinrich) and a
letter to the editor (Mace Gaudio,
Allen Stubbs First in Entertain-
ment). I respect the opinion of both
of these businessmen, but 1 feel
Mr. Heimrich is uninformed about
Sky Pix and Mr. Gaudio is protect-
ing his shrinking market area by
speaking out against Sky Pix.
Hopefully this letter will put some
of the concerns in perspective.,
I became an Aladdin associate in
September 1991 but unlike
Heinrich I began an investi
into the system before promoting
, the product to the general public. I
wrote letters to Aladdin, CRTC,
Communications Canada, the Bet-
ter ' Business Bureau, Consumer
*and Corporate Affairs and Murray
Cardiff MP for Huron -Bruce. I
also acquired a Communications
Canada document called "Decod-
ing the Law on Decoding". Alad-
din responded to my letter by
phone sue they did not want to
t any • information in irritiulf.
verbally seemed optimistic in
ing e complete home enter-
tainment system but could not give
me any specific equipment deliv-
ery dates or transmission informa-
tion.
All the public protection agen-
cies and politicans have yet to re-
spond to my inquiries even though
I have called and talked to them at
considerable length. It is ironic that
agencies such asthe CRTC and
Communications Canada would sit
on their bands while Aladdin pro-
motes anilillegal system, itis is ac-
tually illi Mr. Cardiff has
passed my onto the Chairman
of the Canadian Radio Television
and Communications tissiewu"
(CRF`PC), Mr. David Colville and
the Minister oL Communications,
the nei-
ther ofHonourable
f whichehave responded. Perrin Beatty. so
my concerns.
Aladdin bas promised roan
things which includes 80
available by November 1, 1 1
and 250 dialects available by
1995, 2+00 movies per day, product
available a t Sears, Macey s, Sib
and.tbe Wiz, spirts, games, music,
home shopping, live events and
sal& Interest programs, around
the Clock progamtntng. a Sky F'1rt
monthly subscription package sim-
ilar to ow local cable package fe-
wring eons .from the
for only 12.95 per month, non Of
whacks of today arc available and
I tett believe will be for quin
setnetioe.
Let me refer to Mr. Gaudio's let-
ter where he notes that Sky Pix has
not applied to the CRTC for a li-
cence which is mandatory, accord-
ing to the CRTC person I spoke to,
it is not re -broadcasting or pitateer-
Ing broadcast signals. Also his
comment on inexperienced people
promoting Sky Pix I wonder how
much experience he and Mr.
Stubbs had when they started sell-
ing in the larger satellite systems. I
would also like to bring to your
readers attention - Mr. Gaudio's
statement concerning
the legitimacy
and CRTC ap-
proval of his
business. Accord11)
-
.ng to the docu-
c tent I mentioned
wilier "Decoding
th' Law on Decoding" it addresses
se *oral points of law which all sat-
d1L to owners should be aware of.
Cat ada's broadcasting legislation
has recently changed. To all satel-
litealish owners it is now clearly il-
legal to decode atxamblcd satellite
TV signals without proper authori-
zatkm, and• the penalties.are ex-
treme.' The document states all le-
gitimate dealers in satellite
equipment should write existing
customers informing them of the
change in the law and ask them to
legitimately, to a new de-
. As a satellite dish owner if
you are receiving. HBO. ESPN,
Show Time, CWmax. First
Cbaioe, Super Chanel, Fitinily
Channel, Dis_sep Chantset or Play-
probat►1r have an illegal
and are breaking the law.
satellite dish owner if you
not received the above info( -
'
from" your satellite dish
dealer' the change 1
rp a concerning
questiaoing his
• I was watching a talk show on
C Wadapaday October 16, 1991
where they were interviewing a
CRTC executive, a CBC vice pres-
ident and theCEO of Roger's cable ,
TV. The CBC vice president want-
ed the CRTC to ban pay-per-view
because it would odiously hurt his
companies market share by allow-
ing consumers to choose which
system the wanted to watch and
pay fpr. The CRTC on : the other
hand stated they have listened to
consumer complaints and realize
haat this Ls the type of system that
the buying public wants. .
The CRTC over the eg4it ye
b
implementing a crack downto-
gam aimed at ending the piracy of
US based broadcastsis re-
ceived by the larger o
ars. There aim is to severely pc+
x3
If 'I
cute the -people manufacturing,
=Meeting and selling the illegal
decoder chip and black box. At this
time these illegal chips are svailp
ble through satellite dealers all
across' the country and none are
sanctioned by the CRTC. What
this means is the larger satellite
owners will have to deal with a
darker black market to acquire
chips at a much higher pace. It
also shows the inability of the gov-
ernment to deal with this and other
consumers and entrepreneurial is-
sues.
• By allowing the inadequate gov-
ennment agencies to decide what
we watch they have created a poor
run, inefficient and a financially
strained CBC and a non-
competitive market where Roger's
cable company gets richer and
richer. I believe the government
should allow entrepreneurs like
Mr. Heimrich and Mr. Stubbs to
fulfill their dreams of bustpess, and
governments should supthese
people and the consumer with fact
based information on product
knowledge and delivery. of service.
Governments sbould not stand in
the way of progressive businesses
and set up laws, fines and block -
codes to prevent anyone lo pres-
sure an honest and enjoyable live-
lihood.
Mr. Heimrich, l would suggest to
you to re-evaluate your possession
with respect to the type of service
and product you can promise and
provide to your custontiers, because
you and you alone are responsible
for delivery. Mr. Gaudio, 1 believe
with out competition we become
.unaware and unconcerned about
our customers reeds. It is true that
Aladdin ,has not delivered on its
and may be operating il-
y. But how tong has your sat-
ire industry in Canada JJpp��
and benefited from the ilk
of decoders and black boxes.
Over the years the Canadian
home satellite industry has pirated
the US broadcast signals and pro-
vided no ,compensation for that
privilege, $oat have viewed this
pnvilege as a free service to bow
t your pockets at the coat of ash -
fa and knowing you are.protrecbed
by the invisible US, Canadian
der.
Without the use of the US basted
superstations your satellite industry.
.would be dead in the water so I
find it impossible to sympathize
with your statements. I do however
sympathize with anyone who reads
,sympathize
Miele such as yours.
Reggaarrds
Dave Sc iilbe
Zurich
•
4