Times Advocate, 1992-06-17, Page 4AIM
Jun( 1 199:
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Carrier atkiret.
3.41 G.`i-t
"Men are never so likely
to Settle a question rightly
as when they discuss It
freely." -
Thomas Macauley
Published Each Wednesdart 421 Mein St.,
Exeter, (Intent.), NOM !S6 by )W. t Ib1etfi Ltd.
Telephone 1-41}215.13$i
el e.T. OltieSt10610b
discal neutrality likely .a.
heady it is becoming.apparent
that the hope for "fiscal neu-
trality" in disentanglement'ne-
gotiations is likely to become - a holy
grail, or even a red herring.
No doubt the province believes that
• when all is said and done, the .cost of
government programs turned over to
the. municipalities will roughly match
those turned over to :the province. One
.of the -higges -examples -offered is -the
trade of welfme costs forroadworks.
To "disentangle" the two and avoid
the costly overlap of municipalities.and
the province each administering part of
each program, one proposal is that the
.province bears -the full cost of welfare
so long as the municipalities take care
of their roads.
In Toronto, that's a good deal. The
city could afford to repave everything
in sight if relieved of its welfare costs.
In Huron County, as the politicians and
t county engineer warn, the trade is not
i so good. Huron receives far -more in
Ministry of Transportation road subsi-
dies than it pays out in social assis-
tance. The grim fact is we have more
1 roads than people.
Naturally, municipalities likely to find
themselves on the losing side of disen-
tanglement want some guarantee that
the province's idea of "fiscal neutrality"
polies to them. .
One reeve .has even suggested that '
Huron should only lose as much road
subsidy as it gains from not having to
.pay welfare —therefore .the --taxation
costs would be neutral.
Unfortunately, that is not a very likely
I scenario. The whole point of disentan-
glement is to separate overlapping bu-
j reaucracies. Having to keep track of -
I welfare costs to determine the level of
road subsidy would negate -much of the
advantage.
Not -all Huron municipalities might
take the same view. of disentanglement
teither. Should :the. province elect to re-
lieve the towns of 'their Police forces,
=and the related costs, the loss of road
subsidies might seem like afairtrade.
In light of some of these arguments, it
may seem that the -entire concept of dis-
!entanglement is -tragically flawed. Onta-
rio has traditionally .aimed to distribute
its social and servicing costs over the en-
tire .population, along with a certain
amount of local responsibility.
Who is to say that a taxpayer in Lon-
don should not help bear. some -of the
cost of a few roads in Huron and Bruce
Counties, especially when those roads
take them to cottage country or on holi-
day? Conversely, Huron residents don't
always find themselves confined to the
roads in 1 their own municipality or
county,
The only way to help assure a consis-
tent quality of roadways throughout the
province is to have a central government
.administer and support their upkeep for
the benefit of the whole population.
Large, low -population areas cannot be
expected to do it all by themselves. -
Disentanglement, .at least as presented
through the proposals that have gained
attention so far, appears to .shave too
many flaws to be well received' through-
out Ontario.
It also doesn't appear very likely that
-.arty --savings -to .be -realized-.thradgh
streamlined government will return to
taxpayers' pockets since the province is
mainly looking to boost sagging pro-
gram revenues and fight the deficit.
A.D.H.
Why not a rose for father?
Earlier aren't what they used
to bc. Take my word for it. I
know. 1 used to be a father way
back then nd I'm a is ter
again nog•
The rather used to be back in
the 50s and 60s was essentially
what fathers had been for thou-
sands of years. Stern, authoritar-
ian, remote, busy, .
The father 1 arh now is the 90s
edition. Friendly. dank atic,
available, uoncemed.
What happened? If there is
one major . thing that oceturred
during the last 30 years, it is that
fathers have started to pay atten-
tion to mothers and to watch
them in their role as parents.
They liked what they saw,. and
they began to enjoy their role.
On the day in 1955, when I
became a father for the fust
time. I stayed close to the phone
and waited [or•the hospital,aurse
to .Call. She did and congratulat-
ed mc. Even though I had dote
precious little to cam the title of
/ether. 1 can't believe I actually
banded out cigar.
When any second son was
born in 1957, 1 Lad teamed
aswthing [aur the lust experi -
once. W eat experience?
When 1 became a fahcr.awgatin
in 1979.1 found myself. wearing
a deal gown ,and a face
tttlask. I was proud to, nut any
atiort'al;ambjlical Gent ,and . to era -
-dle imin iny- inns.:4ut..yen
litNnro titan 14111(1 qe4 my emu -
.,us 4as . falAie r . dreg gingival
l
. *lamestin hs#piag AsithAvith
• :the : Alltel a* it skt gjag
' 4011101,1g.4$Y astne.;niur
Avins,sesre fpm,in 1981. i.Was
as ready for real fatherhood as
any man could ever bc.
I had worked hard to feed,
clothe and house my children
back in the 50s and 60s. Occa-
sionally I had even spent some
Peter's
Point
•
Peter Hessel
time with them. 'They're. now
both .well adjusted adults' And
useful members of society. But
' I'm certain their good develop-
ment occurred in epite of ane,
not because of mc.
1 Am also working hard today.
Bragging up Maio children in the
90s is even macre diffi u1t - for a
/ager - than it was brining op
:swot kids a gesaeaation ago.
Ic is.,a1so very rewarding. And
..Wry ;liffI vent. It takes more
phy l.-maugy,.ao +enation-
skirtiolYsllt1ont,and.far more ate-
sponsibility.,Not toapettkrof.tjie
hiOloeye'WW1 bril.kgs lis•back.to
,1n:91e;tlste 50s 1.imed.10.0iene
hi gne ,--koM .,wok :eiywaled.), I
unk,>inta jbe;aofa,. dy.-1to(, to
.1 t,, ,efoi r:diil ledlPn
.sorsAiligadviallAPPAUPAY
0 k t-
:nIiMblltlld, 4110•41411 it
chores and homework and ferry
the kids from the sooner pitch to
the baseball diamond and from
Guides to piano lessons. Wheth-
er they're naughty or nice, I
share in their lives. And they
keep me young.
Now Father's Day is near
again. I have a beef about it.
-While -the role of- fathers has
changed drastically, Father's
Day hasn't. Mother's Day still
rules supreme, while Father's
Day is just a bit of a joke: (Ask
any eleagentery school teacher).
For mothers there are .lhwught-
ful-presents,and roses and fancy
:dinners. Of course. mothers de-
,aesve every bit of the attention
.fid upon them on their.spc-
cial day. with their spouses do-
ing most of We heaping. I might
add.
Fathrers,,onahe other -hand, are
presaged at hest - with an out
dated, o *exist card and a
paper tie, hastily cut out and sta-
pled together between 3:15 and
3:30 p,m. on the .Friday before
Father's Day.
But today's ftttusrs.arc,aaot the
atutiv, dissent, it unitive, ,tie
wearing bunch of yoagerYear,,gre
.they? Perhaps .the,Ywe has 1We
for the Hallmark fritEdS,40d4Ile
/41Aprs' SeaaanaLirkils to.re g-
ihizes.
Yess,TheAlgwAllWiltj'.a jber
Mos frol1y fisiistdc.dobe-
Aer aAl tan a► fi
--fo es's-0$00iettoo
viewdzot of
a !!•i Wt
isatlosee
Wit, if 410y4e
liMh• 3001 f,be
ic•
'Think! We must need something!"
Summer's start is its end
June is one of those months
without a holiday. Pert s
there just isn't much .to cele-
brate. This year there is even
less to get exited about after
George Bush decided to derail
his own election campaign by
trashing the earth summit's one
big resolution.
Unless of course you really
dislike George Bush and are
pleased be showed his true .col-
ours at the cost of a major envi-
ronmental initiative.
But I was talking about June.
This month without an official
celebration does have one, of
sorts. Those who sell worship
the Earth Goddess and the forc-
es of nature like that get out in
force on or about the 21st of the
-month to celebrate the: summer
solstice, Mid -Summer's Eve, or
whatever they call it.
I never joined the druids down
.at Stonehenge. I've never been
to Stonehenge at all (I lived
only a few •kikwtetres away for
a couplis of years) , but: it never
ceases to fascinate me just how
long a day can get with just a
few degrees tilt of the earth.
Dear Meer:
With the pnalitetation of loaler-
ies, cutting Into disputable income
as well as our owing recession, I
am very happy to return :that our
Gamier Society IPanvaasers have
collected 55000.0 more .than in
Uro year 1991. We brae also bad
to ewtlpotc with .another local
charity operating in our time
frame.
Unlike on the equator'where
days always begin and end with
lightning quick regularity, our
northern lutes get a much
better angle on the solstice. Six
years ago, I found myself 1ti
—meant -
.Hold that
thought
I1�
Adrian Hare
Edinburgh in late May. Even
"then. there was still light in the
sky eleven o'clock at night. mak-
ing it quite confusing for a vaca-
tioner paying little attention to
his watch.
In fact, I'd like to go to the Yu-
kon some day just to experience
some truly long, long days. I
think 111 pass en visiting in De-
cember when the reverse is tale.'
Another aspect of the solstice
that always confused me was the
fact that even though it is the
longest day of the year, it isn't
the peak of the summer's heat.
10 LG n t
In fact, summer just begins in
June. I felt the same confusion
with December's shortest day of
the year coming when only win-
ter Is getting under way.
"In later yearn 1 began to better
utttleniantl tm air and ocean
wlrwtiis that kaip uta: wouna-
tub ( Q1 the asason's golly door
*Psi 11*11 ttulstlusr, ' but I edit
ut ii'I hili' feeling them is a little
mash, Involve! in 1t all.
In my mind at least. summer
solstice Is a wart, but not hot,
sunny day filled with the still
sweet stent of flowers and trees
that have just begun their sum-
mer season.
In reality, June 21.canbe a hot
muggy day filled with bugs and
histamine -producing pollen.
Which is perhaps why I try not
to think much about the solstice
wail it really counts - those last,
extra, few blissful minutes of
light around ten o'clock in the
evening. After they fade we
must take time to remember to
enjoy the rjnaining days of
sumater because . the truth is
we're already on our way back
to winter.
mos Ow last year
My thanks and Jhe,rhanks of my
wife, Doris. go nut 10 our canvass-
ers for a job well done.
-Pat Crlavin, Shirley
Kerslake, Helen
Coates. Dolma
Pridham, Vera
Armstrong. Barb
Beckett, Louie
Hnadka, Dressily
Pfaff, Ruth Dietrich. Ken Herman,
Murray QOM. Roy Pepper, Jean
Rook, Shidey .McAllister, Hewn
Kinsmen and Zurich Lions. liking
as captains, as well as their yard
working team members, are 10 be
commended.,pecial Mocks to OK
.*ter Logiun�;�tgdd fleeter Optimist
Club.
Ron WeWppttn
Campaign gitirlette
Centralia reunion successful
Dear Editor:
Perhaps your wany readers with
lung oiemnsaries may reAwamber
Mrs. Jean Bartley, wboamce lived
in this lovely 10 n,atnd:at itrAF
station Ccaualia. Well. Jan a -
members Etter with f dome!
She tow. �' on.ihelograrsliOs
:of Alike Iillia44115igo.
wrilediailgsalPdAIRINfexcellent tea and chocolate cake.
5hc and her liule family
,;in a ,gent in Victoria Park,
Centralia was just t -
t 1:fe remembers with mei-
;, ,he Tuckey family, who Wok
ye0n,0t.tplight and aruan ad
iillild144porary lousing. She
losetsimelmitikolout gootecod
novels, and is animilsr,ttnkisrAniefgoilftweh•DZ
pipes. In the auvtawg, .be !parches
up and down the edge of the hike,
Playas .1be pipes..ad followed by
a;Weipg tribe of .vilase children.
'Ihey,lrr+e two;Gaepeople!
The iosntt s ucceseful Ceu iha
imaionthese t itjcc
;J a s d.. The ;i aRslvnalk, a
•
44410410. Two
Awl Own W.
•.` -
;fears
mixed
,is oto timers --
,glowed the pictures of
old times. Don arranged the blue
folders presented to all particip;urt- ;
,the folies held pal the information
Anybody needed.about the reunion.
Exeter and Louden. Den is.a,grpat
guru, The "official
gr
informs that be loved bu4jogjet
the lovely 1atdios, but thought Ate
wren looked ,on the * 1y gii e. I
.agree.
And tow to a finalpoint,gathing
to do with the Reunion bet
stent. The thoughtless�hvfes'
mime
of fiend y Jock
Ws .to have a paathiing
the area is an Awful thought.
more I riadeistaad Boy Scout $pb
IS Siven•.in io the unions who run
his PestY.IWOheCesieu will,bc jn
the Wh4sPrileis 8oiter iligio4on
here!
Any ...• lhattwsihat,w'
come the me../ d
di ugs, ,s.�d
what we wsvat?
Your:44y.
Gibbs,
IX. Gibson