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Times Advocate, 1994-06-08, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, June 8, 1994 Publisher: Jim Beckett News Editor: Adrian Harte Business Manager: Don Smith Composition Manager: Deb Lord Advertising; Barb Consitt, Theresa Redmond News Fred Groves, Catherine O'Brien, Ross Haugh Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Robert Nicol, Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner, Marg Flynn Transoortation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert front Office & Accounting; Norma Jones, Elaine Pinder, Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald cc - 0 F.l.)1" OR1A14 Shame hould a World War II veteran wearing a turban - a turban like the one he wore while fighting under the Brit- ish Empire flag - arrive at one of our lo- cal Legion Halls, we can hope they will have the sense to set aside the official rule hook and welcome their comrade in. The Legion's national assembly vote to ban even religious headgear from its canteens is particularly shameful to come just before 50th anniversary of D - Day celebrations. They tell us that removing all hats and headgear is an absolute, to show re- spect for fallen comrades. An absolute not to be violated, unless of course you are in Calgary for the annual Stampede • • inion Q./ LH DE tt11313ON AWARD) 1993 PREMIER 13013 RAE LEADS TRADE MISSION TO CHINA... Publications Mail Registration Number 0386 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: CANADA Within 40 miles (65 km.) addressed to non letter canter addresses 630.00 plus 82.10 0.S.T. Outside 40 miles (65 km.) or any letter carrier address $30.00 plus 630.00 (total 60.00) + 4.20 Q.S.T. Outside Canada 899.00 (Includes 888.40 postage) Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Ontario, NOM 136 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519-235-1331 Q.S.T. MR1052101135 and showing respect for a horse rodeo takes precedence. Respect cannot be taken, it must be given. A turban cannot be equated with, say, a Toronto Raptors cap. Removing a turban in a public place would be a sign of disrespect in itself. Those of us too young to remember ourselves are told that World War II was fought over freedom: the freedom from a dictator capable of using religious big- otry to herd people into ghettos and then into gas chambers. Did we get it wrong? Was it about the freedom to keep Canada white, or the freedom to exclude certain groups from national'tis- sociations? Your Views Letters to the editor Income security programs under scrutiny "EDS Ltd.,...has recommended the closure of 21 of 83 offices in small communities, including Tillsonburg, St. Thomas, Woodstock, Stratford, Goderich and Walkerton..." Dear Editor: Income Security Programs is the office that serves Canada Pension and Old Age pensioners. I wish to bring to your attention a very serious situation re- garding this service to seniors. An American company, EDS Ltd., hired by In- come Security Programs, Human Resources and Development Canada(HRDlormerly known as Health and Welfare Canada), has recommended the closure of 21 of 83 offices in small communities, in- cluding Tillsonhurg, St. Thomas, Woodstock, Strat- ford, Goderich and Walkerton, to name just a few. In addition, they arc also proposing the London ISP office be reduced in size to only seven employees from 16 to service our existing, and rapidly expand- ing, clientele. EDS Ltd. also recommends the Sarnia office he reduced to two employees from six and that Chatham he reduced to three employees from four. The 1-800 telephone unit that serves south- western Ontario also located in Chatham is sched- uled to he closed, eliminating 24 jobs. The Hamil- ton and Timmins 1-801) telephone units arc also scheduled to he closed, leaving only two telephone centres for Ontario, Scarborough and Ottawa. EDS Ltd. further recommends that the service pri- orities for seniors should be changed to all but elim- inate face-to-face interviews. The new service prior- ities will iiow 1,e. au vis..e by mail, voice inaii by phone; and finally, if all else fails, a face-to-face in- terview. A union survey showed that pensioners over- whelmingly said they preferred face-to-face service rather than using the mail or telephone. The pro- grams under the Old Age Security and Canada Pen- sion Plan arc often complicated to understand. This can be extremely difficult for pensioners who arc A.D.H. trying to access these benefits and often they are elderly, deaf, disabled, infirm or grieving, Under this proposal, not having easy access or access at all, to a face-to-face interview with a counsellor, would he for many people, next to impossible to do by mail or telephone. Under the Tory government, the change from health and Welfare Canada to Human Resources and Development Canada included amalgamating Income Security Programs (pension office) with Un- employment Insurance centres. Such a move will se- riously jeopardize service to clients receiving Old Age Pension and Canada Pension. Clients in the pension office are a very different from Unemploy- ment Insurance clients. Even on a part-time basis, this combination of clients has proven so disruptive that in some regions, Unemployment Insurance managers have requested Income Security Programs to discontinue using their premises. I also feel that many pensioners will he too proud to apply for ben- efits, particularly Guaranteed Income Supplement, if they must do so through an Unemployment Insu- rance office. For many pensioners, lining up at the Unemployment office will have negative connota- tions and will he an affront to their dignity. We have serious concerns about the quality of ser- vice to people who receive Old Age Security and Canada Pension if this proposal is adopted. Lloyd Axworthy, Minister, Human Resources Develop- ment, is considering these proposed changes to the Canadian Social Security system on the basis of ad- vice from an American company before the end of June, 1994. The senior c tizens of Canada deserve and, indeed, are entitled o much, much better treat- ment in their retirement years. What can we do? Any concerned citizen, regard- less of age, can write to his/her MP, as well as to Lloyd Axworthy, Minister, Human Resources and Development, House of Commons, Ottawa K I A 0A6. Lynn Meston, President London Local 00036 National Health and Welfare Union • I BELIEVE 1T (CUSTOMARY1D B9W,SIR... -----� r A View From Queen's Park By Eric Dowd Opponents hoping to defeat a New Democrat government bill to give equal rights to same- sex couples, the first of its kind in Canada, had better stop being so gentlemanly. Premier Bob Rae and his government have not been bound by any such scruples. The hill is opposed by a handful of Rae's own MPPs, most Liberals and all Progressive Conservatives. Most, like the public in polls, support giving homosexual couples employ- ment and pension rights, but would not go so far as to give them rights -to adopt children. Rae promised his MPPs a free vote, which should have meant they could vote as they liked without pressure from him and his caucus and the government would not use his advan- tages to try to get its proposed law approved. But his government used hard-nosed tactics to get its bill introduced into the legislature and given first reading by a narrow margin. Hold that thought... By Adrian Harte Half our crime, gone One of the police officers who used to walk the beat in Exeter told me something that has stuck with me ever since. He said that if there were no such thing as alcohol, half the work of the police wouldn't exist. Is that just a wild exaggera- tion, or could it be true? Is al- cohol that much of a societal evil, that it plays a part in fully half of all police occurrences? Aside from the obvious, such as the complete elimination of all drinking and driving and un- derage drinking for starters, al- cohol is involved in an alarming number of traffic fatalities in this province. Domestic disputes and domes- tic violence is another area in which the effects of alcohol play their part. A fair number of robberies and break and en- ters aren't committed until the perpetrators knock back a couple of stiff belts to get up the courage. And what, pray tell, would ri- oting crowds use to pelt police cruisers if there were no such thing as beer bottles? I'm not on a temperance rant today, I just find it fascinating that one particular chemical, and all its related products can have such an effect on our world. I'm not surprised that huge societies sprang up in the late nineteenth century with Prohibition as their goal. Un- fortunately, pretending alcohol doesn't exist isn't the same as wiping it out completely. A more modern-day example is how trying to tax cigarettes out of existence didn't work any better. How dull our lives would be without beer commercials, hangovers, or red wine stains on good shirts. Take Star Trek for example. Now that the Next Generation series has finished up, we can conclude that it was all possible because its creators took an op- timistic view of the future. Sure, the Enterprise had a tav- ern on board, but it only served a synthetic form of alcohol that had no inebriating effects. Per- haps the entire series hung on that one small thread of a detail. Without it, the crew would be doomed to crashing through space. narrowly missing aster- oids, and spending more time settling their own bar brawls than acting as intergalactic dip- lomats. Without real beer, the entire show became completely be- lievable. Well...maybe it's not so far fetched. What would our lives be like if half our crime disappeared? Speak Out Letters to the Editor The Times -Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. The Times -Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published. Rae claimed he respected the right of his MPPs to vote as they wish. But he also make it clear he is anxious to see the bill become law. he said 'we've got an opportunity now to end a form of discrimination and that's exactly what we're going to do' and he wanted a consensus built that will see the bill pass. The premier also told his backbenchers pri- vately that if they attack the government during the debate, they will not get as much support from him in the next election. Some NDP MPPs hoping for pvomotion or something special for their ridings appear to have got Rae's message and been deterred from voting against the bill's introduction. NDP MPPs who opposed the bill had claimed only twp weeks earlier their caucus was split fairly evenly, but in the end a substantial major- ity of New Democrats voted for it to be intro- duced. For a party that boasts about being open, the Same sex bill: hard-nosed tactics NDP also resorted to a lot of evasion in timing its introduction of the bill to its advantage, knowing that if the legislature voted against, it would be dead. It refused to say publicly when it would bring in the bill. The day before Attorney General Marion Boyd introduced it, her staff phoned and notified NDP MPPs who support it, but not those known to be opposed. The opposition parties repeatedly asked the government when it would introduce the hill, but it refused an answer. A government plan- ning to introduce major legislation also normal- ly outlines it an hour in advance, before ques- tion period, but the NDP made no announcement. The first sure sign the NDP was bringing in the bill carne when its supporters swarmed in to vote and some opposition and NDP MPPs who would have voted against were absent. A few MPPs who oppose the bill's contents were even charitable enough to vote for its in- troduction on the grounds that any proposed law at least should be allowed to go before the legislature for debate and that this is a tradition. The aggressive NDP in opposition in fact end- ed this tradition long ago. But the NDP through its tricky footwork and generosity by opponents now has its hill before the legislature and breathing space to try to coax its dissident MPPs on side and organize influential people outside politics to voice sup- port. Politicians opposing the bill meanwhile will have handicaps in organizing against it. They are split between three parties and not accus- tomed to cooperating. Any politician who raises concerns enough to become seen as a leader and rallying point against the bill also will he painted as homo- phonic and bigoted and targeted by gay acti- vists who have shown they can be vitriolic. This is not a debate that will continue to be marked by civility.