Times Advocate, 1996-11-06, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, November 6, 1996
Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett
Business Manager: Don Smith
Production Manager: Deb Lord
9d4adl2ing,; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy
News; Heather Mir, Chris Skalkos,
Ross Haugh, Brenda Burke
production, Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson
Brenda Hern, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner
Transportation: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert
front Office & Accounting; Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings,
Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple
tar
The Exeter Times -Advocate is a member of a family of community newspapers
►"►O1?c'J providing news, advertising and information leadership
• •
inion
f'.l)i l ()ltl \1.S
We must not forget
n Flanders fields the pop-
pies blow between the crosses, row
on row, that mark our place...
They really do, you know.
It's a dramatic scene, the blood -red
flowers, blowing in waves between
endless rows of simple, white grave
markers. In Belgium, Holland,
France, and Germany, poppies aren't
carefully nurtured in gardens, as
they are here. They grow every-
where, and when the wind blows off
the English, Channel near Dunkirk,
the brilliant red ripples, like the sea.
But it's the crosses one remembers,
hundreds and hundreds of them,
each marking the death of one who
died for his or her country.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
we lived felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
loved, and were loved, and now we
lie in Flanders fields...
Each cross belongs to a person, a
living human being who was some-
one's child, someone's sweetheart,
someone's friend.
Each cross marks more than a life
which ended much too soon. The
crosses mark a generation of young
women who never married, who
grew old with only a few old letters
tied with poppy -red ribbon to re-
mind them of what might have been;
and a .genexA,t}ion of chid* who
were never.but,n. , t• e
They mark the empty chairs around
the dinner table, and old people who
never stopped mourning the loss of a
beloved child.
The crosses mark the fields which
went unplowed, medical discoveries
which were never made, magnificent
paintings which were never started,
great novels which were never writ-
ten, because the people who would
have accomplished these things died
in the icy mud and horror that was
Flanders.
If ye break faith with us who die
we shall not sleep, though poppies
grow in Flanders fields.
We must never forget the price
those countless thousands paid. They
fought for what they believed in, for
freedom, for their country.
They did not want to die. Each of
those young heroes had something to
live for, dreams for the future, hopes
for a better life for all. But hopes and
dreams have their cost, and those he-
roes paid the ultimate price.
War is glorious only to those who
have never seen a field of battle. John
McCrae, the doctor who saw the best
of an entire generation die in filthy
trenches, knew war in all its pain, and
ugliness.
His poem, In Flanders Fields, is
magnificent in its simplicity, a fitting
memorial to those who, like him, lie
beneath the fields of Flanders. We
must never forget those who died.
We must look at those lovely fields
of poppies rippling in the wind, and
listen to the lark singing. But we
must see in our mind's eye a waste-
land of mud and filth. We must hear
the echo of the guns, booming end-
lessly in the rain and darkness. And
we must feel the pain of those who
died, and those who loved the young
heroes.
We must clever •'• Itch
throw' to a from: ��V t�
must remember, and we must contitl=
ue to honor those who died.
Today, most of the people who
march in parades on Nov. 11, and
who stand in dignified silence while
the Last Post is played, have never
experienced war. For that we are
grateful. And for that we must contin-
ue to remember those who lie be-
neath Flanders fields, and to pass the
torch along to other hands when our
own begin to fail.
Lest we forget... We must never for-
get.
Saugeen City News
• • • WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND? • • •
The Times Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open
discussion of local Issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP
YOUR LETTERS TO A MAXIMUM OF 300 WOQDS. 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.
TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris is happy
to shake the hands of all the little Progressive
Conservatives who elected him, but he is not
prepared to allow them to say what they think
in public.
Harris and party officials showed their high-
handedness when they held their annual general
meeting and took unprecedented measures to
prevent members who have dissenting opinions
from getiii g them into the public domain. The
Tories held more than a dozen sessions over
three days, but barred the news media, who
would have passed on to the public what hap-
pened, from all except speeches by Harris and
his 1995 election campaign chairman, Tom
Long.
Several sessions were billed as discussing
strategy for an election, due about 1999, so that
holding them in private could be justified, al-
though from titles like How To Get Rich Quick
(in fund-raising) and Win Using The Power of
Knowledge, they sounded suspiciously like the
late-night TV panacea# of Tony Robbins and
similar fast -buck artists.
Publications Mail Registration Number 0386
5UBICRIPTION RATES:
One year rate for Ontario subscribers - $35.00 + AST
Two year rate for Ontario subecrlbsrs - $63.00 + OST
One year subscription - 583.00 +
Two year subscription - $319.00 + OST
OTHERIATIS
Outside '+ OST
Published Each Wednesday Morning M 424 Main St.,
Exeter, OMade, NOM lis by 1.W. Lady Publeallens Ltd.
Telephone 14119-2354331 • Fax: 619.235.0711
smell a10ws: rieses.arkeseetMeMi.eate GAT. 105J10e3e
iews
etteirs to the editor
Town doesn't seem to give two hoots
I feel strongly that if the drain were
cleared and kept up with proper mainte-
nance this probably would not have re-
sulted in the drain backing up....
Dear Editor.L. 4
Please find enclosed two photo's. Are you abii•'to"'
tell me what it is that you see in them?
Can't see what could be there, let me tell you
what is there and you can take it from there. These
are pictures of a drain on the end of Alexander St.
East. Yes, a drain. It is covered by weeds and grass
clippings and there is a By-law in the town of Exet-
er for grass clippings.
I have been in touch with the Town of Exeter and
they just seem to be giving us the run around. I look
back to when we had the rain in early June and our
home was flooded. I feel strongly that if the drain
were cleared and kept up with proper maintenance
this probably would not have resulted in the drain
backing in our home. We are at one of the highest
levels in town I'm told yet I had several inches of
water in my basement.
We would appreciate it if someone could look into
this matter as the Town of Exeter doesn't seem to
give;twa hoots. As for, the grass Clippings we were
told that Riverside Estate were responsible for this
possible mess. The town office told me unless I
knew who was putting them there, there was noth-
ing that they could do. Well, I believe that there is
something that can be done, I feel that the Town of
Exeter just doesn't want anything to do with it.
If this is how the Town of Exeter responds to a lit-
tle problem what, makes them think they can handle
the big ones.
Thank you for your time in this matter.
Yours truly
C.A. Van Belle
But delegates also attended sessions discussing
such issues as Ontario in the 21st Century, fi-
nance and taxation, health, education, labor,
welfare, energy, environment, housing, crime,
municipal affairs and women's issues -- just
about everything the Harris government consid-
ers.
Parties at their annual meetings normally de-
bate such topics in public to guide in shaping
policies, attract publicity and show democracy,
but the Tories closed the doors on the ground
these were internal matters. Harris and compa-
ny feel they are so far ahead in polls they do
not need the publicity, but the real reason they
talked in secret is that they do not want mem-
bers with contrary views expressing them
where the media will report them.
The vast majority of Tories without question
support Harris, because they approve his poli-
cies or he regained the power which seemed
their divine right the past half -century or in the
case of some once prominent Red Tories, they
also are lobbyists who want access to his gov-
ernment for their client*.
Hauls officials show highhandedness
But a few are angry enough to speak against,
including Ann Vanstone, the Metropolitan To-
ronto school board chair and one-time Tory
candidate, who accused the Tories of distorting
facts to justify education cuts and added: "It's
my party and I expect them to be honest and I
don't think they are. I long for the days of (for-
mer New Democrat education minister) Dave
Cooke."
Half the Tory riding executive in the Toronto
riding of Economic Development Minister Wil-
liam Saunderson, which is mainly high-rises,
has threatened to resign and turf him out if Har-
ris goes ahead with his plan to allow rents to in-
crease whenever an apartment becomes empty.
Hams would not want to give these dissidenis a
forum to spread concerns about his programs,
which shows a turnaround. When the Tories
last held an annual meeting in 1994, they said
the media were "welcome" to attend virtually
every session, but they were then in opposition,
looking to get into government and anxious to
appear hull of openness.
Under premiers William Davis and John Ro-
barts, The Tories traditionally allowed the pub-
lic into debates on policy at conventions. True,
they sometimes persuaded potential dissenters
to tone down their arguments and always held
up the threat they would be barred from receiv-
ing their considerable patronage, but they never
went so far as to "hold meetings behind closed
doors.
The Ontario Liberals and New Democrats in
both opposition and government held conven-
tions in which policies were debated in public,
and the NDP is noted for the bloody debates on
its convention floor, notwithstanding Harris's
charges that its policies are dictated in secret
by "union bosses."
Even federal Liberal delegates at a conven-
tion that ran concurrently with Harris's broke
with party policy enough to demand doctor -
assisted euthanasia.m.
But Harris has his policies rigidly set out in
his Common Sense Revolution and he will not
allow any questioning, no matter how small.
11
•I,
�4