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Times-Advocate, 1983-10-19, Page 4Pog. 4 Times -Advocate, October 19, 1983 imes Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 4 dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by j.W. Eedy Publications Umited LORNE EEDY, Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mall Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' erMikaingEggpmangss Done right in Exeter People who are positive and complimentary ap- pear to be in the minority in our society which is clearly weighted down with pessimism and complaining. That's why the advertisement which ran in last week's newspaper signed by Mike Williamson of Frayne Chev-Olds is so refreshing. Williamson took the time to tell readers of this newspaper of the excellent cooperation received from all those involved in the building of the new Canadian Tire Store. He termed it an "absolute pleasure" to work with each of them, including dealer Gerry Walker, CTC, Ex- eter council and its employees, MF Builders and all the sub -trades involved in the project. Equally refreshing is Williamson's comment that the project was completed ahead of schedule and on budget. Perhaps those involved should pass along their secrets to the two senior levels of government! It is certainly an attractive addition to the local business community and is enhanced even more by the fact it was conceived, designed, financed and con- structed primarily with area talent. Questionable investments When Premier William Davis and his cabinet decided to spend $650 -million on Suncor Inc. stocks two years ago, he told his fellow investors (that's you) that it would provide the province with a window on the oil industry. Well,according to figures cited by Liberal leader David Peterson this week, most Ontario residents should be concerned with what they are seeing through that window. Peterson claims to have recently purchased 10 shares of Suncor Inc. stock for $15 per share. Premier Davis and his fellow investors paid $49.77 for theirs, not including the brokerage fees. The Liberals suggest that Premier Davis and his fellow investors have taken a $454 -million bath in losses in their investment, to say nothing of the interest they're paying to finance the deal. Premier Davis and his fellow investors also have a window. on the hotel and resort business in northern Ontario that has grown costly, and it is hinted he plans to lead his fellow investors into gaining a window on a domeu stadium business in the Toronto area. His fellow investors are either very rich or very foolish. Peaceful settlement The issue of bilingualism for the Province of Manitoba was introduced in the House of Commons as a trap for the new PC leader, but, thank goodness, it has turned out to be somewhat of a landmark in in- traparty co-operation. Brian Mulroney was supposed to be trapped between his often -stated support for bil- ingualism and loyalty to his party followers in Manitoba who bitterly oppose French by-law in their own province. So far Ontario's Premier Davis has avoided the same issue in Ontario and Francophones in this pro- vince are loud in their complaints. The issue is not merely one of racial mistrust. Of- ficial bilingual status requires some very costly and often unnecessary changes. Any newspaper editor in the country can tell you about the storm of added paper which crosses his desk each week, as a result of federal bilingual regulations. Most of the news releases and official notices emanate from not only the federal government but from all crown corporations as well, are provided in both French and English. Use of the second language more than doubles the costs for paper and printing, as well as the work load on the govern- ment and corporation offices which prepares the releases. We have no objection in the world to French- speaking people being informed in their own language. Certainly French-speaking Canadians, as well as many other groups of Canadians who do not claim English as their mother tongue, should have access to their own language in the courts, customs offices, etc., whenever needed. However, pouring out all official messages in both French and English is little short of ridiculous. Press- ing a few keys on the government computers would provide their mailing rooms with a complete list of those addresses to which either French or English ver- sions should go, the places where a second language, either one of them, is a waste of time and money. By all means let us provide second language ser- vices wherever needed, but let's do it with some measure of common sense. Wingham Advance -Times Weather has positive aspects A radio broadcast the other day in- dicated that Canada holds no world records relating to the weather. No matter that Edmonton has ex- perienced 26 straight days of temperatures that failed to get above minus 18, or that some hamlet in Nova Scotia had 63 consecutive days wherein the sun was obliterated by the clouds; this nation has been bettered in all aspects when it comes to records. However, if this year hasn't set a record, most of our readers would pro- bably agree that it has certainly gone down in their memories as such. The moderate winter of 1983 will be one recalled for years to come, as will the warm, sunny days of the summer And, despite predictions that our good fortune would come to a crashing halt in the fall, it hasn't! Here it is the middle of October and we're still awaiting that "killer frost" to put its blemish on the colorful mums and assorted fall bouquets. Crop specialists advised that the area would need an unusual fall to make up for a late planting, and the order has certain- ly been fulfilled. The pessimists who told us in January that we'd pay for the lack of snow conie February were proven wrong, as were those who suggested that August would be in sharp contrast to a beautiful July. Now they're saying that November and December will be fraught with evils to balance September and October. Of course, the odds are starting to mount in favor of the ominous predictions, but hopefully old Mother Nature will continue to prove them wrong and stay on our side. Having more than a passing interest in the news of the area, the writer is convinc- ed more than ever that the weather plays a greater part in our daily lives than many would suspect. A cursory glance through the back issues of the current year indicates that s ifitt BATT'N AROUND with the editor a vast majority of the major news stories have been related to positive events. Contentious issues are at an inordinate low level. in fact it's been so dull that peo- ple aren't even complaining much about education and teachers' salaries these days. it's been months since i've witnessed a heated argument at any public meeting. To top it off, there was a sign in one store window last week congratulating those in- volved in the opening of the new Canadian Tire Store. The unusual aspect was that the sign was in the window of a direct competitor. The upward trend in the economy may have something to do with the increasing number of smiles one encounters on the street, but there's little doubt that the weather plays a more important role. There's an indication that if someone could design an inexpensive dome to cover the area and establish a climate on which everyone could agree there would be some hope that the story book finish of "and they all lived happily ever after" could finally be attained. . Of course, there's always a fly in the ointment, and no doubt some wag is go- ing to suggest that the strange benevolent attitude that is pervading the area is real- ly hinged to the recent poll which suggests the nation is slowly, but surely, being totally converted to the ranks of the Pro- gressive Conservatives. Those who haven't been converted are obviously beating the squirrels and bears into hibernation. They're about as fickle and non-existent as Philly fans were Sun- day evening. That comparison may not be far off the mark. Polls taken a year before an elec- tion are about as accurate as polls taken to show how people predicted the outcome of sporting events. The comparison goes even farther. There's a decided disadvantage for teams which have reached their peak form before the crucial contests or little stock to be placed in those which win the exhibi- tion tilts and fall flat on their face when the time comes to Flay for keeps. Pierre claims hes not worried. Know- ing his track record and ability to come up with the big effort when needed, he's probably hoping to remain down in the polls so he'll end up getting a "sympathy" vote that often goes to the guy who ap- pears to be down and out. Somehow you have to think he has one last trick up his sleeve! "Nave you noticed how much faster the months have been flying by since we went metric?" Morose and suspicious Canadians are in a bad mood these days. Not bad in the sense of angry of ug- ly. Bad in the sense' of gloomy, depressed. And not without reason. After riding a post-war boom, with industry thriv- ing, new money coming in, new opportunities opening up, and a general sense that the man might be right after all, that the 20th century did belong to Canada, we have skidded to a low that hasn't been touched for decades. Trouble is, during that boom, we grew accustom- ed to affluence and a measure of ease, and we weren't built to cope with that. We were a rather dour, independent, sturdy people, far more used to battling for an existence than lying around enjoy- ing life. We just couldn't cope Pith the ideas: that we would get a raise in pay every year; that prac- tically everybody could own a house or car or both; that there was a job for everybody; that we might even be able to bor- row money from the bank in a pinch. All of these were alien to our Canadian experience, which had always main- tained, that life was real and earnest, that fun was almost sinful, and that if things were going well, you kept your fingers crossed and knocked on wood. Those of us who had grown up during the Depression, of course, never believed for a minute that the prosperi- ty would last. We went around like so many Jeremiahs, warning the young of the horrors to come when the bubble burst and boring them to death with tales of our own impovished youth. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the boom didn't end with a bang but a whimper. We Cassandras of gloom were scoffed at. There were still plenty of jobs, investment began to dry up. Another effect was that many of our manufactured products had priced themselves out of the world - and even Canadian - markets. Branch plants began to close as their owners pull - Sugar and Spice Itre Dispensed By Smiley Everybody could go to col- lege, on loans and grants. Everybody really needed a summer cottage or a ski chalet or town cars or three snowmobiles. The banks would lend money to anyone who didn't have two heads, and the loan companies looked after them. The Canadian dollar was buoyant, and we were a little sickly glad when the Yanks had to pay a dollar and five cents for a Canadian dollar's worth. If you were temporarily between jobs, unemploy- ment insurance was easy to get and fairly generous. If you were really strap- ped, you could go on welfare and sit home wat- ching TV. if you got sick, hospital insurance looked after all the bills. Gas for the car and fuel for the furnace and food for the belly were cheap and plentiful. And then the rot set in, slowly. A touch of mould here, a cockroach crawl- ing there. Strike after strike after strike made us one of the world's most unstable industrial coun- tries. As a result, capital ed in their horns and retreated to the com- parative stability and higher production of ttie U.S. Other plants running three shifts cut to two, then one. Foreign in- vestors found more fertile fields for their money. Our armed forces became ineffective for lack of funds, and lost much of the pridethey had once held in their role in NATO. It snowballed. Inflation became more than a topic of conversation; it became a bogeyman. Ther., suddenly, there wasn't much gas the oil left and their prices soared. A new, ugly racism reared its head, sparked by the fact that so many immigrants did so well with so little, because they were willing to work. A separatist party was elected in Quebec, and it was a whole new ball game. The employment force swelled steadily, while new jobs failed to keep up. Huge mining and smelting companies which had been stockpiling their products because other nations could buy them cheaper elsewhere, closed down and put thousands of well-heeled workers on the Fogey. Small farmers fell by the wayside when only the big ones could survive. And we kept paving over valuable farmland with asphalt and concrete. Retired people saw their life's savings gobbled up by inflation and the falling dollar. Small businessmen cut back on staff and ser- vice in order to stay in business. Doctors, fed up to the teeth with overwork and bureaucratic in- terference, began heading for greener, and warmer, pastures. University students, toiling over their books, grew ever more bitter as they began to realize that the country did not want or need them, that the chance of a job on gradua- tion was paper -thin. Thousands of high school students who should have been out working, went back to school and lazed away another year, because they were a drug on the market. And governments, na- tional, provincial, and local, wrung their hands and waited for the wind to change, the miracle to take piace, while they went right on spending more and more taxpapers' money. It's not much wonder that the prevailing mood of the country is morose and suspicious. But surely a nation that toughed it through two world wars and a world depression is not going to roll over and die. We ain't licked yet. And spring will be here. Probably by the first of June. Odd year for farmers This year has been an odd one for farmer§. The spring was wet, so they couldn't get on the land very early. Then when they did get the crop in we ended up with one of the hottest summers in a long time so that the crops seemed to come up quick- ly then stood still waiting for rain. Fortunately for the farmers in this area, the rains did come along at the right time and the crops, in most cases have been pretty good. There were a couple of fields of corn along the road that i travel most Unlike the American days. By the second week crop. it was a hard and Perspectives By Syd Fletcher of August I was convinced that they would never make it and That they might as well be plowed under. However, that good rain did come and they did survive. cruel year for most American farmers. In the U.S.A. corn alone is down by 48 percent from 1982. it's not hard to figure why soybeans are selling for $10 a bushel compared to five or six last year. What seems totally ironic and ridiculous to me is that last year Mr. Reagan brought in the PIK (payment in kind) program, supposedly to cut back the 11.S. grain reserves. it encouraged farmers to not plant their land this year. Well, some of them didn't, and old Mother Nature played a nasty trick on them. Unfortunely for the con- sumer though, next year will see a definite rise in poultry and dairy pro- ducts because of the rising costs in feed.