Loading...
Times Advocate, 1997-09-10, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, September 10, 1997 Publisher & Editor. Jim Beckett Business Manager. Don Smith Production Manager: Deb Lord Advertising; Barb Consitt, Chad Eedy News; Heather Mir, Craig Bradford, Chantal! Van Raay Brenda Burke, Kate Monk, Ross Haugh . Production; Alma Ballantyne, Mary McMurray, Barb Robertson Brenda Hem, Joyce Weber, Laurel Miner Transoortttion: Al Flynn, Al Hodgert front Office & Accounting. Elaine Pinder, Sue Rollings, Carol. Windsor Ruthanne Negrijn, Anita McDonald, Cassie Dalrymple, Ruth Slaght, Sheila Corbett The Exeter Times Advocate Is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership • Publications Mall RegNtratlon Number 0386 $1BSCRIPTION RATES; One year rate for Canada subscribers - 535.00 + AST Two year rate for Canada subscribers - S63.00 F AST OT ER RATF,S Outside Canada - $102.00 Published Each Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St., Exeter, Qntar o, NOM 186 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Telephone 1-519.235.1331 • Fax: 519.2350766 O.S.T. 18106210635 A nati or years this country existed as an unknown entity. Oh yes, there were blips of recognition, such as when Prime Minister Mike Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 or when Canada hosted Expo in its -centennial year in 1967. But for the most part, Canada was seen as a nation of very polite, hard-working people who were crazy about some game played on ice. called hockey, and who happened to have one province in which the people spoke French. In the past decade this has changed. Canada is taking a lead. along with its world power neighbour, in negotiating North American trade pacts. Now hockey is taking the world by storm -- they're even playing it in Bangkok. And for three years running the United Nations has placed,Canada at the top of the list of the best countries in the world in which to live. No doubt about it. Canada is hot. We have much in which we can take pride. But. some cracks are showing and un' fortunately. like Canada's reputation as a good place to live. these cracks too are of world class status.' Remember the big scandal of a few months ago -- the Bre-X fiasco?' It has not yet reached the courts, but it will, ' and will attract journalists from around the world. As it turns out the Bre-X scam is the biggest mining scam ever anywhere in the world. And, so far as we know. all the scaniming was ' schemed right here in Canada, by a rel- ative bit player` in the big,game of min- ing for gold. Now, we have another world-class fi- asco. It's the scam that' been pulled fpr • years by Ontario Hydro on the powers - that -be. A couple of weeks ago. follow-, ing a scathing report by a team of no - onal rot nonsense US nuclear experts, Ontario Hydro announced it was ;shutting down seven nuclear plants. It's the biggest shut -down of nuclear plants ever, any- where in the world. And the reason for the shut -down can be laid directly at the door of Ontario Hydro -- and subsequent Ontario governments and officials of the Atomic Energy Control Board, the fed- • eral.regulator of nuclear stations. These two 'world class' events might seem unrelated. But they have one thing in common: a glaring lack of responsi- bility on, the part of regulators paid to protect the public: They have something else' in common: for months before the, Bre-X bubble burst; knowledgeable people were ask- ing tough questions about the claims be- ing made by the conip'-ny's head hon- chos. and about the way the 'mining industry was -- or wasn't -- being regu- lated; and for literally decades, peopl have been sounding the alarm about fnanagement of Ontario Hydro and espe- cially about the management of Hydros nuclear branch: , In this most'favoured.of nations. there exists a rot of sorts. It amounts to either the inability. or outright refusal to assess' 'blame and punishment even when evi- dence points to obvious culprits. What's ,more disturbing. our top elected repre- sentatives; from the 'prime minister to provincial premiers on down the linea , not only condone this rot, but initiate and perpetuate it. , In the Ontario Hydro mess. we've been told most of the managers in the nuclear division are gone. What we haven't been told is the amount of their payout pack- ages. We do know, none of them were fired for mismanagement Why not? Why any of this? From the Listo e.1 Banner Paying our respects "It certainly doesn't reflect well on us..." . Dear Editor: • This being osier a week since the Princess of Wales has passed onto the angels. I find myself com- pelled to write to your publication. Having lived in Exeter for the past eight years. I • must admit that I have never been so disgusted. How is it that the Town of Exeter (being a town in England by- the way could not have found five min- utes out of one day to lower the Canadian flag in Mac Naughton Park to half mast'' At least it was refreshing to see that the Ironwood Golf Club and a couple other public buildings took the appropriate measures in order to pay their respects. • Was it so difficult to find time to pay final respects to not only a princess. but a wonderful human being? h certainly doesn't reflect well on us...not only as Canadians. but as the Town of Exeter. Sincerely'. Dominique Bonnot A View From Queen's Park TORONTO -- Premier Mike Harris looked impressive on the parking lot declaring he will not stand for high gas prices, but he is not out of first gear in doing anything to deflate them. After gasoline jumped in many areas of Onta- rio from 53 to 65 lcents a litre in a couple of weeks, the Progressive Conservative premier announced he was "fed up -- I'm on the side of the consumers. "My own opinion is they're being gouged at the pumps and I cannot help but suspect there is collusion among the oil companies." Harris's words, unusually forthright for a pro- business premier, got him on TV across Canada and won him admiration as a champion of con- sumers. Gas prices had soared to almost identical lev- els at virtually all stations, both oil company- owned and independents which often sell a cent or two cheaper, in each geographical area so there was no local competition. In some rural and northem areas they jumped to 75 cents a litre. Oil cojnpanies explained that this was caused By Eric Dowd by a shortage of gas, some refineries having • had to close for repairs. one losing production through a strike and another through a fire, and governments constantly increasing taxes. Motorists did not accept this, because compa- nies raised prices almost in lockstep; although not all were hit by fires or strikes and there have been no increases in taxes or world prices that would significantly affect price. This also was a prime time both to sell more gas and make extra profits through jacked -up prices, because of vacations and the last sum- mer holiday weekend. Oil companies did not have to sit down and collude, which would be illegal, but with all wanting higher profits, could simply let one start edging up and the others join in and all charge what the traffic would bear. Despite his tough talk, Harris is a johnny- come-lately on protecting against high gas pric- es. The opposition Liberals and New Demo- crats had asked him to do something for more than a year after oil companies raised their pile - Kate's takes By Kate Monk Feeling the wrath of Lake Huron As I write this column, I'm sitting at the kitchen table at the cottage — a table where family and friends have enjoyed dinners at the lake, away from - the hustle and bustle of everyday life. It's a cottage where the pace of everyday life dissipates. A cottage where novels and naps take precedence over work and worries. A cottage where the sounds of the waves of Lake Huron lull a person to sleep at night . Today. the day after Labor Day, I.have retreated to the cottage to enjoy my day off work. Following dinner, a lakeside walk to view the sunset was in order. While all is calm at the cottage. such is not the case along the lakeshore. A northwest. wind has whipped Lake Huron into a frenzy with the waves licking at the bank at every opportunity. It is as if the lake is saying "It's after Labor Day. The kids have gone back to school. I don't ' have to behave any longer." An area whereI walked last week is under three feet of water. A beach volleyball court is now part of the lake. The waves dwarf my dog who looks more like a hamster than a labrador retriever. The lake is angry. Although Lake Huron is flirting with record levels this year, we seldom get to see its awesome' force. With all the debate over who is polluting the lake. most people have forgotten Lake Huron is a very powerful body of water. No one can control its level and most structures to protect the shoreline are swallowed by the lake or have dire consequences for our beaches. Our cottages have special places in our hearts and Lake Huron has a special place in our lives. Whether our cottages are weekend retreats. summer homes. or year-round residences they are on the thin. delicate line between land and water. Perhaps today's storm can teach us all something about the character of Lake Huron. We must adapt to Lake Huron: it • does not have to adapt to us. It is a precious resource, unique in all the world, that we should all respect and preserve. Gas prices es in the summer of 1996, although not to re- cent stratospheric levels. Harris's energy and consumer ministers both had the same reply, that it is a responsibility of the federal government, which has a law against price-fixing, not very effective and rare- ly used because it is difficult to prove. Economic Development and Trade Minister William Saunderson was even less helpful. He said the Harris government has done a lot to at- tract business to locate in Ontario and he did not intend to deter it by interfering with the free enterprise system, the pricing system. Harris policies to attract businesses have in • - cluded weakening unions and allowing compa- nies to regulate themselves and so far he has has not won a reputation as an advocate of con- sumer protection. For all his huffing and puffing, Harris also still has done no more than call on the federal government to appoint a special investigator to look Into gas pricing, ensure fair competition and particularly stop anti-competitive practices that threaten the survival of the independent stations. The premier, as Liberal house leader Jim Bradley suggested, could have called in the heads of oil companies and told them they should not increase prices without sufficient ec- onomic reason. but they are his friends and he did not want to stigmatize them to that extent. He could have brought in and enforced his own law which would protect independent sta- tions by forbidding oil companies from selling to them at higher wholesale prices than to their own stations as a means of keeping them in line or forcing them out of business. Harris also could have done what an earlier Tory premier, William Davis, did in 1975, when he rolled back high gas prices and froze them for three months, which removed the oil companies' zest for increases for a while. Davis took that stern action shortly before an election and it helped him hold on to his job, but unfortunately for Ontario motorists , Harris will not seek re-election until 1999.