The Goderich Signal-Star, 1973-03-15, Page 2PAGE 2--GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, 'THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1973
EDITORIAL COMMENT
One miracle please
Remember the fairy tale about th,e
stupid father who told the greedy king
his daughter could spin straw into gold?
Aftd remember how the king im-
mediately called the frightened girl to
his castle and ordered her to spin a
room full of straw into gold?
Lucky thing for her she was the centre
figure in a fairy tale where everything
always turns out happily. Fortunate for
her she _--wa.sn't...si.tting. in Reeue Deb
Shewfelt's chair and- too bad for Reeve
Shewfelt that there really isn't a way to
spin straw into gold or to stretch tax
dollars to cover all the demands of ,a
community the size of Goderich.
It will take a miracle if Reeve Shewfelt
is to accomplish what needs to be done
as •far as Goderich roads •a.re concerned.
In fact, it takes a minor miracle in some
cases for motorists to .navjgate some
• streets in Goderich now that the third
complete,, thaw 'this winter has turned
certain roads into quagmire traps.
_ According to Reeve Shewfelt, if the
municipality was to spend a half million
dollars every year for five years on
roads, it just might get caught up. And
where's the municipality going to get
that kind of money, unless it cuts back
on many of the wonderful services
Goderich citizens have come 'to expect;
foregoes the luxury of building for the
future; and increases the taxes substan-
tially for all?
The Town has offered to buy Sky Har-
-boa` --Airport, a good -t ►ove for the future
growth of Goderich. The Town wants to
develop the former Huron County Jail
Into a cultural -art ,centre, also a' great
plan for a truly �ma yellous futu"re. The
Town knows the varve of recreational
facilities ... many more than presently
provided. The Town has everyday
obligations to 'fulfill 'where parks, harbor,
property, street lighting, industry and
people are concerned.
Just how does Goderich Town Council
deal with a roads problem which has
been allowed to develop and compound
over many, many years? Arid who -can
blame the people for complaining?
A week to remember
Young Canada' Week opens this
weekend. Sponsored by the Goderich
Lions Club it is billed as "the biggest lit-
tle, hockey tournament iia the world". It
attracts hockey-- players .... `-nd their
families and friends :... from all over On-
tario and into Quebec and the USA.
It seems useless to urge people to get
over to Goderich Memorial Arena for
some of the action. Those who want to
go will attend; those who have no in-
terest .in hockey or in young ppeople will
stay home:.
However, whether a hockey supporter
or not. Goderich and area residents must
give a hearty vote of thanks to the
dedicated men and women who have
worked so hard to organize this year's
event. While the Lions Club members
are at the heart of things, their wives and
their friends are right behind them and
deserve equal commendation for their
efforts.
Also deserving of bouquets are the
Goderich people who open their homes
to the hockey players each year as tour-
nament time rolls round. The committee
may be short of billets right up until the
last hour but it is certain that the
citizens will come through when needed,.
About the only sour note in the whole
affair is that the business people of the
community still have not grasped Young
Canada Week as a natural opportunity
to sell the downtown • area, push
Goderich hospitality ,and leave lasting
memories of a,great week in "The Pret-
' tiest Town in Canada".
The spotlight is on the arena, on the
hockey tournament and on enthusiasts
for Canada's most popular sport.
Out Goderich cannot afford to miss
this annual chance to' promote this town
for the hundreds and hundreds of
visitors who arrive daily. Surely,, One
year soon; the whole community will
latch onto this venture and make
Goderich truly a place to remember for
everyone at Young Canada Week.
Tiresome excuse
Several members of the Huron County
Council have blamed the press for the
publicity which has resulted from their
altercation over the possible destruction
of the jail wall at Goderich. First the
press was to blame because some
members of the public became arc 'sed
over the proposal to tear down all of part
of the building, and then they turned to
same scapegoat later when Huron PC
Candidate Don Southcott stated publicly
that there would be no need to make a
decision for a few weeks or months.
Mr. Southcott's _ ,words were not
spoken off the toppf his head. He had
sound reason for making his statement
and the latest word is that a delay might,
indeed, provide an answer to the
-problem which would not be abhorrent
.i.,--- either the council or the, public.
Why, we wonder, is the press always
to blame for simply stating the facts as
they occur? It was a fact that the partial
destrucion of the building had been
•401,
4PC
A
•
discussed. It was a fact that the can-
didate made the statements as reported.
Do these councillors expect 'that a
responsible press will sit quietly by and
forget what has been said just to make
life smoother for elected represen-
tatives?
One . of the obligations — at times
penalties — of public office is that what
an official says or does affects all the
people and that the press is going to.tell
it as it is. If those' who object to open
reporting of public business are
unhappy, about the system in which we
all exist they might hark back to ,Ger-
many in the 30's or present-day Greece.
We remind them that those systems
don't put up with freedom of the press —
any more than they do with free -
speaking ,county councillors.,
—Wingham Advance -Times
the gioaertcry
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The following note was
received in the mail from W.E.
Elliott, a well-known histccian
and, -gentleman froth Goderich.
It reads: John W. Dafoe, for 43
years editor-in-chief of Win-
nipeg Free Press said to the
`University of Manitoba
graduating- class:
','A journalist is hardly an
authority upon anything -
unless upon the appraisal of
'the drift of public opinion. His
writings on economics are
likely to be greeted by your
professor of economics with a
polite snort. Eminent lawyers
disagree with his constitutional
pronouncements. Preachers do
not subscribe to his theological
views. Transportation experts;
regard his comments on freight
rates as wholly uninformed,
and financial magnates con-
sider his ventures into- the
mazes of finance as the triumph„
of reckless ignorance over
prudence. And vet, in spite of
all these limitations, the jour--
nalist must go forward laving
hands upon these and other
mysteries with'a sort of reckless
courage, and unless he is to fail
he . must, out of his half -
knowledge and intuitions, his
sense of v i1es and his
-knowledge of life, tell a story
which may not: be accurate but
is"stilt true --and which-does--nnt-
altogether lack suggestive
power."
That little piece of philosphv
just about sums up ‘the. way I
feel this week about a great
many things, particularly
things pertaining to public elec-
ted officials .al all levels.
In recent weeks it appears
that many of our municipally.
elected officials have com-
pletely forgotten who elected
them and for what purpose.
And what's even more regret-
table, people in general don't
give a damn about the political
scene in the town or in the
county except at election time
or when some issue particularly
affecting them rears its head.
It is strange the number of
people who vote in an election,
for instance, who have never.
set foot inside the town council
chambers. There are people in
this town and many towns,
I suspect who don't even
know where town council holds
its meetings, or that the public
is allowed to sit in on the
It is a strange thing tha�
Mr. Dafoe so aptly put it, ,ldtlr-
nalists are considered "hardly
an authority upon anything
After all, the press represen-
tatives are the only persons
outside of council officials
•themselves who attend all • of
the open meetings of council.
Who else in the coummunity
should have a greater general
knowledge of what's going on
in the council chambers? Who
else Should be more qualified to
speak on such matters? And
who else has a better sense of.
the phrase "publics` watchdog"?
Many cbOncils including
Goderich Town Council, Jove
the cloak and dagger approach
to municipal politics. They
seem to enjoy the business of
making'decisions for the unin-
formed, possibly uninterested
public, who are perfectly con'-
-tent to have it that way. They
prefer to do their discussing
away from the public'eye and
many councils, including
Goderich Town Council, devise
the :committee system" which
makes this possible.
Goderich Town Council for
• example, has two open
meetings per month and one
committee meeting. The press
is invited - though some council
members object - to the com-
mittee sessions, but they are
nut permitted to report
anything from these meetings
until the minutes .are made
public at the, next open council
meeting.
The reason, of course, is that
the committee only "ret om-
mends" to 'the council as a
whole even though it is the
council as, a w,hole,which is the,
committee. The committee
report_ then is brought forward
in open council at -the •very
beginning of the meeting
and .the procedure goes
something like this:
Mayor Worsell: You have the
minutes from the committee
meeting of (date) in front of
you.
Everyone on council scram-
bles through the minute books
and draws out the sheets to
which the S mayor refers. "They
study them momentarily.
Mayor Worsell: Is there a
_motion -to-adupt_'these minutes?
One councillor: I move tthat
the minutes of (date) be adop-
ted, Your Worship.
Another councillor: I second
it, Your Worship.
Mayor Worsell: Discussion?
At this point, councillors
have an opportunity to
question what's in the commit-
tee minutes. They seldom do,
probably because - any
questioning would just result in
a rehashing of, what went on in
the committee meeting. As a
resultcouncil is well informed
on..the subject matter of the
committee report; the press
has had a chance to he infor-
med as well if reporters can
find the time to -sit in on a two
or three hour- meeting upon
which they cannot report for a
week or two; but the people of
the town for whom the elected
officials are laboring have no
knowledge of what's gone 'on
behind closed doors 'unless the
press reports it .... • if the press
reports it. • and who can
believe - what you read in the
newspapers?
Mayor Worsell: All in favor?
Hands shoot up all around
the council • table. The matters
on the committee report are
passed and recorded, a topic for
discussion no more. By the time
the people for whom coutncil is
laboring learn the facts (?),
there's sweet nothing they can
do about it.
A case in point is the South
Storm Sewer. The decision to
put the South Storm Sewer
through on The Drainage Act
was..made in a committee
meeting. -Although. no public
statement' as ever made about
that -decision .... whoops, recom-
mendation it was common
knowledge among the op-
position in the south, end of
town that the decision had
been reached in favor of,The
Drainage Act.
At. the last. meeting of council
(March 1) two persons from tli'e
south end of town •attended the
council meeting, probably to
hear the discussion surroun-
ding the issue. Of course there
was none. The "reetbmimen-
dation" was buried. in the
committee report and'.- was
finally approved without the
small group of opposition ever
knowing it had been done.
There was not one single
audible _ word at that council
meeting to give those people
any indication what was going
on or what had been done or
why.. .•
But that's the .system and in-
terestingly .enough, it is perrnit=-
• ted under The Municipal Act.
As a press member (and
remember. I'm hardly an
authoritv.on anything),I believe
The Municipal Act leaves that
door open for use by councils in
special situtations only and
that the council which hides
behind that kind of legislation
all the time is leaving itself
wide open for public ridicule,
public distrust and public reac-
tion.
* * *
There's been a great deal of
insinuation in - recent weeks,
both locally and at the county
level, that the press is blowing
many things out of proportion.
Statements like "we make the
decisions, not the press" are
..Jie.ar�d. r.egufarly now.-
Goderich Deputy -reeve Stan
Profit loves to dig at the press
with little remarks like: "Bettert.,
get the facts straight before you
just take a guess at it for your
story."
In short, it is obvious that
elected officials are very aware
of the press and are extremely
anxious to have what is known
as "good press". They are quite
content to use the press for
such things as announcements,
that fountain will be dedicated
Friday.at 2 or the tax bills will
be sent out Tuesday or the next
meeting is to be held a week
late. -"
But they" kick like, steers
when things get a little hot;
when public opinion just might
go against them; when the
questioning gets a little too in-
tense and when the answers, if
learned, might be a little too
revealing.
The press needs the support
of the.people. It doesn't ask
that they read our stories ....
although that would be nice. It
doesn't ask that they believe.
our' stories because it seems to
be a national ' paetime to
disbelieve newspapers.
What the press needs is for
Without Kt► -y '73
Dear Editor:
We are living in days when
commercial misleading adver-
tising is under rigid scrutiny.
Could it be that "religious" ad-
vertising might be° in ,need of
scrutinizing? Why do I say
that.,,-..,,, •
A religious advertisement in
70 YEAA8
MARCH 1S,1G4
Eight marksmen
the shootingtook'
Hood trophy for
P y on Thuada
...The winner was C.J M,1,
of Brantford, who
money and will toot'
M.J. Miller, hold t
of grotto':
second money,, and C
merhays of the same city
James Masson,
whose first matchoit wf as
a good record, and 'i
hope of the local meq (u
bringing of the trophy
Goderich. Mitchell is
shooter, ncl his scored
of 100 in a variable wind
Something out of tfr
Binarygood in floriculture a
flower of 'a plant raisk
Chas. Nn l, of Bavfiield
Mr. Naftel has had the
for seveir41 years, but it
bloomed until this seaso4
the fact that it is onlya„
ago that the flower stock,,
to appear shows
prodigious growth can be
in a short time, for the sit
thick and solid, a couplet
ches in diameter, and,thi
.of the flower, measures
eighteen inches across t
widest points. In form t
someWhat like a gigantic
lily, of a (hill red color
down to a mottled greii
red at the Kase, and what
it a peculiarly uncanm
pearance is the great
tongue sheeting its' thin.
people to get out to the inches of length up throat
meetings of Goderich Town
bell..Oddity rather than
g
Council, of Huron County
is its strong poinranduri
Council, of Colborne Township flower watt crit off it emits
Council .etc. to see for them—somewhat disagreeable
selves what happens there and fume. The flower has bar
'Then to read the newspapers to St. George's rectory fora
check for truth. week, where many callen
What every council needs is a hadan opportunity
packed gallery every single examining the curiosity
meeting. It needs to know it is
not an annointed assembly
with rights to relay only those
things it.deems necessary to ap-
pease'
noon) there is a gap of
pease the voters. It needs to one hundred feet in their.
`know that people are interested {tier, and a portion of the
every week in even the smallest pier is , under water
details. It needs to know that showing signs of fur.
many people care about collapse. The gap in then
freedom of speech a'nd freedom pier is not quite halfway
of the press a, freedom cif ex from the inner end;
pression. It needs to be remain- damaged portion of the &
Bed that elected officials aren't pier is a little farther
allowed the luxury of privacy Water is still rushing t
all ' the time the way other the ga,p, across the channel
citizens are. It needs to under- hurling itself against the
stand that if its members can't pier.
take the searching eye of the Mr. Charles Robinson
public on all matters all the .been appointed to the
time, it should turn in its rnand of the steamer Brico
collective badge and start fresh of the Paterson Line. Chari
with members >r.i who are following in the footstepsd
prepared to he open andhonest father, the late Captain
about all public matters all the Robinson, whose succeii
time. career is a fine chapterof
I challenge. as many readers Lakes history.
as possible P, to pledge them- The troupe came from
-selves to--regular-attendance at- --C-FPL -broadcag-ting-statia1
the council of his or her choice London. Murray Brow•a
on a regular basis for a period the master of ceremonies
of not'less than three months. Jack Bennett, announcer,
Town Council meets the first "CFPL Goes Calling' ass
and second Thursday of each The orchestra conducted
month in the town hall at 7 Don Wright gave a lively
p.m. (The next meeting is ting to the performance•
March 22, one week later than was equally at home rr
usual because of the by-election directed by Mrs. George
in this county today.) Berson` and Ma's 1
County Council meets in the McAstocker, both of Gode.'
court house (second floor) on who brpught down thehotg
the last Friday of each ,month they led the big band
(except .July and August) begin. received prizes of records'
w, rched;
ning at lOa.nt. doing so.
Most rural councils in the 5 YEARS AGO
area meet on the first Monday 1968
of each month' although h these MARCH 1.5,
times can vary and citizens Goderich will he the s'
should check with their local centre of Western Ontario
clerks for more precise infor- the net week as the townP.
matron. host to the nineteenth an'"
.Just for the hell of it, why not Young Canada Week
make council attendance a hockey tournamentandtha�
project for a time? Why not see team All -Ontario senior
for yourselves what's going on "A" basketball tournament'
in your,..414nici.pality? Why get addition the Goderich S'
all your information secon- junior "B" teani ill bePla•'.
dhand? Why not find out if the off against the St. Magss4''
press really does "color the for. the championship of
news" and "write fi tion" just Central "B" division.
to sell subscriptions Why not About 100 Huron Tenn_►
be the third party in what u to tatives of municipal court
now has been a two party_ Chamber of Como'
system with each calling thea . and `'art
business
other "dirty names? organizations convened at'}
luncheon sponsoredVe
u
Western Ontario pe P
Association in the Elm Hgshai
at Clinton last Fri .
Hon. C.S. M
provincial treasurer;
Hon.
about regional dev 0 me i
An enthusiastic
about 1,300
Goderich SiftoNin600y .,,i,
behind and
'question is 'posed, Waterloo Siskins he`heFa�
based on night, wrapping uP hnd
Then there finals with four
follows: "Who are they who record• with one tie.
have not heard? Two billion B winning the game D'
people in our world who do not Siftos came out of the can
.00
know Jesus Christ." division series with nine Poi
to the Siskins' three hest I
quoting from Joel 2:32. And Goderich will now
every educated Christian contend with the winnerof
s -Kitchener eek t
knows that Joel says: "And it St. ,Mary the t IJ
the finals for hi
Junior "8" champtone P
25 YEARS AGO
MARCH 15, 1948
At time of writing (Thu.
this week's GSS in which a
Romans 10:14: T
At Romans 10:13 Paul is
(Continued on page 3)
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