Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-10-16, Page 4ri ii *more• 1 t tta? 1>( �' of i'~ eedeedliirltles MOM nzr.. 65 fine s out tt newsik needs' Signal: sectitarl' earlier on we l But in . order readers and adtve eo s ed,on the lie's; to round o "coirun>ty • 4 { . drat 1, tt�><• serve the yrs and:,adv, ,iisers, the began publishing three the papier to readers �ne paper to you, er , earlier each u ,i,. Wednesday, editorial deadlines had to be moved back slightly. The Community and Sports sections of the Signal -Star are completed Monday evening each week for press time early Tuesday morning. That means that all sports 'copy w� ty,, for: and 10 int T i =lobs foto newspaper 0441010. Hadays . cl[ it • often nresentnewnrnblems. Eve . =ugh' ,nday may shave been,�a ho da , tivopoot st i productand complete the Coi mnunity' arid sports sections'Mendayy eve .:That means, that your score eete'� ower sp o its ' :other community Stories, Must be handed in before Tuesday. ' The Most convenient way to get material to us is by putting it in the.mail slot at the front door. It at least gives us a chance to process the material or write the game sp�`Qlen r photo: submsions sho pial. esday`to .be'wind+ i l paper. Tlie classified advertising 12 noon. Mondays arid Tuesdays forwbot'h .editorial and advertising staff aro inno Ar`innnc work y or .editor and. iupllied by. wek''s, e Prec oyed., . .'. e''Ve had great co-pper fire ' readers thus far but it 'is h►'► tent: o understand that half of the paper is already finished Monday evening. And, that might explaini why your news was not ineluded n. tle'community or sports section in `a given Week. Thanks to your efforts, we can continue present a responsible product. THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 Gthe6YT ALL POUND COMMUNITY N■1N8PAPUS IN C,�NASA oderich,.cviemn Class 3500.4500)C C N A Better Newspa er Cameroon 1984 SIGNAL -STAR P.O. BOX 220 HUCKINS ST. INDUSTRIAL PARK BODERICH,'ONT. N7A 4B9 PUBLISHED BY: SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded In 1848 and publlehed every Wednesday et Ood=rloh, Ontario. Member of the CCNA and OCNA. Subscriptions payable in edvenoe 822.00, (Senior Citizen= •18.00 privilege card number required) In Caned., 860.00 to U.B.A., $60.00 to ell other countries, Bingle copies BOC. Display, National end Cieseified advertising rates available on request. Masse eek for Rate Card No. 18 effective October 1, 1985. Advertising 1. accepted on the condition Chet In the event of s typographies' , the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with the reasonable allowance for .Ignature, will not be charged for but that balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rats. In the event of s typographical error advertising goode or services ata wrong price, goods or .arvlces may not be sold. Advertising is merely en offer to sell, end may be wlthdreWn at any time. The SIgn.,-iter le not responsible for the love or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photo= or other materiels used for reproducing purposes. President and Publisher ROBERT G. SHRIER Editor Advertising Manager DAVE SYKES DON HUBICK FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...pleaee phone [519)524-2614 Second class mail registration number 0716 Member: eNA CCNA Disadvantaged victims of Tory federal budget -4 The main victims of the recent federal budget were to be two very disadvantaged groups - senior citizens and mothers. Strong political pressures have succeeded in reinstating the full value of old -age pensions but mothers are still in jeopardy. In September, Bill C-70, a bill to de -index Family Allowances, was introduced to the House of Commons. It was approved in principle last week. The bill calls for the reduction of fami- ly allowances by three per cent starting in 1986. This means family allowances would lose a third of their value in 10 years, two-thirds in 20 years and so on. The bill doesn't come as much of a surprise since the history of family allowances is one of constant erosion. Twenty years ago, family allowance represented a six per cent expen- diture of Canada's gross national product. By 1973 the Liberals reduced it to three per cent of the gross national product. In 1974 the New Democrat Party launched a fight to have the family allowance doubled and won. Now the Conservatives are attempting to take the benefit of fully indexed family allowances away from children and families. In future months further measures will be introduced to change the Child Tax Credit, the Child Tax Exemption and to impose unfair taxes on families. The combined effect of these measures will take over 1,000 annually nut of the pockets of two -child families by 1990. The hardest hit will be the poor families. In proposing these changes the Conservative government argues it has to cut back on spending because of the deficit. These same Conservatives gave a half a million dollars capital gains tax holiday to the wealthy in the last budget and just recently bailed out the banks for over a billion dollars. Why should a family with three children and an anual income of $26,000, which stands to lose $270 next year, make sacrifices in order to bail out the Northlands Bank Any why don't we forget about the planned cutbacks of $55 million in family assistance programs by 1987 rather than spend $56 million to change the color of our soldiers' uniforms Family allowance, for one, recognizes the value society places on child rearing. It is more than just an amount of money, it is a recognition that children are the future's most valuable resource. Family allowances are paid For by everyone without making a contribution to the next generation. Bill C-70 is an attack on children and especially on women who receive the monthly family allowance cheque. The bill runs totally contrary to the Conservatives' election promises of giving priority to the interests of women. It also contradicts Brian Mulroney's personal assurances that universal benefits would be a "sacred trust" and that no monies would be taken out of children's benefits to reduce the deficik In most parts of Canada, family allowances now amount to $31.27 a month for every child under 18. The latest statistics from health and Welfare Canada show the monthly payments go to 3.6 million families. + H.M. Lakebank view By Dave Sykes Sugar and Spice By Bill Smiley AH, summers are not what they used to be, except for the young. They're not as long, not as hot, and not as mysterious. That's the story of our recent one, at least in my books. It was cool and wet, fine October weather in July, not one night sweltering in bed, listening to the one mosquito that had penetrated the screen. In fact, even the bugs were hibernating: "Too cold for me, Mama. Too wet for me, Daddy." Only a few intrepid earwigs seemed to tough it out. Do you panic and start smashing and squashing when an earwig scampers across your bathtub? I do. August was even more of a disaster, at least for me. The toilet tank on my downstairs Johnny burst one night after a fierce thunderstorm. I'd heard water runn- ing, but thought it was off the roof. Went downstairs and walked (in my slip- pers) into half an inch of water on the kit- chen floor, a river running down the base- ment stairs, and when I waded to the base- ment, two inches down there, with more pouring down every second. Started throwing towels all over the place. The water kept gushing out of the tank. Fid- dled with it. It kept spurting through the busted tank, like an elephant having a leak. Thank the Lord for plumbers, especially when they're old friends and good Anglicans. We got her stopped. That is, I dashed about in my sodden slippers, trying to keep it from flowing onto the hardwood and under the rug, and Tom had enough sense to turn the water off, at some secretive tap in the basement, which i hadn't been able to find. Then came a man from the insurance company, with a 60 -foot snake that sucked up all the water. Jolly good. But it was not to be. Next morning, my upstairs toilet overflowed and I went through the throwing - towels routine again. Oh, well, these things are sent to try us. I don't know for what. I don't want to be in charge of the towel -throwing department when the next Flood comes along. Mean- time, I'm going to have an awesome plumber's bill. Summer, of course, was not all bad. Some old friends sought me out. I was invited to Victoria, B.C., the Ottawa Valley, to Goderich, Ont., by old airforce friend Anderson, to Georgetown for a meal any time, to the Bruce Peninsula, and so on. And I got gifts. Don McCuaig, an old newspaper friend, gave me a copy of Dieppe and Beyond by John Patrick Grogan (isn't that a lovely Ottawa Valley Irish name? ) describing the life of a young Canadian cap- tured at Dieppe, and his life as a P.O.W. it is a good read, and can be bought from Juniper Books, RR 2, Rehfrew. Anether old newspaper friend, George Cadogan, dropped around and I stuck him for lunch and a good reminisce. An old golfing buddy, Bruce Coran, turned up. Hadn't seen him for 20 odd years. He didn't bring me a present, but a memory. One time, he took four swings with a four - wood and moved the ball 40 yards. Then he calmly took his golf club, put his foot in the middle of the shaft, bent it double, and threw it into the woods, without altering his composure, except for the face turning pur- ple. Back to gifts. My son, Hugh, brought me an eight -pound Arctic char ( frozen, of course) from Baker Lake, N.W.T. Hugh was quite pleased with himself, but what does an aging widower do with a great, hairy eight - pound fish? We solved it by giving half to the neighbors, cooking up some steaks, and making a massive fish salad. It's delicious, just like salmon. Even Ben, my grandboy, left me a souvenir. Of course, he usually does. Last March Break, it was a rung kicked out of the bannister. This time, it was a baseball through a storm window and screen. And I received numerous gifts by mail: everything from being accused as a male chauvinist to an excellent writer: but I'll deal with these in another column. Another gift, as summer waned I how does one wane?) was an evening with old student and comrade, Julie, home after a year in France, and oh, so sophisticated. We split a bottle of wine ( not chilled, as she scolded) , she gave me good advice, and we parted with a hug and kiss. First time I've kissed a girl in a year or two. It wasn't bad. In any way. The lady who keeps my house from look- ing like a hovel, Evelyn, keeps bringing me corn and tarts and muffins. Gerry, the young guy who keeps my place from looking like a jungle, kept it looking like a well-bred jungle. Not a bad summer? Except. Except, i got word that my little brother had died. I'd thought of visiting him this fall, in England. Too late. Next Monday, Oct. 21, is nomination day in Ontario municipalities. The day signals the tuning of instruments fqi a prelude to the election day on Nov. 12 when the curtain will rise on the principal players on the municipal stage for the next three years. We in the audience have a vested interest in all acts of the play. Quite by accident, my continued and ex- pressed personal interest in municipal government in general and in local town and county councils in particular, has made a rather interesting municipal contradiction increasingly more visible. Municipal candidates are in the habit of telling us at election time that they welcome informed public interest and participation, that they promote greater direct accoun- tability, and how unfortunate it is that not more people attend council meetings. 1 am one person who has gone out of her way to become a reasonably well informed citizen in municipal matters. During my years on the town council, 1 have put my ef- forts where my mouth is. Since I left the council table, a great deal of my interest has continued and i have missed very few town or county council meetings. Often i have been the entire public at such meetings. However, I could not fail to notice that, in- stead of welcoming public interest in public matters with open arms - or at least accep- ting it as a good sport - quite a few municipal officials show evidence of perplexed an- noyance or even open hostility, particularly in the county circles. I can shrug it off and trot along on my modest mule, but we must be aware that less assured and dedicated citizens would'become discouraged. This column contains a message for the men and women who list their names next week, offering to represent us on the local council, in the county chambers, on the school boards (does anyone remember the Huron County Board of Education?) or the public utilities commission. Plan to solve the contradiction positively. Do not attempt to take the word "public" out of public representation, thinking that our attention can be put in mothballs after the election, to be aired a little every three years. it does not work like that. Public eyes will be on you, and rightly so, every day of the term of office. If you pretend, it will always show. From time to time you may hear "well done", but you will certainly have to earn it. You can count on criticism, as there is hard- ly a subject in our society or in our com- munity on which the entire population agrees. You will sometimes disagree with your colleagues. How will you handle criticism at either the receiving or the giv- ing end? How do you judge your readiness to deal with disagreements intelligently and in a businesslike spirit? My objective is not to dampen your en- thusiasm for elected office. It is to stimulate you to examine your motives, attitudes and abilities, in an attempt to reconcile them to ELBA HAYDON the realities of the position you seek. The subject of working on public display, under all kinds of pressures of controver- sies, and of living with being weighed, often criticized, is so basic and important that it ought to be on top of the list of every can- didate's considerations. I. find it surprising how many public office holders are not at ease with this important aspect of their work. What should be regard- ed as normal differences of opinion are often treated with elaborate and disruptive animosities, devoid of larger perspectives. It is necessary to separate issues and per- sonalities. Criticisn of a public official's perfor- mance is not a personal attack. Snarling at it will not frighten it away. Good reasoning, intelligently articulated, has a better chance of succeeding. Now is the time to work it all out in your mind; later you will not find many shoulders to cry on. We are familiar with the saying of having to take the heat once you enter the kitchen. By all means, step in, but be prepared.