Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-12-31, Page 4PAGE 4—GODJRICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1986 I have never been considered what the world would call "trendy". Whether it was related to fashion, music, vehicles, sayings, hair styles, television shows, movies, wine, food, shoes, home furnishings and appliances, I have always been a few decades behind.` Rather conservative in nature, I tend to dress simply, the way I want and feel comtor6anie wan. by Litt u111L; a Calc„ Lv the latest trend, it's been "out" for several years. Remember bell-bottomed jeans and long hair? Well, I was part of that craze, but well after -the -fact. In fact, I have just relented to having my hair cut around the ears, surrendering to the latest clean-cut look. I always let my hair cover half my ears fearing I would be mistaxen for a Volkswagen with open doors if the entire ear was left barren. DAVE SYKES So far, no-one has died of laughter. The problem is that trends, change so often, that it's difficult to keep up and as age ravages my cerebral bits, I tend not to v1 remember what is in and what is out. And I've often wondered who is given the divine power to decide such important matters for the masses. According to United Press International, North Americans are going back to simpler times and simpler pleasures. Peo- ple are making the best of the situation these days the news agency reports adding that the trend today is for old fashioned Today, mutual funds have given way to , gold investments; swinging singles and Club Med have given way to swing sets and family vacations to Disney World. Cocaine has been supplanted by cham- pagne; Paul Hogan is in and Sylvester Stallone is not and Joan Rivers has been easily replaced by stupid pet ticks in 1987. Poker is now_ back in fashion replacing trivia, blondes are no longer in vogue but redheads are in and Jane Fonda and Allan Alda are grudgingly giving way to Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis of television's Moonlighting show. Young people (actually people of all ages) no longer hang out in singles bars to meet that special someone but will in 1987 have a good chance of meeting a life part- ner in the local supermarket. Grocery shopping has now gone the way of the J116S1.GJ UQ/J R1d3.4 dldGlf ad ILW!. C1J 1LLlGl, IrV find a date in the supermarket as good broccoli. In 1987, Deathtongue ( whatever the hell that is) has been labelled as the likely replacement for. David Lee Roth and con- dos have grudgingly given way to old- fashioned houses. Thin crust pizza is the in food this year and the McDLT is on the downside while bikini briefs for men have given way to equality and boxer shorts for women. Calling home is 'now fashionable and San Antonio will now rate a distant second to the popular and exotic vacation destina- tion of Cleveland. Every comedian worth a laugh made a living off Cleveland jokes. Speaking of comedians, Hulk Hogan is out this year and Bruce Springsteen is while and the ultimate YUPPY vehicle, a Volvo, has dropped a notch below station wagons. If you drink caffeine in 1987 you will be in and ha fid holding has replaced one-night stands. LL will now oe lasnionaule Lo play bingo instead of backgammon and Sports Illustrated has replaced Playboy as the magazine to read. Executives are now into brown -bag lun- ches rather than expense account affairs and Fergie is the one to watch among the ro5qkl, 'set in 1987. In 1987, sensitive men have been replac- ed by fathers and ordinary folks is in. Now that's a trend I can handle. Opinioi THE NEWS PORT FOR GODERICH & DISTRICT SINCE 1848 the Gderich? } SIGNAL -STAR EST ALL POUND COMMUNITY NEWOPAPEP IN CANADA �Orck.,u, Cloys 3500 450010 C ^ A Bitter NewsP00 Cooineucun 5904 P.O. BOX EEO HUCKINS ET. INDUSTRIAL PARK I3®DERICH, ONT. N7A 4B6 PUBLISHED BY SIGNAL -STAR PUBLISHING LIMITED Founded In 1848 end published every Wednesday et Ocderlch, Ontario. Member of the CCNA end OCNA. BubecriptIone payable In advance $PP.00, (Senior Citizens 1$1B.CD privilege card number required) In Canada, 880.00 to U.B.A., $80.00 to e11 other oountrles, Bingle copies 800. Display, Notional and Classified advertising rates available on request. Please ask for Pete Card No. 1B effective October 1, 1986. Advertleing is eccepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the advertising apace occupied by the erroneous Item, together with the reasonably Momenta for signature, will not be charged for but that belanoe of the advertiesment w111 ba paid for et the appllosble rate. In the event of a typographical error advertising goods or services et a wrong prles, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising Is merely en offer to sell, end may be withdrawn et any time. The eipnaMBtar Is not responsible for the lose or damage of unsolicited ,manuscripts, photos or other ,naterlsle used for reproducing purposes. General Manager SHIRLEY J. KELLER Editor DAVE SYKES Advertising Manager DON HUBICK FOR BUSINESS OR EDITORIAL OFFICES...pleeee phone [619].!524-2614 Second class mail registration number 0716 Member: eNA ccri‘ (c) a ort=. shatters myth The most significant aspect of the Forget Commission's 526 -page report on unemploy- ment insurance was that UI payments actually help to cause and prolong some unemploy- ment among Canadian workers. For decades now, planners have sought to solve social ills in Canada by devoting ever- increasing amounts of taxpayers' dollars at them. Most believed that this was the only cor- rect, "progressive" path to take. Under this kind of thinking, the UI program in Canada has grown to $12 billion per year. Claude Forget, however, has shattered this myth. His report shows that some UI benefits are part of the problem, not the solution, and that many workers are entangled in this "safe- ty net". The report condemns the policy of providing 42 weeks of benefits for workers who are employe for only ten weeks because it encourages workers to take short-term jobs for the sole purpose of qualifying for benefits. Forget noted that workers who work for the minimum qualifying period of ten weeks tend to receive UI benefits for close to the max- imum duration. This indicates, said Forget, that "some of these workers are playing the system or that job creation programs and other make-work projects may be designed to qualify workers for Unemployment Insurance benefits". The report adds that "In regions with high unemployment any job and any public project to create jobs are reportedly viewed as, community1 resources' to be shared for 10 -week periods in order that as many as possible can qualify for UI benefits for the remainder of the year". The Forget report also noted that, instead of an insurance system, VI has unfortunately be "a kind of guaranteed weekly income or a temporary social assistance/income maintenance plan for those who can find at least 10 weeks of work". The disturbing link bet'Ween guaranteed incomes and higher unemployment has been pro- ven in other major studies. One well-documented American study showed that'guaranteed incomes decreased hours of work for single males by 43 per cent and much of that reduction resulted from men dropping out of the workforce altogether. In addition, UI creates incentives for workers to resist moving to areas where better jobs might be available. Such is the case in Atlantic Canada, which because Of generous UI benefits, has become in effect a poverty trap. Indeed, in the five years before the UI was ex- panded in 1971, there was a net out -flow of 58,000 people from the maritimes to higher employment areas, while in the five years afterward there was a net in -flow of 29,900. Other Canadian government statistics back up Forget's conclusions 'regarding UI. The job vacancy rate in Canada more than doubled after UI benefits were "liberalized" in 1971, from 5.5% in 1971 to 11.3% in 1973. Also, the number of voluntary quits increased sharply from 91,000 in 1970 to 255,000 in 1972. Unfortunately, although the report admitted that "on strict insurance principles, volun- tary quitters should not be eligible for benefits", it failed to recommend cutting them off. The federal department of employment, in its literature describing UI, likens it to fire in- surance. If so, paying benefits after a six-week period to a worker who quits his job is like making claims payment after a short delay to someone who has deliberately burned down his house. Despite this drawback, the Forget report represents what could be a major turning point in the history of social planning of this country. If the federal government has the political courage to act on its recommendations, it could take a decisive step toward healing our economy and reducing the substantial tax load on Canadians which in turn would bring about real job creation. 00 Bob % Ap v'7i' EAJ L/1',N'5URE E3EA75 //oLLoWJLO65,® l f I 0.... / ''''''':‘'i ai �. .�G / /U, ,:/7' '0,574aio/A. ;27'. -fir, ,,/� i%, (� CANAD • =SvPF� P_OS'- ..,>1Ya f d• • da44..0 ✓ r So, you think you've done it? With flying elbows and liberal use of your charge card, you got through the Christmas shopping season unscathed. Us- ing only a whip, chair and a referee's whis- tle, you managed to single-handedly con- trol the entire family assemblage under one roof on Christmas Day. You even dared venture from the relative calm of your own home on the weekend to return that flowered tie' or flourescent shirt your brother-in-law (the one who never did like you) gave you for a Christmas present. And now, you think you've done it - Unfortunately, no one has really surviv- ed the entire holiday season, until they have run the gaunlet of year-end revellers at the traditional New Year's Eve party. What's so tough about that, you ask? Simply •;how up at the (Party? Dance? Dogfight? Pick one), eat too much,, drink Pharmacists express concern Dear Editor: I have received a number of calls from small pharmacists in the area expressing concern over the effect they feel the new provincial drug legislation will have on their businesses and on their ability to compete with larger pharmacies. Perhaps the follow- ing will help to clear up some of the misconceptions surrounding this issue: The Ontario Drug Benefit Act (Bill 54) and the Prescription Drug Cost Regulation Act (Bill 55) came into effect on December 1, 1986, marking the beginning of greater con- sumer protection and more realistic drug prices. As a result, both the government, through the drug benefit plan, and cash customers, paid artificially high prices on some drugs. This new law will help solve both problems. Ontario Health Minister Murray Elston also announced that a new, expanded formulary has been published and distributed to pharmacists. In the months to come, the Government will examine other areas of ODB policy, namely, Special Authorization for non- formulary drugs, oxygen reimbursement, and most important of all, the subject of ap- propriate drug utilization. The latter is a major concern since last year, despite a "frozen" formulary and dispensing fee structure, because program growth remain- ed at an unacceptably high percent. LETTERS elimination of the "price spread" are ex- pected to be largely consumed by the addi- tion of new single -source benefits and by price increases of . some existing benefits whose listed costs has been the same since January 1985. Finally, it must be pointed out to concern- ed pharmacists and consumers that the Best Available Price (BAP) pricing concept was developed and promoted by the Ontario Pharmacists' Association. It was understood by the drug wholesalers who supported the BAP concept that it would ad- dress carrying charges such as those levied by the wholesale distributors. This has had a considerable effect on the government's drug pricing plans. The new law will ensure that all pur- chasers of drug products are able to buy the same quantity at the same price, with no disadvantage to wholesalers, independent pharmacists or other groups. The drug cost mechanism in the new legislation is different than originally pro- posed by the government. One concern the government has had from the beginning is that a rigid definition in the Act itself might limit flexibility in dealing with unforeseen If the Government is to continue providing marketplace issues as the system adjusts to universal coverage for approved drugs to the new legislation. %� seniors at no charge, or to consider expan- The viability of independent sten of eligibility or benefits (in a program The financialies is thepriority of the 'govern - now costing about $500 million a year to P g assist Only 15 percent of the population), ment. In the event that a pharmacy pro - then we must bring the drug plan under con- vides evidence of an inability to purchase a trol. To stress this point, "savings" from the drug product at the ODB reimbursed price, the pharmacists may claim acquisition cost under subsection 6 (3) of the ODB Act. Similiarly, the independent pharmacist will be able to establish a unique "usual and customary" fee in the cash market in order to address individual (feeds. The Government is convinced that the regulations under the new Acts will strengthen the pricing mechanism and eliminate past weaknesses in the system. Proclamation of the legislation and provi- sion of an updated Formulary should resolve a number of related issues that have been with us for several years. The Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the situation closely immediately after proclamation, and will discuss any significant issues with representatives of the profession and the industry as has been their practice in the past. I hope the above information will help to allay some of the concerns expressed to my office regarding the drug pricing legislation. Jack Riddell, M.P.P. Huron -Middlesex Minister of Agriculture and Food CIVIC C®RNEF Huron County Council will meet at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 8 in the Council Chambers of the Goderich Court House. The Huron County Board of Health will meet at the close of Session on January 8 in the Council Chambers of the Goderich Court House. too much, talk to much —then go home and prepare for football and hangovers the next day. Sounds simple right? Then you've ob- viously forgotten what happened last year. Let me refresh your memory. You arrived at the gathering and were immediately informed by your host the people you parked behind are leaving, so you must go back and move your car, behind which three other people have miraculously managed to park while you were en route to the door step. , After making your second entrance, you are greeted by a group of people you have recently cut off your Christmas card list because you haven't heard from them in years. You really mustkeep in touch; they tell you. Inevitably you will e i punter another group of seldom -seen acquaintances, who will remind you: you're still gaining weight, you're hairline is still receeding, ll n you're still smoking, you're ving that old junk heap and you still owe them that five bucks you don't remember bor- rowing. Put these people on your list to receive a flowered tie or flourescent shirt next Christmas. Don't make the mistake of asking these people about their New Year's resolutions. They are all 'giving up smoking. 'The tob- bacco industry takes a terrible annual beating during the first week of each year. Tommorrow, they will all add giving up drinking to their list, but by then, it will be too late. As the hour drew closer to midnight, and consequently to the new year, the gather- ing beeame more and more boisterous. Having gotten into the spirit sof things at some point, you undoubtably: sang your from this angle Patrick Raftis solo accapella version of Auld Lang Syne, told a number of completely tasteless or barely funny jokes, danced the Bird Dance, or performed a partial or complete strip tease. You will almost certainly be in - vited to do a repeat performance this year. Don't give in. Remember how embarrass- ed you felt the next day? Upon hearing someone shout "Happy New Year!" you immediately made the rounds of the gathering, kissing, hugging, or shaking hands with all and sundry, only to discover it was still half -an -hour to mid- night. Then you had to go through the whole thing again 30 minutes later. This year, wear a watch. Actually, in retrospect, some of this stuff was kind of fun. After all what would a New Year's Eve bash be like without at least a few well-timed gaffes and blunders? There's really only one seasonal ' blunder that can't be tolerated after an evening of over -indulgence — to drive home. So, what the heck, go to the party and have a happy, and safe, New Year.