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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1977, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitby Voice of the County Town Michael 1 SERVING OVER 28,000 READERS lan Burgess, Publisher-Managifng Editor -Brian VVIPt~' CommuflltY Editor -Jim Quail -Marie Bur9GSS Published every Wednesday Çontributing Editor Production Manager Print & Promotiona' by M.B.M. Publishing Manager and Photography Inc classified Ad Manager Phone 668-6111 Circulation Manager Mailing Permi The Free Press Building, Member 121 Brock Street North, Better Business Bu P.O. Box 206. Whitby, Ont. Whitby Chamber -marj Burgss -Robin Lyon -S. van Deelen' --sharoi t No. 46 r of the: ureau of of Comrr n 60 Toront merce The only Whitby newspaper independeritly owned and operated by VhtDy residentsir UI YIIynu eicf ~R~I Too much French; let's be literate in English first Dear Sir, Some people are pressuring the Ontario govern- ment claiming MORE FRENCH SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN CLASS - antoher example of their over indulgence in pedantry. Such drivel -- especi- ally the parting shot,quote "Buckpasser Tom Wells will hear from this corner again on the subject until he reverses course or confirms his intentions" etc. Speaking French in Onario or anywhere else in Canada - the "in" thing for some elitists will in no way change the minds of Levesque and his separ- atist followers. They have said repeatedly that they could care less about the use of French outside Quebec. Have we learned nothing in the last year? Ontario Francophones have been given $300, 000.00 by Ottawa to push for more French in Onario while Ottawa itself is considering spending the lions share of $75 MILLION to defeat Bill 101 and its use of French in Quebec. Instead of Trudeau and his band of French speaking cabinet ministers taking a stand themselves on the matter, they are searching for Anglophones an immigrants to lead the charge against Levesque. (bwards all! We have fish in one province and foul in the other. If Bill 101 is unlawful and contrary to the Federal Statutes it should be challenged in the courts by Ottawa not left to the plebians-the pawns of the politicians and power brokers. With Quebec there are no winner-just two losers. Instead of pushing Onario educators into more French classes and making French mandatory in Ontario Universities they might take a look at turning out students who are literate in English first. TWO recent studies-one at McGill University and one in Kitchener college showed that aMAJOR -ITY of students were illiterate in English. They could not compose nor read properly in English. Although we in Ontario have spent millions teach- ing French, Quebec is closer to separation. Enough is enough! In the face of such evidence and the fact that English is the language of commerce the world over-we should learn English properly before em- barking on frivilous French. Spanish is the second largest used language in the Western Hemisphere. More than 10 million in the U.S. and Cuba speak Spanish. The second language in the two largest countries in the world, China and Soviet Russia with a combined population of overONE BILLION is English-not French. The Star's remarks that "a. pessimist might take Russian; an optornist would surely take French." Nonsense! I took several years of French in high school which did absolutely nothing in training me for a job in the outside world. Where are the shoemakers, mechanics and trades- men this country really needs? We turn out "hanguage learners" with M.A.'s - B.A.'s and Phds, who are "overqualified" for most jobs and end up professional students, or on unemployment or., welfare. Over 50 per cent of our property taxes go for education, yet a recent Gallup poll listed education as the worst value of all government services-even ahead of our traditionally poor postal service. Garbage collection, Fire, Police, and Medicare scored ahead of education. The fault lies with the bureaucrats and politicians father than the teacher themselves. No matter how many french- speaking Anglophones we turn out, the jobs will go to the French with little training in English.Ottawa has shown this to be the case with Air Canada and other public services. The Anglos are now being denied their share of bilingual positions. JE ME SOUVIENS. We too remember! Dean J. Kelly, President, Association of Dedicated Canadianls Box 1000[ ~Port Perry, Ontario IBird s View Eye by Jin Quail The rain was desperately trying to turn to snow as I stood at the side of the truck getting soaked and trying to figure which foot to stick in which groove first before I drowned. The rain collecting and running off the roof was drenching me when I made what I figured was my first move and with a series of manouveurs I actually fell into the cab or Astro cab of a buddy's truck. For years I have been promising a friend of mine, Bill MacDonald, that I would accompany him on one of his many trips across Canada. Bill is a broker for North Am- erican van lines and works out of the Coleman Moving and Storeage prernises in Oshawa. Being a broker means he owns his own truck - at least the tractor part of it - and the trailer is owned by Colernan's. So when somebody gets word from his boss that he 's. transferred to Winnipeg, or Vancouver or Moncton there's a good chance Bill will be taking the family possessions in his truck. Bill sometimes has a relief driver, sometines his wife Shirley accompanies him and his last trp I was fortupate to find the time to go with Bill to Halifax. I couln't believe I was actually going until I had ny suit- case packed and I was standing by Bill's truck in the rain trying to figure out how to get up into the cab which seemed to be looming a couple of stories above me. In des- peration and the fear of drowning in the pouring rain I made it up into the cab and as we puled away I noticed two things. The first thing I noticed was that long distance trucks to- day are not like the ones I remember of years ago. The cab of Bill's truck was beautifully finished off in a kind of deep red suede material with reclining seats, curtains for the bunk or "sleeper", stereo am-fm radio, 8 track tape deck, tele- vision, night reading lights and air conditioning. After stowing my ger in the cab I looked out the wind- shield and realized anybody afraid of heights shouldn't be in that truck. Cars looked to very far below and even most other trucks weren't as high as we seemed to be sitting. And as Bill went through the six gears I was sure I was sit- ting in a G.O. Bus. The sound of the diesel was exactly the same. Bill explained that his truck has a "fuel squeezer" engine which was a 350 cubic inch v-8 diesel. The engine in his truck is the same cubic inch displacement as my car but my car engine has only to haul about 4 - 5000 pounds as opposed to the 25 -30,000 pounds Bill might have to haul. I must admit that little engine sure seemed to be doing the job and the bonus for Bill is only six gears to shift and reasonably good fuel mileage. The second thing I noticed as I was noticing all the a- bove things is that my eyeballs were having some difficulty focussing. I suddenly realized it was because I seemed to be bouncing up and down in my seat and yet when I looked over at Bill he seemed to be sitting fairly still. On closer ex- amination I discovered that Bill's seat has a special con- struction that allowed it free movement up and down on hinges and there was an air shock absorber to cushion the bumps. Naturally my seat had no such refinements and the reason my eyeballs wouldn't focus is because I was bouncing up and down so much it was very difficult to focus on any- thing for very long. It was almost like being on a ride at the C.N.E. only I realized the ride wouldn't end until we got to Halifax. Of course eventually I got used to it and as we headed out on- to the 401 I began to look forward to not only a relaxing trip but to seeing the east coast for the first time. Rolling down the highway eastward bound I also noticed that big trucks take up a lot more space between the yellow land lines and two or three times I sucked in my right arm as we passed a car or truck because I was sure we were going to sideswipe. Of course we didn't because Bill is a safe and experienced driver but it was still a while before I could break the habit of gasping and sucking in my right arm as we passed. And then, with all the jolts and bumps and the excit- ment of heading out to the east coast in an 18 wheeler, I made my last major discovery while we headed eastward bound with a couple of hundred gallons of fuel in the saddle tanks and no reason to stop till we got at least to Montreal. five or six hours away. My discovery.... 18 wheelers have stereos, t.v. 's, custom upholstered sleepers and climate control and you naime it BUT they don't have a washroom on board. Joîn me next week as I discover the east coast, sore kidneys and ail. r- Send letters to Box 206 Whitby, Ont. iqqàmm itý,, 0 0 4'w à '0 Jrý*