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It's Anybody's Guess We are now in the final week of the government, leaving the NDP federal election with the outcome holding the balance of power. still so undecided and confused that Should the Liberals form such a it's almost impossible to figure out minority, we think Mr. Trudeau's what is going to happen next days would be numbered as their Tuesday. leader. Should Joe Clark and the Amazingly enough, in spite of al PCs win by a narrow margin, he their work from coast to coast, probably would be given a year or neither Pierre Trudeau nor Joe two to determine if he makes a Clark appear to have made much better Prime Minister than an headway in attracting support. And election campaigner. Then, if he Ed Broadbent wasn't gaining much doesn't shape up, he too might be attention until The Toronto Star replaced efore another election, gave him some help with their Whatever happens, it is unlikely amazing endorsation. What that will that there is going to be a strong mean in votes and seats is central government to deal with something else again, because we Canada's many problems in the hear Ed may even be having trouble months ahead. Minority in his home riding, which we doubt. governments tend to avoid making It's a difficult election to analyse harsh decisions that are needed as and the results may well depend they try toaccommodate everybody much more so than usual on the to hang onto power. quality and popularity of local However, we Canadians have candidates. survived through many diffculties Frankly, it looks at the moment and hopefully, we shah be able to like a dead heat or cliff hanger that cope with whatever comes next could go either way into a minority week. Lived Up The Great Political Debate on Sunday night prime time was a clear cut victory for television, attracting an estimated audience of six million electors: which at this stage of the federal campaign should result in a large voter turnout next Tuesday. The advance promotional publicity was extensive and effective, the format professional and the three main participants put on a good show, the like of which hasn't been seen before in Canada. We were proud of the part played by the newsmen whose questions were pertinent and provocative. And the moderator, who bore a close resemblance to Johnny Carson, did an excellent job of controlling the combatants while not restricting the interchanges. Frankly, we doubt if the debate will change anybody's voting plans. Viewers will tend to think that the leader they favored before the debate lived up to their expectations because there were no clear winners. Ed Broadbent might be considered a winner because on his own, he could never attract an audience of six million to espouse his NDP policies, so the debate gave him a forum and he played it well as an equal with the leaders of the two major political parties. Trudeau showed his skill and experience as the Prime Minister who knew his facts and had done his homework. He kept his cool and certainly didn't lose any ground by his performance. Joe Clark still has a long way to go before his image can match the other two. He came across as a Minimum wage laws tend to be counterproductive; by drying up job opportunities, they hurt the very people who are supposed to be helped In the most wage-sensitive sectors of the economy such as tourism, minimum wages that are set too high can damage the national economy by boosting costs which, in turn, scare off foreign visitors and encourage Canadians to look abroad for their next vacation. Part of the reason our dollar has depreciated in value is that we are not earning the tourist dollars we should be earning. The evidence suggests strongly that minimum wages across Canada are too high. The federal minimum wage is now $2.90 an hour. In most provinces the minimum wage is $3 an hour, ranging from a low in Newfoundland of $2.50 to a high of $3.47 in Quebec. In Ontario, the minimum wage is currently $3 an hour for most job categories, and $3.25 for construction workers. Students must be paid at least $2.15, to Billing rookie by comparison, but showed that he has the potential by holding his own and getting in quite a few digs that were impressive. He was a bit fuzzy at times in explaining how he would balance the budget by cutting taxes and providing make work programs. Both Trudeau and Broadbent rapped him on that election promise. But, Joe looked confident and we doubt if he lost any real ground by his performance. All in all, it was good enlighten- ing entertainment and even had its exciting moments. Next time round, it would be even better for the voting public if there could be two or three debates in the weeks prior to an election. One was hardly conclusive. Possibly the most confusing aspect of the debate was that it was entirely in English and, we understand, was carried on the English networks, but not on the French network. At least we haven't heard that French Canadians were given the opportunity to see and hear it. We find it difficult to understand why some consideration wasn't given to those French speaking citizens in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada who have a vote on Tuesday and would be justified in feeling slighted by being excluded. Frankly, we are surprised that Mr. Trudeau would condone such a discriminatory situation. Possibly the others wouldn't agree to participate in a debate in both language where Mr. Trudeau would definitely have more flexibility than they would. We just don't know why it happened that way, but it does seem rather odd. waiters and waitresses in licensed lounges $2.50 an hour. Even Quebec, whose socialist Parti Quebecois government made much of the need to increase the minimum wage and have it indexed to the cost of living, has had to back down in the face of statistics which show that the higher minimum wages have been costing the province between 25,000 and 42,000 jobs in the past two years alone. Legislators must realize that minimum wages cannot be raised to the point where they become a decisive factor in whether or not an employer hires more workers. People who cannot get jobs end up, for some period of time at least, on the public dole. It would be far better for their pride and their morale, and for the public treasury, if they had access to productive, paying jobs. The fanciest minimum wage is of no use to them if they can't find a job. -(St. Catharines Standard) Good Golf Follow Through Sugaran'S e Year of the Child y So this is the Year of the Child. Well, you can have it. And them. Our society is breaking up fast. First, in the 60's, the teenagers took over. They got into drugs and politics and violence and dropping out and communes and health food and free love and ripping-off the government and driving their parents to drink and depression. Then we got into Women's Liberation Movement. Raucous and intelligent women trying to upset a perfectly good system that has been working well, on the whole, for about 20,000 years. We should never have given them the vote back in '21, or whenever. They have wrecked family life, population growth, and the economy y their ridiculous demands. They have psychologically castrated their husbands and turned the occasional kid they had into a whining brat who thinks that love and whatever else he wants are more important than a good whack on the bum. They have sent the unemployment rate soaring by sailing into the job market in their hundreds of thousands. Just because they have high skills or a university degree, they think and say, quite openly and without shame, that they should be considered on the same level as, or even higher than, a Grade 10 dropout male who can barely tie his shoelaces. Sheer arrogance. They have wrecked the educatinal system by refusing to remain baby factories. This has caused rapidly falling enrollment in our schools and a lack of jobs for male teachers, whose wives are among the worst examples of tiny families and hitting the job market. And now it's the year of the kids. There are series on child-battering in the papers, articles about one- parent children, and even child symposiusms in which the little turkeys are asked to comment on how their parents should behave, what's wrong with the world, what freedoms they should have, and any other inane question a srharmy, patronizing interviewer can think up. We are smothered by stuff from the media abo't children: day-care centres, inner city schools (slums), special education, gifted children, obscene T-shirts for kids. We are harassed and harangued by priests who have never had a child and social workers up to their ears in stale psychiatry and politicians who know that kids can't vote, but grab the coat-tails of any issue that receives media attention. And what good is all this going to do the kids? Not much. They'll go right on doing what they've always done: dreaming, fighting, playing, being the happy, morose, belligerent, shy, cruel, gentle, brilliant, slow, and utterly delightful little animals they've always been. In Canada they'll be over-fed, over-spoiled and over here. In Africa they'll be over-starved, over- Sopulated and over there. And in th places they'll be over-loved with that weird, irrational love of children that prevails throughout the world, civilized or uncivilized. Oh, a few laws might be passed, and many resolutions approved. But the drunken mother or father who beats a child will go on doing so. The ultra-permissive parents will go on turning out monstrous teenagers. The over-protective parents will go on turning out still more monstrous teenagers. But the great mass of kids in this Year of the Children will be much like every other generation: curious, resentful of things that they don't understand, ready to fight to death for ideals, gradually conforming and compromising to the realities of life, and going on to become monstrous parents themselves. Now I don't speak from the seat of the Old Philosopher, or any such hypocritic elevation. I recently had a visit from my Grandboys. I speak first-hand. It was Easter weekend, and we're still scraping chocolate off the woodwork and picking up squashed jelly-beans and ripped rabbits' ears. But is was a great weekend. That marvellous alchemist, Time, has wrought a great change in them. They are becoming personal friends, instead of sibling rivals. The destruction was down about 800 per cent. True, Nickov kicked a ball into a collection of Doulton figurines, but nothing was broken, I took the ball away, and he didn't even have a tantrum. But the TV is still working. A few doorknobs are missing, but not all of them, as on previous visits. They can eat without bibs, though Balind did get about 80 grams of relish and ketchup down his front when managing a hot dog. However, he's only two and has a grin that would disarm the devil. And he said something that so shook me that I went down in a faint, and my old lady had to pick me up. I'd plunked a peanut-butter and honey sandwich in front of him, and he said, "Thank you, Grandat", as casually as though I were a waiter. I'd never heard either of them say "Please" or "Thank you" before. They didn't sprinkle even one can of powder, mixed with toothpaste, on the hardwood floors. They didn't break a single window. They didn't anoint the TV with cold cream. They took off their muddy boots when they came in, instead of marching over the Indian rug. And when I said, "Don't wreck my typewriter," or something of the sort, they didn't blurt, " . . . you,"; they said, "Ok, Grandat," or something of the sort. Maybe this Year of the Children has something going for it, a whole lot more than Sixties Sulks of Women's Lib Nerve-Wracking. But when is the Year of the Man? I hope I'm around long enough to enjoy it. Bowmanville, Ont. May 10, 1979 To the Editor and Readers: "ANGELS WITHOUT PORTFOLIO Did that ttile catch your eye? Read On. Did you know there is quite a band of angels without portfolio in Bowmanville and The Township of Newcastle? No? Well have you strolled along Temperance St. Be- tween Temperance and Queen? Just an office there. A humble, ordinary office it co-ordinates a large and growing band of angels with- out portfolio! People showing caring concern for others and doing something about it. Much joy and happiness has been brought into the lives of lonely people. There is a sta- tistic around, showing that much of our society's pro- blems stem from that one feel- ing emotional loneliness or actual, factual loneliness! -Angels Without Portfolio" - office workers, clients and volunteers, all are of this Band. Won't YOU join this band of happy people? Join by giving of your time (maybe a hair-appointment-time), the cost of a one hair-do? There is no morale-booster of course like a fresh a hair-do? Much of our drivers' time is given to just this type of service. And here's a spot where the hair- dressers may take wing! They might on slack days go to some shutin person who hasn't had a hair-do in a long, long time. What an abundance of satisfaction to see a drab, sad face light up when faced in the mirror by their own well- groomed tresses! What a P.R. gimmick as well. No one loses anything and so much gained. The happiness rebounding on those who do this gives a beauty that far exceeds a slick hair-do. It catches the eves and hearts of others, who on enquiring, want to get in the act too! So much happiness from helping sameone who feels 'down' to find their own talent for happiness. Such a relief for some to have a kindly person visit or phone, to listen and talk to them. Confidentiality is as- sured of course. "Angels", with or without portfolio are never gossips - just people who care about people. "Care and concern for one another." Isn't that what living, REALLY living is all about? Of course it is! These Angels without port- folio may be taken from among us. Angels often are whisked off because of lack of appreciation. We are speaking of Com- munity Care. Their grant may not be renewed unless we let it be KNOWN and SHOWN, how much we value and appreciate the wonderful chain reaction of helping people to help themselves and. others; in a practical way of writing to The Ministry of Social Ser- vices at Queen's Park, by giving of our Selves and substance and time to assist a Govt. - service already heavi- ly burdened by some who do not care about helping people to help themselves! Be an angel, join our Band! Gratefully your, Volunteer and Client, Mrs. R.A. Lilley General Delivery Bowmanville, Ont. Oakville, Ont. May 8, 1979 The Canadian Statesman, B.0, Box 190, Bowmanville, Ont., LIC 3K9. Dear Sir: Please find enclosed cheque for $10 to renew the paper for another year. I still enjoy getting it as it keeps me up to date on all the Bowmanville news. Thanking you, Yours truly, Mrs. Mary B. Rogers May 8, 1979 Mr. John M. James, Editor, Canadian Statesman, 62 King Street W., Bowmanville, Ont. Dear Mr. James: On behalf of the Big Brother association of Newcastle, I would like to express our appreciation for your support during the "Bowl for Millions" annual campaign. The purpose of this cam- paign is first to make people more aware of the fact that volunteer Big Brothers are urgently needed, and second to raise the necessary funds to carry out the Big Brother program through 1979. The support of your staff in their capacity as writers and photographers contributed much to the success of this event. Yours sincerely, Lionel Parker President After purchasing a new toaster, Mrs. M. W. was annoyed to find the same model on sale for $5.00 less in another store. Feeling "ripped off" she called the local office of Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada to complain. Many complaints received from consumers concern the prices charged by retailers. These consumers believe that there is a set price for items offered for sale in retail stores. Wage Too High