The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

PL AY RI 2 ML ARIAT BACAR EA LRN Ror FR J . Me e "a : RA Se A Asi AT dL a ; SERRA DE rh Sa EO RFA A LORY WY RNIN RISEN AR SN IN RIS 4 N\ MP's Salary Hike Ai ' It is hard not to be just a trifle cynical after 0% learning last week that federal members of Parlia- ment voted themselves a salary hike amounting to 31 per cent. A backbencher will now earn a minimum salary of $40,200 and on top of that will enjoy a tax-free expense allowance of $14,400 each year. The salary increases automatically because of cost of living adjustments. A salary and expense account of $50,000 is really nothing to get excited about these days. After all, a third rate NHL hockey player pulls down three times that much at least. Most of our MPs are men and women of talent and education, who as they so often claim, would be earning at least that much if employed in middle and senior executive positions in the private sector. Fair enough. . But as NDP member Stanley Knowles commented, the public perception is that there is too much of a gap between what an MP earns and what the average Canadian earns. And no matter how hard an MP works, how dedicated he or she may be to the citizens of the constituency, 31 per cent in one year is too much of an increase. But probably what galls Canadians more than - anything when they learn of the money the MPs earn is the fact that Parliament doesn't seem to be having much success running the vital affairs of the country. Canada has been lurching from one crisis to another, the latest of course, being the national postal strike. What are the MPs doing to actually earn their salaries? Conservative House Leader Walter Baker, who staunchly defended the increases, said the salary of an MP should not be too high or too low, but should be "neutral."' : We can't help but wonder how that line would wash when average Canadians go to their employers and say "We'd like a neutral increase this year of 31 per cent." More than anything, what is wrong with the latest BAD yEAR FOR BUGS It should be pointed out that Scugog council does not have the authority to order the dump shut at noon on Saturdays. That is a decision that would have to be made by Durham Region. But if Scugog council wants the dump closed early, it's unlikely Durham would not go along with the request. There's no doubt that shutting the dump early on Saturdays would take getting used to by Township residents. However, a little public relations would go closed at noon are simple enough: it might help to extend the life expectancy of the site as Saturday afternoon seems to be a popular time for large commercial trucks from the south of the Region to unload their garbage in Scugog Township. Dumps in southern Durham close at noon on Saturdays. Because the Scugog dump is owned and operated by Durham Region, commercial garbage collectors anywhere in the Region have the right to dump in fi : Scugog by paying the tonnage fee. a long way in smoothing over the move. ix pay increase is the timing and the fact that However, there are already warnings that the - If 3 large notice was posted at the dump for several Tre Parliament seems to strangle when dealing with Scugog dump is filling up at a rapid rate. Once it is weeks before the noon closing came into effect, most 0; legislation of truly national importance. filled, Township residents may be faced with greater people would be aware of it, and there is not too much a costs for getting rid of garbage if it has to be trucked chance that a resident would show up at the dump EN to a site in Newcastle, Whitby or elsewhere. with a truck or car filled with trash, only to find a 447: Ma kes Sen Se Last year, about 9600 tons of garbage went into the lock on the gate. 5 Scugog dump. At this rate the dump will be filled in Finding a suitable site to get rid of garbage is a A Scugog council should give very careful consider- six years. A reduction in the rate to 7000 tons per major headache for municipalities. everywhere. ation to the suggestion from Mayor Jerry Taylor that the garbage dump west of Port Perry be closed at noon on Saturdays, rather than 4:00 p.m. which is the year will extend the life of the dump by three years. It is expected that the weigh scales installed this year will help to reduce the rate to 7000 tons yearly, Scugog Township is going to have to face the problem sooner or later, and it won't be easy or cheap. If a relatively insignificant move like shutting the = -- << EE -- Fon en d oR nt UF present closing hour. but discouraging commercial dumping may help dump four hours earlier on Saturdays can extend the i Mayor Taylor's reasons for wanting the dump even more. : life of the site, then it should be done. fi MORE ABOUT THE NORTH There are three ways of getting to Moosonee. You can fly, which is expensive. You can walk, which is lengthy, or you can take the train, which is something else. I took the train because I was a bit broke after a major decorating job, because my gout was acting up and I couldn't have made it walking in two years, and because I wanted the experience. It was an experience I will never forget. Or repeat. When I think that my daughter made the same trip two years ago, with two small boys, my heart bleeds for her. It's almost twenty-four hours from Toronto, and she refused to get sleeping berths, against my advice. But she's a very adaptable, strong- hearted and generally clear-headed young woman, and has made not only a go of it, but a success of coping with a frontier town, if there's such a thing left in Canada. At Cochrane, you change from a fast trans Canada train to the self-styled Polar Bear Express, somewhat of a misnomer, as it has nothing to do, even peripherally, with polar - bears, and is the exact opposite of an express. It stops whenever it feels like it, backs up for a while, sits for a while, then jogs off again. - Sitting in a coach surrounded by fat, middle-aged Indian ladies who chuckled and gossiped in Cree, I felt much like a Russian aristocrat who had been banished to Siberia for supposedly plotting against the Czar. The train rolled on hour after hour through the taiga, skinny evergreens too useless bill smiley even for pulpwood, burnt-out patches every so often, snow out both windows, and no sign of human life. All we needed was a samovar at the end of the coach and the Siberian image would have been complete. But a warm welcome, with some hugs and kisses from grandboys, dispelled the first impressions. There seems little real reason for Moosonee to exist, except that it is the end of steel. Yet it's a thriving little town, with all the requisites: 'liquor store, post office, police station, churches, The Bay store, with a monopoly on most food and clothing, a meat market, two hardware stores, one garage, a Mac's Milk sort of place, a Chinese restaurant, magnificent schools, a really splendid small art gallery featuring the works of Indian artists, and three taxis. What more could a man want? Well, maybe a poolroom. Or a massage parlor. Or a movie house. But these are sybaritic. southern frills. No violent movie could take the place of a dash across the mighty Moose - River just before break-up, with the water flying as though you were a ship in a stiff gale. It's an odd community, geographically. It looks as though God or somebody had flown over the place, dumped a few handfuls of buildings, and let them fall where they might. I can find my way around in most major cities, but I was constantly getting lost in Moosonee. Something else that made me wonder was what people did for a living. There is no industry, yet everybody seems to have money. Nobody looks even vaguely hungry. Perhaps it's a matter of taking in each other's washing. But I have a suspicion that if all the government. money, railway, liquor store, schools, police, welfare, old age pensions, baby bonuses and so on were suddenly withdrawn, the place would collapse, and be remembered as a sort of rough-hewn Camelot. There is, of course, the tourist industry, but that's pretty negligible except for a couple of months in summer, and during goose-hunting season. On the other hand, the government was left with a pretty sizable investment, and - has used it with some common sense. The town used to be an army base, and many of the buildings have been put to use as schools, housing, administrative offices. Better than leaving them to rot. For example, the houses on the base are now rented to teachers and other officials. The barracks are used to house the Indian kids from Moose Factory, across the river, in spring and fall, when it's unsafe to cross the river. The recreation building is used for school-rooms. It still has a bowling alley. There is a curling rink, where kids also learn to skate. At the school there is a fine cafeteria, with food that would make the _ habituees of our school cafeteria drool. But this is to sound like a travelogue, not my intention. I had a grand visit with my only daughter, without the _constant interruptions of her mother. I played chess with my grandson, 7, and barely - escaped with my hide. Twice he forced me to stalemate, instead of check- mate, a humiliating experience. And I played without mercy, regardless of age. Most days I picked up the other little guy 5, at his daycare, and he gave me direct! ons for home when I got lost. I got through six novels in six days, and didn't mark a single exam paper. That's what I call a holiday. We had music, and read poetry, and played dominoes, .and ate like kings. I ripped off three graceful Moosonee geese, handcrafted by the natives. And 1 came home with a better sunburn than confreres who went south for their holiday. i -------------- nE-- Seer --------