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a = A------------------ ------ = letters LIF ALN 4 iid Fal Ted LL on Ay ad NLL vesy FA TE BIE {RY a, a J . Fate AIS y ¥ 4 i A { } v : CERI GATE SEE AREEE HY FISTS FER ASS ARE EE TEAR SE HO Library issue a hornets nest Dear Sir: By mentioning the library in last week's editorial, you are meddling with a hornets nest. I do not believe that anyone disagrees with your claim that it is a lovely building in a beautiful setting, but a waterfront location is a beautiful setting for any building, even a back- house. My contention is that the erection of buildings of any kind, public or private, on potential park land with a water- front setting is wrong. It is ecologically wrong for our country and econ- omically wrong for our town to obliterate a lake front environment with buildings. Tourism is our most important industry and should and could be further devel- oped. Why our mayor and some of his council- lors with the support of the local Chamber of Commerce condoned and supported the use of waterfront parkland as a location for a building is beyond my compre- hension. The library building, as lovely as it is, will not attract a single tourist to this area during its life span but a properly cared for park will attract thou- sands over the same period. A library is established for the use of the local population. Ours could have provid- ed that service more appropriately in a more central location. How- ever, it is gratifying to know that patronage of the library has increa- sed in its new surround- (Turn to page 6) ' i vr J Sh rge whilpidiea ium oh PORT PERRY STAR -- Tues. October 18, 1983 -- 5 the PORT PERRY STAR CO LIMITED 735 QUEEN STREET PO 80X90 PORT PERRY ONTARIO LO8 INO (416) 98% 738) oO (*cha J. PETER HVIDSTEN Publisher Advertising Manager SE Cn =] Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and Ontario Community Newspaper Association Published every Tuesday by the Port Perry Star Co Ltd Port Perry Ontario J.B. McCLELLAND Editor Authorized as second class mail by the Post Office EN com cnt one Department. Ottawa and for cash payment of postage in cash Second Class Mail Registration Number 0265 Subscription Rate: In Canada $15.00 per year Elsewhere $45.00 per year. Single copy: 35* bill smiley GLOOMY TIMES Canadians are in a bad mood these days. Not bad in the sense of angry or ugly. Bad in the sense of gloomy, depressed. And not without reason. After riding a post-war boom, with industry thriv- ing, new money coming in, new opportunities opening up, and a general sense that the man might be right after all, that the 20th century did belong to Canada, we have skidded to a low that hasn't been touched for decades. Trouble is, during that boom, we grew accustom- ed to affluence and a measure of ease, and we weren't built to cope with that. We were a rather dour, indepen- dent, sturdy people, far more used to battling for an ex- istence than lying around enjoying life. We just couldn't cope with the ideas: that we would get a raise in pay every year; that practically everybody could own a house or car or both; that there was a job for everybody; that we might even be able to borrow money from the bank in a pinch. All of these were alien to our Canadian experience, which had always maintained that life was real and earnest, that fun was almost sinful, and that if things were going well, you kept your fingers crossed and knocked on wood. Those of us who had grown up during the Depres- sion, of course, never believed for a minute that the pro- sperity would last. We went around like so many Jeremiahs, warning the young of the horrors to come, when the bubble burst and boring them to death with tales of our own impoverished youth. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, the boom didn't end with a bang but a whimper. We Cassandras of gloom were scoffed at. There were still plenty of jobs. Everybody could go to college, on loans and grants. Everybody really needed a sum- mer cottage or a ski chalet or two cars or three snowmobiles. The banks would lend money to anyone who didn't have two heads, and the loan companies look- ed after them. The Canadian dollar was buoyant, and we were a little sickly glad when the Yanks had to pay a dollar and five cents for a Canadian dollar's worth. If you were temporarily between jobs, unemploy- ment insurance was easy to get and fairly generous. If you were really strapped, you could go on welfare and sit home watching TV. If you got sick, hospital in- surance looked after all the bills. Gas for the car and fuel for the furnace and food for the belly were cheap and plentiful. And then the rot set in, slowly. A touch of mould here, a cockroach crawling there. Strike after strike after strike made us one of the world's most unstable industrial countries. As a result, capital investment began to dry up. Another effect was that many of our manufactured products had priced themselves out of the world -- and even Canadian -- markets. Branch plants began to close as their owners pull- ed in their horns and retreated to the comparative stability and higher production of the U.S. Other plants running three shifts cut to two, then one. Foreign in- vestors found more fertile fields for their money. Our armed forces became ineffective for lack of funds, and lost much of the pride they had once held in their role in NATO. It snowballed. Inflation became more than a topic of conversation; it became a bogeyman. Then, sudden- ly, there wasn't much gas and oil left and their prices soared. A new, ugly racism reared its head, sparked by the fact that so many immigrants did so well with so little, because they were willing to work. A separatist party was elected in Quebec, and it was a whole new ball game. The employment force swelled steadily, while new jobs failed to keep up. Huge min- ing-and smelting companies which had been stockpil- ing their products because other nations could buy them cheaper elsewhere, closed down and put thousands of well-heeled workers on the pogey. Small farmers fell by the wayside when only the big ones could survive. And we kept paving over valuable farmland with asphalt and concrete. Retired people saw their life's savings gobbled up by inflation and the falling dollar. Small businessmen cut back on staff and service in order to stay in business. Doctors, fed up to the teeth with overwork and bureaucratic interference, began heading for greener, and warmer pastures. University students, toiling over their books, grew ever more bitter as they began to realize that the coun- try did not want or need them, that the chance of a job on graduation was paper-thin. Thousands of high school students who should have been out working, went back to school and lazed away another year, because they were a drug on the market. And governments, national, provincial and local, wrung their hands and waited for the wind to change, the miracle to take place, while they went right on spen- ding more and more taxpayer's money. It's not much wonder that the prevailing mood of the country is morose and suspicious. But surely, a nation that toughed it through two world wars and a world depression is not going to roll over and die. We ain't licked yet. And spring will be here. Probably by the first of June. 60 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 25, 1923 Rev. Dr. Ramsey of Toronto was the guest speaker at the 55th Anniversary of the Port Perry Presbyterian Church. The new steps in front of the rink was constructed by Mr. Clifford Jackson and Mr. Figary furnished the cement. Rey. Haig and Mrs. Haig, Ashburn, were in the city last week hearing the world famous bible student; Rev. Forbes Campbell. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 28, 1948 The Blackstock Agricultural Society grounds have undergone a face lifting with the land purchased from F. Bailey. Misses Yvonne and Ruth Sommerville, Prospect, were guests at the Fields-Rosser church wedding in Toronto recently. Mrs. J.C. Whitby, Port Perry, took a flying trip to Sault Ste Marie recently to visit friends. "Mrs. T. Long left Friday evening for her home in England. Her son Herbert and Mrs. Long, Scugog accom- _ panied her to Montreal. She has been in Canada three months. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 23, 1958 Police Chief Menzies was called to Queen Street to stop an argument between two residents of Reach Town- ship. More trouble resulted and the Provincial Police came to his aid. The men from Reach were arrested for disorderly conduct. Dr. J.A. McIntyre is building a new home in Uxbridge and will be starting a medical practise in the Uxbridge- Port Perry area. The 101st anniversary services of the Ashburn Church were observed on October 19th with David Patterson on Knox College, Toronto, as guest speaker. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 24, 1963 Congratulations to Susanne McMaster who received her Gold Cord from Mrs. Gerald Nelson, captain of the 2nd Port Perry Guide Company. 15 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 24, 1968 Kathy Jackson received a trophy from Port Perry Rod & Gun Club president, Cec King, for her first year marksmanship. As of November 15th, the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway (401) and parts of Highway 400 will have their maximum speed for passenger cars and motorcycles in- creased from 60 mph to 70 mph. Lucky draw winners of 25 gallons of gas at Majcher Pontiac Buick Limited were Mrs. Frank Bailey, Blackstock and Mrs. Cortney Graham, R.R. 2, Nestleton. 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, October 24, 1973 Miss Jill Stone, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Stone of R.R. 5, Sunderland, received her Legal Secretarial diploma at the Shaw College graduation ceremonies. More than 50 members of the Flying Farmers club flew to Greenbank Airport and enjoyed a supper and social time at Greenbank Community Hall. The Port Perry branch of the Royal Canadian Legion has asked local council to sell the park which was pur- chased by Port Perry in 1971 for one dollar. The park is situated on Bay Street near Simcoe Street, next to the Legion Hall and is zoned as open space. "wrt SRE pa Te PV oy al eA AEE Ca --. ny Ae mn pr A Tee a5 ~~. 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