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4 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, March 26, 1985 editorial comments Patronage The Conservative government of Brian Mulroney has taken a large amount of flack recently over the ap- pointment of more and more loyal party stalwarts to a seemingly endless number of boards and commissions under federal jurisdiction. ] Shame. Shame, chirped many of the editorial writers and columnists when 13 Tories were named to the Board of Air'Canada. And lawyers who do work for the Hous- ing Corp., or the Farm Credit Corp., have been replac- ed with those whose favourite colour is blue. The Opposition Parties have been especially shrill in their attacks on the patronage appointments. O.K., so what? Patronage is a fact of life in our political system. The government in power rewards the faithful and the loyal. That's the way it is and that's the way it will be so long as there are bushel baskets full of nice paying jobs to be handed out. Heck, the Ontario government, which has been in power for 40 some years, is now working on second and third generation political plums. . Despite Mulroney's smooth carping last summer over the Liberal patronage appointments, any realist can hardly be surprised that when the time arrived for him to dole out the goodies, he mostly picked long time loyalists. Did anyone really expect him to appoint Grits or NDP members? Hardly. The system is far from perfect and the guy who's been out of work for several months no doubt feels a sense of anger when he sees the patronage appoint- ments while he waits for his pogey cheque. The anguish we all feel should not necessarily be at the appointments themselves. Is the country getting any value from those people who sit on all those boards and commissions? Are we getting any value from the Senate? Does Air Canada need a 15 member Board of Direc- 'tors? What about the Wheat Board, the CNR, Petro-Can? That's the question we should be asking. Not whether the appointees to all these cushy postings are of a certain political persuasion. ~~ C- Beer In Ontario The beer is flowing, again in Ontario after a month long dry spell when the three major breweries locked out some 4000 unionized workers over a contract dispute. The end to the dispute came over the weekend when most of the locked out workers took a second vote "on a contract and agreed to go back to work. Beer, of course, is not an essential commodity. The dispute was an aggravation for those who like their suds, but the disruption to life in this province was far less than a postal strike, for example, or a walk-out by those who provide essential services like the police, firefighters or nurses. ; Nevertheless, the beer dispute received a tremen- dous amount of publicity with stories of taverns and restaurants scrambling to find supplies and daring in- dividuals taking their chances by hustling cases of the stuff across the border from la belle province. Restaurant and tavern owners certainly felt the pinch to the point where staff had to be laid off and in some cases, there was a distinct possibility that those . which rely heavily on beer sales might go bankrupt. The lock-out left a lot of people asking themselves some questions about the regulations whictrgovern beer sales in this province. Why, for example, could a tavern owner simply not arrange for supplies from the United States, Quebec or Timbukto? Why did Joe Average have to break the law to travel across the border into Quebec and bring back five or fifty cases of the stuff? As the dispute wore on, why did the Ontario govern- ment go to the United States for beer and then force customers at the LCBO to pay 21 bucks and change when the superior quality Canadian beer could be bought in Quebec or Manitoba, or Alberta, etc? We suspect that a lot of tavern owners who paid top bucks for a lot of Yankee beer out of desperation are almost going to have to give the stuff away now, or watch it go skunky on the shelf. In short, why are there so many confounded rules and regulations which govern the sale of beer in this province? Why do the laws of the marketplace not apply? The brew companies with their distribution network are sometimes accused of running a monopoly on beer, but in fact, it is the government which has the monopoly Ontario Liberal leader David Peterson says he wants de-regulation of the beer industry iniOntario. including the sale of suds (and wine) in vanety and grocery stores Certainly, this province must take a look at the (Turn to page 7) BEING: MAYOR. HAS IT'S FUN TIMES, "WOULDN'T YOU oaY HOWARD? chatterbox "by Cathy Robb : "Oh, I guess it's just one of those games we play HIGH ON HIGH BEAMS while driving," he replied nonchalantly. Every time I do a little night driving, I vow I'm gon- Make me heave! na whip up a Chatterbox on those dumb twits who don't know their high beams from a hole in the ground. : ONE OF THOSE DAYS Nothing bugs me more than those idiots who keep Thursday was ---------------------- (fill in the their bright lights on until the very last second, igniting blanks). a kaleidoscope of purple dots in front of my eyeballs that I've got that disgusting cold that's been flying last until the next doehead flashes HIS high beams. around (seems like the whole town is coughing it's guts This drives me absolutely NUTS. Especially since up) and Thursday morning I woke up feeling like Mama I'm so considerate about my OWN high beams. Cass was sitting on my chest. Okay, so the law says you have to lower your high Things perked up considerably when I realized what beams 150 metres from an approaching car, or 60 a fantastic day it was weatherwise and headed over to metres when you're following someone. Personally, I the Scugog Uxbridge Animal Shelter to shoot the weekly don't think that's enough. Sixty metres is enough toil- Family Finder. luminate the entire interior of my La-dee-dah and more This week's animal was a Scotch Collie cross, the than enough to force unladylike words from my throat. size of a small thoroughbred. A friendly fellow, he im- And when high beams are pointed directly at my mediately jumped up to greet me and sent me sprawl- baby browns, 150 metres might as well be five feet (if ing on my (thankfully) padded rear. Saying hello to this you don't mind a little Metric-Imperial mixing). furball was like being crushed by an overweight Not that I really want to change the law because linebacker on the 40 yard lire. it's rarely enforced anyway. The only way, it seems, After I caught my breath, animal control person An- to get charged with the $53 fine for not lowering your nemieke Smith and I tried to pose the wretched (but brights is to shine them directly in the windshield of a cute) beast, and just as we had him trumped up like a car with a cherry on top. model for Purina Dog Chow, I realized I had no film in 2 Nah, I can't be bothered trying to change the law. my camera. All I really want is a tittle camsideration from the bozos "What, no film?"' my sister Whiz who happened to § who blind me night after night. The same kind of con- be with me, asked disgustedly. sideration I give them. I grinned sheepishly. "Actually I don't even have After all, you can always see a car's headlights any film with me." I giggled nervously, terrified An- coming for miles, and even if there's a hill blocking the ~~ nemieke would sick the football-playing dog on me. *'I oncoming car, you can still tell it's coming by the eft it back at the house." brightening glow over the hills horizon. Whiz looked at me guardedly. "I suppose that A soon as I see that glow, or see a set of headlights means you want me to get you some." a couple miles away, I dim the brights. I know what it's I giggled. "Well," I chuckled idiotically, 'you know like to be blinded so I go out of my way to prevent other . people from suffering what I detest. Whiz knew alright. Meanwhile, Annemieke and I And most of the time, people dim their lights as soon waited in the office, seated around a desk not much big- as they see mine are dimmed. Most of the time, thatis. ger than the collie's back. The collie was plunked down There's a very large contingent of looney drivers at my feet, scratching an over-sized ear with his back outthere who wait until I'm only five feet away before foot and making arooow noises. flicking their lights down -- and only when I've remind- "Nice dog," says I. ed them with an impatient flash of my own high beams. Yeah, he's a great dog," agrees Annemieke. "but Why do they do this? Are they not paying attention he Jacks manners." to the road" Are they listening to a good song on the "Whadduya mean ... "' I began, but never had a radio or is there hanky-panky going on in the front seat? chance to finish my question. Or do they hate Communism and make it their pleasure Joe Namath in fur was flying through the air like to blind people who drive small Russian cars" Peter Pan in a bear suit, heading directly for yon desk OR are they purely ignorant. as I think they really which separated me and Annemieke, who looked at this ' point more like Little Orphan Annie with her eyes as Or they might be like my illustrious editor John B big ag bowling balls who recently confessed he sometimes hkes to play "chicken" with his high beams CHICKEN" You mean, I said to him with my mouth hanging open. vou blind people on PURPOSE" are' "Humph," he grunted. as he landed heavily on top of the desk. sending my camera, glasses and Annemieke's ash tray scrambling in all direc- (Turn to page 6) i /