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gy 2) is ~ ELC ER PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, October 27, 1987 -- 5 Viewpoint by John B. McClelland Up until a few days ago, I'd never heard of load- levelling. Sounds like something you might do with a dozer or a backhoe, right? Wrong. The folks at Canada Post use the term load- levelling to describe what happens when there is a backlog of mail piled up unsorted at one of the big Toron- to stations. ~~ Canada Post gathers up the backlog of mail, puts it on a jet bound for Winnipeg, where it is sorted and shipped back to Toronto for delivery. That's what it is. At certain times of the year, mail post-marked in Toronto and destined for addresses in that city is shipped to Winnipeg or Montreal for sorting, then shipped back again for distribution. A Canada Post spokesman is quoted in one newspaper as saying the practise is fairly routine, especially just prior to Christmas. You learn something every day. Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the postal strike, some 90 trailers of mail was sitting in a yard in Toron- to, unsorted. So what in heck were all those scabs (sorry, temporary replacement workers) doing when they were bused across picket lines at great cost to Canada Post? I'd like to know exactly what it cost Canada Post to bring in all those temps when the workers were on strike? Especially in light of the fact some 90 trailers of mail piled up and more mail had to be load-levelled to Winnipeg for sorting. And that's just in Toronto. Whenever there is trouble in the Post Office in this country, everybody is pretty quick to jump all over the union and union leaders. Maybe it's high time somebody took a closer look at Post Office management, and some of the decisions that are made on high. I mean when Toronto mail has to be routinely shipped to Winnipeg for sorting, then shipped back to Toronto for delivery, something's wrong somewhere. Good old CUPW ain't my favourite union. But Post Office management has to share some of the blame for the debacle that appears to have hit such an essential service as the delivery of the mail. FEDERALLY SPEAKING ..... Watch for the fur to fly in this riding when the next federal election rolls around. That election is at least 18 months away. But with the announcement last week from Conservative MP Allan Lawrence that he will not contest the next election, all three political parties will be doing some scrambling. First of all, the Tories have to find a candidate to replace Mr. Lawrence, a popular guy who's almost an institution in this area. And you can bet the Liberals and New Democrats, scenting blood in the new riding of Durham, will be hustling hard to find top-notch candidates. After all, with the riding redistribution, with Al Lawrence out of the picture and with the country not very happy with Brian Mulroney, the federal riding of Durham will be up for grabs. It will be interesting. Frankly, the announcement last week from Mr. Lawrence that he won't be seeking re-election, didn't come as too big a surprise. He's been an MPP and MP for 30 years almost. And he got caught badly in the redistribution squeeze. As of the next federal election, his Manvers Township residence will no longer be in the new Durham riding. There is no law that says an MP must live in the riding he or she represents, but it helps. And let's be honest, if the federal Tory fortunes con- tinue to sag under Brian Mulroney, Al Lawrence no doubt figured this was as good a time as any to retire gracefully from the political arena. It's a strange phenomena in this country that with economic conditions the best they've been in years (jobs, interest rates, balance of trade etc.) there is such an intense dislike for the Prime Minister. And a major battleground for the next election will be the free trade issue, an issue that is badly misunderstood at the grass roots level in this country. When the next election rolls around, Tory can- didates everywhere are going to be on the hot seat over free trade and the 'Mulroney factor," and a lot of them are going to see their political fortunes go down in flames. The federal Liberals have even decided to stick with John Turner for one more election. That in itself is an indication of Conservative Party problems. And the Liberals are on the march provincially in Ontario and New Brunswick. You can bet the Liberal organizations at the riding level which worked so hard to give Dave Peterson his big majority in September, will dust off the workers for a big push in the next federal election. (Turn to page 8) Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 25, 1917 The Carnegie Milling Co. has sold its standing timber on the 6th Concession of Reach to the Farmers Union Milling Co. The Town of Port Perry has collected well over $4,000 for the Red Cross and other patriotic purposes. Port Perry's Military Tribunal is made up of the following gentlemen: Messrs. C.L. Vickery, George Gerow and Thomas Graham. : Mr. Allan Goode has commenced excavating for his new creamery on Water Street. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 29, 1942 Victory Bond Sales in Port Perry and district have topped the $50,000 mark in 8 days of canvassing. Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Brock and family have moved to the J.F. McClintock house, which they have recently purchased. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Bowerman of Detroit have sold the Bower- man property on Mary St. to Mr. Sam Tummonds. Mr. George McKay has secured a position in Toronto and leaves this week. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 30, 1952 Art Brunton has opened his ultra-modern Brunton Farm Hat- chery at the junction of 7A Scugog Rd. and the sixth concession of Reach, over the weekend. Bill Chapman and his 10 year old son Jack, and Cecil Heayn bagg- ed their limit of 14 ducks on their recent hunting trip to their favourite pond in the Scugog area. The prize winners in the cubs best decorated basket contest went to John MacMillan and Neil Palmer. Scout Poster Contest prizes went to Jim Farmer, Ivan Tripp and Jamie Hunter. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 31, 1957 District Deputy Governor Art Brunton installed Lion "Bert" (H.G.) Hutcheson as the first of the life members of the Port Perry Lions Club. The Chamber of Commerce has voted to donate $100 toward the support of Minor Hockey for the 1957-58 season. Port Perry Lawn Bowling Club held its annual meeting and the following officers were elected for the new year: Roy Buckley, Presi- dent: Bob Carnegie, Vice President; Art Cox, Secretary; Roy Honey, Treasurer. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, October 26, 1967 Congratulations to a native son of Port Perry, Dr. Beverley Nor- thcott Smallman, now head of the Department of Biology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. In August Dr. Smallman was awarded the 1967 Entomological Society of Canada medal for outstanding achievement in Canadian Entomology at the Macdonald College, Ste. (Turn to page 6) Letters Closing of the Flamingo plant Editor's Note: The following letter was written by Colleen Manns about her thoughts and feelings on the pending shut-down of the Flamingo Pastries Plant. Colleen has worked for Flam- ingo for the past four years. On Oc- tober 6, Flamingo's parent com- pany, Culinar Inc., told the employees the plant will be closed down by the end of the year, the pro- duction lines moved to another plant in Aurora. The first lay-off will come December 3, the second on December 18. It's been a week now since our meeting, informing us that Flam- ingo will be closing their doors on us. I am surprised at the reaction of a lot of people. Some of us have spent a lot of years in this place, while others were just beginning. Some of us felt we'd probably be here when we turned 60, and some had no inten- tions of being stuck in this '"'rut" forever. Now we all know we'll not be stuck here. It's amazing how we've been sticking together in this one. I've had the impression that a lot of peo- ple didn't care as to what happened to anyone, but now I see something else. I hear a lot of people voice con- cerns for others, whereas, before, they've done nothing but "bitch" about them. When you work with the same people everyday, of course you're going to argue with them. One day they do something to make you angry, the next day, they become your good friend. This has gone on forever. One day rumors fly around about one person, the next, it's a totally different story about somebody else. Rumors!!! Rumors have had people quitting, people having affairs with manage- ment. Rumors have made the most awkward couples in here. Rumors have had people being drug addicts and alcoholics. Rumors have had all of us doing everything in life. Some of us have had many laughs from the rumors that have gone through this place, and other times, the rumors have made some of us shed many tears. But I've only seen truth to one rumor that I've heard go through this place, and that rumor began back in July, and that was that Flamingo was closing down. But all this time, management kept deny- ing them. We've noticed some changes. Like our stock going over to Granny's, and when the new boxes came in, there was no prin- ting of Port Perry on them. We've heard of some of our people going over to Granny's to train on their machines, which management has denied. Why would someone say such a thing if there was no truth to that? Now, if the company finds out as to who was spreading such "vicious lies" they will be dismiss- ed immediately. Funny, how everytime one of us repeats what management has said, it's always lies that we're spreading. People have been over at Granny's measur- ing to make sure our machinery can fit into their building. But that was another lie that someone has reported. Raymond Morin stated that "its harsh reality," and he's right. We've all heard on the news about companies closing their doors, and putting people out of work, but we never thought it would happen to us. We thought we were secure here, as long as we wanted to stay with Flamingo, we'll always have a job. Where else in a small town like Port Perry, are we going to work for this kind of money, where we could walk to work, where we could work with people we grew up with? You don't find that even in a place like Oshawa. When something bad hap- pened to someone in Port Perry, we all felt the pain and suffering of others. It's because it is a small town. Where else would a group of workers give a guy a baby shower cause his wife is going to have a baby? How many other companies pay a bus fare to send whoever wants to go, to Quebec for a hockey tournament? There were a lot of us who went, and had no plans to even play hockey, but just to go for the "party."' Most companies would make you pay your own way, and find your own way there. I'm not trying to make the company "heroes," cause they are not that, but it's something that we did together, and enjoyed. I never thought it would be fun to go with people that you work with every day, and bitch about all the time, and know that these are the people you're going to spend the entire (Turn to page 6) ter to the editor. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters col- umn helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On rare occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous let- While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. \