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BRIAN'S ROAD SHOW Ontario Premier Bob Rae is absolutely right when he said that Prime Minister Brian Mulroney might be better advised to turn his attentions to the Scoriomy, rather than a "citizens forum" on national unity. Mulroney, who seems to be more in a fog than ever before about what is really going on in Canada, announced last week that an 11-person panel will criss-cross the country to listen to the people on na- tional unity issues. Whoopeedo. That's what we really need in Can- ada right now, a travelling road show to guage the pulse of the nation on unity issues. Meanwhile in Ontario, Premier Rae is more wor- ried about the state of the economy. And well he should be with company after company announcing 8) Js: others pulling up to move to Mexico or the US Sun Belt, and the number of personal and busi- ness bankruptcies at near record levels. Not that Rae is not mightily concerned about na- tional unity. He just thinks the economy is a tad high- er on his list of current priorities. But old Brian, up there in Ottawa where every- thing is indexed including his salary and his pension, well he's still smarting over the Meech Lake debacle this summer. So, he wants to find out what ordinary folk think about unity. Doesn't he read the letters to the editor in just about every paper, large or small? Does he not know that people are tired of the unity issue? Does he not know that most people are more worried about making next month's mortgage payment, or whether they will have a job next month? Does he not know that the fishing boats on the east coast are tied up in harbour, and out west the farmers are looking at record wheat harvests sitting in storage or still in the fields because there are no mar- kets? And if they are able to sell the wheat, the price they are getting is the same as it was in 1935. Does he not know the country is in a recession with a capital R? Come on, Brian. Give us all a break from this uni- ty nonsense. Quebec has made it abundantly clear it is going to formulate its own position on where it is going, and in my opinion, a great number of Canadi- ans outside Quebec really don't give a damn right now. After the Meech collapse last June, the nation was in a state of exhaustion. Now, just a few short months later, Brian wants to open it all up again, hear all the same old arguments for and against. Unity may be his agenda, but for most of the rest of us, the agenda is survival. Talk about being out of touch with reality. And how about his finance minister, Mike Wilson, commenting last week that he knows all about belt tightening. It seems that back in '73 when Mike was a big shot with a Bay St. investment firm and pulling down a salary of 100 G's per year, he had to tuck in his belt and live with a 25 per cent reduction. Oh. boy, it must have been tough when the aver- age salary in '73 was about $12 grand and Mike was earning nearly ten times that amount. Come on, Mike, give us all a break. Next thing youl be telling us you shop for groceries at a food ank. Tough is watching inflation gobble up the wage increase. Tough is getting a pink slip on a Friday af- ternoon. Tough is telling the children to expect a skin- ny tree at Christmas. Tough is standing in line for UIC benefits, or going to the welfare office for the first time. Tough is sinking more money into the eight- year old car cause there isn't enough for a new one. Tough is watching a good crop die in the fields, or the fishing boat rust at the dock. Tough is the day the mine closes or the mill shuts down. Tough is deciding what bills get paid at the end of the month and what bills won't get paid. Tough is the small business struggling to meet a payroll. Tough is watching a ten-year old hockey player pull on skates two sizes too small 'cause there isn't enough money for a new pair. Tough is NOT earning 100 G's and being forced to take a 25 per cent pay cut. And tough is NOT appointing a bunch of people to merry-go-round the country listening to fol talk about unity. Mr. Prime Minister, your agenda is up-side-down these days. Get the economy back on its feet and then we'll tell you what we think about national unity. SENSE OF HUMOUR Why is it that something that really tickles my sense of humour hardly raises a smile from some- body else. | was in the car the other day and heard a joke on the radio. Don't know why but | nearly drove off the road | was laughing so hard. Told the joke to my wife at the dinner table that night. She shrugged and asked to me to pass the salt. Anyway, here's the joke. "Guy goes into the bar- ber shop and says how much for a haircut. $15 is the answer. That's a lot. How much for a shave. $5 he's told. He thinks for a moment, jumps in the chair and says OK, shave my head." | thought it was hilarious. Remember When? 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 22, 1945 Mr. Grant Christie, Manchester, was elected as Sec. Vice President of the Progressive Conservatives in Ontario Riding at a rally in Brooklin. Mrs. M.A. Gerrow attended the Dental Nurses Alumni Mother and Daughter Banquet in Toronto. The following Lions and their ladies: Mr. and Mrs. Don Cro- zier, Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Ptolemy, Mr. Gordon Robinson and Mrs. Robinson, attended the banquet and dance at the King Ed- ward Hotel to welcome the Lions International President of Ha- vana, Cuba. Port Perry United Church tendered a reception to the re- turned members of the Armed Forces. Program was provided by Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Snelgrove, Mrs. V.P. Stouffer and Miss Pa- tricia King. Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cook, after seventeen years of good restaurant service to the public have sold the White Kitchen Restaurant to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Asher. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 17, 1966 A letter of appreciation and a gift was presented to Mr. R.D. Woon, by the teachers of Port Perry High School. Due to ill health, Mr. Woon has retired as Secretary-Treasurer of the Pub- lic School Board. Mr. Jack Pearson, Uxbridge, Department of Agriculture, will be the guest speaker at the Lions Club meeting. The Grain Club will be present. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Reynolds, Seagrave, were honoured on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary. They were pre- sented with a silver tea service. 80 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 17, 1960 The steps at the Post Office have had a hand rail added dur- ing the recent rebuilding job, the sidewalks have been rebuilt, the whole approach is much improved. About sixty-five friends and relatives gathered at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Midgley to honour Mr. and Mrs. Cleve Kight on the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Ruby Beare was installed as Noble Grand of Maybelle Rebekah Lodge. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, November 18, 1965 Mr. John Reader, who has been custodian of the Porc Perry (Turn to page 10) Letters io the editor Thanks women for their hilarity To the Editor: I have just had the indisputable pleasure of reading the letter Bravo for speaking out in the Oct. 30 issue of the Star. I would like to thank you for printing these let- ters, as they are about the only good laugh I can find these days. Some people seem to get hot under the collar upon reading these misguided missives, but I find these letters to be welcome comic relief after a long, hard day at school. Maybe it's just me, but people who heap society's ills on Future is up to all of us To the Editor: I have always considered myself a reasonably well- informed citizen concerning en- vironmental issues. I've par- ticipated in our recycling pro- grammes, reused containers, shopped carefully with regards to packaging, own a composter, and have my own reusable shopping bags. However, it wasn't until the recent announcement of a possi- ble 'DUMP' site in my backyard -- I happen to be an "adjacent" landowner - that I realized how poorly I fared as an environmen- tally aware citizen of this planet and how little I really do know. I have joined one of the many volunteer committees (0 Gar- bage) that supports a 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) Waste Management Programme and is morally, environmentally, social- ly opposed to any DUMPS. Such Turn to Page 15 a small branch of music instead of human shortcomings strike a chord of humor within me. I have only two other points to make: one, cite the example of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker...good, solid, dependable heavy-metal haters and Bible- thumpers...now either locked up for embezzlement or being kept in a psychiatric ward, and two, to quote a Bible passage mentioned in another letter a few weeks ago: 2 Kings 2, verses 23-25: "Elisha went up there to Bethel and, as he was on his way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying "Get ye hence, bald-head, get ye hence." He turned around and looked at them and he cursed them in the name of the Lord, and two she- bears came out of a wood and mauled forty-two of them." I have yet to hear of any heavy- metal stars setting bears on small children to maul them for making fun of bald people. Well, that's about all the time I have to spare after a hard day of work at school. I think I'm going to go to my room, kick off my shoes, relax and put on a little Oz- zy. Maybe I'll re-read the paper, and noisily collapse in a fit of un- controllable mirth. Mrs. L. Bar- ron, C. Switzer and M. Johansen, thank you for bringing some hilarity into an otherwise stress- filled life. Yours sincerely, Matthew Shepherd, Greenbank "ROUGH DAY AT THE OFFICE, DEAR?"