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fehe HERALD Deciphering the election chatter Hills Home Newspaper of Halton Hills WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER A Division of Canadian Newspapers Company Limited Main St South Georgetown Ontario Publisher BOB BUTTER Editor ill Second Mill Reg Number A few words on the The tactics surrounding the rotating strike by letter carriers smacks of preelection political That s the only to describe the attempt by the government to justify its position and the legal walkout by the letter earners Robert McGarry head of the letter earners union told Betty Kennedy of CFRB last week that negotiations for a new contract had been under way since last March No movement transpired and the matter was placed before a mediator who reported Aug 24 in favor of the letter earners And then the fun starts Mr McGarry said a meeting took place following release of the report amid assurances that the two sides would together within a week because no one wants a strike Despite several attempts by Mr McGarry Mrs Kennedy was told the matter did not come back to the bargaining table It did finally hours prior to a strike deadline with a cad for arbitration something the union rejected Mr position in his interview on CFRB was that the threat of a remember its one of the few legal post office strikes was primarily an attempt to force the issues back onto the bargaining table Instead Prime Minister stated on a Toronto radio talk show that Parliament might be recalled to end any strike And that move smacks of political opportunism of the highest calibre How can the Minister really believe that he in a position to force a back to work order in face of what can only be presumed from Mr remarks to be stonewalling by the government Indeed Robert head of the treasury board the body responsible for the wages of a new contract refused to speak with Mr he says because the minister was too busy Had the post office returned to the bargaining table sooner had there been no announced threat of a strike the government might find itself in a position where another in a series of senseless disruptions to postal vices might have been averted Had arbitration or continued negotiations failed then the union could call its strike But to have the government delay until the last minute without any attempt to iron out its differences with he letter earners is tantamount to bargaining in faith With the present state of flux surrounding federal politics the by elections scheduled for next month across the country and the continuing attacks on the government s economic policies the whole affair surrounding this present round of postal disruptions seems geared to one purpose providing the govern with a politically popular position Canadians deserve better from their government s handling of Its affairs Human relations is key to real political survival Queen Park Bureau Of The Herald The way a thing is done as most of us know sometimes can mean more than what is done And then little things can be more Important than the big ones These truisms as all others dealing with human relations arc a bit bigger than life when it cornea lo pollUcs And not paying attention to them just might trip up Stuart Smith and his Ontario Liberal party BLOOD LUST This goes back to the George Kerr Incident When the news first broke that Kerr had phoned a crown attorney for a constituent Smith was very quick off the mark The minister should resign he said This was an extreme judgment which t warranted by the facts as known at that time Then when minister finally did resign the Liberal leader was probably even more extreme Why t the minlsler resign two weeks before he said Both of these statements would have looked to at least a section or the public as political blood lust And what is particularly bad is that they were both unnecessary BAD IMAGE Another political truism is that election arcn won but are lost At the polls the public docsn I elect new governments but defeats old ones In other words public thinking tends to be It is inlluenccd more by what it like than what it likes Which puts political parties and politic In the very sensitive situation that they must not give offense One passing remark that was somehow offensive has defeated a good many of With Smith as a leader he has to be particularly careful For anything he says has big impact and if it is the wrong pilch can affect not only him but all his fellow I As a leader he has made headway partly because he has shown a new and apparently Intelligent approach to various of our problems today But also he has come on strongly because his imagt been good He has pressed borne matters and often quite forcefully but he has kept the tone high Particularly he has stayed away from brawling and low level politics But quick statements in the Kerr direct change are bound to be offensive to a sizeable portion of the public And they necessary The public was bound to look like sinking a political The Liberals days arc riding pretty high Their last party polls showed thai today II ey would win an election Over confidence of course is a threat In Hi And there can be strong suspicion that Smith and his colleagues may have been hit by it If so he had belter gel In a hurry Nobody really ever gets anywhere in polities by bad mouthing By Ottawa Bureau Herald Prime Minister Trudeau Justice Mlnlst Otto Lang and other highly placed liberals scoff suggestions that all tills convoluted chatter about capital punishment Is somehow related lo any forthcoming election Okay But for my someone up there Justice minister happened to re Ignite the whole sensitive subject why happe ned to douse tho flames with kerosene and why Trade Minister Jack Horner happened to throw in another log If Ihe government wants to drop the matter this Is a classical approach If Otto Long were given to Idle chatter one could understand him musing about the desirability of referendum on capital punishment But he t operate that way He clearly wanted It understood that the was seriously proposing a referendum on the subject Just five months after said the issue had been settled and wasn about to be reopened The reason the referendum Idea has some merit is It would allow the question to be debated thoroughly said the justice minister He talked about it at length YES BUT Naturally there wos a tendency to think that Lang playing to the public galleries since the latest public opinion polls Indicated that eight of Canadians wanted a referendum on capital punishment Ever since hanging was abolished with that 1976 parliamentary decision the polls have shown that a vast majority of Canadians favor a return to the noose Just a few days after Lang dropped the hint that the issue was still simmering on the government s back burners the prime minister was given a glorious opportunity to set the record straight and he almost did 1 make it clear he said My government would not have a referendum on capital punishment Is that clear Yes Sir But that where the clarity ended The prime minister said he was ready to discuss question of whether certain issues should be settled by direct democracy including refcrendums the public Is more Informed of national issues and they want to A medal for the dollar The Gold Medal for diving in the competition of the Commonwealth games In should not have gone lo a person at all It should have gone to the Canadian People still speak of the Almighty Dollar Bui the dollar has protcd that it Is anything but So far the American dolhr has plunged through the socalled barrier of equivalence lo Japanese yen and shows no signs of coming back up again And the Canadian dollar has sunk even deeper It seems determined to dive right through the bottom of the money pool The according Is an unfavourable balance creaks an unhealthy economy United Stales and Canada have been importing more than they export spending more than they mukc And as every family knows you can do that for long Japan by contrast exports more limn It imports That makes It healthy Canada and Hie must do he some say the experts Their prescription Ignores a simple fact every country can I rt more lhan it imports tor one country to have a favour able balance of trade another must have an unfavourable balance One country becomes by making another unhealthy And so It a said that the cure for the dollar will come as Japanese and West German exports price themselves out of the market causing same of the same unemployment and reduced production In those countries we arc experiencing now The trouble can be simply defined economies has never considered itself subject to a simple lesson taught 2 years ago to love ones neighbor as oneself In world economics countries still attempt to profit at expense of Ihcir neighbor and in today s world all count lei arc neighbors St Paul wrote of Christians that all arc members of the some body and when one part Is sick or festers all parts are endangered The same can be said of world haps the clamor from the many countries for a New Interna economics Perhaps tional Economic Order wilt ultimately bring about the realization that when one economy Is unheal lh all arc unhealthy And If one country wants a thriving economy must help all other economics too Changing local scene means new attitude In number or municipalities across Canada police arc switching to smaller cars The reasoning is simple Smaller cars are more economical And police today rarely indulge in hose wild high speed chases that require big powerful curs dangerous drivers become more dangerous when they re desperately evading pursuit Blacks women and members of some minorities arc slowly beginning to appear among the ranks of professionals ami in executive positions In India rats still destroy about as much grain as humans consume What have these three examples to do wilh each other tins Ihe first two are taking place in North America Some people welcome them as common sense and Justice Others regard them as dangerous deviations from tradition and fight them with all the Tips when bonds come due Canada advises tax payers holding Canada Savings Bonds due to mature this fall careful of he cashing and reporting bond Interest could result In tax savings The two Canada Bond Series ore the Specia Replacement Series maturing October 1 1978 and the Series maturing November 1 1678 It is estimated that per cent of people holding these bonds have not clipped the coupons and will receive interest and com pound interest equal to the principal held Tax on Ihis accumulated Interest can vary widely depending on method used by taxpayers for reporting the Interest Taxpayers who did no cash coupons and who did not report any interest on their lax returns as it become due must report the accumulated Interest when they receive it as cash This cash method of reporting bond could result in substantial Interest Income becoming subject to lax this year The Interest dividends and capital gains deduction of up to may help to reduce the tax on interest payments from Canada Savings Bonds Central averaging applied automatical ly to all lax returns may also reduce the effect of the addillonul interest income Taxpayers who wish to determine in vancc of general averaging In their own situation may complete the general form available at District Toxa tion Offices In addition to the interest coupons and compound interest certificates cash bonuses are payable on the maturity of these bend issues and are subject to lax Although not Indicated on the bonds the bonus for the bond is til r per 100 face value and for he Sit scries the bonus is per These bonuses may be treated as Interests or as capital gains for lax purposes It will probably be to a bondholder ad van Inge to treat a cash bonus as a capital gain since only one half of the amount received is Included In income Tor tax purposes and for and years his half Is also eligible for the in teres dividends and capital gains deduction Cosh bonuses must always be included in the taxpayer s Income when they are received For taxpayers using cash method who will be In a high lax bracket when their bonds mature this fall It could be defer cashing annual interest coupons and compound interest certificates In a year when Income from other sources Is relatively low lax payable on bond Interest could be reduced or In some cases even eliminated to be eligible for full compound Interest coupons cannot be split but must be presented in a complete block Taxpayers who adopted receivable method of be faced with such a significant increase in Interest income when their bonds mature Under the receivable method taxpayers who delay cashing their annual interest coupons or compound interest may nevertheless Include In their Income the value of ihose coupons or certificates came due during he year With this method a taxpayer con take advantage of the interest dividends and capital gains deduc tion of up lo each year that he qualifying Income Is reported When Ihe receivable method is used throughout the full term of a bond only those compound interest certificates or interest coupons that come due maturity are added to income when bond Is cashed These are of course eligible for ho interest dividends and capital gains deduction Taxpayers are permitted to change their method or reporting bond interest from the cosh the receivable method However vehemence can muster Both changes now becoming more apparent nave been slow in developing although they nave been advocated by thoughtful minds for And this is North America where we have become accustomed to change where change has taken place faster and more often lhan perhaps anywhere else on earth In contrast life in much of India southcast ABia and Africa continues with few from centuries ago Today many well meaning people on this continent grow disillusioned with old to underdeveloped nations and argue that there no point In helping them with food or until they make radical changes If we who arc familiar with change find it difficult to accept minor changes in our lives how can we so glibly demand radical change from people who appear lo us lo have never learned how to change decide directly he said NO BUT A lot of democracies have provision for direct democracy even in a framework of a representative democracy and this is the question that Mr Lang raises and I don consider it a flip flop for Mr Lang to be ahead of to he thtofcfcM of Mat wry system No he repeated the government hot intention of Introducing a referendum on capital punishment But then he added that If I keep office for another few parliament terms it Is conceivable that we will introduce Instruments of direct democracy Could It be a referendum on capital punishment It could be that he replied The prime minister like Mr Lang is not prone to mincing his words Ml Intentional Ithinkitsfalrtosay that on tH occasion Trudeau chose to put some words through the grinder In any event after the prime minister announced In his curious way that his government had no Intention of reopening the capital punishment issue Homer tells a reporter that he is pleased the issue has been reopened And when asked what he would lell his voters the former Conservative replied I think I would say the government has accepted the vote in Parliament but the cabinet is prepared to review the whole Perhaps at his next news conference the prime minister can help clear up any misunderstandings by exactly how his cabinet reviews an acceptance Looking Through Our Files THIRTY YEARS AGO Police arc investigating a fire which occurred in Legion Hall early Sunday morning and there is strong suspicion It is of incendiary origin The fire was first noticed at about a by Jack Whitney and prompt action on the part of the fire brigade saved the building from serious damage After hearing a preliminary report pre sented by Mr Roberts of Dlneen Philips and Roberts consulting engineers council voted unanimously on Monday night to ask the Municipal Board for permission to Issue In debentures to pay for Improve ments In Georgetown water system The Brunlford firm which was hired by council earlier in the year to make a complete survey of the water system made several recom Chief of these Is nation of sources supply and the Installation of Gordon Alcolt a Georgetown man has been recreational director in Weston for the past two years has resigned his position to accept a position with the Pace Company He will be advertising manager and will have charge of personnel and recreational facilities at Gibson Park which is operated by the Company TWENTY YEARS AGO An estimated 3 people visited Cower Court the newer sections of over ihe weekend to view the Parade of Homes a Joint effort of North Builders Association A total of 14 homes were on display by Construct ion Rex Heslop Homes and Homes in the areas Victoria crank telephones are on their way out manager for this territory announced this week Early next year the present magneto telephone system will be replaced by a common battery system similar to that now in use in Snclgrove and Button With the new system telephone users will merely take the receiver off the hook to signal an operator The fee for transient traders will remain at 2S0 after Monday council meeting at which council declined to take action to increase the fee to Mayor Armstrong explained that the bylaw had been drawn up in depression days when it was common for outsiders to come to town conduct a sale in a vacant store and syphon off any cash which shoppers might possess and hurting mere who were holding on for better days TEN YEARS AGO A demolition crew will move In Monday morning to do what a spectacular fire Saturday couldn do bring the walla of old town ball on Street A giant shell Is all that remains of the building following a blaze which broke out shortly after and consumed the interior in 12 hours of burning and smoulder The loss Includes about ft worth of GcorgctownLlttleTheatrecostumes lighting equipment and scenery A Jons Club offer to make extensive Improvements In town park off Charles Street and to help develop a new park adjoining Kennedy School met an enthusias tic response from council on Monday According to North Halton the last of four prisoners who broke out of I County Jail Sept is still on the loose The fugitive still at large and his three jailmates such a change cannot be retroactive Interest that became due in the years before the changeover cannot be reported In he year of change but must be Included in Income when the bondholder cashes the coupon or cates Taxpayers must use Ihe same reporting method for all their Government of Canada bonds each year When a change in reporting method is made a record should be kept of ho interest that has been reported on the receivable method and the interest that will be reported when cashed A fact sheet entitled You Were Asking About Interest on Canada Savings Bonds is available at District Taxation Offices Information on how to reinvest In the new series of Canada Savings Bonds will be available of October whenever the bonds