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Scugog Citizen -- Tuesday, January 24, 1995-- 9 = VIEWPOINT by John B. McClelland » LETTERS TO EDITOR THANK GOODNESS FOR P. J. ROURKE Just when you wonder if the problems in the world are insurmountable what with wars, famine, earthquakes, floods, plagues, the falling Loonie and Paul Martin's budget coming up in a couple of weeks. Along comes political humourist P. J. O'Rourke with a new book titled "All the Troubles in the World." It's his 7th book and in "All the Troubles in the World," the American author turns his pen on all the modern problems which are causing humankind no end of angst in the final decade of the century. Overpopulation, famine, ecological disaster, poverty, plague, ethnic hatreds all come under the author's scrutiny and he does a devastating job of debunking a lot of the myths. He especially sharpehed his pen for a chapter on Somalia, a country he visited in December 1992 just after the American troops arrived to 8versee the famine relief. O'Rourke is less than impressed with what he observes and doesn't pull any punches in saying so. Here's a sampler: "Feed the hungry is one of the first principles of morality. Herg i ye in operation. So, where weM the starving children of Mogadishu? Where were the pitiable little fellows the gone-away expressions, faces already turned to some less painful world, limbs as thin as the lines of type in a newspaper obit column' and bellies gravid with death?. A glance at these tykes racks the soul. They are the emblems of Third World misery, the inevitable cover of newsmagazines, 'the constant subject of video tape on Eyewitness News. I half expected to be met by a delegation of them at Mogadishu Airport." O'Rourke found no shortage of food in Somalia, if you had the weapons to obtain the food; The country is ruled by the end of the gun. « Children starve, he says, not because there is no food, but because they don't have the power fo get it. Jo He finds it more than slightly ironic that the local narcotic called "qat" has to be imported from Kenya. It sells in Somalia for about $3.75 a bunch. "Thus, $300,000 worth of qat arrives by plane in Somalia every day. But it takes the U.S. Marines to deliver a sack of wheat." O'Rourke ends this chapter on Somalia by quoting a U.S. marine who sums his feelings this way: "Somalis-----give them better arms and training, then seal the borders." O'Rourke is one clever writer as he tilts at everyone from Malthus to Darwin to Paul Ehrlich who, scared the bejeebers out of a lot of people with his book "The Population Bomb." "Dr. Ehrlich, an insect biologist, had about the same qualifications as a demographer as Rev. Malthus,' an Anglican minister." Is the earth over-populated? The author calculates that at the current population of 5.3 billion, the density is 101 people per square mile, less than that of New Hampshire with a density of 124 people. Yet that quaint New England state is hardly thought of -as over-populated. A friend loaned me "All the Troubles in the World" just before Christmas and I've been reading it ever since. It's a different kind of tonic but tonic nevertheless. As it says on the dust jacket this book is P. J. "at his absolute best-- with seriously hilarious takes on the issues that shape our contemporary world and plenty of swipes at the hilariously serious people who pontificate about them." "All the Troubles in the World" is well worth the effort. A chapter a night is a very easy read and you'll find yourself snickering most of the way, and nodding your head in agreement. There's nothing like a clever writer with a very sharp needle and a wicked sense of humour to chase away the January blahs for a few moments, anyway. IN CLOSING: Everybody was talking about the prolonged thaw that hit our area last week. I don't know about you, but personally I detest that kind of weather--rain, fog, sullen grey skies, not a patch of blue or a ray of sunlight to be seen. Last year at this time we were doing a lot of complaining about the relentless old, but I'd much prefer snow on the ground, bright sun and a nip in the air to the grunge we got last week. That kind of weather hunts the local economy no 'end. It killed two major industries in Scugog: ice fishing and snowmobil Just ask the people whe run bars 'and restaurants, gas stations, bait and tackle shops what happened to their business last week. And this weekend just gone by, there should have been several thousand people in Port Perry for the Snowflake Festival, which had to be postponed, of course until Feb. 11-12. On top of the absolutely miserdbie mid-January weather, our Loonie continued to tumble, forcing the Bank of Canada to halt the free fall with (here we go again) another round of interest rate hikes. Big ticket items like houses and biles took a beati Everybody is Tooking at two things right now: next month's federal budget and the machinations of Jacques Parizean and his crowd in Ja belle province. If the Liberals can't find ways to reduce the deficit and the rumblings in Quebec.continue, don't bet against interest rates climbing to 15 per cent. And that will put the recovery back more than a few notches. Happy damars, How do you like it so far? aut "Home buyers want golf course kept in Canterbury To the Editor: This letter is being sent by the purchasers of new homgs at Canterbury Common in Port Perry. This was an "adult lifestyle community of 248 homes, a nine hole golf course and community centre. The developer was Quorum Developments. Since last September, Quorum has been locked out of the project by MacKenzie M. E. F.-Management, the financial backer _ ofthe project. decided near future and Quorum Development "was offering everything the purchasers wanted. Quorum was going to maintain the golf course and the community centre, therefore they would be on site for years to come. The golf course being open to the public would bring revenue into the community and increase the value of the homes and the land. This was a big factor when some of the Purchasers decided to buy in Canterbury ~ It appears that MacKenzie has to take over the project, excluding the nine-hole golf course. It does not seem fair that plans can be altered after council approves them, and the purchasers have no say in anything that is changed. The purchasers signed their agreement to purchase contracts with Quorum, not, MacKenzie. Quorum Development had always been very accessible, professional and on the site when anyone had any questions.or concerns. We feel Canterbury Commons has been dealt a great injustice by MacKenzie M.E.F. Management. These' homes and the entire development was designed by Quorum and was the dream home for many of the purchasers. Many were retired or set to retire in the MacKenzie's plan is to have a Coe park instead of the golf course. Who will maintain this park? Will the homeowners be charged a monthly or yearly fee for maintenance that can be increased at any time? This is a big concern at this time for the (home) purchasers. We feel something should be done to protect the purchasers in this development. The purchasers are not going to just let this development, as presented to the purchasers and approved by Scugog Township council, go down the drain. We have every intention of fighting to save Canterbury Common and the golf course. * John H. London, Toronto, Ont. Representing purchasers Canterbury Commons. Lots of room to cut spending without raising our taxes To the Editor: Finance minister Paul Martin has warned he may increase taxes in his up- coming budget. Canadians already are taxed to the limit. We pay on average about 50 per cent more taxes than do Americans. The Liberals promised in pre-election statements by Prifie' Minister Chretien himself that he would scrap the GST. Deputy prime minister Sheila Copps said if they didn't keep the promise she would resign within the year. Neither has happened. Instead of cutting taxes, now they threat to increase them on such things as RRSPs, dental insurance plans, even a new tax on gasoline. No increase in taxes would be necessary if Ottawa would cut out official bilingualism, multiculturalism, end golden handshakes, no funding for special interest groups, cut out un-necessary trips, limit spending on government trips, no funding for ethnic groups claiming supposed discrimination, cut off outside consultants and pollsters, and limit the cost of constituency offices, and defer politicians pensions until age 67, the same same as was suggested for all Canadian pensions. By cutting official bilingualism we could save $30 billion per year and cut 35,000 bureaucrats from the federal payroll. That is according to former Tory deputy prime minister Erik Neilson. French Immersion in Durham Region alone costs taxpayers $36 million, not to mentiorrthe cost of core French. All to no avail. Sooner or later, Quebec is going to separate. Speaking in Toronto a few days ago, former Quebec Premier Daniel Johnson said "Quebec deserves more from Canada." They already get the lion's share, what do they want, blood? Premier Rae said he is going to take an active role in supporting Johnson. Deja vu. He did the same for Bourassa and the separatists ousted the Liberals. With all the problems in Ontario, especially unemployment, who authorized him to get involved in Quebec politics? Butt out Bob. You have already blown $4 million on French highway signs along the 401. Plus more than 5,000 jobs have been designated officially bilingual in the civil service, while less than 500 of the 53,000 jobs in the Quebec government go to Anglophones or Allophones. Bill 8 has cost us more than $500 million (French Services Act) ad infinitum. Enough is enough. Despite the uncertain climate in Quebec, the federal government is paying $107 million for construction of a five- storey national archives building in Gatineau, Quebec. According to international law, if Quebec secedes, Canada will no longer own its national archives. The Vienna Convention on Succession of States, signed by 54 nations at the United in 1983, d that a new state inhetits all the properties of its predecessor situated within its territory. According to thé principle of territorial sovereignty, if Quebec separates, it would automatically acquire title to all land, buildings, military bases, airports, wharves, prisons, national parks and post offices within its borders. Compensation for these properties may be negotiated with the federal government if Quebec is so inclined, but the transfer is not negotiable, according to international law. Even if Quebec lets Ottawa have the historical records, the separatists will still take possession of the land and buildings worth $107 million and paid for by the Canadi payer. Je me i Dean Kelly, president, Assoc. Dedicated Canadians, Port Perry, Ont.