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FIC TRAE TRIA TTR DI AIA Bp ARTS Se Sa Election Coming The announcement Monday by Bill Davis that March 19 would be the date for the next provincial election came as a surprise to just about nobody. The signs have been on the wall loud and clear for the past ten days or so that something was cooking at Queens Park. The government announ- ced that grants to municipalities would be increased this year and there would be more money available for police protection in municipalities. In these law and order days, more money for the police Is an election goodie if ever there was one. And just a week ago, the government announced a 'new' industrial strategy program to the tune of some $1.5 BILLION, which the opposition leaders and a few pundits immediately attacked as nothing new but just a new twist on the same ideas the Conservatives have been bringing out for the past decade just before an election is called. Nevertheless, the announcement grabbed head- lines for a day or two, which is precisely what it was supposed to do for a large number of voters who rely on headlines for their information. The clincher in Scugog came last Thursday when the Durham-York P.C. Association scrambled to move the date of the nomination meeting ahead two weeks from February 25 to February 11. What really prompted the March election call was the results of polls taken in the city of Toronto and surroundings, which after all is where the whole thing will be won or lost. Those polls likely showed support for the Conservatives and that voters were ambivalent to opposition leaders Mike Cassidy and Stuart Smith. And they are right. Come March 9, Mr. Davis "will'more than likely get his coveted majority, not so much because voters are head over heels in love with the Conservatives who have ruled here for more than 40 years, but more because there really is no strong and viable alternative. Many Hands Make Light Work Editor's Note: If property owners across Ontario have one single complaint. it is that their taxes are too high and they don't get enough municipal services in return for what they do pay. As budget time approaches for municipalities, members of local councils will be getting out their pencils to go to any lengths to trim a dollar here and five dollars there. ~The following editorial, which appeared recently in the weekly newspaper West Lincoln Review makes some interesting points about ways municipal governments might be able to save a few tax dollars. At a recent meeting of a local recreational group, some of those present felt that the cost of NS EEE ~ ™ : (aq recreation to the taxpayers was high and bound to increase still further. The feeling seemed to be that - taxpayers might not be receiving sufficient return for their tax dollars. - Comments of this nature can be broadened out to include all forms of service provided by any municipal government. Elected officials have an answer to this. The thought, from the elected officials' stand- point, centers on the fact that taxpayers are demanding better services all across the board, but are not too happy about paying for innumerable comforts and conveniences. This may be a true and accurate assumption. A feeling, or thought such as this, brings up another interesting point. If the public wish services to increase they must be prepared to pay for same. The alternative to this, however, is that they must be willing to assist elected officials in reducing the costs for such ""extra" services. ) The cost and upkeep of community parks is an. on-going expense which cannot be avoided. The fact is, however, such expense to the taxpayer could be reduced considerably if the public, the very people who pay the taxes, were to become more involved in such maintenance operations. At the present time there are specified groups established to provide winter and summer recrea- tional activity. These groups are, in theory, and to some-extend "all" practicality, supported by the municipal council. . A third group could be established which coul be assigned the task of taking care of necessary duties such as cutting park lawns during the summer months and generally maintaining the community through horticultural or janitorial activities. For instance, such a group could assign some members to take care of the mowing of parkland areas. Other members could provide manpower for painting and decorating recreational type buildings. Materials, of course, could be provided by the municipality, such as paint, varnish, or what have you. The lawn mowing operations could be handled. by members, many of whom do have machines larger than the normal push type mower. In short, although these are only suggestions, the "program would centre on an organization of volun- teer public citizens, a group who are ready and willing to assist in reduction of costs for recreational services. It may be only the beginning to a much larger public involvement in municipal affairs, all designed to match increased demand for services. Volunteer assistance on the part of the very ones who demand and who will pay for such increase¥"may be the answer. -- West Lincoln Review ye. ill smile GOOD OLD DAYS Due to the vagaries (and I could think of - some other words for them) of our mail 8 m (system?), this column has been getting to readers at some peculiar seasonal times. My Christmas column, written in Novem- ber, appeared after New Year's Day in many papers. My New Year's column, written in early December, has appeared in mid-January. A letter from my daughter written on Dec. 10, reached my on Dec. 31. First-class something or other. So this one, written Dec. 31, 1980, will be my Valentine's Day job for 1981, and perhaps you'll get it by the March break. Looking ahead at a new year is more dispiriting, very often, than looking back at the old one. At least you know that the old one can't be any. worse than the one that's coming up. That applies to years, dogs and women. : : Some pretty darn nice things happened to --me in1980. Generally speaking, it was a rotten year, but there were some bright moments that helped dispell the gloom. First of all, I read an article in the Toronto Star, with a headline: Teachers suffer highest burnout rate. This highest cheered me immensely, because it proved some- thing I'd known for years and we're always cheered when we're proven right, even though we prophesy that the world will come to an end next Tuesday. And it does. Some of the statements in the article might be considered a bit alarming, but they made me feel kind of special. I quote: "On average, teachers die four years younger than the rest of us. And next to air traffic controllers and surgeons, teachers suffer the most stress of all professions." You see the cheery note there? 1 could have been a surgeon or an 'air traffic controller. The author of the book on which the article was based stated flatly that many parents and school boards consider teachers, "no more than glorified babysitters and are prepared to treat them as such both through working conditions and salaries." Did you get the key word there? "Glorified". Saints and martyrs are glori- fied, though I haven't heard about too many babysitters reaching that status, though -- there are-some-who-should be:-~And-there- isn't a babysitter in town who makes as much as I do. So I'm happy. -- And another nice thing happened to me in 1980. I made a speech to honour students at a high school banquet. Honor night speeches are usually about everything except honor. Mine wasn't. And I received: a fine tribute about-it from a teacher, Burton Ford. "Your presentation to Honor students here was damn good. It was refreshing to an old boy, like myself, to hear it acknowledged that the Bible and Shakespeare are the models for correct English. In a time when old values and ideas are constantly being demeaned and even discarded, it was very refreshing to me to hear a teacher talk about Honor." Thank you, sir. Not all the letters were like that. Cassie Stafford of St. Thomas rips me up a bit, though she always sends along a poem at Christmas. She claims I am influencing her childrens' thoughts about sex, even though they are all out of high school by now. Her letter ends, "My own writing is deteriorat- SER STR ing from reading your column each week." Me too, Cassie, and thanks for the poem. From the Corner Store in Newtonville comes a note from Gwen McQuat: 'This is not a school paper. Itis a love note. I think you are terrific and I love ya." Thanks, Gwen. She encourages me to get on with putting a book together, and guarantees it will-be-on-display in the Corner Store. Just before Christmas, an old friend, who -worked with me on a steamboat resort ship on the Upper Lakes back in the Thirties, was on the blower. He was the head bell-hop, and a consistent failure in medicine and dentistry at the U. of T. He is now a successful dentist in Vancouver, which says something about something. He may be a good dentist, but his memory is not so hot. He claims we once went to a whore house in Detroit. I have never been in a whore house in my life. Knowingly. And I don't ever expect to be. Knowingly. Then there's always the Christmas card from my old friend and critic, from Westport, who invariably signs his card Your TV Repair Man, and gives me a verbal cuff on the ear, slap on the back and tells me to go on saying it like it is. Bless you all, and the many others who have written encouragement, vitriol, and just good old-fashioned gossip about the good old days, when our hearts were young and gay, and a hamburger was a dime, and a Pepsi was a nickel. a So a "