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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, August 30, 1988 -- 7 Viewpoint by John B. McClelland As sure as the sun comes up in the east and goes down in the west, the Canadian public once again will have to put up with...you guessed it...another strike at the Post Office. How many postal strikes in the past decade? Six, eight, who knows? But here we go again, this time maintenance and clerical workers are off the job, some 6,000 of them across the country, and the big issue in this one is not wages or job security or automation, but whether 1400 technicians should get a half-hour paid lunch break. Other post- al workers enjoy this perk, so the technicians want it too, and they hit the bricks over it. Sorry, but | have no sympathy for the techni- cians over this one. Surely, if all the other substan- tive issues had been settled, the sides could have jeached some sort of a compromise on paid lunch reaks. Disrupting the mail over this issue is a joke. | can't believe that people would go out on strike for this reason. If the strike lasts two weeks or a month and the union finally gets its way, how many paid half hour lunch breaks will a person have to get to make up the wages lost during the strike. You try to figure it out, | can't. One thing for sure, though. We'll soon be see- ing some new courier service trucks on the high- ways. Every time there is a mail strike, a couple of new courier services pop up and do quite nicely. And they won't go out of business when the strike is over. They just continue to eat away at the Post Office business. Post Office, and the only business the Crown Cor- poration will have left is the distribution of flyers and mail order junk. All the important business will be taken over by Private industry and the FAX ma- chines. They don't go on strike over paid lunch breaks. GOTTA BE GONE No doubt in my mind, the Blue Jays MUST get rid of George Bell before next baseball season. Here's a 9 y making $2 million per year, the MVP from 1987, he's batting .250 with 17 home runs and 70 RBI's and he throws a temper tantrum when the ump tosses him out of a recent game in Texas. Poor George was so upset he tossed half a doz- en batting hats on the field, and had to be re- strained from physically attacking the ump. As if it's the ump's fault George and the Jays are ten games out of the pennant race, and he leads the team in errors in left field. He has become a $2 million liability to what used to be a pretty decent baseball team. Not only that, he's an embarassment. A START, FINALLY It's good to see that some concrete steps are being taken towards improving some of the recrea- tional facilities in Scugog Township. The council recently approved a feasibility study to examine the idea of a recreation hall, second ice pad, and squash courts. Don't hold your breath if you hope to see shov- els in the ground on this, but the study is a neces- sary first step. The idea of a new recreation centre, second ice pad, banquet hall and indoor pool has been kicked around in this community for several years. The Township has a huge tract of land near the Scugog Arena where these new facilities should be located. And we need them. | must admit it is depressing to see the kind of recreation facilities that exist in other municipalities compared to what we have here. Scugog also needs a new municipal office. Why not go the entire route and put the municipal office, the recreation-banquet hall, the second pad and fit- ness facilities under one roof at the Arena site. The valuable commercial land on which the present mu- nicipal office sits could be sold to the highest bid- der for development and the money used as a start on the new facilities. I'm not naive enough to think that this will hap- pen overnight, but this Township, with a population of 15,000 and growing every year, needs to be looking seriously at the future. STRANGE BUSINESS Figure it out. Suzanne Blais-Grenier, the Mon- treal MP gets booted out of the Tory ranks for sug- gesting there is a network of patronage in that prov- ince, and if she decideds to run in the .next election, the Prime Minister probably won't OK her nomination papers. The Party chiefs want her out. Sinclair Stevens, the Ontario MP is found to be in contravention of conflict of interest rules more than a dozen times. He has nailed down the nomi- nation in a new riding north of Toronto. Is he under the same pressure from the Party brass and the Prime Minister as "Suzie Two-Names" from Mon- treal? Politics is a strange business in Canada. | figure we need about three more strikes at the Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO + Thursday, August 29, 1918 The recent electric storm did considerable damage to the lines of the Bell Telephone Co., but all are in good shape again. Rev. J. Ford is an expert at the golf game and has made some excellent results. On Monday evening he made the 18 holes in 73 shots, a play that equals some of the best efforts of World famous golfers. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 26, 1943 It may have been long delayed, but now the Bowling Green Wall has been rebuilt and it is really an excellent piece of work, both as to design and its substantial character. The construc- tion was done by Mr. Sandison of Utica, under supervision of councillor Herb Brooks. | Mrs. S. Farmer attended the Canadian Weekly Newspaper Association convention held at the Royal York Hotel, last week. A new garbage dump has been selected on the old C.N.R. right of way. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 27, 1953 According to an advertisement inserted in the Star by J.F. Raines, clerk-treasurer, concerning the hiring of a new chief con- stable, the population of the Village of Port Perry was 1,817. Max- imum salary for chief constable was advertised at $3,200. The final count in the August 10 Federal Election, gave Michael Starr a margin of 1,199 votes over his Liberal opponent, y. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 28, 1958 10 years ago, the Port Perry Council received a letter and report from Dr. A.E. Berry, General Manager of the Ontario Water Resources Commission stating the Village was in need of sewers and sewer disposal plant. The survey showed con- tamination of several water courses leading into Lake Scugog. 700 enjoyed the third annual picnic held by Federal Labour , Michael Starr and Ontario Transport Minister Matthew Dymond at Greenwood Park, Pickering. Port Perry Merchants defeated Cobourg in the first game of 0.A.S.A Play-downs. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 29, 1968 Miss Beth Johnston of Cartwright High School, Blackstock, has been awarded an Ontario Scholarship. Beth, daughter of Mr. (Turn to page 12) Letters v mode wes . ® ve ow - » Event cruel to horses To The Editor: As new residents of Scugog Island, Port Perry, we were anx- ious and pleased to be able to at- tend the Blackstock Agricultural Fair last Saturday. The fair was well attended by families with children and grand- parents everywhere. The farm exhibits, crafts, hobbies, were in- terestingly displayed - the magi- cian was excellent, there were rides, food and plenty of enjoy- ment for the children. The main attractions concern- ed the riding events - tandem races and show horses, perform- ing all afternoon in front of the grandstand, in front of overflow crowds. In the midst of our enjoyment and admiration of the sports, an event called 'The Horse Pull" took place - and that was where the mood changed, not only for my husband and myself, but even for the seasoned elderly farmers from the local area, who sat beside us. Teams of two large horses were hitched up to pull a total weight of 6700 1bs., a total distance of 20 feet - (twice their own weight in cement blocks!!) : Out of the eight unfortunate horses - only 2 pairs came close to completing this miserable and cruel weight pull. Some struggl- ed and almost fell backwards, straining, some had to stop and withdraw. They could have suf- fered a heart attack in front of the crowds and surely must have strained backs and legs. My point is - why is this in- human, disheartening and sad event allowed to take place at all? It is downright cruelty to animals. Who wants to watch these -aA wera ow ow ww helpless creatures being tortured by their own masters who demanded so much from their obedient animals. No one in our section smiled or applauded this event - there were plenfy of audible gasps and moans as the poor horses strain- ed to pull. Some people turned away - some left their seats en- tirely - and we soon followed. Does the S.P.C.A. know of this event? We hope to attend the Port Perry Fair this coming weekend and are hoping this kind of cruel- ty is not included in the program. Yours truly, Patrick and Joan Jarvie, Scugog Island. New equipment To The Editor: Our family has resided in Port Perry for the past four years. We have spent many mornings, afternoons, and evenings at the park with our children. During this time, I have yet to see a new piece of playground equipment added to the park for the children. Granted, the equipment does get painted and new swings were put up this summer, but what 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 column 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 letter to the editor. While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer. reer PEER CTT IIA TI SE THRE WE ees about new equipment? Perhaps: a climbing jungle? teeter-totters? a wading pool? or a new slide for small children? Some thought should be given to the pre-schoolers who cannot use the equipment made for older children. I can still remember when my son was co-ordinated enough to climb that big slide but his sister (who is younger) had to watch (Turn to page 8) TET IRR AMET ET EEC ERS | |