PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, January 31, 1989 -- 7 GOOD FOR US? Harvie Andre says that corporate mergers are good for the Canadian economy. He's the federal minister responsible for Consu- mer and Comorate Affairs, and he was commenting last week on three giant mergers in the beer, oil and airline industries. He must have been wearing his "corporate" hat when he made those comments. His "consumer" hat was tucked neatly in the closet. Just in case you missed the news, Molson and Carling joined forces to form a mega-brewery; Impe- rial Oil gobbled up Texaco Canada; and Wardair was "absorbed" by Pacific Western Airlines. The ink on the Molson-Carling deal was hardly dry when there were announcements of some 1400 lost jobs in the brewing business, and you can bet that the other takeovers and mergers will re- sult in a trimming of employee rosters. Andre says this consolidation will help the Cana- dian economy by making the companies leaner and better able to compete in the American and world marketplace. OK, there is some truth in that. But what happens to all the people who lose their jobs? Do they end up on pogey, or in some re-training program financed by the government (read tax- payers?) Probably. Any profits or financial benefits hat are garnered from these mergers are going - one place: back to the companies and their share- holders. And what about the average joe on the street? Viewpoint by John B. McClelland be cheaper to fly Canadian Airlines? Will a litre of Esso gas be cheaper? Well, you can make up your own mind on those questions. The consumer will get no benefit from these, deals and the tax-payer will foot the bill for the hu- man dis-location when jobs are terminated. And Mr. Andre says this is good for us? $100 MILLION BIG ONES Last week, as editor of this journal, | received a news release sent Jointly by the federal secretary of state and the Ontario Minister of Colleges and Uni- versities. Nothing unusual about that. Governments send me dozens of news releases each week (in English and en francais, | might add) Most end up in File X beside my desk, but this one caught my eye. Over the next eight years, the federal and Onta- rio governments are going to shell out $100 million "to expand French language programs and servic- es in the Ontario college system." In three years, a completely new French- language college of applied arts and technology will be opened in Ottawa, and all over Ontario, franco- phone communities will be asked to determine the requirements "enhancing French-language servic- es" at the College level. | have always tried to keep a clear head when it comes bilingualism in Canada, but this makes me angry. $100 million tax dollars for college services in French in Ontario? This at a time when our hospitals are screaming for more money, schools are over- crowded, and municipalities have had their road re- pair grants frozen? : Minister of State, the Hon. Lucien Bouchard says in the news release: "this project is a natural given the fact that half-a-million Francophones live in Ontario." This is ridiculous. How the hell can the govern- ment say there is no money for hospitals, nurses wages, school boards and our roads, yet turn around and plunk down $100 million for French col- leges? : Where the hell are the priorities in this country, in this province? Where the hell is David Peterson? $100 million on this "project" when some poor shop-keeper in Quebec is hauled into court for hav- ing English on the sign over his door. You know something? There is one hell of a back-lash brewing in parts of this country, especially in Ontario. And it's this kind of thing that just keeps feeding this back-lash. : Think of that $100 million when your elderly mother can't get a nursing home bed, or your father dies waiting for heart surgery, or there are not enough books in your kids classroom, or your car falls apart when it hits a pot-hole that isn't fixed be- cause there's no money in the government coffers. Think of it when you fill out your tax return. Maybe then you'll wake up, get off your back- side and tell Lucien Bouchard and David Peterson what they should really do with that $100 million of your money. The people of Ontario are a bunch of sheep be- Will the price of a case of Molson come down? Will it ing led to financial slaughter. Wake up! Remember When? 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 6, 1919 Mrs. Kyle left on Monday for New York where she will spend a few weeks with Mrs. Morren. A cable from London reads: The wedding of Col. Herbert Bruce and Angela, daughter of Henry B. Hall of Upminister, Essex, formerly of Cornwall, England, manufacturer at St. Margaret's, Westminister, took place recently. Mr. Jas. McKee has bought the livery business from Cawker - Bros. Mr. Wes. Cawker will continue to manage the business. Mrs. Coates offers for sale her property in town, also a Chevrolet car, a safe, a buggy and harness. All parties owing must settle at once - Harriett Matilda Coates. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 10, 1944 ~ L.A.C. Alan Aldred, R.C.A.F., has returned to his new train- ing camp at Chectioc, New Brunswick, after spending a week at his home, Scugog Island. Mr. Henry Doble, Miss Florence Doble and Miss Vera Leach Red the Ice Follies at Maple Leaf Gardens on Thursday Mrs. E.M. Sharpe celebrated her 90th birthday on January 29. Resident in Timmins since 1925, Mrs. Sharpe was born on * Scugog Island, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Reader. She married George Sharpe in 1875 and for a time they resided in Port Perry. Congratulations are in order for Private Fred Gyton, Port Perry who was recently married to Miss E. Pike, Toronto. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 4, 1954 Mr. and Mrs. Wright Crosier, Manchester, celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary on January 30, 1954. Mr. and Mrs. Lorne Blakely and family, Greenbank, visited Miss Myrtle Blakely at her new home in Brooklin on Sunday afternoon. Several from Scugog Island attended the "Orfeda" show at the C.N.E. Coliseum in Toronto last week. Mr. and Mrs. Max Heidt, Manchester, are in Florida for the remainder of the winter. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, February 5, 1959 Port Perry Midgets won the first round of 0.M.H.A. Play- offs by out pla Brooklin 13-6 on the round. Ivan Luke led the scores with 3 goals, Wayne Powell with 2 and singles by Gary Geer, Ed Teno, George Carnochane, Gary Porter and James (Turn to page 10) Letters Recyling pickup has growing pains To the Editor: Collection of recyclable materials from blue boxes during the week of January 2 to January 6 ran behind schedule in most municipalities. This occurred for a number of reasons including the lack of garbage collection bet- ween Christmas and New Years and heavier than normal produc- tion of glass bottles and soft drink cans from Christmas celebrations. A total of 320 tonnes of materials were set out at the curbs in 41,360 blue boxes for col- lection during this week. This Good idea, but fan not impressed To the Editor: Regarding the hockey game between Port Perry MoJack's & the Bowmanville Eagles last Saturday night. The intention was great (having "an evening for the boys and girls of minor hockey). It's too bad the player's of both teams were not aware of the young, impressionable kids watching. I wasn't sure the sport I was watching was boxing or wrestl- ing. The young people from our minor hockey certainly got a birds' eye view of good sportsmanship. Dorothy Hope Prince Albert represents the highest one week recovery since the implementa- tion of the blue box program. The five lakeshore municipalities used an average of 60% additional truck capacity to collect the higher than average amounts of garbage set at the curb during this five day period. Those additional vehicles were drawn from spare vehicles in ex- isting fleets and through leasing from private waste haulers. Unfortunately Durham Recycl- ing has no spare vehicles for use during periods of heavier than average collection. Nor is it possi- ble to lease the specialized recycl- ing verhicles as no private waste hauler uses similar vehicles. As a result Durham Recycling staff at- tempted to the best of their abili- ty to collect materials, using on- ly the existing vehicles, working evenings and weekends to bring (Turn to page 10) Where was the picture To the Editor: So, where's the picture? I read the Chalk Lake spring story in last week's Port Perry Star with interest. It was a good article. I can just see it: back end of a car and wheels hanging over the culvert as people continue to fill their water jugs. I know the Star staffer must have taken a photo, so my question to the editor is this: why didn't the Star run it? P.S. Keep the water flowing. Yours truly, Phil Romanenko, RR 4, Uxbridge. From the Editor: You're right, we do have a photo of the car in ques- tion. Had to spike it last week be- cause of space restrictions. Maybe this issue, Phil. to the editor. 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 -While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- . tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.