Ontario Community Newspapers

Whitby Free Press, 14 Jan 1976, p. 5

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14. 976. PAGE on... qf, As some of my readers will know, I have never been a, staunch supporter of Trudeau's econornic policies since the day he was elected Prime Minister of Canada. Many tinies I have blasted the Trudeau Government for the economic ills that we have experienced at the present time. Basically, my criticism has been directed towards Trudeau's inaction on economic matters at home. But, finally, I noticed PET has changed his course-for better or for worse. He has come up with somewhat loosely-knit price and wage controls. Now that he has finally done something to remedy the rapidly deteriorating economic situatiop, we find the government being bombarded with criticism from both sides-the labor and big private corporations. For instance, Joe Morris, of the very powerful Canadian labor movement has openly accused Trudeau of his price and wage guidelines. He says our Prime Minister has defrauded the general public because the latter voted on assurance Amw- . , k.MMMmwý IL The more advanced our civilization gets, the less we agree on and at tirnes this is a healthy attitude. l'm sure we'd all agree-that the last two decades have seen a change in that things have become centralized - for better or for worse - and it is truly the age of the specialist. If your foot hurts you're best to go to a foot doctor rather than an ear, nose and throat specialist. If your car is sick you have to know what part is sick so you can go take it to a front end specialist or a tuneup expert, or an electrical expert, or whatever. And as for household repairs, hardly anybody just fixes 'things' anymore. You get a heating specialist, or a plumber, or an electrician, or a carpenter, or a cabinetmaker, or a decorator, or a plasterer, or a drywall expert and on and on and if you need all of thern you get yourself a heckuva big loan from the loan officer at the bank. There are pros and cons of the age of the specialist and I guess one of the pros is that a specialist usually does a better job in his area than a general repairman or doctor would do even though the costs are higher. The funny part about al] this centralizing and specializing is that some businesses are going in the opposite direction to the current trend. It's quite possible to buy folding chairs and lawn furniture in your local supermarket. I have even purchased shirts in my local supermarket although I will admit it is a little embarassing to have to try the clothing on while standing in the aisle and dodging grocery buggies while ou're doing so. Supermarkets also sell pèt sipplies, hardware, tools and, occasionally, groceries. You almost suspect that they hate to stock groceries because the profit is poor. SAVE-FUEL INSULATE NOW WITH FIBREGLASS Friction Fit and Vapour Barrier Un Stock MITCHELL BROTH ERS Building Supplies Ltd. Of course the hardware stores have their way of getting even with the grocery stores. Do they then sell groceries??? Not on your sweet mortgage! Hardware stores sell furniture and draperies and glassware and even jewelry. Continuing on then you would surmise that maybe furniture stores sell groceries and hardware, eh?? Nope, from what I have seen, the poor furniture stores have committed themselves to selling furniture. The one store that is the most unpredictable is the new, large and painfully lit drugstore. I was in a drugstore this past -summer in Paris, France, and it was very originally called, Le Drugstore. I can't remeniber seeing any drugs in the store alone a prescription counter. I do remember seeing everything else that I have mentioned above in this column and even at 10 p.m. on a Sunday night the place was packed with shoppers. The situation is the same in North American and the one drugstore that comes to ny mind as being the worst offend- er of selling other lines of goods is one called Web City in St. Petersburg, Florida. Never in my live have I seen such a so-called drugstore and I'n sure they will never be toppled from their title as the world's largest drugstore. I can't reme[nber how nany floors this 'drugstore' had but I would guess about five or six. On the way from where I parked the car to the drugstore I cut through a used car lot and, on emerging through the front, was surprised to see a sign proclaiming that it was the, 'Web City Drugstore Used Car Lot'. They not only sold cars, they also arranged for financing. Since then, I've wondered if the prescription for a used car from such a lot would be covered by my Blue Cross drug plan. One thing I will say for Web City is that they sure do carry drugs.. You may have to wade througb floors and floors of thousands of other types of items before finding the drugs but they do have a1 good supply. I've often since wondered if this was a mistake by. the merchandising manager or if they actually feel dedicated to carrying some amount of drugs to keep up the image. Whiat else can you buy at Web City drugstore?? Well, they sell hardware, furniture, groceries, haircuts, and mani- cures, hair styling for the ladies, jewelry, pots and pans, appliances, patio and garden furniture, nursery products for both baby and garden, luggage, theatre tickets, books, tools, lamps, toilet and plumbing and heating supplies and even pets and pet supplies, not the least of which includes pet CAROUSEL*INN FEATURING Sweet Blindness Businessman's Buffet Luncheon $2.50 Ali you can eat MON-FRI 12 noon to 3 p.m. Phone for Reservations * SUNDAY BUFFET DINNER $5.95 ALL YOU CAN EAT a SUNDAY EVENINGS 5 p.m._- 9 p.m alligators and crocodiles. Web City has proven that behind a strachy white face you may not necessarily find just drugs. In fact, you may not even get around to finding the drugs at all......... Soybeans A soybean plant can lose as much as 30 per cent of its leaves before flowering without affecting final yield. After the pods have been formed it can lose as much as 10 per cent of its leaves without reducing yield. Cool Eggs Egg producers, handlers and consumers should remember to keep eggs as cool as possible at all times. Shoppers should place their eggs. in a refrigerator as soon as possible. 1 AFofe WE I 1771ý "GET READY TO SWEEP-HERE COMES A COMMERCIAL!" HIS & HER'S HALRSTYLING (STARTING NEXT WEEK) 4 DAY SPECIAL FREEshampoo & style with every haircut Mon Thurs Business Hours: Monday. Wednesday 9-6 p.m. Thursday & Friday 9-9p.m. Saturday 9-6 p.m. TONY'S HAIRSTYLING Blair Park Plaza 668 - 5441 that no controls of any sort will be brought in by the Trudeau Government. Then, we have a guy by naine of Ted Burton, vice-president of Sinpson's Company, yapping about Trudeau being "irresponsible" towards corporate life in Canada. On top of that, Alvin Hamilton, former Tory cabinet minister, has branded PET a "dictator and blabbermouth". Finally, Mike Rygus, vice-president of Machinists and Aerospace Workers association, has -urged the 50,000 Canadian members of the union to be "more watchful than ever of the Prime Minister's dangerous tendencies". My question is this: Why don't they all shut up, if they cannot produce constructive ideas on how to solve the economic problers and how to keep the inflation down. None of these so-called experts have told me what better measures could have been taken. We all know that inflation must be stopped sooner or later. Trudeau decided stop it later and that's better than philosophising. As a matter of fact, our Prime Minister has been far too lenient with labor unions and big privately-owned corporations. Maclean's survey of profits for big companies show that right here in Canada we have many businesses that reap Profits up to 200 percent. One bank was recently cited to have made close to 300 per cent in profits alone. Seldom a business in Canada operates with less than 70 per cent of profits. On the other side of our economic problems are the labor unions, also as greedy as some of the maior 1 corporations. Somewhere in the middle is the littie gt with no special status in today's labor market. lHe is ti one who suffers nost. Therefore, there is only one solutic to my mind: Trudeau must crack down on big business( and labor unions as well. No exceptions , to wag settlements. If the guidelines say 8 per cent is the limi then let's stick to the guidelines, unpopular as they migl be. The belt-tightening policies should apply to everyon including teachers, postal workers, doctors, lawyers an everyone whose income exceeds $10,000 a year. When th. country is faced with economic hardships, the busines attitudes should change. No longer can we expect ti retain the same affluent life-style we had been enjoyin; since the end of the Second World War. People who figh economic controls fail to understand that they (and nobody else) are to be blamed inthe first place for the present wage and price controls. How many people did go along with the voluntary restraints? Perhaps some, but not enough tc rmake this nation economically vible. Now that the government is doing sornething to curb the inflation, we ai must go along with the measures. Otherwise, the future of this country will end in catastrophy.. Labor unions and big businesses should start to realize this right now before Canada as a nation ceases to exist.

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