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PAGE 12, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1976, WHITBY FREE PRESS Coming Events DANCE The Canadian Scottish Club will be holding its first dance of the season at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Regal Room at the Centennial Building. Everyone is welcome. YARD SALE The Whitby listorical Society will be holding a yard sale at the Lynde House Museum Saturday at 10 a.n., with proceeds in aid of the museum. DIET WORKSHOP The Diet Workshop is holding an open house Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the. IOOF Hall, 211 Brock Street South. This is an opportuni- ty for people who would like to lose weight to intro- duce themselves to the Diet Workshop's nethod of re due- ing. avs r ces. happened n1976 The anti-inflation program is nearly one year old. The program was announced last October 14 and the Anti-Inflation Act was passed by Parliament in December. The goal was to create a fair and stable economic climate for all of us. Guidelines were established for the control of prices, profits, incomes, dividends and professional fees. The federal govemment established a policy of spending restraint. The provinces are supporting the program and are applying guidelines in areas of provincial concem such as rents. The target of the f irst year of the anti-inflation program was to bring inflation down from a rate of 10.8% to 8% or less. This goal is going to be reached. Still, many Canadians are concemed about rising prices and may feel in fact that prices are rising faster than their family incomes. For most of us, this is not the case. The facts prove that since the start of the program most of us are better off than we were before because salaries, on average, are keeping ahead of prices. Prices Last year, sudden and frightening price increases were happening all too often. By October, 1975, Canadians had experienced 20 months of inflation of 10% or more. No one could be sure how far the dollar earned one day would stretch the next. The anti-inflation program was brought in to control the rise in prices, giving Canadians a better chance to plan and live within their family budgets. Price increases have slowed down. By August, the annual rate of increase in the Consumer Price Index had drojped to 6.2%. Although some price increases have to be expected this month and next, the 8% target will surely be met. Wages The anti-inflation program has also helped to restrain increases in wages, salaries and other incomes. The Guidelines on compensation allow for a basic increase of 8%, plus 2% as a share of national productivity growth. Another 2% can Governmnt Gouvnemont ofC. a du Canada M b be added or subtracted depending on whether a group had kept up with or fallen behind cost of living increases before the program began. More than half of the agreements and settlements reported to the Anti-Inflation Board have been within these arithmetic guidelines. A gradual downward trend in wage increases has started and it should continue as more Canadians realize that because of declining inflation, settling for less won't hurt them. The real gains Since the start of the anti-inflation program, the average Canadian has actually improved his or her buying power. This is because lower wage increases along with lower price increases have resulted in a gain in real incomes. The real gain is worked out by taking the actual increase in earnings and subtracting from it the effects of higher consumer prices. Real incomes are proba- bly the best measure of how we're doing, of how we can manage to pay our bills at home. By this spring, real incomes were up 3.6% over last year. Before First 9 months of 1975 compredusthe same period in he prevlous year GROWTH IN AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS (INDUSTRIAL COMPOSITE) 14.3% GROLH IN REAL EARNINGS 3.0% After Most recent 3 month period lor which eomings data avoulable (Mar. May 76) compared to same penod in the previous year. GROWTH N AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS (INDUSTRIAL COMPOSITE) 12.9% GFROWTH N REAL EARNINGS 3.6% Controls on both prices and incomes are part of the reason why the inflation rate is dropping. The co-operation and hard work of most Canadians is the rest of the story We will seon be moving into the second year of the program, with a goal of lowering the inflation rate to 6% or less. Working together we can reach this target too. People who decide to join after Thursday's open house will attend weekly meetings at which proper diets will be detailed, instruction on proper -nutrition given, exercises, performed and behavior modification taught. HISTORICAL SOCIETY LUNCHEON A luncheon will be served by the Whitby Historical Society September 30 at 6:30 p.m. in the Legion Hall on U3yron Street. Tickets cost $2 per person and are available by contacting Marguerite O'Connor at 668-8580. GIRLS SPORTS REGISTRATION The Whitby Girls Àthletic Association will'be organizing a winter sports program for girls. A *sufficient number of registrations in each of the sports will guarantee a league for the girls to play. Hockey, broomball, volley - bail and basketball will be offered during the winter. Registration is Saturday, at the Whitby Municipal Building from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ail girls interested are eligible to register. Kenneth Bagnell cont'd from P. 11 Mr. Bagnell, however, found the pressure of trying to write a daily columr was treinendous. "I set a very high standard with my column- and I was my own worst critic", he says. During his time at the Globe and Mail, Mr. Bagnell was a frequent speaker at conventions "because people wanted someone with a name", and he event had an agent to negotiate his speak- ing engagements. "My greatest interests are in journalism itself; it always fascinated me", says Mr. Bagnell. "When I look at Time (magazine) I always like to read the press and TV sections first. r read a lot. I'm a magazine buff'. In addition to his work at the Imperial Oil Review, Mr. Bagnell does some free lance writing. He and his wife wrote an article on Canadian religious leaders in the August 21 issue of The Canadian Magazine. Mr. Bagnell expects to be doing volunteer work at the Whitby jail in the near future, and his wife teaches Sunday School at St. Mark's United Church. In the coming season Mr. Bagnell has been asked to do some television commentaries for the CBC, but intends to do these only on an occasional basis. The United Church Observer has also asked him to write a media column on television, radio, magazines and books, starting in January 1977. Mr. Bagnell describes him- self as a populist who believes in social reform, social change and social justice, but on moral and cultural matters he is a conservative. "I have a great respect for the traditions of the past surrounded by history, but the questions of human betternient and improvement are very much a part of my, life too", hé says. Im THE ANrHl- INFLATION PROGRAM A REVIEW YEARONE