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PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 14,1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS Whitby wr È Voice of the County Town Publ Michael lan Burgess, Publisher . Managing Editor blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager Second Clasa Mail Reglstration.No. 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. It's time for ail of usto work together As everyone knows, the backbone of Durham Region's economy is the automotive manufactur- Ing industry. Again, as everyone knows, the auto sector Is ln deep trouble. In. fact, It was announced Monday that for the first time in Canadian history the sale of Japanese Imports exceeded those of General Motors. It was also announced yesterday that the region's ynemployment reached 12,000 persons - most of whom were employed in the auto industry In sorne fashion. At the same time, the leaders of the United Auto Workers are saylng that they will not enter into a wage a benefit concession contract with General We are nearing the end of another long Canadian win- ter, and perhaps our politipians should remember, as we are weighted down by government and inflation and bled dry, that as a people we come closest to madness about March. Historically, Canadian anger turns us sour and unproductive. We tend to bellow into our beer and take it out on our wives. This time, for once, we should make our agony count. Our MP's in Ottawa may have begun to sense that we are near the breaking point, but I don't think they have any idea of why or how. Governments continue to think of modest budgetary restraint-at a time when nearly a 10th of the population has earned no income at ail, when for all but a wealthy few, mere restraint has long since been replaced by unrelieved hardship. There are no jobs for the unemployed, and there is no incentive any more for those who have them. For a 69 year-old homeowner on- a modest fixed income, a jump frorn $1,800 to $3,000 in property taxes in just two years is absolutely impossible. He is not so much a victim of in- flation, as irresponsible, unaccountable government - a government that is slowly destroying what we've strived for. A Canadian citizen spends a lifetime building a sanc- tuary, a place of his own, or her own, a place in which to savor life and finally die. And then a vast, unapproach- able, impenetrable mass of federal, provincial and rhnuni- cipal government, all of whom continue to spend money as if they were drunk, taxes hiçn out of his house, in the twi- light years of his life. Canadians don't want that kind of government, that kind of justice, and those in government had better begin to understand us now. I had a telephone caIl recently from a woman who is trying to live on $3,000 a year. She remembered letters from her soldier father during the war... what's important and why. And now her kids can't get jobs, and her voice broke. So did mine. She was fed up to the teethwith our members of Parliament, all of them, as they drew pay and spent two weeks sitting idly by. The Tories may have won the public relations battle temporarily, but they and the Liberals and even the NDP gave politics and themselves a black eye, and Can- adians won't forget what happened this March, and why. MP's might better understand how angry we are if they gave up their pay increases they recently voted them- selves. If they de-indexed their pension plans, so the future is as uncertain for them as it is for the rest of us. They should get out in the streets, and take their share of the weight they've foisted on us. Until they're with us again, if they ever were, they won't understand what clowns they are. That's not news, but that too is reality. Motors as their American counterparts have. These two facts alone should be making both GM's management and the UAW's leadership more concilliatory. After all, they do have a common goal. GM wan- ts to stay.In business. To do that, it needs men on the line to assemble cars to be sold on the open market. The UAW wants its members to continue enjoying their high paying·-Jobs at GM. So, why aren't they working together? Whitby Regional Councillor Tom Edwards is expected to introduce a motion before today's meeting of Durham Regional Council to endorse a letter sent to two prominent cabinet ministers concerning the Canadian car industry. In that letter, the Autom6tive Parts Manu- facturers' Association of Canada and-the United Auto Workers (surprise, surprise) call for the Cana- dian government to establish a "Canadian content law" to govern Japanese automobiles. They demand that Japan be forced to invest in Canada If they wish to continue selling cars here. In other words, Japan will have to build plants, employ Canadian workers and use Canadian made parts in their automobiles. This is a sensible suggestion, but*it is unlikely that either the federal government or the Japanese will accept it. Edwards said that it is'about time that auto in- dustry centres such as Durham Region made its feelings known ta the federal government about the current auto situation especially since our livelihood is based upon it. He was also slightly critical of the municipal government's performance to date on this issue. In our opinion, Edwards' position that the municipalities should be lobbylng and acting on behalf of the auto industry has merit. After ail, most of our.people are involved in this industry In some way or another. Their earnings are returned into the community In the form of consumer buying and taxes. What would happen to our community If these people suddenly lost their income? Simply put, Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax and the rest of the region would become a collection of "ghost towns." It Is In the interest of everyone In the com- munity to see a healthy, strong and viable automo- tive Industry. Small business cannot survive without it. Homes could not be sold on the scale we are presently.enjoying without it. Our entire economy would suffer. The people and politicians of this region can do something about this situation. Firstly, Durham Regional Council can get off its hind end and support Edwards' motion and begin to tell Ottawa about what is happening to us. As the voice of the eight municipalities in Durham, reglonal council can be a loud voice in getting our message across. Secondly, the management at GM and the leadership of the UAW can stop their political bickering and get down to some serlous work at solving their mutual problems. Both sides boast a great deal of talent in terms of human resources. They should start using It. This problem will not go away overnight. It Will be a long time before we have any chance at per- manent prosperity, but the time to bicker over our differences is not now. Now is the time for action, not words. After ail, if the automotive indtistry suffers any more in the coming months, the ones who are going to bear the brunt of it are those of us living in Durham Region.