Ontario Community Newspapers

Whitby Free Press, 25 Jun 1980, p. 4

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PAGE 4. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25.,1980, WHITBY FREE PRESS whitb Voice of the County Town Michael Ian Burgess,1 Ile only Wbltby ne»wspaper Independently owned and operated by 1VItI àr Publisher - Managlng Editor by residents for Wbltby residents. Publisned every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publlshing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-61 Il The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whltby, Ont. Conimulrym dtor MM *KiwlI Production Manager .MarI UWVOS Advertiolng Manaer Matlinq Permit No 460O Meruber of tre Btiete# Busirness Burfeau oI Toronto WN Iby Clranber of Commetrce Reader wants the Monarchyfirmly es tablis*hed in Canadiaen life The real job creators Dear SI r: On the eve of the Quebec referendum, Victoria Day provlded the opportunity to reflect on Canada's f ir- st tîme of trouble ln the early years of the Dominion. The respect and affection whlch Canadians feit for their monarch across the seas and the mystique of constitutional monarchy were among the sustainlng f orces during the early perlod. Author and historian William Kilbourn has wrtten that "By 1880 a new representative of. the Queen had arrived, her own son-In-law, the Marquess of Lor- ne ... His lady, Princess Louise, found the rough ways of Canadian Society distatesful. But she managed to partronize charities, befriend ar- tists, run a good household and generally admire the vlew-so well that the report of her was ex- cellent-.To give cultural Ieadership to the Dominion, Lord Lorne founded the Royal Canad ian Academy for its leading artisîts ln 1880 and the Royal Society of Canada for the fur- thering of scholarship ln 1882." In an age of constant change our Royal FamlIy--admltedly a shared resource--gives Canada a sense of balance in a way that a dlstingulshed, prime mlnlsterlally appointed Governor-General can not do durlng a tem- porary termn of office. Sir Robert Borden aptly described the Governor as "i4 n effect a nomlnated president." If some Canadians feel distant from their Mapie Crown, the fault lies with the politicians who have prev 'nted it f rom fuililinL its potential. NDthing is perfect and tt monar- chy is no ex;eptlon. Where it is defiè.ient it can be impra"ec'. The results of the May 20 Quebec referendum signal the end of the status quo ln the way oui, gover- niment is organized. Sound constitutional change can renew Canadian unity and our sense of identity. Is there a way for Canada to have the benefits of hereditary con- stitutional monarchy while endlng what an lncreasing number of Canadlans see as the anomaly of a non- resident head of state? Before our con- stitutional heritage is eroded any further, i suggest that it be rein- forced by asking one of Her Majest, The Queen of Canada's children other than the Prince of Wales<who is to suc- cedhis mother as King of the United Kingdom and His Other Realms etc. and Head of the Commonwealth) to eventually assume royal duties as Prin- ce"Princess, Viceroy/- Vicereine or KlnglQueen of Canada. An interesting varlety of Canadian-born governors could stili be appointed periodically-- hopefully by the monarch from a list submitted by the prime min ister--to represent the monarch and the federal presence at the reglional level. We would have a f uli1- time Canadian sovereign with a lifelong detachment from political commit- ments save to democracy and the rule of law. This cou Id only give added impetus to Samuel de Champlain's dream, echoed by the Fathers of Con- federation, of a great northern Kingdom. "Natlonalist" repub- lcans could no longer make the tiresome comment that Our Maple Crown is a colonial relic. Vours truly Ron Welker Waterloo Ontario B>' W. Roger Worth The "image" of Canada's small and medium-sized busi- nesses, as they say in the ad- vertising business, is out of whack with reality. The image is fhat big firms represent industrial salvation for the country. lndeed, a lot of Canadians stili believe.the majo>r companies - many of them Ioreign-owned - are cre- ating a majority of our new jobs. The reality is somewhai difereni. Here's whal the 55,000- member Canadian Federation of Independent Business found in a recens study: e In the period 1970-1976, Canadian-controlled mrnu- facturing firms (most of them small and meduum-sized enter- Roger Worth is Direcior, Public ,'ffairs, (anadian Federafion of Independent Business. prises) increased empinyment in Canada b> 111,000 jobs. Meanwhile, overall employ- ment by subsidiaries of U.S. iirms declined by 9,500 jobs and other foreign-controlled companies employed 1,200 l'ewer people. a The major source of new employment in the six year period was by iirms below the 500 employee size categury and the fastest growing sector was Canadian controlled firms in 1the 100- 199 em ployee size class. e An additional 136,000 jobs would have been created if for- eign-owned companies had matched the performance of Canadian-controlled firms. e Canadian manufacturing companies increased output 112% in the period, com- pared to 8501 for American controlled establishments. e Manufacturing shîpments would have been $9.2 billion higher in 1976 if the foreign- controlled companies had du- plicated the success 'of the Canadian-controlled firms. WhiIe the thousands of smaller companles that inno- vate more readily and grow more rapldly do not attract much notice, they are the key to providing more jobs in the cou n try. it's high lime everyone - including the bureaucrats and politicians in Ottawa and the provinces - took a long hard look at what's really happening in Canada. Our vibrant small and medium-sized "Job creators" deserve more support. 6Z M----

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