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Tuesday Nov 1977 NEWSROOM 7266537 CIRCULATION 7266539 the examiner serving barrio and simcoe county Published by Canadian Newspapers Company Limited l6 Boyfield Street Barrie Ontario LAM4T6 Elio Agostini publisher ADVERTISING 7266537 CLASSIFIEDS 7282414 TheFirehall are you convinced The Firehall issue has never been simple Two major questions are being asked Should an historic building in Barrie be saved Should Barrie have an arts and cultural centre There have been as many answers to the questions as there are people involved in the Firehall problem And if you dont think the Firehall is problem well stick around for few months It is going to be problem the sort of problem which makes or breaks municipal politicians There is no agreement on basic issues Some say the Firehall is an historic building others say it isnt Some say it is an architectural treasure others say it isnt Some say Barrie needs an arts and cultural centre others say it doesnt Those who say Barrie needs an arts centre are split themselves some saying the centre is needed but not in the Firehall others agreeing the centre is needed and asking where else it could be put The Firehall waters have been further muddied by organizations such as the Ontario Heritage Foundation which last week said it would give $25000 for the project More mud will be dropped into the troubled Firehall waters Dec when the core study consultants give their opinion on the Firehall We are not convinced that the Firehall is worth saving as relic of what is best from the past Nor are we convinced that the Firehall will be anything but playground for selfprofessed cultural elite We are convinced Barrie should have and can support an arts and cultural centre We are not convincedas are many others in Barrie that what is proposed now for the Firehall is the arts and cultural centre this city needs simcoe yesteryear are Masts The young lady at the left looking unhappy about having her picture taken is Bertha Packard William Packard who loaned this picture to The Examiner is in the centre and Annie Packard is at right holding Mr Packards do ofthecentury picture at the doorste Blake The three youngsters posed for this turn of the living quarters of the Gowan Station Grand Trunk Railway station Gowan Station became Shanty Bay when the CNR took over the Grand Trunk Mr Packard notes that the planks in front of the doorway were 14 inches wide and four inches thick They were made of BC fir By VINCENT EGAN Business and Consumer Affairs Analyst Thomson News Service If its true that the average consumer has to be wary in the marketplace then its truein spadesof elderly consumers The market is increasingly oriented toward the young The lBtoSOyearold consumer is potential customer for any imaginable product or service People over say 55 are likely to have much greater assets But they have fewer wants are less likely to succumb to novelty or im Blellse and are too careful with their money to of much interest to most suppliers But when consumer problem arises its likely to hit harder at an older consumer than younger one The everyday money problems of older Canadians are examined by 34yearold Winnipeg economist Andrew Allentuck in The Cost of Age Fitzhenry and Whiteside Ltd 179 pages $595 paper The ordinary problems of shopping and spendin difficulties the average person sol ves da can easily stand between the elderly rson and happiness he writes ng less income and perhaps less strength older people are without the resilience that enables others to overcome similar problems Older peoples incomes are lower than average and have no margins to wahion buying errors and other difficulties Lower incomes and age itself make it har der to change homes or indeed to get around town so the elderly tend to put up with unfair landlords and high prices at convenience food stores PAPER WEALTH It isnt that the elderly are poor By and le over 65 tend to be reasonably mill01mph Elderly consumers must be careful Allentuck contends that Canadians have disproportionately large share of their assets locked into insurance and annuity plans decade ago we were the most heavily in sured people in the world Latest per capita figures for the beginning of 1976 show that the average Canadian has life insurance equal to 153 per cent of annual income The figure for the United States is 158 per cent and for Japan 209 per centa figure that has doubled in eight years Federal tax policies encourage Canadians to invest in registered retirement savings plans which must be converted into annuities at age 71 ECONOMIC POWER The old are kept dependent on banking and insurance system that uses their assets but does not concern itself with their fate the author contends Banks are reluctant to give loans to the elderly Trustcompany fees are very hi their service often quite poor for the majority of older persons for whom they administer small trusts And insurance companies annuities pay retums usually lower than the funds in the annuities would earn if competently invested diectly by the old people drawing from the an nuities Allentuck advises Plan your assets to avoid having them captured by the banks and their cohorts If you are already retired consider new enterprise and wrestin your money away from the money establis tent RISKY ADVICE That could be an extremel risky course for great many elderly peop especially for widows who have no business experience Consider the frequency with which they are defrauded of their savings by such means as the lost money trick BUSINESS 7266537 NEWSROOM Sean Finlay managing editor Randy McDonald city editor Sheilo McGovern assistant city edito Bill Curran county editor Werner Bergen sports editor Blll MchrIsne wire editor SALESMEN Dan Gaynor Lysll Johnson Barb Boutton Dana Graham ADVERTISING Len Sevlck manager BUSINESS Marian Gough accountant Betty Armer Dorothy Bowland Gail Mc Parland VikkiGranf Publlshod dolly except and sumolldoys WEEKLY by carrier Chris Mgntgomery mm to 3° ogno Quattroccht phothgraoher hrka RE omens CIRCULATION John Bruce cussrr J0 50 manna SIMCOE coutmt Montreal Paul Deiean Ru 863 swarm Llnds Halkes asst manager 50 Richard Dunstan Lesley Young Andy HPUQNW MOTOR THROWOFF Pat Guergus was snmner Judy HCk to your Scott Haskins mn Atkinson gzzfntgrtgf mm CANAOA nglflngsrocLosn Pquy cnsoell Gary Pringle 3250 your Parliament hill By STEWART MacIEOI Ottawa Bureau Thomson News Service was comforted when read in newspaper that the Canadian and in ternational capital markets appear to be dis missing Finance Minister Jean hreticns economic statement with shrug Thats exactly the way it affected me The newspaper went on to say that thr market experts while applauding the generally conservative tone of his speech concluded that the govemments proposals were irrelevant to the bleak financial and economic outlook This also coincided with my own personal viewthat Chretiens proposals were irrelevant to my own financial and economic outlook But am getting used to his now sin ce never in my working life have managed to fall into wageearning category that benefits from tax changes However the purpose of this column is not to criticize the new finance minister who happens to be one of the most likeahle mem bers of the Trudeau government but rather it is intended to pay homage to his remarkable courage dont know if courage is prime attribute in finance minister but if it is suggest that Canadas economy is in good hands LOSING GROUND At the moment inflation is increasing at rate of 84 per cent and Chretien announces that wage increases during 1978 will The world today By JOHN IIARBRON Foreign Affairs Analyst Thomson News Service Lets face it Quebec Premier Rene Levesque is receiving headofgovernment treatment in France on his official visit in cluding Frances second highest decoration Premier Levesque in Paris has said the world will soon see new nation state in Nor th America restatement of the PQ rogram for independence which has found avor in the French press and among the members of the National Assembly to whom he spoke Edgar Faure president of the National Assembl told Levesque and the media that France nows all about the difficultiw of decolonization He told Levesque that France understands the anguish of going out of the colonial era and can not condemn others who in the name of the French idea refuse to let them selves be colonized by anybody And wh not this admiration for the political Lader of the largest French speaki community outside of France and geograp cally twice the size of the Mother Country If Quebec were to become new nation state it would be the largest Frenchspeaking community outside France herself in terms of culture and language The Frepch of Levesque is good deal 00 Duo generally be held to six per cent Then scar cely pausing for breath he said that one of the main problems with the economy is that Canadians are not spending enough money That kind of talk takes real courage Even Dick Tracy wouldnt have the intestinal for titude for it think if you have any bucks this is the time to go and buy Canadian said the finan cc minister Canadians by saving their money instead of spending it are causing roblems in the economy he said Dema for goods is not high in Canada and savings are high and the people are for more income And he went on to say that when they et the addi tional incomc they save it instea of spending it Well Chretien probably talks to different class of people than associate with but its been long time since met anyone who is saving too much money And if the finance minister is interested in honoring those of us who spend every available centalon with some that are not availableI wil now nominate myself as the citizen of the year Canadians are demanding much but they are not necessarily spending said Chretien They just want to put it their money aside for the future There he goes again lumping us all together Perhaps there are few assorted Canadians who can put money awa for the future but my planning has seldom gone beyond next weeks groceries removed from that of Messrs Edgar Faure Premier Raymond Barre and President Valery Giscard dEstaing CLOSE TIE 0F LANGUAGE But so what The Spanish spoken by Mexican presidents or Cuban stron man Fidel Castro is quite different from the ulcet tones of Spanish politicians and di Iomats in Madrid have style of speec closer to the gréat Cervantes Quebec has already assumed an im rtant role in the larger African and Sou East Asian world of Frenchs akin or fran cophone nations of the Thi Worl An inde ndent Quebec republic in our world wo virtually end Canadas role as major participant in the franc hone com munity both in the cultural trade and technical assistance relationships Quebec could therefore become perhaps even rival of France in seeking hegemony in world of Frenchramming nations since she will not enter in ependence as poor banana mtxrblic but as resourcesrich and managerially com tent new nation The Quebec an French senior officials in Paris this week must have these thoughts in mind not so much whether Quebec will remain in the Canadian Confederation but to treat Levesque now as the leader of new nation to see what it looks like At the same time the French who are historys pros in protocol have not gone too 49 Chretiens proposals gutsy but apparently irrelevent To stimulate spending the minister an nounced that income taxes will be reduced duding the first two months of next year to encourage spending But the reduction will apply only to wage earners in certain category and in keeping with tradition dontbenefit Under the original wage and price controls program we could expect our incomes to rise eight per cent next year matching the rate of inflation But Chretien has decided that we must do better than this if we are going to wrestle inflation to the ground That phrase has familiar ring doesnt it So next year most of us will lose ground in our struggle to stay solvent But as the minister said we must face up to our respon sibilities and not expect government to solve all our problems Chretien is way ahead of me on this one am still so gset with the government causing all my pr lems have never thought of solutions But no matter what we do the finance minister emerges as the winner He not only tells us to spend more he says the Canadian worker must lower his expectatins and start livin within his means ont care what any of his critics say when finance minister clamps sixper cent limit on raises while inflation is over eight per cent and tells us to spend more but to start living within our means think thats pretty gutsy performance Incomprehensible but gutsy Fronce understands anguish of Quebec far Levesque did speak in unprecedented fashion to the National Assembl But the address was in ha close to the National Assembly building and not in it as officials in the French foreign ministry in sisted his address be handled NOT THE FIRST VISITOR Nevertheless Levesque comes as the latest in succession of Quebec premiers who since the emergence of modern Quebec through the Quiet Revolution after 1960 have had protocol trouble with Ottawa This time the Trudeau government kept out of the visit of the first Quebec premier openly committed to new Quebec nation After all our francophone prime minister himself native of Quebec understands full well more than we En ishspeakers the for oeo Levesques rejoin er Our history is your history bible thought And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose Romans 828 He has the over view of everything that is underneath and hidden to us Because He does and because He loves us all things will work to our good and to His glory The Examiner II member of The Csnsdlon Press CP and Audit Burosupt Circult florts ABC only the Csnodtsn Press may rspubl credited to CF The Associated Press Routers or Agoncs Frsnctlrosso and local news stories published In The Examiner Tho Examiner clolms copyrighton all original news and advertising motorist crutoc mm on and bllshsd In this newspaper mt bycorrlor °Y Copyright registration number souls roglstsrol Nstlonsl amortisan otilcos Queen St Toronto 064 I710 Csthcsrt st The advertiser sums that the publisher shall not be liable for damages srlslng out errors in advertisements beyond the amount paid for the space actually occuplod that portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred whether such error to due to the negligence of its servants or otherwise and More shall be no liability for nonInsertion of any advertisement beyond the amount paid tor such advertisement sh hm stories In this newspaper Canadas story An insult to Britain By BOB BOWMAN Its rising that no one has made movie ca ed The Trent Incident starring James Mason based on something that hap pened Nov 1861 The James Mason in volved wasnt the current movie star of cour se but an ambassador for the Confederate states during the US Civil War He and another ambassador John Slidell were passengers in British ship Trent crossin the Atlantic to take up posts in Lon don Pariss The Trent was stopped on the high seas anorthern US warship and Mason and idell were taken off The incident was an insult to Britain and Prime Minister Palmerston sent note to Washington that was almost declaration of war Actually it was toned down by Prince Al bert Queen Victorias husband in one of his last acts before his death The northern states were annoyed at Britain and Canada for assistance given to the Confederates during the US Civil War and there might have been war with Canada as the battleground So Britain rushed troops to defend Canada in the event of an attack The St Lawrence River was frozen so they had to land at Halifax and Saint John and make their way to Quebec in sleighs humorous aspect to the situation was that they had to cross the state of Maine in order to get to Quebec and the Americans did not make any effort to stop them Actually President Abraham Lincoln had enough problems trying to defeat the Con federates at that time and did not want to become involved in war with Britain The trouble blew over but was critical enough to induce the Macdonald government to propose compulsory military services This led to the governments defeat and MacdonaldCartier were out of office for one year OTHER NOV EVENTS 1603Sieur de Monts was granted royal permission to colonize Acadia Queens park Sit back and watch By DON OHEARN Queens Park Bureau Thomson News Service TORONTO As may or may not have been noticed little has been said in this space about national unity When the Levesque government was elec ted in Quebec year ago there were various comments mainly pointing out the dangers to Ontario and particularly the touchy position in which Ontario politicians were placed in discussing the question of Quebec and national unity There was particularly the great danger that loose or thoughtless remark could be serious enough to change the whole com plexion of the question and therefore our national icture Since though our press generally has been full of observations and opinions on Quebec and the unity question there has been practically nothing said here MANY DEVELOPMENTS This has been quite intentional Behind it is the belief that the situation with Quebec is an evolving one and that we will probably see good many more devel ments before point of climax is actua reached Already of course we have had Bill 101 the suggestion by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that he may hold his own refer endum and statements by provincial leaders that they would not enter an economic union with Quebec if it were to separate All of these have had their impact and no one knows how many further developments we willseeyet PROVINCES LIMITED At this point it would seem that the most astute posntion the observer can take is to sit back and watch the continuing playbyplay the show or the game whatever you may want tocall it The individual Canadian unless he is Quebecer has little part to play in this production The main participants are Quebec Premier Levesque and his top officials on the one side and Trudeau and to some extent the provin cial leaders on the other And in respect to the latter it should be noted that any part the provinces can play is limited They can let it be known that they want Qlebec to continue in Confederation This could have some potential influence on the average Quebecois And they can indicate that they wont co operate as they have done with economic union But the main uarterbacking must be done by Trudeau He the national sphere and the influence Ontario Premier William Davis in cidentally to date seems to have carri on wiseand tful course He has at right moments had his say such as he did with economic union and when he said that despite the Levesque govern ment he would be speaki on unit Quebec But he has done nothin date at least he has avol that faces him and us inflammatory To the obvious trap