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Page 10 - June 26, 1974. fYrf^^W Sports Unveil Canada's Olympic Game Plan 76 %« Dr. Roger Jackson, gold medalist in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and director of the technical committee of Game Plan '76, introduced the formula of the plan to a large gathering in Toronto yesterday. It's a plan that is supposed to help Canadian athletes achieve excellence and international prominence not only for the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, but well beyond the Games. No doubt the ambitious program has merits and with financial help - from the Federal Government, the various provinces, the Canadian Olympic Association, Olympic Trust of Canada and the sale of Olympic coins and stamps -- could achieve what it has set out to accomplish. But as most ambitious plans, Game Plan is going through an embryonic stage, shaky beginnings which make it easy prey for critics. In his speech Dr. Jackson disclosed the Federal Government has upped its contribution to fitness and amateur sports for approximately $5 million in 1967 to close to $17 million this year. This money, along with funds supplied by the O'Keefe Foundation, is to stabilize and develop administrative support for sport and to provide technical development and financial help to athletes in order to enable them to train and compete under the best possible circumstances. In many instances, however, funds have been slow in arriving, thus causing disappointment among competitive athletes. Imre Szabo, vice-president of the Canadian Olympic Association and member of Game Plan's technical committee explained it this way: "Sure there are problems and delays, but that is to be expected. The COA made the money available immediately because we are geared to it. The delays are caused mainly by the provincial bodies and the Federal Government. This is understandable, though. When you become involved with the Treasury Board, it creates a bit of a problem until a routine process can be established." Some of the beefs came from athletes who left yesterday for a five-week training tour of Greece, France, Rumania, Poland, England and the Soviet Union. Some of them were very unhappy that they were not being reimbursed for loss of wages and were not even getting the $3-per-diem minimum from the Canadian Track and Field Association or from Game Plan. Not mentioned was the fact that Game Plan made it possible for them to gain valuable international experience against top European athletes. "Most of the athletes who left for Europe have athletic scholarships," said John Hudson, director of the Coaching Association of Canada. If they are university students they get $2,000 in scholarships, community college students get about $1,500 and high school students $600. "We realize that the trip to Europe may pose hardship on some working athletes and married competitors. We can help financially only to a point without turning these athletes into professionals. That help includes classifying these athletes into A, B and C groups internationally and providing them with additional funds. In the end the athletes themselves have to decide how much they want to do themselves. As the late U.S. president John Kennedy said 'It's not what your country can do for you, it's what you can do for your country.' And in this case it's up to the athlete." The A, B and C classifications also offered some puzzling facts. For instance, Yvonne Saunders of Guelph, the world's fastest female quarter miler is only a B athlete, as is Glenda Reiser of Ottawa, the world's fastest female miler. Or in figure skating, Lynn Nightingale, who finished sixth in the ladies singles in the last world championship is an A competitor, while Sandra and Val Bezic, who finished fifth in the pairs, are B class athletes. "It's an area where we have to be flexible" suggested Dr. Jackson. "In Miss Saunders' case the track and field association asked us to classify her as a B athlete going into the Commonwealth Games. new feed grains policy The federal government's new Feed Grains Policy becomes effective August 1,1974. Whether you are a producer or user, the new policy is designed to meet your needs by: • providing a fair and equitable base price for feed grains across Canada; • encouraging growth of grain and livestock production according to natural potential; • maintaining order and stability throughout the grain and livestock sectors. MAIN FEATURES: • farmers will have direct access to feed grains in all parts of Canada; buyers are free to shop for the best bargain, sellers are free to find the best price for their crops; • a nation-wide information system through the Canadian Livestock Feed Board will keep everyone informed on selling prices across the country; • the Canadian Wheat Board will continue to be the sole buyer and seller of feed grain for export market; • prairie producers have the choice of selling their grain to the CWB or to others on the domestic market; • cash advance payments and initial payments, similar to those provided to Prairie grain producers for many years, will be extended to growers across the country to encourage feed grain production; • a new storage program, costing the federal government $40 million a year, will be instituted to provide for security of supplies for Canadian markets; it will also lead to additional grain storage on the West Coast, in inland terminals, on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence and in the Maritimes; • steps will be taken to bring into balance freight rates between meat and grain; this will progress according to trends in grain and livestock prices, and the degree of regional self-sufficiency in grain production. HON. EUGENE WHELAN. MINISTER HON. OTTO LANG. MINISTER CANADA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE RESPONSIBLE FOR CANADIAN WHEAT BOARD Outdoors The Nuisance By Steve Flindall The day was filled with sunshine, making the lush alphalfa field glow deeply green. Along the fringes of the fields, birds sang out the gladness of the season. Orioles from tree tops, song sparrows from shrubs, a brown thrasher from atop a small apple tree, all added to the melody of the day. Only the steady purr of a tractor motor and the click-click of mower knives cutting the alphalfa disturbed the scene. But even this was a small disruption for the smell of the newly-cut hay filled the nostrils agreeably. Suddenly the click-click became a clatter and the air was filled with oaths. The mower had hit the earth mound of a woodchuck hole. The woodchuck or groundhog is i naturallyr a dweller of woodlands. A goodly number of these plump, brown mammals still occupy our woodland, cultivation rprovided a more succulent and earier food supply and the woodchuck has adopted these areas to become a nuisance. Few are the farm boys who have not waged a continual battle to rid their fathers' fields of these roly poly creatures. Groundhogs are solitary animals, living together only during mating and as a young family. Daytime feeders, they -venture out during the early morning to fill their stomachs. This done, a couple of hours of sunbathing in the den entrance, is in order. When the sun becomes too hot the groundhog retires to the coolness of his den until his late afternoon feeding. Almost anything green will be eaten by groundhogs. In woodland areas, they must forage and stray from their den to satisfy their appetite. On farmlands where food is plentiful, often more is trampled than eaten. Being a true hibernator, the woodchuck eats to gain enough body fat to sustain him through the winter. The burrow of the woodchuck is his home and refuge. From it, he seldom strays more than a few hundred yards. The exception is during mating when males wander in search of females. The den is actually a tunnel with two or more forks, for the woodchuck, although he can fight viciously, is rather a slow, stupid creature and needs a means by which to elude his enemies. The main tunnel, in front of which are deposited the diggings, may run thirty or forty feet to emerge in some hidden spot. Off the main tunnel, other passages are dug. One of these leads to his dwelling place, a small compartment slightly higher than the main tunnel to afford protection against wetness. Other tunnels lead to entrances or even a space for the animals toilet. Yes, the woodchuck has become a nuisance. But this small round brown creature is still an interesting animal and we will watch for him every spring.