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Waterioo Chronicie office is located on 2nd floor of Waterioo Square‘s Office Tower. Enter via the mail entrance beside the Longhom Restaurant (directly opposite the Mm)ummgdwmmmmi-bmhh“duwnm 2nd floor and you are there Page 4 â€" Waterloo Chronicie, Wednesday, Decgypper 1, 1976 There is a distinct feeling in parts of this country, noteâ€" ably those west of Thunder Bay, that the tail is wagging the dog. In this case the tail being Quebec‘s French and the Maritime‘s poor. The theory some Westerners are proâ€" pounding is that Ottawa is imposing the will of Quebec on the rest of Canada through the Official Languages Act and that the Maritimes are bleeding the rest of the country through their perpetual poverty. Much of the discontent, we believe, lies in two serious misunderstandings: First, the Official Languages Act is a safeguard to both Canada‘s constitutional languages; and secondly that Canada is a nation of interdependencies and not a Balkanized autonomous group of economic regions. The Official Languages Act is simple and sane: There are people in Canada who speak French but little or no Engâ€" lish and there are an even larger number who speak English buy little or no French. Therefore, the services of the Fedâ€" eral government should, within reason, be available in both languages. Perhaps that is the problem. The theory is clear, but the practice has been so blurred by the costly empire built up by the Federal bureaucracy to implement bilingualism that many people see it as direct interference by government in the lives of people. ~ We believe that Ottawa would be better to designate jobs bilingual that really need it and offer and encourage language training only to those that réally want it. And in the meantime, we could begin with bilingual classes at the age of 3 years and carry through t6 high school. Then the problem would disappear in two generations and the parâ€" ticipants would all We linguistically and culturally richer for the experience. â€"'-Stvl‘l:élirfi(r!;'nha?dians can distinguish the rightness of the Ofâ€" ficial Languages Act and instead of threatening secession, démand better implementation of that Act? __ _ People who remember the days when Western Canada was so dependent on the East during the construction of the railways, the settling of the Prairie plains or the desperate depression years will be more hesitant in their charges that poor Easterners are running the economy of the rest of Canada. People who readily "rail"" at the CPR and CNR for wanting to tear up uneconomic branch lines because whole communities will die, should surely see that subsidies from richer areas are needed all over Canada. If we are not prepared to share the wealth of one region with another, history will certainly remind us in years to come of our shortâ€"sighted selfishness. _______________ The ‘have‘ provinces like British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario must help support the Maritimes now or their towns may die as Glace Bay and Sydney, N.S. well know. People who have built their lives there face the daily threat of upheaval much as the small Prairie elevator towns. Think ahead: What happens if people stop buying Ontarâ€" io‘s manufactured goods, or Alberta‘s oil is replaced with solar energy or B.C.‘s timber replaced by Maritime lumber? Perhaps interdependence is a good thing for us all, in lanâ€" guage and in economics. United Church Bill 140 before the Ontario Legislature is an omnibus bill introduced to the Legislature by Attorney General Roy McMurtry. It is called "an Act to reform the law respecting property rights and support obligations between married persons and in other family relationships."" It is a truly amazing piece of legislation. It does more than reform property rights. It is a revoluâ€" tion. It doesn‘t take a piecemeal approach to the problem. It grasps all of the loose ends and throws them all together into one rational, coâ€" hesive statement. A View from the Grass Rootfs â€" _ t is well drafted. It is clearly worded. It is a codification of many existing laws and of other A nation or group of regions? * established 1854 published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Record Ltd. , owner, 195 Fairway Rd. S., Kitchener, Ont. address correspondence to Waterioo office : Waterioo Square, Waterioo, Ont. , telephone 886â€"2830 Publigher: Jaraes M. Boland Editor: Mary Stupart subscriptions : $10 a year in Canada. $12 a year in United States and Foreign Countries is in years 0 _ Qne point stood out during the question period, . Alberta ana _ namely the advantage of the incumbents. Their now or their names are familiar to the audience, they have S. well know. _ fielded the questions before, they are much at ace the daily ease at a public forum, and these are all helpful airie elevator foctors Qnly the most ambitious newcomers buying Ontarâ€" popped up with any regularity, aided by trainâ€" replaced with ing in the teaching profession and the ministry. itimelumber® Former incumbents, and we have two this us all, in lanâ€" election, obviously have an advantage as well. United Church They can claim past accomplishments while Wow, the mayoralty race in Kitchener is a spicy topic of conversation as we come closer to Municipal election day, December 6th. How are we doing in peaceful little Waterloo? The Record ran a front page headline ‘"Waterâ€" loo election lacks issues, but not vociferous candidates‘‘, following our Meet the Candidates night last week. A hundred or so of us listened patiently while eighteen wouldâ€"be politicians told us what they had to offer. new laws. If it is adopted into law in this provâ€" ince, it will dramatically reform the rules govâ€" erning the division of family assets on divorce or separation and many other laws applying to men and women in and out of marriage. Downftown perspec Property laws now apply to women in a very haphazard way. Legislation has been piecemeal, and a veryunwieldy body of case law has evolved up to today. We are still ruled by many anaâ€" chronistic laws. Judges and lawyers struggle with these old laws, twisting and turning, trying to make them responsive to the realities of our times. SO YA GODDA SON WHO _ SMALL POATOEs... WORKS IN PLUMBING ATCMVHALL... _ 1 GOT ONE WHo BIG DEAL... MINE SELS - KNOWS CTTO LANS! NUCLEAR REACTORS! | JP By Richard Hobson (Continued on page 8) avoiding blame for any recent rqistakes. Eighteen hopefuls stood before us, all sinâ€" cerely believing that they have a contribution to make to the political side of Waterloo life. The choice is up to us. Campaign literature often features the name and an X, following the ballot format. Remember though, when you go to véte, that you don‘t have to vote for eight people. Your ballot is perfectly acceptâ€" able even with only one .X marked on it, or two, or seven for that matter. It is better to vote for an incomplete slate thau to mark a name that you are not sure about. In fact an incomâ€" plete slate makes your vote stronger for those candidates that you do wholeâ€"heartedly support. Three years ago the DRA received a provinâ€" cial grant to promote citizen involvement in the community. We have stretched that fund out carefully through two municipal elections now, trying, by promoting public forums, to involve as many citizens as possible in the democratic process. It is interesting to note that a high percentage of our candidates are active Conservative party members. . Party affiliation is not always directly advertised by municipal candidates, and neither are occupaâ€" tions. If you care about these points you have to check them out. Read those helpful Chronâ€" icle profiles which have been appearing in the last few issues. You can get back copies at the Chronicle office in Waterloo Square if you have missed them. â€" The DRA does not back any particular canâ€" didate. We try to encourage you to get out to the polls on election day and cast an educated vote. I must admit that as a regular Council watcher I would like to see a new face in the Council chambers in January, but that‘s strictâ€" ly a personal opinion. Waterloo voters may not all agree with me. submitted for the WDRA By Bob Rowell