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- SRN fal SO ATRL Sb L iA NAS ENCORE INOS Rr ANE editoriol ht Sf \ WHOIS WE RTE FIORE TS SRR AR RAR LPIA ST Maternity Unit A public meeting has been scheduled for Port Perry on November 12, concerning the Regional Hospital Role Study, completed recently for the Durham District Health Council. 2 That Role Study recommended among other things, that the maternity units at Port Perry, Uxbridge and Bowmanville Hospitals be phased out to save costs, and that expectant mothers travel to Oshawa or Scarborough to have their babies. The Durham Health Council is now in the process of holding a series of public meetings before the Council draws its final report on the Study and forwards it on to the Ministry of Health. For those who feel that phasing out the mater- nity unit at Port Perry Hospital would be unwise, the meeting November 12 will be a good time to let the Health Council know precisely that. While it may be possible to prove that phasing out a maternity unit can save dollars in the long run, recent statistics also prove that the vast majority of expectant mothers are choosing to have their babies at Port Perry Hospital. The number of births over the past four years has varied between 153 and 180, and in 1976 (the only year such data are available) 97 per cent of pregnant women from the community had their babies at the local hospital. So far, the suggestion to close the maternity wing is nothing more than one recommendation in a consultant's report. If the people in this community speak out loudly against it, there may be an excellent chance that the recommendation will not be acted upon. - Conversely, if the Health Council comes to the conclusion that the people of this community are indifferent about whether or not to maintain the maternity unit, the Council may decide to let pure economics dictate the issue. We would urge people to attend the public meeting at the Latcham Centre on November 12, and politely let the Health Council know that the mater- nity wing of this hospital, or any active treatment facility, is important to the people of this community, or any other community. Shocking! A legislative committee was told last week that the Ontario government bought large tracts of land in the early 1970's for about $60 million, apparently on the whim of one man: former treasurer John White. The land, most of it along the north shore of Lake Erie, is still sitting idle, rented out to area farmers for much less than the annual $4 million carrying charges." VTA a A ep i RFE Seb 2" pY/ %y,, Z 2, ys JPA ] THi% 15 Noy FOr HalloweeN, 17% FOR REAL ! & a And what's more, independent appraisals suggest that if the provincial government tried to sell the land in 1980, it would get scarcely half what it paid in the early '70's. While the practise by governments of land banking for future industrial or residential develop- ment has its merits, what's shocking about this case is that White apparently acted on his own, ignoring the advice of senior officials in the civil service, and persuading skeptical members of the Cabinet at that time. y . What's worse, the purchases were made without in-depth planning studies to determine if the projec- ted growth for the area was in fact anything close to reality, and a consultant's report, commissioned by the government, cannot be located by the present committee looking into the purchases. It seems almost incredible that one Cabinet minister, albeit a powerful one, could make decisions like this to spend $60 million of the taxpayers money, against the advice of experts. Surely, there must be mechanisms to guarantee a better accounting of how and where public money of such large quantities is spent. And White's argument to the committee last week that in 1973, the Ontario was flush with a $300 million surplus, just makes the whole issue all the more incredulous. One statement by the former treasurer to the committee last week does shed a little insight into his motives and reasons for the monumental purchases. "What's the use in having power if you don't use it," White is reported to have said. If that's the case, it was a pretty expensive power trip for one Cabinet minister. And now, in 1980, after the coffers have long since run dry, one can't help but think of all the more appropriate uses for that $60 million. bill CANADIAN CONSTIPATION "What's all this here bullroar about repatriating the Canadian Constipation?" demanded the rather bellicose chap at the next barstool. Somewhat timidly, I replied (I don't like bar-room brawls unless somebody else is in them), "I think the word is Constitution, not Constipation." And in a little attempt to ease the tension, added, "We have enough of that now," not meaning constitution. He didn't get it. . He snorted, "Constitootion? I'm in great shape," giving his beer-belly a smack and hawking up a few gobs after inhaling deeply on his White Owl cigar. Well, I was getting a bit nettled. I'm not a trouble-maker or a flag-waver, but I'm a good Canadian. Ididn't have to listen to this beery bore. I began quietly enough. 'The word is not repatriation, but patriation. The suffix '"re" means 'back', as in 'return'. If we repatriated the constitution, it would mean that we were bringing it back to Canada, but it has never been here in the first place. So smiley we use the 'patriation,' meaning uh...."" He was not impressed by my quite lucid explanation, nor my obvious education. "Patriotism, that's the stuff. There's too many a these rotten, long-haired punks in this country, who wouldn't fight for it if they hadda." I rolled my eyes, figuratively, heaved an inaudible sigh, and asked the inevitable, happy enough to change the subject, "What outfit were you with in World War 11?" 1 knew that's what he was leading up to. "Outfit? Outfit?" and he laughed a deep gargly, belched rumble. "I was in Intelli- gence. I was intelligent enough to get a job in the shipyards and make a bundle." I was more than nettled by now. I was more like poison ivy. I almost snapped, 'Good for you! You were making a bundle while the enemy was firing shells and mortars and machine-guns at your old school friends!" "What old school friends? You mean them jerks that went on to high school and volunteered to go and get theirselves shot in some foreign country." They were no friends a mine. They were suckers." Seething, I tried another tack, unable to believe this was a fellow-Canadian, but willing to give him a third chance. I took three deep breaths, then explain- ed calmly, "A constitution is the backbone of a democratic country. It sets out the rights and obligations of its citizens. Aren't you interested in that? Would you like to live in a country where you had no rights?" I thought that might stir some smoldering spark of love of country. But he wasn't so dumb. He was crafty, in fact. 4 "Why should I? I live in this country, where I got a right to vote for any dummy I want to, write a letter to the noospaper : saying what I think of the government, belly to up e bar on Friday night, and call in sick Monday. What more do ya want?" I retorted with some asperity, "And what about obligations? Don't you think a good citizen has obligations. The word means things that you should do." His reply: "Then I'm a hell of a good citizen. I got more obligations than I can handle: nine kids, a crabby wife, a boss who has a slight stroke every time I ask for a raise, and the government trying to grab one out of every three bucks I make. And I come in here for a quiet drink and I gotta talk to turkeys like you about constipation. Don't talk to me about obligations." Desperately, I tried another tack. There must be some decent thing in this man, a fellow Canadian. "But surely there are some things you'd like to see down in black and white, some- "thing solid and dependable, in a truly Canadian constitution, something you could fall back on?" "I nearly always fall back on the bed. - But you're right. There's a few things that should be wrote into something, even though the lawyers would always find a way around them." -- -- "What did you have in mind?" I asked eagerly. There was a spark! He was not a total ash. "Well, I gotta few things that might help out Trudeau and them other peacocks and barnyard geese that make up our leaders. First, there's that there Women's Lib. I'd stamp them out, with hobnails. Then there's that there French. If God had wanted a man to speak French, he woulda had him born in France or Kuebec, right?" "Go, on," I said grimly. "Well, there's the pill, right? That's O.K. But the constitootion should have it somewhere that a woman can't speak while her husband is drinkin' his coffee and tryna read the paper. They could call it a gob-stopper. "And it should be in there that welders get paid more than teachers. And that old people should live in classy homes, like hotels insteada them dumps. Right? And dope peddlers should be strangled. And people should be buried decent, wrap- ped in a blanket, insteada two thousand bucks wortha junk. And......"" But it was too much for me. I hurriedly slapped down my usual 20 cent tip and fled. Not before he got his last word in. "Take it easy, Constipation." o ¥ ee mre r------r------ i, ar