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PIT i "oy - ed A RR Eo 3 : or NEE ers" 7G EE XRAY DA we RE HEL EE £34 Wi ER VSR AR COTE IA NET SEA es Uy AREA KO Fold BH Ye ie REC, ATRL AANUNS UD BASS) RPL IS . bh <* editorial commen Flying High The Ontario government sure picked a bad time to announce it is buying a $10.6 million executive jet for use by the premier, cabinet ministers and senior. civil servants. Not that $10.6 million is going to make or break a - province which has an annual budget in the billions; but let's face it, $10.6 million is still a fair chunk of cash. What is distressing is that this is just one more example of how government at the top Is isolating itself from the average guy on the street. The Ontario government preaches restraint, and in the case of funding for health care and education is doing a good [ob of practising what it preaches. And the average citizen, faced with crippling inflation and runaway mortgage and interest rates, has no other choice but to exercise restraint. It is hardly a comfort to know that Premier Bill Davis, the members of his Cabinet and senior bureaucrats are going to be zipping through the air _most citizens these days. at 550 miles per hour in a Canadair Challenger 600, modified to seat 12 and fully equipped with tele- phones, desks, filing cabinets and so on. . Of the many criticisms that are being levelled at Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, one of the most damaging Is that his life-style while holding public office has left him sadly out of touch with the reality . of the average Canadian. "Just last week as the nation floundered along, Trudeau was In Africa talking about giving more international aid, a topic that is not high priority with What government appears to be doing (or not doing) these days, can often be just as important, if not more so, than actual policies which may take months or years to have any impact. . And the same can be said of how our elected leaders conduct themselves. We have not seen leadership by example in Ottawa, and we are seeing. less of it at Queens Park. Just for once we would like to see political leaders show some restraint or even come down a few notches. Just why does the Ontario government need a $10.6 million executive jet that can fly almost coast -- AN' TELL THAT GANG AT THE SHOP, / REARED 'EM YUTHOUT 17 WEEKS PAID MATERNITY LEAVE / | (l i . a | Hot it! } | | | if to coast without refuelling? This 'purchase has not helped bolster public confidence in elected leaders. It is no wonder there is an ever widening credibility gap between those at the top of public office and the rest of us. x Governments are forcing just about everyone to lower expectations. It is high time they set a better example. More Than Money September 13 has officially been declared Terry Fox Day, and all across Canada community groups, organizations and individuals are setting up 10 km. - runs, walks, jogs, whatever, in an effort to keep alive the Marathon of Hope. We would strongly suggest that something be organized in Scugog Township for September 13, and any group wishing to do so should contact the Terry Fox Run, 329 Prospect Street, Newmarket, or call (416) 895-5159. The people there can provide you with official pledge forms for collecting donations. There is no doubt that money is a key factor in the struggle to find controls or a cure for cancer. The $23 - million the Marathon of Hope has raised is being put ~ to good use by various research teams in this country. : But there is more to it than dollars and cents. Just about every community has its own local cancer society, affiliated with provincial and national organizations. - These local societies work quietly behind the scenes" and they never seem to have enough volunteers for such things as driving cancer patients for special medical treatment, visiting with the families of patients, in some instances providing financial assistance, public education programs, and "helping with the annual fund raising drive each April. Despite all the publicity surrounding the Terry Fox Marathon of the past year or so, volunteers have not exactly been lining up to serve and make a commitment at the local levels. ) It's one thing to organize a race, or sign a pledge form, or dig into your pocket and make a small contribution. All of this is necessary. But it's something else again to volunteer one's time and efforts over a long period. This kind of commitment is also very necessary. Last summer and fall, during the Marathon of Hope, the people of Scugog Township responded generously, as did citizens all across this country. We are confident that some group will organize a run or a walk of some kind on September 13. But if you'd like to make a contribution of a different kind; a commitment as a volunteer, give the Scugog Cancer Society a call at 985-7201 or 985-3727 and ask what you can do to help. THE OASIS Almost every day in the summer I drop in at The Oasis; as I think of it. I'know, I know. Nasty minded readers are already thinking it's some kind of watering- hole for dry old Bill Smiley. One of those air-conditioned bars that are so dark you can't see a thing for five minutes and have to count your change by the Braille system. Not so. I strongly dislike those joints. Most of them are dark and dirty, and stink. They have a few poor, lonely souls who have nowhere else to go, and very often a construction gang or a road gang, noisy and beer-swilling and profane, sousing it up on the company's time. Nope. I avoid those places like the plague. The Oasis is nothing like that. It doesn't have a braying television set, foul-mouthed roisterers and cold-eyed waitresses. It's just the opposite. True, it is air-conditioned. But not the kind that makes you wish you were wearing a fur coat after five minutes. And true, it is not brightly lighted. But there is enough light to see what you are imbibing, count your change without using your fingertips, and read a book or a newspaper. And that's exactly what I do there, and why I think of it as The Oasis. It's a charming little place to stop and refresh oneself, to cool out and meditate a bit, and gossip and just plain, sip, before plunging back out into the desert of life. What The Oasis provides for the wander- ing bedouins who stop there is a little peace and quiet. courtesy. The customers are not made to feel that the management is doing them a favour by serving them. They are greeted warmly, they are served quickly and efficiently, and they are thanked graciously when they leave, even though they've spent only thirty in cents and taken up a seat for half an hour. How many public places to eat and drink are there like that in this country? You could count them without taking your socks off. Sure, we have fancy restaurants in this country where you can pay $50 for a so-so dinner for two, and be patronized by the wine waiter. And we have eleventy-seven Each. thousand snack bars and lunch bars and grills where everything tastes the same. But we have scarely any places like The Oasis. It's not much, physically. Just a half ~ dozen or so tables in the back of a store. Very much like the sort of tearoom you can . | still find in England, if you get off the beaten It has none of the plastic jazz of the chain track. hamburger and submarine joints. But it has a number of things, those places can never offer: charm, friendliness, good manners, The menu varies little, but there's good soup du jour, good coffee -and hot tea, fresh-made sandwiches, and a lot of goodies that are baddies for the many little old ladies and all the vulnerable young ladies who frequent it: homemade pies, butter tarts, muffins loaded with calories. Part of the fun, for me, is sitting there getting a jolt from my coffee and listening "Just a pot of tea, thanks. Well, what are you going to have, Ida? You are? Well, what kind do you have? Well, maybe just a square of pineapple cake. And just one butter tart to get started on." And half an hour later, those gentle ladies are walking out with about six hundred calories they didn't need. informality. They tentatively order soup, and a sandwich, find them excellent, wind people. Seating is limited. The other day, four people walked in and there wasn't a table for four. A young couple with a babe in arms offered to move to a table for two that had just been vacated, transferring their food, utensils and baby. The newcomers were so shocked they could scarcely say thanks. Very often, The Ticket Seller is there.He sells tickets on every lottery you've ever heard of. He loves children and jokes and talks to the little guys in The Oasis. He drinks a coffee, displays his tickets, usually selling one or two, and hits the street. The Columnist observes. ® ; nd up with a whacking great piece of pie, pay a : . modest a bill, and go out looking as though they couldn't believe what had happened to ; : : them. ; It's a place that brings out the decency in nist listens. 'So I said to him, not on your life." Giggles. "So guess what he says?" Giggles. And so on. Despite what my wife thinks, I am not enamoured of the lady who runs The Oasis, though she does have a beautiful face, figure and walk. In fact, she doesn't walk. She Even when The Oasis is busy, there is no saskhays. sweat. No barking of orders. No getting cross. There's time to laugh and joke with old customers, be pleasant to new ones, and or1d. make sure nobody is being neglected. I've watched tourists come in, a little uneasy because they're not used to such I am in love with a little place of sanity, sense and serenity in this increasing ugly Due to the Postal Strike, this column has been reprinted from August 15, 1979. Two teenagers grab a table. The Colum- fl