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RII iii ------------ re IO oe meme ee A Sa A A er eT eat -------- me en EA TCA Rd RUE SQ PVE RG Rx Roe 81 Yadmsaa0l _yehesuT_-- AAT2 YAAIG THOS -- 3 "port PERRY SHAR" "Tuesday. O 5 PORT -- Tuesday, December 18, 1990 7 RIGHT ON, JACQUES You have to hand it to Parti Quebecois leader Jacques Parizeau. The guy's got "chutzpah," that's for sure. And he's also got some brains. Parizeau ventured into the anglo heartland last week, Toronto, to address a combined meeting of the Empire Club and the Canadian Club. He's a very eru- dite chap who speaks French with a Parisian accent and English with an Oxford accent (hard to imagine him rubbing shoulders in those tough taverns of east-end Montreal) His audience was 600 well-heeled ladies and gentlemen, the cream of Ontario's banking, industrial and commercial set, most of whom get a tad skittish at the thought of Quebec separation and what that might do to the investment climate in this country. But Parizeau, who joined in a pre-dinner toast to the Queen, saying it was only right since she is the head of state, but declined to sing O Canada saying he didn't know the words in English (sure, this guy speaks better English than most anglos) skipped all the emotional rhetoric about separation, opting in- stead for a cool, rational speech on the economics of splitting up this country. Smart cookie. That was just the right audience to talk to about balance sheets, debt loads, and eco- nomic sensibilities. And he made it perfectly clear that whether Eng- lish Canada likes it or not, separation is coming in one form or another, and English Canada had damn well better start getting ready for it. That may not have been what the diners wanted to hear, but what did they expect from the leader of PQ, a staunch defense of federalism? Viewpoint Quebec these days. Whether one calls it separation, sovereignty association, or some other fancy label, the fact remains that Canada in 1990 is not the same as it was in 1985, and will be change again in the next three to five years. In my view, Quebec "de facto" has already moved a giant step towards separation. All that re- mains to be done is tie up the loose ends and agree on the legalese. | feel no pang of emotion in saying that. The emotion vanished several years ago when it became clear that Quebec has no interest in the rest of Cana- da and no interest in remaining part of the federalist system. And as Parizeau told his blue chip audience last week, it's now time for the rest of Canada to wake up and accept the obvious. He even quipped that we might start to like each other. As for the touchy issue of who gets what once Quebec does separate, he graciously said the new country would assume 25 per cent of national debt, and 25 per cent of the national assets within the new country. Of course he didn't say that assuming a share of the debt means only paying the interest, while assuming its share of federal assets, would mean just that. ( think of all those federal office build- ing in Hull, airports, post offices, UIC centres etc.) And he sees nothing wrong with the new Quebec keeping the Canadian currency, and sticking with some of Canada's international economic policies, provided of course, Quebec had its rightful voice in making those policies. Now, that's chutzpah. Well, why take the cow when you can milk her through the fence. But enough of that. Those stickly little details can comes, and when you're building a new nation, free and independent, why sweat minor details like cur- rency, debt share and international trade agree- ments. But I'm being picky here. The salient point of all this, according to Parizeau is the inevitability of Que- bec independence. It's coming, folks. And | could not agree more. In 1990, who speaks for Canada in la belle Province? Robert Bourassa? Are you kidding? His political agenda is as elusive as the latest opinion poll. He's the guy who legislated against the lan- guage of nearly one million English-speaking Que- beckers. Jean Chretien? Sure, this hang-over from the Trudeau era had to run in a by-election in New Brunswick, for gosh sake, such is his popularity in his home province. Brian (role the dice) Mulroney? Give me a break. Even if his Meech Accord had gone through this sum- mer, it would not have altered the winds of change blowing through Quebec. Can you think of anyone else? Of course you can't, for the simple reason there is no Canadian voice in Quebec. The move to Quebec independence is progress- ing in a perfectly natural way. It started with a "quiet revolution" of the early '60's; moved through the vio- lent stage of the early '70's. All the emotional ground- work has been covered. There remains now only the task of crossing the t's and dotting the i's through rea- sonable negotiation. Parizeau knows this and that's why he spoke calmy and rationally in front of the Empire Club last week. And you can be sure, that a good many in his audience heard the message. He hit them right And he's right. There is no stopping the tide in all be worked out among friends when the time where they think, in the spread sheet. Remember When? 10 YEARS AGO Wednesday, December 17, 1980 The Scugog Library Board and members of Township coun- cil met for almost three hours last Thursday evening for a "round-table" information discussion on the issue of the pro- posed new library building and site. One of Port Perry's more famous native sons is going to get a needed face-lift. Council agreed Monday afternoon in principle to a request to spruce up the statue of Daniel David Palmer, founder of chiropractic who was born in this community more than 100 years ago. Port Perry High School students have collected more than 200 soft stuffed animals during the past couple of weeks, and will give them to the kids at Sunnydale Home for Children in Sunderland On Saturday, November 22, 1980, Miss Paula Jeffrey of Port Perry, youngest daughter of Clem and Marg Jeffrey, at- tended the convocation ceremony in London held in accordance with the Western Ontario Conservatory of Music. Paula gradu- ated with an honour degree in piano a theory; A MUS. RM.T. and has since become a member of the O.R.M.T.A. {Registered Music Teachers Association}. She is currently teaching piano in Port Perry. The Durham YMCA dance class in Port Perry held a recital last week to wind up another season. The value of building permits issued in Scugog Township in November was down by more than two-thirds over the same month last year. The All-Stars won the Championship at Oak Ridges tourna- ment. The directors of Town Hall 1873 received a cheque for $200 last week from the Scugog Historical Society Choir. The ladies of the Court Lady Snowbird L1930 (Canadian Order of Foresters} made a donation of $1,000 recently, which went towards the purchase of an Ivac Infusion Pump. Ethel Mackie, soon to retire after 28 years of service at Community Memorial Hospital, Port Perry, was the "Guest of Honour" at the Ethel Mackie Roast held Saturday, November 29. Letters io the editor LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Star encourages our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column to express their opinions and viewpoints on just about any subject, as we feel a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that all letter writers sign their name. Sorry, no anonymous letters will be printed. Safety required in school yards Editor's Note: The following let- ter was sent to Durham Educa- tion director Pauline Laing, _ Dear Ms. Laing: I wrote to you recently express- ing my concerns about inade- quate supervision at Cartwright Central Public School. You assured me that this issue was a high priority with the school, and you were convinced that measures being taken by the school are adequate to assure the safety of the children. You are aware that I don't agree with you and I won't until you do something about this. It Luck to be getting bus To the Editor: When a $25 million dollar Liberal surplus in June turns out to be a $2.5 billion dollar Liberal deficit in September it should be obvious that a rearrangement of priority spending is necessary. Why should Mr. Pagnuelo and his group be so voiciforous about insisting upon original funding for Go Service at this time at the ex- pense of services such as hospitalization, medicare, educa- tion, municipal grants etc. all of which can be expected to have their funding requirements reduc- ed in 1991. I ask you, Mr. Pagnuelo, where is your sense of fairness. You are lucky you are getting a bus. Roy Grierson, Port Perry might be a good idea for you to come out to the school yard yourself at 8:00 a.m. any morning of the week. I understand from superinten- dent Bob Martin that there are NO guidelines requiring a certain ratio of adults to children concer- ning school supervision in the yard. But, there IS a policy stating teachers do NOT have to go out on yard duty until 15 minutes before school starts. On Thursday, December 6 I ac- companied my sons class on a trip to Cullen Gardens. There are re- quirements necessary for out of school trips. We had 5 adults to look after 22 children, yet ONE teacher is supposed to be able to supervise approximately 200 children playing in the school yard. Absolutely amazing!! I don't for one minute believe there is nothing you can do about this, and you can be assured that we have advocates who have ap- proached Marion Boyd, Minister of Education about this issue. In the past whenever a teacher's strike has arisen I didn't pay much attention. I had always assumed that the school looked out for the best interests of the children and put their welfare above all else. It never occurred to me the school could be wrong. In the future I will pay closer at- tention and make sure my views are heard, considering it's my tax dollars that are supporting the Turn to Page 8 LOW CAL LUNCHEON a Si