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6 8 A ee eS en BS ea ee R.A a eee ee ae a ee ee oe Promoting tourism? This is a fable about our munificent provincial government... Once-upon-a-time, deep within the bowels of province's administration there was movement. Cogs and machinery began to turn. There was a great groaning as rust encrusted engines grumbled to life. But what was the cause of this unprecedented activity? Moments before a 25 watt civil servant had burned with stellar luminence, and an idea was born! "Let us help the small businesses of this fair province." quoth he, "Let us erect signs along the highway so tourists will be readily directed to their many attractions." "But wait!" spoke an aspiring minion, "Will not every Tom, Dick and Harry want such a sign?" And so was born the 'Manual of Eligibility, Pertaining to the Erection of Signs Along the Highway for the Promotion of Goods and Services' to which a civil ser- vant could turn to determine whether an applicant could have a sign. Many hours were spent researching, studying and revising the manual until, in its short form, it was only 2,500.75 pages long. It was edited by 37 doctors of philosophy and covered every conceivable situation. To wit: Cruise boat operators in Southern Georgian Bay must show more than | 30,000 paying customers for the year preceeding the application for highway signage (this is the approximate common English translation). Well it transpired that in a town, not far from Penetanguishene, there was such a business and signs were duly erected along Highways 12 and 93. That night there was much merryment amongst the merchants and burghers of that town. The coffers clinked, and glinted overflowing with 'loonies' left by the- happy tourists. | | | Alas it was.a sad day for Penetanguishene, the terminus of Highway 93. Those | tourists, their pockets bulging with Canada's golden dollar, had followed the signs, | turned onto Highway 12 and bypassed that fair place. | But an enterprising captain, from Penetanguishene, made a pitch for a sign to promote his cruise ship. Arriving at the appropriate government office, bright-and-early in the morning, he approached a vacant wicket. "Twenty thousand." said the skipper. ' "Your business is too small. Request denied" said the civil servant. And having | handled his quota for the day placed a 'Next Wicket Please' sign at his work-station.. Gradually the flow of tourists to Penetanguishene diminished to a trickle. There was no gaiety amongst the merchants, whose coffers were now covered | 'How many customers last year?"' asked the civil servant. ' | with dust. And in far away Toronto a civil servant, having done a fair day's work, slipped between silk sheets and laid his head on a feather pillow. "Tomorrow. Ah tomorrow, what can I do to help promote small business?" he sighed dreamily as he drifted off to sleep. A wrestling response Dear Editor: I'd like to thank you on behalf of the organizing committee of the World Youth Wrestling Championships for your coverage of the July 5-11 event. The David Gravelle col- umn, "World Youth Wrestling headlocks media" was a particularly intriguing piece of reporting and I would like to clarify for your readers some of the points he raised. First of all, I would like to apologize to Mr. Gravelle and his partner Jim Armstrong of CKCO TV for the problems they ran into with the OPP and Collingwood Police when they were stopped at the arena opening night because they didn't have proper identification. With so many guests from foreign coun- tries and the potential for mischief from fringe groups, it was necessary for everyone with free access to the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena to be properly identified, media in- cluded. The police are funny about things like international incidents, you see. All media outlets, including CKCO, were provided with accreditation information more than a month before the event. Apparently there was a communications problem between CKCO and its camera crew but if Mr. Gravelle or Mr. Armstrong were aware the event was taking place, a simple inquiry to the World Youth Wrestling office would have solved the problem. That's why we have telephones. Aside from a few inevitable technical pro- Survey off to a Dear Editor: The Simcoe County District Health Unit's Health Attitudes and Practices telephone survey has taken off to a good start. We are now approaching the half-way point in our target number of 1,200 completed calls. To date, we have received a tremendous amount of support from the residents of Simcoe County and we hope that this receptive at- mosphere continues. Our interviewers have been working steadi- ly for the past seven working days contacting survey participants. At this point, we have completed 489 calls, with 711 calls remain- blems, like an unexpected shortage of spot lights, the opening ceremonies went ahead without a hitch and were a high point in the week-long event. Mr. Gravelle left quite a dif- ferent impression, however, when he men- tioned a bar full of lights 'lying idle on the floor" prior to the opening ceremonies, and "after a few prayers and a quick fix-it job, the cumbersone apparatus decided to move skyward. I can only guess he was referring to the ap- paratus that was to hold all of the flags taken from the national teams as they marched in- to the arena. When the flags were attached, it was hoisted aloft and from what I can understand, the procedure was executed flawlessly. Perhaps the writer was too busy to check with one of the many technical peo- ple on hand that evening whether or not his suspicions were in fact, correct. As far as the media's treatment is concern- ed, I can only add that we provided an event, television dubbing (thanks to Maclean Hunter Cable TV), a media room, free telephones and immediate delivery of result packages. All the other members of the pro- fessional media seemed to be satisfied with this arrangement. Again, thank you for the coverage and this opportunity to respond to some of the errors in Mr. Gravelle's fine article. Sincerely Joe Terrett Promotions Director World Youth Wrestling good start ing. It is anticipated that all calls will be com- pleted by July 31. We would like to thank the community for playing such an important part in the success of the Health Attitudes and Practices telephone survey. Also, we would like to con- tinue to promote our survey and encourage public support so that we can reach our target number of calls as soon as possible. A preliminary report of the results will be available in September. Catherine Knipe Health Educator -- Viewpoint by Carey Nieuwhof_ Summer heat suffocates politics The heat this summer has been stifling. Not only has it seemed to muffle the desire of most Canadians to do anything more energetic than cranking the air conditioner another knotch higher, but it also seems to have stifled the zeal of the average Canadian for politics. Now summer usually provides us with a brief respite from Ottawa and Queen's Park. But this summer we have sat through a postal strike, three by-elections, and stunning poll changes without so much as a nod of recogni- tion. David Peterson's constant hints that an election is around the corner for Ontarians meets with a few murmurs in the press and barely penetrates the glazed eyeballs of most Ontarians. , The only thing that has generated genuine enthusiasm anywhere this summer has been Ollie North, and that's only because Ollie North has enough charm to make him in- teresting poolside conversation. If one has the ability to see through the humidity and cast those unfocussed eyeballs on a couple of key political figures and trends, one can see how various Canadian politicians are planning to enter the fall. It -Penetanguishene Citizen-- Published by Bayweb Limited every Tuesday at 74 Main Street, Penetanquishene, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 2327 Year subscription rate $39.00 Page 6, Tuesday, July 28, 1987 seems the buzzword floating around key political circles these days is "confidence." It appears that if a politician plans to be suc- cessful this fall in Canada, all he has to do is appear confident. Ed Broadbent is trying to inspire con- fidence in Canadians, and is trying to get Canadians to believe that he can lead the country without revolutionizing it. David Peterson has opted out of the spotlight this summer and has concentrated his efforts on making Ontarians feel that Liberals can run Ontario as quietly, effectively, and painless- ly as Bill Davis once did. In Ontario, that is what's called inspiring confidence in one's premier. Brian Mulroney has also been run- ning around the country trying to rekindle the atmosphere of the election of the summer of 1984, and meeting with some success. These are really the three Canadians to watch in the fall. Each is trying desperately, in his own way, to convince Canadians they can take care of matters properly. Canadians have not had a lot of confidence in their government recently. Brian Mulroney bung}l- 'ed his way through his first two and a half 549-2012 Publisher: Andrew Markle Manager: Judy French Editor: David Wright Reporter: Murray Moore Sports: Arnold Burgher years in office, with John Turner squirming uninspiringly behind him all the way. Who could Canadians turn to? The NDP? That's where Ed stepped in with his new diet-NDP, dropping the radical rhetoric and telling Canadians that the NDP was simply a party that cared more for average Canadians. Ed also wanted to ensure Canadians that unlike Brian Mulroney or John Turner, he would be able to avoid a scandal a week and keep a tight rein on party dissidents. Brian Mulroney, meanwhile, has been stay- ing out of partisan issues and has been at- tempting to boost his personal standing with Canadians by meeting them at picnics, in the park and anywhere else un-political. When he gets back to Ottawa in the fall, he will try to convince us that he has backbone, and that we should feel safe leaving the government: with him for a week or two. That will be no easy task after the last two and a half years. And then there's David Peterson, still cognisant of the fact that while he and his party are immensely popular, they have on- ly 51 seats in the legislature. No election vic- tory is automatic. Peterson did a fair amount of gunslinging is his first two years in office, and this summer has been attempting to look more like Bill Davis. People have confidence in Peterson's abili- ty to fight and win, but they grow weary of combat-politics quite easily. Now, if Peterson can nudge Ontarians to the polls believing that you can feel just as good about David Peterson as everyone did about Bill Davis when he retired, then he's got the next elec- tion sewn up. Canadians want someone they can trust in office. They want to feel that they can turn the TV off on October 1st and turn it back on October 27th, to discover that the coun- try has survived over three weeks without any major political screw ups. That hasn't happened much recently. Once Canadians cut through the humidity of this summer, they will again turn their eyes toward Ottawa and tune back into politics, probably wishing they didn't have to, and once again expecting to find an abundance of indecision. The smart politician, realizing this, will already have begun changing that perception. Letters The Penetanguishene Citizen welcomes Letters to the Editor. They must be legible, signed (by hand), and carry the writer's address and telephone number for verification. Pen names are not allow- ed and anonymous letters will not be published. Lettets published by this newspaper do not necessarily reflect the opinion of this newspaper, its publisher or editor. i Won @. | 4