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PAGE 10 TERRACE BAY NEWS FEBRUARY 18,1971 don't care anyway. And if there is anyone who could be singled out as the rankest example of Eastern arrogance, ignorance and oc- casional stupidity, it would be William Davis, the man who in many minds caused most of the trouble in Lake Supe- rior, first by bringing the four towns together under one board of education, then by imposing spending guidelines which bear no relation what- soever to conditions in the district. Because in addition, this year's financial squeeze is adding strain to an uneasy . union between the towns, in which more well-to-do mem- bers find they cannot even spend money on their schools which they wouldn't mind spending--because of the pro- vinpial ceilings which cut off the ability to impose local school tax levies. Not surprisingly, there are people in the well-to-do towns who want out, and they often have the support of their teaching staffs, who before were directly responsible to local boards. A case in, point is Terrace Bay, nine miles from Schrei- ber, and the site of a $50-mil- lion pulp mill, which in fact created the town. Assessment on the mill and Terrace Bay residences. produced about 40 per cent of the district board's revenue last year. By contrast, Schreiber, a much older town where the Canadian Pacific Railway, the town's biggest employer, has shut down many of its services in recent years, pro- duces 9 per cent of the rev- enue. "I can tell you right now where we could save all of that weney," said Alec Chis- holm, former board chairman until last year and an execu- tive at the Terrace Bay mill. "We could get rid of that whole administration appara- tus we had to take on when the boards amalgamated." His point, admitted also by Mr. Morgan, is that the switch to the district boards pushed many administrative expenses formerly carried by the province, down to the local level. Mr. Morgan's job, for example, is a result of such a book-keeping switch. Nonsense, Mr. Morgan re- torts. "The principal of equal- izing tax revenues is the one on which the whole country is built. That kind of thinking would reduce the whole coun- try to a series of little com- munities." To Mr. Chisholm's way of thinking, it's still '"social- istic." Discontent with the Depart- \ ment of Education is reflected from another direction by Terrace Bay teachers, who argue that when the minister made his decisions to amalga- mate the boards and then order spending ceilings, "he didn't even know this place existed. For people in the south, the next thing north of Sudbury is the Arctic Circle." They chafe at some of the less significant attempts at thrift by the director of edu- cation, such as a recent dic- tum that only one, instead of two, copies of board minutes would henceforth be distrib- uted in schools. "He couldn't have been using mere than five bucks worth of paper in the first place. . . . "If the minister tells us to raise the pupil-teacher ratio. I just want to ask how," said Richard Baron, chairman of the local secondary teachers' salary negotiation committee. "I've got two Grade 9 math classes, am I going to end up with one class of 70 kids? An- other guy here has nine kids in a Grade 12, four-year Eng- lish program. It was Davis's idea to put that program in here in the first place." "The kids up here are al- ready experientially under- nourished," added Bill Hous- ton, another Terrace Bay teacher 'A kid in Toronto just has to walk out onto the street to get an education, he's got museums, the science centre, you could go on and on. "We always tried to send our Grade 12 students into Thunder Bay for three or four days, with the board paying the transportation and room costs. It was the first time some of those kids had ever seen a newspaper office. That - will be one of the first things to go." "Take a look at the timing of this cutback thing. It's purely a political football on the part of the people who are approaching an election." "We got a poster up here the other day from the Pro- gressive Conservative Party, telling us to bring our stu- dents down to the leadership convention and see democ- racy in action. I had to laugh. "From the looks of it, even our budget for school team travelling is going to get it this year." The sports item is indeed up for consideration, although the Lake Superior board, with five newly-elected members, has not yet had a meeting to approve any areas for major cutbacks yet. "And when we've cut every- thing we can, all I guess we can do is go to the Depart- ment of Education, show them what we've done, and ask them to tell us where else to cut." Mr. Morgan said. The other area where the problem is serious is Lake St. Clair and the St. Clair Rivér near Windsor, but operators "Of course, if those spend-i ing ceilings covered capital; expenditures as well as ordi- nary expenditures, we'd have! been under them a long time: ago. Everybody's cut back on their capital programs lately. But they don't . . . Lo, "The only thing we can do is our best." CANADIAN RED CROSS AND ROYA4L LIFE The Recreation Office has received notice from the Canadian Red Cross Society and the Royal Life Saving Society that an INSTRUCTORS COURSE will be held during the winter break = March 22nd - March 26th. In addition, both groups will be conducting a REQUALIFICATION COURSE on Saturday, March 27th. In order to take the INSTRUCTORS COURSE, candidates must be 17 years of age on or before the completion of the course and must hold both Red Cross Leader Award and the Royal Life Bronze Medallion. Anyone interested in getting further information be sure fo call the Recreation Office immediately as both Courses will be limited. JUNIOR BADMINTON CHANGE A reminder to Grade 7 and 3 students who regis- tered for the Junior Badminton classes that the first session has been changed from Saturday, February 20th, to SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27th at 10:00 A.M. When attending the Badminton sessions, be sure to wear proper footwear and try to bring a racquet with you. The registration fee of .50¢ can be paid at the first session. NORTH SHORE MINOR HOCKEY PLAYOFFS At the time of this write-up, the Recreation Office had not received word regarding the Playoff schedule for the North Shore Minor Hockey teams. As soon as the schedule is received, posters will be displayed around town outlining date and times of games. ADULT BADMINTON Adult badminton sessions continue every week according to the following schedule: Tuesdays - 9:00 - 11:00 p.m. continued page 12 ......