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A comment on another myth that is prevalent: We are told: "It is good that our dollar IS down to about 85 cents because we can now export more of our goods" - Bunk! Most of our exports are in the resource industries including wheat, oil, iron ore, nickel and lumber, commodities now being shipped at least at a 15 percent discount thus depriv- I definitely do not take ghoulish delight in these figures. Every statistic means having to do with less, and for some people, Trudeau‘s mismanagement has resulted in hear) break and broken homes. Looking at the other headline, it wouldappear that our cost of living has finally gone down. However, comparing current figures with those of a year ago; according to my mathematics, we pay over Ill/2'); more for living this year than last year. However, on taking a closer look at these headlines and reading the fine print, we see that a mass of students have gone back to school and therefore are no longer employable, thereby .decreasing the so-called labour force. Consequent- ly, unemployment went down. I wonder how many other unemployables there are that are not on these un6mpioy- ment rolls. At the same time as an insignificant aside, there were 327,000 fewer people-working in September, than worked in August. ' Looking at the CP. headline in our main paper last week, I quote: "Unemployment down 38,000 for September", and the next day: "Cost of Living shows first dip in seven years". It sounds like "Happy Days are Here Again", the Song we used to sing during the depression! Richaéd Hobson In reaching out to a Polish archbishop for its Pope. the Church has chosen to deeentralize its power The new Pope promises to eontlnue with that process of dvcerttralir.auon In consulting with the Bishops. in al lowing them more authority within their own diocese The by-elections are important but their importan- ce will fade with time There was a more important event Monday, the importance of which will grow and spread with time. I am speaking of the election of a new Pope It was an historic and far-reaching event to elect a Polish Pope It sets in motion events which cannot be predicted but which.amdoutrtcdly. will change the Christian world l delayed writing this column until after the brelec- tion results were in, thinking they would provide a worthy topic for discussion. Having won Jo out of 15 by-elections. I am naturally delighted with the endor- sement received by my Leader and Party. However, my delight is tempered by the realization that Canada has been denied a general election and a new govern- ment for another eight or nine months, All of that is great and good, but even great and good things need to be evaluated from time to time. For that reason a cutback can be a healthy slowdown for an agency which needs to examine its programs in order to do even better. We should be worried about that, but then again we shouldn't. let me explain why and why not. First, three reasons why we needn't be worried. To begin with, Canada's International Development Agency (CIDA) has grown very rapidly, and things that grow fast don't always develop as well as they should. In ten years, the CIDA budget has increased by 550 per cent from a mere $186,310,000 in 1968. Now the agency is at work on 2000 aid schemes in 79 developing countries. When the federal government announced budgetary cut- backs in August. the foreign aid program was also affected. The current budget of the Canadian International Deve- lopment Agency, now at $1.2 billion, was frozen, which means cuts in planned spending of $133 million for 1979-80. Mike Makarchuk Secondly, true development can't be measured only with -WMMM!I.IITI LL. __" qt ."'. 'Pdmllkyttr, ___ r, - t --___- -w """-'"ee""""""%-%-. Ill IGVI. border started to become more pronounced However, to quote R. Burns. "the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay," and circumstances occurred which prevented its disappearance. In fact, for a time the We are the richest nation in the world, yet lately we seem to be the worst off of any industrialized nation. Our problems stem from historic roots. During the early 40's, the war years, a bold plan was conceived to create an industrial base in North America to become the "arsenal of democracy". The plan envisaged a huge industrial complex centered around Cleveland, Ohio, all cargo and communica- tion lines in North America would lead to that area. They would not run from Montreal to Toronto to Windsor to Win- nipeg or Vancouver as they should to provide a cohesive Canada. The plan would have meant the disappearance of the border between Canada and the United States by about 1959. mg our nation or mat percentage or Foreign exchange we The plan has again been set in motion and we find oursel- would otherwise have acquired. At the same time. as an im- ves tied even tighter to the United States. porting country, we now must pay an extra 15percent on the Our natural resources are all basically owned by the in- U.S. dollar and more on other foreign currencies. Con- dustrial base to the south and we continue to ship them sequently the result of the drop in our dollar is that we are there. But it is a one way street, we are not getting the being penalized at a double rate of 30 percent. That, I hum- benefits due us. In fact, we are losing whatever industries bly submit is not good for us. we have. We are exporting jobs. One may argue that if our dollar dropped further; we can Our long term plan should be to regain control of our na- then definitely export much more. We would have every- tural resources and build our own industrial base to process body at the trough taking our wealth away. No doubt our ex- our resources in Canada. port statistics would improve. There is also a related misunderstanding rmatnd hv tho ' ing our nation ot that percentage of foreign exchange we would otherwise have acquired. At the same time. as an im- porting country, we now must pay, an extra 15 percent on the First, because it could reflect tack of concern. Three years ago, according to the Gallup Poll, 53 percent of Cana- dians favoured increased aid. Now the figure is down to 44 percent. Selfish preoccupation with our own welfare to the exclusion of others is not a good sign. _ Was It Just a hizadre event that Malcolm Muggerur ge delivered a lecture at the University of Waterloo on On the other hand, we should feel badly about the cut- backs, also for several reasons. NDP candidate for Waterloo riding In other words, if developed countries would do less to hurt developing countries we might not need foreign aid at all. At the same lime. the Church in South America and in Africa continues to be actively responsive to social injustice in Latin America The Christian Church is beginning to show a more open face to other political systems. This reconciliation may improve chances for eventual world peace Thirdly, the help the poor countries need is fair trade as much as charitable aid. And there are other obstacles to development, such as excessive arms sales to developing countries. dollars. Dollars have helped development but they have also hindered it. If dollars do little more than export our way of life of societies not ready or suited for it, if dollars don't reach the people. and if the aid dollars have too many str- ings attached, they might as well stay at home. Politically, the new Pope has been able to work out a reconciliation with the communist government of Poland. His election will inspire members of the Christian Church behind the iron curtain. Some pre- dict that this will lead, eventually, to reconciliation between the Kremlin and the Church The new Pope is not a communist but he comes from a communist country. He has shown an ability to do his work ins1de a communist country At the same time, it sets in motion the spirit of recon- ciliation between the old and the new, the past and the future, the rich and the poor, the East and the West. the traditional and the progressive, Secondly, there is an awriiriot of poverty in the world. I PC candidate for Waterloo riding Our priority is to regain control of our natural resources _and the money generated by these resources. This does not have to be by the way of the old Socialist bugaboo of na- tionalization. Our present tax structure can be used as both a carrot and a stick to implement this course. All we need is a government with courage to do it. Try us. Are we as individual Canadians who have a few hundred dollars to invest going to turn this tide? This means we annuanyarport thousands of jobs to other countries. " Much of the money generated in Canada results frorn the natural resource sector, and a large proportion of this money is controlled by the multi-national corporations, who in turn ship it out to other areas of the world for reinvest- ment. - - There is also a related misunderstanding created by .the claim that "Canadians are too cautious to invest in their own country" - this also is Bunk? In other words, it is in our own best self-interest to do something about economic disparities in the world. To this end it would be good if CIDA had more dollars to ork with. Meanwhile, hoivever. we can do better with the $1.2 billien we already have. In foreign aid, too, we must learn to do more with less. There are similarities and parallels in problems of leadership In Canada: in the forces of centralization against decentralization. and the forces of reconcilia- tion, I just found it an unique coincidence to have the opportunity to balance my reaction to the hy-elections against the election of a new Pope. in the context of watching Malcolm Muggeridge deliver his lecture on television I don't suggest that there is a pattern, but there is a thread It is in the promise The hope for a better future If economic justice is withheld we will eventually face violent economic upheavals, perhaps even world-wide revo- lution. Thirtily, we're bound to pay for any neglect in the long run. The world can't forever exist, niostly very poor and partly very rich. t I reject this theory. lam optimistic that the spirit of renewal in the Church will build a new and better world, I am not intimidated by reconciliation, The real task of reconciliation will be vested in the people of the Church throughout the world The real poverty that shonld concern us is that which ap- pears as illiteracy, disease, exploitation, hunger, and re- duced life-expectancy. About all these we must do much don't mean poverty measured only by dollars. Comparisons of per capita annual incomes - 85,672 for Canada, $tt3 for Chad, to give one example -'" can be mu. leading. Many natives in other countries don't need much money to live full and happy lives. Monday? His lecture was entitled "The End of Chris- tendom" He spoke pessimistically of the self-des- tructive tendencies of Western man. He predicted the fall of Western civilization. He spoke'in terms of the Western man delivering himself into the bands of his enemies. . Liberal candidate Waterloo Riding Frank Epp