The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

OThe Herb Epp Report [ Last week both the federal parliament in Ottawa and the provincial legislature in Toronto returned for sessions. Whereas in Ottawa an election had inter- vened, a new government was elected and a throne speech formally opened the new Parliament, in On- tario it was business as usual following the recess for the summer. The Provincial Throne Speech is expect- ed be made in late February or early March of 1980. ii),?) most important chahenge facing Ontario and anada at present is energy. Alberta with its huge resources of oil and natural gas is trying hard to per- suade the federal government to increase the price of oil to that of the world markets. Such a move would substantially increase production costs in Ontario - set in motion additional inflationary factors and crea- te more unemployment. We do not need either or both of these. Prime Minister Clark is caught in the centre of the controversy. He will have difficulty escaping poli- tically unscathed. Both Premier Lougheed of Alberta and Premier William Davis on Ontario provided un- questionable support to the Progressive Conservative leader during the last Federal campaign. But for dif- ferent reasons as Alberta has a heritage fund of close to five billions of dollars and Ontario has an annual deficit of almost two billions both want Prime Minis- ter Clark's sympathetic ear, No matter how it is final- ly resolved, Ontario will pay higher prices for oil and It's great to be back. After a five month absence I'm back behind the editor's desk writing furiously, editing copy. scrambling for stories and suffering with the inevitable Tuesday afternoon headache. As I try to fit ten stories into a space designed for eight, 1 can't help thinking, thank goodness it's only for two weeks. ' Two weeks you say? Aren't you back to stay? Unfor- tunately the answer is no. As much as I enjoyed my post as editor I've taken up a new career - mother- For those of you who maybe never heard, my hus- band and I welcomed little Darryl James into the world on July 9. Now, a robust three-month old who is full of smiles and just itching to investigate the out- side world, he is taking up most of my time. Darryl's introduction brings to mind something that has been bothering me for quite some time. Planned Parenthood - Waterloo Region has recently come under the attack ok various organizations. govern- ment officials and religious groups. It saddens me to hear it. It's organizations like this one that are awa- kening young people, (married and single), to the re- sponsibilities of parenthood. I As far as rm ancerned a planned parent is a happy well-adjusted parent. I can't think of anything in life that takes quite as much preparation as the birth of a Some people, much too refined to indulge In por- nographic books or blue movies. get their voyeuristic kicks from reading the "Personal" columns of the newspapers . Not me I ain't refined By the time I've skimmed the from page. been bored by the pompous editonals. I'm through with the paper It is strictly for wrapping garbage m Never do I read the classified ads. selling every- thing from houses and cars to bodies I haven't lime And besides. they're all the same Whether It's a car. a house. or a body, It‘s the greatest buy of the century Many of them carry the same message “Must be seen Well. I strayed Yes. I wandered The other day. looking through the ads for teachers In the hope that I could find my daughter's address m Moosonee lshe hasn't written us m over three weeks and l have a piercing picture of her and the grandboys stumbling around the tundra looking for the place), I staggered hv same muschanee onto the _ Personal" column No wonder those warples read It. the people who leave the room. nose In air when someone mentions amp or tells a funny. slightly off-color joke 11's a ka, leldoscope of sex. stnsilhness and Sickness to warm the heart of any peeker through the others' windows I read with at first amusement. then amazement and then a but of shock, though I am famy nnshneka hle This appeared m (anadis National Newspaper T any James Bill Smile y child. There are the fun things like decorating the nur- sery, purchasing furniture, clothes etc. ' but then there is the most important preparation - the mental pre- paration. _ In a matter of a few hours twoyoung people gofrorn being a carefree "come and go as you please" couple to two mature adults with another life fully dependent on them. It's all rather mind boggling at first, even for the parent who has planned their child’s birth and prepared for it. _ - But where can a young girl go for some information and assistance in taking precautionary steps? If she's fortunate enough to have an understanding mother the problem is solved. But not everybody does. While the planned parent can handle it, I'm not so sure the same could be said for a single parent or a young couple who haven't got their feet planted firmly on the ground. Planned Parenthood - Waterloo Region is there for the benefit of these and many others. The staff and volunteers will give information, offer advice when asked to or just lend a sympathetic ear. The organiza- tion has helped hundreds of young people from making the biggest mistake of their lives and has helped en- . Where can a young couple go if thiry'rt miles from their parents, friends Aang family dgctqr? . .. as the industrial giant of Canada jobs will be lost, our competition on the world markets will suffer and tm- employment will increase. Premier Davis who as education minister and since 1971 as Premier always blamed the Liberal government in Ottawa for On- tario's woes, now has lost that advantage with the elevation of Prime Minister Clark. Mr. Davis is there- fore more than anxious to show that he irfighting tooth and nail to keep oil pricing as low as possible. Last week Ontario Liberal leader Stuart Smith an- nounced that the Ontario Liberal caucus was perared to support legislation forcing the Peel teachers iwhere the first elementary teacher's strike oc- curred) back to work, have compulsory arbitration to which maintains a lofty moral tone on most of its other pages It was like looking under the rug in a highly moral dowager's house. while she is out getting tea. and finding a lot of dirt under it, First under suspucion are the Items under “Mas- sage" Some of them are innocuous enough, but what about this one "No appointment needed IO a m, to 10 p m 7 days a week FF With a woman's name and phone number Back in 1974-75 all three Ontario politicarparties agreed that both elementary and secondary teachers in Ontario have the right to strike. This decision was made aftter numerous examples of work to rule and illegal strikes. It was believed that by providing the right to strike for teachers and forbidding lock-outs by school boards more orderly negotiations would deve- lop and few strikes would occur. This however has not happened. Nineteen strikes have taken place with thousands of teachers out on strike and many more thousands of school children and their parents left with the uncertainty as to when school would be back to normal. Maybe she's Just a hard worker. who doesn't get up too early. and doesn't like days off. but I doubt it Then you come to the section headed “Readers. Palrmstry. Horoscopes .. Again, some of them are legit. as legit as a fortune teller can be But there are some intriguing ones “Mrs Selma WI" help you m all problems of life No problem so small that she cannot solve IHow about big ones") One ViSIt will mnvmce you .. "anky-panky" Sure sounds like it But that IS kid stuff. only mildly titillating. com- pared with the suck. arrogant, lonely, blunt. nn-holds barred medicine that comes under the heading Com- pamons Wanted This us where the real meat of the Personal Column" IS. and I Imagine an inveterate reader skips the masseuses and the fortune tellers quickly. and gets down to peering Into private lives When I was in the weekly newspaper business. there was the occasional pathetic guy who would come in to the office and place an ad “Successful young farmer. good farm. stock. house. seeks partner interested m Submitted by Herb Epp, MPP Wtttertoo-Wetiilrtgtrtn Waterloo Chronicle, Wednesday, October 24, 1979 . Page r, sure that the majority of babies born in the Region are "wanted" babies who will be loved and well taken care of. l A lot of "criticism seems to stem from Planned Parenthood's stand on the subject of abortion. Correct me if I'm wrong but I have always been under the impression that; A) the number of times the group has had to deal with it is minimal; B) if an abortion is requested simply'for the purpose of "being let off the hook" the organization tries, to convince the party concerned that this is not the correct route and C) they only support an abortion if they believe it is a matter of life or death (physical or mental) for the parent-or child involved. Planned Parenthood doesnot authorize abortions. They refer the party to the medi- cal profession and the request goes through the proper channels and is granted or denied. It seems a shame-that one or two organizations’ beliefs on abortion are responsible for dragging Planned Parenthood's name through the mud and cut- ting off public support. Maybe the people who are so eager to see this organization's hard work fall by the wayside should visit a home for unwed mothers or drop in on a young family who had a child they didn't want and couldn't afford to keep. Ihre done both and believe me it isn't a very pretty sight. _ matrimony. Write Bott 2203." It was pathetic because we knew the guy He was 53. ugly His farm was Sixty acres, mostly second-second- growth bush and pasture His "stock" consmted of two pigs, four chickens, and three mangy cows His "house" was a shack without plumbing. heated by a pot-bellied stove. He never received an answer. but would come in once a week tor two months. asking for the mail from Box 220B But these city shelters are a lot more subtle and tough Ull give you a few examples that rurdled me a but The egos are fantastic "Middle-aged busmess man seeks younger male companion Bm Well But It's not all men “Lady. 55. R C ' wishes to meet gent up to 60 WF If youve snxtynne you're out. but you could he twentvnne "Gentlemart, 48, business owner, lives In new apt seeks charming, attractive lady to share his hie with .. No mention of marriage _ Sophisticated gentleman. creative type. seeks the pleasure of sensuous woman 30-45 If an exciting " lair With an appreciative male Is your style, send snapshot and phone no to f' He could be 80 “Ono wild and crazy guy wishes to meet one wild and crazy gal who loves dancing and camping and (Continued on page ttl “Professional man. married. mid-thirties. seeks married woman for afternoon or evening meetings Wt How would you like to be his wife" As John Sweeney, the Liberal education critic said last week "No process is going to satisfy everyone all the time but I believe the alternative proposed is pre- ferable to strikes. In this international year of the child, let us in Ontario really put the needs of our kids at the forefront. Let us as responsible adults really give them some good examples of human relations" That is why the Liberal caucus agreed to deny teachers the right'to strike - so that the innocent chil- dren would not be the victims in the long drawn out strikes which result from both sides failing to reach agreement. As we all know 19 strikes followed without the prir vincial government having the will or being too tired after 36 years in power to look for a long term solu- tion. I must admit that personally as a teacher of 16 years experience I was not enamoured with having the right to strike. I felt that I had lost a certain amount of my professional standing in the community by being able to walk out from my responsibilities for whatever legitimate reason there may be. I have always contended there must certainly be another way in which reasonable people can arrive at reasona- ble solutions without the innocent children suffering. settle the dispute and also take the right to strike away from teachers.