PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1981, WHITBY FREE PRESS whit by Pblhdeey wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor 131 Brock Street North. The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. P.O. Box 206, Whitby, O MICHAEL J. KNELL Community Editor MARJORIE A. BURGESS Advertising Manager Mailing Permit No. 410 g. nt. Second Class Mail Registration No. 5351 1981 was an eventful year The year 1981 is fast drawing to a close. It has not been an uneventful year. On the national scene, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau fulfilled his lifelong ambition.- the patria- tion of the Canadian Constitution. While it is by no means perfect, it gives all Canadians a sense of identity and enshrines into law their fundamen- tal rights and freedoms as citizens of a civilized and democratic nation. Other than this, the news from the nation's capital has been rather gloomy. High Interest rates, high unemployment, high Inflation and other economic problems have been the centre of attention. Many of these problems have become evident There's no doubt that Canada's so-called middle class feels beleaguered. No doubt that the middle class includes the vast majority of us, excluding only the very rich and the very poor. And like the rest of the middle class, the labor movement feels that it has its back against the wall. Also like the rest of us, the labor movement begins to re- semble a steer in a bog, bellowing wildly, lashing out at anything that catches its eye, and all the while, sinking ever deeper into the mire. What the steer doesn't realize, and what we haven't. either, is that the only solution is to keep quiet. Government could and should begin to rescue us, perhaps, but it apparently doesn't know how. And industry, once profit-rich and powerful, can't do it either, because most of it has joined us in the bog. For us, the time has come to stop struggling, and at least buy a little more time. The Ontario Federation of Labor held an annual meeting recently, and its assessment of the problem verges on pathetic. It was as if they believed we're still in the 19th century, and business was out to do us down. They borrowed the results of an American survey, to suggest that labor has an image problem in this country, that non-unionists think of the Canadian labor movement as a collection of Archie Bunker's. The irony is that the public's view of the American-dominated labor movement in this country is not so much "Archie Bunker" as "On The Buses'". I have a game with one of the studio directors at Global, himself English-born. Often, when we have a labor story on the air, we try to guess the spokesman's country. Most of them seem to be English, Scotch or Irish, so there's not much challenge in guessing nationality any more. What is a challenge is pinning down whether the spokesman was born with the sound of Bow bells, whether he grew up beside the Mersey or on Clyde- side, or whether he's a Belfast lad. Needless to say, the studio director is much better at it than I am. The econ- omic solutions aren't simple ones any more. It's little short of ridiculous for the labor movement to protest high interest rates while inflation is running at 12 per cent. Why don't they protest about wild government spending and deficit financing instead? And they ought to remem- ber that low interest rates are "not" good news for every- one. For the older people who have been trying to live on inadequate pensions and their eroded savings, high inter- est rates have meant a short period of relative plenty. But the unions don't "wante to attack inflation, because they're part of the problem. The message that all middle class Canadians must get and get quickly, is that until we learn to get along with less, there "isn't" going to be any more, not now and not tomorrow. That's not news, but that too is reality. locally with lay-offs at many local industries, namely Sklar Manufacturing Limited and the Lake Ontario Steel Company (LASCO). Despite these problems, there have been many good things about 1981 for the Town of Whitby. During this year, four new Industries and 15 new commercial enterprises began operations provid- ing some employment for our people, but more importantly hope for the future. The Town of Whitby, as reported elsewhere in today's edition, should achieve a growth rate, in real terms, of about six per cent this year. And considering the state of the national and provin- cial economies, that is an achievement in which we can all take some pride. One big bonus that the Town of Whitby gained this year was the Liquor Control Board of On- tario's new warehouse facility on Wentworth Avenue. This $81 million project is expected to provide a few hundred jobs for our people. The residents of Brooklin will get their long- awaited trunk water supply and sanitary sewer pipes sometime in the next two or three years as Durham Regional Council saw fit to give its bless- ing earlier this year to the expansion proposai of First City Development Company Limited and its partners. Whitby Town Council also revealed plans for the redevelopment of the Port Whitby harbor at the southern end of our community. This project should re-vitalize the oldest part of Whitby to the benefit of all residents. The Mayor's Task Force on the Disabled presented its final recommendations earlier this ,month and it should-provide a way for us to make life more bearable and normal for our neighbours who suffer some form of handicap. It was more fitting that their task was com- pleted before the end of the International Year of the Disabled Person. If the task force accom- plished anything at all, they made us, the for- tunately "normal" people, more aware of the problems faced by the disabled. This is another achievement in which all Town of Whitby residents can take pride. As mentioned previously, many positive things have happened in our community in 1981, and 1982 promises to bring more of the same. But 1982 will bring with it more problems to be faced and resolved. Some of the national problems that have been mentioned will follow us into the New Year. It is this publication's fervent hope that government, business and labor can resolve their differences long enough to give these problems the serlous attehtion they deserve and come up with new ways of attacking them. On the local scene, housing for senior citizens, the disabled, the low Incorme groups will become a major Issue as the town prepares its Municipal Housing Statement. The entire Issue of health care will again achieve prominence as will the issues of education funding and quality, the question of the legalization of marijuana as well as a host of other problems that will have to be grappled with. Next year is also the International Year of the Senior Citizen and hopefully each of us will take time out to salute the contributions made by these people to our community. Perhaps the most important thing that a new year brings is hope. Hope for the future. The New Year brings with it new opportunities, new possi- bilities and a new chance to make life better for ourselves and our children. The management and staff of the Whitby Free Press would like to take this opportunity to wish our many faithful supporters a Most Happy and Prosperous New Year ... and we hope that you, like us, continue to keep the faith. - - - --M% -qq