The record, 24 mai 1985, vendredi 24 mai 1985

Weekend Mivshqmù historic homes s Merritt Clifton takes us on a tour of historic Missisquoi and introduces us to some children’s theatre.These stories plus all the regular features in Townships week.Bachelor: Someone who’s been lucky in love.Births, deaths .10 Business.7 Classified .12 Comics .11 Editorial .4 Living .6 Sports .8-9 On the wild side .5 “Scalpel.kidney .heart brain.” PARIS (AFP) — Quebec Premier René Lévesque said Thursday he is aware the French media is describing his government as living on borrowed time and acknowledged that “eventually everyone is doomed.” PQ dissident quits seat in assembly QUEBEC (CP) — Former transport minister Jacques Léonard, one of the seven cabinet ministers who quit Premier René Lévesque’s government over the decision to drop independence from the party platform, resigned his seat in the National Assembly Thursday.Léonard, who has been sitting as an independent member since last November, has been, named the dean of the faculty of education at the University of Montreal.Léonard, the 48-year-old member from the Laurentian riding of La belle north of Montreal, announced his resignation in the National Assembly and made only a brief mention of the party schism that split the PQ and precipitated his departure from the cabinet and caucus last fall.“I want to thank my excolleagues because despite our difference they always gave me their support, confidence and friendship,” Léonard said, his voice breaking with emotion.Léonard’s former PQ colleagues crossed to his seat to shake his hand after his brief resignation speech, Léonard’s resignation was not a suprise.After his university appointment was made public earlier this spring, he said he would be resigning before taking up the new post on June 1.He has rarely been in his seat in the house since becoming an independent member.Léonard, considered a hardline independence supporter, was first elected to the legislature in 1976 and re-elected in 1981.It was at Léonard’s farm in the Laurentians that a group of PQ members opposed to Lévesque’s softened stance on independence met secretly several times to plot strategy against the move.In addition to the seven ministers who quit, four back-benchers left caucus over the independence battle.Delegates at a convention in January voted by a 2-1 margin to drop Quebec independence as an issue in the next provincial election campaign.A chartered accountant and former teacher at the University of Montreal’s business school, Léonard was a cabinet minister throughout his eight years in the house.In his resignation speech, Léonard thanked Lévesque “because without his support I would not have been able to successfully complete several important dossiers.” Lévesque is in France on an official visit.Léonard made only one allusion to the PQ’s idelogical change of heart.“In my opinion, those who think that Quebec is preparing to crawl back into its shell are wrong, and I expect that it (Quebec) will change in the coming years in an unpredictable fashion," he said To those who followed him into the independent benches he said “we shared difficult moments and we learned to adjust,” VA -A.jr SUNNY /tyv jason PorntAS SUNNYSIDh ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Weather, page 2 Sherbrooke Friday, May 24, 1985 40 cents Jobs jobs jobs—no; taxes taxes taxes Premier admits to ‘duck’ status By Paul Gessell OTTAWA (CP) — It will cost you more to buy gas for your car, candy for your kids, food for your dog and wrinkle cream for grandma.And that’s all on top of higher income taxes and the immediate elimination of that popular middle-class tax dodge — registered home ownership savings plans.The Progressive Conservative government promised voters last summer “jobs, jobs, jobs” but in its first budget unveiled Thursday dished out taxes, taxes, taxes.The poor could be especially hard hit.A family of four hovering around the poverty line with an annual income of $15,000 a year will be paying $162 more next year in income taxes in addition to paying more for most consumer products.Taxpayers and consumers will be harder hit than corporations.Federal government coffers will grow by $910 million next year from personal income tax increases, by $1.5 billion from increased consumer taxes and by only $338 million from higher corporate taxes.Filling up the gas tank on the fa- mily car will cost two cents a litre more beginning Sept.3 but the Canadian ownership special charge of 0.7 cents a litre will end June 1.Products such as candy, pet food and cosmetics will no longer be exempt from the 10-per-cent federal sales tax beginning July 1.These new taxes are in addition to a general one-per-cent increase in the federal sales tax on most consumer goods, including cable television services, booze and cigarettes, beginning Jan.1, 1986.Another one-per-cent sales tax increase implemented by the last Li- beral government as a special recovery tax was to end in 1988 but will become a permanent fixture.SMOKING EXPENSIVE And to make smoking even more expensive, the excise levy on a package of 25 cigarettes will jump by 25 cents immediately.The excise tax on alcohol was supposed to increase by four per cent this year because the tax was tied to the inflation rate.This automatic indexation will end but will be replaced by an immediate two- See LOWER page 2 Speaking to reporters after a meeting with his French host, Premier Laurent Fabius, Lévesque said that everyone is living on borrowed time from the moment they are born.Asked whether he saw himself as a doomed premier, Lévesque said that living on borrowed time is particularly true of a government in its second term and “eventually everyone is doomed.” Lévesque, on a three-day official visit to France, has been described in French newspapers as a lame-duck premier under pressure from both moderates and more radical members of his Parti Québécois to resign.After a private meeting with Lévesque, Fabius stressed to a welcoming luncheon the “everlasting” nature of “direct and privileged re-lations” between France and Quebec.Lévesque in turn thanked France for the “remarkable continuity” with which the first France-Quebec cooperation agreement in 1965 has been extended and intensified.The pair meet again later Thursday for talks focusing on joint ventures that could be undertaken in Quebec involving the French firms Pechiney Aluminum and Air-Liquide, Lévesque told reporters.TALKS PLANNED During his stay, Lévesque is scheduled to met President Francois Mitterrand and External Relations Minister Roland Dumas, with whom he will discuss economic relations between France and Quebec.Fabius said he was “very satisfied” with the way in which bilateral relations had assumed a durable nature over the years.These contacts, he said, are “no longer attributable to one group but the object of a wide consensus that transcends internal political disputes on both sides of the Atlantic.” Lévesque stressed the importance of bilateral relations for the future of the French-speaking world.There is a crucial role for francophones in the world of science, computers and high technology, Lévesque said, as well as in the cultural and communications industries.Lévesque said Quebec had the will “not only to endure as a people” but also the firm intention to deploy its talents in the international community.Fabius paid tribute to the Quebec government’s "remarkable policy of defending the French language” and Lévesque’s personal contribution to strengthening France-Quebec relations.r •> , ! 'iv***1 * RECORIVCHARLES BURY Clear the track for the Atlantic Limited Passenger rail service to the Eastern Townships begins again June 1, but Thursday was show-train day as a demonstration run visited Richmond and Sherbrooke.Story, Page 3.PQ sending mixed message in ads, Libs say QUEBEC (CP) —The Quebec government is aiming a different message at francophones and anglophones in a publicity campaign to sell its constitutional proposals, Opposition Liberals charged Thursday.Liberal House Leader Michel Gratton said the government is telling francophones they are the “people” of Quebec and telling anglophones they can also be included in the “people” along with other ethnic groups.Full-page ads sponsored by the government appeared in Quebec newspapers last Saturday after the government made public its conditions for signing the 1982 Constitution Act.The French version says Quebec’s first condition is the recognition of the existence of the “people of Quebec” without further elaboration.The English version is an exact translation of the French except for one line — after “people of Quebec” it adds “whether they be French, English or other origine (sic).” “When government publicity gives a different message depending who is the target, it becomes manipulation.and when it’s such a fundamental subject, it is propaganda,” Gratton said.AUDIENCES DIFFERENT Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Pierre Marc Johnson said it was normal the ads should differ because “the public they’re aimed at is not the same.” He said the official constitutional position paper includes all linguistic groups in its definition of the “people” of Quebec.Johnson warned Gratton he was on “a slippery rope” in trying to revive “a certain number of tensions around linguistic rights.” Later, Johnson said he is only partly satisfied with the “preliminary” reaction of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to Quebec’s constitutional proposals.Johnson said he found Mulro-ney's comment that Quebec has distinct responsibilities for culture and language “more constructive than others we have heard in the past from other governments.” However, he added “as far as we’re concerned, we think our specificity has to be considered in more than just culture and language and our demands, especially in the economic sector and institutions, are very important.” Spokesmen have said the federal government will not respond in detail to Quebec’s constitutional proposals for some time.SCOC defends suspect’s right to a lawyer OTTAWA (CP) - The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday that breath test evidence must be excluded where police fail to promptly inform a driver of his right to call a lawyer.The ruling means that police must tell the driver of the right the moment he agrees to go to the station for a breath test.Left up in the air was the issue of what comes first at the police station, the telephone call to the lawyer or the breath test.Mr.Justice Willard Estey said these issues weren’t raised and “the more difficult question” of what happens after the driver is read his rights will have to be left for another day.The 6-to-2 ruling came in an ap- peal by the Crown against the acquittal of Paul Therens, who failed a breath test in Moose Jaw a week after the Charter of Rights and Freedoms became part of the Canadian constitution April 17, 1982.The breath test evidence was excluded by the trial judge because Therens hadn’t been told by police he had the right to call a lawyer.Because there was no other evidence, as is usual in breath test cases, the charge was dismissed.RIGHT ENTRENCHED Section 10 of the Charter says that “everyone has the right on arrest or detention.to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right.” The Crown contended that The- rens hadn’t been detained and cited a 1980 Supreme Court precedent which said that because a person asked to take a breath test goes voluntarily, he hasn’t been detained and a 1960 Bill of Rights provision similar to the Charter’s Section 10 does not apply as a result.But the Supreme Court said this time that a driver doesn’t have much choice if a policeman asks him to take a breath test.In fact, a driver who refuses without good reason can be convicted for doing so.Given the fact that an invitation to take a breath test could have “significant legal consequences,” a person asked to take one had to be promptly informed by police of the right to call a lawyer.Hydro-Quebec pleads ignorance in maritime PCB spill By Ann Duncan MONTREAL (CP) — Hydro-Quebec didn’t know there were PCBs in any of the transformers that leaked the toxic chemical while being shipped by truck last week, a spokesman for the provincial utility said Thursday.The leaking transformers were discovered last Thursday after being shipped by truck across Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick into Quebec.Hydro-Quebec spokesman Jean-Guy Ouimet said the 39 distribution transformers — as with all of Hydro-Quebec’s 400,000 distribution transformers — were never designed to contain polychlorinated biphenyls.As a result, the transformers “were being transported like ordinary equipment,” Ouimet said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press.Because of the spill and the subsequent discovery of PCBs, Ouimet said Hydro-Quebec has ordered all transformers be handled as if they contained PCBs when being shipped.“We will now consider every transformer as if it contained toxic chemicals,” he said.PCBs, suspected of causing can cer and known to cause birth de fects and liver and kidney pro blems, were used for years as insu lating fluid in larger transformers ORIGIN A MYSTERY Ouimet said Hydro-Quebec’s smaller, distribution transformers were never supposed to contain the chemical, whose future use has been banned by Ottawa.The utility is not sure how PCBs got into the distribution transformers which were supposed to have been insulated with mineral oil In Ottawa Thursday, federal Environment Minister Suzanne Blais-Grenier said she does not know yet whether any of the new federal regulations concerning the transport of dangerous substances, including PCBs, were violated in the latest spill.She has said Ottawa would prosecute Hydro-Quebec if a federal investigaton, expected to be completed next week, determines that the company violated the new rules.But Ouimet said Hydro-Quebec had a contract with a private firm, C.T.M.Aerien, to transport the transformers from a Hydro-Quebec installation on Iles-de-la-Madeline to a storage facility in Ri-mouski, Que.The precise location of the spill is not known.It was a C .T.M.Aerien truck, not a Hydro-Quebec truck as previously reported, that was carrying the transformers, he said.SUIT POSSIBLE He said he did not know the details of the contract with the private firm, but usually Hydro-Quebec hands over all responsibility for shipping the goods to the subcontractor.He acknowledged that C.T.M.Aerien “probably could sue” Hydro Quebec for not informing the private firm that the transformers contained PCBs.Hydro-Quebec is one of the major users of PCBs in the province and recent studies indicate that Quebec has about 25 per cent of all liquid PCBs in Canada.Ouimet said Hydro-Quebec began a few months ago to do random checks of distribution transformers to see if they contained PCBs.“We had a suspicion, but it was confirmed by the survey,” he said.An internal Quebec Environment Department report made pu-blic last week said PCBs are everywhere in Quebec and no human being or animal has escaped contamination.Blais-Grenier has said that much of the concern about PCBs has been exaggerated.4 2—The RECORD—Friday, May 24, 1985 Lower import duties, higher taxes for rich only cheerful notes Continued from page 1 per-cent increase.One cheerful note involved changes to import duties.Canadian tourists now will be able to import duty-free goods worth up to $100 for every 48-hour absence.Previously, this could only be done once every three months.Almost everyone will soon be paying more income tax.A minimum income tax for the rich is to be implemented next year but details are still to be decided.But middle- and upper-income earners will be hit this year with a surtax on the basic federal tax payable.The surtax, which begins July 1 and will last for 18 months, will be at the rate of five per cent on basic federal tax between $6,000 and $10,000 and 10 per cent on basic federal tax beyond $15,000.The Finance Department says the surtax for a single person earning $40,000 next year should be $38.For a four-person family with one earner and an income of $50,000, the surtax should be $100.A built-in tax reduction introduced in 1973 that would have decreased income taxes by a maximum of $50 for single people and $100 for married couples next year is being permanently eliminated in 1986.As well, changes are being made regarding indexation of exemptions, child tax credits and child tax exemptions.WILL PAY MORE Overall, the changes to the personal income tax structure mean that a married couple with one earner, two dependent children and an income of $30,000 a year will pay $184 more next year, the Finance Department says.That four-person family earning $100,000 would see an increase of $1,552.For a single person under age 65 earning $30,000, his or her income tax should increase by $133 next year.If the income was only $10,000, the increase would be $87 and if the income was $100,000, the income tax increase would be $1,629.While it appears the rich are being soaked, Canadian tax laws still abound with loopholes, allowing people with money to make various tax-saving investments.The poor can not take advantage of these loopholes because they have no money to invest.Personal income tax exemptions and tax brackets will no longer be fully adjusted to take inflation into account.Instead those changes will be based only on the rate of inflation beyond three per cent.This same formula will apply to increases for family allowance and old age pensions.The formula for increases for veterans payments and the guaranteed income supplement paid to the poorest pensioners remains fully indexed to inflation.The child tax credit, which mainly benefits the poor, will be increa- sed.Payments made in 1987 will rise by $70 from $384, by $35 in 1988 and by $35 in 1989.Thereafter, payments will be indexed to increases in the inflation rate beyond three per cent.The child tax exemption, which mainly benefits middle- and upper-income Canadians, will decrease to $560 from $710 in the 1987 tax year and to $470 the following year.Thereafter, it will decrease to the same value as the family allowance in that year.In most provinces, the family allowance for each child is currently about $375 a year.Budget highlights OTTAWA (CP) — Highlights of the federal budget presented Thursday in the Commons by Finance Minister Michael Wilson: —The federal government will cut net spending by $1.8 billion and raise net revenues by $200 million in the 1985-86 fiscal year, which began April 1.• —The deficit for fiscal 1985-86 will be $33.8 billion, down $1.1 billion from the $34.9 billion Wilson predicted in his November economic statement.Wilson now says he seriously overestimated revenues in November and now thinks interest rates will rise faster than expected.• —A surtax of up to 10 per cent will be imposed on middle-and upper-income earners for the next 18 months.A minimum tax for the rich will be implemented next year, although details are still to be decided.—Total federal spending on job creation and training falls by $78 million in 1985-86 to $2.1 billion, although it is all supposed to be deducted from administrative overhead.Total federal spending on job creation and training in 1986-87 falls to $2 billion.• —Consumers will pay an extra two cents per litre for gasoline effective Sept.3 and an extra 25 cents per package of 25 cigarettes, effective immediately.A two-per-cent increase in the excise tax on wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages takes effect immediately.• —The federal sales tax — now six per cent for construction goods, cable and pay television services, 13 per cent for alcoholic beverages and tobacco and 10 per cent for other taxable goods — will rise Jan.1 by one percentage point to seven, 14 and 11 per cent respectively.—The federal sales tax will be extended, effective July 1, to candy, pet food, soft drinks, shampoos, soaps, some energy-saving devices and insulation materials.• —About 15,000 public servants’ jobs will be eliminated by 1990, through attrition if possible.• -Contributions to Registered Home Ownership Plans (RHOSPs) will be eliminated but any money now in such plans can be withdrawn before Dec.31 for any purpose without penalty.Annual limits on contributions to Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and registered pension plans combined will increase to as much as $9,500 next year, rising to $17,500 in 1990.• —Transfer payments to provincial governments will be cut by $2 billion annually by the end of the decade.Ottawa now gives the provinces about $20 billion in cash and tax transfers annually for equalization payments, health care and post-secondary education.Farm promises forgotten in Wilson spending plans By Alex Binkley OTTAWA (CP) — Finance Minister Michael Wilson slashed funds for the Agriculture Department and doubled the capital gains tax exemption on farm sales in his first budget Thursday.He had little else to offer the hard-pressed agriculture sector which had been hoping the government would offer low-interest loans to thousands of farmers trying to hold onto their farms.As part of a government plan to give all Canadians a life-time capital gains exemption of $500,000, Wilson said the exemption on farms will be increased immediately to $500,000 from the current $240,000.A plan started by the former Liberal government to allow farmers to contribute $120,000 from the sale of their farm into a registered retirement savings plan is scrapped.Wilson said the government would extend the small business bond program to the end of 1987.The bonds allow farmers and other small businessmen who are in financial difficulty to get loans with interest rates about five per cent to six per cent lower than commercial rates.The lending institution gets a tax break based on the money it has in small business bonds.Wilson said that farmers ac- count for 60 per cent of the $700 million in outstanding small business bonds.Wilson also announced that a freight subsidy on Ontario wheat and flour, called the At and East rates, will be frozen at present levels.PROMISES MADE There was no reference in his budget or in background budget documents to other promises the Conservatives made to the agriculture sector during the federal election campaign.During the campaign, the Conservatives promised to abolish capital gains taxes on farm sales, institute agribonds to help raise low-interest money for struggling farmers and reform tax laws for part-time farmers.Wilson provided no details on how the Agriculture Department is to cut its spending by $50 million this year.It had its budget chopped by $60 million last November.The budget documents also included a report by special committee appointed by Deputy Prime Minister Erik Nielsen on 40 agriculture programs operated by various federal departments.The programs cost close to $300 million.A government official said that implementation of many of the committee’s recommendations are still being worked out among cabinet ministers.—____tel necara Georg* MacLaren, Publisher.569-9511 Charles Bury, Editor.569-6345 Lloyd G.Schelb, Advertising Manager.569-9525 Mark Gullletta, Press Superintendent.569-9931 Richard Lessard, Production Manager.569-9931 Debra Waite, Superintendent, Composing Room.569-4656 CIRCULATION OEPT.-569-9S26 Subscriptions by Carrier: i year - $72.80 weekly: $1.40 Subscriptions by Mall: Canada: 1 year - $55.00 6 months - $32.50 3 months - $22.50 1 month - $13.00 U.S.A Foreign: 1 year - $100.00 6 months - $60.00 3 months - $40.00 1 month -$20.00 Established February 9,1697, Incorporating tha Sherbrooke Gazette (eat.1637) and the Sherbrooke Examiner (est.1679).Published Monday to Friday by Townships Communications Inc./ Communications des Cantons, Inc., ONices and plant located at 2850 Delorme Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec, J1K 1A1.Second class registration number 1064.Member ot Canadian Press Member ot the Audit Bureau of Circulations Back copies of The Record are available at the following prices: Copies ordered within a month of publication: 60c per copy.Cçpies ordered more than a month after publication: $1.10 per copy.Tories set no target for future job creation By Dan Leger OTTAWA (CP) — Legions of jobless will find little to cheer about in Thursday’s federal budget, except that they will have company in their misery for the next few years.Unemployment will remain high and the government will actually reduce its total spending on training and job creation.And in a break from previous budgets, there are no set targets for direct job-creation by government.After a cut of $78 million from administrative costs for training, total spending on training and job-creation will be $2.1 billion in 1985-86.In 1986-87, real spending will drop to $2 billion, a net reduction of about $200 million from forecasts for this year.And in contrast with former budget exercises, the government is not offering any targets this year for the number of jobs it thinks it will create.Previous job-creation plans employed people directly at a set cost per job.In the new system espoused by Employment Minister Flora MacDonald, $900 million of the total allocated to job-creation and training will be be dedicated to her labor market strategy announced in Regina in February.The MacDonald plan calls for closer ties with business.That system, officials said Thursday, should result in more people being employed.But it also makes it impossible to predict how many jobs will be created.SHOW CAUTION The government’s budget planners are being cautious in all their predictions this year.If current forecasts hold on interest rates, inflation and economic growth, unemployment should remain at 10.7 per cent this year and slip marginally to 10.3 per cent by the end of 1986.Those figures are based on a 2.1- per-cent increase in employment in both 1985 and 1986.Labor force growth will keep the unemployment rate high.But figures for the longer term could be skewed by the unpredictable world economy.Interest rates in the United States are the most important factor.If U.S.rates climb too high, Canada could suffer 10-per-cent unemployment in 1990, budget papers state.But if U.S.rates drop appreciably, Canadian unemployment could slip as low as 7.75 per cent by the end of the decade.The government admits its inability to make a firm prediction on interest rates south of the border.The government also wants to change the way it deals with unemployed workers, but it has decided to move cautiously.A review of the unemployment insurance program has been called for but until it is completed, current premium rates and entrance requirements will stand.The government’s job-creation effort has also been an object of attention from Deputy Prime Minister Erik Nielsen’s budgetcutting brigade.The task force found considerable duplication in federal and provincial job-creation plans and it recommended that any new job-creation programs should be aimed at filling holes in the existing system.And a number of programs under the Employment Department will be cut or streamlined.Spending cuts are planned in some on-campus employm t centres and in a specialized job-training program for workers with higher skills.Special employment services for women, the handicapped, youth and native career counselling and the farm labor pools will be maintained.Policies on foreign workers and the protection of jobs will be reassessed in collaboration with foreign-policy planners.Michael Wilson.Putting the squeeze on job creation programs.Discussion paper calls for regular federal budget OTTAWA (CP) — Federal planners have revived an old debate, whether to set a fixed date each year for presentation of the federal budget.The idea, which has been kicked around over the years by citizens, tax specialists, finance ministers and bureaucrats, is the subject of a discussion paper accompanying Thursday’s budget.Before Thursday, the most recent formal examinations of budget procedure were contained in a 1982 green paper on secrecy and consultation and in a discussion paper on the subject from the Conference Board of Canada earlier this year.But none of the recommendations on either subject ever saw the light of day, and budget preparations have remained under a veil of tight secrecy in the finest British tradition.In fact, the tradition is so strong that opposition MPs called for the resignation of then finance minister Marc Lalonde when a television crew filmed part of his budget in April 1983.But the process is unwieldy and for the most part prevents meaningful discussion on the broad range of subjects dealt with in a federal budget.So, in continuation of long tradition, budgets are still tabled whenever a government sees fit and its contents are considered highly secret, almost sancrosanct in the days before it is read in the Commons by the finance minister of the day.The Tory government’s stated goal of encouraging consultation has led it to favor a fixed date for future budgets and a new approach to confidentiality during preparation.MANY ARGUMENTS There are numerous arguments for a fixed date and good reasons can be given for tabling it almost any time in the year.But Thursday’s discussion paper leans toward a mid-winter date, in January or early February, to make the process more manageable.A January or February budget would allow planners in the provinces to set budget priorities with knowledge of federal intentions to guide them.It would also make time for pre-budget consultations and the annual conferences of first ministers and of finance ministers.Debate on the main spending estimates and on the country’s borrowing needs would fit into the schedule of a mid-winter budget.The Conservative government also wants to find ways of streamlining the process of gaining authority to borrow money.Governments are directed by law to borrow funds only with the approval of Parliament, and the process led to a wrangle in the Senate last winter when the Liberal majority refused to grant borrowing authority unless certain conditions were met.Thursday’s discussion paper proposes that financial requirements be set out during the main budgetary process.The budget itself would identify a specific sum that the government would have to borrow to cover spending in the coming year.The paper also includes proposals on technical aspects of the budget process, on procedures to speed up the effective date of tax measures and on the old bugbear of secrecy.On secrecy, the government wants to move cautiously.The discussion paper suggests that unless there is a good reason for strict confidentiality, some budget measures could be revealed to allow for discussion and public input.Weather Mostly sunny today with a high of 23 and low tonight 3.Tomorrow: a few showers.Doonesbury 'DOVOU.AUŒJAKS Mu/nz BUmr.TDMVtMP , ID HOLD, THROUGH / excusa 1 SUWeSSANPHEAUH, j MCtHTHf/sMCS: o ¦»o mU,AU,THIN66 AT LEAST CONSIPEREO, ITHIMK UettfRENT ¦memviNGmrr mpers&m i OFfvmueiL.mwAtL- ^ -— ' mseims / m CANT PROMISE ALL THAT STUFF, HOLINESS.THIS BUM ANP ME BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER.WE'RE JUST LOOKIN'FOR A WAY TO GET THROUGH THE NIGHT, , Y'KNOWT DO WE GOTTA T KISS ALICE?I WHATS THE AltiT lOOK DEAL HERE?KJSSIN RADIANT.\ _ ELMONT.' SUNNY AND CLOUDY ROBUST SUNNYSIWi KI.F.MhNTARY \ UM.BUT THATSTHE WAY THE SERVICE.IF YOU'RE NOTUPTO WÆ BLWNT! GIVE ME THE BOOKI \ BY GARRY TRUDEAU EXPRESS i CANT "DO YOU, 3U5TD WORK UN- (insert UTICA!ALL DERTHESE BRIDES aboard/ comm, name), / / TAKE.: HEY, TBIRPI ''UNE OR* RESTIN' / ^ MAH DOGS.I I'LL TAKE A BAIONEY.YOU GOT BALONEY TODAY?/ SORRT, PUCKS¦ THIS IS A RECEIVING UNE.‘ 'ipor IDO WHAT?R k The Townships The RECORD—Friday.May 24.1985—3 fillJTJlSSll KBCOKl Alliance convention to feature harmony, isolation problems By Michael McDevitt SHERBROOKE — Alliance Quebec holds its fourth annual general convention at St-Anne-de-Bellevue’s John Abbot College next weekend, amid little internal dissent, but with an awareness of the serious problems which still confront the English-speaking community in Quebec.The lack of political turmoil within the English-language rights umbrella organization was highlighted this month while nominations were open for a new executive board which was supposed to be elected at next week’s convention.Of nine positions on the board, six were filled by acclamation as only one name was entered in nomination.Four people are seeking election to the three remaining seats.The six are headed by Michael Goldbloom.a Montreal lawyer, as president replacing outgoing Eric Maldoff, the only president the Alliance has ever had.Joining Goldbloom are first vice-president (replacing Goldbloom) Marjorie Goodfellow, president of the Townshippers Association, former Townshippers director general Royal Orr as ‘off-island' (non-Montreal) vice-president replacing Eastern Townships School Board assistant director general Wendell Sparkes, and new chairman Caspar Bloom, replacing Sherbrooke physician Dr.James Ross.Anne Usher and Michael Hayes, both of Montreal, were re-acclaimed in their positions as secretary and treasurer respectivey.WORKED CLOSELY Maldoff, 34, president of the Alliance since its formation in 1982, announced his decision not to seek re-election on April 30, citing personal reasons, and Goldbloom immediately announced his intention to seek the post.Both men are lawyers with the Montreal legal firm Martineau Walker and have worked closely together in the Alliance.At the convention, delegates are expected to discuss background papers on what are perceived to be the four most serious questions facing the English community in the near future: health and social services, employment and business, national language issues (an area Alliance Quebec strode confidently into under Maldoff).and education ISOLATED, CUT OFF While not overly pessimistic, the background papers paint a picture of English-speaking Quebecers becoming increasingly isolated and cut off from government programs and policies, thus making them less able to compete.It is unlikely the new executive will drastically alter the direction in which Maldoff steered the Alliance during its first years.Calm, reasoned debate backed by exhaustive research won him and the Alliance the grudging respect of many a recalcitrant Quebec cabinet minister and frequently resulted in modification of laws and projects to forms the Alliance and its allies found less offensive.Critical successes in the fields of language law, language of education and access to social services are viewed as a direct result of this policy, which was supported vigorously and complemented by groups like the Townshippers.Speakers at the convention will include Commissioner of Official Languages d’Iberville Fortier, Secretary of State Walter McLean, the Hon.Robert Layton, federal minister of mines, Quebec Liberal Party House Leader Michel Gratton and Quebec Justice Minister Pierre-Marc Johnson, the man viewed by many to be the most likely successor to René Levesque should the latter decide to resign the PQ party presidency.Correction Last Friday’s RECORD incorrectly stated that Marjorie Good-fellow was the new Alliance Quebec vice-president for Off-Island (non-Montreal) affairs.In fact.Miss Goodfellow was acclaimed senior vice-president, replacing president-elect Michael Goldbloom.We regret any inconvenience this error may have caused.Rail comes back with a whack as show train visits Townships RICHMOND — The long awaited train service between Montreal and the Eastern Townships is back.Thursday, with bells clanging and horns blaring, the Atlantic Limited rolled up to the platform here where over 600 young students and hundreds of VIPs and supporters had turned out for the event.The Atlantic, which had long been a symbol of the unifying role the railway played in Canadian development since it began in 1889, was discontinued abruptly in 1981.The line that linked the Maritimes and the Eastern Townships was finally and apparently permanently severed.Railways were losing money, budget cuts and decreasing use of the public service side of rail transport seemed to indicate the passenger service had become obsolete and too expensive.Several passenger lines were cut.InMacA-dam, New Brunswick, this meant the end of public transport, and as far as the Maritimes and the Eastern Townships were concerned, their only passenger rail link was severed.BACK IN STYLE “We arrived by bus and we go back to Sherbrooke in style,” said Sherbrooke Mayor Jean Paul Pelletier as he stepped off a bus along with other mayors, councillors, members of parliament and the national assembly, and a host of people who worked nearly three years to get the passenger service reinstated.Richmond Mayor André Lupien could barely contain his elation as he introduced dignitaries from Transport 2000, Via Rail and various organizations and groups whose concerted efforts had met with such success.“We welcome this train and the services it represents wholeheartedly,” Lupien said.“Many people in this area have suffered great inconvenience since the service was cut and even before, when schedules were really not working for travellers from this area.Now that we have the Jean Char est.Trains mean dollars.trains back, we must support the system, use it and tell friends and relatives near and far about the new updated service and more workable schedules.” About 600 primary students welcomed the train in Richmond, and as Guy Chartrand, president of Transport 2000, the national mass-transport watch-dog group, said, “These young folks are the passengers of the future but more importantly they are our best promoters as they bring the good news home to parents and friends.” HAPPY USERS Pauline and Casey Broadbelt looked elated as they boarded in Sherbrooke for a look around.“We are leaving for Vancouver on the first run June 1st,” Pauline Broadbelt smiled.The Broadbelts were looking forward to checking out the facilities they would be using on their once-in-a-lifetime vacation.Another group of curly-headed preschoolers tumbled out the exit after inspecting the full length which included dining car, bar and snackbar, roomettes and berths where beds were made and blankets and pillows laid out at the ready.“These are more of those future passengers and if they use trains as much as I have so far, they will definitely appreciate this unique and economical way to get where you’re going comfortably and safely without worrying about the weather,” Mary Monty concluded as the youngsters gazed at a lady conductor standing by.¦ M | r WiM i -'.I,.Wmwmmf mk ¦.m Via’s show train pulling into Richmond on the demonstration run Thursday.Voix de VEst settles labor dispute on Via Rail commissioner Roch Fortin, whose work at the election helped bring the trains back, thanked the Eastern Townships development council before residents for their support Thursday.Another couple could barely wait for the visitors’ line-up to move as they anticipated visiting the Banff car, their temporary home as they travelled through the Rockies during the late fifties.The demonstration train, ten cars long, boasted fresh paint and redecorated interiors.Repairs to tracks and stations will continue through the summer, and equipment will be completely replaced during the next several years.Many of the cars date back to the early fifties, but regular maintenance has kept them clean and comfor table.The new schedules and better connections in Montreal and Toronto will considerably shorten the time necessary to arrive at either Montreal or Halifax.Time saved will be as much as seven hours to Halifax and five hours to Moncton.SCHEDULES COMING SOON Schedules and rates will be avai lable by next week and trains will begin June 1.Special care has been taken to ensure schedules are more convenient with morning and evening trains running about two hours apart.“We have our trains back,” key bring-back-Via organizer Estelle second try Gobeil said to a crowd of about 200 gathered to watch the first inaugural train arrive in Sherbrooke, where the Depot Street station is getting a paint-and-varnish facelift.The train was delayed for 45 minutes in Richmond because so many people had come to see it.The Sherbrooke crowd had waited patiently.“For once we can say a government, never mind the color, has come across with an election promise.Now we must show our support and use these trains to the ful- lest.We have two years to prove what we have claimed is a priority for the region.Let’s start thinking trains when we think of travel or tourism.” “We have worked nearly three years for this day," Sherbrooke MP Jean Charest, said.“These trains mean dollars to our communities along its route and even further afield as regular travellers and tourists seek out the quiet pa norama of the Eastern Townships.Our support will be proof that all this work was not for nothing.” MAKE YOUR SUMMER GETAWAYS ABROAD WORRY-FREE MD Health insurance that begins at the border GRANBY (EB) — Employees of Granby’s French-language daily newspaper La Voix de l’Est have tentatively accepted a three-year contract which squeaked by a general meeting by a 50-50 vote.The accord, signed Thursday, was the second proposal the journalists’ and office workers' union, the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN), had presented to the members since negotiations began after their last contract ex- pired Dec.31, 1984.The first agreement hammered out between the CSN and La Voix dei’Est was defeated.The union’s main demand, that workloads be reduced to a four-day-week was tossed out by the employer.Union spokesman Fernand Bélanger said the 27 workers represented by the CSN then adopted a second contract almost identical to the first.Other demands rejected by La Voix include provisions for sick-leave.SIX, FIVE, FOUR Journalists won salary increases of six, five and four per cent for the next three years.They had originally asked for ten and eight per cent raises for the next two years.Office workers received the same increases.The union compromised in its attempt to give members more vacation time.Fourteen-year veterans will have five weeks off, up from four, and 24-year employees will be able to take advantage of six weeks vacation time.The CSN had asked for more time off for those with less seniority.La Voix de l’Est is owned by the Trans-Canada newspaper chain, part of the huge Power Corporation.The company also owns Sher-brooke’s La Tribune.Trois-Rivières’ Le nouvelliste and CHEF radio Granby, as well as Montreal’s La Presse.SSJB Sherbrooke starts youth push » SHERBROOKE (EB) — It’s time to pass the baton on to the next generation.Thanks to sometimes not-so-subtle pushing by area youth, the members of the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste (SSJB), Sherbrooke Diocese have spent the last two years studying the problems and needs of their juniors.Now the young adults are taking their place as legitimate members of the organization and launching their own initiatives.Founded in May 1984 after the SSJB’s 45th congress, the party's youth committee has decided to take an active role in a group longing for new blood.“Our last two conventions were organized by youth,” said Collette Rioux, president of SSJB.She said the emphasis on the problems of today’s young people have helped aging members understand the need for a youth committee, and also made them aware of their own mortality.No attempts were being made to recruit young people and there was a distinct possibility the organization would be left without heirs, she said.The youth committee’s two goals arc “to improve the quality of their (youths') lives and to contribute to their advancement and help them assume their responsibilities,” said Paul Ethier, one of the driving forces behind the resurgence of young adults within the SSJB.“This.popular movement is an organization destined to regroup young francophone Quebecers and make them work together to promote their common interests," he continued.But the group doesn’t want to cut itself off from the anglophone community.“This is a bilingual country,” Ethier said.“We’d like some sort of association, of union” with other groups.The youth committee's parent organization, the 18,000-member SSJB has a long history of charitable work and citizen advocacy in the region.Ethier and the other eight members of his group are sponsoring a panel discussion (in French) entitled “Youths can negotiate a promising future", with the participation of Raynald Fréchette, MP for Sherbrooke and provincial minister of labor, and University of Sherbrooke law professor Jean-Guy Bergeron.The event will take place at the Séminaire de Sherbrooke auditorium on Marquette Street May 26 at 7:30 p.m.Passes for the event can be obtained at the SSJB offices at 525 Queen Street in Sherbrooke.Colette Rioux generation.Up to the next ‘30.Covers the entire family Anywhere abroad From June 15 to September 15,1985 Outside Canada, medical costs are usually much higher.Unfortunately for travellers, Québec Health Insurance covers onlyapart.SÉCURÉTÉ health insurance reimburses you that critical difference.between the benefits allowed by Québec Health Insurance and the actual fees you incur.When a sudden medical emergency or an accident strikes while you're outside Canada, make sure you're protected SÉCURÉTÉ is effective any time between June 15 and September 15,1985.Subscribe HOW, before June 15.To make sure your insurance coverage begins June IS: ¦ Return —without delay—the attached subscription form, or Subscribe by telephone.Simply dial the number provided below for your area: Montréal: (514) 286-8403 Québec (418) 681-0581 Sherbrooke (819) 562-3000 ¦ Outside these areas, call toll-free 1-800-361-5139 INSURANCE APPLICATION APPLICANT S NAME AGE ADDRESS APT CITY POSTAL CODE TEL: SIGNATURE OF APPLICANT Check (s) your method of payment: rhrqnr far R IO Oft la the order War 1 rrmn L J /allai h In your nfiplirnllant Compete your crwJrt card numbor twtow run rrm nrm nm Expiration date Signatumoteardholdaf: Record BLUE CROSS QUÉBEC MUTUAL LIFE Cate Postale 910.Succursale "B" Montréal (Québec) H3B3K8 I I I I I I I I I I 4—The RECORD—Friday, May 24, 1985 #1__fogl mam The Voice of the Eastern Townships since 1897 Editorial Maybe this time next year Ho hum.Another old budget.The rich get richer.but not quite as fast; the poor won’t feel the difference until it’s hit them.Compared to the promise and the promises, Michael Wilson’s rookie budget is just about as soft as the air mattresses his old boy scout troop used to sleep on in the woods.However it certainly reflects the public switch to the economic right Canada has seen over the last few years, a switch which was, as much as any, the reason Brian Mulroney and his scouts made it across the House of Commons on election day Sept.4.We’ll get two or three more budgets like this, then a softer one or two.Then it will be election time again; then Canada will return the Conservatives for a second mandate (maybe even a third, if they’re lucky and careful).You can bet on it.Back and forth the political pendulum goes, and with it rocks the balance of power.After a few years, people get bored with one direction and set off in another.A few more years and the same thing happens again.So the Wilson budget is really just more of the same.But there’s one good thing about it which may end up being far more important than all the rest of it put together.And it won’t cost anyone a cent.The finance minister says he will take steps to change the law so that the federal budget is tabled in Parliament at a fixed time every year.Wilson is a man of the accounting community, and the decision certainly comes from that balance-sheet background.It is long overdue and much needed.As every successful money manager knows, budgeting is essential.Every other organization one could think of prepares a budget — a simple income and spending plan — including the average happy household.Indeed, many groups are required by law to make up a budget once a year.But not the governments.Since the beginning of democratic rule, governments have used budgets as a tool to sway public opinion.Pump them up fast, let them down easy.And if the cabinet doesn’t know what else to do, it can always stall the budget day.Indeed, at one time Pierre Trudeau’s gang didn’t present a budget for something like two-and-a-half years! That’s no way to run a country.Michael Wilson has a better idea.So maybe this time next year we’ll be able to say: ‘Ho hum, another old budget; it’s that time of year again.’ CHARLES BURY rfr*- Bruce Levett ‘Give me snowy hair and a bedside manner’ I hate to be a constant complainer and I guess it’s pretty dumb to arouse the ire of anyone who might be peeking into your intestines someday soon or deciding how to fill in your death certificate.There does however seem to be something lacking in the latest methods of bedside practice as remembered by recent graduates of medical schools and hospitals.Doctors who are younger than I am don’t seem to have the “doctor-thing” that older professionals seem to radiate.They tend to specialize in humourless, vague “Well, let’s wait for a week and see what happens” type of diagnosis and have to be really hard pressed to prescribe anything stronger than spring water and yogurt.These young doctors seem to take their years of learning far too personally and seem to think of their position before the needs of the patient.Recently I was directed to a specialist to have my head examined.(“About time, too!” I heard somebody cry in the background) I had experienced a slight loss of hearing in my left ear and my family physician had made an appointment for me with a nose, ear and rest-of-the-head specialist.After waiting long past the hour of my appointment the nattily clad gentleman ushered me into his office and directed me to a chair against the wall.He sat down and read the referral card.“Hmm," he whispered, “Some loss of hearing?”.“What?” I asked and moved the chair a little closer.“Don’t move the chair,” he told me in a stern voice.Letters Where the pavement x _ 1 ends 7 JIM LAWRENCE 9 “Pardon?” “Don’t move the chair,” he repeated.Vat’s mit der don’t be moven der chair bullschitten?” I asked with a grin.“I like that chair exactly where it is,” he told me, “don’t move it around.” “You’re kidding!” “Don’t move the chair,” he replied.“Besides that you don’t have a hearing loss, you’re just getting old” he shouted at my retreating back as I walked out of the office.Any doctor who thinks more about the furniture arrangements in his office than his patients isn’t my kind of doctor.Another type of new doctor is the one who requires a major battery of tests before removing a hangnail.One day I discovered a rather painful development had appeared on the area on which I normally sit.After a couple of days of standing around I decided a trip to a local knife was needed.Again I was referred to a bottom and long-finger specialist who tried to rear- range my kidneys with his finger and then decided I needed a couple of days of tests in the hospital.“But all I want is you to stab it and get rid of it!” I pleaded.His nurse made the arrangements for the tests and the admission.Of course by the time the date arrived, the reason had been gone for weeks and I managed to avoid all the undoubtedly unpleasant tests he had planned for me.Some young doctors are so involved with the ailment they fail to reassure the patient that whatever-it-is will not kill you within the next few hours.A few years ago I tried successfully to turn a jeep into a banana and the resulting argument my head lost with the windshield required an urgent trip to Cowansville.Dripping blood and slivers of glass I was greeted by a young doctor I had met socially a number of times.“Hiya, Jim,” he said, “trying to open windows with your head again?Ho! Ho! Ho!" After a few minutes of picking glass and wiping blood he asked the nurse if the surgeon was available.When he was told the surgeon was not available he asked for a phone and told me “There’s a couple of points I want to clear up, Jim, don’t worry about a thing.” He dialed the number, waited, and said “Hello there Doctor, can you come over to the hopsital right away ?I’ve got a bleeder here and I can’t seem to stop it.(short pause) Well I’d think pretty soon.” Patting me on the shoulder he told me not to worry, not to get upset, not to move around too much and he’d see me later.Had I not been bleeding into a pail at the time I would have strangled him with his own stethoscope.My wife rarely admits to any malfunctions, so I knew she was really in pain when she rushed off to a local clinic a few years ago.She had been complaining about a fierce headache that asprin just wouldn’t touch.After an hour of telling her about his latest trip to the Sudan or somewhere she was prescribed fresh air, spring water and lots of sleep.The next day I took her to my doctor in Magog and he prescribed the medication that solved the problem.I have a doctor in whom I have faith.He seems to be getting younger.A few years ago he was twice my age, but now he’s only about 1.5 times as old as I am, which is proof he’s getting younger.We’re on a first name basis, by that I mean he calls me ‘Jim’ and I call him ‘DR.Bryant’.He was the first person to see my youngest son and was relaxed enough about the whole thing to hand him to me only seconds after he arrived.I have faith in a doctor who’s snowy hair speaks volumes about his experience.He believes in treating the ailment before it has a chance to develop into bubonic plague and has yet to prescribe yogurt as an alternative to penicillin.Perhaps new techniques and new learning methods are better.It’s hard to have faith however in some of the applications of this new knowledge, particularly when instead of being twice as old as you are the graduate is twice as young.Give me snowy hair and a’bedside manner every time! What a wonderful reunion this past weekend Dear Mr.Bury, Through the Record I wish to thank those who organized and worked on the various committees to make the Cookshire School Centennial a joy to be remembered forever.Isn’t it mar vellous how a group of dedicated people can carry out an event of this magnitude! It is awesome how contact was made with so many hundreds of former students and teachers.The souvenir booklet containing names and addresses gives us an opportunity to contact classmates who were unable to attend.The beautifully hand-painted reu- nion banner was a unique welcome to all.The old photos and Miss Elliotts’ room brought back memories.The delicious banquet, speeches and dance added to the enjoyment.The emotional cenotaph service was an appropriate ending for a wonderful weekend.As the names of the fallen were read, the past came flooding back.So good to see the parade of veterans, especially Sam Vermette.What a super reunion! Thank you one and all.Sincerely, JUNE PATTERSON Coaticook Dear Editor, What a wonderful reunion this past weekend at Cookshire School Centennial.It has been over 60 years since I attended this school and I met so many friends.I even met my former teacher, Mrs.Barter.I would like to thank Mac Fraser, Elaine Goyette, Colleen Carrier and their committees for many hours of hard work.The display of old photos, the banquet, the choir from the Snowshoe Club, the Cenotaph Service - everything was marvellous.I say many thanks to all concerned.Sincerely, ORMA LOCKE CUTTING Coaticook P.S.To be the winner of the $100 Centennial Raffle was an added thrill.Thank you.Give us a break!! sottéÏÏiww MU6T \>e done âtoiA this H0RRENWUS SITUATION, Flora.three Wig are CONSERVATIVES!.See homo So you think there is some strange music being perpetrated today?Well, you’re right.However, back in the mid-1960s, The Statler Brothers had a hit with something called You Can’t Have Your Kate and Edith, Too.This is only one of the little-known facts turned up in a search through incredible batch of briefs and fillers produced to fill in the toothless gaps in news pages.Found therein, also, is the sad tale of Hamilton carriage maker James Williams.In 1857, he failed in an attempt to drill for water and struck oil instead.His failure became the world’s first commercial oil well — at Oil Springs, Ont.In North America, there is a rule that the name of a race horse may contain a maximum of 18 letters.However, in England, records list a beast named Crytichon-choiphyastigmatic — but that was before the days of race announcers.RESISTANCE LOW Research states most colds — just as you thought — start on Mondays, after a person has been exposed to germs at the end of the week, when resistance is lowest.The Irish have a word — usquedaugh — meaning water of life.Our word for it is whisky.Paul Revere, hero of the American Revolution, was paid $23.59 by the Massachusetts State House for war ning the people “the British are coming.” (Incidentally — would you mind reading a little faster?The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.) And speaking of sleep, everyone at some time suffers from taresthesia, which is the technical term for the situation when the human foot is referred to as being asleep.There are 336 species of salamanders.Your average female snapping turtle lays between 20 and 40 eggs.The record is 83.SPAN SHORT The lifespan of the common housefly is two weeks — if it’s lucky.In the 1768edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, the entire entry under Women read: “The female of man.See homo.” And, speaking of women, in the United States, female millionaires outnumber male millionaires — two to one.Talk about discrimination — only one per cent of all North American secretaries are male.Joseph Howe published the Nova Scotian in 1828, one of the first newspapers to engage in political criticism.Now they all do it.And here’s a reassuring note upon which to wind up: The bite of the boa constrictor, one of the largest snakes in the world, is not poisonous.CANADA ir 1.5 MILLION mne^I / pgpr