Page 4, The Herald, Monday. November 19. 1979

TERRACE/KITIMAT

daily herald

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Circulation - 635-6357

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Sterling Publishers

GEN. MANAGER - Knox Coupland

EDITOR - Grag Middletan
CIRCULATION- TERRACE. 635.6357

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EDITORIAL

The elections are over and now it is
time to get back to work.

There has been a considerable amount
of bickering in council, squabbling which
prevented constructive debate and
progress on the city’s business.

The priorities of city council should be
an orderly and cautious movement
toward making this city an acceptable
place to live and work in. Let us see if
they can keep to that and not let personal
hobby horses run away with them.

The vote in Thornhill was a strong
statement of confidence in Les Waft-
mough,:a man who has voiced his op-
position to amalgamation and his
distrust in the District of Terrace. The
Terrace council members have to take
that into account.

The upset in area C, where Stan Kerr's
Lakelse Lake supporters turned out and
Alice Chen-Wing’s supporters in the
outlying areas did not, means a further
right wing voice in the regional district
and fess opposition to development.

CONSUMER

_Just about everyone who shops for groceries is
likely to be aware of the grade markings that appear
on the labels or packaging of various food products.
But how many consumers bother to use that in-
formation to save money on their grocery bill? ~ |

Poultry, beef carcasses, eggs, dairy products, fruit
and vegetables are all graded for quality according to
standards set by federal and provincial legislation.

These food grades are determined. by pig i F bi
Spl | t Bl J .

characteristics, such as appearartce, ¢olo

and maturity, and not by nutritional content. So when
more than one grade is available, it makes good sense
to consider grades other than Grade A or fancy, and
buy the one best suited to the use you'll make of the
product. :

Grade B eggs, unfortunately rarely sold in super-
markets, are B's because, when broken out for frying
or poaching, they spread out. For other uses, where
appearance doesn’t matter, they are entirely
satisfactory.

Grade B poultry is not always to be found either, but
it's a good buy if you can get it. It's not as well fleshed
and fattened as A and it may have a few short skin
tears, minor discolourations, and pinfeathers, but the
pinfeathers are easily removed, and no one will know
about the other minor faults by the time the bird is on

@ table.

Utility poultry must at least qualify for Grade B, but -
one or more parts may be missing. It makes little
difference if it is the tip of the wing that is missing, or
a drumstick if you are a White meat fan.

Grade B beef may have a somewhat.coarse texture
and lack the marbling that is found-in-Grade A, but it
is every bit as good as A for some methods of cooking.
Try a small piece of grade B to see-how you like it
before you decide to buy a whole side of beef. *

Commercial or Canad. C apples may be less
uniform in shape or less well coloured than Fancy and
may have other minor defects, but they are just as
good for cooking and are a more sensible buy for the
price-conscious consumer.

The same advantages apply to Domestic, Orchard
Run, Commercial and C grades of other fruits, and to
Canada No. 2 vegetables.

Canned fruits and vegetables are also graded.
Standard grade is probably just as flavourful as
Fancy or Choice but Is not as uniform in size and may
have minor defects that slightly affect the ap-
pearance. Standard grade may not be as tender.
Canned green or wax beans, for example, may be
coarse and stringy, and canned peas may be firm and
mealy, but they’re quite suitable for soup or stew or
casseroles. Canned fruit may contain some core,
seeds, or skin, but this makes very little difference
when you use it in a pudding, a gelatin or frozen
dessert.

Some fruit and vegetable julces are graded Fancy
and Choice. Choice juices may contain very small bits
of skin or minute pieces of seed and may not be quite
as flavourful as Fancy.

Frozen fruits and vegetables are also graded Fancy
and Choice, Choice is not as perfect In appearance and
not as uniform as Fancy, but again, the cheaper grade
is just as good for puddings, stews, or casseroles.

Butter, skim milk powder, honey and maple syrup
are also graded, however, usually only the top grade is
available in retail stores.

You can save a good deal on your food bill by buying
by grade. So when you have a choice, consider the
grade, and consider the savings. °

|VIEWPOINT

OTTAWA |

by JIM FULTON

Skeena MP

OTTAWA OFFBEAT

BY RICHARD JACKSON.

Ottawa - Here it is again--the hint, the fear, even the
threat that the government, looking for ways to cut
spending, will squeeze it first from the most helpless
sector of the population, the pensioners.

Paul E. McRae, Liberal MP for Thunder Bay-
Aitkokan, touted, before the fall of the Trudeau
government, as next in line for the Cabinet, was
Speaking on the first of a series of Old Age Security

8.

This priority of government business—its obvious
preoccupation with social security, persuading it to
schedule the pension bill as the first item of its
legislative. list-was taken by Mr. McRae as an
ominous sign of the shape of things to come.

His bottom line was that he had ‘‘kept hearing” that
universality of pensions is dead.
on has to mean there is an income test in the

ng. ;

If this be the government's intention, it will matter
not that you paid taxes all your working life to provide-
-among other things—funds for your pension.

What will count in separating the elderly and retired
into two groups—the pensioned, and: those to be denied
them-will be the leve] of family income.

When it exceeds a certain, still unspecified level, the
pension will be lowered progressively in relation to
family income to the vanishing point.

The odd thing is that Mr. McRae, among other
parliamentarians, has “‘kept hearing’~-and saying-
these things, and the government has remained silent.

There has been noconfirmation, it could scarcely be
expected, since governments like to make their
negative moves before public opinion can build and
turn hostile.

But more significantly, there has been no
discounting of the persistent rumor, much less an
outright denial,

Mr “4cRae sald he had the uneasy feeling that the
Departuient of National Health and Welfare was being
downgraded from its “Big Agency" status of largely

determining social policy intosomething like a branch
of the Post Office.

At that level it will, do little more than mail out
cheques.
The power, suggested Mr. McRae-again with the
government sitting in silence-was passing from what
used to be the National Health and Welfare Depart-
ment to ‘some xind of a committee with a new super-
minister of social development.”

In this atmosphere of uncertainty and confusion,
_perhaps deliberately created by the government,

responsibility was difficult if not impossible to pin

down.

‘At this point,” he went on, “we do not quite know to
whom, in the cabinet, to put our questions, or who in
the inner cabinet has the power of polley initiation and
decision.” oy

What is known is that the government is planning-

or actually already. into- a comprehensive overall

study of social policy, ——

And there, up in the air, hanging perhaps like a
“trial balloon,” aa he phrased it, is the question of
pension universality. ;

“Somebody makes a statement that the principle is
at stake, somebody else says universality is dead.

‘It might be,” he suggested, ‘that the government
is trying these things~including skyrocketing gag and
oil prices--for size, with the idea of ‘frightening

[1] le,’ tT
Pon that basis, if the rumors are true, and the
government cuts-into pensions and the general living
standard~are not as draconian as feared, then

everyone breathes easter and is grateful to the kindly”

government. .

They lose, but not as much as they could, and the
government that has psyched them wins brownie
points. |

Listen to the talk-and hear nothing from the
government—and be alerted that if it happens to

pensions, it will happen to all federal social spending.
All, that is, except the automatically increasing.
benefits that the politicians and public service have

jegislated for themselves,
Now there is wheve the government could save and
sét an example, instead of setting itself up as a

privileged class, above and beyond the ordinary

taxpayer.

Through the offices in Ottawa and in the com-
mtiieeis the riding, we get a lot-of enquiries such a8
“Well, what kind of work do you do all day, anyway?

' Of course,every M.P. would answer that in a different
way, but it might be interesting to readers to learn
more about the kind of work that passes through our
office in Ottawa and offices in the riding. a

The most frequent kind of problem is the individual
or family who is concerned about delay or difficulty in
getting a particular form of payment form the
government. Usually these deal with old age pensions,
disbllity pensions, income tax rebates, unemployment
insurance, and programs of a similar sort. In meat
cases, the delays are not unjustified: the government
was not told of address change, changes in status of

. the marriage, etc. etc. A phone call from the local

office or from my Ottawa staff usually can solve’a
difficulty of this sort. oo

The forms, applications an] so on that we are all
burdened with have to be done properly or foul-ups
end up slowing the process. Often I wish the govern-
ment agency concerned would tell the person directly
why the pension cheque was less, etc, rather than.
involving a third party (i.e. me) but those difficulties
are usually quickly and easily sorted out.

Another large group of cases come form individuals

and groups who have goen to the government for .

funding of a program or just to get information on a
povertment P project that involves them.
Municipalities write to me to find out what the
government is doing about the local weather station,
airstrip, health clinic, wharf and floats, etc. etc, I
attempt in those situations to get clarification fra

the Minister and Department involved as to what is
going on, when, why or why not, and in what fashion
will the work be done. :

In handling items of this nature, I find each one
different and it is most enlightening when I or my staff

. start phoning or writing. Often it means going directly

to a Minister, explaining the problem, and pressing for
acommitment. In many cases, the Minister or senior
afficials aren't aware of difficulties, and need only
such a call from an M.P. before making the ap-
propriate calls to local officials who can fill them in. I
notice that my interest in questions of importance to
larger groups such as a whole town of an Indian Band
or group of fishermen sometimes brings quicker
action than an individual case. I think speed comes
from a Minister in a ratio related to the number of

_ votes that can be won or lost. That's just a theory so

far though.

To date I’ve had a lot of good, fast action on number
of important questions:dangerous magnets: in the
Prince Rupert grain elevator are to be removed; the
Postmaster General is examining a number of con-
crete steps to improve postal services in several
communities; the Minister of Marine Transport has
started close examination of coastal search and
rescue measures recommended by NDP M.P. Ray
Skelly; the Minister of Transport is looking at ways of
simplifying airline rebate procedures for Queen
Charlotte Islanders; we've managed to win difficult
individual cases invloving income tax problems;
immigration proceedings, fishing licensing hassles;
CMHC housing difficulties; and mix-ups’ of pension

ques.

To date I’ve found all of these efforts very
satisfying. In some cases, concrete results are visible,
in others, only time and effort brings success. I am
impressed with the quality of our own public em-
ployees: I get cooperation and genuine efforts ‘to
assist. Often, the problems in the bureaucracies with
red tape are not the fault of local government workers,
but originate here in Ottawa where higher levels don’t
realize the day to day difficulties faced by both the
public and the government employees.

Many of the more long term and most serious:
problems facing residents of Northwestern B.C. and
our communities cannot and will not be solved by an
M.P. like myself working on a Minister, a department,
or a government official. The Liberal and Con-
servative policies that have meant higher and higher
interest rates; that have brought more unemployment
and more inflation, that mean higher taxes for in-
dividuals and less taxes for giant corporations, ete.
cannot be reversed by just one M.P.

Those questions must be faced by every concerned
citizen: the voice of myself and our caucus cannot do
the job alone, we must be supported by public opinion.
Cabinet Ministers and the government must be made
torealize what those policies mean to our people here,
who must face increasing prices and other problems
ona daily basis. In the long run that is what's really
‘mportant, because so many other problems stem
om these larger questions.

‘In talking about my work in this column, I'd like to
day my thanks to the people in the community offices

“ for myself and our provincial M.L.A's and the staff in

my Ottawa office. I could do little without thelr
assistance,

Areminder that you can phone my local office and-
vr contact here in Terrace at 638-1818, or write me ¢-0
the House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, KIA Ow2:

TODAY IN HISTORY

Nov, 19, 1979 province of Manitoba.

The first of wo northwest 1493 — Christopher
rebellions of the Metis under Columbus discovered the
Louis Riel broke out 110 island of Puerto Rico,
years ago today — in 1869. 1828 — Composer Franr
The Metis, who were the Schubert dled, ;
hunters, boatmen and: 1se3 — Abraham Lincoln
carters of the Red River in delivered his Gettysburg
Rupert's Land, were alar- address, ;
med at ae possiblity ied 1919 — The U.S. Senate re-
masa immigration in ted r-
area when the Hudson's Bay les, ie Treaty of Ver
Company handed over 1954 — The United States
jurisdiction to the govern. announced. that -it,t would
ment of Canada, The sub build a radar -warning

nt vorising eventua ‘
led to the formation of the Conde across. sArctle