The Ontario government found a new pocket to pick on Sept. 1, 1961 when it turned thousand of retailers – from international outlets to mom and pop operations – into mini-tax collectors with a new feature added to cash registers.
It was the provincial sales tax. It elevated the status of the lowly penny. This was a time when cash ruled.
The tax started out at 3%. It has since morphed into the harmonized sales tax (HST) with the provinces and feds sharing the same pocket.
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While the city and school boards argued in the fall of 1961 over who was responsible for providing transportation for students living in the new Glenview Heights housing development, students as young as five were faced with a 1.5 mile hike to the nearest schools – East Front and Holy Cross.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Street Railway, which operated the economically challenged transit system, said “show us the money.” The company said it would have to charge $6 per rider to make the service financially feasible, even if the bus was full. It also pointed out that the unpaved roads to and from the isolated development would cause wear and tear on its buses.
When the separate board suggested it might use school buses, the transit company pointed out that it had the franchise (aka monopoly) to supply public transportation in the city. With that the board suggested parents organize car pools.
The school boards argued the city should be on the hook because it approved the development without consulting the boards.
At least the kids didn’t have to walk uphill both ways through six feet of snow.
ALSO IN 1961 The city’s assessment office and Dominion Bureau of Statistics had different numbers when it came to a head count of Cornwall residents. The bureau listed the city’s population as 42,355, while the city assessment office (this was before IMPAC) put the number at 44,200. City officials were not too concerned, pointing out that the province used assessment numbers to calculate grants. … Two former mayors, an alderman and manager of public works escaped the sinking of a 25-foot cabin cruiser when it crashed over a water fall near Oswego, N. Y. The four – Lloyd Gallinger, Archie Lavigne, Doug Fawthrop and Ralph Kennedy – were returning from a week-long cruise. Kennedy managed to swim to shore, while former mayors Gallinger and Lavigne along with Fawthrop gripped the side of the sinking craft until they were rescued by the coast guard before the boat went to the bottom of the river. … The family-owned Phillips Dairy on Tollgate Road was destroyed by an early-morning fire. Two-thousand quarts of milk ready for delivery to city homes were lost in the blaze. … Winston Barclay was elected CCVS student council president. Carol Stevens was vice-president. At SLHS, Joan Loucks and Rejean Vivarais were voted head girl and head boy. … Stormont MP Grant Campbell proposed reducing the retirement age to 60 from 65 while cutting the eligibility for unemployment insurance. He proposed eliminating unemployment insurance benefits for seasonal workers such as loggers and fishermen earning more than $10,000 a year. Also for those with a spouse earning more than $15,000 a year. … The Ontario Provincial Police launched a campaign to increase the number of officers across the province. … The $297,000 contract to construct a traffic circle on Brookdale Avenue was given to Roads Resurfacing Ltd. of Chesterville. … A controlled fire at a vacant house on Walter Street was set by the fire department to test new equipment. … Ray Payette hit two home runs and a pair of singles as Coca-Cola Monarchs downed Yankees 7-0 in a OCOT Junior Baseball League game. … Montreal Canadiens hired Neil Burke of Cornwall to take over as coach of the Peterborough Petes after Scotty Bowman was promoted in the organization. The Petes were the Canadiens’ junior franchise. … With the help of a $300,000 federal grant, development of a harbour was started. … Counties council voted not to repeal a bylaw which made it illegal for counties employees to form a union. … The Oasis Pavilion, a popular dance hall three miles north of the city on St. Andrew’s Road burned to the ground. … The Gideon Bible Society donated 1,300 copies of the New Testament to public schools in Cornwall and area. … One of the last water towers along the CNR main line, a throw back to the days of steam driven locomotives, was torn down at the CN station in Cornwall. When in use, it held 100,000 gallons of water.
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Talk about a contrast. Wanna-be prime minister Pierre Poilievre was born in June 1979 to a 16-year-old mother who gave him up for adoption soon after he was born. He grew up in a modest family – adoptive parents were school teachers – in a Calgary suburb. As a kid he had odd jobs that included getting up early to deliver the Calgary Sun before heading off to school. In university he worked part-time in a call centre. He met his biological mother and maternal grandfather for the first time when he was in his mid-20s. Meanwhile, a pampered Justin Trudeau was raised in wealth and privilege. No need for a paper route for pocket money. He inherited a trust fund worth millions.
QUOTED “Socialism won’t work except in Heaven where they don’t need it and in Hell where they already have it.”- Stephen Leacock, humourist and economist.
TRIVIA Nickname for All in the Family character – played by Gloria LeRoy – who had two roles in the TV series. First as the buxom middle-age secretary who had a failed fling with Archie and later as the bar maid at Archie’s bar.
TRIVIA ANSWER A snow storm on May 10, 1963 dumped eight centimetres of snow on the city and district. It was fanned by 50 km/h gusts. Leaf-covered tree limbs snapped under the weight and caused power disruptions.
