Nase Novine, June 14, 1978

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(In anticipation of the Canadian
Unity Conference for Multicultural
Groups.)
The question of Canadian Unity
has come to the fore as a result of
the separatist stand of the leader-ship
of Quebec. In light of this
stand, the question of Canadian
Unity came to the fore not only in
Quebec, but throughout Canada. It
evoked lively debate primarily
among two groups: the English
and the French. To date no reco-gnition
has been given to another
no less important sector of Cana-dian
citizenry — the multicultural
groups. This last third of Canada's
population has not been invited to
take part in the debate and has
been overlooked. This third group
or third party to the debate has
until now been assigned the role of
spectator. The multicultural, multi-lingual
and multiracial sector of
society has not been given the
chance to become a party to a
debate whose outcome all of
Canada will have to live with.
But is f(?s actually the case?
Have multicultural groups really
not been given the chance to parti-cipate?
It is true that there was no
"ethnic" representation on the
Task Force on Canadian Unity, but
do the "ethnics" really care about
what happens to,Canada? Are they1
content to accept a decision of the'
outcome-o- f the" debate without
being a party .to it — without
having had a,say?,ls apathy on the
part of multicultural groups an,
indication of their apathy, of their
feeling of alienation from Canada
and rather, an identification with
their land of origin over that with
Canada? Do they carry with them a
serious inferiority complex — fe-eling
they are too small to be
noticed or to be able to have a
meaningful role in the shaping of
(Reprinted from "Communicator",
published by The Greater Welland
Chamber of Commerce, edited by
Joseph M. Stivoric)
To speak of the future of the City
of Welland, there are a number of phen-omena- s
that may be discussed. For
example one may note the future size of
the city in terms of area and
forecasted population. Or possibly look
at the future of retailing in Welland,
or the future disposition of the aban-doned
canal lands. The cultural diversity
and ethnic composition of the town
may also be examined as well as the
industrial base.
It is doubtful that the geographic
size of the city (area) of 33 square miles
will change, mainly because the political
boundaries will probably remain intact.
The population of Welland may
increase slightly as a result of the Niagara
Region's new policy to direct growth
south of the Niagara Escarpment This
is in line with the new urban area bound-aries
that are trying to prevent develop-ment
of good class 1 agricultural land at
the bottom of the escarpment. The
population may also increase as a result
of natural growth eg: strict internal
reality and mortality.
our Canada?
Tradition has shown that the two
predominant cultural groups in
Canada have allotted to the various
ethnic groups a role of the curioso
which, through interesting costu-mes,
dances, music and foods,
add a certain element of variety to
otherwise dull events. The que- stion which the multicultural gro-ups
have to answer for themselves
is whether they are content to
remain in that role, or whether they
are interested enough in the coun-try
In which they live and enjoy
certain freedoms, to come out and
"be counted" at a time when the
country has given them so much
has need of their Input In the solu-tion
of a difficult problem.
Because of the Inferiority com-plex
of groups working In Iso-lation,
there often prevails a fee-ling
that no one really cares what
we have to say: "We are so small'
no one will take note". Alone, it is
a fact that it is difficult to be heard.
However, together the multucul-tur- al
groups form one third of
Canada's population, which is a
sizeable group to be reckoned
with. The Conference on Canadian
Unity for Multicultural Groups on
April 21 and 22, 1978 at the Four
Season's Sheraton Hotel, Toronto,
is a first attempt to bring together
people of various backgrounds "to,
discuss the issues and be heard. '
One will not be heard If there is
no one listening, you say. Quite
true, however, this time govern-ment
leadership in Ottawa as well
in Queen's Park has shown an
interest in what the Multicultural
groups have to say. When invited
to be speakers, members of our
governments readily agreed to
come. Those who could not be fit
into the programme are attending
themselves or sending represen- -
1
1 1
A large percent of the population
is matured to house buying age and are
leaving home to get married and buy
a house; therefore house construction
is up and Welland made a creditable
showing irf new dwelling construction.
The future of retailing in Welland
should increase slightly as there is a
surplus of retail space at present. This
is a result of the construction of the
Seaway Mall. The mall had such a marked
impact that a number of shops had to
close up, downtown. For example,
Kresges and Woolworths became K-Ma- rt
and Woolco respectively in the Seaway
Mall. However, in the past year there
has been a considerable amount of
developing in the Welland- - Downtown
Core. Twenty-fou- r boutique-typ- e stores
and office quarters are being created in
the former Kresge store by Niagara
Regional Holdings Company Limited,
an 850,000 Downtown Mall project.
Reconstruction at a cost of $102,000
is enabling the Royal Bank of Canada
to carry out expansion into an adjoining
vacant store. The Mews has provided
14 stores outlets and office facilities in
25,000 square feet of space. Thus, it
is expected that the retail picture in
Welland should increase reasonably well
over the next 10 years.
One time the abandoned canal
was going to be used as a central trans-portation
route for the 408 through
Welland. After numerous debates a
recreational waterway was decided upon.
This means that in the future the provision
of recreational facilities will increase
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It's Mr. Country himself — Tommy Hunter — welcoming spring-time,
and stocking up on firewood for. old man winter's next
visit. CBC-TV- 's Tommy Hunter Country has been consistently
up there each week in the top twelve of Canadian television
shows this past season. Tommy and his friends will be back next
season with more country hits and special guest stars on CBC-T- V.
tatives to listen and report back. In
order to accommodate views of
those unable to participate, go-vernment
leaders will be intervie-wed
as part of a documentary film
which will centre around the-Con-fere- nce and will focus on the "third
party's stand on the issue of Cana- - ; diah Unity. The major interviewer
for the documentary film is Adrl-en- ne Clarkson co-hoste- ss, of the
CBC's "The Fifth Estate". Com- - .. munityleaders pom various ethnic
4 groups are scheduled for Inter-views
for the film as well.
The question of whether we, as
smaller multicultural groups will
be lost in a debate which has
hitherto been a french-englls- h
question to be solved exclusively
by them, rests with each one of us:
our attendance at the conference
on April 21 and 22 will show that
we care; our non attendance will
say loud and clear that we don'tl
G.J.
on the abandoned canal running through
the centre of the city. Since the canal
is going to remain intact, two more canal
crossings have been recognized as future
priorities to link east and west Welland
as well as eliminate some traffic con-gestion.
Future expectations include a
crossing in the north end via Woodlawn
Road and one in the core possibly at
Division. If a canal crossing is put in
at the core then possibly the down-town
revitalization may come abouj,
Here we have learned to live,
work and play together and also have
shared from one another the precious
customs from their respective land.
It is expected that Welland's multi
cultural background will continue to
thrive in the future and that many 2nd,
3rd and 4th generation Croation, Hungar-ians,
Italians, Germans, Poles and Slovaks
will patronize their independent halls.
Aside from the distribution of numerous
ethnic halls they also contribute annually
in the Rose Parade, Ethnic Day and
also Heritage Days. Welland has become
a melting pot of various cultures of the
Niagara Area. The mosaic of cultures
has enriched our community to-dat- e
and will have a tremendous effect on
.Welland's future.
The industry in Welland is still the
backbone of the community and has
progressed rapidly despite the cost-of-livin- g
pressures, distress caused by mount-ing
unemployment and the general econ-omy
of Canada. Some highly important
and significant projects have been com-pleted
in the past year. The expansion
project of Steel Company of Canada's
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
MACLEANS MAGAZINE
As an English Canadian living in Paris I
feel that instead of always insisting on pro-moting
our own linguistic chauvinism, we
should consider the richnessthat is ours in
Canada. Perhaps we couldiSee the vast po-tential
of a truly multicultural society, a
Confederation of equal regions that sup-port
each other in their differences. It is not
just.the job of our political leaders, but of
, ЛУегУ responsible Canadian to stand up
and speak out. Ifwe TkeepoursiIehW'nowk
we may only come to realize too late what
we have allowed to die.
W. RYAN. PARIS. FRANCE
siRim
pmaiite svojustampu
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Stelform Mill, a $22.8 million addition.
Union Carbide (Canada) Limited initiated
a $5 million project for advanced oper-ations
in the machining of carbon elect-rodes.
The new $4 million plant of
Cleveland - CAE Metal Abrasive Limited
on Rusholme Road began operation
after mid-yea- r. The expansions stated
above and the numerous other ventures
that commenced operations will have a
key bearing on Welland's future. The
Rubber plant, Wabasso, Stelco, Atlas,
Newman Steel, Union Carbide and
CAE will provide employment in the
future as they have in the past. Effect-ively,
any new industrial growth will
be located in the new industrial parks
at the south end of the city, largely
Southwell Industrial Park and Morning-sta- r
Industrial Park.
Welland's population may increase
slightly over the next few years but the
internal structure and the ethnic pop-ulation
may be prominent for quite
some time. The major reason for the
ethnic population is the industry. During
the war and after the war_ they .were
brought in as cheap labour. It is also
very interesting to note that the leaders
of Welland took ' priority of recreatibn
over that of expansion, with the aban
doned canal, lands. With all the new
malls being established Welland's re-tailing
should thrive, successfully in
years to come, more so than now. With
a greater population more retail will be
needed.
In the years to come Welland
will be, the heart of the Niagara Area.