The Huron Expositor, 1978-04-27, Page 29by Bob‘frottor, El&le Ad Elmira. 6nt N3B 2C7
Farmers need togetherness-
u sse
Jack's Jottings
:•••••••4.
Report.-fitrn Quen's Park
meet oPiOsition members 4p-
aprovcd a motion demanding that
the Government drop its planned
371,A% increase in Ontario Health
Insurance premiums for the rest
of the year.. .•
The motion .gives the Govern-
ment until April 25 to come up
Still debating OHIP' illcreci 4s`•
would qualify they
premium assistance.
The Provincial Local Govern-'
vent Committee on Property Tax
Reform 'has submitted its re-
commendations on - the Trea-
Surer'i "Alternative System" to
Cabinet.
Under the Treasurer's proposal
small businesses 'would be
especially hard hit._ The- commit-
tee's proposal for a business tax
credit or rebate based on 'need
would lessen the blow if im-
pemented,
The Minister of Revenue Lorne
Maeck indicated in the
Legislature that some 3':5 million
in public funds under the first
home buyer grant scheme
brought in prior to 1975 election
and dropped the end of the same'
year was given to people who did
not qualify.
where for
fringe agricultural lan.d. The Provincial Government-11as ' instead of using that Money now
The Minister of Revenue, ' in accepted a proposal from Ontario (Continued on Page 18)
For the last three yearS; i have actecVas a judge for •
the Ontario Weekly7Newspapers Association annual. agri- •
Cultural story cont,jtS, The award is sponsored by United
Co-operatives of..0iitario.
The• runner-up for the award this year wass-a story-and-
pictiires harvesting, Most people, even' if they have
-never seen, manure, are aware that the 'old-fashioned
threshing bees were something to participate in,
Neighbors came, from all along the line to help and a
farmer's wife was judged by the kind of table she set
for the visiting harvesters. Corn-husking bees were a
part of the past ,in this -country. Barn-railings are -still .
carried out. in the area in which I live where Old Order
Mennonites gather to rebuild a burned barn.
This type of neighborhood co-operatiOn and •
still is — a gteat part of the farming community. But'
it inpy soon be' a thing of the.past jf bureaucracy has,
its v4, y.
A new act; Bill 70, now being considered by the provin-
cial legislature .would prevent this sprit of togetherness,
this camaraderie, from being displayed on the fa
this proVince. The ,,,bill would forte farmers to submit
plans for all construction to the Ministry of Labor Or
, approval. If the farmer has any help, of any kind in .build-
ing on the farm; he would face a fine of up to $25,000 for
hot complyingwith the labefininistry—sreStrictions;
If -these new occupational .and safety -regulations are
passed, "there will be a riot on the farm front," says
Peter Hannam; president of the Ontario Federation of
Agrictilture..•
' 'And he;s,right,. " •
Ontarions' should not stand idly by and let. the bureau-
crats and the politiCians legislate this Spirit of co-opera-
tion out of our 'tradition. It is something that still goes,.
on throughoet the farming community' and should be
- foslered rather than.discouraged,
by Jack Riddell;, M.P.P.
The 'Provincial-local Govern-
ment Committee on Property Tax
Reform haS: submitted its .recOm-
mendations„ • on. the Treasurer's
"Alternative System" to Cabinet.
We have sonic rekrvationsabout
the Committee's recommendat-
ions. SrlialL.busioesses,threogh-_,
out the Province will be -especially•
hard hit. There is •a4anger that
••,,small.• retail: merchants will , be •
••,,driven put of busines..
Committee's propoSat for a
,husiness tax credit , or 'rebate,
based on need, might lessen the .
if implemented. While we
'are pleased that the Committee
has recognized the problem, ' its
.•solution is .vague. •
It seems illogical to treat farM
residences ,separately from farm-
hind and farth buildings.: this is
also inconsistent with the Govern,-
ment's . 'policy of limiting
severances, to safeguard prime
agricultural ' land.. A farmer's
control. 'of .his ;land . would • be.
undercut •-it the, Province pays
1-09P/41-.O1--taxes on .farinkind-41-nd-.
farm ,buildings. in addition:
Market valite will mean )highly-
inflated assessment on'. urban
It's -the same Old story. The right hand (the ministry
of agriculture) knovieth not what the left hand (the miniS-
:try of. la bor ) .doeth. .
, The bureaucrats and the' pOliticlAns, to please a minor-
ity within their 'ranks, are aiking for laws that Will
cause untold hardship on the farm front. As this 'is writ-
ten, farmers have received some hope' that they will
not be subject to the absurd regulations being proposed.
The bill has not been withdrawn but Bette Steph,ensortr--
Minister of Labor, is studying some-drastic changes made
by the stand' g,committee On resource development. . ji
The fed tion pf agriculture is asking that farms be
' excluded rom the legislation, an idea .that only the, Lib-
erals, so fat', have endorsed although some Tories felt
' the Liberal move was only to make political hay.
Whatever happens politically — no matter who is back-
ing who — something should be done to exempt f4rms
from this move to prevent neighbors helping neighbors,
It is not the bill itself which farmers are protesting...but '
some of the bureaucratic regulations involved with the
legislation such as "rubbish, debris. and other materials'
shall not be permitted to fall freely from-one level to
—another." ,
. Does this mean I can't throw hay down from.the mow? •
Maybe it doesn't but if some picayune political hack
gets appointed to a position of authority, he might come
into , my-barn and leek it up becaliSe my, 'daughter ' is
throwing hay down to the horses. .
And over the years, I've made a few enemies here and
there, especially among politicians. and even among farm-
ers, to be wary of any stranger who might -Look as if
is an inspector on my property. ' ,
Let us hope saner minds will prevail, before this Bill 70
is passed and that farmers will be exempt. It just indicates
again that the rib& rhiiiistry has a helluva lot more
clout ',than the agriculture 'ministry. Labor has( more
votes, than agriculture. , - • ,
By Murray Gaunt, M.P.P.
This week 'has seen 'consider-
able heated debate in Corrimittee
with respect to 'the OHIP 7pre-
mium increase. The Liberal
Leader, 'Stuart Smithr presented
his partys.' alternatives to the
Government's 371/2 % increase,
Dr. Smith saidthe-Siwil
Ithe Government needs."—an be
drawn. from six areas: 1. Limit•the
OHIP premium increase to` 6%.
.Which would raise 51 million: 2.
Use provincial lottery. funds for 38
million. 3. Cut the fat in this•
year's Ministry of Health budget
-estimates for 50 million. 4. Force
the Government to implement its
4% limit for •salaries and wage
_settlements for $67 million. 5. Cut
'Government spending on services
such as public relations, Con-
sultants ' and printing for $24
_million. 6. Increase the Corporate
'5% to 12,5% for most businesses
for $41 .
finder the Liberal:proposal, a
6% increase' will mean a monthly
premium of $17 instead of p 6 for
single subscribers.
The Trpasurer's „budget plan
would tne'an premiums of $22 and
$44 respectively:
At the last session of the
Committee on Social Develop-
Conservation.
areas get
:grants
Nine conservation areas will
.benefit from ,a..$52,000 Qntario
grant to the Ausable-Bayfield
Conservation Authority. ,
' In announcing. ,the .gran't,
Natural Resources Minister Frank
S. Miller said' today that the
following Conservation Areas. --
Zurich, Minrison Dam, Thedford,
Port' Franks. Port Blake, Stephdn
Wildlife Area, Parkhill, Clinton
'and Rock Glen will undergo such
improveMents .as general lands- _
caping, trail mid picnic site
upgrading, construction and re-
pair of campground roads, build-
ing , winterization and other
general developments.
with another, way of raising the
$271 million it nee& for OHIP.
- So far the Treasurer has
refused to back away from his
Budget increase, but did make a
small concession with respect to
people at the "Notch" with
income's a little above the level
-,.-- ..--,- ,..,-.4. _____.
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.., , .. , • ,,,, . -, .-.., ....
WIND-B tOWN — Edward Melady of R.R.2, Dubli n was, towine two wagOns
behind his truck. Tuesday when a strong wind-.blew this one over on 'o the s'de of the
road on Huron Cowity Road 12 close to H &'N Dairy SYstems. (Staff Photo)
TH 1-11./RON EXPOSITOR, APRIL. 2 78 -17 •
response Lao a' Question in the
House, has stated that under the
Government'.s•first honie buyers'
grant scheme, brought in .prlor.to
the 1975 .-election, sonic $3.5.
million in .publie funds was given .
ut to' people who did not. reaIy.
qualify. for the $1,500 subsidy. All,
applications have now been
audited, and appriikimately 3% of .
almost -100,000 'applicants re-
ceived grants to which they were
not entitled. As of March 31St,
1978, .sorne•f,Of this money has
been collected,,,,, some, is in • the,
Process of being 'Collected: • The.
Minister anticipated'. 'fiun the
recoverN phase will, continue for
some time before all. collectiont
are . finalized. '''' "
• You will' recall. that under• the
program, peOple who had never
owned a home qualified', for' ii
$.1..000 grant, ;followed by, $250
grants oil ,,the first and second
'anniversaries • of the day they
bought their home: The program
was-j•n•-•-:ellect until th&---31
Decenther,..1975, but sonic of the
$250, .payments • •were' stilt going
out at the end of 19.77.
Hydro. to scrap two of fOur-
„,plannedienerating units at the
oil tired Wesleyville Generating
Station near Port Hope. In. the
short run, this proposal involves
raising power fates slightly to
save $400 million in capital costs.
and trim back flydro's long term
...., system expansibn program. The
. Minister of Energy, anti oneing
die deciSion,:. stated t
without the two 550 iegatvatt
even t
units, Hydro will have nearly -
1,000 megawat,ts more generating
capacity than it' heeds;between
1981 and 1985 and will be asked •
to negotiate sale of the surillus to
other utilities.
• 'Questioned hi the' House by
..,• liberal Leader Stuart Smith, who
• said current Hydro load forecasts .
iodicate an ','excesi reserve" of
3,000 megawatts. by 1986, the
Minister maintained that a cut
that largd "at this particular
•,. stage in our histroy would result
in; the' loss of thousands and
- --thousands of:-jobs. --in. • this--
, PrOvince," Dr: .Smith asked why .
the Minister was "creating .
capacity we may well not ,need
We're Proud Of Our Rear Ends
"ARE YOU?"
ANHYDROUS AMMONIA
IS CAPABLE OF DOING UP TO
500 ACRES PER DAY
Our Nursing Equipment keeps our machines •
in the field or we can fill yotkr bulk
hoppers on the farm
W. G. Thompson Wants To Serve Your 1978 Fertiliier Needs
"VISIT" OUR ALLIS CHALMERS TRACTOR I
PROVING GROUNDS AT. HYDE BROS. FARM
EQUIPMENT SHOP
We are willl staffed and have a complete line
of Spreading and Anhydrous Equipment,
19
1 Wed., May '3rd 8:00 'P.M.
Wee Have.
a , ,
F.-.: . TWO MOBILE "PROVING GROUND" UNITS which are equipped '
vvithwatioUs parts a the drive train, such as engines, power 1
shifts, power directors, and final , drives, to compare Allis
E.: Chalmers construCtiOn.with that of the. competitive- "Be in the ."0:- -z-7-
. a It iloW " ''' and come out andicompaic -
=. E-.• =
=
..- . ra
ALLIS-CHAIMERS • , 2624605
. HYDE artos. \
..• ... _ . E.
Phone . 1
608 s - 1
,
'
1 _ ligNSALL
msoossisstimissisisisississossOtississfisssaississisisiislississiiiiiiiimitssistossosissismossiossimnstosi
Mitchell 348-0433 Henson' 262-2527 Grantor) 225-2360'