HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-03-17, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011. PAGE 7.
“Where the owners are in the store and appreciate your business.”
209 Drummond St., Blyth ~ 519-523-4551 ~ Open 7 days a week
’til Saturday, March 19 at Scrimgeour’s Food Market
Be sure to check our weekly Foodtown Flyer
Can. Grade “AA”
Beef Striploin
Steaks
$6 99
Fresh Back Attached
Chicken Leg
Quarters
Fresh Ontario
Pork Butt
Chops
Scrimgeour’s
Storemade
Beef Patties
lb.
$1 69
lb.
$2 49
lb.
$2 99
lb.
$2 99
lb.
Did you know at Scrimgeour’s
we cut our meat instore?
Local suppliers include
Norwich Packers and Metzger Meats
Clover Leaf 2.13 g
Sockeye
Salmon
2/$5 00
300 cup tin ~1.36 kg
Folger’s
Ground Coffee
$9 99
ea.
$3 99
Local Processed
Rutabagas
New at Scrimgeour’s in Blyth
We now carry Tasty Nu Bakery products, breads,
rolls, date squares, chop suey loaves, pizza
shells and “very yummy donuts” (asst. kinds).
Also Fresh every Wednesday
Rainbow Trout fillets from Hedley’s Trout Farm
Fresh Daily
Lean
Ground Beef
Reg. $11.99/lb.
69 ¢
ea.
500 g
Kraft
Cheez Whiz
39 ¢
ea.
Heinz 10 oz.
Tomato or
Cream of Mushroom Soup
The Council of the Municipality of Central Huron will
hold a Public Meeting to present the draft 2011 Central
Huron Budget, Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
Council will consider the Budget for adoption at the
Regular Meeting of Council, Monday, April 11, 2011 at
7:00 p.m. Meetings will be held in the Council Chamber,
REACH, 169 Beech Street Clinton, Ontario. Go to
www.centralhuron.com for budget details.
Brenda MacIsaac, Clerk
Huron East denies funding to local sports groupsHuron East Council denied severalfunding requests at its March 8
meeting because members felt
approval wouldn’t be fair to other
residents of the municipality.
The requests came from two
Seaforth-based sports organizations
asking for significant funding for
equipment and a jersey sponsorship.
The cost, however, was listed as
much higher than many of the
councillors were willing to spend.
As council had approved its
annual list of grants earlier in the
meeting, it was fresh in the minds of
several councillors that a donation of
$500 was typical for certain sports
groups, such as Walton, Ethel and
Winthrop baseball, as well as severalothers.The requests, however, were fromthe Seaforth Minor HockeyAssociation in the amount of $1,200for goalie equipment and $2,000 for
a jersey sponsorship and the
Seaforth Minor Lacrosse League in
the amount of $1,750 for nets, goalie
equipment and other general
equipment such as balls and sticks.
Brussels Councillor Joe Seili said
that while he is very familiar with
what it costs to put a hockey goalie
on the ice, he couldn’t be in favour
of providing such equipment to an
association with taxpayer dollars.
“I can’t be in favour of this,” Seili
said. “I know what it’s like to put a
goalie out there, because I’ve written
a few cheques, but I can’t support it.”
Seili’s grandson is a goalie in theBrussels Minor Hockey Association.Councillor Dianne Diehl said thatthis would open the municipality upto a flood of requests from othersports associations throughout the
municipality who will want to be
treated like the two who requested
the funds and soon enough council
will be handing out thousands of
dollars to these organizations.
“I don’t think we can afford to
outfit everyone,” she said. “We’d
start with one and finish with the
rest.”
Councillor Larry McGrath said
that he will be donating $600 (half of
the $1,200 goalie equipment)
himself, but that he, similar to Seili,
couldn’t support a donation with
taxpayer dollars.
There was also the issue then ofsponsoring jerseys in Brussels.Another issue that hadn’t beenconsidered were Huron East hockeyplayers who, because of hockeyassociation boundaries, play hockey
in different areas, such as Bluewater,
Clinton, Listowel or Blyth.
The motion to approve funding for
the hockey association’s goalie
equipment was defeated while a
motion to approve funding for the
jersey sponsorship was never even
entertained.
For the lacrosse league, however,
Mayor Bernie MacLellan made the
argument that the municipality
should provide the $500 listed to buy
two nets for the league. He said that
the municipality provided nets for
every league, including soccer nets
at the fields and hockey nets at thearenas.He said that base level of servicethat’s provided to the other sportsshould be given to the lacrosseleague as well.
Councillors agreed, approving a
motion that would authorize funding
to go to the lacrosse league
designated specifically for the
purchase of two lacrosse nets. A
motion made just before the passing
of the aforementioned motion
suggested that Huron East provide
the cost of the nets ($500) but put no
designation on the funding, allowing
the league to buy whatever it wanted
with the funds. That motion was
defeated.
By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen
Higher production, fuel prices cause higher food prices
By Bette Jean Crews, President
Ontario Federation of Agriculture
Food prices are on the rise around
the world. Some countries have
predicted that the rise in food prices
will bring food shortages for future
generations and protests have ignited
over the higher costs for food.
The causes for rising food prices
are complex. Higher input costs,
particularly fuel, are partially to
blame for the rising cost of food.
Gasoline prices in Ontario rose 16
per cent in December alone, and
other input costs for seed, fertilizers,
processing and distribution have also
increased. Global weather is another
factor, with weather and disease
affecting the food supply
internationally in Russia and India.
Pair that with commodity price
fluctuations, export controls, and
other policy measures, and it begins
to become clear why the food
production worldwide is at risk.
While the cost of food has
increased in Canada over the past 30
years, Canadian food is still the most
affordable on the planet. A
generation ago buying food took
over 20 per cent of our income, but
today, it represents approximately 11
per cent of our paycheque. What’s
more, by Feb. 12 – Food Freedom
Day – the average Canadian has
already made enough income to pay
for their grocery bills for the entire
year.
In order for our food supply to be
sustainable the entire food supply
chain must be able to recover costs
and earn a profit by adjusting food
prices to reflect rising input costs.
Farmers, suppliers, processors,
distributors and retailers all share a
piece of the revenue earned from
food purchases, and farmers often
get a relatively small portion after
production costs are accounted for.
This earning for farmers is then put
back into highly-volatile and
unpredictable input costs, such as
fuel and fertilizer, leaving even less
for farmers by the end of the day.
With rising costs due to supply
and demand imbalances, our food
prices will inevitably increase as a
result. We need to come to grips with
that simple fact. If we are to
maintain our low-cost food status,
it’s essential we adopt and follow a
National Food Strategy that will
guarantee a sustainable and
accessible supply of healthy food for
the future.
Right now we are working with
the Canadian Federation of
Agriculture and agri-industry
partners to finalize objectives and
guidelines for a National Food
Strategy that will give all levels of
government actionable plans for the
future of our food supply in Canada,
and a framework for policies that
will get us there.
Until now, Canada has not
initiated a strategy for its food.
That’s why we are driving this as a
key focus for the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture (OFA) this year.
Without a National Food Strategy in
place our entire food supply cannot
maintain sustainability and
profitability, and we risk becoming
reliant on food imports in order to
feed future generations. Learn more
about the vision for Canada’s food
supply at
www.nationalfoodstrategy.ca.
What we are now seeing is the
dreadful impact of food policy with
misguided objectives. Much of the
food shortage witnessed globally is
the result of bad agriculture policy
designed to keep food prices low.
These policies have simply managed
to limit supply as they drive farmers
out of business.
Canada cannot fall victim to such
short sighted policy. We must not
become food dependent. Now is the
time to act by choosing Canadian
foods and adopting a long-term plan
for the food chain that will safeguard
the future of our food. We have some
of the most efficient farming
practices in the world and are proud
to offer the most affordable food, but
it’s not sustainable if we don’t put
policies in place to ensure a
profitable future for our farmers and
the agri-food sector.
There was good news for the
participants in the McDonald and
Mustard Drains when tenders were
opened at Morris-Turnberry
Council, March 8.
Courts of revision were held for
both drains at the meeting with no
appeals received. Then when the
tenders were revealed the news came
that both were well under the
engineer’s estimate. In both cases
the successful bidder was Marquardt
Drainage of Palmerston.
The company’s tender for the
McDonald Drain totalled
$93,106.35 including taxes
compared to the estimate of
$98,706.
The winning tender for the
Mustard Drain was $164,120.07,
while the estimate had been
$185,603.
***
Council has asked for more
information from Huron East before
deciding on whether to provide
funding for the Brussels Cemetery.
Huron East had made a request for
assistance to cover the cost of
operating the cemetery.
“It’s a community cemetery used
by families from our municipality,”
said Mayor Paul Gowing. “I think
we have an obligation to help out
where we can.”
Nancy Michie, administrator,
clerk-treasurer, said she has asked
for information from Huron East
about how many burials from
Morris-Turnberry had taken place in
the last year but hadn’t received that
information yet. Council decided to
wait for the information before
making its decision.
***
Two councillors from Morris-
Turnberry will meet with two
councillors from Huron East to
discuss the contract for Brussels
garbage to be deposited in the
Morris landfill.
***
Councillors discussed a report on
coyote problems which had been
considered by Huron County
Council at its Committee of the
Whole meeting on Feb. 23.
The presentation followed two
meetings of officials from Huron,
Bruce and Grey Counties to discuss
a common approaches to reducing
livestock predation from coyotes.
“As a (former) livestock evaluator
I think we’d lost ground with this
proposal,” said Councillor Jamie
Heffer.
Councillors did agree with part of
the proposal which would
standardize compensation across
boundaries for coyotes killed so that
there wouldn’t be the temptation for
hunters to take the proof of kill to
the municipality that paid the most.
Drains in under estimate
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen