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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1966-07-14, Page 1Help for unemployed Now what do we do? That's the question facing some 250 civilian workers at CFB Centralia many of whom will apparently lose their jobs by at least September 6. There is still much speculation about the fate of the civilians employed at the station, as it has been indicated some will be offered positions at other stations. Some have reported they will make the move, as they have valuable seniority and pension benefits at stake. The indication that some will be offered other jobs comes in the announcement from the department that "every effort will be made by the department to provide alterna- tive employment for the civilian employees concerned". Department representatives will work closely with the National Employment Service and local organizations on their behalf, the report continued. It was hinted from Centralia this morning that some of the civilian workers will be eliminated as soon as the units start their move. Others will probably be kept on until September 6 and then the 35 left in the rear party will pos- sibly be the only ones remaining, The 35 involved in this will be construction engineer- ing and supply people who will help close up the buildings. Some maintenance people will be kept on to look after the Permanent Married Quarters on the station. -4- .4- 4- PAAQ's not deserted While Centralia will be closed by September 6, there will still be some military personnel living in the PMQ at Huron Park. How many that will be appears to be anybody's guess at the present time. Included in the number who will continue to live at Huron Park are the personnel who will be moving to Clinton. They will probably be transported back and forth by bus. It is also probable that personnel who presently do not have quarters at the Clinton station will be offered resi- dence at Centralia. Some of those going to Borden and Toronto will also be able to live here until they find ac- commodation in their new communities. The length of this arrangement is also very vague. Officials have stated, however, that the PMQ's and the DND school at Centralia will remain in operation for at least one year. An encouraging word Robert McKinley, MP, told The T-A Wednesday he would immediately start quizzing Hon. C. M, Drury, min- ister of labour, as to what assistance his department may give in finding industry for the South Huron area now that CFB Centralia is closing. "I hope to have an opportunity to ask him in the House today," McKinley stated. The area MP did have some words of encouragement, but noted he couldn't vouch for their validity. He said that Hon. Paul Hellyer, minister of defence, had indicated there was one industry which had held up a decision on where to locate until the outcome of Centrana was known. This would indicate they were interested in the Cen- tralia site. McKinley said this was all he knew and didn't know whether Hellyer was just using it to get "me off his back". Some will benefit Not all area businesses will experience a decline due to the closing of CFB Centralia. In fact, it's going to mean some extra business for some, for awhile anyway. Affected mainly will be moving companies. They will be offered the task of moving some of the equipment and furniture from the local base to the new quarters acrosS the country. FA, M. Pett told The T-A that some 100 freight-car loads of equipment and fUrnitUre will have to be moved. He indicated this was toe costly a project fOr an air- lift and that moving companies would be busy. CENT RA I. A CI. OS It was the unlucky 13th and the flag was flying at half-mast at Canadian Forces Base Centralia! That was the setting for the announcement from Ottawa that Centralia was to be officially closed, and while it came as no great surprise to anyone, it was nevertheless greeted with regret. News of the closing broke Tuesday afternoon, when Robert McKinley, MP, contacted local newspapers to report he had received word of the closing from Hon. Paul liellyer, minister of national defence. Most of the personnel knew the news before they drove through the gates Wednesday morning, but they were officially informed of the announcement at 9:30 am by G/C G. F. Ockenden, DFC, CD, Base Commander. That time coincided with the official announcement made from the defence headquarters at Ottawa. The position of the flag at the base had nothing to do with the announcement, as it was at half-mast in honour of the late General MacNaughton. But it did provide an ironical setting for the news that will unquestionably affect this area for some time. for having all units off the Centralia premises and in operation at their new quarters by September 6. He indicated most enlisted personnel would have their movement orders within a.week. Thisisbeing done to give families an opportunity to relocate before the start of the school year. The DND announced that mar- ried military personnel would be given top priority, REAR PARTY ALREADY PICKED A rear party has already been named to lock after closing the base after the mass departure has been com- pleted by September 6. Squadron Leader Jack Malone will be in charge and will have 72 personnel under his command, It was indicated that about 35 of those would be civilians, and this task will be administered from CFB Clinton, which will assume control of the operation after September 6. F/L M. Pelt, Centralia Public Relations Officer, estimated it may take up to nine months before the base will be completely closed. In his address to the personnel Wednesday morning, G/C Ockenden said that personally speaking he was sorry to be leaving the area. He stated it had been a good area in which to live and the station had always enjoyed good relations with area residents. The reaction among military personnel was, to WILL ACT WITH SPEED While the announcement has been delayed for some time since first word of a possible closing was made, action from here on in will be at a very fast rate. G/C Ockenden told some 250 personnel—repre- senting civilians, airmen and officers — that plans call an extent, one of relief. For some time they had every indication they were leaving, and with so much work involved in such a move, the news did provide them with that finality that will now enable them to plan their future homes. For the past few weeks they have spent consider- able time and effort in planning in expectation of the announcement, and they will now get down to the task of putting those plans into operation. Many of the personnel already know where they will be going, as the relocation of many of the units has been determined. Primary Flying School and Supply Training move to CFB Borden. Air CreWSelection goes to Toronto, along with the Medical Selection Unit. Construction Engineering will find a home inChilli- wack, B.C., and will have as neighbors the Central Of- ficers' School which moves to the FleetSchool at Esqui- malt in the same province. St. Jean, Quebec, will be the home of the Language School. Going to CFB Clinton are the hard-core trades, Armament, Telecom and Aero Engineering, which also comprise the Technical Administration Course and non- flying specialist training. Plans for some of the other units have not been announced as yet. Ninety-third Year EXETER, ONTARIO, JULY 14, 1966 Price Per Copy 15 Cents Officials regret move, but prepare for action Mayor Jack Delbridge was un- available for comment, but Reeve Derry Boyle stated there was no doubt but what the closing would hurt the local economy for some time. A civilian worker at Centralia, `Depressed' designation appears doubtful: Drury Thieves take $800 at GB non-farm family income, cover- ing a NUMBER OF YEARS. What the Department of Labour defines as "a number of years" was not outlined, but does in- dicate no immediate designation of South Huron as a depressed area is likely if CFB Centralia closes. One optimistic note concludes Mr. Drury's letter as he points out that the Ontario Department of Economics and Development has a number of programs designed to assist municipalities in en- couraging economic growth and suggests area officials should contact that department to obtain assistance if the need arises. Boyle said he couldn't see where too many civilians could be ab- sorbed at CFB Clinton. "We're going to have to make an extensive effort to find re- placement jobs," he said. Boyle suggested the town should consider hiring a full- time man to contact industries that have indicated they are look- ing for places in Ontario to es- tablish, He said the Ontario government has indicated there are such firms, but a selling job has to be done to get them interested. "Industry won't just walk in," he said. "They have to be ap- proached and sold on the com- munity. We have to prove things to them about the area." The Reeve noted that none of the men on the Industrial De- velopments Committee has time to do this extensive work. "It may cost us money to hire someone, but it may be the ans- wer," he concluded. The amounts of the grants are directly related to the total in- vestment in new buildings and equipment made by these enter- prises. The Act also provides for close liaison between firms receiving development grants, and the Na- tional Employment Service to ensure appropriate training fa- cilities so that new employment opportunities will be fully ex- ploited. The benefit derived by new or existing industries is roughly a one-third grant on the approved capital costs. That the government's pro- gram does work is evidenced by the fact seven areas previously designated have been removed from the list because the desired results were attained. Over 100 new industrial firms have either established or have indicated their intention to es- tablish in these areas, and these firms will provide about 9,000 jobs with a similar number of additional jobs in the related service and supply industries. Crash cost runs heavy NEW OR EXISTING In his reply to The T-A's re- quest for information on the Area Development Incentives Act, Mr. Drury explained that it provides for capital grants in respect of new manufacturing and process- ing facilities which are establish- ed in designated areas, as well as to firms already located in these areas which undertake significant expansions there. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of a 17-year-old Lind- say youth, on a charge of break, enter and theft, which occurred in the village on Friday night (or early Saturday morning). A juvenile girl, also from Lind- say, was apprehended on Satur- day afternoon, and was returned home with her father on Sunday. She is to appear in juvenile court in Sarnia on a similar charge some time this month, Constable Bill Wicklund of the OPP detachment here carried out the investigation, of thefts from two business establishments. A total of over $800 in cash was removed from MacLaren's Phar- macy and Max Tiedeman's bar- bershop. On a hunch, Constable Wick- lund and Constable George Smelt- zer (also of the Grand Bend detachment) visited an abandoned cottage near the beach north of main street, on Saturday after- noon, and found the pair there. Invited to the police office for questioning, the boy and girl a- greed to go — but then the boy "took off". Some of the money taken was recovered at the cottage. — Holiday Community officials in Exeter naturally expressed deep regret upon learning of the closing of CFB Centralia, Wednesday, but they certainly haven't gone and buried their heads in the sand. In less than two hours after the announcement was made pub- lic, the Exeter Board of Trade and the Exeter Industrial De- velopments group had called an emergency meeting for last (Wednesday) night. "Let's face it, we're sorry to see it happen," Iry Armstrong, president of the Board of Trade stated, "but if it was going to happen it may as well happen now". He indicated that the report that some of the PMQ's would still be occupied will "help con- siderably". However, Ross Tuckey, chair- man of the Industrial Develop- ments, noted where this could be a handicap in attracting industry if the houses were not available. "I'm disturbed to hear the housing could be tied up," he said. "It could foul things up as far as us attracting industry." Tuckey also stated that he felt the entire situation was handled very badly by the government, noting particularly their delay in making their announcement. "They left it in the air too long and it stagnated a lot of things," he said. Tuckey indicated the next course of action was "to high- tail it to Ottawa" to see what assistance may be received from Hon. C. M. Drury, minister of labour. Both he and Armstrong indicat- ed speedy action was necessary and after a conversation between the two, they called the special meeting of the two groups. Parting words of County MOH The closing of Canadian Forces Base, Centralia, would apparent- ly not enable the South Huron area to be immediately designat- ed a "depressed area", accord- ing to the Hon. C. M. Drury, Canada's minister of industry. This information was contain- ed in a letter written to this newspaper by Mr. Drury this week, as we sought clarification on the possibilities of the area attracting industry through the benefits of the government's Area Development Program. "While it is true that certain areas will experience disloca- tions in economic activity from time to time which can cause serious problems for those di- rectly concerned, the Area De- velopment Program was desig- nated to assist areas where prob- lems of unemployment, low in- come and lack of employment opportunities have persisted over a period of years," Mr. Drury explained. He went on to point out that the National Employment Ser- vice areas which encompass Hur- on County, namely Goderich, Stratford and Listowel, have not met the criteria for designation since their unemployment rate is well below the level required for designation and the rate of growth in employment has been quite favourable in the past five years compared to the areas which have been designated under the pro- gram. In addition, he stated, all three areas have an annual average non-farm family Income well above the qualifying level of $4,- 250. While Mr. Drury explained that the program will be reviewed from time to time, the key to the situation is the fact areas to be designated are required to meet an objective set of criteria based on statistics of unemployment, slow employment growth and low Exeter in need of fluoridation was transferred to G o d e r i c h. Staff at the time was only half of what it is today. Although the Unit increased in size, it never became an "em- pire" under the affable Dr. Aldis. It has always been dedicated to serving "the little guy" who didn't have the wherewithal to seek help from other sources. Dr. Aldis refuses to assume credit for this attitude alone, explaining that there are a great number of people in the county who provide valuable assistance. One of the pleasures Dr. Aldis has derived from his position The Exeter OPP Detachment investigated only five accidents this week, but damage amounted to a sizeable $3,350. Three pers- ons were slightly injured in the mishaps. On Saturday at 4:55 pm, a car driven by James Barrett, Lon- don, went out of control on High- way 81 near the Grand Bend Dragway and resulted in damage estimated at $600 by OPP Con- stable H. Reid. Barrett told police his front wheel dropped off the pavement during a rain storm, and whenhe attempted to get it back onto the highway, it shot across into the other ditch and upset. OPP Constable Bill Glassford investigated the next three ac- cidents on the weekend. Sunday at 3:15 am a car driven by Frederick Henry Pepper, RR 4 Seaforth, went out of control on Highway 21 just south of Drys- dale. Damage was estimated at $500 and a passenger in the car, Kenneth Robert Colclough, Sea- forth, sustained bruises and head cuts. At 11:40 am two cars collided at the intersection of Highway 4 and the Crediton Road. Paul Miniatis, Guelph, was at- tempting to make a left turn while northbound on Highway 4 and was struck by another northbound car driven by Charles Durnin, Lon- don. Total damage reached $750. Two Exeter youths received minor lacerations as a result of a one-car crash on the 16th con- cession of Stephen Township at —Please turn to page 3 13 Announcements * • Church Notices . I. 13 Coming Events . . . * * • 13 . 4 Editorials .. Farah News 14 Feminine FactS 'N Fancies 8, 9 ... . Hensall 5 Lucan . 4 . 12,13 Sports 6,7 Want Ads . . 10,11 Business Administrator W. D. Burton reported this week no news had been received as yet on the proposed addition to SH- DHS. As a result, the regular meet- ing of the board scheduled for Tuesday night was cancelled and will be called to meet when word has been received. The Huron County village of Hayfield has been chosen as the site for the 1967 celebration of the Southwestern Ontario Loyal Orange Lodges. This year's celebration of the Battle of the Boyne was held at IlarrIston on Saturday: has been in watching the com- munities in Huron add to their medical facilities. He points to the building of South Huron Hospital in Exeter as a ((tremendous thing" and one for which many people de- serve a lot of credit. The hospitals in Exeter, Sea- forth, Wingham and Clinton serve as sub offices for the Unit and Public Health nurses and other staff are located at each. In the past 16 years, the Unit has expanded to provide care and assistance in many fields. The staff includes Public Health nurses who spend considerable time working with school child- ren and their families and they are now getting into the field of elderly citizens and their prob- lems. The Public Health inspectors are continually in the fight a- gainst pollution and Huron is one of the few areas which provides a plumbing inspector. Dr. Aldis explained this ser- vice provided assurance for home owners that the work done for them complied with the stand- ards. He noted it was also ap- preciated by contractors as it put them all on an even basis for tendering On jobs as they had the knowledge that the work would — Please turn to page 2 Shortly after arriving in Huron County 16 years ago, Dr. Aldis was heard on CKNX Wingham, outlining the precautions to be taken in the face of a polio epid- emic that was prevalent in the county. He recalled there were two deaths recorded in Huron that first week due to polio and any- where from 12 to 24 serious cases were reported annually. He was one of the most re- lieved persons in Ontario when vaccine to prevent the disease was introduced in 1955. "We were so happy to get it, we started our vaccination program three or four weeks ahead of most other centres," he recalls, Ironically, Dr. Aldis appeared On CKNX just shortly before his departure from Huron County to explain to the residents of Wingham and Goderich the seri- ousness of pollution in neighbor- ing streams and the hazardous bathing cOnditions that existed. Regarding the pollution in the two communities, he said it was necessary to "have the shotgun loaded" as too many p e o pl e have the opinion that pollution problems can't happen to them. The Health Unit was located in Clinton when Dr. Aidis moved to Huron. After the county court- house was rebuilt in 1056, the Unit "Exeter very definitely needs fluoridation." That was a comment from Dr. R. M. Aldis, who leaves his post as Huron County's Medical Of- ficer of Health this weekend to assume a similar position in Stratford. In reviewing the progress of the Huron County Health Unit since he instituted it some 16 years ago, Dr. Aldis explained that Goderich and Exeter were two communities which would benefit greatly from fluoride be- ing added to the supply of drink- ing water. He predicted it would reduce tooth decay by as much as two- thirds at a cost of only 15 to 20 cents per capita per year. Dr. Aldis was a strong cam- paigner for fluoridation in God- erich, but a vote on the issue was defeated when residents in the county town received letters outlining the problems of fluor- idation. The information in the letters was classed untrue by most dental officials. Dr. Aldis Mcplalned that God gave some communities in the County an adequate supply of fluoridation in their water and it was instrumental in keeping tooth decay at a reduced figure, Two of the communities so bless- ed are Zurich and Hensall. Hensall project grant approved The Village of Hensall was among five Ontario centres which this week received approval to proceed with centennial projects. Approval of the grants was an- nounced jointly by Hon. Judy LaMarsh, Secretary of State, and Hon. James Mild, Ontario Min- ister Of Tourism and Information. Hensell proposed to construct a pavilion in its municipal park, with Ontario and Ottawa each contributing $918 toward the $2,- 800 undertaking.