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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1970-04-23, Page 18page 1111 ines*Agirecate, Apriil 23, 1970 MIDDLESEX CONSERVATIVES MEET — The North Middlesex Conservative Association met Wednesday night at the Lucan arena and Provincial Treasurer C, S. MacNaughton was the guest speaker, Shown above chatting after dinner are, from left, Lucan Reeve Ivan Hearn, Les Greenwood, Corbett, third vice-president; Treasurer, C. S. MacNaughton, Association president, Bill Thirlwall and Agriculture Minister W. A. Stewart. T-A photo Phone 227-4517 Correspondent Mrs. Frances Saward Lucan and district news AN INTERESTING AND LOVELY AUDIENCE — More than 250 persons attended the North Middlesex Progressive Conservative Association banquet held in Lucan last week. Shown above listening intently to guest speaker Provincial Treasurer C. S. MacNaughton are Marilyn, Gaya and Barbara, daughters of Agriculture Minister W. A. and Mrs. Stewart. T-A photo TA EXETER Copy Cats! That's us. Our new photocopier can reproduce your documents and book pages. While you wait. 250 per 8 1/2 x 11 Lower Rates on Quantities Open Saturdays 9--S Basketball played by school teams The girls basketball team of Medway High School, competing in Medway District School sports played four games at Centennial School, April 10. In the first game they beat Prince Andrews, then lost to Parkview. Clover Mills was beaten in overtime to break a tie. The team then lost to Prince Andrews and were eliminated from further contests. The boys.' team played three games at hofne. First game was lost to Centennial. They won the second from Parkview but lost to Prince Andrews by one point scored as the bell rang which eliminated them from further games. Close out season for euchre party The final Euchre Party of the season was held at the Anglican Church, April 14. The conveners were Mrs. George Hodgins and Mrs. Norman Hardy and there were five tables in play. The winners were: ladies' high, Mrs. Joe Carter; ladies' lone hands, Mrs. Karl O'Neil; ladies' low, Mrs. Clarence Rogers; men's high, Joe Carter; men's lone hands, Ronnie Hodgins; men's low, Linda Emery, playing a man's card. I am deeply concerned with news items that have appeared regarding a Private Members' Bill which is attempting to change Remembrance Day to the Sunday prior to November 11. I appreciate that changes have been made in other 'holidays' but to thousands of us who served in World War I and II this is strictly a day of Remembrance of the many who paid the supreme sacrifice in both wars, as well as the many hundreds who have suffered from wounds in the intervening years. Surely we can set aside just one specific day each year to remember, rather than look to our own pleasures on yet another long weekend holiday. Will the wording of our slogan be changed also from 'We Will Remember Them' to Will We Remember Them?' I WONDER! BOOKS REQUIRED Our Servicemen overseas urgently require reading material. If you happen to have any pocket novels you are finished with, that are in good condition, how about bringing them over to the Hall, where we will stock pile them until our campaign is over, after which we will forward them along y the boys. 1970 being the 25th anniversary of the end of World War II, Branch 540 is planning some ceremony to comniernerate the occasion, when these are finalized, you will be notified in more detail. Did you know that Branches of the Royal CanadiarrLegion in the Province of Ontario alone have sponsored Low Cost Housing for Senior Citizens in eXcesa of $2,608,000.001 quite a record for a Servicemen's Organization and another reason why you should become a paid-up member 'OF THE, ACTIVE SET', If you haven't done So already, take a moment and send or bring in your 1970 Legion dues. We need you Comrade. Here they are again -- Branch 640 &Ira to please by your Lucan and District Lions Club met at the Anglican Church Monday with 82% attendance. This was essentially a business meeting. The Health and Welfare Committee reported purchasing three pairs of glasses for needy children in the area. Arrangements were made to hold the annual fireworks display, May 18 at the arena under the joint auspices of members of Legion and Lions Clubs. Parking facilities have been improved so that no one will be turned away and there will be no increase in charge. Chairman of the Parks Committee reported improvements proposed for the ball park. Some of the work will start immediately. The Scout Hall and hydro building will be removed and washroom facilities built at the park. Lights have already been installed. Delegates to destrict A-1 convention in Windsor, May 30 — June 3, have been appointed and are Lions Gord Brooks, Clare Stanley and Bob Taylor. SCHOOL REGISTRATION Parents of children who will be of kindergarten age in September are reminded that the date of Registration is May 7. popular demand, Smiling Carl our dieting steward, advises 'The Inn Mates' are returning to entertain you in the Sea, Land and Air Lounge on Saturday, April 25. For a happy time make it a date to meet your friends at good old 540. May 15 is the date of 540's Annual $500.00 Stag, proceeds all in the aid of the Lucan Legion Shamrock Hockey League. Now what in the world would I ever do with $500.00? Are you kidding, see you there. Don't forget Wednesday May 6 at 8:30 p.m. is the date and time of our next general meeting. Make it a point to Mrs. B. Cole spent Tuesday with Mrs. Lily McFalls. Mr. & Mrs. Allan Tindall spent last weekend with Mr. & Mrs, Cliff Abbott. Mrs. W. W. Garrett and Mrs. Don McTaggert and family of London and Mrs. Bob Coleman, Lucan, were among the large crowd who attended the Belmont Maple Syrup Festival, near Wirigharn last Saturday. MrS. Mary Hodgson has returned home from St. Joseph's Hospital. Mrs. 'Mammy Thompson and Toninly, and Mrs. Ruth Chisholm visited with Mrs. Katherine Fischer, Thursday and Mr. and Mrs. Ray Fischer visited Sunday. Mr, 8t Mrs. Alec Young visited Sunday afternoon With her invalid sister, Mrs. Frank MacDonald and her husband at Goderich. On the Way home they had supper With Mr. & Mrs. Heber Davis, Sairitsbury. Jeff ?dung who had spent the Weekend With the Davis' returned home to Uteri With them. Mr. 4 Mrs. C. A. Langford,. Toronto, visited the latter's Mother, Mrs, John Casey, at Strathmere Lodge, Strathroy, Present, button to 50-year Mason The regular meeting of the Irving Lodge No. 154 at Lucan was marked by an unusual occurrence. Worshipful Brother Colonel Duncan Graham Ross, a former Lucan businessman, now retired and living in London, was presented with a 50 year Masonic lapel button. Worshipful Brother Ross joined Irving Lodge, April 5, 1920, and was Worshipful Master of the Lodge in 1926. He is the oldest living Past Master of Irving Lodge. Right Worshipful Brother Harold Corbett made the presentation. Discuss banquet for CGIT girls The CGIT met at the Lucan United Church with 20 members present and four leaders. Worship service was conducted by June Donaldson and Linda Earhart. The Mother and Daughter Banquet was discussed and planned. Ed Melanson will lead a folk-sing on his guitar. Members of the CGIT checked coats at the Conservative Banquet. At the next meeting the White Lanyard Ceremony will be performed for six members. This will be April 28 at the Lucan United Church. By SID DALEY attend — we are holding an initiation of new members — come on out and make your views known and at the same time meet and greet your new Comrades. Gananoque here we come, make way for Branch 540's exponents of the old 15.2. Yes sir we will be on our way this coming Saturday, April 25 to take part in the Ontario Command Provincial Cribbage Finals. Wish us luck, we are going to need it. And that's 30 for this week. Remember when you flee temptation, be sure you .don't leave a forwarding address. Receive gifts on departure An Open House Was arranged at the home of Mr, and Mrs. Van Praet When friends served refreshments to the many visitors who were present for the presentation of gifts to Mr. and Mrs. Callcott of Elginfield, who are leaving the district to live in St. Marys. Mr. and Mrs. William Callcott who have lived at Elginfield for 31 years, were presented with an armchair, a purse and an arrangement of flowers, At Thursday's annual meeting of the North Middlesex Progressive Conservative Association held at the Lucari arena, Ontario Treasurer Charles S. MacNaughton called his recently presented 1970 budget "your right to know budget." In explaining his label, MacNaughton said, "In a number of new and comprehensive ways, it provides you with financial information that I believe is your right to know, It gives a full and frank disclosure of the Ontario financial position." He went on to say, "The Many pages of charts and tables on revenue, expenditure, liquid reserves, gross debts and contingent liabilities with five year comparisons give a comprehensive outline of the past year's operations, with explanations of where and why we were required to deviate from the 1969 budgetary plan WI installs new officials The Lucan Women's Institute held the regular meeting Thursday at the home of Mrs. W. C. Tupling with 21 present, including one new member and three guests. The officers for the coming year were installed by Mrs. Sheridan Revington, a past president of the Institute. They are: past president, Mrs. Frank Hardy Sr.; president, Mrs. Frances Saward; vice-presidents, Mrs. R. R. Crozier and Mrs. Harold Snelgrove; secretary, Mrs. M. H. Hodgins; treasurer, Mrs. James Lockyer. Branch directors, Mrs, Cecil Robb, Mrs. Frank Jolliffe, Mrs. Burns Smith and Mrs. W. C. Tulping; district director, Mrs. Frank Hardy Sr.; alternate, Mrs. Cecil Robb; auditors, Mrs. F. Saward and Mrs. Mary Hodgson; pianist, Mrs. Sheridan Revington; nominating committee, Mrs. Frank Hardy Sr. and Mrs. Harold Corbett. Mrs. Clare Lewis commented on the motto which she had changed slightly to the question, Is the Women's Institute an Island? Delegates appointed to attend the District Annual, May 12, at Poplar Hill are Mrs. Saward, Mrs. Frank Hardy Sr. and Mrs. Snelgrove. Other members are welcome to attend. Members were advised of the "Achievement Day" at Parkhill. May 9 and members are invited to show their interest in the 4-H work. A suggestion was made that something be done for Senior Citizens and a committee was formed. The bus trip to Frankenmuth which was to have been June 11 has been changed to June 19. Mrs. George Jervis gave the ladies a demonstration and instructions on gift-wrapping. Each member wrapped a box arid made two different kinds of decoration. along with a hreakcc'iwn of the major changes we anticipate this year and a full accounting of the financial adjustments resulting from medieare and expenditures on hospital and health insurance plans." "These disclosures represent four years of effort at improving our financial reporting system to the people of Ontario. I know of no other budget in Canada that sets out more clearly, more accurately and in more detail the financial oPerations and position of a government," The Treasurer said "My describedcritics it as "paltry", "inadequate" budget and "reminiscent of the 1870s". (Quite frankly, I cannot conceive bow one can compare the $2.5 million budget of 1870 to the $3.7 billion budget of 1970 but I have long since ceased to be amazed at the financial wizardry of my opposition friends.)" Following are portions of the balance of MacNaughton's address: As promised by Prime Minister John Roberts, we achieved a balanced budget with no increases in taxes and no new taxes. We expect a very modest surplus of $11 million. This amount is less than one per cent of the $3.7 billion expected in revenues, We actually provided some reduCtions in tax rates, which has been my objective since I was appointed Treasurer in 1966. Under succession duties, the exemption for widows and widowers was increased from $75,000 to $125,000. This will mean that duty will be paid by widows on less than one per cent of the estates assessed in Ontario. Retail sales tax was removed from a variety of tools and materials used in the production of manufactured goods. This will help to reduce costs and improve our competitive position in international markets. Up to $100 in property tax relief is being provided for needy pensioners who receive the guaranteed income supplement. We have attempted to help those who suffer the most from inflation, We introduced a five-part program to encourage pollution control across the province. This package includes grants equivalent to 5% retail sales tax on approved equipment; tax-related grants to municipalities, school boards, hospitals and universities, for treatment facilities and incinerators; capital assistance to small municipalities for sewerage treatment plants and water pipelines; and accelerated depreciation allowances for corporation expenditures on pollution control equipment. Our medicare program will be extended to include services by chiropractors, podiatrists and osteopaths, which will cost OHSIP about $7 million over a full year. We are providing $10 million to help smaller municipalities meet their capital financing requirements. We will invest $50 million in mortgages for housing, providing up to 95% of lending value for More than 3,000 new dwellings. These programs reflect our priority concerns— tax relief for the needy, pollution control, health services, municipal finance and housing. We believe these are important investments. Let me turn to tax reform for a moment — our own Ontario reform program which is directed toward relieving property tax in this province, The budget outlines what we have achieved in this area since we announced our program in 1968, We have increased our grants toward local costs of education, toward road expenditures, toward water and sewerage projects. We have relieved municipalities of the cost of assessment. We have taken the first step toward broadening the local tax base by permitting municipalities to tax universities. In total, these changes will cost the province an additional $125 million this year, all, of which comes off property tax in one form or another, Opposition spokesmen, of course, have attacked all of them. They describe our programs as "inadequate", `ludicrously small" and "paltry", As I say, I am not surprised. I have never been able to spend enough of the people'a money to satisfy our political critics. One of the oppesition leaders calls me "the hard-nosed seed merchant from Exeter", I do not protest that description. I wish we had some hard-nosed critics to help us control expenditures, instead of soft-handed advocates of more public spending. One opposition member states that our new programs do not go half-way toward meeting the needs of Ontario. Taking him at his word, I find we would have to increase expenditures by a minimum of $240 million to double the benefits I have described to you tonight. This amount would turn our small surplus into the highest deficit in our history. I do not think the people of Ontario are interested in that kind of a budget today. I do not want to mislead you about the purpose of our 1970 budget, however. It does provide for a modest increase in our spending, within our financial capacity. I described our fiscal policy as "moderately expansionary ". My intention is to provide a mild stimulus to The Ontario economy which is showing definite signs of weakening. Our unemployment is growing, as you are well aware in this area. Growth in production and sales is levelling off, corporate profits are dropping and housing starts are down sharply. Our economy is performing below its potential. The evidence of these downtrends has been mounting in recent weeks. I am concerned, as I know you must be, about the number of plant closings that have been announced. Our production of goods and services is suffering, I hope the situation will not worsen but the current indicators point that way. As Treasurer of the strongest province in Confederation, I would be irresponsible if I were to play political games with the economy, the tax structure or the well-being of pur people. I would be naive, as well, to think that our citizens want a prolonged battle of words or deeds between our senior governments. I think the electors are as tired as I am of the adversary approach to intergovernmental problems. Ontario has always supported specific federal programs to equalize opportunity and development across Canada. We will continue to do so. We must question, however, the extent to which "under the table" equalization takes place through the special formulas used by the federal government to finance shared-costs programs. Finally, our budget questions again the federal approach to tax reform. We agree with some of the objectives, including tax relief for low-income families and fairer treatment of wage and salary earners. But we object to the harsh treatment of small business, the combined impact of capital gains and death taxes, and the massive tax increase built into the federal proposals. We believe they will stifle initiative and reduce savings. 1 will go further than to defend my position tonight. I do not believe that the people of Ontario can dismiss, as politial gamesmanship, the broader concerns presented in the 1970 Ontario Budget. I challenge the public commentators,, the communications media, my opposition critics and my political colleagues to examine these concepts. I ask them to review our position on fiscal policy co-ordination, on comprehensive tax reform, on inflation, on equalization. I invite their, and your, assessment of whether our proposals are positive or negative, constructive or detrimental, responsible or foolish. Do they, in fact, represent narrow provincial concerns or are they truly national in concept? Canada faces much too great an opportunity over the next decade to ignore the fundamental questions involved hi tax reform and fiscal policy co-ordination. We cannot treat these considerations as petty annoyances or jurisdictional jealousies. I believe the Ontario Government is making an important and responsible contribution to this national debate. We want your support but we don't ask for it on the basis of blind political faith, We want your support because you believe in the policies we advocate. Many of those policies are spelled out in detail in the 1970 budget and I invite your examination of them. You owe it to yourself as a Conservative and as a Canadian to take a stand on these issues. Explains "Your right to know .1;locloget" District Conservatives hear Treasurer Iche titefeafitiesafillocafe LIMITED EXETER 2354331 Fireworks set by Lions DALEY'S WEEKLY COMMENTS No changes, please mumm ttttttt ttttt MumUm ttttttt mu ttttttt mumm ttttt uM tttt m ttttttt MmO tttttttttt umu ttttt mmmMMu Lucan personals Mitmom ttttt m ttt M ttttttt m.mm tttttt ..mm.m.m ttttttttt mum ttttttt ...m uumnmmmuunnure and are spending a few days in her Lucan home which they are planning to sell, Mr. & Mrs. Evan Hodgins attended the wedding at St. George's Church, Thorndale, of Eleanor Fitzsimmons and John Hudson, and the evening reception at the Masonic Hall, Thorndale. Miss Lina Abbott has received news that her . brother Harold was able to leave St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, after several seriOuS operations. 4