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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1978-04-06, Page 1LEADING THE ATTACK — These four bobbies led the Big Mac attack during the Exeter figure skating club carnival, Saturday. From the left are Shawn Friesen, Mark Weigand, Sean Grant and Jeremy Brock. T-A photo Time running out for students Most merchants to get bill for mistake in '77 levy to cover last year’s plus a similar in­ to meet this year’s Exeter council learned this week that the wrong rates were charged to members of the Downtown Business Improvement Association last year. They’ll correct that in this year’s levy, but that won’t be good news for the majority of property owners involved. Most of them will find they’ll have to pay an additional $50 to $100 error, crease levy. The situztion was brought to light in correspondence received this week from the Bank of Montreal and the Bank of Nova Scotia. They said they were overcharged because the wrong base had been used for the levy. The banks noted that the levy had been made on business assessment, when in fact it should have been made on the assessed portion of real property. The Bank of Nova Scotia letter asked that a set­ tlement be made on the difference between the two figures, which in their case amounts to $164.40. ■ *- Clerk Liz Bell said that the Bank of Montreal and Vic­ toria and Grey Trust were each charged about $400 too much. She said the bylaw drawn up for the levy was “am­ biguous” and said that she would have made the levy on the same basis as that used by the late Eric Carscadden. The letters from the two banks indicated they found that councils in several other communities were also.using the wrong base for the assessment. Mrs. Bell said that many of the smaller businesses had been under-charged by from $50 to $100. “Who pays for our Cruiser hits school bus Three Burlington OPP officers in the area to boost police lines in strike situations at Fleck Manufacturing in Huron Park were in a cruiser that crashed into the back of a school bus near Lucan Tuesday. Christine Blay,10, RR1, Lucan, and the unnamed officers were released from University Hospital, London, after beiong treated for injuries received in the crash on Highway 4. The girl was among about 25 pupils returning home after classes at Lucan public and Biddulph central schools, said Mike Murphy, manager of Murphy Bus Lines in Lucan. He said there were no other injuries on the bus but some of the pupils were bit shook up.” The cruiser was tensively damaged. “A ex- mistake?” Mayor Bruce Shaw questioned. Councillor Ted Wright suggested that last year’s levies should be either credited or debited when this year’s assessments were made, depending on whether the business paid too little or too much in 1977. His suggestion was ap­ proved by council. Councillor Derry Boyle wanted to know how "local merchants could go about repealing the bylaw which had established the Business Improvement Association. Deputy-Clerk Brian Shaw plans retirement Mayor Bruce Shaw made it official this week. He won’t seek re-election this November. I’ll be 36 then and look forward to retirement,” he said in his short an­ nouncement to council, Monday. „ He said he wa„smaking the announcement so council members or others community could plans regarding vacancy. Shaw has previously that he would not seek his third two-year term. in the make the hinted at committee, said there we?” Don noting the TWO WORKERS CHARGED — Walter N. Armstrong and Daniel Craig Wilkinson both of Kitchener were charged by the OPP following an incident at Fleck Manufacturing on Thursday. In this photo one of the accused is being lead away to tne paddy wagon while the other accused is prone on the hood of the OPP cruiser. T-A photo PICKETS DON HELMETS — A number of the striking workers at the Fleck Manufacturing plant at Huron Park wore snow­ mobile helmets on the picket line Wednesday morning. In the above picture they are joined by a couple of supporters from the Ford plant in TaIbotviIle. Parsons was asked to in­ vestigate and report back to council. Give commendation The downtown merchant group sent a letter to council this week commending the works department for their efforts in snow removal over the past winter. They said the job done was “most- commendable” and Exeter was “second to none” in having snow plowed and removed quickly following storms. The group also announced that Marilyn Williamson and Jay Campbell have been named to fill the vacancies on the board created by the resignations of Jon Dinney and Bob Swartman. Later in the meeting, Councillor Ted Wright said the businessmen should be advised immediately that they could face problems this year with the staging of their annual sidewalk sale event. Wright noted that projects are planned for Andrew, William, Gidley, John and ■ Wellington.gtreets and using- them for detour routes could be a problem. “We should notify them well in advance that there could be problems, ” he recommended. Council agreed and will notify the businessmen of the situation. The Huron County Board of Education decided Monday not to get involved with the use of volunteers to oversee tutorials for Grade 12 and 13 students out of school because of the current secondary school teacher strike. The board decided to shy away from the volun­ teers because of potential liabilities, a small number of qualified volunteers and the possibility that the volun- Exeter councillors back school board Without any debate, Exeter council unanimously agreed to back a resolution supporting the Huron board of education in their present strike situation with the county’s secondary school teachers. Councillor Ken Ottewell, a member of the SHDHS teaching staff, abstained from voting. The resolution to support the board came from the Township of Turnberry. It had received strong support at last week’s Huron County council meeting as well. The township noted that they had been critical in the past regarding the board’s spending and now that they were attempting to keep a One Hundred and Fifth Year EXETER, ONTARIO, APRIL 6, 1978 Price Per Copy 25 Cents CLC presidential hopeful plans April 12 march McDermott to bring 'hundreds' Action on the Fleck picket line continued to blow “hot” and “cold” this week, and there is an indication that atmosphere will continue. However, United Auto Auto Workers have hinted they will attempt to bring the Veto plan to use volunteers teers could be labelled strike breakers. John Cochrane, director of education, recommended to the board -that the use of volunteers in the schools not be considered. He said that the effort to find the people willing to volunteer may not be wasted since the names of those people will be made available to senior students or parent groups looking to set up study groups. tighter control, they should be supported. They asked that the en- dorsation of their resolution be forwarded to the board, the ministry of education and the area MPPs. While council members did not debate the resolution before giving their support, the strike did come under discussion during a break period at Monday night’s council session. Reeve Si Simmons in­ dicated that he had been late in arriving for the meeting because he was on the telephone with a member of the SHDHS staff who was complaining about county council’s support of resolution. the imes - Advocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 tlliiBil ■ • ..........- & .A _ matter to a head in the immediate future. Thursday was a hectic day on the Huron Park site, as UAW workers from Kit­ chener joined the striking Fleck workers and engaged in a brief battle with police. Cochrane told the board that one such group had already been established in Goderich and involved about 10 volunteers and 40 students. He said the groups met twice weekly in the basement of Knox Presbyterian Church in Goderich. — Amy Sweitzer failed to produce aA WARY GLANCE - ____ smile for the T-A photographer at Saturday's bake sale spon­ sored by the Grand Bend Lioness club. T-A pnoto The out-of-town UAW members closed Huron Park down for most of the mor­ ning. They blocked roads into the area and several employees of other firms were forced to turn back. The police then set up road blocks and kept people out of the area, thereby closing down many of the other industries as well as the elementary school at Huron Park. About 140 policemen in riot gear charged about 80 Fleck strikers and UAW members at the entrance to the Industrial Park at one point in the confrontation. The police moved in shoulder-to-shoulder and rammed some of the demonstrators with their riot sticks at they attempted to clear a barricade of cars the Kitchener workers used to close the roadway. Six workers from Budd Automotive were charged in the incidents on Thursday. The charges ranged from obstruction, assault on a police officer, intimidation and possession of marijuana. The main scuffle started after a demonstrator jumped on the hood of an OPP cruiser and kicked out the headlight with his heel. Onlookers at the scene reported that several of the pickets were under the in­ fluence of alcohol and drugs. While action on the picket line cooled off following Thursday’s episode, the situation continues to draw The director said the volunteer project was authored by he and board chairman John Elliott, He said the two decided to “sample the water and see what the volunteer proposal would be like”. He said the subsequent announcement from the board office headlines in newspapers across the country. At Tuesday’s national convention of Canadian Labor Congress, UAW director Dennis McDermott, who is expected to be named president of the CLC today, said he would lead “several hundred” UAW members from across Canada to the F’leck picket lines on April 12. “As one of my first acts as Donate $500 for plowmen's banquet Over the objection of Councillor Derry Boyle, Exeter council agreed Monday to give a donation of $250 towards a banquet to be held in conjunction with the upcoming International Plowing Match near Wingham. Reeve Si Simmons,who made the recommendation, said EHe banquet would be attended by up to 1,500 people. He noted that the request had been for $500, but he felt half that amount would be ample for Exeter. “What for?” Boyle asked when the suggestion was made to donate $250. “Why shouldn’t Deputy-Reeve MacGregor replied, that the banquet is for all the people who help resulted in 28 names of people with offers that they were willing to help where they could. He said that of the 28 volunteers eight had the necessary academic background to be of any assistance to Grade 13 students. He said that spread over five high schools eight was not many. County councillors back school board By a unanimous decision, Huron County council agreed on Friday to support a resolution from Turnberry township to support the position of the Huron County Board of Education in its current dispute with the secondary school teachers. The Turnberry resolution noted that in the past, the Huron board had been criticised for its spending practices. The resolution went on to say that since the board now appears to“desire to curtail their spending”, it is important that the county municipalities support board members. Bayfield Reeve Ed Oddliefson said, “We are all concerned about what is occurring. We all feel that some solution could be arrived at. There does ap- CLC president, I’ll go the the picket lines,” he promised. “Then let’s see how some of those brave cops push Dennis McDermott around.” At the same time, Bob White, who is expected to succeed McDermott as head of the UAW, said the union will shut down Ford’s car assembly plant at Oakville unless it stops buying electrical wiring from Fleck. The union leaders remain plowing match. He said organizers were $8,000 short in meeting the cost of the banquet. Councillor Lossy Fuller asked who received the profit from the plowing match and MacGregor said it was split between the International committee and the local However, he wasn’t always a profit to split, such as last year’s event in Frontenac which lost about $30,000 due to wet weather. “It’s an organization that should be able to finance itself,” commented Coun­ cillor Ken Ottewell, noting that they could increase their fees to cover costs. However, only Boyle opposed the motion granting the donation. “When you come right down to brass tacks there were eight that probably could have been some assistance ot Grade 13s, said Cochrane. Cochrane number volunteers the possibility that they could be construed as Please turn to page 3 said the small of qualified combined with pear to be some irrespon­ sibility somewhere. I’m not saying where.” According the Oddliefson, the resolution was approved by council to “assist” negotiations. Warden Gerry Ginn said the people have known for sometime that a “stand has to be taken when people want more and do less”. “This is a new era,” said the warden. “Changes are going to have to be made, I strongly commend board. It is a difficult necessary stand.” Board chairman R. Elliott was present at afternoon session of county council, along with trustee John Henderson. Elliott declined to comment on the situation when invited by county council to speak. the but J. the critical of the massive police involvement in the strike. Up to 200 OPP have been in the strike vicinity. McDermott has alleged that the police involvement is due to the fact the com­ pany is partly owned by the family of James Fleck, deputy minister of industry and tourism for Ontario, He claimed Fleck has not sought a court injunction to limit mass picketing because the company and the OPP would have to explain to a court certain matters “embarrassing” in a political nature. Riddell faces charges In another strike related matter, Huron-Middlesex MPP Jack Riddell asked Speaker Jack Stokes Tuesday to rule on whether Riddell’s privileges as an MPP have been breached by actions of the UAW over the strike. Riddell said in the legislature the application by the UAW to the Ontario Labour Relations Board to prosecute him for violations of the Labor Relations Act contravenes a section of the Legislative Assembly Act. The area MPP claims that under the act a proceeding can’t be launched against an MPP while the legislature is in session. Riddell also said in the legislature that he has been served notices by solicitors for the UAW in his Queen’s Park office which he said is Please turn to page 3 HERE THEY COME —> Many of the officers who were at the Fleck manufac­ turing plant on Thursday were equipped in riot gear. When this group of ap­ proximately 35 officers began to proceed towards the Fleck plant, strikers joined them in their march. T-A photo