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Times-Advocate, 1978-06-15, Page 13By JACK RIDDELL MPP Huron-Middlesex tax reform shelved The Ontario Government has shelved indefinitely its plans for property tax reform and market value assessment of property. Treasurer Darcy McKeough told the Legislature in a brief statement that the province will not introduce the plan this year to go into effect as promised next year, nor did he give a revised deadline, The move came after nine years of promises, studies, public reaction and political pressure. All that probably cost the government millions of dollars including the $500,000 royal commission study by Willis Blair who issued his report last year. The move to market value 5 ► Colden Anniversary FURNITURE SALE Starts Thurs. At 6 P. M. HOPPER-HOCKEY FURHITURE LTD. Store dosed Thurs. until 6 p.m. to get ready for sale. See insert in today's T-A. J assessment was sacrificed partly to accommodate Mr. McKeough’s drive to balance the provincial budget by 1981 and partly because there was not a solid commitment to reform on the part of local and provincial politicians and other concerned taxpayers. In a statement made to the Legislature William Newman, Minister of Agriculture and Food said that one of the Ministry’s most popular programs was their assistance towards tile drainage installation. Jn ten years the govern­ ment has committed $95 million to loans for drainage installation while the far­ mers contributed $75 million. The resulting intensive drainage of 1.2 million acres has played a large part in the remarkable productivity gains of Ontario’s agriculture industry. This year the Minister has budgeted for $18 million for this program. A farmer can get a 10 year loan from his municipality for up to 75 percent of the cost of in­ stalling tiles. He pays six percent interest on his loan, and the province pays the difference between his rate and the current bank rate. Farmers have been using this program so extensively in the 1970’s that in the last two years the Ministry has placed a ceiling on the amount to be made available to municipalities. The r TENDER Tenders fbr the construction of the new office of the Hay Township Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Com­ pany will be received, on or before the tender clos­ ing of 3:00 P.M. FRIDAY JULY 7, 1978 Drawings and specifications may be picked up at the temporary office of the Hay Township Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company (’/? mile east of Zurich on highway 84) Monday, June 26, 1978 between the hours of 9:00 A.M. to 12:00 noon, 1 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. upon deposit of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each set. The Hay Township Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company Zurich, Ontario NOM 2T0 Phone (519) 236-4381 (OFFICE) or (519) 236-4560 (RESIDENCE) r J Minister announced that this policy will continue this year. The ministry also provides grants amounting to one- third of the cost of municipal drainage outlets that serve the farm drainage systems, Forty-five million dollars have been provided towards this work in the past decade and the Minister is asking an additional $4.5 million for 1978-79. The two Opposition Parties are in agreement that the present program of rent control must be extended. Liberal Leader Stuart Smith has said it should continue for two years beyond the December 31 expiry date, to allow an increase in con­ struction of rental units before the market is again allowed to determine rents. The Minister in charge of administering the program has indicated that he will not rule out the possibility of an extension, but intends to wait for the report of the Legislature committee considering the question before commenting specifically on what action the government will take. Discussion of discount practices by grocery stores continues, and the Ontario Apple Commission allows and condones apparently illegal discounts on the price some producers receive for their apples, according to the Chairman of the Com­ mission. Supposedly, the discounts are levied to eliminate a risk that some store owners might go bankrupt before producer can be paid. Liberal Leader Stuart Smith objected angrily to the discounts, arguing that if this is the case, then surely all companies who are sure to pay their bills should get the same discount, as should those stores which pay cash. For many months there has been strong criticism in the Legislature of the length of time the Dow Chemical pollution lawsuit has been permitted to drag on in the courts. Now, it seems, the Ontario Government has dropped this $35 million lawsuit charging mercury pollution against Dow, in the HAVE WE GOT A DEAL FOR YOU. PRESENT THIS COUPON TO YOUR LOCAL DEALER AND RECEIVE 5 04 favour of a private set­ tlement, which includes a payment of $250,000. This settlement was secretly signed a month ago by Dow lawyers and fishermen who were driven out of business, in 1971 because of mercury found in Lake St. Clair fish. According to a statement by the Minister of Energy, Reuben Baetz, nuclear waste will not be buried near any Ontario community that doesn’t want it. An agreement between Ottawa and Queen’s Park, an­ nounced simultaneously in both places, gives the province a veto power over the final site selection for nuclear waste dumps. This program contrasts sharply with the stand taken by the Province last year. At that time, more than 16,000 acres of crown land near Madoc were set aside for location of a nuclear dump, because Madoc is midway between Toronto and Ottawa, and considered a suitable location by scien­ tists. Protests were disregarded. The Government’s long awaited apprenticeship expansion program has been dismissed as “piece-meal” and “a drop in the bucket” by both Opposition Parties. Announcing the program in the Legislature, the Minister of Colleges and Universities, Mr. Harry C. Parrott, in­ dicated that the province has acquired $8 million from the Federal Employment and Immigration Commission to subsidize employers who provide on-the-job training for young people. The amount of subsidy will be determined by local community committees and will depend on whether the skills learned are “portable” or only of value to that one industry. In addition, the province apparently hopes to triple the number of trainees in the tool and die, mould maker and general machinist trades and will spend $100,000 to promote the value of on-the-job training to 5,000 manufacturingcom­ panies. It also hopes to improve liaison between high school technical programs and apprenticeship training by giving students credit for what they learned in the classroom. Liberal Leader Stuart Smith said the program was “a small step in the right direction” but apprenticeship has to be expanded beyond blue collar jobs into “a whole myriad of occupations requiring on- the-job training”. Meanwhile, an Ontario Government study has stated that Unemployment Insurance funds should be used to subsidize wages in industrial training programs to help send some of Ontario’s 134,000 unem­ ployed young people back to work. Released by the Treasurer, the study in­ dicates that two-thirds of Ontario’s unemployed youth — about 90,000 — are out of work because of structural problems in the economy. The two main problems are lack of skills among the young and high minimum starting wages, built into .many jobs. A third of the young (unemployed (those under 25) ■'cannot find jobs because of the general sluggishness of the economy, the study says, and subsidies by govern­ ments should be linked to an industrial strategy that emphasizes development of skills. These would include skills in management, finance, marketing and sales, research, development and design, and industrial trades. 1 an-* •> BATTER UP — Exeter Lions president Doug Knowles decides which team batted first in Sunday's grudge game between the Lions and Leos. The Lions are Jack Fuller and Jim Pinder while Liz Giffin and Rick Lindenfield represent the Leos. T-A photo President is acclaimed Dashwood pair attend convention Rev. Mayo Mellecke and Earl Keller of Zion Lutheran congregation in Dashwood were among 55 pastors and 67 lay delegates representing 70 congregations attending a three-day copvention of the Ontario District of the Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo from June 8 through June 11. At that convention, a resolution was approved which makes way for the orderly development of an indigenous confessional Lutheran Church-Canada, “faithful to her Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Scriptues and the Lutheran Con­ fessions” and a Sister Synod of the Missouri Synod. The resolution directs the Ontario District’s Board of Directors to consult with the representatives of the Alberta-British Columbia District and the Manitoba- Saskatchewan District as well as the Board of Directors from Lutheran Church-Canada, formed about twenty years ago. Together they represent 85,338 Missouri Synod Lutherans in Canada. Their task will be to draw up a tenative calender of transition steps, involving such conerns as costs, training of pastors and professional workers and the continued use of Concordia Publishing House, the Board of Stewardship, the Board of Evangelism, etc. with headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri. A comprehensive plan will be submitted at later con­ ventions but until that time, the Ontario District will remain within the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. The first indications are that such a plan would probably not come before convention until 1980. The theme of the con­ vention was That We May Grow and the resolution to support the concept and the study of an independent Lutheran Church-Canada was in keeping with that theme. resolution was designed to permit the District to “make a decision based on good stewardship and faithfulness to the teaching of the Scriptures to the end that we may grow to our ability to extend the Kingdom of God”. Dr. Albin J. Stanfel, Kitchener, was acclaimed president of the Ontario District for his third con­ secutive four-year term. He gives direction to the 91 Ontario LC-MS congregations, a total of June 15, 1978 Page 13 Midsummer testing For some farmers, soil testing in midsummer could be profitable. There are dollar savings in knowing the most efficient use of fer­ tilizers from early test results. The Ontario Soil Testing Laboratory, operated for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food at the University of Guelph, is en­ couraging farmers to con­ sider taking soil samples in summer. Professor T.E. Bates, laboratory director, says many farmers who plan to test soil in the fall are rush­ ed with the harvest and neglect this important chore. This has been par­ ticularly true in the past two years because of late harvests. If farmers could test between June and August, then the problem would be solved. “This is the time to sam­ ple soil in hay fields, pastures and fields designated for winter wheat. With legumes in hay and pasture, it’s important to apply potash in late August, if needed. For planting winter wheat in September and October, soil samples should be in before August Earlier soil testing for spring-seeded crops would enable the farmer to check on weed control and other problems at the same time. In some cases, students are available in summer for soil sampling. Look at your farm opera­ tion and consider soil testing in summer. Instructions and soil sample boxes can be ob­ tained from your local coun­ ty office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. There is no charge to Ontario farmers for this service. 30,796 people. Also re-elected were first vice-president the Rev. Lloyd Wentzlaff, Kitchener, and second vice-president, the Rev. Lester Prusha, Simcoe. OFFER EXPIRES JUNE 30, 1978 a good case for a partyj The PoP Shoppe Your local dealer in: iExeter: Exeter Family Market 502 Mam St. S. - Peter DeKoker Open weekdays 9 to 6 Friday till 9. Grand Bend: Country Market & Restaurant Hwy. 21 N. - Norm Barber Open Daily 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Ailsa Craia: Don Robinson's BP Strathroy: The Dairy Case, Open Daily 8 to 8 380 Albert St. THE PURCHASE OF A CASE OF POP AT THE REGULAR PRICE Grand Bend Office 238-8484 SCIENCE GRAD — Barbara Anne Kerslake, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Everard Kerslake, RR 2 Staffa graduated from the Universi­ ty of Western Ontario June 9 with a Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy. She has accepted a position in St. John's New Brunswick in September. She received her education at SS 7 Hibbert and Seaforth District High School. Photo by Erik Singer Best Interest * Q%% We represent many Trust Companies. We are often able to arrange for the highest interest being offered on Guaranteed Investment Certificates. * Subjest to change GdlS0r~Kn0CllG Insurance Agency Inc. Exeter Office 235-2420