The Citizen, 1986-10-22, Page 11/Wse promises aid for Huron bean farmers
In an announcement as welcome
as the weekend’s glorious sun
shine , Federal Minister of Agricul-
ture John Wise promised the
county’s beleaguered white bean
VOL 2 NO. 43
Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel,
Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1986.40 CENTS
Cardiff
gets
promotion
Murray Cardiff. M.P. for Huron-
Bruce was sworn in Oct. 15 as
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Solicitor General of Canada, the
Honourable James Kelleher.
Asa Parliamentary Secretary
Mr. Cardiff will assist Mr. Kelle
her in the House of Commons and
generally act as “back-up” sup
port to the Minister.
“I’m honoured and delighted to
receive this appointment,” Mr.
Cardiff said shortly after the
announcementwasmade. “I’m
looking forward to working with
Solicitor General Kelleher and his
staff,” he concluded.
The Solicitor General is respon
sible for the federal elements
concerned with the administration
of the criminal justice system
which include law enforcement,
penitentiaries, paroles and remis
sions. Mr. Kelleher also has
jurisdiction over Correctional Ser
vice Canada, the National Parole
Board and the RCMP.
Londesboro
Lions
aim big
In the most massive one-day
fund-raising drive ever to be
undertaken in this tiny hamlet, the
Londesboro Lions Club plans to
raise between $25,000 and $30,000
to finance the purchase of a
specially equipped van for one of
their members.
Lion Ron Nesbitt, who was
injured in a diving accident last
summer, is due to be released from
a London hospital soon, and the
club wants to present him with the
van as a gift from themselves and
from his entire community. Satur
day, November 29th, has been
chosen as “Back the Biter” Day,
named because many of Mr.
Nesbitt’s friends know him as
“The Biter.”
From the comments he has been
hearing and the enthusiasm that is
growing in the area, fund-raising
chairman Dave Overboe says he
expects full community support for
the event, and has already had
plentiful offers of help and fund
ing, even though the day is still five
weeks away.
T.B. Allen Ltd. of Londesboro
has already deposited a cheque for
$1 .OOOtothe account, and more
offers of help are coming in several
times a day from all over the
county, Mr. Overboe said.
All the Lions Clubs in Zone 3
South, which includes Mitchell,
Continued on page 5
producers relief in the form of a
sizeable increase in advance pay
ments on the crop, as well as
challenging the province to match
his government dollar for dollar in
Pondering a rain-ruined bean field near Exeter, Federal Minister of Agriculture John Wise, centre,
contemplates what aid his government can offer to Huron County farmers whose crops have been
devastated by six weeks of record rainfall. With him on an inspection tour of south Huron farms on Friday
was Huron-Bruce MP Murray Cardiff [light jacket], Lambton MP Sid Fraleigh [behind Mr. Wise] and Bev
Hill, far right, spokesman for the Huron Federation of Agriculture-supported Committee for Disaster
Relief, set up to seek aid for hard-pressed producers in the area.
Grossman riddles Riddell for local PC's
A full house of Huron County
Progressive Conservatives turned
out at the Brussels, Morris and
Grey Community Centre in Brus
sels Friday night to hear their party
leader, Larry Grossman, riddle the
policies of Ontario Agriculture
Minister Jack Riddell with criti
cism.
Mr. Grossman used 20 pages of a
25-page prepared text (from which
disaster aid for some farm areas.
His comments came Friday as
the minister toured several farms
near Exeter and Grand Bend in an
effort to assess first hand the
he departed liberally) to castigate
Mr. Riddell for his lack of action on
the part of farmers.
He blasted Mr. Riddell for his
attitude toward crop losses from
recent weather saying Mr. Riddell
had told farmers it was their own
fault that the crop insurance
program was inadequate because
they hadn’t brought the inadequa
cies to the attention of the
damage done to crops by the record
rainfall of recent weeks. Vegetable
growers in the marshy areas of
south Huron have been hardest hit
by the disaster, with one firm,
government. “1 foolishly thought
thatthe Ministerof Agriculture
would see the problem in crop
insurance himself.” Mr. Gross
man said. “It isn’t good enough to
say the crop insurance program
isn’t good enough but we can’t do
anything about farmers who didn’t
insure,” he said.
He said that Ontario farmers
may havealoud voice in cabinet
Soudant Farms m Hay Township,
estimating its losses at $450,000.
Earlier, a spokesman for the firm
had said that on top of the poor
prices of recent years, the situation
for his company is “beyond
survival.”
Mr. Wisemadethevisitatthe
invitation of a disaster committee
set up last week to seek assistance
for farmers suffering intolerable
financial losses in what a spokes
man said is the largest and most
widespread disaster ever to occur
in Huron County’s agricultural
economy.
Under the direction of Zurich-
area farmer Paul Klopp, president
of the Huron Federation of Agricul
ture, the six-member committee
stressed that aid was being sought
on behalf of only those farmers who
could demonstrate financial need,
stressing that assistance must
come in the form of relief from
losses incurred with the 1986 crop,
and assurance of operating capital
for 1987.
After meeting privately with
about 25 farmers at Soudant
Farms, Mr. Wise announced that
Ottawa is ready to offer a disaster
aid under two different programs,
Continued on page 5
Blyth
not hot
on accepting
PCB's
Despite assurances of safety
from both Ontario Hydro and the
Ministry of the Environment Blyth
village councillors are not too
thrilled at the prospect of accepting
three barrels of soil contaminated
by a spill from a Hydro transformer
in Hullett township for their waste
disposal site.
The soil is currently at the
Ontario Hydro Clinton area office
but Hydro has asked permission to
putitinthe Blyth-Hullett waste
disposal site. Ann Nesbit, acting
clerk-treasurer, said she had con
tacted Larry Struthers of the
Ministry of the Environment
(MOE) and had been advised it was
safe to take the barrels. Testing
had showed that PCB contamina
tion in the soil was less than 50
parts per billion, she said. She
explained that Hydro has its own
disposal site for soil contaminated
by more than the 50 parts per
million level but when the con
tamination is lower, it would prefer
to use local sites.
Councillor Bill Manning pointed
out it was fine for the MOE to say
the barrels are safe under the
current standards but government
often changes those standards.
‘ ‘What if they tested (the site) later
and found some PCB contamina
tion.” he said. The ministry might
then move to close the entire site.
Other councillors were also
uneasy with the proposal as well
finally deciding to put off any
decision until a joint meeting is
held with Hullett township council
and Mr. Struthers. Mr. Struthers
has been seeking a meeting to
discuss operation of the landfill
site.
butthey don’t have an effective
one. The Liberals “increased your
taxes $700 million” last year, he
said, but the agriculture budget
had increased only 10.5 per cent.
When he was treasurer in 1984,
Mr. Grossman said, the budget for
agriculture increased by 14 per
cent.
During the speech he often
Continued on page 5