The Lucknow Sentinel, 1981-09-09, Page 1The
Single, Copy . 3Se.
WEDNESDAY, ' SEPTEMBER 9, 1981
/0 PAGES
The Ontario Federation of . Agriculture
(UFA) announced the composition " of its
Emergency Task Force. today.
The Task Force,,formed to find ans'wers•to
the °financial. crisis facing Ontario farmers,:
will; be headed' by Everett; Biggs.
Biggs was. • formerly provincial . deputy
minister of . agriculture, He now runs a
consulting business, as well as being presid-
ent of the Canadian National Exhibition.
John Wise, federal Minister of agriculture
under the Clark government, will also serve
on the Task Force.
Another member is retired M.P.P..
Murray Gaunt who spent many years' as the
agriculture critic for the provincial . Liberal
Party. . ,
The consumer. interest will be represented
by 'Barbara Shand who served two terms as
president of the Ontario chapter . of the
Consumers" Association of Canada.
The fifth member cif the. Task Force is
Pembroke area lawyer and dairyman, Del
O'Brien. .
OFA president. Ralph Barrie said the Task
Force, will hold meetings . across Ontario
seeking farmer, small business and con-
sumer input for areport. to be • presented at \`
the. annual OFA meeting :in November. The
study should cost about 50,000 and will be
paid for by the federation.
l think most people nowrealize there's a
financial crisil in rural Ontario. OFA has put
the case - well to . thepublic and the
government.but'we're still far from'getting
solutions to our problems," he said.
The federal government has failed to
make readily available low-interest financing
but is promnisitg' that .will soon change,
Barrie said: He added the . provincial
government has failed to give subsidized
• interest rates :;and guaranteed loans that
Turn to page 2*
4
•
y�r
Forty-five repr
esentin 16; townscompeted In th annual Lucknow ow skies and cooltempertaees for thesnnuahmen'a.
event. Winners m1
Lawd Howling-IArbour:nay tonrnamattt:hehit the Ltyetdow.Grienrr detailswW rpperrle ne t weet'eSen dnel: CSend l-StaUPheto
on Monday. For once the weatherman eo-operited with clear' sunny •
Meeungs give pu�uc input on Hydro decision
• • -•
BY grEPHANIE LEVESQUE
Officials from Ontario Hydro were on
hand this past week k to speak with concerned
citizens about the proposed six alternate
routes for transmission lines.
The information centre in Clinton, :one of
several Ontario Hydro is sponsoring across
Southwestern Ontario, was the first oppor-
tunity for the public to learn about the
routes firsthand. Ontario Hydro is seeking
response from the public and the informa-
tion'centres are one of several methods.
There are five working groups' throughout:
Southwestern Ontario which are made up of
various organizations, including represen-
tatives of . the Ontario Federation of
Agriculture, the Association of Major Power
Consumers, the Ontario Historical Society,
and various representatives from-
municipalities.
rommunicipalities. Of the, five working groups,
four are still meeting, while the Listowel
group, involving the counties of Huron, Per-
th, Wellington and Waterloo has been
postponed until November.
Besides' these two methods of involving
the public, Ontario Hydro has compiled
television, radio and newsppper advertis-
ing.
Hydro wants to know what the people are
thinking and .the public are asking ques-
tions.
Most visitors to the information centre
wanted to learn more about the proposed
routes, and what Ontario .Hydro • terms
"conceptual .uap�
ng
"Conceptual
.plng" , ac
cording to
Steve Rimmer of the gnvironmental Plann-
ing Department. of Ontario is "the highest
•level of transmission planning". The pro -
Mar
s
Representatives of Ontario Hydro were is Luckfow last Thtunday to give the public a thence
to look over their proposals for a route plan to take power from the Bruce Nuclear Powerr '
Development Into southwestern Ontario. Kinloss Township fariuer Morrs y Ile tderaon,
..left,
sp s with Jim Rayne, supervising. planning engineer with Ontario Hydro.. A series of
meetings were held in this area to give the public an opportunity' to have Input into the choice. '
.of routes. .Sentinel Stiff Photol
posed routes, shown ora literature available
at the information centres, are the broad
areas where the transmission lines may go.
As of June 1. of this year, Ontario Hydro
started public involvement in the route
selection. In November, Hydro hopes to sub-
mit an environmental assessment document
to the provincial government, recommen-
ding a preferred system plan, i.e. the route
most agreeableto sill.
Once government approval is, obtained,
under the Environmental. Assessment Act,
1975, Hydro will start further detailed
studies which will involve the public. These
Tuns to page 2•
Farm dealers have
their problems too
BY STEPHANIE LEVFSQUE
LONDESBOHO - Farm Equipment
dealers across Ontario realize that without
farmers they would ' have no business, a
representative from that sector said.
Fred Lobb, president of the Ontario Retail
Farm Equipment Dealers • Association
made the statement to the Huron County
Federation of Agriculture on September 3.
Mr. Lobb informel the farmers there are
"529 so tilled farm equipment dealers in
Ontario". • He said his organization
represents 306 dealers in the ' province.
There are 21 farm equipment dealers in
Huron County alone.
He explained a bit about the organization,
and pointed out to the farmers the dealers'
side in regards to, high prices on farm
machinery,
The association has a threefold purpose,
one to certify dealers, to present industry in-
formation to ' the dealers and to Mediate
disputes between farmers, dealers and fare'
machinery companies.
To be certified, a dealer has to provide
warranties, for example, a one-year war-
ranty
arranty on a.cornbine, a one-year warranty on
a skid steer loader, and a 90 -day parts warm
rarity, Dealers must also provide emergen-
cy part service 'on holidays and weekends.
The association also has to approve a sam-
ple sale agreement.
To keep dealers informed on the industry,
there are newsletters, meetinks, and press
releasin. .
• To mediate disputes, the association has
employed a secretary-general manager,
John Kessler, who works out of the Universi-
ty of .Guelph, in a dispute; Mr. Kessler's
responsibility is to visit all parties involved
and to obtain an agreement.
Mr. Lobb presented statistics to the OFA
which were compiled between.April 1980
and March 1981. There were 10. complaints
received in that time. Of those, 80 were
volved, 20 were investigated with no fur-
ther action, four cases went to court, with
Mr. Kessler provviding bis services to the
farmer, and the board sat on one case, mak-
Turn to page 20