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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1993-10-13, Page 1PUBLISHED IN LUCKNOW, ONTARIO ' Wednesday, - October 13,1993 550 G.S.T. Included Students at LCPS had great weather last Friday as they hosted the annual pumpkin race. On the left Susie Steffen, Candice Hamilton and Erin Phillips pace themselves midway through the course. Teacher Ruth Bell, dressed appropriately for the occasion, offers Heather Sande congratulations on finishing the race. (Pat Livingston photo) Poor turnout by Pat Livingston It may have been the good har- vest weather, it 'may have been the Blue Jays playing the opening game against the White Sox. Whatever it was, the result was a small crowd of around 60 people who turned out, at the all candidates' meeting spon- sored by Line in the Dirt last week. Six of the seven federal can- didates in the Huron Bruce riding made opening statements and fielded questions from a panel and the floor. Candidates were Murray Cardiff, PC; Allan Dettweiler, Libertarian; Len Lobb, Reform; Tony McQuail, NDP; Paul. Steckle, Liberal, and Henry Zekveld, CHP. Absent was the recently declared Rick Alexander, Natural Law. Sitting on the panel were Grant Collins, OFA; Art Simpson, NFU; _Elliott Lowry, i .inrin...the_Diitrand Dr. Vincent Amanor-Boa(1.u, one of those involved in a study by the George Moms Centre on the effect the national pesticide regulatory system has on Canada's overall economy. Lobb, Reform Lobb said his party is a very heavily agricultural based one, that has put together a package con- solidating over a dozen uncoor- dinated support programs into three major ones, designed to protect producers from unfair foreign trade' subsidies and from income fluc- tuations beyond their control. He referred to it as "sound, simplified and a plan that is muchmore easily followed by the taxpayers, the agricultural community and our trading partners abroad." McQuail, NDP McQuail believes "The most important, crop we are raising on our farms is our family and our children. They are our future and as a species the most important thing we do is raise the next generation, ... build communities ... people working together, sharing values and also sharing equipment and work." He stated that concerns he • at meeting expressed in 1988 about the impact of Free Trade have come true. Steckle, Liberal "The Liberal party remains true to its roots and tradition of supporting agriculture," said Steckle, referring to the party's commitment to es- tablish an "essential national agriculture and food.policy. We've committed ourselves to doing a better job abroad of selling our farm products. ... We have seven major marketing positions in the world today," he said, compared to the U.S. with 600. Cardiff, PC Cardiff said his party believes that a strong Canada. depends on a strong agri-food industry. "Between '84 and '92 we committed $32.3 billion to the sector. ... For the last four years we've worked with the agri-industry to develop a comprehensive plan to take the industry into the next century." The PC'policy has four pillars - greater market responsiveness, increased self reliance, increased environmen- tal sustainability and recognition of regional diversity. Zekveld, CHP The CHP recognizes agriculture as the mainstay of the Canadian economy. They: believe that "i- ndividual owner -operated farms are a vital part of the social and political fabric of our nation." Agriculture is hurting because of unfair competition from heavily subsidized countries, said Zekveld. "When it comes to free trade, we want fair trade." They want to see Christian values in all areas of government. "If we come back to the moral fabric of society, we are going to have prosperity," said Zekveld. Dettweiler, Libertarian Dettweiler said his party would "steal only enough money from you to run thebasic functions of government" - police, .military,, judicial system. "Taxation is theft." They believe in "...giving people the maximum •of choices, the maximum of liberty ... not telling people how to live their lives..... equal opportunity for everyone. While they recognize agriculture has some unique problems, they "won't use someone else's money to bale out an inefficient business." Registration fee is now refundable under Bill 42 by Don Jackson The Ontario legislature passed a new act on Oct. 6 which calls for most full-time farmers to make an annual payment to a general farm organization. The Farm Registration and Farm Organizations Funding Act, introduced as Bill 42, was passed following its third reading at Queen's Park last Wednesday. Huron MPP Paul Klopp said he's been supporting stable funding since it was first introduced a year ago as Bill 105. Concerning Bill 105, Klopp said,"`.Over the winter, it was generally agreed that it was okay but we thought we should change it from mandatory non-, refundable to mandatory refun- dable." He said it was easier to introduce a new bill in the legis- lature than to amend the original one, so they created bill 42. Under the new act, farmers whose gross income exceeds $7,000 will be required to file a fanning business registration form with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The bill requires all farming businesses that are required to register to pay a farm organization fee of $150 to provide education and analysis on farming issues on the behalf of farmers. While the $150 must be paid by farmers who are required to register, the amount is refundable if they apply for a refund. "It's rtfun dable. You write out a check to the organization of your choice and then you can apply, for a refund," Klopp explained. "The point is to force a farmer to join a farming organization, then the onus is on the farmer to have to explain, 'Why don't I want to pay into this farrn organization?". There are .presently two farm organizations that are acceptable, under the new legislation. They are the Ontario Federation of Agricul- ture (OFA)• and the Christian Farmers . Federation of Ontario (CFFO). The Union des Cul- tivateurs Franco-Qntarians (UCFO) is the eligible francophone or- ganization to receive funding. Other farm organizations can apply to be included in the stable funding •turn to page 2 Continue fight against mandatory JK in Bruce The Bruce County Board of Education is still fighting against the province's plan to make Junior Kindergarten (JK) mandatory by 1994. Trustees passed a strongly -worded motion Oct. 5 opposing the man- datory program. The board is trying to cover all its bases by also asking. for exemption from providing JK until 1997, and urging the province to give the decision, whether or not to offer JK, back to local boards. Trustee Gord Thompson said the Bruce board's opposition to man- datory JK is "well-known" by ministry officials. Last month, the board was , invited to help the ministry set guidelines that will determine if , a board can have a Questions and Answers three-year delay in implementing During the two-hour long_ JK or not. Trustees and board of - meeting, many questions were ficials were surprised; but pleased—g posed . to the candidates. Their by the invitation. We're not replies to five of those questions against the merits of JK, but it will follow. aaa two to three per cent to the local tax bill," said Thompson. "If I had my druthers there's other ways I'd spend that two to three per cent in Bruce County." Thompson suggested that the $11/ million JK would cost the county could be used more effectively by a carefully ..targeted head -start program for . primary . students 'and by "unlocking employment oppor- tunities" for one-third of high school. students who go directly into the work force. So far the Bruce board has not Made any provisions for JK at any of its 23 elementary schools. "If we don't get exemption (until 1997) our budget forecast is going to be in bad shape," said property chair Frank Eagleson. Board chair Don Tedford sug- te-d thr;r 1S gFOw-i-n disenchantment with JK around the -turn' to page 2 Question: Now does your party plan to deal effectively with the issue of the pesticide regulatory system that is impeding the com- petitive ability of the Canadian farmer? Zekveld - The Canadian farmer has to be on par on the world market. He does not get the same price and has to pay more for chemicals coming across the border. It is the Canadian government's respon- sibility to make it possible for farmers to get the product as cheaply as the states. McQuail - The NDP have been calling for a speed up in The pes- ticide registration process in Canada and for individuals to be able to import pesticides from the U.S. which have been approved ,there. Lobb - We have no specific policy on'pesticide registration. We see the problem of balancing the emotions of the environmentalist with the •turn to page 11 Joint meeting of two boards called historic by Don Jackson The Huron County Board of Education (HCBE) and the Huron - Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School Board (HPCRCSSB) held their first ever joint meeting to bring concerns up before Mike Faman minister without portfolio with respon- sibilities in education and training. The two boards gave a joint presentation outlining some of the concerns towards education issues in this area. This document set out four areas of concern, which were education finance reform, the role of the parent and community and advisory functions, policy and program implementation re- quirements and approaches to shared services. Each of these areas were listed as the headings for a brief written presentation outlining specific con- cerns in these general areas. At the end of the prq6entation, HCBE Vice -Chair Graeme Craig gave a summary of the points brought up during the presentation. "In summary our key points are as follows: "1. that significant education, finance reform is required within the lifetime of this govoa ment to re -introduce systems of fdirness and equity in the • distribution of available resources; • "2. that invitations to involve parents and community in an ad- visory fashion be focused on nur- turing the local school and that a provincial review be undertaken to the role of local trustee and the functions of the local school boards. "3. that policy and program implementation requirements con- sider the unique needs of rural Ontario boards and permit the •turn to page 11