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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1979-05-02, Page 6/ Page 6—Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday; May 2, 1979 The LUCKNOW SENTINEL LUCRTiOW, ONTARIO "The Sepoy Town" Established 1873 Published Wednesday On the Huron -Bruce Boundary Published by Signal -Star Publishing Ltd. Sharon J. Dietz Editor Anthony N. Johnstone - Advertising and General Manager Subscription rate, Si 1 per year in advance Senior Citizens rate, $9 per year in advance U.S.A. and Foreign, $21.50 per year in advance Sr. Cit., U.S.A. and Foreign $19.50 per year in advance Business and Editorial Office Telephone 528-2822 Mailing Address P.O. Box 400, Lucknow;, NOG 2H0 Second class mail registration number - 0847 From Queen's Park Deadly dioxin in Lake Ontario BY MURRAY GAUNT Dioxin,, one of the most toxic of chemicals, -has been found in minute quantities in fish taken 'from Lake Ontario. It is the first time the chemical har, been discovered in fish from the lake: Environment Minister Harry Parrot stated that there is no doubt . about the,. safety of drinking water from Lake Ontario. However, he said that ; the ministry has never tested for dioxin in the province's drinking water or fish. The minister also said that "there is no danger in the quantities of fish weare likely to consume in Ontario". He does advise that pregnant women, nursing mothers and children should not eat fish. caught in Lake Ontario, however. Also, adults are cautioned to eat only the occasional .meal of fish. "If it's only one or two fish a week, then that's fine." The Opposition:: -has strongly condem- ned the Government for sponsoring advertisements in British newspapers for skilled workers while there, are 319,000 people .unemployed in Ontario: Apparently, an advertisementin the London Sun in March called for exper- ienced tradesmen to work in the General Motors transmission plant in Windsor. Although t1'e ad was paid for by the, automotive . company, it was placed and sponsored by the Ontario Government's' selective placement service in London. When asked why Ontario residents are not being trained• to fill such positions, the Minister of Education replied that she was not aware of the advertisement, and . that while adequate training exists in Ontario, the Government can't "go out and coerce people into training pro- grams". Union spokesmen; however, say they were not notified of the vacancies. They say there are more than 600•grtemployed trade. men in the Toronto area with skills. required for some of the jobs. Canada Manpower conducted "an exhaustive nationwide 'search for mill-. Wrights, electrical repairmen, tool mak- ers, tool and die makers and metal machine mechanics" before giving GM Hydro should tell all At the time of the Nuclear crisis at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant in Pennsylvania in early April, this news, paper called for Ontario Hydro to hold public meetings to reassure the people of the province that the Candu system is safe. At the time Ontario Hydro issued press reports stating the Candu system was superior to the U.S. system and propos- ing open hearings to discuss the nuclear question with the public. Robert B. Taylor, chairman of the Board of Ontario Hydro stated "We believe that we can demonstrate to the satisfaction of any tribunal and to the public, that our nuclear plants are designed and operated to be safe." Since then secret papers have been leaked to MPP Eddie Sargent which outline mishaps at Bruce generating plan A which indicate the possibility of a nuclear crisis at Bruce is indeed real. In the wake of these incidents being made publicin the Ontario Legi lature, Ontario Hydro has demanded a public hearing to discuss the incidents and refute the • charges made in the report: Ontario Hydro would have better served the people of this province and especially the people in the •Bruce area, if they had come forward at the time of the Pennsylvania crisis and said mishaps have occurred at the Bruce plant which could have developed into a crisis here. jInstead they attempted to cover up the fact that a nuclear disaster is a possibility even in the Candu system. They have shouted from the roof tops that Candu is safe and the same crisis could never happen here. The question still remains why Hydro still contends these reports were avail- able to the public in the Hydro library and yet, Eddie Sargent was told reports of such incidents were classified top secret information. Hydro should show their hand and clear up the doubts, and suspiciions created when 'information previously not made ' public, is leaked as this secret documentation has. The public can only mistrust Ontario Hydro and suspect they have been trying to cover up the facts. This very weekend Bruce development Hydro spokesman Don White was dismissing the secret report as "non- sense", another accident occurredat the Bruce development, when two men received excessive doses of radiation while attempting to free a damaged fuel rod from the reactor shut down 12 days ago. People are wary of the unknown and nuclear power is relatively an unknown subject to the ordinary citizen. It is Hydro's responsibility to inform the public of the risks and the dangers. The Thursdayhearing should be just the beginning of a new public relations policy on Hydro's part. In the future they should keep the public well informed on all aspects of the 1province's nuclear reac- tors, instead of only speaking out about the positive side of the nuclear question. Public meeting on nuclear power To the Editor. Recent evasive statements made by Ontario Hydro afficials concerning disclos- ures of the accident record and radiation exposure of workers at the Bruce Nuclear Power Development alarm me. Ontario Hydro should have the obligation to inform the public of such incidents. For several years there has been a local group, CANTDU, concerned about nuclear power who have been denied the sort of information which has now been "leaked". +. Robert Taylor, chairman of ,the, board of Ontario Hydro was quoted in the.. April 1A, 1979 Lucknow Sentinel that "We believe that we dema- strate...to the public, that our nuclear plants are...safe: "Only by hiding information such . as that which has just been disclosed can Ontario, Hydro deceive the public into thinking they are . safe. Since it' appears we do not get the. whole truth from. Ontario Hydro we should all become . informed, on this issue. The recent accident and near disaster at Three Milelsland should ,remind us that nuclear safetycould suddenly • become a vital concern tnHjur area. ` In an effort to •help people become more . informed on nucaear power there will be a drscusslon next Sunday, May e6, at 4 P.m. in the Lucknow United Church: • Fran McQuail.' LOOKING BACK THROUGH THE SENTINEL 75 YEARS AGO Alex Ross, harness -maker has moved back to the old stand .on the south side of Campbell Street, next to Spence's Drug Store where for over 20 years he formerly kept his\ harness shop. Last spring the last snow fell on May 1. The latest recorded fall in Ontario was on June 3 and 4, 1829. In 1850 and 1853 snow fell on•May 30 and in 1895 and 1900 on May 15. It should be known it is against the law to shoot,hunt or destroy any game or fur -bearing animals at this season of the year:" It is closed season until September 1 for most and until January 1 -'next for others. Farmers in this section are advised to examine the corn they are using for seed the coming season and test it to make sure it will grow. A well-known farmer in this vicinity states about 45 years ago this country passed .through just a summer and winter as the past and the next season a large amount of the corn sown failed to grow. He argues the wet season last year may have caused the corn to mature improperly. Some corn in cribs may be still soft. The severe winter may have killed the germs and its failure --tom sprout may be the first knowledge that some will have that the corn will not grow. i 50 YEARS AGO INDUSTRIOUS DUCK ack Lane near Kinlough has a duck this season which seems bent on.. doing rather more than its share of duck's work that is thefproduction of eggs. This duck deposits an egg in its nest every day, but every other day the egg is quite over size. and double yoked. The dimensions of one egg Mr. Lane brought to the office are 9 by 7'/2 inches and the appearance is that. of an ordinary goose egg. An article in a previous issue of the Kincardine Review -Reporter corhmented on. the Lucknow's Council's motion to take the initiative in having the. Blue Water Highway built from Goderich to Lucknow and continue northward to , connect with the Durham Road at the village of Kinloss. The Kincardine paper remarked "To cut Kincardine off the blue Water. Highway entirely. The whole idea hasn't one plausible point about it. People travelling on the Blue Water -- Highway are in most cases on their way to visit the peninsula. Imagine the nonsen- sical suggestion of going into Lucknow and back the Durham. What for? To see the village of - Lucknow? That village hasn't one single summer attraction to the tourists - no lakeside, no tourist camp, no theatres, no dance halls, no golf courses, no fishing, no bathing - nothing in the way of entertainment that summer tourist are looking for. And Kincardine has them ' all. The whole suggestion is simply the workings of a group of schem- ers who will be fought to the last ditch." The Sentinel editor commented on the Kincardine article by saying the Lucknow route • is shorter, • part of the road is already . brought up to the provincial standard and there is an abundance of good material close at hand, It passes through abetter agricultural section and therefore more pleasing scenery than does the Lake Shore road. The Lucknow route takes ohne directly into the heart of Bruce where there are good roadsleading to Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, points. he tourists will find a delightful camp-„ i g, boating and fishing at Silver Lake, n miles north of Lucknow, not surpas- se y anything on the Lake Huron shore. The change proposed by Lucknow Coun- cil is not with a view to sidetracking Kincardine nor with a view to having tourists see Lucknow. It is in the general interest as a road proposition and the deep laid scheme of Robert Johnson, president of the Ontario Good Roads Association and former reeve of Lucknow is just a figment of the Kincardine paper's imagination. 25 YEARS AGO The movement aimed at revival of The Caledonian Games in Lucknow received a setback .by the poor attendance at the public meeting held last week. There were only about 20 in attendance. Purpose of the meeting was to discuss the pros and cons of reviving "The Games" for which Lucknow was ,internationally famous before the turn of the century and with this traditional background it is felt by some, Lucknow is a natural for an annual "big day" of this types There were two alternatives which the .meeting saw. One that a committee meet with the Pipe Band Executive to discuss the possibility of a co-operative effort in staging a tattoo and : bringing in a big name' band. The other was possibly a well known promoter of "The Games" in other centres might undertake to promote the project here for the initial come -back effort. A weekend followup to the benefit dance staged last week for Sid Gardner saw the fund substantially increased by donations totalling 5134. Mr. Gardner underwent • an operation in Victoria Hospital for the amputation of his left leg below,the Knee. The surgery was perfored about a month after Sid had. the leg badly smashed when caught and Whirled' " on' a shaft f Treleaven's Mill. Efforts are being made to save the knee. Home teaching of the blind - by the blind - is underway in Huron County this week, one of the many servicesprovided by The Canadian National Institute • for the Blind. Susan Miller, a member of CNIB's home teaching staff has been helping a blind, deaf brother and sister at Dungannon. Miss Miller is almost com- pletely blind herself: She is associated with the St. Catharines CNIB office.. She is spending•two weeks ifi Huron County on this visit, teaching braille, handicrafts and other skills to county blind.