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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1991-09-25, Page 1Fair fun Photos and results from 130th Brussels Fall Fair See page 8 In the cards Card, toy collectors get special show in Blyth Sunday See page 3 VOL. 7 NO. 38 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1991.60 CENTS Dinner for three Scott Armstrong, ot Brussels, gets three times the tun fairgrounds last Wednesday in Brussels. The occasion was when he stops to feed these little goats during a visit the 130th anniversary of the Fall Fair. through the animal exhibits that were on display at the High School teachers ratify 5.5% increase The Huron County Board of Edu­ cation (HCBE) and its almost 300 secondary school teachers repre­ sented by District 45 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Feder­ ation (OSSTF) announced that a new collective agreement for the 1991-92 school year has been rati­ fied. The agreement calls for a 5.5 per­ cent increase in grid salaries retroactive to September 1, 1991. As of that dale the minimum and maximum teachers' salaries will $28,852 and $62,415 respectively. Allowance for extra degrees and positions of responsibility received increases of zero percent and 3.0 percent respectively. A tentative agreement was reached at a special board meeting on September 9 in a recorded vote of nine to six. Trustee John Jewitt said at that time that he supported the recommendation not because he thought the people of the county could afford the increase, or that the teachers had earned it. "I sup- Festival attendance down 7% The hard realities of the the recession showed up in the atten­ dance totals of the Blyth Festival this season where, despite adding more performance, overall atten­ dance dropped seven per cent from last year. Unofficial year-end statistics show that attendance for 107 per­ port the agreement because I think it is the best we can do and I don't see how we can do any better." Goderich trustee Norm Pickell disagreed saying that with the lay­ offs, plant closures and wage freezes presently occurring in the formances this year stood at 39,500 compared to 42,500 for 101 perfor­ mances last year. Festival communications director Jane Gardner said the effect of the recession seemed to be that people were coming to the theatre less often: people who used to see four performances this year saw two. county, the board should exercise restraint and teachers should set an example. The board and teachers were pleased that the tentative agreement was reached prior to the expiration of the old one. Still, she said, there was a bright side. Although the Festival's research into who made up this year's audience is incomplete, she felt there were many new visitors to the Festival this year, particularly for Sean Dixon’s The End of the World Romance. Under the eco- Continued on page 27 Reform Party readys for Huron election When voters go to the polls in the next federal election in Huron- Bruce, they'll have a new party on the ballot. The Reform party of Canada has decided to set up a rid­ ing association after 150 people attended an inaugural meeting in Clinton last Thursday night. Norm Gurr of Southamption, who is acting president of the new party in this riding, said he was pleased with the attendance at the meeting, and surprised by the phe­ nomenal growth of the Reform Party in Ontario and Huron-Bruce. The riding runs from Grand Bend in the south to Southampton in the north, and includes all of Huron County and half of Bruce. "It started (here) only four months ago with seven people and I agreed to help out. But my phone hasn't stopped ringing since. We now have over 200 members in this riding," Gurr said. Gurr, who retired four years ago as an elementary school principal in North York, said the Reform Party has 90 organizations in the 99 federal ridings in Ontario, and expects to be represented in them all in time for the next federal elec­ tion expected in late 1992 or 1993. Gurr said the new party, which was started by Preston Manning, the son of a former Albertan as a populist movement in Alberta in 1987, only voted last January to expand into other provinces. Gurr told the meeting the other night that the Reform party wants politicians to be more responsive to the wish of the people. Members of Parliament would find out what the wishes of the electorate were and then go to Ottawa and vote their constituents wishes. "(MP Murray) Cardiff can't do that now. He has to vote along party lines, no matter what he or his constituents think," Gurr told the meeting. MPs would spend more lime in their ridings than in Ottawa, Gurr told the meeting, listening to what their constituents have to say and then go to Ottawa and vote those wishes instead of along party lines. If they didn't the voters could "recall" the MP and force him/her to resign. The Reform party also supports more free votes in parliament said Gurr, and is also in favour of more referendums, where the public would have a direct say on legisla­ tion, especially on major moral issues such as abortion, and capital punishment, and social matters such, as immigration, language, and constitutional change. Gurr cited Switzerland where voters have four chances a year to vote in referendums. "They would be easy to have. We could have terminals in every town hall, just like the lottery ter­ minals we have now. People could go in and their vote would be instantly recorded," said Gurr. "The present politicians are destroying the country. They didn't ask the Canadians what we thought of the constitution, or Free Trade or the GST. We've lost 350,000 jobs because of high interest rates, high taxes and the national deficit. Cana- Continued on page 26