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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-01-31, Page 4Reflections Letters THE EDITOR, With the recent financial cuts in the Huron County road budget, leaving county roads unplowed after 1 a.m. and the closing of branch libraries throughout the county due to lack of funds, it may be time, prior to the 1996 County of Huron budget approval, to determine whether county residents can afford to finance the operation of a "non essential service", such as the Huron County Museum. In 1995 county residents contributed $308,819 of their municipal taxes to the museum's operation of which $262,220 went to salaries and employee benefits. The province contributed $34,000 in 1995. Total expenditures to operate Huron County Museum in 1995 were $437,920. According to county records 23,139 people visited the museum in 1995. If you divide the number of visitors by the cost of operating the museum, almost $19 per visitor is paid through taxes just to be open. If you feel as I do that your taxes could be used for more "essential services" in the county, I suggest you contact your local council members prior to the regular meeting of County Council on March 28 when the 1996 budget will be approved and let them know that you would like your hard earned taxes redirected to mos necessary needs. W.P. Fydenchuk Huron Park THE EDITOR, As we move into '96 we wonder about the future - our own, our community and our world. We live in a pretty terrific part of the universe where our needs are met and our complaints and wants continue and grow. As government support decreases communities will be expected to determine needs and offer support. I'm writing in support of The Ark - the youth drop in centre - our children need a place to gather that is non-judgmental and safe. The board, Sallianne, Wendy and the kids have tried hard to be part of the community; now it's time to financially and verbally support them. Government funding is no longer sure so plans need to be made for self-sufficiency. Photo by Janice Becker The Optimist Club (Friends of Youth) is helping pay the rent and we have plans for a fundraiser March 30. You can help with our future now by letting The Ark be a permanent part of Brussels area. Your words of encouragement to The Ark folk and your charitable donations will keep The Ark afloat into the future. Betty Graber. THE EDITOR, Hay Township, Huron County, will be celebrating its sesquicentennial during 1996 using the "Hay Days '96" logo. An invitation is extended to all those with an interest or roots in the township to attend the planned festivities. A book detailing the townships 150 years of progress including its corporation in 1846 and the purchase of an official Hay Township seal is aptly titled "Hay Township Highlights". Many township family histories have been included making this volume a wonderful historical addition to any personal library. The book will be for sale in January. Anyone purchasing a copy will also receive a "Hay Days '96" Schedule of Events. We know there are many more Continued on page 23 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 1996 C The North Huron itizen BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1995 P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, Publisher, Keith Roulston BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. Editor, Bonnie Gropp NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Advertising Manager, FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $25.00/year ($23.37 + $1.63 G.S.T.) for local; $33.00/year ($30.85 + $2.15 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $62.00/year for U.S.A. and $75.00/year for other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Does anyone have a vision? With the passing of the controversial Omnibus Bill the Ontario government of Mike Harris now has the tools it says it needs to crack down on the deficit, but does anyone have a vision of what the province will be like when they're through? If they have an idea of what will be left when they are finished their cuts, the Harris goVernment ministers aren't saying. It leads to the idea that the government picked numbers for cuts and now are trying to live up to them without a clear idea of what the cuts will mean. Take the proposed cuts to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food as an example. Minister Noble Villeneuve has said 35 per cent will be cut from the ministry's budget, despite the fact the Conservatives' campaign promised there would be no further cuts to the OMAFRA budget which had already been slashed steadily in the past decade. But where can the cuts be accomplished? As Huron Ag Rep Bob Humphries pointed out last week, 34.8 per cent of the Ministry's budget goes to the farm tax rebate. A further 32 per cent of the budget goes to direct funding of programs like Crop Insurance. These are programs few farmers will be willing to give up. It leaves the most visible portion of the ministry, the advisors and the county offices. Of the close to 2,000 people who work in this branch of the ministry, just 600 work out in the county offices. This is the branch of the ministry that has been the backbone of provincial policy toward agriculture for most of the century. To make the 35 per cent cut this entire ministry branch would have to be closed and there would still have to be cuts of three per cent to the rest of the ministry. If this branch of the ministry was closed, would there be any sense in having a Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs? There hardly needs to be a whole ministry structure to administer programs like the farm tax rebate or crop insurance. Even Marcel Beaubien, parliamentary assistant to Villeneuve, admitted last week it will be difficult to make a 35 per cent cut without killing the ministry. But the ministry must be kept alive, he said, because somebody must be around to protect the interests of rural Ontario. Similarly, does anyone really understand what will be left after the government hacks away at the health and education systems? Certainly nobody is saying — nobody is even talking about what changes are planned. In fact the debate over the Omnibus Bill showed many ministers didn't even know what powers the bill gave them. What's more, the government doesn't seem to want to listen to any opinions but its own. It had to be forced into holding public hearings on the Omnibus bill, then realized they had to make more than 100 amendments. True revolutionaries, the government members don't want anything to divert them from their path, even common sense. It may have been unfair of farmers, at a recent Huron County Federation of Agriculture meeting, to accuse Huron MPP Helen Johns of having gone into hiding, since she has been tied up in hearings on the Omnibus Bill, but the same accusation has been made of other government members such as Marilyn Mushinski, Minister of Citizenship and Culture, who stopped attending many cultural events when criticism of her ministry's cuts to arts groups grew loud. While a huge majority of Ontario residents still agree with the government that cuts must be made, there seems to be a growing realization that they're getting far more than they voted for. Opposition is just starting because people believed government promises such as no cuts to healthcare, policing and agriculture. No one could believe there would actually be cuts of 35 per cent. When you cut a ministry like that, you're giving the revolution, but not the common sense. — KR Premier of Never-never Land Lucien Bouchard became premier of Quebec this week but it might as well be renamed Never-never Land. Canada is divisible because it is not a real country but Quebec isn't, Me says. If Quebecers have the democratic right to decide their own future don't others? So what is he going to do if the Ccee vote to stay in Canada, send in the troops? Do French-speaking Quebecers have the right to suppress everyone else? Bouchard obviously isn't living in a real world. That so many Quebecers believe him is truly frightening. E ditorial