The Citizen, 1996-03-13, Page 1See page 10 Starting page 13
The North Huron
itizen
Vol. 12 No. 11 VVednesday, March 13, 1996
610 4e GST 650
On top of the world
Though this long winter may, hopefully be on its last legs, with this week's projected
warming trend, Nicki and Tamarra Mason of Brussels showed they still have enthusiasm for
winter fun as they climbed on top a mountain of snow on their way home from school last
week.
Urban road rebates to be
reduced over next 3 years
Education
Series on
technology in
school continues
Sports
Crusaders lead
their semi-final
series by one game
Farm
Federation of Ag.
hosts annual MPs'
dinner
Review
Sondheim's 'Night
Music' ends Grand
season in style
See page 23 See page 8
Meat inspectors
vital service to
farm community
Huron County's urban municipal-
ities, already faced with the loss of
a 25 per cent rebate on the portion
of their taxes they pay for the coun-
ty road levy, will lose another five
per cent in each of the next three
years, county council decided at its
March 7 meeting.
When the province reduced the
money it provided for the county
road system, it also eliminated the
requirement that the counties rebate
25 per cent of the money paid by
urban municipalities for county
roads. Huron had traditionally
rebated 40 per cent to urban munic-
ipalities and the initial proposal at
the February meeting of council
was that the entire 40 per cent
rebate be cancelled this year.
Led by the pleadings of Exeter
Reeve Bill Mickle that the council
.reconsider any cuts since urban
municipalities had already been hit
harder in loss of provincial grants
than rural ones, the council had
voted last month to continue with
the 25 per cent cut and consider
phasing in the other 15. Under the
new policy, the county will include
one third of the additional 15 per
cent, in this year's budget, meaning
that towns and villages won't get 30
per cent of their county road taxes
Continued on page 6
By Janice Becker
"We take pride in having govern-
ment inspected meat," says Keith
Bachert of Bachert Meats, Walton,
"but provisions allowed during the
OPSEU (Ontario Public Services
Employees Union) strike may
encourage farmers and other abat-
toir owners to go back to barnyard
slaughters."
With the OPSEU strike now in
its third week, the Ontario Federa-
tion of Agriculture is calling for
immediate action from both the
government and union to put
provincial meat inspectors back to
work.
"With no inspectors available and
a provision to allow the cutting of
meat which has been slaughtered in
a barnyard, rather than a clean abat-
toir, the government's policies are
going backwards," says Bachert.
The townships are looking into
acquiring their own meat inspec-
tors, but apparently there is a lot of
red tape, he says.
In Morris Twp., council support-
ed and recommended to Huron
County council that the Health Unit
make meat inspectors available to
provincially-inspected facilities,
By Janice Becker
The long-awaited toolbox which
was to be equipped with the tools
to repair the finances of education
systems in Ontario was announced
March 6, though not all involved
with education are sure there was
anything in the box.
"Of the $400 million announced
savings in education, the entire
amount has to come out of the
September to December 1996 bud-
get," says Huron Women Teachers'
Federation President Wilhelmina
Laurie.
"The school board's fiscal year
runs from September to September
while the provincial year is from
January to January. We can't make
cuts to the 1995-96 school year
when it is more than half over."
Cuts announced in the spring of
1997 will also go on the 1996-97
school year, making the total cuts
more than double the announced
$400 million, she says.
In announcing the savings strate-
gy, Minister of Education John
Snobelen said, "It is spending
beyond our means, not underfund-
ing, that threatens the future of
Ontario students. The need to main-
tain and improve quality program-
ming, while bringing our spending
into line with that of other
provinces, is clear."
In rebuttal to Snobelen's state-
ment that Ontario spends $500 per
child more than the average of
other provinces, "Ontario also has
an OAC program, which accounts
says Morris Twp. Clerk-Treasurer
Nancy Michie. The meat inspectors
would be employed through the
municipality, but under the supervi-
sion of the medical officer of
health.
The issue goes befo're the Board
of Health today (Wednesday).
Though municipalities are trying
to assist business owners, the help
comes too late for employees of
operators such as Bachert.
"This will be the third Tuesday
we have not slaughtered," says
Bachert's wife, Janet.
Some employees were laid off
almost immediately and others
have gone when the backlog of
hung meat was cleared away.
"We need a meat inspector for
five or six hours per week, so we
have been completely shut down
for the last week," he says.
The OFA is endeavoring to find a
solution for farmers and meat plant
operators who are in desperate need
of service, says OFA President
Tony Morris in a press release. "It
is vital the dispute is resolved
quickly for farmers trying to man-
age the growing numbers of ani-
mals in their barns."
for additional spending," says
Superintendent of Business for the
Huron County Board of Education
Janet Baird-Jackson.
After months of discussions with
parents, students, taxpayers,
trustees, teachers and school board
officials, Snobelen says he received
three clear messages.
"People believe education sav-
ings can be achieved and that it is
important for Ontario to bring
spending in line with other
provinces, that taxpayers must have
the opportunity to develop solu-
tions locally and that the process
must be given time to ensure quali-
ty programming is maintained.
"I am very proud of what we
have been able to do for the chil-
dren in Huron County," says Baird-
Jackson. One example is
maintaining the junior kindergarten
program at no cost to the taxpayers.
Specific to HCBE spending, the
board spends $515 over ceiling per
child in the elementary panel while
the Metro Toronto board spends
$2,102, says Baird-Jackson. In the
secondary sector, Huron spends
$825 compared to $2,790 in Toron-
to, $1,622 in London and $1,544 in
Waterloo.
Snobelen's three goals for the
toolbox are that classroom funding
should be protected, opportunities
should be provided for local deci-
sion-making and negotiated solu-
tions and local taxes should not be
Continued on page 21
Educators say
toolbox empty