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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-10-30, Page 1700 + 50 GST 750 Vol. 12 No 43 Wednesday, Oct. 30, 1996 Budding artist Alex Sholdice of Brussels was one of a number of youngsters working on a colourful mural during the activites at the Possibilities Day, Wednesday, Oct. 25 in Brussels United Church. The event was the first of several planned to provide area youths with some fun to fill a day off from school due to educators' own PD Day for professional development. Lunch and snacks were provided by the Walton and Brussels UCW. Over 75 children registered for the event. Madill looks at changes for school use See page 6 Sports Blyth Juvies get season underway with a win See page 8 Agriculture Clinton farmer heads Huron Federation of Ag. See page 13 Travel packages, quality craftwork highlight auction See page 24 University study confirms value of ag. industry By Janice Becker "If one-third of the jobs in Huron County are directly or indirectly related to agriculture, there needs to be regulations to protect, not impede its growth," said Bill Wal- lace, member of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture (HCFA), at a press conference held in Vanastra, Oct. 25. The Huron Centre representative on the HCFA, Wallace is also the liaison for Dr. Harry Cummings and student Dan McLennan of the University of Guelph who looked at the impact of agriculture on the economy of'Huron County. The results of the study show that a significant portion of the county's economy relies on agriculture or benefits from the presence of farm- ing operations. In the first year of a two-year study, Cummings said the report focused on three areas. "We looked at direct employment, businesses that buy from or sell to farm opera. tions and the spending by families whose income is related to agricu1-, Lure." Using 1991 statistics, Cummings said, "Huron County is the largest and most important agricultural product producer in Ontario, with national importance. With a popu- lation of approximately 55,000, Huron produces more farm gate sales than five other Canadian ,provinces. The 1991 farm gate receipts were $436 million." When looking at the second aspect, agriculture-related business- es, it was interesting to find that Huron agriculture is an export busi- ness, he said. "More dollars are generated by Huron County farm products out- side the county than inside," said Wallace, stating study figures of $1 to $1.5 billion in estimated sales inside and another $1.7 billion out- side. An additional $1.1 billion is derived from outside the province. Ninety-three separate classifica- tions of businesses related to agri- culture were defined, •with veterinary services the largest com- ponent; feed mills, second and machinery suppliers and repair, third. Thirdly, Cummings found that approximately 2,000 retail jobs were a result of spending from employees of agriculture-related businesses. Given the basics of the study, media representatives questioned the panel on the usefulness of the report. With the determination that one- third of Huron County jobs (approximately 6,282) are connect- ed to agriculture, it should be a consideration when planning_ and development strategies are revised, said Wallace. "We are the biggest sector (with health and education the next largest employers). The Huron County Federation of Agri- culture and the Christian Farmers Federation should be contacted when the Planning Department is discussing agriculture planning. We should be working closely with the Planning Department, but this has not been seen, to date." Seeing positive results from a study of agri-businesses, Cum- mings said the focus can now be on the increasing sales and the dramat- ic contribution to the county, instead of the declining size of the farm labour force, from 4,970 in 1991 to 4,582 in 1996. "The dollar value output per worker has increased as has the output per Continued on page 14 Meeting has no answers for Blyth council Madill Grade 9s go to work, Nov. 6 Wednesday, Nov. 6, could be a family day at work. It is Take our Kids to Work day, a cross-Canada Learning Partnership program which invited Grade 9 students to participate. With the tremendous success of last year's program, 120,000 students and 20,000 businesses were involved. Parents, neighbours, relatives, friends and volunteer hosts are being asked to once again take a kid to work. The day will give students the opportunity to see their parents in differ- ent roles and responsibilities, develop a closer dialogue with their parents and enhance their understanding of individual jobs in the context of the working community, said Wayne Tessier, principal of F.E. Madill Sec- ondary School, Wingham and participating facility in the program. The work day will be linked toclassroom learning, allowing students to see the importance of education in attaining a good job and understand the demands and responsibilities of the workplace. For those unable to go to work with a parent, friend or relative, volunteer hosts, matched to the student's interests, will fill the role. Each school has a Take our Kids to Work co-ordinator who can be contacted for a matchup. Employees hosting a student may also obtain a guide to assist in making the day a success. Call Lynda Elston at FEMSS, 357-1800 or other local secondary schools participating in the program. By Janice Becker In a face-to-face meeting with a representative from the. Ministry of Education and Training, Blyth councillors had the opportunity to state their position on education taxes reform, Oct. 21. Senior Policy Advisor, Leon Brumer met council to listen to their position and take the informa- tion back to Al Leach, Minister of Education. Reeve Mason Bailey said he was pleased with the ministry consider- ing removal of education taxes from property, but disappointed with the suggestion that it would remain on business and industrial assessments. "We tried to impress upon him the importance of taking the tax off small businesses because they are our major employers," said Bailey. "(The tax) means less money for the staff." When questioned on the penalties for not collecting the education tax, Bailey said he got no answer nor were there any suggestions shared as to how the tax could be collected other than as part of property taxes. Referring to both the Municipal and Education Act, Brumer said it is mandatory for municipalities to collect and remit the education tax portion of the tax bill. By not col- lecting taxes, municipalities will create more problems and the desired result will probably not be achieved, he said. The government is struggling with (how to collect education taxes) as well, said Bailey. "There are some serious decisions to come to in the next few months." After reaffirming council's posi- tion on not looking for a confronta- tion, Brumer replied that everyone is in favour of education finance reform and change would be forth- coming. A report is due by year- end. Because of the complexity of the issues to be covered in education finance reform legislation, Brumer said it was unlikely changes would be enacted in 1997, but probably 1998. Council will contact the minister to inform him of their continued campaign to have education taxes removed from all property. In another related matter, Bailey and one other-person will attend the Property Tax Reform Conference in Toronto, Nov. 1-2, at a total cost of $80 registration.