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The Citizen, 1997-01-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15,1997 The North Huron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62.00/year In U.S.A, and $75.00/year In 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 On the level Photo by Bonnie Gropp itizen (5cna p.o. Box 152, Publisher, Keith Roulston nog^hoLS’ Editor’ Bonnle Gr°PP Phone 887-9114 Advertising Manager, FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil E ditorial i . '''i Back to the future? There are two ways of looking at the education reforms outlined by Ontario Education Minister John Snobelen on Monday. On one side, by amalgamating school boards and reducing the number of trustees, these are yet another move by the Harris government to reduce the voice of democracy. On the other hand, if properly implemented, the moves give us a chance to regain some of the local democratic control of our schools we haven't had since Bill Davis forced county school boards down our throats 30 years ago. If Snobelen isn't sensitive, his proposal could greatly reduce the ability of people to have their voices heard on education matters. Locally, for instance, Huron's board will be combined with Perth's and there may be as few as five trustees to cover this two-county area. But Snobelen promises to strengthen the position of advisory school councils and give them more "input" on major decisions like programs schools offer and student discipline. If these councils are properly designed and work at the level of each individual school, they could almost be taking us back to the days when each school had its own board of trustees, a time when the school seemed like part of the community, not something "owned" by some distant board. Ask the average county resident who their local trustee is and at least 80 per cent probably couldn't give you a name. Ever since the 1960s when local school boards were dissolved and county boards established, the sense of connection between parents and citizens and the governance of the school system has been severed. Perhaps, then, the savings to be gained by having one school board administration for the two counties is worth the loss of more voices at the board level. This move will only work, however, if a sense of ownership of the local school is given back to the local community through school councils that have real power. Parents need to fight the government to make sure Snobelen's moves are really gains, not one more chance to take decision-making away from the people. — KR Start your engines Things have been quiet on the hospital closures' front since the Huron Perth District Health Council decided, back before Christmas, to extend the deadline for naming a preferred option in saving about $15 million a year in hospital costs in the two counties. Perhaps it may be a case that no news is good news, but local residents must be prepared to fight back again if the DHC's Task Force recommends closures. The eight hospitals in the two counties had until noon yesterday (Tuesday) to come up with a way of sharing the pain or the Task Force could go back to dishing out all the pain in some areas (like Clinton, Exeter and St. Marys and possibly Wingham or Listowel) and sparing some altogether Gike Stratford and Goderich). If a sensible compromise can't be found, or if that compromise isn't acceptable to the DHC, local residents will have to be prepared to gear up their protests again very quickly because the timetable for approving the final solution is the end of this month. The Citizens' Action Committee for the Wingham and District Hospital has already set up a series of meetings in the area later this month . But perhaps the proposal of a Listowel letter writer deserves consideration. Furious at the DHC's Listowel open house which he called "total bunk", the writer suggested it was a waste of time and energy for local people to try to get through the Task Force and the DHC when the people with the real decision making were in Queen's Park. ". . . Why not load up a few buses and head down to Queen's Park ..he suggested. He may have a point . . . and if such a protest was properly organized it might make a point, with the government and, just as important, with the national and provincial media who are ignoring the situation in rural areas. What is needed, however, is a co-ordinated effort, not just in Huron-Perth but in other areas being hard hit by these draconian cuts. Rural areas across the province should unite. A few years ago 40,000 farmers from across Canada gathered in Ottawa to argue on behalf of marketing boards under free trade discussions. It was an awesome sight to see so many people together. Given the turnout at hospital meetings just in Huron-Perth and Grey Bruce, rural Ontario could mount a demonstration that would make the great Ottawa march look like a family gathering. — KR THE EDITOR, On behalf of the Wingham Action Committee, I want to thank all the people and businesses who made donations to our cause. The number of people that have given their time and expertise to help our committee is far too vast to list or begin to send thank you letters to. The words of encouragement and offers to help in any way provides us with the energy and determination to achieve our goal: A FULLY SERVICED WINGHAM AND DISTRICT HOSPITAL. Each and everyone of you is appreciated beyond words. The media coverage by The North Huron Citizen, CKNX Radio and TV has certainly helped to get our message to the people and we are very grateful for your coverage. We did have a couple of weeks to enjoy Christmas, but were back in ACTION, January 2. A second flyer to all residents in the Wingham and District catchment area will be mailed the first week of January. We will be asking people to write letters expressing the need to reduce the 18 per cent savings to 10 - 12 per cent. When the small rural hospitals of this province account for less than 18 per cent of the total hospital budget, then our savings should also reflect a smaller percentage. We believe the majority of small hospital reduction must come from centralized management, not direct patient care and services. On Jan. 21, the preferred option will be released. On Jan. 27 the Action Committee will commence our second round of information sessions. Jan. 27 will be at the Blyth Public School, Jan. 28 at Howick Community Centre, Jan. 29 at F.E. Madill School, Wingham, Jan. 30 at Lucknow Community Centre, Feb. 3 at Teeswater Hillcrest Public School and Feb. 4 at Brussels Public School. All meetings are from 7:30 - 9 p.m. We believe you must be informed of the Preferred Option before the District Health Council Open House session. This is the second round of our battle and we need your participation. If we want 1997 to be a "Happy New Year", then we must stick together for we want to say at the end of 1997 that we were successful in keeping our Hospital "Alive and Well". Verna Steffler, Chair Wingham Action Committee. HAARC dir. writes THE EDITOR, In February 1996, the Ontario Substance Abuse - Bureau announced that there would be a restructuring process initiated for all substance abuse programs in the province. This process was begun with the formation of six regional committees in November/96. Huron-Perth is part of the southwestern Ontario region along with Thames Valley, Lambton, Essex, Kent and Grey-Bruce. The committee is to examine all addiction programs in Southwestern Ontario, and submit a draft plan to the Substance Abuse Bureau as to how this could be accomplished in this region. The final plan is to be submitted to the Substance Abuse Bureau by the middle of March/97. Local district health councils have been given the responsibility to organize a community consultation in their own district so that residents will have input into this plan. One community consultation for both Huron and Perth counties is planned for Jan. 22 from 7-9 p.m. at the Mitchell Community Centre. As you can see from the above dates, the time frame for planning and consultation has been on a "fast track" with no input until now from the communities involved. As of Jan. 13, service providers still had no knowledge of the contents of the plan. It is imperative that citizens of Huron County attend this meeting as it will be the only opportunity they will have to express their concerns regarding addiction services available to themselves and their families in Huron County. The Huron Addiction Assessment & Referral Centre (HAARC) has provided assessment and referral services, out-patient counselling, supportive counselling for family members, group program for family members, an Adult Child of Alcoholic Group, and education and inservice presentations for business and other agencies in the community. Last year alone, staff did 76 community presentations on substance abuse, reaching approximately 3,500 people. Do the citizens of Huron County want these service to continue? If you answer is yes, I urge all interested citizens of Huron County to attend this community consultation so that your voice will be heard. Sincerely, Meryl Thomas, Program Director. Service directory here THE EDITOR, The Huron Community Service Network new 1997-1998 Directory is rolling off the presses and the public is now invited to place their pre-orders at any of the local branches of the Huron County libraries. This directory makes a wonderful resource for the service provider, business executive and agency personnel who need a practical guide to the organizations, government departments and other agencies in Huron County. HCSN is a non-profit organization and network of community, health and social service agencies in Huron County who meet on a regular basis to share information and exchange ideas. The information committee of the HCSN compiled and published this directory. The paper guide also includes a topical listing of businesses. Some of the agencies listed offer health, financial, education, social, recreational, environmental, agricultural, cultural and child care services in Huron County. You can see how practical this $30 guide is. Directories are also available at this address: c/o The Huron County Library, RR 5, Clinton, NOM 1L0. There is also a DOS-based electronic version available for sale. Coby Amoraal, Marketing Committee, HCSN A Final Thought Assume a virtue if you have it not... for use almost can change the stamp of nature. — Hamlet