HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-02-19, Page 1Sports
Blyth Atoms,
Brussels Juvies
advance
See page 10
School
Madill skiers
compete at all
Ontario level
See page 12
News
Area people back
from Missionary
conference in India
See page 24
Timothy Findley
play comes to
Blyth stage
See page 27
Educators say,
‘We cannot do
more with less’
HuronNorthCitizenThe
Vol. 13 No 7 Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1997_________ 70c + 5c GST750
Glide like a bird
Lisa Menary, left, and Christine Wilbee, of F.E. Madill Secondary School in Wingham,
participate in a workshop at Bainton Gallery, Blyth, as part of the Crossroads Drama Festival
held Feb. 14 and 15. The class, led by Carol Oriold, Crossroads Co-ordinator, dealt with
character creation and development. Others lessons taught such talents as improvisation
and sword fighting. The students from five area secondary schools presented one-act plays
as part of the festival.
Campaign in ROMA’s hands
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
After 10 months of phone calls,
letters and personal appeals, the
education tax reform campaign, ini
tiated by Blyth council, has moved
to the next stage.
"It is now ROMA’s (Rural
Ontario Municipalities Association)
responsibility to co-ordinate a non
collection action," said Blyth Reeve
Mason Bailey, in a phone inter
view.
The resolution, presented to
ROMA at the Feb. 9-12 conven
tion, and supported by the majority
of the delegates, directed the asso
ciation to "pursue to (provincial)
government and lead a campaign
by all member municipalities in
discontinuing the collection of edu
cation taxes from all properties."
In response to the government's
recent announcement that educa
tion taxes would be removed from
residential properties, campaign
supporters "contend that employ
ment opportunities and local ser
vices depend on entrepreneurs who
are owners of commercial and
industrial properties and that they
need encouragement, not more
taxes," said a press release from the
Village of Blyth.
Delegates at the convention were
told by Minister of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs, Noble Vil
leneuve that commercial and indus
trial properties could expect a
property tax increase of about 50
per cent in 1998, as a result of the
present plan.
"Blyth council members have
spoken to the Canadian Federation
of Independent Business and we
hope they will take action (in sup
port of the campaign)," said Bailey.
Local campaigners will be relax
ing their efforts somewhat now that
ROMA has taken the ball, but Bai
ley said Blyth council will continue
to seek support from the Greater
Toronto area and the Ontario Small
Urban Municipalities association.
Though the vote to support the
resolution at the convention, was
close, Bailey points out that the
northern Ontario municipalities,
who have been strong supporters of
the campaign, are not part of
ROMA.
For Blyth council, the next step
will be to watch ROMA take the
resolution forward, said Bailey.
By Janice Becker
Citizen staff
"We cannot do more with less.
We can't even do the same with
less."
In an effort to express teachers'
opinions about education reforms,
the presidents of four federations,
including Paul Dyck, of the Ontario
Public School Teachers' Federation
in Huron, who made the previous
statement, held a press conference
in Clinton, Monday afternoon.
In speaking against Minister of
Education John Snobelen's claim
that for every dollar spent in the
classroom, 80 cents is spent outside
it, Dyck cited several examples.
"In his redefining of 'classroom',
Snobelen has neglected to include
in his calculations such things as
libraries, guidance, teacher prepara
tion time, school resource teachers,
principals, vice-principals, art,
sports, custodial services, school
secretary, transportation and buss
ing," he said.
"These services cannot act inde
pendently of each other," added
Willie Laurie, president of the
Huron Women Teachers' Federa
tion.
Numerous instances were given
indicating the increased demands
on the teachers and support staff.
"Children are coming to school
under-nourished, under-kept and
under-loved," said Dyck. "The
school is seen as a mini-hospital
Chislett play kicks off
Festival’s 23rd season
The Blyth Festival's 1997 season
will feature an exciting line-up of
new work and familiar favourites.
The 23rd season officially opens
June 20 with the Blyth Festival
classic Quiet in the Land by Anne
Chislett. Premiering at the Festival
in 1981, this award-winning play is
a finely-drawn portrait of an old-
order Amish community held
together by its strict moral beliefs,
German ancestry and pacifism.
The devastation of World War I
threatens to split the community
when Christie, a stern elder, is
challenged by his rebellious son,
Yock. When a non-Amish friend is
wounded at the front, Yock rejects
his heritage, his family and the girl
he loves to enlist in the army and
defend Canada.
Infused with warmth and
wonderful characters, this play
explores the great human dilemma
of how to understand the meaning
of love in a world tom by hatred.
Booze Days in a Dry County, a
collective to be directed by Paul
Thompson, opens June 26. In 1945,
the lively lads returning from
glorious victory in Europe, ran
smack into the old moral codes of
Southwestern Ontario held sternly
in place by Canada's Temperance
and infirmary."
"Not one day goes by without at
least one child spending time in the
health room," said Terry Wilhelm,
president of the Ontario English
Catholic Teachers’ Association.
"Teachers jobs have changed.
They are expected to hand out med
ication and run breakfast programs.
As Snobelen makes cuts to support
staff such as secretaries and educa
tion assistance, that work is spread
over fewer people," said Dyck.
"There is a concern about what is
considered teaching costs and what
is not," said Bill Huzar, president
of the Ontario Secondary School
Teachers' Federation. "The defini
tion of the classroom has changed.
It is not as it was in the past."
"To make children understand,
the material has to be made rele
vant," said Laurie. "They have to
be shown from the community
around them."
"The property was part of the
general classroom. If politicians
say there will be no cuts to the
classroom, who will pay for the
non-classroom studies?" asked
Huzar.
Federation representatives
explained that field trips to a nature
centre to study wildlife or wind
rows is no longer considered a
classroom cost.
Making the studies relevant to
children led into a discussion of the
concerns of a provincially-deter-
Continued on page 26
Act. The challenge was on!
The mighty heroes led the search
for the forbidden liquid in the back
streets, dark cellars, and neglected
sheds of their "dry" little towns.
Wonderful new establishments of
mystery, danger and glorious
temptation sprang up. The good
soldiers became the bad boys in the
boom years after the war and it was
a lot of fun.
There's Nothing in the Paper, a
funny play about the foibles of
running a small town newspaper,
opens July 23. Written by David
Scott, himself the editor of The
Huron Expositor in Seaforth, the
story revolves around the
disillusioned editor of the
Shadowville Examiner as he
struggles with the gradual decline
of his paper due to shrinking ad
revenues and his own neglect. It is
only when a brash newcomer
arrives in town with a scandal sheet
that threatens to destroy people's
reputations and divide the town,
that George is forced to wake up
and rediscover the fire of his lost
youthful convictions.
The Melville Boys, by popular
Canadian playwright Norm Foster,
opens July 30. Brothers Owen and
Continued on page 27