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The Citizen, 1997-06-11, Page 1Government j_____Sports_____J Entertainment J Review County looks at taking over connecting links See page 6 Belgrave PeeWees Boys play in tournament See page 10 Cast gets it together through collective process See page 23 Stratford Festival’s ‘Shrew’, tamed deftly See page 24 Life lost on highway County to talk restructuring It was a tragic scene at the intersection of Huron County Roads 8 and 15, June 6, when two trucks collided. Blyth firefighters and ambulance attendants worked to stabilize Lucan Alee, 20, of Granton, driver of the tractor-trailer, before he was transported from the scene.Francis Worden, 52, of RR3, Tiverton, died as a result of the 12 p.m. accident. Worden was driving a 1987 Ford Ranger westbound on Cty. Rd. 15 when it failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection of Cty. Rd. 8, said an OPP report. The pickup collided with a 1990 International tractor trailer and trailer unit. Alee was transported to Clinton Public Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, treated and released. No charges are expected as a result of the investigation, said OPP. Huron artists exhibit Plans made in the depth of a winter can be similar to the act of tucking a tiny seed just beneath the surface of the earth in spring. Last winter, at a regular feast/meeting, the Huron Society of Artists set the dates of their annual exhibition to be held at the Bayfield town Hall - June 28 to July 2, 1997. They collectively decided on a brilliant suggestion for a theme, to cognitively centre this year's exhibition, "Chaos/Equilibrium". Since that time ideas have been churning in the minds of each of the 16 artists in the group. Undoubtedly, experimentation of each artists' studio has produced some very fascinating results. With only weeks left to the exhibition, final decisions will be made by the artists. How will each one explore, in their own unique way, this theme? Artist/painter Ron Walker explains, "With unique personalities, working in diverse media and materials, exploring the visual and philosophic implications inherent Continued on page 6 Huron County councillors will meet in Goderich next Thursday to set an agenda for talks on amalga­ mation and dealing with the effects of provincial downloading. It took lengthy debate at Thurs­ day’s Huron County council ses­ sion before council set the meeting for 7 p.m. at Knox Church, Goderich. Several reeves had spo­ ken about the concerns of their municipal councils that the county appeared to be proceeding with talks on a one-tier government without involving local councils. "My council made me aware that if there was going to be any meet­ ing they want to be part of it," said Bert Elliott, reeve of Morris. Bill Bennett, reeve of Seaforth, noted his town had joined with other centre-Huron municipalities to undertake an amalgamation. "We've spent large dollars in this. Our council still had the under­ standing we'd be invited." On hear­ ing about the county's plans, Bennett said, "They were really^ upset." Carol Mitchell, reeve of Clinton said at the beginning of the strate­ gic planning process on amalgama­ tion there had been a conscious Teachers may walk By Janice Becker Citizen staff A labour disruption is probably coming, involving CUPE (Canadi­ an Union of Public Employees) and teachers’ groups, which may affect this board. That was the warning presented to the Huron County Board of Edu­ cation meeting, June 9, by Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Feder­ ation (OSSTF) representative John Clarke. Noting that the Huron County board had been the only one in Ontario to take a stand against the Harris government in support of the teachers’ planned sanctions against the government, Clarke asked if the board would be willing to provide further support such as a letter to the government as well as getting the Perth County board and other groups involved. There was no response from the board. This request came to the HCBE after OSSTF held a province-wide sanction vote May 27, which result­ ed in 84.2 per cent support of province-wide action against pro­ posed government policies. The Harris government plans to introduce legislation this week which will affect teachers’ rights to strike and negotiate, said Clarke. In a press conference held June 5, decision to involve all councils. But Bill Vanstone, reeve of Col- bome and a member of the strategic planning committee, said the policy hasn't change. It was felt, he said, that it would be too cumbersome at the first meeting to involve all councillors while setting the terms of reference for the process. Bruce Machan, reeve of Wing­ ham, agreed. "I thought we'd better get our own house in order before we called all councils," he said. "I don't know how we can get a con­ sensus of 150-plus (councillors) when we can't get it from 26 (coun­ ty councillors). Bill Clifford, reeve of Goderich, said he was concerned with the pro­ posal to look at a single-tiered sys­ tem and thought all options should be explored. Mason Bailey, reeve of Blyth, agreed and suggested that only elected officials should be involved in the talks. Staff, he said, might be in conflict of interest because their jobs might hinge on the outcome of the negotiations. Bailey was con­ cerned about the timing of the meeting, however, noting that Continued on page 6 Earl Manners, provincial OSSTF president, said the strong vote endorsed action in support of edu­ cation, should it become necessary. “Since the Tories took office, we have tried to talk to them. We will continue to try to talk to them. But the government has its own educa­ tional agenda. The government does not want to talk,” he said. Issues of concern, other than the right to strike include “larger class sizes, contracting out support and service jobs in education and the reduction of preparation time,” says Clarke, “all of which affect the quality of education for students.” “Since 1993, more than 40 leach­ ing positions have been eliminated in Huron County secondary schools while the student population has remained virtually constant,’ said Clarke. “The further $1 billion the provincial government is planning to cut for the well-publicized 30 per cent tax cut will devastate public education in Huron County.” “There is nothing left to cut and secondary school teachers in Huron County are prepared to stand up for education with their fellow high school teachers across the province,” said Bill Huzar, OSSTF District 45 president. It is hoped the vote from OSSTF will send a message to the govern­ ment and encourage them to talk with the federation, said Manners.