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The Citizen, 2004-05-06, Page 6Shelley Smith Beyond Limitations HURON -PERTH HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE Volunteer Opportunities ' H RON ri:Ri ii HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE Board of Directors III one Director who resides in the catchment area served by the St. Marys Memorial Hospital, and n one Director from outside the City of Stratford who resides in the catchment area served by Stratford General Hospital. Local Advisory Committees • members fr6m tile following communities: • St. Marys • Seaforth • Stratford You must be prepared to commit your time and energy to the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance bu-siness and offer a good community perspective on health care issues. For individuals interested in exploring this opportunity, an Information Session will be held on: Tuesday, May 11., 2004 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Grey Bruce Huron Perth District Health Council 235 St. George Street, Mitchell Information packages will be available at the session. Ekpressions of Interest will be accepted until May 14, 2004, at which time the selection process will begin. Résumés are to be sent to: Chair, Governance Committee Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance 46 General Hospital Drive Stratford, ON N5A 2Y6 Please call Brenda Mitchell at 519-272-8210, Ext. 2437 to confirm your attendance at the Information Session. PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2004. Letter to the editor MP announces funding THE EDITOR, Food safety is one of the major global issues facing our farmers. Canadians naturally want high- quality food that is safe to eat. But the issue of food safety has an even wider impact - it also impacts job creation and prosperity because of increased Canadian agricultural exports around the world. Canadian farmers have made tremendous strides in the areas of food safety and food quality over the years. But we need to help them do even more. With this in mind, the Government of Canada has announced that it will invest $80 million. over the next four years to help Canadian farmers implement By Stew Slater Special to The Citizen Any directive from the provincial government to reduce average class size from 23, to 20 students, between kindergarten to Grade 3, "will be very expensive," says Avon Maitland District School Board director of education Geoff Williams. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. under questioning from the opposition last week. expressed renewed commitment- to the proposed change, which first surfaced as a Liberal Party promise I find the study of human geography interesting. I like reading research on the many races and characteriStics of human beings. A human is built out of approximately 140.000 genes, whith surprisingly, only equals twice as many.as a fly or earthworm. Science says that genes contain protein. and these proteins bond together to form DNA. DNA is the hereditary material that interacts with our environment to determine our identity. DNA has been forming and mixing since the beginning of time. It is our own personal road map that holds clues about how we have met with evolution throughout history. Many people record family trees so that this road map can be followed easier, but it is impossible to account for every ancestor. Some of my relatives, both past and present, have kept records of my farhily - tree. The majority of my family has been living in Canada for generations - even before it was established as a country! I have many, many relations, but interestingly enough, there seems to be no history of my genetic disorder whatsoever. It shall always remain a mystery as to how the Friedreich's Ataxia gene carried itself through all those generations, and decided to rear its ugly head on my parents' offspring! All of my ancestors settled in Canada from England. Ireland. and Scotland. Studies reveal that one in 90 Europeans carry the gene that causes Friedreich's Ataxia, making it one of the most commonly inherited disorders. Yet, Friedreich's Ataxia is deemed rare because there is only a 25 per food safety and quality measures on their farms. This expands on the announcement in December of $62 million to support the development of systems for food safety. quality . and tracking. These funds will make it possible to put in place on-farm systems for food safety, quality and traceability, and will put producers in a stronger position to meet new, emerging consumer demands in these areas. The first component of the program will help national producer organizations deliver producer workshops to their members ' covering the implementation of food safety, traceability and quality systems. during last fall's election cam- paign. Following a regular meeting of the Avon Maitland board Tuesday, April 27, Williams said he has heard indications the McGuinty government will require school boards to implement the change for September, 2004. "It's great as long as they give us the money to do it," the director of education said, adding a "quick study"% conducted by Avon Maitland officials during last fall's provincial campaign revealed such a change would require the utilization of 40 additional classrooms, compared to cent chance that the parents who each carry the gene will have an affected child. In order to decipher more history on my European ancestors, I have been doing some reading, and I have discovered traces of French and Australian ancestry. So, with a little thought and a lot of imagination, I have developed some explanations to account for my ancestors. I am especially intrigued by my 'French connection. There is a high prevalence of the Friedreich's Ataxia gene among those of Acadian descent. Hmmm I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that I had ancestors roaming around Lower Canada 250 years ago! Another "explanation" I have involves my ancestry in Southern Ireland. During the early 18th century, the French were involved in several scandals in Ireland, They often participated in illegal doings and became convicts. (1 don't wan( to refer -to my ancestors as convicts. but I wouldn't put it past them! - Everyone has skeletons in their closet!) Anyway, the Irish decided to dispose of their convicts by exiling them to Brisbane, Australia. - My ancestry is so fascinating to me, that it led me to Ireland a couple years ago. I did not have a clue as to where to begin in tracing my ancestors, but it was interesting to see the hints of the French heritage in the Town of Kinsale, and Cork City. I learned a great deal while I was there, and I had so much fun! I still have a lot of ground to cover in discovering my ancestry, so I better get to it! What will I uncover next? As these associations are the direct link to producer, they are certainly the best positioned to deliver real. concrete solutions for farmers. Under the second component of the program, producers will be eligible for up to $750 each to help set up systems on their farms - things like technical support, or purchasing specialized equipment. For information on this initiative, I would encourage interested individuals to consult www.agr.gc.ca or call the office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food at (613) 759-1059. Sincerely, Paul Steckle, MP Huron-Bruce. the number currently in use. Williams said that would include the addition of several portable classrooms. Phil McCotter, the board's facilities administrator, said that, "in some (schools), it wouldn't make much difference facility-wise.'" For example, he explained. a school may have three kindergarten classes, which occupy a room only half of the time. That means one classroom probably sits empty for half the time, and a change to four kindergarten classes would simply fill that classroom full-time. However. McCotter noted, "there will be schools where ... obviously, .we're going to need more classrooms." A helping hand Brianna Kuperus gets some help with her dinner selections from Dad, John. The two were dining with their family at the Blyth Public School fundraising roast beef dinner held Thursday night at Memorial Hall. (Bonnie Gropp photo) My genealogical dig Class size changes will be costly