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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1996-04-03, Page 17THE HURON EXPOSITOR, April 3, 1996-17 PHOTOS BY SANDRA DALE OFF TO THE RACES - The Seaforth Optimist -Club -held its annual. "Anything that Floats" rally on Sunday, March 31 on the Bayfield River.,Sixty-seven people registered. Approximately 35: water -craft took part including canoes, kayaks, rafts; etc. First place went to Jason Moir; second to Summer Papple and third to Brett Lee. Above, participants- unload two canoes in preparation for the rally. At right, Steve Mclnally and Pat Devereaux paddle down the river on a raft. OP OPP Sgt. Babbitt responds to Toronto Star story Confrontation not planned at Ipperwash ' BY NELLIE EVANS -SSP News Staff The 1 Ontario'- Provint ial Poled were prepared to se nd - "less than. I00"officers to the Ipperwash area last September in. case 'First- Nation Teo* • decided to occupy the provin- cial park. • ' But police weren't-planninga confrontation. says Sergeant Doug Bahhitt in response to comments attributedto Chief -.Superintendent Chris. Coles over the weekend. He added - •:those comments were• taken out- of context. The Toronto Star reported Sunday that Coles aid police decided to. -confront" natives in an effort ,.to ,get them out of the park: "I- have talked to him. Pm . -confident that his words were taker out 'of 'context:- said - Bahhitt. - . First Nations df Ontario regional chief .cord Peters eoutdn t be reached fqr cont- inent. A. spokesperson at his Chiefs of Ontario office in Toronto,sa:id- Peters would he :away all week. 1 -gin a telephone interview with The' Lakeshore ,ldvaitce Monday;' -Babbitt wouldn't.. - comment on exactly how many officers -were deployed 'in the QPP contingency plan is the park was being oecu= Storm clean up bill covered by province, county Following the July storm' that ravaged Godurich. Huron County invoice the town for 542.1 36.15 -tor clean-up costs incurred hy the county. At the time -it was thought the province might not rcimhrtrse_ Godcrich for the entire cost of the emergency, clean-up. • according to a report of coun- ty council's agriculture and public works committee. The town has received a 40 per cent reimbursement from. the Ontario government: which an(ounts to $16,854.46 of the county's invoice. stat- -ed the committee report. • The Town of Godcrich has passed a motion stating "that •the 7coirnty' account he paid'' down in the aihount of 4(1 per cent as received from the' province and the county he respectfully requested .to write oft ihe remainder as a compassionate neighbourly gesture." County council approved_ the difference of $25.281.69 for the clean-up he charged against the 1995 county sur- plus. Jack Coleman. Reeve of Stanley' Township, asked agriculture committee chair Murray Keys. Reeve of Hay Township. if county council would consider creating a policy and guidelines on situ- ations like this in the future. Keys agreed to attend to the matter at the committee's next meeting. A • pied' September 4 but said .a confrontation two days later, resulting in a death, prompted .a "buildup of officers. in addi- tion to -the plan...because the situation had changed dramatis cally. . _ "We were planning -a con- tairiment and peapeful resolu- tion. if the park was Occupied," he said: Babbitt said rumors surfaced during the summer of a possi hle action by First Nation peo: - ple on Labour Day. The police - laid out a plan that if First Nation people came into the park. officers would be there to tell them to leave. - "And .that did occur,," he said.- , Once the -park was occupied on September 4. campers and police were evacuated from" the park and a plan• to set up roadblocks was executed. - "We never went back into the park at that time," said Babbitt. ' The Ministry of . Natural Resources also tried to serve a • notice of trespassing to the First Nation group but it was refused. • • -Babbitt said police tried to talk to the group inside -the park on September 5 but was ignored. That evening; rocks were thrown from inside the - park, damaging a police cruis- er. On September 6, Babbitt said police tried to contact the group by sending officers. to the park to talk over the fence and establishinga contact with First Nation representatives -outside the park. That evening, polio received complaints from a motorist of his `vehicle being- damaged and _ from .a resident concerned about a group of natives who -had gathered outside the park. "We tried toput, the First Nation people back into the park. The officers left when they did and that's when the bus and car came out," said Babbitt. _Police reported at the time that they fired on a bus which -exited from the camp, pushing a dumpster which was part of a barricade, after occupants of the bus fired on them. Natives . contend they were unarrpesl Wand that police shots were the only shots fired. . . The incident resulted in the- shooting heshooting death of Anthony Dudley George and an -investi- gation by the Special Investigations Unit. The SIU report is expected to be made loan fund established by ccoSt estimates: llor.s agreed they ere public in April. - Babbitt also disputes reports that the natives were handed a key -:to the provincial park. He said natives` were, shown by the military how to -operate a pumphouse on park property. 'We were not aware of a key," he said: - Talks may resume near the end of April for the return -of the former Canadian Forces Base Camp Ipperwash to First Nation people. - -The negotiating committee' has targetted ihe -week of April 22 after they met for a half a day on March 28 with federal negotiator Ralph Brant. The meeting also included discussions . of a possible - framework for an agreement. Walkerton - looks at more repairs to) hall Walkerton Council will took - at the hi -h for work on town hall before deciding - whether .to go ahead with re -pairs,- estimated at $700,000,- which when -cou- pled with interior renovations. might end up -costing $1.6- - million. At a -recent review of first • non-profit rural group - speend more than they are willing to _A rural enterprise loan fund has been established by - Women and Rural Economic Development (WRED). a 'non=profit organization founded in 1993' to assist the... development of strong rural made, according to press communities through local -release from the Stratford economic development. office of the organization. The new fund is designed' which has training sites and to bridge the credit gap faced business networks located .hy many rural entrepreneurs through southern. central and and allows_ small business staged, low -collateral loans of up to $3,000. A first-time loan cannot exceed $1,000 and must be accompanied by -a plan out -- lining how repayment will be owners to borrow and repay eastern Ontario. More people working at home In the same 10 years the entire Canadian labour force grew 16 per cent. with 40 per cent of these new workers at home. - The report shows that in 1991, two-thirds of home- based workers were paid by employers while one-third were self -em lo ed People who work at home make less money than peers who work away from home, whether they are self- employed at home or work- ing from home for a compa- pared to, 29 per cent for men. ny. . More people are working at .home according to new Statistics .Canada figures based on the 1991 census. If the growth continues about 1.5 -million Canadians could he part' of this home w&kforcc by 2001. StatsCan says 743.000 Canadians..excluding agricul- tural workers.. worked from home in 1991. In the decade •I981-92, the number of ' women working at home increased 69 per cern corn - Perth board looking at tax increase • The chairman of the Perth County Board of Education doubts the board can avoid a tax increase this year in cop- ing with an estimated $5.3 - million cut in provincial funding. "It's still staggering and difficult to comprehend just how much we're, going to have to cut," Vern Tozar said Iof the preliminary figures delivered to trustees at a hoard meeting in late March. "To say this won't affect the classroom is simply not true." he added. Board says computers tax-deductible The Huron County/ Board of Education thinks its trach- ers' personal computers should he tax deductible. They aren't now, although certain other supplies used directly in their work arc. "Given the requirement for teachers to become tech- nologically literate. and the particular emphasis which has been placed on teachers in the Huron system to become literate," the board's motion. carried recently. requests the Income Tax Act be changed "to allow such a deduction as a legitimate work expense. Housing rose National housing starts rose 13.3 per cent in February to 109,700 units -at a seasonally adjusted annual Johns petitions A group of 17 Progressive Conservative MPPs, includ- ing Helen- Johns of Huron, has petitioned PC Premier Mike Harris and his cabinet to honour the government's pre-election pledge of no new cuts to the agriculture min- istry's budget. The -group, calling- itself the rural caucus advisory committee, said in a letter to Hams and the cabinet in the middle of February that • on agriculture OMFRA's hudget -went from $590 -million in 1991 - 92 to - $4.50 -million in -1995-96. The -rural MPPs observe, contrary to the premier's pre-election promise, "it has now been - proposed a further cut of $156 -million_ be made in. 1996-97." The letter -from caucus - committee to cabinetwas made public March 20 by a rival party. the NDP. who made much political hay with it. • . Bell predicts profits will rise Bell Canada predicts its profits 'will rise 36 per cent this year to $71 -million, from an expected six per cent rise in revenues to $8.7 -billion, -according to documents recently filed with the Canadian Radio -television and Telecommunications. Commission. Since .1993, Bell's profit' Las dropped -from about - $800 -million lion. The telephone_ company - is a subsidiary of BCE Inc.. User -pay garbage • • All has not been smooth sailing for Hensall's new user -pay garbage collection system, which started _this week but was approved by council in February. About. 40 people voiced both support and opposition to the new system .to council on March 11. Some complained they weren't notified about the new system until a couple of weeks ago, others aren't rate, according to 'Canada's Controversy arises Mortgage _ and Housing Corporation. There were - A bit of a stink has arisen 96,800 -starts in January. about plans by. the Bluewater Recycling Association for a waste transfer station at Huron Industrial Park. where it has been suggested 290 tonnes of household, industri- al and institutional garbage could be handled per day. Some Huron Park resi- dents are concerned about the possible smell. and potential problems for more :ruck traf- fic, rodents and flies from the • waste station, proposed for the industrial park next to the construction. Bluewater association. a few Urban multiple unit con- struction was up 52:7 per cent. while starts of urban single -detached- dwellings fell five per cent in February telative to January. Ontario urban starts rose a seasonally adjusted 3.8 per cent from January to February. -Construction of multiples rose but fewer sin- gles were built. according to the CMHC figures. Starts dropped in the Toronto area because of Tess condominium • and recently cut costs by - eliminating 3.000 john. • HENSALL - SHUFFLEBOARD (- Mar. 26 results ► 6 -game winners: Pat Davis, 431; Dave Woodward. 418; Ethel McMurtie, 394; Alice Hodgins, 372; - Alice Thiel, 366;_ John Pepper, 352; Dave -Kyle, 352; - Helen McKay, 346.-` .opposed by some happy with the $2 per bag . fee, which .they feel is too high. particularly for busi- nesses with lots of garbage. Reeve Cecil Pepper says the issue has been discussed since last October and been covered by_ local media. - "How much notice'do you .have to give?" he asks. Waste management will -be 3n of the topics in a public meeting at the Hensall Zommunity Centre on April 17 at 7 p.m. , over waste station - blocks away from where resi- dents live. - The non-profit. recycling association has applied to Ontario's environment min- • istry for the transfer station. noting the facility would have the -potential to serve four -million people in six • regional municipalities and 14 counties in southwestern Ontario. • Stephen Township politi- cians are waiting for feed- back from the environment - ministry before further delv- ing into the issue and resi- dent's concerns. Guest speaker from Ottawa at genealogy meeting The deputy secretary -gen- shop at the Mount Forest and eral of the Commonwealth District Community Centre • War Graves Commission in on Saturday, April 20. Ottawa. Bradley N. Hall, will be one of the guest speakers when branches in this region • of the Ontario Genealogy Society get together for their annual meeting and a work - Organic milk catching on with consumers in cities So far. 60 per cent of sales of organic milk itself. intro- duced a couple of months ago, have been in Toronto. It is also now available in Stratford. London, Kitchener. Guelph and health food stores in a few smaller centres. "We may reach people who regularly don't drink milk." says OntarioBio man- ager and producer Ineke Booy. She says organic dairy farmers feel they are expand- ing the market for milk. not somehow "stealing" it. Sale of organic milk in Ontario now stand at 3,500 litres per week. Douglas Dunnigton of the Waterloo -Wellington Immigration Centre will speak on access to immigra- tion records. and Ryan Taylor of Indiana will talk on genealogical resources at the Allan County Public library in that state. It is the largest genealogical library east of Salt Lake City. Utah. Organic milk was intro- amins A and D added, by duced in Ontario at the start law. • of this year. Indications are Conventional two per cent the nine -farm cooperative, milk lacks hormones and OntarioBio based in Durham, antibiotics the same as marketing the new product claimed by organic milk pro - under the Organic Meadow label. may be on to some- thing good. although perhaps controversial. Some conventional dairy farmers say organic Market- ing is giving milk a bad image, implying it is better for people because no chemi- cals are used in its produc- tion. However, all milk still must be pasteurized with vit- ducers, according to Jim Fitzgerald, media relations manager for Dairy Farmers of Ontario. in charge of mar- keting this province's milk supply. It gave permission for a two-year trial for organic milk a couple of years ago. Since then, sales of cheese made from organic milk by the OntarioBio co-operative have risen to 1,000 kilograms a month across Canada.