HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-04-05, Page 7Agriculture
Rural task force hears lecalconcerns
By Margar.t StopletOn worldwide and was recently
ranked as the eighth hest
Special to The Huron Expositor -_-_ company in Canada to work
A provincial tack force.on for by the Globe & Mail.
rural economic renewal made In explaining' the
a hastily -scheduled stop in company's decision tri build
Wingham late last month_to its new casting facility just
gather, input from local farm, outside town.-Skinn said, "We
and business leaders.. - . rely heavily on good young
people off the. - -
farm because of the work
ethic they've got. Nobody in
the world could compete
against the work force here." •
But he did say the town and
its surrounding townships
need to work together to
maintain that workforce.
• ".It's vital to Wescast to
attract the. best people." Skinn
continued. Those people want
and need good health
facilities., with sufficient
doctors. as
well as good schools and
social entertainment tactlities
for their families.
Wescast is a firm supporter
of initiatives undertaken by
,the local hospital to recruit
and' : retain physicians:
partnering with arca schools
to bring • •
post -secondary education to
the area. and is committed to
the proposed Huron -Bruce
Community Complex..
Barriers to attracting good
people to rural.. Ontario
continue. to.be availability of
housing. proximity to the
cities and -goad johs for
spouses. noted Skinn. High
taxes in Wingham continue to
provide a, harrier. he added. •
A lack of promotion of the
area is a, barrier. 'he added.
saying there. are •no
community evlents td• pull
peoplu'tttgether.. "We need dei
promote the area -as a -good
place to Lve...We have'to
-have people eager ti►' come
here:
Mary StoVeriof the Huron
Employment Liaison, Program
said there is a shortage•of
several presenations before government dollars to support •
opening the floor to general' employment: programs for
'discussion and questions from youth in rural Ontario. .
panel members. . . Tony Morris cut the Bruce
Charles Regele and Neil • County Federation of
Vincent were first off the Agriculture said' partnerships
mark; representing the Huron should he 'explored . to
County . Federation of • improve access to technology
•. Agriculture. •1. for rural Ontario. He noted
Regele .told the panel that that some areas still -.are on
the federation-believes'the foul -party lines and cannot
province is -putting the- "Fart.' access th! Internist,
before the horse" in the
recently -announced reduction
.uf OMAFRA. extension
services. These field
representatives provided
valuable third -party review. as
:well as direct contact with the
farming community.
especially at a time when
. complicated issues. such as
genetical ly-modified
- organisms. are coming to
forefront.
in rural Ontario. Regele
ctintloued. OMAFRA needs
to redirect funds hack into the
infrastructure. "The future of
the sector lies in the
development of agriculture
and agri-industries." he said.
Thi: also means- new money • Scott Tausaw of the. Huron
for municipal roads and • County.Plannmg Department
bridges so the -area. can , said a regent survey'
compete -on a p►r.with rban undertaken by the department
arta,. - • •indicans 174 manufacturing
For example. new companies in the county.
regulations for ahhatairs have This represents a workforce
forced many small businesses
. to clone. sending livestock out
of the area for procesing.• - .
New dollars and resources
•
.also are needed for rural
healthcare. Rigley said and a
rural cduc t t i ' must
No less than five MPPs
stopped- in .Wingham;
including Dr. Doug Galt.
chairman of the task force.
MPP. for Northumberland and
assistant to the minister of
- .agriculture, food and rural
affairs. . . .
Other. members include -
Toby Barrett, MPP -for
Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant
and
parliamentary assistant to the
minister of the environment:
Garfield Dunlop, •MPP for
•.Simcoe North and Julia
Munro. MPP for York North.
13i11 Murdoch, MPP for
Bruce -Grey. was not in•
attendance. but Bert Johnston
MPP -for the neighboring
ridin of Perth. tilled out the
. panel. .
Johnston. responding to a
statement allow' the late notice
of the meeting _-.- the'
. newspaper learned- of 'the
Thursday Morning meeting
after.3 p.m.- on Wednesday
'and other presenters were
given scatrcely more notice --
said the tag . force was
formed earlier this month and
,did not set about its work
until March 21.
The task force will provide
input and advice 'on the
renewal of rural Ontario td
Finance Minister Ernie Eyes
in preparation of this ,spring's
.provincial budget. Johnston
explained. -
Dr. Galt also made no
apologies for the short notice:
saying the small group was
"ideal" and noting a number
of "common threads. • '
The task force heard,
The Bruce County farm
economy is,heavily dependent
'.on hedf-farming. said Morris.
noting that some clops cannot,
be grown there because of
reduced heat units- and: soil
conditions. He also pointed to
a los, of processing
capabilities with the closure
of -the `laple Leal plant at
Walkerton fast Year and new
regulations for small
ahhatairs: •
Bob Bregman said the new
structure of Ontario.H sdro
also is of great concern in
rural Ontario where resident,
are afraid -they may be "left
holding the hag -for the -dept.
created by Hydro'.... .
cent of those companies
expect sales to increase over .
the next couple of years.
resulting -in the citation of an
estimated 825 new johs. •
There -is a demand for
skilled tradesmen in the
county. Tousaw noted. Rural
areas need to support for
school -industrial links to
provide apprenticeship
Opportunities. he continued. .
Cont munica1 ions
technology also needs to he
updated and money provided
for hard infrastructure
supports to connect rural
areas to growing economic
• opportunities.
Tousaw's Bruce County)
counterpart.. Chris.LaForce. •
said his. county also promote
skills training at the local
level, as well as improved
transportation and access to..
technology.
Bob Down of the Huron
County Corn Producers said
there needs to be a distinction
'between agriculture and rural
development, saying some
farmers 'don't want the
''hassles' of development
because it interferes with their:
farming practices:
However. Regele used the
Wescast development as an
'example +,t how the farm
community and industry can
work in concert. The rural
community needs industry to
keep young people at. home -
and said he .w;ould be proud it
one of his sons those tp •work
at Wescast. , •. •:
Turnherry Reeve Brian
McBurney, a Tong-ume'
supporter of one -tier
government. said, if the
Ontario government is really
-iriterested in '' rural
development it moult) initiate
single -tier government across
.. the province. the .way it has in
some regions. to get :rid' dt
petty rivalries. •
The restructured Huron
•County. will still consist of
nine municipalities.
McBurney said. adding the
current situation is county.
council's. own fault: because it
,wouldn't consider the option
. of single -tier government.....--.
"People, are .wanting •to
hang onto their fiefdoms."
: _stiggested Dr: Galt and
McBurney agreed. Dunlop
asked ,Tousaw hos much
capacity Huron County ha.
for future development. and
what is the county.. doing to
attract such development..
Tousaw replied That some
areas have' land. but no
sers'ites and some-, have -
serviced land available.. At the
local level. these are a number
of initiatives in attracting and
retaining industry. including
local economic development
committees.:
• When. asked at N. escast
would partner ys nth local
schools:• Skinn replied it
already does work.closely
w Ith'Conesto=a College and
a ion s ra egg
he developed to ensure rural
children have access to
• quality education.
'e Enhanced child care also is
needed in rural Ontario.
especially at buy times for
farm families, such as seeding
or harvesting.
Vincent added that enabling
legislation must be introduced
to legitimise the enforcement
of nutrient management
plans.
George Skinn of Wescast
Industries in Wingham gave
some of the reasons his
company has chosen to
remain in rural Ontario and
some. of the drawbacks it has --
faced in doing so. -
The largest supplier of
exhaust manifolds in the
world; Wescast is the largest .
industry in Wingham,
employing 1,000 people at
two casting plants and one
machining plant. Wescast has
offices ` and ventures
of oyer 4,0(X) people, -Tousaw
continued and oser 55 per
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Ron Ftioe R R 2 Dtcf 362360
Larry Gardner, R R. 2 Stade 34626'6
Act Hodgen R R 1 !(oleo 2294152
Mcho O Siva 11 R ,3 Oregon z2S-261e
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and there' is a distinct
possibility that university •and
college courses could come ai
town.
"We want 11 textension
coursesr to.happen, hut we
have to fund= it and we need
partners."
-Barrett said.clear trends
were developing' toward. work
ethic and training in, rural
Ontario. He was. most
interested to hear how the
potential closure of s hoofs
may affect opportunities
locally.
Representatives of ht,th the
Huron and Bruce federations
-of •agriculture said rural.
School, hoards have problems
to overcome with the funding
motet..gcography- and in the •
-catit.:Ool the Huron -Perth
school hoard: a lack Of rtiral
desi _mauon.
Prior to amalgamation. said
Vincent. the Huron andP erth
hoards 'Acre aurone the
lowest spending in- the
- prov ince. but under the new.
funding formula. the rural
hoards appear to have ho,t
out. even though there
• appears to he some
discrepancy between the
hoard':•fi_ures and (hose of
the province,
Regele said the: current
criNis i. pittin3.eommu_nity
against . "community. .A
graduate' of, the Seaforth hitih
School. which= has been
.named for closure. Regele
said ."We really cant sure, ,r+
hush schools. of under
.kids' and the hoard has
decided to put its money into
r
Materials' for learning rather
than "hocks and mortar'.
lar --as pi+st-secondary
education is corccrned: Down
pointed •out. there was • a
coltee. to Huron County
Centralia. But it was closed
.due to•eovernment cuthat ks:
Although • most -sscr,:
pleased at�hasmg the chance
to address the task torce.
they noted: the 'proof wi11 he
in the pudding' when the
provincial- .budget crines
down later this spring.
. tL,was the correnu. oLthtre
present,;that: the pros enc.
needs ii, develisp a
pieture'' tratc-_y for rural
Ontario.
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