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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2004-02-11, Page 1Tony Arts CFP, CLU, CH F. C. Cha CZande! We offer a full range of Investment options. ednesday, Feb. 11, 2004 $1 .25 includes GST Lr 21NII00Ntlw 15 ain St. Seaforth 527-0794 gownsman In brief Huron OPP charge 15 riders on south snow trails over weekend Fifteen snowmobilers were charged on trails in the south end of Huron County over the weekend, reports the Huron OPP. Five were charged with speeding, including a man driving 133 kilometres per hour on a 50 kilometres per hour zone. Two were charged with liquor violations, two for driving off trails, one for trespassing, three for driving with, no trail permits and two with no proper validation on the plates. One person also lost his ,driver's licence for 12 hours after blowing a warn on the alcotest. Officers logged more than 500 kilometres on the trails and stopped more than 200 snowmobilers over the weekend. $65,00 trailer stolen from Jamco Trailers A $65,000 trailer was stolen from Jamco Trailers in Brucefield sometime between Dec. 23 and Jan. 16, reports the Huron OPP. The trailer, a customized 27 -foot 2003 Jamco Cargo 8 Gooseneck, was dropped off in Seaforth from Illinois on Dec. 10 to have some graphics painted on the outside. It was moved to Brucefield on Dec. 23, the last day it was seen. The trailer was white with large side cargo doors and a fold -up sign on top with the words "WAHL CLIPPERS." It has Illinois plates and was used at dog shows to display hair clippers for dogs. Anyone with related information is asked to call the Huron OPP or Crime Stoppers. Inside... Cuddle bears distributed in Seaforth... P09. 5 111 Free throw compellico al SPS... P09.6 Old time fiddle music as popular as ever... Peg. 11 Cheryl Heath photo OFA Ron Bonnett speaks about the challenges facing Ontario farmers while Huron Federation of Agriculture president Nell Vincent looks on. Situation `bleak' for ag industry: OFA president By Cheryl Hath Clinton News Record Editor Introducing a one -cent tax on food to help farmers make ends meet was one suggestion put forward at an Ontario Federation of Agriculture -hosted town hall meeting at the Betty Cardno Centre in Clinton on Friday. OFA President Ron Bonnett reported the current economic picture for the agricultural industry is bleak. Some sectors, notably, beef and pork producers, feel under siege thanks to the rising value of the Canadian dollar and the Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) crisis. Bonnett, who is on a Southwestern Ontario tour to hear farmers' concerns, first-hand, said the farming community is under a tremendous amount of pressure. And to add insult to the crisis, Bonnett said there has been a series of public relations disasters for the agricultural industry in past months, including bad press about manure spills. One of the first steps in the direction, said Bonnett, is getting the government on board with grants, loans and income -assistance plans that will prevent farming operations from going belly up. Another important task, he says, is finding an effective way to communicate to the public that farmers are going broke while meat packers continue to make hefty profits and food prices at grocery stores remain the same, or higher. "The public doesn't understand how farming works," he said. "The word I use to describe the farming industry is, 'cranky.'" • Bonnett noted representatives from the S s PUBLIC, Pogo 2 Steckle vows revenge on price gougers during BSE debate By Matt Shurrie G oderkh Signal -Star Editor Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle vowed last week to bring those found guilty of price gouging during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) crisis to justice during an emergency debate on the matter in the House of Commons. "As far as I'm concerned there has to be some justification on the part of these people who have been doing this," Steckle said during an interview from Ottawa, following the debate. "They have gouged and they have raped our farmers and it's time to give account and — if elected chair (of the standing committee on agriculture) again — I intend to bring' these people before the committee in a televised format." Steckle, who along with fellow Liberal MP Rose -Marie Ur (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) organized the emergency debate, stressed the need for non-partisan cooperation as the BSE crisis continues to unfold. "We're the last advocate that farmers•have and if we don't pick this thing up and run with it and do something there's nobody to help these guys," Steckle said of the need for some form of public inquiry into price gouging. "I hope these people come voluntarily but if they don't we will use whatever measures required to get them to the table." Federal agriculture minister Bob Speller opened the debate by reminding MPs that the Liberal government "moved swiftly" on dealing with the crisis. He pointed to a recent trip to Korea, Japan and Washington in hopes of reopening the border for Canadian beef — a border that has been closed since one case of BSE was found in Alberta last May. "We are trying to work through these problems," Speller said. "We are reminding them that they need to take a leadership role by opening up their border to Canada and recognizing that the risk in Canada is no different than the risk in the United States." Conservative MP Jay Hill (Prince George -Peace River) told Speller that Canadians already know where the crisis has taken them but what the farming industry really needed to know was what the government would do to fix the problem. "What we plan to do is to push foreign governments to open their borders," Speller said. "We will continue to do that." Conservative MP Gerry Ritz (Battleford-Lloydminster) reminded the government that BSE has impacted more than just beef producers. Everyone, he said, from truckers to fuel suppliers have been affected. "We need a government that's going to have a plan and that will talk to them and listen," Ritz said. "This government is See FARMItBS, Page 2 Teleconferencing is 'next best thing to being there' for Seaforth doctors and medical staff By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor On a Friday morning when the school buses have been pulled off the roads because of freezing rain, Seaforth Community Hospital staff still has access to professional development in Stratford. That's because of a video conferencing system that has allowed . long distance hospital board and committee meetings and Friday morning seminars to be held for the past year throughout the hospitals in Huron and Perth Counties. "It's a great system with great potential," says Seaforth site leader Mary Cardinal. "It brings clinical and educational resources to our arca and we've been. using it a lot for meetings." Every Friday at 8 a.m. for the past year, staff has had the opportunity to join in Stratford General's "Grand Rounds" involving a doctor speaking about various topics from antibotic use in pneumonia to pediatrics. "It's not always well attended but the opportunity is there for them," says Cardinal. And, whenever inclement weather prevents travel to hospital board meetings, the teleconferencing allows members to participate from each hospital site. "A virtual meeting takes some getting used to but it's almost instantaneous and it's the next best thing to being there. It's not at all like watching a video. For all intents and pufposes, it allows you to be in the same room," says Cardinal. The most dramatic use of the teleconferencing technology so far has been the meetings between hospitals throughout Southwestern Ontario during the SARS outbreak. "It was a godsend during SARS. We met everyday through video conferencing with our peers," says Cardinal. Seaforth Chief of Staff, Dr. Shawn Edwards, says the video conferencing allowed Seaforth doctors to gain information about SARS and to standardize the precautions that would be taken locally See FUNDING, Page Dr. Shawn Edwards, of Seaforth hospital, holds the handset that allows him to participate in a -Grand Rounds' seminar held every Friday morning at Stratford General Hospital. Enter In-Slort+' �lNin one of our Fie E. for �� S •pedicure *Aromatherapy ensHWrap ai 'M Haircut ('„ l.(l ijr.r.1(.' ;;i1;' l it ()(iI J(.;.'v/V,f • 1 i 1 ( I l J � "\' i (.(, Total Image Day of Beauty The "ultimate gift" any woman would love) ( ) i "�