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Home My WebLink AboutHuron Expositor, 2005-03-09, Page 1IN P S Y TJ Clinical Systems DR. ROBERT SHEPHERD Practice in Psychology 148 Goderich St. W, Seaforth Phone 519.527.2669 Toll Free 800.352.3963 Fax 519.527.2588 Visit www.inpsyt.com for more information. Wednesday, March 9, 2005 $1 .25 includes GST ALBERT STREET DENTURE CLINIC Denture Specialist Dean R. McTaggart D.D. Complete and Partial Dentures Denture Repairs Relines & Additions 482-1195 50 Albert St., Clinton In brief Family health team decision expected Friday By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor Gwen Devereaux is hoping to hear this Friday whether or not Seaforth's proposal to become one of the province's first 45 family health teams is approved by the Ontario Health Ministry. Seaforth's proposal was one of five throughout Huron and Perth Counties and one of two in Huron County - the second was proposed by Goderich, says Devereaux, a recruiter for the Huron -Perth Healthcare Alliance. "Goderich applied too but they wrote for their clinic - we wrote the proposal for the orphan patients of all of Huron County," she says. The Perth County proposals come out of St. Marys, Listowel and two out of Stratford. Devereaux says 45 per cent of the 211 proposals throughout Ontario came from individual clinics while Seaforth's fit into the 27 per cent that represented a wider geographical area. "Ours is more community driven. I think the proposal is really strong," says Devereaux. Under the province's new family health team model, patients would see a triage nurse instead of their family doctor. The nurse would determine which members tf the team the patient would need to see, whether that be a doctor, a physiotherapist or other members of the team. "It's a whole new way but it gives orphans access to the healthcare system," she says. Seaforth's proposal would start the family health team in Seaforth and move satellites out into the rest of Huron County, using the Seaforth model as a pilot in other communities such as Clinton and Goderich. "We'd become a training site for the rest of them,'.' says Devereaux. She says the province is expected to make an announcement on Friday, March 11 about the locations of the first family health teams. "Ours is as strong as any proposals on the table and we are underserviced but there are places more underserviced than us," says Devereaux. Seaforth Atoms play in Bill Carnochan tourney... page 13 Seaforth All- Giris band' preparing for trip... page 14 0 Local farmers join 8,000 in rally for provincial aid at Queen's Park By Clint Haggart Clinton News -Record Staff More than 8,000 farmers, including 300 from Huron County, converged in Queen's Park last Wednesday to protest unfair treatment they have received from the provincial government. Farmers made their message to the provincial government loud and clear. They need immediate action taken on issues affecting the farm community. Ron Bonnett, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), organizers of the rally, said the farmers aren't singling out the Ontario government and want both the provincial and federal levels to listen and support agriculture. The OFA president said it was important to hold the rally in the City of Toronto because farmers are as important to cities as they are to rural communities. "Farmers are important to everyone." With all the added pressures hitting farmers (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), increased regulations and low grain prices to name a few), Bonnett said the government needs to provide immediate support for farmers. The Nutrient Management Act will be an extra expense for farmers, yet Bonnett said the provincial government doesn't seem to be following the advice of farm organization on many of the regulations. Bonnett noted the Canadian Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) Program is inadequate and flawed. Funding support for farmers takes two years after a crisis, he said, adding agriculture needs funding Close to 300 farmers from Huron County joined more than 8,000 farmers from across the province in a protest rally at Queen's Park in Toronto last Wednesday. when crisis hits the sector. Both the provincial and federal governments must provide support for farmers, said Bonnett, because farmers, "support every living being who eats and breathes." The OFA president said he appreciated the crowd that was assembled at Queen's Park, noting there is strength in unity. He added farmers got through to the province after they cut the municipal drainage funding and they replaced with a similar program, albeit a program with a $5.5 million cap. A handout is not what farmers want from the province, said Bonnett, adding, "This (rally, is about the farm community standing together in an important message to the province. We need to get the respect we deserve." Ontario Wheat Producers chair Peter Tuinema, speaking on behalf of the Grain Safety Net Committee, said Dr. Ken Rodney, Lin Sterner and Maureen Spittal, members of the Seaforth hospital focus group, make their final report to the Seaforth LAC (Local Advisory Committee) last Monday night. Hospital study group urges more local representation By Jason Middleton Expositor Staff Municipal representation on the Huron - Perth Healthcare Alliance's local advisory committees was the main thrust of three presentations by the Seaforth hospital study group last week to the Seaforth Local Advisory Committee (LAC), Huron East council and the Alliance board. (For more details about the study's conclusions and reaction by the Seaforth LAC and Huron East council, refer to the accompanying story.) Huron East Mayor Joe Seili told the Alliance board last Thursday that because of the money Huron East has supplied to health care in the area, a member of council should be represented on the Seaforth Local Advisory Committee. "I guess we're kind of demanding, more than asking, that a council member be appointed to this board," Seili said. "I think if you ask the councillors in Clinton and St. Marys, I think you're going to start finding the same theory," Seili said. "Our hospitals are important to our communities." Seili was responding to the recommendations of the Seaforth hospital study group, presented by Dr. Ken Rodney, of Seaforth. Alliance board member Dave Rae, said that he was worried that the study group might lead people to believe that the Seaforth Community Hospital is going to close. "There might be a subtext that the Seaforth See SEIU, Page 2 agriculture needs as much support from the Ontario government as the auto industry. Unless the government provides immediate assistance, he said, "We cannot plant our crops this spring. Tuinema said farmers want to plant, harvest, pay taxes and be productive members of their communities, but can't, unless a federal/provincial funding program is initiated. See 8,000, Page 8 Rally numbers show desperate situation on local farms By Susan Hundertmark Expositor Editor The large showing of Huron County farmers at the farm protest rally in Toronto is a good indication of how desperate the financial situation is for local farmers, says Nick Whyte, president of the Huron County Federation o f Agriculture. Whyte says close to 300 Huron numbers so that the message that local farmers are involved in a crisis would be received. "Things are bad. From the people I talk to, I don't know if they realize how bad it is. It's not something you like to admit to," he says. "I did what I felt I could. If only 100 people showed up, they (provincial politicians) wouldn't believe it." Zwep, whose farm Quoted 'Things are bad. It's not something you like to admit to,'-- Brustelsarea farmer Jerry Zwep County farmers attended the protest, filling seven local buses and travelling independently. "It all went off very well from a planning point of view but the real test is whether the province helps with any financial support," he says. Jerry Zwep, a Brussels - area farmer, has never attended a farm protest rally before. But, he decided that he needed to help.increase the is half cash crop and half pigs and calves, says the drop in grain and oil seed'prices is making a $50,000 difference in his bottom line this year. "I don't make enough to make a living at farming," he says, -adding that his wife's off -farm job is making the difference this year. Zwep says local farmers would be able to compete See SEAFORTH, Page 5