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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-04-25, Page 4Page 4 April 25, 2007 • The Huron Expositor Opinion Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., Seaforth, ON, NOK 1WO Closing the barn door after the horse is gone The phrase "closing the barn door after the horse is gone" comes to mind after Monday's discussion by the Seaforth Community. Hospital Local Advisory Committee. While the LAC wants to see negotiations reopened between Huron East and the Seaforth Community Development Trust on one side and the Seaforth Community Hospital Foundation and Hospital Trust on the other concerning a home for the Seaforth family health team (FHT), a sod -turn- ing ceremony held last Wednesday for a new build- ing for the FHT seems to negate that possibility. After attempting to negotiate for months with the Seaforth hospital trust, the municipality and the development trust have agreed to share the invest- ment of $50,000 a year over a 20 -year period for a new building next to the CCAC building and behind the Seaforth clinic. While negotiating to use the Seaforth medical clinic to house the FHT, the two sides reached an impasse over accountability and openness when sharing financial information - while the munici- pality and development trust wanted the books to be open to taxpayers - especially when property taxes were being used to fund improvements to the building - the hospital trust insisted that they were not compelled to do so and therefore would not. While the LAC is now complaining about the municipality's involvement in the FHT, they should remember that Huron East was initially a reluc- tant contributor to healthcare, wooed by hospital administration and the hospital foundation to help with clinic upgrades that could provide a more attractive environment to recruit doctors. In fact, the municipality was passionately petit- tioned to get involved with the FHT when closed door planning between Clinton and Seaforth orga- nizers seemed to be threatening Seaforth's ability to retain its original proposal to set up a county- wide community -run FHT in town. It was through the dogged efforts of Huron East's economic development officer that Seaforth even has a FHT to find housing for. While strong arguments can be made that healthccare is a provincial responsibility and should not be funded by property taxes, you can't have it both ways. You can't invite the municipality to the party and then complain that they accepted the invitation. Susan Hundertmark Exi5ositor 411111111111111111111110 Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 E-mail us at seaforth@bowesnet.com Visit our home page at www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com OUEBECOR MEDIA Canada l ddd SUN Mco A "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing costs." It's tough to protect kids in a world that's crazier every day The first I heard of threats to students at Central Huron Secondary School came surprisingly from my fifth grade daughter. She had heard rumours of someone writing on a washroom wall that they were going to bring a gun to school and start shoot- ing from friends whose siblings go to high school in Clinton with her brother and want- ed me to keep her brother safe at home last Thursday. When asked for confirmation, my son shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, peo- ple were talking about it," but wasn't too fazed by the story. And, while my first reaction was to treat it as a prank, 32 college students were killed by a crazed gunman the next day at Virginia Tech and suddenly the threat seemed far more real. After a phone call and a letter from the school outlining the school's plans to have police checking backpacks at the door on Thursday, my husband and I chose to send our son to school. It seemed to us that there would never be a safer day at school with the visible police presence. My son continued to be blase about the whole thing but as he left that morning for the bus, I know I felt a twinge of fear, hoping by Susan Hundertmark we'd made the right deci- sion. Many parents chose to give their kids a day off that day and I can't fault them for their decision either. Attempting to keep our kids safe in a world that seems crazier by the day seems to have no clear guidelines. Who would have ever predicted that in rural Huron County, parents would be wor- ried about the possibility of their kids getting shot at school? Or, that the kids would be going through a police check at the front door to combat that possibility? While the threat to rural teens has always seemed to involve one or more of them travel- ling on the roads, once they arrived at their destination, parents have always imagined them to be safe. Ironically, we are living in a time when kids have never been more protected by legisla- tion, insurance concerns, school safety pre- cautions and parents themselves. Gravel is measured for size and depth under playground equipment, if that equip- ment is even allowed at all. Helmets and protective gear are either leg- islated or recommended to be legislated at a steady rate. Issues like bullying, violence against women and sexual assault - while they still See WRAPPING, Page 6 Ron & [Dave Well...I guess - - It'll be summer Yep - soon. Hey, Remember those summers when we were kids? Yeah I sure do Goofing off aII day. Doing �_nothing ntall. And Mom always yelling at us for being so lazy. IF YOU TWO CAN'T FIND SOMETHING USEFUL TO DO... THEN I'LL FIND IT FOR YOUI by bavid Lacey She never gives up does she. SUBSCRIPTK*[ BATES: LOCAL - 36.18 a year, in advance. plus G.S.T. SENIORS; - 34.17 a year, in advance, plus G.S.T. Foreign: 36.18 a year in advance, plus $181.48 postage, G.S.T. exempt U,S.A,; 36.18 a year in advance, plus $92.56 postage, G.S.T. exempt Published weekly by Sun Media at 11 Main St., Seaforth. 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ON., NOK 1 WO Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association & the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Tom Williscraft Publisher Bernie Pugh Advertising / Office Sus in Hundertmark Editor Dianne McGrath Front office Aaron Jacklin Reporter Marcie Riegling Composing Editorial and Business Offices - 11 Main Street.,Seaforth Telephone (519) 527-0240 Fax (519) 527-2858 Mailing Address - P.O. Box 69, Seaforth, Ontario, NOK 1 WO