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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1985-10-02, Page 30Times -Advocate, October 2, 1985 1,, APOSTLES ACT — The Acts of Ilderton Fair, Saturday. Apostles from the Lucon Revival Centre performed mime shows at the T -A photo Letters aimed at government Open letter September 19, 1985 The Honourable Thomas McMillan Minister of the Environment Room 533 Confederation Building House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 The Honourable John Wise Minister of Agriculture Room 101, East Block House of Commons Ottawa. Ontario K1A 0A6 Dear Gentlemen: I am writing to express a deep con- cern about a paper -released by the Land Use Policy and Research Branch of the Department of En- vironment. The report is Working Paper Number 40, titled "The Eastern Ontario Subsidiary Agree- ment Drainage Program: Impacts on the Land Resource - An Initial Evaluation." The report is very negative towards our land drainage program and appears to be based to a great extent on false and erroneous information. 'Be a good sort - recycle' "Be a good sort - recycle". That is Environment Minister Jim Bradley's Message to all Ontario citizens in,pro- claiming Recycling Week in Ontario from September 30 to October 5, 1985. The Recycling Council of Ontario with -the help of Environment Ontario have organized the first Recycling Week to provide an opportunity for citizens to find out more about their local recycling projects and to learn how to recycle more at home and at work. Sixty-four municipalities across the province are celebrating Recycling Week to encourage their residents to participate in source separation and local collection projects. Mr. Bradley said recycling is one major area where everyone can make a personal contribution to pro- tect and improve the environment, and to conserve our precious resources. "Enthusiastic public participation is the key to success in these recycl- ing projects. Recycling depends on in- volvement and co-operation of many groups," he said. "Public environmental groups pro- mote recycling and raise public awareness about waste management. Individual citizens participate through source separation. Municipalities take care of home col- lection of recyclable material. In- dustries, besides recycling a lot of their wastes themselves, provide a stable market for recycled products and put reclaimed material to use. Finally, governments contribute to recycling by providing funds, expert advice and large scale promotion. "I am proud of my Ministry's con- tribution," Mr. Bradley said. "To date, we have committee more. than. $2 million to municipal and private source separation and waste recycl- ing, projects. This includes $750,000 which will be provided this year:" Ontario's experienced recyclers have shown that up to 15 percent of household waste in the form of newspapers, glass, and metal cans can be collected and recycled. Home composting of organic wastes pro- vides another opportunity for public participation. This reduces the amount of waste generated in a com- munity, keeping more waste out of landfill sites and putting it to produc- tive use. "I look forward to continued growth of recycling projects through active involvement by Ontario citizens. Recycling is really a sound invest- ment in the future," Mr. Bradley said. AN OLD TRACTOR -- Bev Hughes was at the wheel of his ancient John Deere tractor in Saturday's Ilderton Fair parade. IlIc fl 411.-0 " I MODEL 'A' PARADES - Harold Noyes operated his 1930 Model 'A' Ford in Saturday's Ilderton Fair parade. • T -A photo A ROYAL RIDE - Ilderton fair president Jack Moir rides with Mar- vin Hodgins in Saturday's fair parade. T -A photo This paper has already been quoted extensively in the media and used at a Tribunal hearing as evidence that drainage projects are ill conceived. My staff has had comments on the report from all across Canada. I will list a few examples of the er- rors in the report. Drains worth $2.2 million of the $8 million worth of projects analyzed in the report have not been approved under the E.O.S.A. and therefore should not have been considered in the report. When more than 25 per- cent of the information is invalid, it raises serious questions about • the validity of the entire report. The pro- jects involved are the Payne, Lionel Rozon, Lyn Pettem, Greer, Williamsburg Village, Borris and the Ronald Barton. The report indicates a great loss of wetlands as a result of the E.O.S.A. drainage work. Considering that an improved channel existed in most projects prior to the E.O.S.A. im- provement, it is apparent that any loss in wetlands occurred over the last century rather than during the past five years. The statements in the report that compensation for land expropriated or damaged during construction is not a cost to the project, and that benefit is assessed on the basis of acreage owned, are incorrect. The evaluation of the program against the Federal Land Use Policy leads readers to conclude that the pro- gram was mismanaged. In fact, the federal policy was released two years after the signing of the E.O.S.A. and was never considered during the management of the agreement. If it was to be an issue, it should have been raised by the federal representative on the management committee of the agreement. The cost -benefit analysis ignored all of the positive reports of drain benefit from both Canada and the nor.- thern United States and drew data from the few negative reports available. Other studies show some positive and some negative projects with the majority showing returns ex- ceeding the costs. For this reason I in- tend to continue provincial support for drainage works. Had the staff of Environment Canada shared the report with my Ministry prior to its release, these items could have been clarified. I think a retraction of the report, in- cluding recovery of all copies, and a written apology for the release of this inaccurate analysis are required. It is particularly important that this apology receive the same wide distribution as the report. Yours truly, Jack Riddell Minister of Agriculture and Food * * *. Dear Sir, Canadians are about to be made an offer we should all refuse. Successive Liberal and PC govern, ments have told us repeatedly that Petro -Canada is "ours", but now we're going to be asked to huy shares in it! Just think, we can own it twice! However, while the federal govern- ment will ask us to help Petro -Canada get bigger, it will retain decisive con- trol over it. The prospect of having the federal government as a majority partner is a little daunting. Its track record of billion dollar losses isn't terribly in- spiring - Canada Post, Canadair, de Havilland, Via Rail, Atomic Energy, etc. etc. Petro -Canada is worth about $9 billion. Think of the potential for more huge losses! Federal energy Minister Pat Carney says Petro -Canada's going to be run "commercially" and the government won't interfere in its operations. Petro -Canada chief Wilbert Hopper reports to her. Yet Pat Carney's "business" is politics. Canadians are being set up again - but this time by a government calling itself conservative. We're about'to get "hosed" on Petro -Canada. • Petro -Canada's assets should be sold off progressively, starting with the thousands of gas stations. Think of all the entrepreneurs that could establish themselves! Does this federal government stand for socialism or free enterprise? Out advice to Canadians'? Don't huy any Petro -Canada shares. Boycott it until the government privatizes it! Sincerely, Colin Brown, President. National Citizens' Coalition Expert gives simple tests to detect learning problems Many elaborate psychological tests designed to predict learning problems in children are inaccurate, says a pro- fessor and researcher in the field of early school failure in children. According to Dr. Marvin Simner, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario, kits such as the dial test and the Miller Assessment Test, used in the U.S. and Canada, have been found through research to be invalid in predicting if a child is at risk of early school failure. He says they're long, taking in average of 90 minutes to ad- minister, and based on myths about learning problems. Dr. Simper was the guest speaker at the ninth annual meeting of the Huron -Perth Centres for Children and Youth held at the Clinton Town Hall. The need for an early identification program is great, he says. A study carried out by the London Board of Education three years ago found 16 percent of children in elementary school had failed one of more grades with the failure rate being the greatest in Grade 1. He advocates a more simpler method of screening pre-school children. It takes one to two minutes per child and involves both the teacher and parent. "These other methods take time. Some people believe you have to have a lot or spend a lot of money for it to -be worthwhile. But there are simple things you can do and be just as ef- fective," he said in respect to how a child will do in school. The methods are called teacher and parent inventory. The parent inven- tory involves three questions concer- ning the child, while the teacher in- ventory consists of five different areas in which the students ate assessed, he said. The first sign of a child with a potential learning problem is one who is easily distracted or has a short at- tention span. The second sign is a child whq lacks verbal fluency. Dr. Simner says this isnot the size of the vocabulary, but how a child uses con- cise words to describe an abstract idea. Interest and participation is also considered when assessing the child. If the child is enthusiastic and eager to participate in school, they are highly unlikely to have learning problems. How well a child knows the alphabet before entering Kindergarten is also an important warning sign. The Kindergarten ag- ed child should know the alphabet in random order. If the child knows less than 25 percent of the alphabet, there is the potential for problems later on in school, he said. Printing errors are also used in the evaluation of the child. Distortions of the overall shape of the letter to the extent that they are no longer recognizable are clear signs a learning problem will develop, said Dr. Simner. Printing traits once thought to be sure signs of learning problems such as. reversals (bs for d's) or writing names backwards have very little bearing on how a child will do in school. In order for the teacher to assess the students, a scale of one to five is used for each of the five categories. If a child scores in the 11, 12 or 13 range, the odds are 2:1 of early school failure. li a child scores lower than 11, the change of failure increase to 7:1. He says research has proven this system to be accurate with 85 percent of the children who are at the bottom end of the scale will have trouble in school. The parent assessment is similar to the one used by the teacher, but it only consists of three items that are used to determine at -risk children. He says the information gained from this method of evaluation is 70 to 80 per- cent accurate in predicting early school failure. The three questions included in the assessment are: - How many books appropriate to your child are available at home? If a parent says one to five books, the chances are greater for learning pro- blems early in school. - How many letters of the alphabet can your child name correctly? If the child can only nameone to five let- ters, he is likely to have problems in school. Dr. Simner said some parents don't teach their pre-schoolers the alphabet because they may become bored in Kindergarten. However, this works in the reverse. The child who has done some learning before enter- ing school, is less likely to be bored. - How do you think your child will do in school in relation to other children? If a parent rates their child as average, the child will likely be at the bottom of the class whereas a child rated above-average will likely be in the middle of the class. Dr. Simner says these methods of assessment are still in the infant stages. The manual for the teacher and parent inventories are yet to be published but the positive feedback from educators and its accuracy in predicting children with learning pro- blems should make it a more viable system than is currently being used in schools. Some misinformation has been written about children with lear- ning problems, especially in the press, says Dr. Simner. Slow learners are not those who are clumsy or born - later in the year. They are not typical- , ly male and are not the last born. He says there are now a number of programs in place to help the child at risk of early school failure..These pro- grams have been in place in the United States since the early '60s and a number of key principles have been found over the years to work with the best results. The material to be taught should be carefully organized and in the proper sequence in order for the child to learn: Children also work better on a one to one basis with the teacher or in small groups of two or three. The instructions in the classes should be kept simple and the teacher must get the attention of the child and keep it if they are to learn. "If a child is going to learn you have to have their attention on what you want them to learn," he said. One particular program in remedial education called Distar places the emphasis on getting the child to be attentive, he said. In a Distar classroom, the children are close around the teacher who is dynamic and told to 'be dynamic in order to hold the children's attention. The children are frequently called to answer questions and the classroom is neat and orderly so there is nothing to distract the children. When they are working on a project, work is done on rugs which serve as a confined work area to further limit distractions. Dr. Simner says this type of pro- gram is available in some schools, but some remedial teachers are not com- fortable with the 'drill -sergeant' ap- proach to education. Also important to remedial training is having the child involved in the learning process. The more the child is involved the more he -she will pick up, he says. Consistent use of positive reinforcement also increases the Amount of learning the child accomplishes. Remedial programs should be started as early as possible and the children should be kept in the pro- gram as Tong as possible. Research has shown that the earlier the child is in the program and the longer he -she stays in it, the better they will do in school. - Most importantly, says Dr. Simner, is not to expect miracles. The child, through remedial classes, may move from working at a D level to a C level, but' there is seldom advancement beyond that point. However, students who have had remedial education tend to finish high school, gain employment and there is a lower rate of juvenile delinquency. The Distar system emphasizes teaching letter sounds, rather than simply naming them. Another system used in remedial training called Initial Teaching Alphabet ( ITA) concentrates on phonetically sounding the letters of the alphabet. The Bridge Program uses a whole word approach with pic- tures so the child learns by associa- tions, says Dr. Simner. Once any of these progams have been mastered, the child can easily move back to using the regular alphabet. Most schools in Canada are using these systems or modifications of the different systems. LIONS FLOAT — Members of the Ilderton Lions Club participated in Saturday's fair parade with a hillbilly float. WMS conference in Staffa The Fall Conference of Stratford - Huron Presbyterial of the Women's Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church In Canada was held in Knox Church, Cranbrook, On- tario on Wednesday, September 25. The Executive met at 12 o'clock noon for lunch and to hear the Officers and Conveners reports. Devotions were conducted by Mrs. C. Edward and Mrs. G. Henderson. Mrs. Edward, president, announc- ed three workshops for this fall. Stratford -Huron will be represented at these by some of the Executive. It was decided to have the Annual meeting on March 24, 1986, with an Executive meeting January 27, 1986. These dates were later confirmed and approved by the General meeting afternoon session. The first Vice- president, Mrs. R. J. MacTavish, who is at present in England, had sent some tentative plans for the 1986 An- nual meeting and Spring Conference and these were read to the Executive. A get -well letter is to go to Lynn Longmuir from the Presbyterial. The afternoon session was conven- ed at 3 p.m. with Mrs. C. Edward giv- ing the call to worship. Mrs. Y. Graf and Mrs. D. Paradecht from Mitchell conducted the devotions. Mrs. Leslie Knight welcomed the members to Cranbrook. Mrs. Edward extended her welcome and conducted the business of the Presbyterial. A duet sung by 011y Ward and Marilyn, Brown from Monkton was enjoyed by al(. The presentation of material which will be available for the 1985-86 study "Native People of North America" was capably made by Mrs. D. McTavish, Mrs. Murray McTavish and Mrs. Sam Young. The Mitchell ladies closed this session with the reading of Psalm 8 and prayer. A delicious dinner was served by the Cranbrook ladies. Before dinner and after the two book tables were visited by all present. The evening session convened at 7:30 p.m. with a hymn sing led by Mrs. Harvey of North Mornington. Mrs. R. McCall presided at this ses- sion. The devotions were led by Mrs. M. Allen and Mrs. M. Harvey from North Mornington. The Rev. Donald McInnis, Minister of Cranbrook and Monkton brought greetings from the Church. A letter of greeting from Rev. Ross MacDonald for Presbytery was read by Mrs. D. Thorne, correspon- ding secretary. Angela Ward from Monkton then favored with a lovely solo. Mrs. D. McTavish introduced the guest speaker, Carleen Elliott from the White Owl Native Community Center, Kitchener -Waterloo. Carleen is a native worker with the center and she explained what the center is try- ing to do for her people in this area. She said, "Canada has a legal obliga- tion to the Native People. If it hadn't been for the Native People would not have had Canada." Carleen was thanked by Mrs. McCall. - The offering was received and dedicated by Mrs. E. Rivers, Seaforth. The courtesies were given by Mrs. G. Henderson, Goderich. This session was closed by singing hymn 387, "O Spirit of the Living God" and benediction by Rev. D. Mclnnis. The Council of the Township of Tuckersmith Everyone welcome to APPRECIATION NIGHT For Allan Nicholson at the Seaforth Canadian Legion October 11, 1985 Dance to the musk of Ken Scott from 9 p.m. - 1 a.m. Short program at 9:4S R«w, Members of Ladies please bring lunch. ,T ..n,104.