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Times Advocate, 1994-03-02, Page 1SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 63 Exeter 235-0262 Whole sale Club Packs No membership required Large sizes = Large savings Serving South Huron rSUBSCRIBE!, 11 you aren't subscribing to The I Times -Advocate, you're missing out Use the coupon below and subscribe today.! 1 Name: I Address City _ -_- I Prov. IPostal Code . SU@SCBIP1IQ1'LBAT S: Canada Within 40 miles - (65 km) addressed to non letter career addresses $30 00 plus S2 10 G.S T. Outside 40 miles - (65 km) or any letter ' corner address $60.00 + $4.20 G S T I Outside Canada -$99.00 (rid see b v&•r! 1 ilBE YOUR CREDIT CARO 1 00000000 1 00000000 Card No. I I Expiry Date LJ Visa U Master Card Ll Cheque enclosed Return to: TIMES ADVOCATE I 424 Main St. Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6 mis Nen me um um S6um I 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 I I Inside UIC battle General Homes employees fight clawback page 5 EIvls on Ice Exeter Figure Skating Carnival pages 6 & 7 Hawks done Seaforth sweeps in four Second front North Middlesex &- Larnhton Hunger pays off Since 1873 Wednesday, March 2, 1994 1 valu-mart 1 A& 83 Exeter 235-02d FREE 2 L Presidents Choice ' "Pop with purchase of say 1 1 large Deli Fresh 11'a 1 `Coupon 9406 Explore Mar. 9/94. (84c * 6c G.S.T.) 90 cents Students raise $3,000 in 30 -Hour Famine By Adrian Harte T -A Editor EXETER - In a darkened auditor- ium at midday Saturday, a rented video plays on a television set, the only source of Tight in the room. Scattered all across the floor are sleeping bags. In them are students who got little, if any, sleep the night before. More importantly, they haven't eaten in 24 hours.. The 30 -Hour Famine returned to South Huron District High School this weekend, and more stu- dents took part in the hunger relief effort than ever before. Organizer Kevin Bender said the 67 students involved this year far surpassed last year's total of 29. Pledges from the students' spon- sors were in excess of 53,000, said Bender, and added there were 17 more pledge sheets still to come in. Bender, who said he got involved in the 30 -hour Famine after watch- ing commercials for the relief effort on television, said he was im- pressed with how the event •has grown at the school. Many of those students not involved were wishing they had been by the time the fa- mine volunteers got together in the auditorium after classes ended Fri- day. "There's a lot of people who think they should have done it, but didn't," said Bender. To pass the time right through the night to Saturday at 6 p.m. Bender said a variety of activities were needed to fight off boredom: vol- leyball, basketball, videos, music, sleeping bag races, and even the oc- casional practical joke kept every- one lively. "I woke up this morning with shaving cream in my hair," laughed Karey Youmans, a victim of a "shaving cream fight" in the early hours of Saturday. "I'm not hungry, just really tired," added Youmans, noting few of the students got any sleep during the night. Bender said he also showed a videotape to give the students an idea of where the funds they raised would be going. Haiti, Brazil, Bot- swana, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, are only a few of the countries on the list where people go to bed hun- gry• "Thirty hours is nothing com- pared to what they have to go through," said Bender, and noted that some of the money even goes to tight hunger right here in Can- ada. irPlease see Famine, page two. Over 60 students of South Huron District High School went without food for 30 hours from Friday noon to Saturday at 6 p.m. They Spent the night 14 the school auditorium, and few got any sleep. In front centre is Kevin Bender, organizer of the World Vision 30 -Hour Famine for the school. Liberals first budget reflects Red Book promises Small business initiatives some of the key programs that will help constituents, says MP By Catherine O'Brien T -A staff EXETER - Paul Steckle, Member of Parliament for Huron -Bruce says the first budget tabled by the federal Liberals last Tuesday shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone because it's what the Liberals outlined in their Red Book prior to being elected. "Our budget was geared to the Red Book," Steckle said. "Within four months we have put on paper all the things we said we were going to do." In a telephone interview from his office in Ottawa on Thursday, Steckle said people in Huron and Bruce would not be directly affected by the budget, but he did outline some key programs that would be important to local constituents such as small business initiatives. "The budget we have brought down is not going to im- pact that greatly on the people of Huron -Bruce because we don't have any major plant closings or institutions clo ing such as the military," he said. egarding small business, Steckle said "One of the most critical things I'm dealing with right now and one of the most often addressed issues is the matter of small business trying to obtain venture capital to run a busi- ness or begin a business." He said many banking and lending institutions don't want to get involved with small business ventures. "For some reason they've turned their views to other things," Steckle said. He said the government is going to take measures to make sure small businesses get their fair share of loans. Young offender arrested EXETER - Thc OPP have arrested one young offender in connection with a series of break and enters in the area. Police say they seized a quantity of stolen property after acting on a tip from a Huron Park resident. While only one youth was charged, the OPP are saying they believe at least three more people are involved in the crimes and are continuing their investigation. The young offender attended a bail hearing in Goderich on Mon- day. Police were not releasing any in- formation about what kind of prop- erty was seized, because the case is still in progress. The OPP are also looking for in- formation on a case of damage to a hydro meter at the Hensall arena two weekends ago, and a smashed windshield of a car belonging to a Hensall woman on February 24. "We have set up a code of ethics board that will deal with those small businesses that go for money and are turned down They will now have a board that they can appeal to and find out why they were turned down," he said. "I think there is now an alternative for those who are turned down: where there wasn't before," Steckle said. He said the Liberal government is also taking meas- ures to try and help small business become productive. "I know there are people who want to start up a small business but can't get the capital to do it," he said. He said the direct incentives in the budget will create 120,000 jobs, not taking into account all the jobs ex- pected to be created by small businesses. As well, he said farmers and business people should be happy with the $500,000 capital gains exemption that will continue although the small business $ I00,000 cap- ital gains is gone. The federal government is also working on social se- curity reform. Steckle outlined some changes to un- employment insurance that should make the system a bit more fair. "With 1.11 benefits we're moving the base from 57 per- cent of your salary. We've now moved the 57 percent to 60 percent for someone with dependants." he said. On the other hand, .someone with no dependants drops to 55 percent. He said more changes are set for this program as well. This year, he said. unemployment premiums were set at S3.07 to cover the deficit expected to be incurred by Huron -Beres MP Paul Steckl Middlesex Count carved upL London -Middlesex MP opposes new federal riding boundaries LONDON - Try to imagine Lucan residents hav- ing to call Stratford to speak to their MP. Better yet, imagine someone living in Lieury in McGilliv- ray Township having to make the same call. That's what the Federal Electotal Boundaries Commission is proposing under a plan to redraw most of the province's ridings. Lucan, Biddulph, McGillivray, East Williams, and Lobo Townships would end up in a huge Perth -Oxford -Middlesex riding that would stretch further east than the boun- daries of Woodstock, north to Mitchell, and west nearly to Grand Bend. London -Middlesex MP Pat O'Brien doesn't see much sense in the proposal, and like many other Ontario MPs is voicing his opposition to the plan. "I really wonder at this time if we need to add more members of Parliament at this time," he said, noting the proposal would turn Ontario into a 103 - riding province, from 99. "I don't think that enough thought has gone into this process," said O'Brien. "It looks like they for- got about 'community of interest'." The present London -Middlesex riding has four townships, and part of the City of London. Only 20 percent of those voters live outside the city, in Bid- dulph, North Dorchester, West Nissouri, and Lon- don Townships, and in the villages they enclose. Under the new plan, Biddulph and West Nissouri would end up in Perth -Oxford -Middlesex. North Dorchester would find itself in a Middlesex Elgin - London riding, and London Township would re- main with London -Middlesex. "It's carving up the townships of Middlesex County very badly," said O'Brien, adding that if the rationale is to return all townships to rural ridings, the proposal also fails. "Why would you leave one township with the city riding?" he asks. O'Brien said he will be attending the public hear- ings on May 11 and 12 at the Court House in Lon- don to voice his opposition to the plan. "Maybe were best off to leave it as it is for a few years," he said. 4 that department. In 1995-96 it will return to S3. The Nudger also left many programs in place that should help home- owners. RRSP's can still be used in the purchase of a new home. Steckle said this will have a positive impact on all involved in the housing industry such as buyers, realtors and contractors. Over the next two years the federal government has also committed $100 million to continue the Residential Rehabilitation Assistant Program. This program was put in place to help with the rehabilitation of older . homes. "It's a pretty good program that's been around for a long time," he said. And although RRSP's weren't touched this time: they will be looked at during the next round of budget cuts. "Basically." Steckle said, "the government has set realistic recovery tar- gets." Steckle said he is confident the government will meet those targets. "In spite of the fact that we started off with S13 billion more in deficit than we expected to...". When the Red Book was written. he said, it was based on a $32.5 billion deficit. He said in this fiscal year the federal government expects to reduce the deficit from S45.7 billion to S39.7 billion. And in 1995-96, he said their goal is to reduce the deficit to $32.7 billion. "That was our target and we hope to do a lot better than that," he said. "This budget sets the stage for the next number of budgets." "We've found a balance," he said. "If we continue on with the commit- ment we have made to the people with the Red Book. there's no doubt in my mind in four years time we can hold up that hook and say we've com- pleted it," Steckle said. Municipalities, service groups targeted for $10,000 debt EXETER - With costs rising and revenue decreasing, the South Huron Recreation and Community Centre Board told Exeter council that a S10,000 debt couldn't he absorbed into the Board's 1994 budget. Councillor Dave Urlin reported to Exeter Council that the rec board bud- get is dependent on money raised through concession booths and charges to adult groups rather than grant money. "We can't control how much money we get, but maintenance costs are still going up," he said. "The bottom line is it's underfunded." As well, Urlin said revenue is down for the concession booths and that means less revenue for the board. Mayor Bruce Shaw agreed there is not a lot of room in the rec board budget to manoeuvre. Council decided to study a presentation given by Urlin that showed low- er expenditures by rec boards in similar size towns. The study suggested that these towns had more help from service groups when it came to run- ning recreation services. Council agreed to contact local service groups and private business to see if they would help run some services such as the pool. "Maybe the recreation board can no longer be all things to all people," said reeve Bill Mickle. Shaw also said that council should approach municipalities that use the Exeter facilities to see if they would help absorb the deficit. 4