HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1998-10-21, Page 7Is. Mike Harris sure
of winning election?
1titidne+sday. October 1. 199s
Exeter Times -Advocate
Opinion Forum
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
'Fox Run is a success
Dear editor •
The 1988 Exeter. -1 err) Fox Hun was, a held on -a .
glorious fall day with outstanding results. The total
pledged for our site was 53.284. This amount is a
70 percent increase over last year and the second
highest pledged at the. Exeter site.
This would not be possible without. the • support
uI the :j') partiripants.and their le►)al donors 11
wrtuld also be impossible withi►ut the support id.
the toliowing'corporate sponsors: seip's vale start,
NeK• Orleans Pizza. Take Two Hair Design..
• l:ddington's of Exeter. Re/Max Realty. and•
McDonald's Restaurant. ••.
Congratulations to all involved. What wonderful
results to support cancer research.
Exeter Hun Organizer.- JAM. HtN1:\
Say no to closing of school
Dear. Editor
l -1s concerned parents •%% le) attended a meeting last
• tught (October 131 along with a gym full of concerned
. parents, grandparents and citizens of the community.,
we ask they same question.: where is •the logic in closing
such a fine school.
Accordingto -statistics shown at the meeting: Osborne
Central needs no repairs to the building. Our playground
and its equipment is excellent. The onh euncern is that
our gm may not be quite• large enough but yet has been
quite ',functional in past years. %%e at l sborne have a
teaching staff .which is excellent -and goes above and
• beyond the call of duty to see that bur students are well
educated- There is a volunteer group which is ready and
willing to help out at the school whenever calledupin
1N -here is the loge -in ,sending; our students on a bus for
up to 90 minutes to Si Marys schools. which are almost •
full to .c•.apac'ttv_nuw `and-would--requirr-porndb1es ii,
Jtnuuse
Our. students? - Their buildings are in_ meed of
repair and the playgrounds not as good as' the one: our
students•would leave behind- Who does this make sense -
to? Certainly not the. parents •and -students. of i;sborne
Central School.
According to your proposal, you •as a Board are closing
schoots.in our rural area which are 1 5 minutes. at the
most from the end. of our lane. •and most • others in this
area. to bus our children 90 minutes aw'a) . this W me,is
not an option. Itis -most ridiculous u,' put sena.!) children
cin a bus ler this amount of time. when the school the)
will pass b) . will 'be closed: -for no apparent reason.
!!'here is the Jog*i in this"
Our- tax dollars are going to a community we live in
and are proud of: we c•erta.inh don't agree to sending
our children awaN from this comrnunit) t11. attend: a_
school, when our. tax dollars for years •have provided an
,'utstanding education right here at L_sborne Central,
school....
Acc ordingl to Ile lets Johns -MPP of Huron. who spoke .at
(.br meting Umbel' ] she too does not agree to the
losing of our school rTinanciall) we, are Within out-
•':Irans. '!here is no need at this tong to build new
(loots in this.area with exc'e'ss capacit' in our existing
schools. you as a Sehool Board want u. clotie
toe .sane tel our condi—en .ono tn' ,r tutor, 1; hoop •
mere c an pi'• other options provided rattier- titan the
•(sing of some litre rural.schue-,ts wtmch ha%e beets
home u, so man) students. -
Concerne'd. titer -'v -r :vet tittartt.s 1) -AWS 1
Lucan excels during Drive
Dear Editor:'
Lucan and area can be very proud to have con-
tributed $31,21.55 ill the recent Arthritis campaign..
Thank you to the 37 Volunteer canvassers for their
time and effort. Th.anks also 'to the Knights 'of
Columbus Jor their generous donation.
M1Altct!t;ttlm Mcfloat:las -:Chairperson
Don't wait until its too late
Dear Editor:,
Fire extinguishers" are' great to., have around, but they
snake very- poor construction and,rnaiptenance tools.
You have to be completely dense .not to see that- ,But
. apply that to a major area of. Canadian life, and all logic
}sues out the window.. I'm speaking of what is loosely
called health care.' , • '
W.e spend billions of dollars. on mostly useless lire
extinguishers.' and so little on 'ciinstruction and mainte-
nanee tools'- And We don't stem to care. The 'fire extin-
guishers' are drugs and surgeries.
. They do a pretty good job of dealing with crisis situa-
• :lions and traumas. and we are lertunate to have tilers
1(4- that- .13ut the have, little or nothing to do with build-
ing up health or maintaining it. Used Jur. that purpose.
they can even be -deadly. •,
'Ibis is a' tragic' situation 'of colossal proportions.
•More' and more dollars are being spent on more and
:more drugs. And what's the_uuteome'' ' • '
[very disease condition: ,on the rise! And: new dis-
eases are emerging all the Lurie! -
Take the so-c:alJed•'war en cancer. It has been
•- fought so poorly that cancer' is an immensely greater
problem than when the 'war'•began.
Sumo war' Some. waste!
•But then. what can We expert? We -re using 'fire
extinguishers' to tr) tee do building and maintenance,
and we just don't get it. When it -doesn't work. we du
more research to improve -bu'r lire extinguishers! ' Holy
dumb, -
The building and maintenance tools of the body. are.
'good nutrition, exercise health) life sty ie. ' Always been
that way...always will. But ,the fire extinguisher compa-
nies don't like that. There's no mope) in that for them.
Si they keep on pushing their products --and like dopes.
we keep on •buying them. .And of all things. we call it
"health care"! -
• But now it's possible that the federal government •
may give us freedom of access til. scientific intorination •
about nutritional supplements. and: no restrictions on
purchasing them. So what's happening'.' : The drug
comparuees are bringing enormuus-pressure: on-thr-gnv= - --
-ernmenrtui clamps lid. on all that. They want nutrition-
al supplements to be classified as drugs. -
1f that happens: any hope of freedom will be. gone. - -
• What do we want? More fire ('xtinguishers?. , Or free
access to building and maintenance took'' 1)o we.wani
freedom of access to the scientific inlormalion.needed to
understand and evaluate them'' In 1994 when this ver)
thing happened in the_t nited States the people fooded
Congress with mail—and got their 1reedoni. called the •
Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSIILA),
.%(' can do.the same.
Butthe time is short The de cisien will be made this
month. If -we' don't let our voice~ be petard in starer.
will get What we deserve -and we alre:ld) knew HP' . •
consequences of that. -
Lest your voice. be .heard %%rite to The Honorable
Allan Hock. Minister of Health in Ottawa. Send a copy. or •
your All'. Don't use a stamp.
It's not needed Tell them -what you want boleti...its
too late. - ` - -
1_, f:1'O t-0\ -Forest. ON NON -1-I0 -
Agriculture and education -
tv
1.OlRO1s F .— Premier Mike
Harris may pet wish .he. had
called an election this fall and
gut it • over when he seemed
reasonably sure of winning
The Progressiv e •
(.unser‘atne premier'~ latest
word •is that he expects to e•itll
• an election next • %ear. in keep-
ing witli a• brittle Ontaraetradi-
lion of ‘uteh ey*four %ears
' dile!! flits been' broken se%eral
This letter teas presentee) by 1111' Moron l•Edc•rath rl of
:,lyruulture1t)the Aeon Maitland /Astral ..School Hoard
al the orcein(, on Urtober- 6,19V8 9,S
Agriculture is big business to llur'oi! 01e•::.1i,tl farms
:farnigate sales total 4Aer 1;2 billion (i.;lJar- •lrle,in,•1••�
to.3.billion dollars are generated b) agriculture related
,businesses such as farm supph store: %eterinaria ns.
machinery sales.- computers, etc. One filth of Iluron
County's labour lorce is directs) •e mpluyed in agriculture.:
!Junin- is the biggest agricultural -count) in Ontariound
produces more loud than Nina Scotia: N 'w Brunswick _-
or Prince Edward Island. •
In order for agriculture to progress in the future the
need for rural services must continue, The small (•oni-
munities in Huron are the backbone to our farm farni_
lies. 1t is where our churches are_ its where our dix•tors
and hospitals are and for tonight's discussion it is•where
our schools are locateid.
The -schools are the fecal point to our communities.
Its where the parents gather to volunteer. whether it's
for our special heeds students, coaching sports. or
fundraising for special projects- It's a gathering place. It.
anchors the community. flow can our small communi-
ties grow if there are no schiiols to send our children. -
' Bussing of ouriarm-children, especially our very
young; ty larger schools even further afield can only. put
more pressures on our youth. !sussing is not'Without its
costs!
•
We in agriculture are onlyetoo aware of changing
tunes- Those involved in agriculture are on a daily basis
trying to keep,abreast ,of these changes whether techni-
calor social. • • -
•11e would ask ler a moratorium on the -motion to start •
looking at the closing of schools. until such time. that .
proper funding inlurmalion has fres sent down by tlh'
governrnent- it has been in previous years that 1luron
County has always been oe the cutting edge of change:
•and it seems that each tune the county has lost- ,1 , -
hastily made decision tonight, may be very costly to our
'rural cummunilies-which agriculture depends upon
Let us not cut short an industry that -counts so strong-
ly on -an highly educated work force and their families.
Thank you. tI1•:nit\ Boxer,
Chairman. Huron Federation of Agriculture
DIC
GWD
A VIEW FROM
QUEEN'S PARK
time in recent
decades: - -•
Harris might' have been better off, to have_called
an election already. partirttlarh because• of the
deteriorating- economy. Federal Finance Minister
l'aul Martin has become the. latest to warn that
economic growth will he' slower and revenue from
•taxes down-
• .• More than. -Most' other heads el government.
11.:rel>• , :•hes on S'tr'ing (ie'1►Pe,nl) because• the
rorne•r•strrre-nf his_poliries is rutting; income tax 30
gn�r :estn_.is_hile balani ing; ttt� li"udi;i�t
2000-01.
whirh will require continued high re%enues..
•llarris claimed recently that. lie, is still un -target,
but if he is unable to - show- this net year. he will
have lust his most eempe•lling argument for re-
election.
If Harris bad called a vote. he also would have -
taken_ full, advantage Of the patent lack of .pre-
paredness Of his major, oral. Liberal leader Dalton
etc(;tint) •'
Met-luint) . while -high in pulls. has relative!. Lew
poIieie•s. lle-lias taken stands.: against !Harris's -
viiIng control of schools and downloading costs
e'en' municipalities. :is exanrples..,and rritic•i(l•ei`
Im.ln� 1larri�,lllliiall\es. bill 111i1 :1niiiiune'ed it11�
•thinge like ron,prehensne( policies on minor i' -sues.
that; could be i'i►nstrued as an election platform -
11ith another leakier iti the lasteelectiun, the..
liberals d.ela)ed antiuun•_ing policies until the
eiectioe was rallid. !cavitis; 111su11irient_ lino' 14,
gtremote an). and should nut make ttiis nlisiiek.•
again. But there are signs.\1r(;uint):s thinking
aet'ane,ed enough that tie a ould.tlae.e• un‘eth-d a
piatiurni-ue a hum
• !Farris also has changed the law So ele•tien cane
paig
ann-
paig les ran be as short clays. �%lIl('h would
11a%, iivale It still -more di1'firitht for 11r:Guifgt),11,
;tnhenlnce and s�•II pe►lirie s
1''(.11lrlt'. 1.44 1. ul pre'pitre'UI0"'— -X%:ts •t1r,lU-e'r-
- she'll 11, \o he: l:•'li w'lle•re• the
\.•w Dertnu'riils. re0t41lred the riding- and•
:1 (pries had tr'ung which the) attributed to
the facet the. unlike the Liberals..had i.rnn giolirie•se,'
%oters can ref:ewe/4.:
M(.(iuint) has now been gi%en so rutin) frights.
however. that -h.• presuniabl) will •lia%e policies
when -an election e‘enfutill% is called.: -
Harris has -been behind then Liberals• iti enlost
rr i est pulls. but the latest put there le'vel•at 41 per '
cerlt 114 would Nasi; rie.eded•to take otilat few per
cent iroin the Liberals. whose %ole is soft. to retain
a.nlajoril) and he is notorioush strung in a. (-:trn-
paigii -•
11 Harris had called' an election this fall. h�
%could have -risked criticism that he called (ine too
soon- But this has not always been fatal.
- A "1 or premier, i1'illiatn Davis-- called one in -
1977 hoping to win truck a majority he lost two
years earlier -and claiming he needed a mandate
because the opposition had defeated hire cin •a vote
of confidence, but it was on a minor issue 'fabricat-
ed by the 'fories.and Voters refused,
Liberal premier; David Peterson called an eke-.
tion after, three years in 1990 muttering darkl
that he needed to protect Ontario'sintcresls in the
face uI a possible'breakup.of the country. but vot-
ers felt 1►e V1:1.; an opportunist.
.- -But • in 1 987 Peterson had •ralleed. an election
arguing that he needed his own mandate, atter -
two productive. patient years running a minority !•
• government supported by the NDP, and voters get
he lultilled his bargain and gave him,one: • .
llarris had a. utlique opportunity because he
could have called an ,election seeking approval to
push <)n with his programs 'despite opposition, by
unions. including two teachers' strikes; and asking
whether the.pt•ovince should .be rue ,n.by an.elected
government, or unions. and many would have sup-