HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-06-30, Page 88
Exeter Times -Advocate
Wednesday, June,30, 1999
Opinion&Forum
1 OYEARS AGO
June 28, 1989 - After a special
closed doors meeting, the Huron
Board of Education confirmed
that SHDHS principal Bruce
Shaw will be leaving for
Goderich Collegiate in the fall.
The decision to transfer Shaw
met with outcry earlier this year
as the principal said he did, not
want to leave Exeter and stu-
dents organized a rally and
walkout in support of his reluctance to be trans-
ferred.
2OYEARS AGO
June 27, 1979 - The expanded medical facilities
contained in the addition to South Huron Hospital
coupled with the support provided by the four hos-
pitals in London gives this area medical care
equalled in few communes of the world today.
That was the comment of hospital board chairman
Garnet Leitch at Wednesday's official opening of the
new addition.
Several Candy Stripers at South Huron Hospital
have received pins for reaching new levels of hours
of service. They are Donna Stewart, Michelle
Triebner, Janet Shapton, Janet Simmons, Cathy
Keller, Pearl Buswell, Margaret Pym, Betty Bax,
Nancy Turner, Rasma Zemitis and Marilyn Pepper.
Kirkton Comedy Act hits the West. The Paul
Brothers and Shirley flew to Regina, Saskatchewan
last week, where they performed three shows a day
at the Western Canada Progress Show. It was held
in the Agridome at Exhibition Park from June 20 to
24.
30YEARS AGO
June 29, 1969 - Benson Tuckey was honoured
for his founding of Guenther -Tuckey Transports in
1929. He started his business with a six by nine
foot Chevy truck.
35 YEARS AGO
June 30, 1964 - Paving began this week on the
newly constructed section of Highway 4 south of
Exeter. While rain hampered progress the work
has been completed to just south of the Derby Dip.
It is expectedunder ideal weather conditions the
workmen will complete close to one mile each day.
About 350 former and present students and resi-
dents attended a reunion at Lumley School. It was
the last reunion to be held in the school, which was
built in 1904. The building will soon be sold and the
students will attend the new central school being
erected in Usborne Township.
Only 202 Huron County chicken farmers turned
out to cast their ballots for a plan to set up a provin-
cial egg marketing board. However, while the num-
ber of voters was low, they did represent about
one-third of the total chicken population. While less
than 10 percent cast ballots in Ontario,'the plan
received the necessary majority.
40 YEARS AGO
June 29, 1959 - Lloyd Hodgins, a former guard at
the Guelph Reformatory will join Exeter's police
force at the end of the week. He was sworn in
Thursday.
A 16 -year -old -Exeter girl, Marilyn Hamilton, was
chosen Tri -County Youth for Christ Queen at a ban-
quet in Wingham United Church, Friday night.
Huron MPP C.S. MacNaughton and Mrs.
MacNaughton attended the Province of Ontario's
civic dinner in honour of Queen Elizabeth and
Prince Philip in Toronto, Monday night.
Corporal Tony Aquilina of Andrew Street in
Exeter, as a member of the RCAF Training
Command Band has seen the Queen five times
already during her Canadian tour.
50YEARS AGO
June 29, 1949 -Members of the PUC and the vil-
lage of Exeter officially "christened" the new well
and pumping station in a ceremony at the William
Moody farm, three miles southeast of Exeter.
The fifth annual Kirkton Garden Party drew the
largest crowd yet. Between four and five hundred
persons attended Wednesday evening's show.
Climaxing a crime wave which swept over the
district since December, provincial police arrested
seven youths and sent out a warrant for an eighth,
all from the Parkhill district.
75YEARS AGO
June 30, 1924 - Investigating a drunken brawl
reported at Grand Bend recently, officers Pedlow
and Whiteside discovered one dozen bottles of
whiskey, thirty-five dozen bottles of nine percent
beer buried in the sand.
ROSS
HAUGH
BACK IN TIME
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Ratepayers should
be aware
To the Editor:
•4The ratepayers of Huron County should be made
aware there is an active anonymous group trying to
convince municipal cou ; and 'county council that a
one -tier system of local .;rnment is the right thing
for Huron.
They are pushing for a system they claim will cost
less to operate -- (although theres no guarantee of this
-- over time there may be little or no savings). If they
are successful it will also mean less for the entire coun-
ty: less representation, less of a democratic system,
less local community identification, less chance for
smaller communities in the county to grow in size in
the future, etc.
What the public should be aware of is this group only
requires a petition of 75 names before a commissioner
from the province is assigned to come to Huron and
determine our future boundary make-up and system of
local government. If this group succeeds, someone
from Toronto will force the hand of Huron and have
the final say -- instead of our future being decided
locally, by representatives elected by taxpayers. Many
things are disturbing about the actions, intentions and
composition of this one -tier grassroots group. First
and foremost, they are not elected; therefore are ulti-
mately not accountable to ratepayers. Many are ex-
municipal politicians from the area. Only those in
favour of a one -tier system are allowed to attend their
meetings. Any criticism of a one -tier system is not
allowed.
What this group is doing is sending representatives to
local council meetings in Huron to try to convince .
municipal officials a one -tier system is the way to go.
Just last night (Tuesday, June 22), a group of three
local group members addressed Seaforth council.
(This letter was written prior to that meeting). What
municipal councils will hopefully do is question and
challenge this group. Ultimately, it will be in the hands
of the reeves of Huron to make critical decisions for
our future. If there hasn't been healthy discussion or
debate at the municipal level yet on a one -tier versus
two-tier system, there probably should be.
But since more than a year ago the 26 councils in
Huron were asked to pass their preference on to coun-
ty council, its likely those discussions and decisions
have already taken place. In fact, in the fall of 1998, a
motion was passed by county council by a very large
majority that the county only examine two-tier options
in the future. At least 20 or more of municipalities in
Huron were NOT interested in pursuing single -tier
restructuring for the county.
What this one -tier group wants to do would wipe out
all municipal councils in the county - and leave one
representative or less per municipality whowould sit
on a county council. Being a local politician would
almost have to be a full-time job. Using Seaforth coun-
cil as an example, there are at ',east 10 committees
(two unpaid) that council' lrs now attend. Some of
those committees meet a: ' .e same time. Community
committees would see those innections with a local
councillor severed.
An increased salary would have to be given to politi-
cians because of the- workload of an entire previous
council - but how much - and would there be a sav-
ings? Presently Seaforth pays $26,250 for a council of
seven. If it wanted to save money, it would have to pay
someone less than that for its full-time representative.
at county council. What person with a young family
would leave their full-time job to be a politician for
$15,000 to $20,000 a year, if the salary is even that
high? It almost dictates that county council would be
composed of semi -retired or retired residents - per-
haps members of this anonymous one -tier group who
want to recapture some of their past political power
and glory.
The core of this one -tier group is in the McKillop,
Seaforth area but no members have bothered to attend
any of the restructuring meetings McKi%lop_,
Tuckersmith and Seaforth have held for more than six
months. (These meetings are open to the public and to
the press. We meet the third Wednesday of each
month at• 5 p.m. in the Seaforth council chambers).
Yet, this group wants to dictate the future composition
of county government.
Personally, I find this extremely arrogant and elitist.
And again, unaccountable. The group has approached
the Administration, Finance and Personnel committee
of county council, where important recommendations
are made, for a private audience. Why are they going
through the back door and not appearing as a delega-
tion to the entire county council? Do they have their
own hidden agenda?
See RATEPAYERS page 9
No more write-offs
By one important measure-
ment, Premier Mike Harris is'
the most popular Ontario politi-
cian in three decades, but he is
still having trouble impressing
the folks b wk home.
This was underlined when the
Progressive Conservative pre-
mier from North Bay was forced
to appoint an MPP from
Niagara, almost at the
province's southern tip, as his
minister for northern develop-
ment and mines.
Tim Hudak takes over from Chris Hodgson, who
has his hands full as Chair of Management Board
and is from Haliburton, which also is not exactly a
northern outpost, although forests and mines are
not unknown there.
Harris would like to have an MPP from the north
handling issues affecting its residents, but the pre-
mier was again the only Tory elected in the north,
which also voted in five Liberals and four New
Democrats.
The government also designates Finance
Minister Ernie Eve's Parry Sound a northern rid-
ing for grants purposes, but few accept it as the
true north.
Harris is being called the most popular premier
in three decades because he is the first to win
majorities in successive elections since Tory John
Robarts in the 1960s, although Harris still has not
shown the longevity of Tory William Davis, who
won four elections but only two with majorities.
The lack of enthusiasm for Harris in the north
where he lives, compared to the rest of the
province, is striking, but to be fair the Tories were
almost wiped out there long before he became
leader.
There was a time when they had their share of
MPPs in the north, particularly during the unbro-
ken reign from 1943 to 1985, and they included
some notables.
There was Wilfred Spooner in the. cabinets of
Lesfie Frost and Robarts;a principled Munk ipal
Affairs minister who stopped media .and sports
tycoon John Bassett from building an overhang on
Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens which would have
blocked out the sky and was subjected to such
media harassment that he lost his seat.
George Wardrope, a similar no-nonsense minis-
ter in charge of jails, showed guts running unsuc-
cessfully for leader againstyRobartS
Arthur Wishart, then an unknown and an MPP
for only a few months, was a surprise recruit by
Robarts for attorney -general when Fred Cass
resigned over criticism of his unrealistically harsh
"police state" bill and turned out so innovative and
strong on human rights that he became an A -G
others have set the standard by.
Rene Brunelle (from Moonbeam, a name hard to
leave out) was a likeable Lands and Forests minis-
ter. Leo Bernier, the first minister of Northern
Affairs, was called Emperor of the North because
not much, including patronage, was delivered
without his say-so.
John Rhodes, a former policeman and radio
show host who became Industry minister and died
of a heart attack while on a trade mission in the
Middle East, had a gift of the gab that had him
being talked of as a possible successor to Davis.
Alan Pope, a Natural Resources minister, ran
unsuccessfully to succeed Frank Miller as leader
and made an innovative appeal to delegates from
a mike on the floor instead of the platform, but his
party froze him out of another. try.
Many ministers have been liked by all parties,
but none more than Davis's former Labour minis-
ter, Russell Ramsay, now seriously ill.
Harris has not been able to get the economy in
the north booming as it is in the south, and
Northern Ontario residents continueto leave for
better job opportunities.
Many northerners feel that the government
ignores them, and Harris reinforced this before
the election by appearing to bend to southern
environmentalists wanting some restrictions on
logging, mining and hunting that they see as cut-
ting
utting jobs, although his commitment to this has yet
to be tested..
Harris also may feel complacent about having
few seats in the north now because he has many
elsewhere. But he should worry that the time will
come when he can no longer afford to write off
such, a significant part cif the province.
ERIC
DOW()
A VIEW FROM
QUEE S PARK