HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1999-11-03, Page 3Wednesday, November 3, 1999 Stew FrimeirAdmailie
In the News
Block Parent program helps
make neighbourhoods safe
By Katy Monk
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — Students
throughout the region
got a lesson in street
safety last week when
representatives from the
Block Parent Association
visited their schools.
Precious Blood School
community representa-
tive Faye Van Oss visited
the school Oct. 27 to tell
students Block Parent
homes are a safe refuge
for children, seniors and
teens when they are
bothered by strangers,
are sick, injured, bul-
lied, lost, alarmed by
animals or caught in
severe weather condi-
tions.
The students were told
not to use the Block
Parents if they need to
use the bathroom or
want something to eat
or drink.
People living in a Block
Parent house have been
screened by police. The
sign is' displayed in a
prominent house win-
dow only when resi-
dents are available to
help..
"The signs says' ,a, safe -
stranger lives there,"
Van Oss said.
In rural areas, Block
Parent homes have a
small sign on the maiI-
box but a sign must also
be displayed in the
house window to indi-
cate someone is at home
to help.
Van Oss covered safety
tips for children includ-
Safety first. Exeter OPP Constable Karen Prickitt and Faye Van Oss talk to
Precious Blood School students about neighbourhood safety and the Block Parent
program: Oct. 27.
ing knowing where they
live, walking with a
buddy and saying no to
strangers.
"A stranger is someone
you don't know," she
said. "They don't neces-
sarily look bad. But a
Block Parent is a safe
stranger."
If approached by a
stranger, Van Oss
advised the students to
go to the neatest block
parent home.
Constable Karen
Prickitt of the Exeter
OPP Detachment gave
safety tips for
Halloween.
The Block Parent
Program has been pro-
tecting South Huron
children for 20 years.
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To become a Block
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Godbolt at 235-0691.
Canadians paying
too much for gas: Ur
OTTAWA — A lack of competition in the oil
industry is resulting in consumers paying too
much for gasoline, accolyding to Lambton-Kent-
Middlesex MP Rose -Marie Ur.
"It was easy for the big oil companies to set
aside the Liberal Caucus Committee on Gasoline
Pricing report last summer, when gas was being
sold below ' cost to discipline and eliminate
independent retailers," Ur said. "Their demise
and not the absurd excuses about rising crude
prices is the reason why people are being
gouged at the pump."
Ur said even if Canadians are paying world
prices for crude oil, current pump prices are too
high:
"Today's most expensive crude—West Texas
intermediate—is $22.45 US/barrel," Ur argued.
She provided a breakdown of what Canadians
should be paying for gas.
U.S. Crude at N.Y. Harbour: $22.45 x 1.4705
(Cdn. exchange) = $33.01 Cdn. barrel divided by
159 litres (in a barrel) = 20.8 cents/litre
Refinery margin/costs - 4 cents/litre
Retail margin/costs - 3.5 cents/litre
Provincial sales tax - 14.7 cents/litre
Federal excise tax - 10 cents/litre
Seven per cent GST - 3.7 cents/litre
Grand total - 56.7 cents/litre
"Notwithstanding this conservative
breakdown, and erring on the side of the major
oil companies, if anyone is paying more than
about 57 cents a litre today, chalk up that five
to six cent difference to monopoly power," said
Ur.
She also questions why gas prices aren't
declining when crude prices decline.
A private member's bill by Gas Committee
Chair Dan McTeague, MP (Pickering -Ajax -
Uxbridge) would amend the Competition Act to
address" this' issue is still in the parliamentary
process, with further debate and votes to come,
Ur said.:
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