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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-03-01, Page 1SEIP'S ' valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0 Welcome Wagon Bridal Show (Li i•,;z:March 6/95 Serving Exeter and tue 1 since 1873 SEIP'S valu-mart 4 & 83 Exeter 235-0262 NEW! Californian Pizza Deli -fresh r------, I SUBSCRIBEv If you aren't subscribing to The 1 Times -Advocate, you're missing out. Use the coupon below and 1 subscribe today! 1 Name: 1 Address City 1 Prov. IPostal Code SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada Within 40 miles - (65 km) addressed to non letter carder addresses $33.00 plus $2.31 G.S.T. 1 Outside 40 miles - (65 km) or any letter carrier address $63,00 + $4.31 G.S.T. Outside Canada -$99.00 Pna MAO Bono.) 1 USE YOUR CREDIT CARQ 1 ❑0000 ' '1 00000000 Card No. 1 Expiry Date ❑ Visa ❑ Master Card ❑ Cheque enclosed Return to: TIMES ADVOCATE 1 424 Main St. Exeter, Ont. NOM 1S6wine aim um ENE MEI I= ■ 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Inside `Canada in Bloom' Exeter town beautification planned See page 2 National debating Stephanie Erb to compete in Halifax See page 8 Boat builder Jacob Kaschper has been making sculls for 25 years See Crossroads Second front Irish up by two Lucan leads Seaforth in series See page 14 Classifieds pages 1&21 Announcements pages 22-23 EXPe tS page 24 1 $160,000 damage. Garry V9rhoog right, watci ,res as Zurich firefighters extinguish the blaze. Fire near Zurich leaves family of nine homeless Chief Doug Erb says it started from a short in the car's starter By Fred Groves T -A staff ZURICH - A short in a car battery is believed to be the cause of a fire which caused an estimated $160,000 worth of damage to a farmhouse near Zu- rich Thursday morning. Zurich and Area Fire Department and the Dash- wood and Area Fire Department were called to the fire on the Bronson road just north of Highway 84. As Verhoog watched the firemen battle the very thick smoke and the flames, he said, "I just had enough time to go in and get my stamp collection and that was it." Two of his children were at home and they were safely taken out of the house. Five others were at school in Zurich. White Verhoog kept one eye on the fire and an- other on a herd of cattle just a few yards away in ad- . jacent barns, he suspected everything had been lost. However Erb said the entire house was not de- stroyed. "It got to the kitchen, it burned the cupboard but not the table and chairs. The upstairs wasn't that burned, it was in the ceiling. There are some things + Continued on page 2 New budget to get revisions before going to the public EXETER - Executive committee members from Exeter Town Coun- cil have reviewed the first draft of the 1995 budget and are aiming at no increase in the mill rate for tax- es slated for town purposes in a re- port made to council, Monday night. With the no increase in mind, council was expecting to complete the town hall project and will also earmark $75,000 for Phase 2 (Li- brary) for a reserve fund pending an application for Jobs Ontario funding. Another $20,000 will be budgeted for council furnishings for the Old Town Hall. In talking about the Exeter and Area Fire Board budget, council- lors were told that about $2,984 (paid to the chief if he is called out to weekend or evening fire calls or investigations) would be rolled into his 1995 salary for pension purpos- es. Later in the meeting, a number of other projects were discussed that will likely be added to the budget. They include salary adjustment, the roof on the South Huron Recrea- tion Centre, , money for the Cana- da Bloom project and a culvert at the railway track near the Brook- side development. Councillor Roy Triebner re- viewed a very comprehensive re- port on the budget. "The proposed expenditures for 1995 are higher than last year by $150,000 and revenue also for op- erations is listed at $25,000 less than 1994. Is that acceptable? We also can't look at this budget with- out looking to the future. Money for future capital is getting less," said Triebner. A motion by councillor Tom Hughes to set a date of March 20 for a meeting to allow for public input was declared lost by reeve Bill Mickle when the vote was tied. "The public has the right to input as to how we spend their money," said Hughes in defending his posi- tion. When the public meeting was be- ing discussed, a local resident in the gallery, Matis Berg countered with, "how can you ask the public for their input when you don't know yourselves what you arc do- ing?" Both Councillor Bob Drummond • and reeve Mickle agreed. "we must have something concrete to show to th• public," said Drummond "There are stil too many unan- swered questions about the budget. It's back to the executive commit- tee and a chance to have another look at Roy's proposal," said Mick - le. Budget cuts hit farm subsidies Cuts to provincial transfer payments won't be felt until after elections held By Heather Vincent • T -A stats OTTAWA - Finance Minister Paul Martin's 1995-96 budget came down on Monday wish cuts that the Liberals hope will mean a step in the right direction toward economic recovery. Still in the red, the gov- ernment will continue to pay a huge amount of interest on the national debt with no imminent prospect of a balanced budget. What the new budget translates into, for the average Huron County resident is a gasoline tax increase of 1.5 cents a litre (50 cents a tank), cuts in subsidies to agriculture, and transfer payment cuts which won' t be felt until next year. The good news from this budget is there will be no increase in personal taxes. Agriculture subsidy cuts outlined were about what was expected, ex- plained Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle in telephone discussion after budget meetings concluded. The dairy subsidy received a hit of 15 percent, Tess than anticipated. "It was obvious we were going to take a hit on this. It' s not going to be that big," said Steckle. Steckle said he expected to see some changes, including a reduced ceiling on RRSP contributions, which were not part of the budget. He concluded that the budget is re- alistic and is striving for long-term financial stability. "There were areas I thought we would touch that we didn' t. We have more than met our deficit tar- gets," said Steckle. The effect spending cuts will have on individuals and com- munities remains to be seen when the reductions in transfer payments result in the end of some social pro- grams. Any cuts in transfer pay- ments will not take place until 1996-97, after the Quebec ref- erendum. John McNeilly, a chartered ac- countant in Exeter commented on the impact such cuts will have on the provinces and their upcoming budget. "It will be interesting to see the reaction of the provincial budget," said McNeilly. Huron MPP Paul Klopp, ex- pressed concern regarding the cuts which will effect Ontario specif- ically. Klopp feels that we are get- ting unfairly treated compared with provinces of similar size with re- sources at their disposal such as Manitoba and Quebec. "We are really getting short- changed as a province. We have to fight for Ontario," said Klopp. Martin's federal budget focuses on spending cuts rather than raising taxes. Included in these cuts is a drastic reduction in the number of public servants. It was confirmed that 45,000 jobs will be cut, 20,000 by the summer of 1996. "We are committed to down- sizing the public service as fairly as possible," said Martin. While large corporations will see an increase in taxation of 12.5 per- cent, small business will be encour- aged by removing barriers and of- fering what Martin called, "practical assistance." Small busi- ness and farmers will keep their current $500,000 capital gains ex- emption. Small business is the number one creator of jobs in Can- ada but many people with good ide- as cannot secure the funding they need to get started. McNeilly expressed some skep- ticism regarding small business programs initiated in the past. "I haven't seen too many of these programs be successful. It is dif- ficult to get money for small busi- ness from chartered banks. I hope something does happen," said McNeilly. Other changes the new budget will bring include; a change in the current claw -back practice for high income seniors, an immigration charge of $975.00, temporary bank taxes and privatization of airports to local authorities. Martin also an- nounced plans to sell CN and the remaining interests of Petro - Canada. Goodbye `Yankee Clipper' EXETER - The Yankee Clipper is gone. Gerry Smith, a business mainstay on Exeter's Main street for close to 60 years passed away Saturday af- ternoon at South Huron Hospital at the age of 77. Smith operated Gerry's Barber Shop since 1935 which was a stop- ping in place for many area base- ball and hockey fans. His favourite major league base- ball team was the New York Yan- kees and with his barbering talents came the nickname, "The Yankee Clipper". In the National Hockey League his support went to a team he called "The Habs". He also participated in sports on the local level. During the 1940's and 50's he was a catcher for the Exeter intermediate baseball team and in the winter switched to goal pads for Crediton and Exeter hock- ey teams. New health cards to stop fraud While Ontario has a $75m per year Toss, it's not common in .Exeter By Fred Groves T -A staff EXETER - Have you gotten yours in the mail yet? It's a yellow and white booklet with a woman's smiling face looking at you and holding up what will be the new Ontario Photo Health Card. What's wrong with the old one you ask? Fraud. There are an estimated 11 million people in Ontario and it is expected that there is $75 million per year is lost to fraud through the health care system. The Ministry of Health has contacted the 220 hospitals in the province, including Exeter's South Huron and asked them what they thought in regards to a new health card. "They did a survey after the last card and we said there were better systems," said South Huron administrator Don Correll. "The government is saying they are losing $75 million in health card fraud. We gave them some options and sug- gested a photo card." The Ministry of Health is hoping to register every eligible Ontario resident for a health card, one person at a time. They will ask for documentation that each person is eligible for OHIP (Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan). Children underl6 won't need a photo, their parents or guardians will register for them. The photo is probably the best way to prevent fraud. It's similiar to the present drivers' license system. "We said don't set up a new commission. We have photo licensing," said Correll in regards to setting up more de- partments to take the pictures. While fraud is evident in Ontario, Correll said it's pretty hard to detect in Exeter. In most small hospitals, a nurse, doctor or ad- ministrator know just about every- one who comes in the door. He said those who usually tend to cause the most fraud live in border cities. "We're not ideally located. We're not a border city. If they are an in patient we wouldn't know anyway. Our pop- ulation is fairly localized we wouldn't see it that much any- way," said Correll. In a recent press release from Middlesex MPP Irene Ma- thyssen, it stated that hack in the 1970's there were over 10 million people registered for OHIP, but only eight million lived in the province at the time. "The use of counterfeit health cards, the use of cards by people who don't live in Ontario, and the use of invalid cards has cost the health care system millions of dollars every year. It's hurt us all," said Mathyssen in the release. The new health card has been designed with special se- curity features to protect our health care system. It will not just carry your smiling face but also have your signature, date of birth, sex and health card number. There will he a magnetic strip for electronic validation and there will be hidden microprinting and a hologram of the Ontario trillium to help prevent counterfeiting. The card will have to be renewed every five years. "The new card will also offer a convenient way for On- tario residents to indicate their wishes about organ dona- tion," said Mathyssen. "If the card -holder wishes to consent to organ donation, a visual indicator will be put on their card to alert hospital staff." You will get a personal notice in the mail telling you when it's your turn to register. Already 600,000 Ontarians have begun to register. • 4