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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1995-06-07, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, June 7, 1995 TN Ti -'FF, NEWS Regional wrap up Two victims claimed in plane crash GODERICH - The cause of a vintage aircraft crash last Thurs- day night is unknown as the De- partment of Transportation con- tinues to investigate the tragic accident, reported the North Hu- ron Citizen. Veteran flyer John Hindmarsh, 77, of RR 2 Goderich and 16 - year -old Mark Mathers of Gode- rich were killed instantly when the 1943 Tiger Moth suddenly fell from the sky. Autopsies were conducted at Stratford General Hospital. Boating accident leaves one man dead POINT CLARK - One man is dead and another is in stable condition in Victoria Hospital in London after their vessel was caught in a severe thunderstorm early last Sunday morning. Dead is 19 -year-old Brett Harding. His boating partner, Ronald Robbins, 20, was report- ed in staple condition recovering from hypothermia, according to the Goderich Signal -Star. Friends of the two young men said they were inexperienced and they had been drinking. Tuckersmith anti - stripping bylaw passed TUCKERSMITH - A bylaw was approved by the Tucker - smith Township Council ban- ning any future strip clubs in the township, reported the Huron Expositor. The bylaw also prevents the current strip club in Vanastra, Tops, from re -opening as a strip club if it closes for a period of two years. The May 23 decision was made by council after a brief closed session to discuss a legal opinion on the bylaw. Steckle remains firm on gun control. GODERICH - Despite a warn- ing from Prime Minister Jean Crt tion, Huron -Bruce MP Paul Steckle said he will still vote no to the proposed gun control law whcn it reaches the third and fi- nal readings. The warning was issued last week by Cr6tien but Steckle said he will not change his opinion of Bill C-68, reported the Goderich Signal -Star. "I've been warned before and reprimanded already," said Stecklc. "But I still think I vot- ed appropriately according to my constituency. Council accepts OPP proposal CLINTON - Clinton Town Council voted unanimously in favour of a proposal for policing by the Ontario Provincial Police, reported the Clinton News - Record. The deal will reduce the num- ber of constables from six to five but the town will still have l 20 hours of policing per day. a • Duck ride Jllllan Carter enjoys a sunny day at the park in Lucan on Sunday afternoon. Public school adding classroom Due to overcrowding, Exeter Public School will be adding one classroom CLINTON - Due to the creation of the junior kindergarten program and the predicted population growth in the Town of Exeter, Ex- eter Public School will have one additional classroom for the 1995- 96 school year. The Huron County Board of Ed- ucation passed a motion at Mon- day's board meeting to use facility reserve funds to pay for the added classroom required by the public school. Ministry funding of $25,000 for portables will make up a share of the cost and the re- maining shortfall is expected to be in the range between $60,000 and $70,000. The operating facility re- serve currently stands at $116,000 and its is hoped the money depleted from the fund will be replaced by December 31, the board's year end. Trustee Norman Picket] ex- pressed concern at the prospect of adding future classrooms to the school if Exeter's nopulation grows as predicted by the Town Clerk, Liz Bell who spoke to Super- intendent Gino Giannandrea. "Do we keep expanding this school to be the only school?" Director Paul Carroll responded that at this stage the option of a sec- ond school hasn't been raised. However, trustees advised they would like the administration to re- view the boundaries at Exeter Pub- lic School. Exeter P.S. currently is overcrowded and has two portables while there is available space at Us - borne, McCurdy, Stephen Central and Hensall Public Schools. The comments from a trustee in- formation report after touring the school in Huron County concluded the space concerns of Exeter P.S. must be dealt with through long- term planning. "Again, overcrowding must bc addressed with a view to long- range planning for the entire facil- ity." Plan fire services study ZURICH - At a recent meeting of the South Huron Liaison Commit- tee held in Zurich under the chair- manship of Stephen reeve Bill We - her, it was the consensus of the committee to consider recommen- dations for a fire services study in the South Huron arca. On the subject of recreational ser- vices, Exeter indicated they have an internal review under way and Zu- rich and Hay both support a move toward user pay for recreational services. Hensall suggested as a first step there should be an inventory of fa- cilities and programming undertak- en in the South Huron area. Usborne representatives felt it may be feasible for Usborne and Blanshard townships to purchase management services from other municipalities to provide Kirkton pool and park programming. The clerks of Stephen, Exeter, Hensall and Zurich will be asked to invite their respective arena man- agement to attend the next meeting of the liaison committee to be held on June 27 at 7 p.m. in Exeter. Hay and Zurich informed the Woman assaulted in Huron Park HURON PARK - A woman was assaulted on Thursday after a do- mestic dispute in Exeter. The sus- pect was arrested and released with conditions following a bail hearing in Godcrich on Friday. committee on the status of the Exet- er boundary adjustment application. Boundary negotiations are ex- empt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information and Pro- tection of Privacy Act, therefore discussions were not reported in the minutes of this meeting. Cheese warning issued Or Continued from front page Klaus Seeger of the Huron Health Unit said the information was five or six days old when they received notice from the Ministry of Health. A press release was sent last Tues- day to arca media by the unit. The cheese products have been distributed in variety stores and video stores from the Niagara re- gion to Toronto and extending into the London arca. Consumers should not rulc out the sale of these unlicensed products by any vendor. No illness has yet been reported to the Health Unit, however, the food poisoning bacteria is present in the food products described. "If people see the cheese and buy it they may think it is a really good deal and then suffer later," said Seeger. For further information or if your have been approached and/or pur- chased these food products, please contact the Public Health In- spection Department at 1-800-265- 5184 or (519) 482-3416. Your Views: Letters to the editor College closure not forgotten "Did it make sense to close a college where grads were able to find employment... Dear Editor: It is interesting to note in the London Free Press's Election issue that Huron County NDP MPP Paul Klopp lists his diploma in Agricultural Business Management as a "Personal Achievement". What he fails to add is that his diploma came from Cen- ' tralia College. It is amazing that he is proud of this diploma, since he ensured the closure of Centralia College two years ago. Voters in Huron County and the rest of rural On- tario should be reminded of the NDP's hastily made decision to close Centralia College. It was truly an overnight decision - when the announcement was made, a major roofing and brick repair project cost- ing hundreds of thousands of dollars was underway. Tenders for new greenhouses had just been ap- proved. A new convention facility was about to have its grand opening. The day before the closure was announced, staff watched a video of NDP agri- culture minister Elmer Buchanan promoting his new team work strategy, with no hint of the closure or job loss which was to follow. After Centralia was closed, millions of dollars had to be spent building an addition at Ridgetown College. Obviously no foresight or planning went into this decision. 1, Buchanan, Klopp and others in the NDP govern- ment refused to meet with "Friends of Centralia", a committee of Alumni, students, staff, area farmers and agribusinesses, and local municipalities - to dis- cuss alternatives. The economic benefits tf Central- ia College to the local economy were completely ig- nored by the NDP government. Although Centralia was a small college, it did have one track record of which it was very proud. Each year 90 percent or more of the graduating class found employment. Graduates of Veterinary Tech- nology were in demand across Canada. Food Ser- vice Management grads were hired by the best hos- pitals and nursing homes in Ontario. The Agricultural Business Management grads went back to the home farm with improved technical and busi- ness skills, or found jobs in related ag-businesses. da the same time that Bob Rae, Elmer Buchanan atl*aul Klopp were closing Centralia College, they wersVouring millions of dollars into the JobsOnta- rio T ing Fund, which has had a dismal record for find g employment for its long list of regis- trants. D it make sense to close a college where grads werb‘able to find employment, all the time talking abt the need for training to fight unem- ployment? oters should think this over before go- ing to the po is on Thursday. • M. Alderson, Forest • Vote against Liberals on election day They have offered the Canadian people token changes to MP pensions. Dear Editor: If your readers are angry over gold-plated MP pensions, they should vote against the Liberal party on June 8th. After all, if Prime Minister Jean Chretien sees his provincial counterparts going down to defeat in On- tario, it would serve to make him and his party less arrogant and less hypocritical. And make no mistake the Liberals have been hypocrites when it comes to MP pensions. They tell us to make sacrifices for the good of Canada yet they will not tighten their own belts. To date all they have offered the Canadian people are cynical and token changes to MP pensions. Con- sider that under the Liberal changes, MP pensions will still have unlimited protection against inflation; they would still be twice as rich as private sector pensions; and they would be payable at age 55. That, of course, falls far short of what the Canadi- an people want. Canadians want MPs to have pen- sions that are in line with what's available in the pri- vate sector. Again, the key to getting that message across will be to vote against the Liberals on election day. Remember when politicians feel the heat they sometimes see the light. If the Liberals lose in Onta- rio, Chretien and the other federal Liberals will start feeling mighty hot. After all, they will be next. Yours truly, Colin Brown, President, Ontarians for Responsi- ble Government. Be careful who you vote for Always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. Dear Sir: As the June 8 election date draws nearer most lo- cal people seem to have very typical responses when asked who they will he supporting. They in- clude "Ah I don't know." or "Who cares!" or "They're all pretty much the same anyway." On closer examination all three party platforms arc somewhat similar. All agree deficit reduction is a priority and project a balanced budget within 3-4 years if elected. All three agree health care is a pri- ority and should remain untouchable. The similari- ties end there though. The Liberals and Progressive Conservatives both promise huge tax cuts. The Bob Rae gov't realize after helping Ontario through the big recession of the 1990s that tax cuts aren't practical (or probable) now especially with reduced transfers coming from the federal Liberals. Both the Lib's and PC's promise to cut wasteful program spending by 4 to 6 billion dollars without touching priority services. It almost sounds like very little pain for the average taxpayer. Sound too good to be true?? That's because it is. "Granny Lyn" and "Used Car Mike" want to slash the civil service by 12,000 to 15000 dismissing the NDP social contract legislation as a useless meas- ure. (Who built the bureaucracy in the first place?) The Bob Rae gov't has led by example cutting gov't ministries from 28 to 20. The social contract SAVED jobs, maintained important services by cooperatively reducing the civil bill to taxpayers by 2 billion dollars through attrition and wage cuts. People opposed to this type of legislation should look closely at the (no job -no say) plan the opposi- tion parties promise to deliver. The Lib's and PC's want to reform welfare and force able bodied recipients to work in exchange for benefits. Again another wonderfully simplistic solu- tion to a problem. Unfortunately half the welfare re- cipients are children. And where are all these jobs going to come from? Remember the unemployment lines under those two already are going to be 12000 to 15000 seats longer with all those supposedly use- less civil servants. The Lib's and PC's blanc NDP policies for in- creasing the welfare lines yet everybody knows the 90s recession put those people there. The oppositioiy parties will scrap the jobsOntario plan yet our locar MPP Paul Klopp is working to reduce the welfare roles and with jobsOntario has helped to remove 775 people from the Huron County welfare role alone. People say there's no difference in the parties and their ideas. I don't agree. Be careful who you vote for. Always remember if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. Jody Durand Only Tories are making sense "I have reviewed in detail the PC policies set forth in the Common Sense Revolution." Dear Editor: Since March of 1991, I have been supportive of the policies of the Federal Rcform Party, particular- ly those policies relating to deficit and debt reduc- tion. With the provincial election set for June 8, 1995, I have had to consider which provincial party has the policies which I can support. There has been some discussion about a possible Reform movement in Ontario. You may have seen recent media reports relating to "Reform" candi- dates in Ontario. The Federal Reform Association is not fielding, supporting, endorsing or even encour- aging any candidates to run in the Ontario provin- cial election. Any candidates that do run arc doing so as independents, and without the support of the Reform Party of Canada. As I see it, any such independent candidates will only have the effect of splitting the vote amongst • those voters supporting deficit and debt control. We all want Bob Rae to be defeated. The best way to ensure this, it to put our full support behind the only viable provincial party, the Mike Harris PC Party. I have reviewed in detail the PC policies set forth in the Common Sense Revolution. Mike Harris has indicated he will introduce balanced budget legisla- tion. He will reform welfare. He will cut bureaucrat- ic red tape and he will cut the size of government. These policies arc all supported whole hcartedly by Helen Johns, the PC candidate in Huron. She has a firm business background, has a fresh approach to politics, and I am supporting her as best I can in her Common Sense campaign. Maggie Visscher Bayfield • • • WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND? • • • The Times Advocate continues to welcome letters to the editor as a forum for open discussion of local issues, concerns, complaints and kudos. WE ASK THAT YOU KEEP YOUR LETTERS TO A MAXIMUM OF 300 WORDS. The Times Advocate reserves the right to edit letters for brevity. Please send your letters to P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S6. Sign your letter with both name and address. Anonymous letters will not be published. t.