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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1996-02-07, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, February 7,1996 No one left unscathed by Tory cuts Protestors gathered outside while guest speaker Ernie Eves addressed Huron Heather Mir T -A staff EXETER - "We want to make sure the services Ontarians value will be there. The Common Sense Revolution will return the dollars to hardworking, taxpaying res- idents of Ontario." This statement by Deputy Pre- mier and Minister of Finance Ernie Eves was received with applause by guests of the Huron Progressive Conservation Association Annual Meeting held at the South Huron Recreation Centre on Thursday night. But the minister was not greeted so favorably by protesters to the Harris Tory cuts who gath- ered outside the auditorium. Although Ontario Public Service Union members had purchased tickets for the event' '96 - Money in your pocket," they were persuaded to abstain from attending the meet- ing in exchange for a five minute audience with Eves and a full re- fund. In addition to addressing the on- going problems of Ontario's debt, which generates $9 billion in inter- est each year and over spending by $1 million each hour, Eves re- sponded to specific questions from the audience. A University of Western Ontario student asked how the province is planning to ensure high quality of education when many prominent professors have left for higher pay- ing positions in the United States. Eves replied staff salary reductions Deputy Premier end Ministeri of f1nence —Errtie �c7ds dressed the Huron County, Pro�gg(�ess�iKe Qorj ervgtiye. soCiatlon at Thursday night13411tfai'meef)ng. ad- As - County Council Museum role defended GODERICH - Huron County museum director and curator Claus Breede defended the museum's role in the community and said fig- ures quoted in a letter to the editor were not accurate. Breede was responding to a re- cent submission made by Huron Park resident Wally Fydenchuk al- leging the museum's role in the community should be in ques- tion due to significant provin- cial funding reductions. Breede said while the fig- ures quoted in the letter are correct and obtained from the museum, there was some mis- representation in how the statistics translated into reality. "His statement "Almost $19 a visitor is paid.through taxes just to open' is incorrect. The taxpayers of Huron budgeted $308,819 for 1995. The actuals are closer to $300,000 with a cost per visitor at $13, not $19", Breede told the county councillors last Thursday. Fydenchuk had said in his letter that he considers the museum to be a "non-essential service." Breede said Fydenchuk is well known to the museum staff. For the past two years, Fydenchuk has been trying to obtain financial as- sistance to operate a small inde- pendent museum in Huron Park. "His museu:.. is for the exhibit of his private collection and as such, we can only offer indirect as- sistance which has been offered. We are unable to provide direct fi- nancial aid but have offered to pro- mote advertise and support (with advice) whenever possible." The museum also operates two other centres in Huron County, namely the Historic Goal and the Marine Museum. Attendance for all three sites totalled 38,278 visi- tors: making the total cost to the county ratepayer $7.90, sub- stantially less than the provin- cial average of $12. And the museum operation costs alone is just under $5.50 an- nually per taxpayer. The curator said for this expendi- ture, residents of the county receive custodial care of over 50,000 mu- seum objects and well over 250,000 archival records. 'Breede said the archives provide a very valuable service to the county, and the province, in terms of tracking local history. Council joked this may become even more relevant with the face of the prov- ince about to be changed under the Harris government's plan for mu- nicipal amalgamation. The archives and objects are available to re- searchers and the general public for more than 2,200 hours annually. The museum has provided em- ployment for up to 15 summer jobs, at no expense to the ratepay- ers of Huron. Funding for these po- sitions came from grants which, ac- cording to Breede, would have been spent outside Huron if they had not applied for them. In addition, initiatives such as the Social Assistance Program, Sum- mer Youth Experience and Correc- tional Services Program have of- fered opportunities through the museum. Bill Mickle, Reeve for the Town of Exeter, said he understood the figures were just a political play, but added that council must seri- ously address the question of re- duced revenue and property tax re- straints in terms of county service. "I don't go along with the play on figures, but we must go with what we can afford and not afford. As a council, we need to address everything possible." Wooden posts axed out of park pavilion ZURICH - Last Monday, a report was received by Exeter OPP that over the past weekend, two wood- en support posts were taken out with an axe at the park's pavilion. to' are not the only means for schools facing funding reductions to re- structure. He added exploring bet- ter ways to deliver education, such as privatization of some services, should be considered while pro- tecting essential core services. "You have to appreciate everyone has to contribute to this exercise across the board,fairly and eq- uitably. No one will be unscathed," he said. Eves congratulated local com- munities for their efforts in the di- rection of amalgamation, adding Bill 26 will give "strong" and "un- usual" powers to municipalities enabling them to cope with re- duced transfer payments. By giv- ing transfer partners the tools to do better with less, the province hopes to create a climate conducive to in- vestment, growth and "renewal of the most powerful economy in Canada." Eves said rural communities were treated differently by the province than urban centers by the province when grants dollars were allocated, appreciating the fact they don't have the same commercial and in- dustrial tax base. The average grant reduction to municipalities in Hu- ron County was approximately 16 per cent compared with 28 per cent in Metro Toronto. A Huron teacher addressing Eves said the party needs to be more powerful in delivering its message to the non -converted. "If we've had a failing in the first seven months, it's been in com- munication," agreed Eves, adding the Torys need to communicate their vision for a better system more clearly. "This isn't just about cutting, slashing and burning," Eves con- cluded. Many people are concerned the Omnibus Bill has given municipal- ities too much power. Income, sales and gas taxes were never in- tended to be imposed by municipal- iEies under the legislation. The bill was amended to specifically spell out how far-reaching the powers would be. County Progressive Conservatives "You know your local coun- to do something that's ir- have to face their electorate." Eves cillors. Do you think they are going responsible or ridiculous? They told the T -A after the meeting. i.tii(d(' Protestors left after 5 minute meeting Chris Skalkor T -A staff Outside the Rec. Centre, approximately 40 protesters waited in the cold for Eves to voice their opposition to funding cuts and heckled guests as they arrived for dinner. "Are you having tuna?" and "Send our regards to Ernie," were some of the comments guests received be- fore they entered the auditorium." Hey hey, ho ho, Mike Harris has to go!" they chanted. Exeter resident Gary Giles was among the protesters. The Ministry of Transportation employee is concerned about the cutbacks to road maintenance budgets his department is facing." I'm here to show my support for OPSEU and voice my displeasure with the Progressive Conservatives," said Giles, adding, `They are forcing us into a strike position by not wanting to negotiate." Ron Elliot, spokesperson for the protestors, emerged from the five-minute discussion with Eves satisfied they have accomplished what they set out to do. "We came down to talk with Eves and he heard us loud and clear, said Elliot adding, "He told us he's not the minister responsible but would take our questions to the cabinet." Elliot said Eves and his entourage was surprised by the large turnout of protesters." He thought he was going to get a free ride coming to a small town like Exeter," he said. Ron Elliot, spokesperson for OPSEU gives Ernie Eves an earful after Eves agreed to a five minute closed door conversation with protesters at the Rec Centre on Thursday night. Phoenix of Huron reorganizes Brenda Burke T -A staff EXETER - Since the layoff of its entire staff in December, Phoe- nix of Huron is in the midst of re- structuring its program. "None of us expected to have no staff," said Phoenix President Pat Pietrek dur- ing the No- vember protest rally held in front of MPP Hel- en Johns' of- fice fol- lowing the provincial government's announcement to cut funding to Ontario Second Stage Housing programs. Although the three Phoenix buildings in Exeter, Goderich and Clinton have not received support from the Ministry of Community and Social Services as of Dec. 31, the Ministry of Housing has con- tinued to subsidize the buildings. "We had to pretty much rad- ically restructure the way that (the program) works," said Phoenix Volunteer Board Member Cheryl Masson. "lite residents have lost all the counselling support that they were getting." "Ilse problem is that there's not anybody here on a regular basis," said Exeter Phoenix resident Lin- da Cowell. "It really puts you in a spot." Along with a children's per, grannxr, a maintenance worker, an administrative assistant and an executive director, three coun- sellor/advocates have lost their jobs with Phoenix. As an alternative system, one tenant per building is teamed up with a volunteer board member and is responsible for main- tenance and the, overseeing of building activities in exchange for lower rent rates. A property man- ager based at the Clinton building has also been hired. In it, restructuring process, Clinton's Phoenix House has changed from second stage hous- ing to third stage, which main- tains less security, more flexible visiting rules and no limit on die length of time a woman resides in the building. According to Pie - trek, the building may be retumed to second stage housing in the fu - "A lot of people think tare due to demand. the Phoenix House is probably gone...lt af- fects not just us but it affects a lot of people in the community as well:" The Phoenix vol- unteer board has taken on extra du- ties since the re- structuring of the program. "The board had to restructure from be- ing a governing board to a working board," said Pietrek, adding her own hours have increased from five to 60 hours a week since the end of Oc- tober. Besides counselling, other ser- vices Phoenix residents are now doing without include trans- portation, child care provision and help from co-op students. "Unfortunately I don't think we can use the services of co-op stu- dents...That's a really unfortunate loss," said Masson, adding there is now lack of supervision for the program. "Some of the women have no transportation," said Cowell, ex- plaining most driving Phoenix staff provided involved appoint- ments. "There's nobody to come in and supervise in the play- room," she continued, admitting she is also somewhat concemed about the building's security. "There is only an alarm if we push the panic button...There's nothing that will automatically go off now if someone enters the building." However, with the building's three exit doors locked as well as the individual apartments, she feels fairly secure. "We don't have anyone in our lives that's so potentially danger- ous...We're all supposed to be medium to low risk," she said, adding, "It's just a sense that you don't have as much security as you once had." "We've managed to maintain the security as much as possible," said Pietrek, adding managing tenants carry emergency beepers. What bothers Cowell moat, as a Phoenix resident, is the absence of the counsellor/advocate who was present at the residence on an average of four days a week. "We don't have that person around," she said. "For the most part we could make contact with her whenever we wanted to. She was part of the family...This is very difficult." Cowell also liked the fact the counsellor acted as an advocate in the community, handling in- coming calls and educating the public about Phoenix. She's con- cerned about women who may need help and not know who to call. "A lot of people think the Phe- onix House is probably gone...lt affects not just us but it affects a lot of people in the community as well...When you try to get a hold somebody, who do you call now?" "It's a little more difficult to get access," agreed Pietrek, adding Phoenix of Huron, which is in the process of linking up with other organizations such as the Gode- rich Women's Shelter, will re- main open. "Our dream," said Masson, "would be to fundraise to get some counselling in." Phoenix of Huron In Exeter Is undergoing drastic program changes since the. loss of its staff in December.