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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1994-9-21, Page 26Page 26 Times -Advocate, September 21,1994 IN T HE Legion week Koutts, at left, from Petrolla was the Sgt. At Arms for the Drumhead Service held in Grand Bend on Sunday afternoon. Hosted by Branch 498, Koutts is seen here laying the flags over the drums. The ceremony kicked off Legion Week which is September 18 to 24. Dozens of Legion members paraded through Grand Bend on Sunday afternoon as Legion Week begins its week-long celebration. 4 OPP gets a glowing review Aside from making cops more visible, the town is happy with its OPP contract EXETER - After 10 months without a police force of its own, town council offered a fairly glowing appraisal of its contract with the OPP at a special meeting Monday eve- ning. About the only complaint Exeter council members for- warded to the delegation from the OPP was that the police were perhaps not as visible in town as before. OPP staff sergeant Don McInnes said the problem with visibility is more perceived than real. He said one man stopped him on the street to com- plain about not seeing cruisers in town often enough, but in the 15 minutes they spoke, three cruisers went by. McInnes said the main problem the OPP have had in assuming the duties of policing the town is dealing with complaints of NSF cheques. He said that by adding Exeter to its patrols, the detachment's NSF complaints jumped 440 percent. "The time consumption in a non -sufficient fund cheque is horrendous," said McInnes. "Sometimes over a $40 cheque." He noted some city police forces don't respond to an NSF complaint unless the cheque is over $10,000. John Mitchell from the OPP's contract policing division ' said the Exeter detachment has set up a COP (Community - Oriented Policing) committee in town, and it is helping re- solve day-to-day issues of crime, and policing problems. "What we would like people to do is when they see ,' smooth I th e things, report them," said Mitchell. "If everybody does that, the problem won't be here for long." As for the visibility issue, Mitchell said the location of the detachment at the far north end of town might be the problem. "It might be worth some consideration putting a car downtown...whether there's an officer with it or not," said Mitchell, adding that "Perceptions are what count." He referred to a similar problem in a com- munity further north where local seniors were concerned about getting "rolled" on pension day leaving the bank. He said no such in- cident had ever occurred, but the senior per- ceived it as a problem. When the OPP parked an empty car in front of the bank on those days, the worries faded, and shoplifting in ad- jacent stores decreased. Councillor Ben Hoogenboom said one man complained to the police about seeing too many bicycles on town sidewalks, but "didn't get much satisfaction from the Police". McInnes admitted he wasn't sure if Exeter had a bylaw prohibiting bikes from sidewalks. The town does have a bylaw banning bicycles on side- walks, as well as restricting skateboard_use in certain parts of town. Councillor Dave Urlin asked McInnes directly about the detachnifnt's takeover of town duties. "How have you felt since last November?" asked Urlin, It's a lot er than ought it would ver be." ' referring specifically to relations with council and the po- lice services board. "It's a lot smoother than I thought it would ever be," agreed McInnes. "I told you that a year ago, but I don't think you believed me," Mitchell told McInnes, laughing. Deputy -reeve Lossy Fuller said she contacted five cit- izens at random and asked about their perceptions of OPP policing in Exeter. She said none had any complaints, but admitted they had not had the need to call the police either. "Those five people, and those are just random people, are certainly happy with the service," she said. Mitchell allowed that about eight percent of calls to the detachment aren't answered within a "reasonable" response time. But he said the longer responses are usually the result of an officer having one or two more serious calls else- where. Town administrator Rick Hundey said the OPP's ap- proach has been cooperative and friendly towards the town, including its approach to enforcing the town's bylaws. "It just seems as if its just a natural and team approach to things," said Hundey. Police service board chairman John Stephens said he is satisfied the contract policing arrangement is "equally good or better" than the former town police, and said he doesn't agree with the complaints of lack of visibility. "These cruisers are on the street all the time. You can't walk up the street without seeing one," insisted Stephens. Ontario Responsible Government wins battle By Cameron J. Wood The Advance -Times WINGHAM - Changes to the highway traffic act in regards to non-commercial signage is a victo- ry for Responsible Government. And despite how the news of the changes came about, Thom Cor- bett, executive director for the ORG couldn't be happier. "We found out in a round about way," he said. Apparently, lawyers for the ORG and the government had been meeting all summer to sort out the matter. Early last week, without notice to the ORG lawyers, the Ministry of Transportation on Ontario released a news release claiming they had amended the law in reflection of their 'commitment to freedom of expression.' "I thought we had an agreement... but obviously the MTO wanted to kill the story before we could get it out by issuing their press release," Corbett said. "But I don't think it worked." "It is a proud day for the support- ers of our group who have won a battle which will allow many groups, whether political or charita- ble to advertise near Ontario high- ways," Colin Brown, president of ORO said in a press release. "This is a great victory for free- dom of speech and a humiliating defeat for Bob Rae," Brown added. The ORG, which had placed 26 "non-commercial" banners and hill - boards throughout Ontario last fall and winter - including a billboard and banner in Morris Township, was the target of an earlier 1992 NDP change to the Highway Act. The charge allowed commercial signs along Kings' Highways but outlawed non-commercial banners. "We ran afoul of the law after farmers asked us to place banners on their private property. The Min- istry of Transportation responded by sending out patrons to identify signs and followed up with letters to farmers threatening them with fines of up to $1,000 unless they re- moved their signs." After being apprised of the OROs intent to pursue the matter on the grounds of freedom of speech, the NDP responded by ordering two more signs removed. "And in an unprecedented move, the government enforced a com- mercial billboard company to re- move our sign, which displasfed a picture of Bob Rae and a jackass with the words, "Which One Wants to Unionize the Family Farm?" Brown said. The Ministry of Transportation Ontario used a loophole in an exist- ing law to force the ORG to re- move the protests, stating they were not of a commercial nature and did not meet signage criteria. However, the ORG banners were the only signs attacked under the loop hole. Signs belonging to the Cancer Society, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Big Brothers, Right to Lifc, etc., where left untouched al- though they technically were in vi- olation of the same law. The ORG decided to force the government's hand by threatening legal action. At a press conference held in Wingham on March 17, produced the documents support. ing their legal action from Toronto law firm Bollen and Elliott, Consti- tutional law specialists, the firm said that "By prohibiting posters bearing non-commercial messages, including political messages, the (MTO) policy represents a direct infringement of the (the ORG's) ability to express itself." And the ORG was serious about a legal challenge. Their 5,000 plus members had endorsed a move to the courts - undaunted by an esti- mated $120,000 price tag - after they learned there was some prece- dence to fall back on. "What's tht difference if you're advertising tractors or expressing your point of view," Corbett said. At the time, some members at the initial press conference joked that the animal rights activists may be their next opponents as the donkey may have taken offence to the com- parison. Huron County MPP Paul Klopp said he's quite happy with the changes because it's an issue he raised four years ago. "I've been pushing for this for four years - ever since I found out from people in the Right to Lifc movement that the rules did not al- low non-commercial signs." Klopp said at the time he felt the NDP could do something to update the act, which he explained came from a government some 30 years previous. "The (ORG) thought this was our program. It was not. This started hack some time in the 1950s. They were coming at it from the wrong end. I even said in my letter (of four years) that there would be oth- er groups." Klopp said he believes the ORG action is just another example of city people meddling into the lives of rural Ontario. The ORG had erected a billboard directly across the street from his Clinton constitu- ency office. "They said it was against them. That's a little backwards." In the MTO release, Minister Gilles Pouliot said the move was to "underscore the province's commit- ment to fairness and freedom of ex- pression." "We are constantly working to ensure that our .policies arc both practical and out enforceable. That is why we made these changes," Pouliot is quoted as saying. The changes under the amend- ments include. • Highway billboard signs now may carry non-commercial messag- es, such as those that fight drinking and driving. Until now the policy has allowed only commercial mes- sages. The messages still may not promote violence, hate or contempt against an identifiable group; • The ministry will issue new sign permits to property owners, rather than advertisers or sign com- panies. This will enhance competi- tion among those wishing to put up signs, and ensure that property owners are aware of the content of signs placed on their property; • The ministry will issue permits to advertisers for signs located on highway right of way. "The only pathetic defense of this law offered by Rae was that it was an issue of 'highway safety'. Brown said. "What really happened was that the local NDP members were using the Highway Act to block political protests in their rid- ing." The ORG is currently studying the change very carefully before they drop their legal challenge. Two parked vehicles damaged EXETER - Local police are fol- lowing up two complaints of dam- age to parked vehicles in the past week. Early Saturday morning, OPP say a camper truck topper parked at a pheasant farm in Stephen Township was damaged. Also early Saturday, about 2 a.m., an unknown vehicle struck and darn - aged a 1970 green Oldsmobile Cut- lass parked behind Kelly's Tavern in Hensall. Dashwood Industries part of U.S merger CENTRALIA - Effective Octo- ber 3, Dashwood Industries will be linked with three new partners to create one of the largest window manufacturers in North America. A letter of intent has been signed by Dashwood Industries' parent company, TJ International, located in Boise, Idaho. The merger would link its three window companies - one in Canada and two in the U.S with ScalRitc/ Oldach located in Lincoln, Nebras- ka. According to area media reports, the affect of the merger on Dash- wood Industries is unknown. Dashwood Industries spokesper- son Jim Genno said last Tuesday he couldn't comment on what the new partnership may mean to the Cen- tralia plant. Dashwood Industries currently ernploys some 350 workcrs. A P T U R E THOSE S P E c 1 A J ` WITH INSTANT(OlOUR(OPIES 1 M E 5 Enlarge family or team photos to 8-112x11 or even 11 x 17 instantly with our outstanding results. Ideal for business presentation materials, even colour transparencies • 0 0 424 Main St. Exeter 235-1331 4 A