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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-01-27, Page 19• J 01. District Vice Presidents for 1 e new Federal Riding of Huron which ,includes: Huron county and municipalities of Bruce County were elected at the founding meeting of the riding at Vanastra recently. Three of the new vice presiden discuss plans with director Jean Adams of Goderlch. They are (left) George Townsend, RR3 Seaforth; Mrs. Adams; Emile Hendrick, Exeter, and Mac Inglis of Belmore. (Expositor photo) Jottings from Queen's Par By Jack Riddell, Huron MPP In mid-December, Provincial Auditor Norman Scott tabled his report for the year ended March 31st, 1976. As a result of information contained in this Report, the Government plans to in- troduce legislation this spring to deal with the question of ownership of private medical . laboratories by doctors, giving rise to conflicts . of interest. The Government has been promising the regulations since last spring. The Provincial Auditor said • his report that the ntario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) has paid out A millions of dollars in claims without properly checking their validity. He states that Or existing legislation makes prosecution on fraud charges almost impossible. Government and medical. profession rules have been too lax in permitting doctors to operate private labs which have made claims on OHIP, 1 which according to July 31st records cover 12,748,793 O participants in the plan, although the province's population a year before wa s only 8,226,000. Apparently the Medical Review Committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario -.set up in • 1971 to rule on cases of im- proper payment - has yet to issue decisions on 175 cases, sorrierdating back to 1974. The v Review Committee ' recom • mended recovery of money in 115 cases, but no action in 254 others, failing to explain its decisions when OHIP evidence of improper payments was rejected. One possible explanation for delay in settling cases which come before the Review Committee is the fact that many cases # are extremely complicated. One physician was ordered to repay the Ontario Health Insurance Plan a total of I ! 800 PSI 3 GPM $489,000 according to the Auditor's report, , which devoted 14 pages to the Health Ministry and abuses of the $800 million OHIP 'fund. No reason is given for the Review Committee's order for the repayment of $489,000 . During its five years of operation the committee has recovered $1.1 million. The Auditor also reported , that overpayment of family benefits by the Ministry of Community and Social Services has passed the $19 million mark. The largest amount $8.6 million - 'represents unrecovered portions of overpayments that were outstanding when recipients were cut off. . Administrative errors were blamed for $857,000 of the losses during the past three years and legal action" is being considered in another 86 cases for which over- payments total $563,000. At least $70,000 has apparently disappeared in the form of replacement cheques for others that have been lost or - undelivered. The Provincial Auditor also discloses that although the Government has a building full of meeting rooms at Que'en's Park, the Ministry of Culture and Recreation prefers • the comfort""and service of Toronto hotels. During the past year, this Ministry ran up a tab . of $18,466 holding 40 meetings at 16 city hotels. "Some of the billings did not indicate the purpose of the meeting nor the names of those attending," siad the Auditor. "We recommended that the facilities of the MacDonald Block (the Queen's Park meeting cen- tre) be used for meetings whenever possible and that the Ministry- .develop stan- dards and guidelines to regulate the cost of food and beverages provided at meetings, luncheons and otherhospitality-related functions." Old Fort William, being • built for the Ontario Goverment as a tourist. at- traction inThunder Bay, has cost more than twice the originallybudgeted price. The cost to the end of last March stood at $12.7 million. The construction contract signed five years ago was for $5.;5 million, subject to an, increase of not more than ten percent and increases due to inflation. Costs have also run Through -the other weeklies Canada . did not go unrepresented ' in. the fourth annual Lake Cadillac Bathtub race in Michigan last Saturday,. according to a story in last week's Listowel Banner. Sixteen members of the young people's group at Listowel's Christian Reformed Church entered in the cast iron class Qf the one - mile rape run over the frozen surface of -Lake Cadillac. The tub, weighing; 345 pounds including skis and push bars, features carpeting throughout, padded seat, foulr-speech shifter, racing wheel and several accessory gauges mounted in a mahogany dashboard. At presstime, it was not known how the Canadian delegation made out in the race. From the Seaforth Huron Expositor comes a story of a Christmas card that has been travelling between Egmondville and Bluevale for the last 27 years. . In 1948, Hugh Campbell of Bluevalesent his Egmpndz, ville cousin, Lois Moore a Christmas card, which she cut up, pasted on another piece of paper o and sent it back to him. The next year, he sent the card to her again and again she returned it. Last Christmas Mrs. Moore became a little worried when the card did not arrive until a few days before Christmas. Considering that the card has been going for almost 30 years and is too valuable to, lose, "maybe we should start registering it," she said. While Clinton Public Hospital awaits a final ver- dict as to whether it will be closed or remain. open, the board of governors of the Wingham and District Hospital voted a capital expenditure between $25,000 and $30,000 at its first meeting in 1977, says a story in the Wingham Advance -Times. Executive director Norman far over approved limits in a related project. The Government agreed to have a university prepare manuscripts and technical reports on the fort, setting a limit of $200,000: By the end of March, the cost had hit $242,000. In another controversial project in Northwestern Ontario, costs of buying and renovating Minaki Lodge have hit $9.4 million. The Province bought the lodge in 1974 to protect Northern Ontario Development Cor- poration loans on the property when the owner was unable to meet mortgage payments. The Report also reveals that the Government gave an ex-Deputy,Minister, seconded. to serve—as Chairman of the Regional Municipality of, Sudbury, $23,375 in severance pay when he resigned over a disputewith a - council member. He was sub- THE WS Model 800 PRESSURE WASHER $195 111 m :1147 Form_ use cash price CALL' (519)' 482-3418 ask for ERV Johnston OR SEE IT AT 'The CANADA FARM SHO FEB 1,2,3&4 SALES do SERVICE SOX 610, CEINTON; ONTARIO -NOM 110 sequently dismissed-' from Government service, after 27 years of employment with the Province, and was given no explanation for the dismissal. The Provincial Auditor stated "the payment of this severance, allowance did not appear to be based on the Public Services Act or Regulations or any stated guideline." ..This Government has a tendency, confirmed by the Auditor, to operate' bymeans of Management Board Orders - Cabinet spending orders which have not been passed by the Legislature. Apparently, in the fiscal year 1975-76, the public interest necessitated the . spending of $289,905,005 by this means. There were 93 separate or- ders for amounts, ranging from $15,000 to $57 million. I have had several enquiries from farmers regarding the alleged import control of farm chemicals by this week, but on checking with the office of the. Federal Minister of Agriculture, the Honourable Eugene Whelan, I find that the Minister has met with the various farm organizations but nothing has been made public. Smile The higher an executive gets, the more he forgets simple things - like how to get bjs coffee, and how to dial a phone. VI f is`in Mrs. Wotkin's Country Kitchen FULL -COURSE SMORGASBORD EVERY SUNDAY ADULTS $3.49 since they took* over the 'management of .the school's cafeteria. The cafeteria . operates under the direction of ,a committee chaired by a student, and consists of two staff members, three .,v members of the student council andthe principal.''he committee, which rneets,each month is proving an ex- p.eri,mental success • says principal Bruce Shaw and may be adopted by the Huron County Board of Education in future. ' - °Residents of the, Village of Blyth face an increase in their 'Water bills, effective Feb. 1, which will amount to $1 per month,. says a story in last week's Blyth Standard. The rate will now be $4.50 for residential, $6.25 for com- mercial and 45 cents per 1,000 gallons of metered water. A $15,000 donation by a generous, benefactor has pushed the Mitchell and District Health Centre Fund to within 20 percent of its -Hayes said each hospital department would purchase the needed equipmeiff resulting in the actual amount of expenditures to depend on the total costs spent by each department. A derailed CN train about one mile west of Mitchell had patrons of a local . hotel ...worki g—o.ff__ i.1 .ix'...beers shovelling off the tracks. According to the Seaforth Expositor, the two engines, - snow plow and caboose weighing a total of 250 tons left the tracks after hitting a replacement rail that had moved close to the track by repeated snow plowings. The westbound train, that had been travelling 20 i p.h. at the time of the derailment was put back on the track with the use of a CN crane. The 150 feet of torn track `remained to be. - repaired following the accident. Another Expositor story tells of Seaforth District High School students eating better CHILDREN PRE' SCHOOLERS $ L99 ' FREE Clip out this,coupon and bring it along any Sunday. It's worth 25c discount for every adult in your group. For information concerning Banquets, Parties, Weddings, or seminars please call: . . MRS. B. VI/ATKINS " STEWART a'ASSI'LS CLINTON 48219341 ',., LUCAN 227.4406 "See You on Sunday" CON,ItAttOLATIOP11011 JOANN' 144IVAA 4Itd►II,gA1 $1,50,090 'geal. Charles Ritz, ' honorary chairman • Of Inrternational Multifoods Corporation, Minneap'b)is, Minn., and, a native of Mit- chell, made the _q lonation, which brings the fund total to $120,000, according to a story in the Mitchell Advocate. Elsewhere in the Advocate, a story reads of an `eight percent increase in the salaries of the town council. The increase means coun- cillors will now receive $),,550; the reeve, $1,950; the deputy reeve, $1,750; and the mayor, $2,,350. THUR$, SW . MaP40TUP0WIINTN!I otal stiowiNO ()Posy 1I N, 11t FM. A T:'1f3 A ifs CHARLTON HESTO JOHN CASSAVETES TWO -MINUTE WARNING' 9 r. nu NAD AN CANCER SOCIETY Take good care of yourself. GODERICH ea. 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Atlantic Blvd. Disney World .' \0 Daytona Beach, Fla. Dept. 473 When you vacation in Please send complete Information: DAYTONA BEACH, ,...# Name �� Address FLORIDA �,a City, State, ZIP SPEND AN EVENING IN EUROPE CLINTON LEGION HALL KIRK ST. CLINTON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 . 8 :00 P. M. A PRESENTATION OF K.L.M:, GLOBUS/GATEWAY HOLIDAYS AND THE COACH HOUSE TRAVEL SERVICE GODERICH ADMISSION FREE REFRESHMENTS tie f tinders BOys 8 GirIS Make if'Vitt ti