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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-02-21, Page 11Catching His Breath- . Murray Cardiff, the PC candidate who will be representing the Huron- Bruce riding in Ottawa, stops long enough to catch his breath with wife Betty during. the election night gathering at the Brussels, Morris and Grey. Com- munity Center. Mr. Cardiff topped the polls with more than 2,100 votes over his nearest rival, Liberal candidate Graeme Craig of the Walton area. ()Expositor photo) . Jack's jottings BY JACK RIDDELL M.P.P. . . Last 'week I wrote about the economic si uation in this country reported by- the nference Board in anada. I'm sure it came as a surprise to those who read the article that �--Ontario- has :dropped , last place of all the provinces from the standpoint of economic growth. The Board predicted that more than 80percent of Canada's economic. growth this year will come from the Western provinces and even the chronically 'poorer Maritime provinces will outperform this province in 1980. I would like to conclude this article by saying that we in Ontario, for a very long time, have prided' ourselves on being nibs successful, more financially . secure than our sister provinces. This is no longer the case. Sometime in late 1977 or early 1978, Ontario became a "have-not" province, within the. meaning applied to the national equalization formula. Alberta and s --British Columbia have never" qualified for equalization entitlements under this formula which is based on the national average and came into effect . in 1967-68. We little dreamed at that time that within a decade Ontario would qualify for equalization payments. In the early 1970s, Ontario's contribution to federal revenues based on personal income tax and corporation tax, was Declt4res war... • from page 10 into taking over the entire area south of town and servicing it as funds and -needs permitted. The council indicated they were not interested in spending massive sums of money to service a very small portion of land. To properly bring the Conklin subdivision on stream, the Goderich had to spend in the an estimated $2 million and according' to committee members the subdisivon wasn't big enough to warrant the expense. The Goderich Township representatives on the joint committee became impatient and =felt that Goderich was , dragging its feet. --The township wanted to know if the town was willing to sell services, if a cost sharing agreement could be worked out, and also said it was a waste of time to haggle oyer -such an agreement if the town had no'intention of selling the services. Pressed for a decision, ,_Goderich council met in closed' session and came up with the decision not to sell the services. The council also indicated that they planned to study the impact, costs and benefits of Goderich's annexation of township lands. �4= about 45 percent.- By 19771 . the latest date for which official figures are available, our con- tributionin personal income tax had dropped to approximately 40 percent of federal revenues and to about 3.6.9 percent . in . cor- poration, tax. This -strong' �to�- -downward-tax; and -~the -40 percent figure should be applicable 'now. The trend in corporation tax is difficult to predict, but at best it.jhould be about the same (36-37 percent)., Therefore, 38-39 percent is a realistic figure to use as Ontario's current contribution to federal revenue. The Provincial Treasurer , has acknowledged that Ontario has become •a have-not province and therefore, entitled to almost $500 million in equalization 1payments over the past three years. David Peterson, the Liberal Finance '' Critic, has demanded to .know why Ontario has not taken this money, and. whether it is a question of pride. The Treasurer has taken the attitude that Ontario's eligibility for the-paym ents -only how out of .date the for- mula has become. He argues that to give this province equalization payments would violate the principle of equalization since Ontario's per capita income is well above the national average. It's interesting to note that.. if all oil revenues were taken into account in the equalization for- mula rather than the present level of 50 per- cent, Ontario would be entitle • .�.,� something like $1.03 = on. It's easy to see, of course, why the Turn to page 21 • Dear: Editor: It is nota practice of mine to write letters to the .editor of the local paper, in /lief, this is my first effort, but 1 feel ° there are sortie points I would like to clear up in the matter of spot zoning in Clinton, I would like to, state first," contrary to the thoughts of our Mayor and Council, I have no argument with Reis. ibranees Dear Editor; Sonne: tine ago, an article about Heritage Reines, showing a picture of the Silcock House, appeared in your paper. My husband, Dr. Wilfrid Grant, would very much like a copy of the picture, and we were wondering if one could be obtained. Bill is the only son of William Avery Grant, who was not a stone -cutter but a retired farmer who bought the property.from:lames uearn-He-spent- his youth in that house, went from there to Normal School, then to University and following his graduation. in 1934, practised den- tistry in Ottawa and is now retired. He has many fond memories of his old home and when we were in Clinton at the last reunion, he went around to visit and had a chat with Mr. Silcock. We would be happy to pay whatever the charges were for a photo. Sincerely yours, Ellen Grant (Mrs. W. D. Grant) . Ottawa, Ontario [ r 'vrit. Businessman objects to supermarket location the building of a new supermarket in Clinton. My concern is that after forming the B.I.A. group with the support of council i to beautify .and. strengthen the core area in Clinton, 'the Council is already anxious to start rezoning the fringe area without suggesting that Old buildings and property in the- centre of town be cleaned up,` "If new business comes to Clinton,' then it could 'be built in ,the core area as the 14.A. and we (Red and White),did 15 and 20 years ago. I resent very much: when our mayor states in the' local paper that he cannot understand ho, w a few parties can try to hold' up progress in our town. I would like"to ask where he was 15. years ago when my son and .I decided there was a great need for another store in Clinton and at great risk of losing a great part of my life's work, decided to tear down an old house and carve out a new business section in the core area? As it turned out it was a success and h progress in Clinton. In fact, I would state that both the I.G.A. and Red and White stores have done a great deal to male Clinton a shopping centre for Huron County. There is nothing makes me more furious than to hear a handful of merchants and a couple of elected representatives tell of all the people who are leaving Clinton to shop in Goderich and other places. I would be the first to say there are lots of people who shop out of town. 'After being in the retail business for 35 years, you realize some of your relatives and 'CLINTON NEW best friends do not patronize your but that doe$n't mean you are. not a success . CatSe everyone s low to o mention how many outsiders do shop in Clinto . I, can truthfully say that after keeping records of contests and draws in lour store, approximately 00' percent of our trade is from Clinton, and, we patronage from the Without have beer `As for ;; our, . Town Clerk and his remarks 'Ejn te last week's council news; ( hat the objections . were frivilous) . I am appalled at Ws negative attitude toward ` the. problems .of small business. To prove I am not all wrong and that I do my re very grateful for this , but there is also 40 percent. ural_ routes and' other towns, his trade our ,doors ,would locked years agq.. horn ewor article in David S much bet it might I found' the following the Toronto Star, Witten by pin which tells the story ler than Ido, and jest maybe good food for thought, or at o_ ci o j -thin to think about. Sincerely yours Maynard Corrie ' Clinton "At long last one of the dumber ideas of our "time that in politics "small is beautiful" is beginning to die out. May it rest in peace. In the last couple of weeks politicians from both the New Democratic and Con- servative parties have shown they are beginning to understand that small governments are not necessarily good Vanastra taxpayers being ripped off by farmers Dear Editor: Vanastra pays about 800 percent more taxes than the township far- mers. People in Harperhay, E ondville, Ki en Iensall. and _ I3rucefield all have to pay a higher tax than their farmer neighbours, But they worst off is Vanastra. • If it were not for all the above named villages and localities, the Township would fold. It is those communities that allow Tuckersmith to exist. The Township farmers are being heavily subsidized by those communities plus all the people in all the other towns and cities in Ontario are further subsidizing the farmers. It's really great to have a large political lobby. They have had their own way for some time now and they are still crying the blues. If they had to pay their fair share of the tax burden, you would really see them scream, It is my opinion that taxes are a sharing of the cost of operating any community (communism). We do live communally: we share the roads; we share the sidewalks; we share water supply; we share the sewage system; we share the hydro and street lights; we share ,the telephone lines; we share the schools; we share the hospitals; we share the churches. Believe . it .ornot,_.j.ust__about > everything . that goes on in any community is shared by all in that community (communism) right here in our own backyards: Taxes are designed to share that cost and is not 'designed -'to- make a profit for the Townsh _They are. riot ,supposed•to be in business for themselves. It is a cost sharing organization (sup- posedly). Kin founder pleased Dear Editor: I cannot let the occasion pass without a thank -you on behalf of my brother for the very nice tribute you made to the Kinsmen of Canada and especially the fine group of men who comprise , the Clinton Club. Sixty years have passed by so quickly and so much has been accomplished by this organization. Hal went to France at the age of 17 and came home a very large young man indeed. I think of the innocent times we lived in then. The preliminary meeting of Kin was'held - in our livingroom, a small group all if you own a home in Vanastra, and say you paid =$20,000 for it (the assessments in Vanastra are•based on current market value) your current lax bill would be ' about $380 per an- num. If you got extremely lucky and sold that property for $40,000, the new owner would have a tax bill of about $750 per annum. He would get nothing more for the* extra money. If he in turn sold that same property for say $80,000, the new owner.would be faced with a $1,500 tax bill with nothing more in the way of services. This in my opinion, is not sharing the cost. It is•.taing someone '`toi, the cleaners. This same thing I thr"nk'applies to all the other villages and localities of the township except the farms. The farm assessments have been stagnant since 1970, that is to say if a 100 acre farm with one house and one barn and one drivngsled (typical) was assessed in 1970 for 6,300, it still is assessed, at 6,300 irregardless of how many times. it has changed hands or_ . how the price has varied. Now this typical farm pays about 12 cents on smoking cigars, it seemed to a small girl. My 'mother served tea and drop cakes with jam tarts. Perhaps you'd be interested to know that Hal has just been made a Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International. He has made it at last! I know he'll enjoy my copy of your special edition. The Clinton and Goderich Clubs have always had special interest to him as our family has hol idayed " here for exactly_ 00 years too. Most sincerely, , 'Hal Rogers' sister, Doris Rogers Hunter, Bayfield Decorative Confidence You are undoubtedly searching for a certain "look" that will be "just right" to add the sparkle you want in a particular area in your home... We know you will find it in our refreshing collection of furnishings, wall covering, fabrics and our design awareness. , Quite naturally, all bur designs have ' the Raintree "look"...that certain enviable quality which is your assurance of excellence and good taste. Whatever strikes your fancy, whatever you select,• will become an important tcheme qtyour home... a background that will flatter you and reflect your,decorative ingenuity, Tim. Exclusive • Fabrics • Wallcoverings -Furniture • Art & Accents SHOWROOM: 128 Albert Street, Clinton 482 3871 RECORD, THURSDAY, ' ,governments, "In fact, small governments are usually pretty awful. Just look at the way rural councils have pertnitted developers to plant .shopping in plazas ozr,'the outskirts of small towns. The Plazas drain business away from the town main streets and kill most of the casual sociability that small towns are famous for. Stores move . away and the town ;councils can't even collect any tax° revenue -from the plazas because the plazas are ,Jtt'st beyond their borders: "This syndrome became so corn. .mon and so devastating that ° the provincial government finally stepped in and imposed some • strict, planning controls on shopping plazas. The provincial government did for those small rural councils what they did not have the wisdom to do fpr themselves. • "But . according to the partisans of "small is beautiful" this is not the way things are supposed to work.'''— NARY 21, 1980—PAGE 21 .,fir' you knQW According to Robert L. Ripley (of Believe It or Not) only one person in 100,000 Can `pronounce all these words : correctly: data3 gratis, culinary, cocaine, gondola, ver- sion, impious, chic, Caribbean, viking. To see i you • are • the one in 14 0,000, check the dic- - tionary for the exact pronottnciations. 66 oke'..9 eb'rea .IT'S' THE 'MSN'S TURN Equal ;, chalice. Equal opport silty, Equal time In front of the mirror. How things • have earigedF�"' r ` Xise`d to be. one blow dryer in the family, It was hers. Now there are at least two, His and hers. Brushes, combs, skin fresheners, setting lotions, special soap bars. Two distinct groups of grooming aids, What a tretnendous revolution: good looks are in for everyone, male and female. It is the men's turn to worry about the gray in their hair -- wonten have already worried enough! It's the men's decision now to do something about it. If hair is too limp, too dry, too hard to • manage, it's the men's turn to find ,a salon, a stylist and make an appointment for an analysis. It's- the - men's 14.1.1.1_11_029.4 _as youn_g., as _wll grooed,as good as they possibly can. Our : staff is trained in all aspects of, hair -care for. men. We would be pleased to share our knowledge and ideas with you. ' (Do you have an opinion? Why not write us a letter to the editor, and let everyone know. •411 letters are published, providing they can be authenticated, and pseudonyms are allowed. .911 letters, however, are subject .to editing for length or libel. J every dollar of assessment that comes tO $756 per annum and he gets half of i -back at the, end of the year so his grand total tax is about $380 per .innu.n ,Fxom-w.hat-Lcan-underst-any.- the farms were. assessed like pinning the tail ion the donkey game and it hasn't changed since. If the farmers were assessed today like the properties at Vanastra' -are assessed, then' that same 100" acre farm would have an assessment of about $24,Q00 and paying a 12 cents mill rate the tax bill would come to $2,880 instead of $380. In other words, they are being undercharged by about 750 percent. You know who is making up the difference. While that rip-off is going on, look at this. Vanastra is about 100 acres and. like that farm it should be paying 12 cents on ,the dollar of assessment. That it does, but it does it 200 times over and .over again. The 12 cents on the dollar of assessment should in the case of Vanastra be divided by 200 then added to the -mill rate payable T per property so that same 100 acres does not pay more than the 12 cents. If you use the figures just given, you will quickly see that Vanastra and the other villagsnd ldeaitres-are-bein-g-.- .... ripped off for not only the 750 percent. extra, but now you must multiply by 200. which comes to an unbelievable 150,000 percent overcharge. Might is right and our township councillors are, with the exception of one, all farmers. They surely will not make, any changes for you and me. Caviate emptor is rapidly disap- pearing because of the government's consumer protection laws, but those same laws don't apply to the con- sumer and the , government. The government can go on ripping you off as always, but a private person can't. Who protects you from your own government! The sooner Vanastra gets a total divorce from Tuckersmith, the better off we are all going to be. Charles Mazmanian, Vanastra Edith Anne. Hair Fashions CORNER OF RATTENBURY AND GIBBINGS STREET PHONE FOR AN APPOINTMENT 482-7697 We use and recommeREDKEnd WS* PRODUCTS O.