HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-07-03, Page 12►Pf'ifPH 410_,N.f% *STA , TUURSDA ', JULY 3,1969
Not so well done
Following up on the editorial in the
Signal -Stas last week (Well done, .June
±6), it has 'since been learned that a
-" company that has been in Goderich for
quite some time i.s moving out of town.
Huron Railing is moving to larger
premises at Sky. Harbour Airport — which•
is located in Colborne Township. ,
There may have been attempts in the
° past to have a— building constructed at
Industrial Park. If there were, they 'were
• .,tutned down. Why? Who knows,, perhaps
the people who make these negative
decisions are more interested in what
, taxes they pay now than what benefit the
town Woald reap from new industry, '
It has been said there is no ' point
building until a company has said it will
come, but it should be obvious by now
that industry prefers to locate in an
existing building rather than construct
•
Now
one or wait for one to be constructed. At
least two companies have located
elsewhere for that reason.
This week we have two cases in point.
. One company; fortunately, settled foxy.less
space than it wanted and came to town.
Another well-established company is,
relocating because there isn't enough=
room for it in Goderich.
Major changes in Ontario's assessment
laws and procedures were proposed in the
Legislature recently by Municipal Affairs
Minister Darcy McKeough.
He introduced a new Assessment Act
which he described as the most significant .
revision in 65 years. In combination with
the. transfer of assessment to.
prow ince, wide administration next
January, the chan9es are designed to
create "the cornerstone of reform for our
system and structures of local
government." •
These are •among the changes
proposed:
* Assessment of all properties in the
province at market value by provincial
assessors; . •
* The creation of a new Assessment
Review Court to consider appeals on
assessment;
* More time in whickproperty owners
can question and check their; assessments,
and improved procedures for appeal;
* Assessment and taxation of smelters
and concentrators. Technically these have
been . exempt from local taxation in the
past, amounting to several million dollars
annually, although some companies have
made payments in lieu of taxes.
' Changes in business assessment as
the first step toward the development of a
uniform system for business assessment
and the elimination of the split mill rate.
Mr. McKeough said the changes "are
intended to simplify and to provide
greater equity and fairness both .for
municipalities and among taxpayers."
Because of their. complexity, he was
introducing the proposals now so that
MPPs, municipalities and property owners
mould have time to study.them before the
Legislature gives their • detailed
consideration' after the summer recess.
' Meetingsto discuss The Assessment
Act and other aspects of municipal reform
are being scheduled in various parts of the
province this summer, to be attended by
Mr. McKeough; Provincial Treasurer,
Charles MacNaughton- and other cabinet
ministers. The meetings were announced
So one comes, one goes; the toVvn. is
the loser. How many more companies will
eventually relocate in the township or
how many more companies will not locate
in Goderich because -of. jaacic-- of
accommodation, only time will tell. But if
the town really wants to' gain industry —
the right kind of industry — then
something should be done to attract it.
Make a nest.. and the birds will come to
roost, bringing all the benefits with them.
much?
most of the' assessment functions
previously handled by the ..Courts of
Revision.
-"It is our intention to retain Courts of•
Revision only for certain focal appeal:
purposes - other than assessment,"
including matters related to The Drainage
Act and The Local Improvement Act ,
The Assessment Review, Court will sit
in each of the 32 new assessment regions
covering the province and the number of
members will be determined by th
volume of work to be handled. The
chairman and vice-chairman will be
members of the : bar of Ontario.
"A further revision of benefit to
appellants is the establishment of the clear
right to the documents and information
that are relevant to their case," he added.
The revised Assessment Act contains
two amendments that will have_particular
significance in Northern Ontario and for
the mining and smelt'ing`industry.
Regarding • busi,ness 'assessment; Mr.
McKeough said the Government is not
prepared to introduce sweeping changes
until more information is available.
"The ultimate aim of the Government
is to develop a system of business ;tax
based on uniform - (assessment) rates.
When . that is accomplished, it will be
.possible to eliminate the split mill rate
and thereby remove a tax- differential.
which bears unfairly on business property
and whose impact v„aries . among
municipalities.
"This is the first step of a long-range
program to ,reform taxation which will
probably take from five toseven years.
The immediate aim of the _ present
amendments is to rationalize the existing
system by removing anomalies and
anachronisms without disrupting local tax•
bases unduly or imposing unwarranted
burdens on particular groups of
taxpayers.” 4
These proposed changes were released
from, the office of the Department of
Municipal Affairs this week. The changes,
when- implemented; may - be of great
• benefit to Goderich and the province as a
by,Prime Minister John Robarts last week whole,- but the question that remains in
to the Association of Ontario Mayors and one's mind is "How much?"
Reeves. • We have seen what happened to the
'A number of revisions in The cost of education dnder the county
.Assessment Act are concerned with the system. We all heard the outcry that went
_.transfer of .assessment administration to up when the budgets were brought in
• the province. across the province. Is, this going to
"The new (provincial) administration happen with provincial assessment? We
will be highly decentralized, with hope not.
municipalities - being served by local This is';' no doubt, one of the necessary
assessment per le in local offices. What it changes that will pave the way for
means is that the province will pay the regional government, but where will this
bills and shoulder the worries t of "regionalization end?"
assessment and the municipalities will get
baetterseri ice, Mr. McKeough said. _ Municipalities- are already concerned
• •- The Mini' .er said assessment at market over the amount of governing the
province is doing for municipalities and if
value of SII propertiesis a basic the trend continues we•,no longer will be
requirement of. assessment reform and the governed by people we know or who
revisions are designed to establish a knows us and the needs of the town.
practical basis for property valuation. We may not agree with the archaic
Market value is defined as the amount attitude of members of Goderich town
that real property might be expected to ' council, but we can at least vote them out
realize if sold in the open market by a of office at the next election if we want
willing seller to a_willing.buyer,
••.-.4,--to.-W-hat will we be able td do if we wind
Mr. McKeough said the new up with no representation and are
Assessment Review Court will_ assume governed from Toronto?r•
R
EST A
18 4SEDMgi (iru*gnia122nd'� nal-6tar ofYEA18r1iN �
—p-- The County Town Newspaper of Huron ---D-- PUBLICATION
Published at Goderich, Ontario every Thursday morning by -
Signal -Star Publishing Limited
ELDERLY COMPANIONS
urgn History
Corner...
BEGINNINGS OF SETTLEMENT AT THE
MENESETUNG RIVER OVER 100 YEARS AGO.,
By W. N. Johnston in The London Free Press
o- ' • When we who have passed middle life and are rgow sliding down
the hill towards the rich valleys of hope and beauty,.sit down to rest
on the benches by the roadside and ruminate on the climbing to the •
summit, we may. Well wish that many more had taken to heart the
& old Scotchman's saying of„"Be aye writing a buik on. the days that
are gone. 'Twill :bp music to those who come after."
Surely that is what we can say of the book "In the Days of the •
Canada Company.” But for it who . would know aught of the
pioneers of the Huron Tract? This book preserves for us and will for,
the.people of one hundred years hence the names and charicteristict
of those pioneers. '
In writing of the county town of Huron,,,beaut'riful Goderich, we,
are _happy to learn that the first white man to visit the site of the
town was the great and chivalrous Samuel de Champlain, he who
named the boundless Lake Huron, Mer Douce,meaning the:.
Freshwater Sea, and in cruising around the Georgian Bay and Lake
Huron spied the- opening in the forest where the Menesetung
emptied into the lake, and who was so interested he- landed to
explore.
The first real settlers were Trader Gooding and Frank Deschamp,
,. a Frenchman, who had established a trading post and erected a log
° cabin near the water's edge. He had come.from the mouth of the
Grand River on Lake Erie with a small vessel laden with supplies for
the Indian trade:
•
Previousto this time, about 1826, Goderich was a calling place
for the Jesuit missionaries and Hudson's Bay employees on their way
to and from Detroit.
In 1827 came Dr. Dunlop, Warden of the Forests, and his
following of nearly thirty men, among whom were a number like
himself, built in gigantic proportions and capable of performing feats
of great strength and endurance. '
Among them were MacDonald, surveyor and draftsman, called
Stout Mac, a Highlander; John Cameron; a Mohawk chief, Dogfish;
and Indian. Louis Cadotte, and John Brant, a son of Tyendinaga, the
Joseph Brant of history. Thelast two were such splendid -looking
specimens of manhood that Major Strickland said he could well
believe that when Benjamin West first saw the statue of Apollo
Belvedere he said that it could best be compared to a Mohawk chief. '
When Dunlop built his house on top of the bank about 200 feet =�
Wove thewaters edge, which was afterwards alwaysknown as "The
Castle," it waa these men who carried the logs' to build it and laid
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Photo by Ron Price II
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ROBERT G. SHRIER
President and Publisher
r—r
RONALD P. V. PRICE
Managing Editor
EDWARD J. BYRSKI
Advertising Sales
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Second class mail 'registration nul,Iber 0716
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Remember When ? ? ?
56 YEARS AGO
The nomination of candidates
for the Centre Huron riding -was
held in Cardno's .opera house,
Seaforth, on Monday afternoon
from 12 to two o'clock.
Rumors have reached The
Signal the last few days to the
effect that certain young`
school -boys of this town, names
not mentioned, have .been
caught "shoplifting," in other,
words obtaining their luxuries of
life, such as cigars, cigarettes,
chocolates, etc., free of cost. It
is much to be lamented that
such deplorable tactics should be
carried. on withih the limits of
this town. Warning is here given
to boys 'that if caught they will
be handed over to the• law to do
what it likes with them. •
A warning to Turkey which
fell little short of a 'formal
declaration of hostilities was
uttered on Friday by Premier,,
Venizalos of Greece in the
Chamber of Deputies. - He was
speaking on the treatment of
Greek subjects in Turkey.
The Premier's attitude shows '
that the tension between Greece
and Turkey was near the
breaking point, and thatthe
damage of war was imminent.
The London police fear that
the Suffragettes are planning to
polute the water of the city
reservoirs.
Mr. W. Proudfoot, the Liberal
candidate for Centre Huron,
"finished a series of meetings
tonight = starting with the
nomination on Monday and'
meetins in Walton and
Cranbrook same evening,
Londesboro on Tuesday, Clinton
-on Wednesday, garden party 'at
Mr. John Grieve's in McKillop of
Thursday afternoon and opera
house in Goderich. on Thursday
night. Mr: ' Proudfoot reported _
meetings well attended ' and
enthusiastic with a considerable
number of temperance
conservatives joining in the
crusade to abolish the bar. The
outlook for an increased
majority is promising.
25 YEARS AGO
Sky Harbor, ' events
accompanying its closing as a
training centre _ of the
Commonwealth Plan, arid its
ultimate future as an airport in
post-war years, have ,been very
much to the fore. in public
interest in recent days. The most
important development in this
connection is the formation of a
County - of- Huron Flying Club,
its receipt • of a Federal charter
and the.` appointment of
provisional directors.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Howard,
10th concession of Ashfield;
have received a letter of
congratulations -from Hon. C. G.
Powers, Air Minister, upon the
honor and,distinction which has
come ' to their son in the award
of the Distinguished Flying
•Cross "for great gallantry in the
performance of his duty while
serving with No. 405 'Squadron
of the Royal Canadian Air
Force."
H o n. George Doucett,
Ontario Minister of Highways,
thinks Huron County roads are
about the best in Ontario.
A letter from G. L. Parsons,
president of the Goderich
Elevator and Transit Co.,
enclosed one sent by the
Company to District Engineer
Bennett, Federal Department of
Public Works, at London,
pointing out the necessity' of
ir
THAT S LIFE!
By G. MacLeod Ross
them in place in the walls.
Then when the roof was . on and it was ready for occupation
someone asked how they were "to get their supply of barrels of salt
pork and flour in Gooding's store brought up the steep hillside.
dredging and suggesting other Ach
,". said MacDonald, "a" ken tekk one up." This he did. In fact,
works at Goderich harbor, and
the Council was asked to he carried all the barrels up. Dogfish, equally big and strong,
co-operate in these request's by performed marvels of strength with logs and stores. A really' large
passing a resolution. : company in more ways than one occupied the Castle and were a
The exodus of civilian happy and congenial household.
workers from Sky Harbor has In 1828, John Galt, the commissioner of the Canada Company,
begun, preparatory to the- following•°° the same course taken by Champlain around the Bruce
closing of the airport for ;flying Peninsula, came in a vessel 'loaned him by the Govemment, but did
training purposes on July 14th. not become a permanent citizen. '
Coun. Brown "noted withc.,.,n afterwardsa� came Sproat, MacDonald and McGregor from
satisfaction that the town clock
had mended its ways and was
keeping better time.. "There are
only two kinds of time," he said
— "the right time and the wrong
time."
10 YEARS AGO
Charlie 1VIacNaughton's
victory - parade ' through Huron
riding had a. rousing wind-up in
Goderich where voters gave him
a local majority of 821.
Parking meters were rejected
by Town Council at a special , , on the river while skating and was drowned:
meeting. last week:Council also, •
turned thumbs ..down on an
alternative proposal that a
two-hour parking limit be.
enforced in the business section.
Authorization, in the form of
a motion, was given `the airport
committee of Huron county
council on Wednesday of • last
week to continue negotiations
with the Crown Assets Disposal
Corporation of Ottawa for
purchase of the Sky Harbor
Airport holdings owned by the
Government.
. Tempers were edgy . as two
Ontario Hydro officials tried to
convince Town Council Tuesday
that the town should, pay the
"local PUC a special sum of
$20,900 because . of "bum
estimating" on street lighting in
years long past. ' _
Zorra, bringing a yoke of oxen, the latter being useful in the clearing
of the land. Others followed them and presently there was ,a rather
lively settlement on the hilltop above and below the harbor.
Gooding, coming originally from Onondaga, 'N.Y., was a British
subject and United Empire. Loyalist. His three sons, William, Jasper
and; Edwin, joined him later' in business. Ronald Goode, from
Ayrshire, was an eaaly settler and had four daughters. The three
Gooding young men made love to these daughters. William married
Jane, Jasper won Mary and Edwin, Nannie. Some years afterwards
two of these brothers were- drowned from the same canoe. Theirs
was not the first death in the community, as James Hales, who had
arrived with his brother, Benjamin, before 1833, fell through the ice
COOLY! COOLEY! COOLY!. _
It came as something of a surprise to Dr. Denton Cooley, the
eminent heart transplant specialist of Texas, when a patient paid him
in kind. On leaving his office one day he found a Tennessee walking
mare cooly awaiting him outside. '
.PUB SIGNS
The "bush" of the "Bull and Bush", dates from the Middle Ages -
no
When-
bush !! At Pompe, the Rowas �m�ans,signe used a pig for a wine
shop. Good wine needs
over the door to indicate
a wine shop. Mangy signs are corruptions:, e.g. The Pig and Whistle
- was the Peg and Wassail Bowl originally. 'Coeixr Tore became The
Queen Door. Bacchanals was changed tO the -Bag of Nails. The
o pawnbroker's three gold balls were the arms of the Medici and
Lombardy, while the barber's pole used tO hold a wig at its end. Its
parti-coloured ribands indicated . the blond and bandages used to
bind the patients wounds after blood-letting. The Crusades brought
us such signs as The Saracen's Head; The Turks Head and The
Golden Cross, The White Hart is pecixliar to Richard II. The Blue
Boar to Richard III. The Red Dragon was the Tudor sign. Foolscap
comes from Folio-Capo. Cap a Pie has become "Apple-pie order."
Wellington's Hougoumont - was really misheard for it is in fact
Chateau Goumont.
OLD RUSSIANS FADE AWAY TOO! '
Several news commentators have seen something sinister, even
Stalinesque irithe deaths of a succession of Russian Generals of late.
However .,the number of ageing Russian Generals is enormous. In
1945 thea were 11,000 generals for the 20 million man armies.
Most, of these generals have now retired and are well over 60 years of
age. Last year 37 died in May and this y ar 33 more have died. So
most of them, like all old soldiers, just fa c ed away.
Rev. Fred Jewell, of London,
came back to _Goderich Sunday
to preach at the church which he
attended as a teen-ager.
This week there's activity
both inside ' and outside of
Goderich District : Collegiate
Institute:
Inside, pupils are busy writing
examinations. Outside work
started Monday on the building
on the new addition to the
Collegiateeh Ball Bros., of
Kitchener, t3emng the general
contractors.
ONE YEAR AGO
Swimming against the Liberal
tide which engulfed the rest of
Canada Tuesday, voters in
Huron riding re-elected
Progressive Conservative Robert
E. McKinley, with an increased
majority _over __ his Liberal -
opponent in the last two
elections.
Goderich bid a respectful
farewell to one of her most
prominent citizens, Air Vice
Marshall ' John A. Sully,
yesterday.
Clusters of townspeople lined
Victoria Street after' funeral
service was conducted in Knox
Presbyterian Church by the Rev.
G. L. Royal, assisted by Major F.
P. Delong, protestant padre at
Canadian Forces Base, Clinton.
Many heads were bowed in silent
tribute as the pageantry of a
funeral with full military honors
unfolded.
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8 TTO- 10. LBS. - OVEN READY
ESH ..TURKEYS
Ib.
SWEET PICKLED
.TTAGE ROLL
Ib.
MADE FRESH DAILY
COUNTRY STYLE
USAOE • •
21b. 89d
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