The Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-06-20, Page 27td
Morton Shulman, New
Democratic Party Member, of
the Legislature for High Park;•
accused the Ontario Govern-
ment of bribing the public with
its own money. He released
documents sent to him by the
Ministry of Community and
Social Services, which show
how cheques addressed to hun-
dreds of community
organizations in the "province
have .often been sent to Govern-
ment members to -be delivered
by them and not by Opposition
'members who represent those
,.risings.
` Solicitor General George
Kerr reversed an earlier stand
and appointed a Royal Com-
mission to investigate last
month's police drug raid on the
Landmark Motor Inn Hotel in
Fort Erie.
he Commission which
d look into the actions of
the police during the raid 'will
be headed by Judge John A.
Pringle, of Norfolk County
Court:
Mr. Kerr said that harsh
criticism from the • Opposition
and the public convinced him
to reconsider his decision to
have the Imperial Police Com-
mission carry out the ,in-
vestigation.
Opposition Members' in the
Provincial . Legislature had
charged that the Police Com-
mission would dot be impartial
in investigating police "conduct
during the .raid in which 43'
male and female patrons were
forced to strip.
Mr. Kerr informed the
Legislative Assembly that his
decision to -fiord the Royal
Commission was partly due to
criticism over Police Com-
mission Chairman Elmer Bell.
A 'statement, by Mr. Bell
indicated that the police acted
properly and was in the law
during the raid and that an in-
vestigation into the raid would
not be; necessary, in his opinion.
Construction ..of an ex-
perimental $7.5, million gar-
bage.'"reclamation plant in
Metro Toronto, will start this
fall, Environmental Minister,
William Newman, told the
Legislature. The plant will
process 200 tons of Metro gar-
bage a; day. This represents a
very small portion of the more
than 6,000 tons collected daily
but the main purpose of the ex-
periment is to develop ' the
technology for wider recycling
across the Province. The plant
is to include sections ,or
modules for paper and Gard
board recovery, metals recovery
and composting. These
categories represent about. 807e-
of
0%dof the total volume of refuse
, and provide the most readily
marketable materials, Mr,
Newman explained.
A Bill giving more than $50
million in increased assistance
to local government in Ontario
was' approved by the
Legislature this week. Amend-
ments to the Property Tax
Stabilization Act of 1973, in-
creased the general support
grant by $33 million to a total
of $82 million. in 1974/75, The
grant is designed as an incen,
°'°tive to municipalities to
restrain spending growth. All
upper and lower tier
municipalities in new Regional
Government will receive a +flat
grant rate of 7% of the 1974
general dollar levy.
A Bill containing changes to
the Succession Duty Act, was
'introduced in the Legislature
this week. Cost of the changes
is estitnated at $6 million this
a .., year. The Bill raises ' from
rvQ $100,000 to $150,000, the value
at which farm estates first
become taxable. Exemptions
for surviving dependant
children are to be raised from
• $2,000 to $34000 for. each - year
the dependant is under 26. For
orphan children the exemption
goes from $4,000 to•$6,000. In-
valid or infirm dependants un-
der 71 will also be the subject
of the higher $6,000 exemption.
Two...grants totalling $7.5000
for research into bilingual
education and the needs of
Franco-Ontarian -children in
the school system, were an-
nounced by Ontario Education
Ministry. They were the two
largest of the 29 research'
projects that are. to receive a
total of $448,000 from the
Ministry this year. Both grants
go to research staff at the On-
tittrio Institu•te fore studies in
Education.
----The Ontario Public Accounts
Committee's investigation into
an • alleged conflict of interest
led to the resignation of John
Kennedy a 'senior member of
the ,Ontario Northland Tran-
sportation. Commission.
A meetii g.bf the Legislature
Public Accounts Committee.
confirmed that the ONTC had
° spent $15,500 at‘the Pinewood
Park Motel 'in ,,,North Bay
wring the past 11 years on a
variety of"lofficial functions in-
cluding Commission meetings.
Mr. Kennedy is President of,
the Pinewood Village Limited
which owns the Pinewood Park
Motel
Deputy Attorney General
F.W. Callaghan -said' in a; -letter
to Committee Chairman
Patrick Reid, Liberal Rainy
River, that if the Commission
was paying the motel. then Mr.
Kennedy would be breaking
section 42 of the Ontario Nor-
thland Transportation Com-
mission' Act. Section 42 of the
ONTC Act states,`"No member
of the 'commission or any of-
ficeror, any employee thereof
shall make or enter into any
contract with the Commission
or be 'pecuniarily interested
directly or indirectly in any
contact -or work in regard to
which any portion of the money
under , the control of the Com-
mission is being or is to be ex-
panded."
Provincial Government came
under harsh Opposition attack
in the Legislature following the
release,, on Monday. of the
report showing that•26 Ontario
firms emit unsafe amounts of
lead.
Liberal Leader Robert Nixon
asked William Newman,
Minister .of the Environment
why the Government has 'not
taken action to close the major
polluters in face of clear.
evidence of excessive emissions.
Mr. Newman replied in the
Legislature that most of the
companies mentioned in ' the
report are under" abatement
control programs'. The report
showed that soil and greenery
around 26 of 45 firms tested in
1972 and 1973 had readings
above the safe level of 600
parts ' per rriillion of soil..
Readings on soil around
Toronto- Refiners and Smelters
Limited on Bathurst Street
showed the soil had as much 'as
50 times more lead than is con-
sidered safe.
Consumer and Corpmerbial
Relations John Clement in-
dicated that there was a very
good possibility that he would
be introducing legislation in
the fall session which would
protect consumers from travel
agencies which declare.
bankruptcy. Mr_ Clement said
the only wayithat he could see
to' protect travellers, par-
ticularly students would be
through a compulsory plan
whereby the deposits- are put in
a locked trust acc'on-A ,, and not -
be used'by-the Travel agent tills
certain requirements have been
met including confirmation of
the flight.
The Ontario Government has
no intention'of introducing rent
control legislation at this time,
Housing Minister Sidney Han-
dleman told the Legislature.
Mr. Handleman said rent con-
trols would reduce the present
low vacancy rate even farther.
Mr. Handleman said there are
a dumber of factors involved in
rising rents and added he will
study the situation. His
I Ministry is also studying a
request from the City ` of
Toronto asking that the
Province consider legislation to
allow Municipalities to set rent
control if necessary, -
Two bills dealing with taxes
received first reading this week
in the Legislature. The Provin-
cial Parks, M`tanicipal Tax
Assistance Act broadens the
definition of Provincial Parks -
lo include wilderness areas,
historical parks and parks
operated under the Niagara
Parks Act, the • St. Clair Park-
way. Commission Act and the
St. Lawrence Parks Com-
mission Act. Under the Act
Municipalities in which the
parkland lies will receive'
payments of $5.00 an acre for
the first 100 -acres, $2.00 an
acre for the remainder. up to
10,000 acres. Also introduced
were amendments to the Cor-
porations Tax Act, outlined in
the Provincial budget two.rpon-
ths ago. 'W
Ontario minimum wage will
rise'to $2.25 an hour from $2.00
on October 1st,' Labour
Minister ,John MacBeth, an-
nounced -in the Legislature. The,
minimum rate for a construc-
tion worker will go up at the
same time to $2.50 an hour ,
from '$2.25. Exceptions are
Students under 18 years,
general workers in their first
month of employment.,
domestic workers,, farm
labourers and embalmers. The
fi minimum rate for students will
'be .$1.90 an hour.
Pension benefits for teachers
and civil servants will be in-
creased by 8% to offset the -im-
pact -of inflation. . Premier
WilliamDavis announced in
the. Legislature' that ,pensioners
receiving the minimum rate
now will get more than the 8%'
increase to bring t hem Tup to a
new minimum of $2400.00 a
year' from their present
$2,184.00. About 50% ,,of those
receiving benefit's as , former
civil servants or teachers are at.
the minimum rate.
The 8% increase will not ap-
ply to those whose pensions
commenced during 1973, This
grr)up which has already -
received some compensation for
inflation will. be -given a.4% in -
grease. The increase will affect
about 15000 • former teachers
and about 11000 former civil
servants.
A bill t(i�continue th'e freeze
-on- municipal assessments for
tax purposes for another two
years • received lst reading in
the Ontario Legislature this
week, Revenue Minister Arthur
Meen said that spiralling real
estate prices have made it im-
possible to reassess Ontario
Properties at 'their ' 'current'
market value. The Province is
to switch to assessments based
on current market value in
1976 for taxes . that will +be
levied on properties in 1977. •
Mr: Meen also said exemp-
tions for mining buildings used
to; extract' minerals from the
ground ` have been removed.
This should enlarge the •tax
base of many• communities in
Northern Ontario, he said.
• The Bill also 'provides a for-
mula for appor.t,ioning,.among
tenants the total assessed value
ora rented building and the
market value of the space they
occupy.
During the consideration of
the expenditure estimates ,or
the Ministry.cif Community and
Social ,''Services, there was
lengthy- debates on the new
Provincial polices announced by
'Margaret Birch, Provincial
No°matter
who you are...
No matter
what you do :..
Your =1 enemy
is the heart and
blood vessel
diseases
FOR YOUR
FIRE INSURANCE
$ee or Phone
MALCOLM MATHERS
GENERAL INSURANCE AGENT
524-x,142
46 IlicEST ST.
JKCKS JOYTINOS
Secretary for Resource
Development pertaining to
child daycare centres. The new
policy relaxed the ratios of
children to staff persons. Op-
position members charged that
the changes.,in the. child -staff
'ratios were made to put more
money in the pockets of com-
mercial'dav school operators.
Rene Brunelle, Minister of
Community and Social Ser-
vic•es, said he was not aware of
a year old report on daycare
standards prepared bya panel
of experts.The report
published by the Canadian
Council on Social Development
recommended child -staff ratios
FROM QUEENS PARK
far lower than those Ontario
intends to adopt.
New Legislation was in-
troduced this week in the
GODEFiiICH SIGNAL -STAR, THUR$PAY, JUNE 20, 1974'AGE 114,
House' to give Municipalities
almost unlimited power to
block demolition of residential
buildings -in areas they
AbAUTO GLASS LIMITED
"THE GLASSMEN OF ONTARIO"
For vinyl tops • convertible tops. • - car upholstery
• windshields • body protective mouldings.
365 EAYFiELD RD. GODERICH
CALL i24-2136
designate for preservation. The
changes in the Planning Act,
broader than those sought by
the City of Toronto, give the
budding owner the right to ap-
peal to the Ontario Municipal
Board but give the Board no
criteria for judging the appeal. c)
BRUCE MACDONALD
ELECTRIC
Domestic -Commercial -Industrial
133 Britannia Rd.
Phone Evenings 524-8 1 46
NMI
INCLUDEDWITH YOUR
jil-Star
Kincardine News
Clinton News -Record
-1.
Area listings and information.
on your. favorite T
program in a new
Publication ...
ATCH F
IT!
WITH YOUR SIGNAL -STAR
CLINTON NEWS RECORD
'& KINCARDINE NEWS
You get more from a Signai Publication
SPRING FLOWER SHO
SATURDAY, JUNE 22
AT NORTH ST. UNITED CHURCH
•
r,.
•
•
,a