HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1975-12-29, Page 1rr
avifg age now
BY DAVE SYI) S to restrict their lunch diets to,thatof the
liquid variety thus rendering themselves
What the p,rovincial government ,sees somewhat incompetent during afternoon
fito to give the; people of Ontario it also classes. t •
hays no qualms of taking away at any, McMurtry indicated that the age of
trine. ••majority„ at which a person,may enter]
The two-month old minority Cqn-. into, legal contract, would gaup along
servative Government has a new tough.' with'6hh ,,raise in the -drinking age which
guy in camp and if he, Attorney General
Roy McMurtry, can sell the idea to the.
cabinet the minimum age for driving al
car and drinking will be raised in •:the'
province..
McMurtry's proposition is to raise the
driving age to 18 from 16 and also to
raise the legal' drinking age in+. the
,`province to 19 o 20 froln 18. The Con-
servative Government lowered the legal
drinking•age to' 18 from 21 in a rush prior
to the summer recess of 1971,
McMurtry's, proposals were sparked
•by the oecerit, controversy of alcohol
consumption by. high school students in
Ontario. It seems to be increasingly
common for high `schoolers of legal age
are bot ""uw 18. However he is not
prepared to up the voting age from its
present 18, His recommendations have
n 'en. made available to the cabinet and if
they are to L?e included in the legislative
program oof the next' session the
"°
Government must make a decision
before sprin •
The recoMmendations were also
prompted by the soaring rate of ' ac-
cidents and deaths resulting from ac-
cidents involving teenage drivers and
alcohol • and recent evidence of in-
creasing alcohol consumption by high
school students.
Some of McMurtry's suggestions have
raised many eyebrows but if the
stringent lavys•a
but reduce alcohQ;i-r`,1;•,
deaths, "One 'suggekstion is f*h,
given the p9ver to seize G ;a v f
drinking driver to'serve the=pt,lr_ wr
temporary licence suspenton.,x
Government • is expected to,,—,release'
report on that suggestigh in OW, ne
future. ' 't,.
He also blasted -Car dealer's for the
sales pitches' to young, drivers abo
speed and power of cars. •
"How do you feel about putting"a tW
ton steel bomb into the hands of an IE
year-old when the basic sales premise �i ,
that it will go from Zero to. 60 miles, p4,10'
hour in' less than eight seconds and
impress the hell out of your girlfrienfir''
he said.
Mr. McMii,rtry suggested tli at even
though car dealers are aware of a.hignt
accident and death rate among .tee ra ge
drivers, they are motivated by• profit
rather than the? faintest glimmer of
morality. He said that it is
problem
e
4u h'r 11,1 04,u,hol but -add it to
cfwiio �' d rt" becomes , socia ly
irresponsibleand almost criminal. ..1
A survey in London, Ont., indicated
that between 1971, when the drinking age
was lowered, and 1974 there was a 340
per cent increase in alcohol related
accidents in the 18 and 19 -year-old age
category.
McMurtry believes that giving the
police powers to seize keys from a
4•rf!inking driver will give the police
flexibility in. dealing with the problem.
Police may then perform random checks
without any evidence or knowledge that
the driver is impaired. Under present
Iaw the police must have rcasonahle-and
proper grounds far believing a driver is
impaired.
McMurtry belieyes that the present
indicator of .08 alcohol level is too high to
effectively curb the problem and that
breathalyzer results have showed many
drivers with twice the legal limit. Frown.
attorneys will now ask judges to impose
Complex meeting zrbe'bobertrlj
called for Jan. 20
A ' special meeting to
discuss the future of the
proposedrecreation complex
will be held.in the board room
of the assessment office on
January 20 at 8 p.m:
Recreation director, Mike
Dymond told recreation
board members that the
board members that a
Community Conference on
recreation tentatively
scheduled far January will be
herd in February. The''con-
ference agenda will include
discussions on municipal • 1 28 YEAR—'5 2
recreation sd'rvices in a
{`modern society; education
committee presented their for recreation; special group
complex report to_council in services and youth today and
November and as a result the °theluture.
special meeting was'' called.
The meeting will include
representatives of Goderich
town council, the townships of
Goderich and Colborne, the.,
recreation beard and com-
The recreation board will
strike its 1976 budget in
January and since the 1975
budget was overspent ex-
penses may be limited in the
plex committee, the planning hew year. The Lions Club of
department and the Goderich , Goderich are considering.
Trotting Association. installing water fountains in
Topics for' discussion will the corridor of'the arena and
include the financial - in- the board referred the matter
volvement of the town and to the arena committee.
townships, the relocation of The arena received a new
the race track and the 20 cubic foot refrigerator in
possible facilities and the kitchen.•No one can doubt
building procedure ofthe its efficiency as Bill Lumby
complex. . stated in his report that it has
In other recreation board doubleglass doors and will
business Dymond- told the hold at least 15 cases of beer.
•
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a three month jail sentence on a first
offender instead of a $100 fine.
However there has been no concensus
un the age change sificefthe government
has had little time to explore it.
'\1cM'urtry believes that the province
will accept a change hut. the driving age
%for instance, would have to be raised a
year at a. time to avoid putting 1G -year-
old rivers who now have a licence•off
the, road. He foresees difficulty in
separating the drinking and voting ages
hut believes. raising the drinking age to
' 9 would help alleviate the problem now
encountered in many high schools.
If the driving age is raised one year at
44 time- it is likely 'that the drinking age
ould take the s rme route depending on
the age it was raised to. Teenagers,
however will not he too ecstatic about
'the.legislation if it goes through as they
see themselves being deprived of rights
that others before them have had:
McMurtry s prop►s,als invited one
letter at least to the Globe.. and Mail's
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editorial page from an 18 -year-old who
simply told McMurtry to get out of his
life. The teenager was incensed at the
idea of being robbed of.is right to drink.
He stated he handled liquor with the`care
and respect it deserves but now_he will
he told he is too young to drink by a
government that says.he is old enough to
vote. ,
The writer clain9.ed McMurtry's main
motive in denying 1.8nyear-olds the right
to drink is that they drink at lunch time
and di'srupt high school classes in. the.
afternoon. He added that with the
teachers' strike there is nothing to
disrupt.
The legislation is basically souhd and
can only alleviate some of the,tproblems '
experienced on' the highway but it is
difficult to take something •away' from
people orce they have had-a`�taste of it. It'
is always easier,to look ba•ck'arn.d' pick
out mistakes but°the g,,overnmentof the
past should have been tough from the
beginning, ti °
MONDAY, -DECEMBER 29, 1975
SINC,L' E COPY ?5,,F.
Average .s6 increase
ay Nursery will raise fees
The Goderich Day Nursery sent out along with Form 7.
will raise its fees an average ' The increase -was
of $6 per month beginning necessitated subsequent to a
January'l in an effort to keep government audit through
the operation going: . which it was learned there
The Day, Nursery. - Com- was no- method of needs .
mittee ' will make the testing at the nursery. The
recommendation to town government subsidy to the
council at' its first regular nursery was based on needs
Meeting in January and testing and the governm'ent's
following approval at that share involved 80 percent of
level, . letters informing the, .cost that a parent could, ,;
parents of the incfease will be • not pay. The municipality and
the nursery were
under the idea
government's share was
based -or the total cost and not
just the fees.
Realizing the government
paid'onl.y 80 percent of the fee
that 44arent could not pay,
the nrsery would have to
imple merit the use of Form 7,
a deta led. income form, to he
'ligij tP Tor, the grants They
now realize even with the use
operating
that the
Rec. Board considering programs for retarded
eriovs need jfl Go,dertch
The Goderich Recreation
'0 and Community Centre
Board will examine the
;'-possibility of establishing
programs for the retarded
through a government grant
program.
Recreation director, Mike
Dymond, informed the board
that, there was an excellent
possibility, of receiving .
financial assistance',from the
Provincia,j Government for
such a program. He ex-
plained that the assistance
would be toprovide further
summer programs conducted
through' an- Opportunity' For
,Youth funding program that
could also be carried out
through the winter.
Dymond said that persons
who have been involved with
programs for the retarded in
town have been conta-cted and
they believe there is a serious
need for such a program and
a proposal has been made to
the province.
The board has now been
asked to look at a more
detailed proposal since the
funding is only short term.
Once the project has been,
established through gover-
nment funding it becotres the
responsibility of the
municipality to carry on with
the project.
Mr. Dymond said . the
recreation hoard would be the
logical vehicle within the
community to carry' out the
project and the province enc
local authorities are'),
en-
couraging it.
• flnv..yw,-
He expected that -funding
for the project could be made
available as soon as -
February.
Friends will buy membership
Cantdu seeksbetter support
Residents of the Goderich
area concerned'' with the
'"activities of Ontario Hydro
but with no time to actively
,make their concerns 'heard,
can now take part in anti'
nuclear power protestations .
by joining the Friends of
Cantdu.
The group has been founded
,by the Goderich Cantdu
Organization, a group of
'citizens actively opposing
.Ontario Hydro in an attempt
to block . any exppnsion of
nuclear. power sites_, in the
Huron -Bruce area. The
MinisMinistry announces decision to incorporate
sympathetic citizens t9 their
cause should serve to -bolster
�the numbers opposed to
resource' cen-tre.
nuclear power here as well as
bolster the Cantdu coffers,
Upon release of the announcement by the Minister of
Health of the closing of Northeastern Regional Mental
Health Centre in Timmins and Goderich Psychiatric
Hospital, the Minister of Community and Social -Services,
Honourable James Taylor, announced his Ministry's
intention of utilizing these. buildings to provide new
resource centres for the mentally retarded in the
districts in which they are located.
These new centres will operate under the direction of
community-based Boards of Directors. Detailed
operations including staffing, services, residential and
other facilities' will he developed in conjunction with the
appropriate local working groups on mental retardation,
Development of these resource ,centres is in keeping
with Ministry policy to develop services and resources in
various parts of the Province to meet the needs of
mentally retarded persons and their families residing in
the area,
DRIVER
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The Friends of Cantdu will
pay a $5 membership fee to
join the organization ami will
receive a bumper sticker for
.,their car and a year's sulk
'scription to a Cantdu
newsletter.
Tony McQuail, co-ordinator
of the newsletter, said he
expects the first issue to be
ready some time in February
adding that it will contain
information on activities, a
list of possible contacts for
the Friends, suggestions on
what the Friends can do to
support Cantdu and a
calendar of activities Cantdu
will be involved in. He said
the newsletter will be
published four times a year
Mr. McQuail said the
Goderich Cantdu group is the
main force behind the new
organization and ',lope to
expand their membership
across Huron County and
ppssibly into 'neighboring
counties.
tM
In a program report
Dymond informed hoard
me°mbers that the fall
recreation programs were
now completed and the winter
series would get underway
the week of January 12.
The programs planned for
-the winter series include
yoga, clay designs, table
tennis, gymnastics, boxing,
of form 7 alternat.ive'funding
would be`needed.
The new fees that the
committee will recommend
• to council will raise the rate
tor those attending .three
sessions a week•by $7 and .4r+
for those attending
sessions per week. Therefore
the 'f'ees for the• 2-9 children
attending -three session;• per
week with a participating
majorette instruct,on, ladies
fitness, children's 'art, ballet•
ballroc`►m dancing and inter-
city men's basketball.
A survey by Mr. Dymond
on the fall program at-
tendance indiclated that 18.2
per cent of those taking ad;
vantage of the programs are
from outside the town: The
arena was the facility' with
the most use by non r6sidents
with. 24 per cent while sum-
mer and winter programs
attracted 15 and 18.5 per cent
• respectively,
Based on pool usage
'
Goderich Township residents
comprised 50 per cent, of the
out of town participation with
Colborne township. par-
ticlpation amounting to 44 per
cent.
parent will pay $22 instead c�€ — jth the notice of the new
$T5. The • fees for three fees, .
ch4ldren attending three
siessions with a ' non-
participiating;parent will now
pay:`l28 instead of $'2J,
•a!
A''n report form and ad hoc
committee of-te day nursery
committee stated that •there
was responsibility to the 59
The fees for two pupils - children already attending
attending •two sessions per to, continue with the school
week with a non -participating- until May 1976. To 'continue
parent will jump to $19 from the operation of •the. school
.$14 and the fee•for 25, pupils the increase became a
also attending • two sessions necessity..,
poi- week but with a par- • The committee is also in
$i5
ticipating parent will jump to •
favor of exploring all avenues
`` 15 from 410.• •• . ',of 'establishing a Day Care in
The fee hike, will raise the September of 1976 and have
revenue to $1,194 per month already established three
while the monthly eC priorities. Their first step is
penditures• for the opeVation to contact the Huron -Perth
of the day nursery amount to Separate School Board to.
41441. It was suggested that `'-gain a three-year.. lease on
the new fees would -eliminate
some children but supervisor
Mrs. Carol Egener said there
is a waiting list and there
.would be little difficulty ii
keeping the total number of
children attending to 59, '
de
'The committee had t o��
with the• idea of being self
supporting through the fee
scale but Form 7 will he sent
three rooms in the present
building,
They will also contact fire'
and health authorities ., to
determine if any alterations
are necessary to the byrilding
and they intend to conduct a
survey to establish a'need for
day care. The survey will be,
conducted by the committee •
once criteria and costs are
estimated.
Crown of Genius goes through his p,iet's ,it th►' Itoy•;t1 tt'inlei
r+r r l•rentlV. on his teto top honors in junior line 11.1 'MOSS.
1h.. three t eat 01(1 won the e' +•nr tor the' s+•' c1nc1 time +n ►s
n► 1111 t +',►rs'.nr;►kiilg hint andel,, heel in competition .rt `illi• •
1 hy i , hire (Ir•'it en to .1 11 111 ht ti'airt'•r
't'rrt Bern of Carlow who took the horse to a win over nine
,mltotitors from Canada and the United States. The°hors•e
nod h,‘ Mr, and Mrs. Mel' Dickson of RR 4 Goderich.
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