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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1983-05-04, Page 1THE BAYFIE J 59 r RE, OLE incorporating THE LYTH STA_ nts -N 18 Wed nes d y, May 4, 1983 118th year tx PPrIianc 0 1930's assistance for farmers and businessmen y Stephanie Levesque In theory and in practise, the Hun. Eugene Whelan supports his fellow liberal MP Ralph Ferguson's controversial bill Ci53. Speaking to over 350 Liberal party sup- porters from the federal ridings of Perth and Huron -Bruce in Mitchell Apr. 21, the federal agriculture minister said his office has dealt with farmers facing financial dif- ficulty on a steady basis for the past two years and this proposed bill will assist them. The bill, which is currently before the House off Commons agriculture standing committee, is the re -introduction of an act in the 1930s to assist not only arrners, but small businessmen in finan- cial difficulty. One aspect of the proposed bill that Mr. Whelan spoke of, is the point of mediation. He pointed to a system in Saskatchewan which has lending institutions giving three months' notice before foreclosures are made. The agriculture minister disagrees that passage of the bill will curtail the lending activities of the banks to farmers and small businessmen. The bill, said Mr. Whelan, does not say banks shall forgive loans, rather a court hearing is held where forgiveness or partial forgiveness of debt is considered. "I say that is not so wrong," commented Mr. Whelan. The federal MP also praised the Liberal government's recently introduced 1983 budget. "It means concern for the people, small businesses, big business, construction and agriculture," said the cabinet minister. Paving the way before the president of the Liberal Party of Canada Iona Cam- pagnola spoke, Mr. Whelan referred to his former cabinet colleague as a "people per- son". As Ms. Campagnola did, Mr. Whelan praised the actions of his party's govern- ment. Commenting on the metric system, the agriculture minister said Canada depends on international trade and "all trading is done in metric". Taking a swipe at the Tory opposition, Mr. Whelan said it takes "43 Tories to run a gas station". He was referring to the British Imperial System - run gas station owned by federal Tory MPs in the Ottawa area. When he is asked about the gas station, Mr. Whelan says he is "looking for sterl- ing" with which to pay for the gas. Promoting Canada and particularly the Liberal party, Mr. Whelan said he and Ms. Campagnola are selling Liberalism. Campagnola speaks In Perth County to promote the Liberal party, former MP and cabinet minister Iona Campagnola did just that by em- phasizing the past achievements of the federal Liberal government and praising its recently introduced budget. As one of the guest speakers at a $25 -a - plate fund-raising dinner in Mitchell, along with agriculture minister Eugene Whelan, Ms. Campagnola wound up her day -long visit to the Perth riding. She referred to her visit as a "lovely day", during which time Ms. Campagnola spoke on women's issues at a luncheon at the Stratford Country Club and talked with Perth County high school students at Nor- thwestern Secondary School in Stratford. At the dinner, the president of the Liberal Party of Canada, Ms. Campagnola said Canadians like "our budget". "R's quiet out there because they like it," she said. The former cabinet minister didn't point to any budget specifics, but noted finance minister Marc Lalonde had consulted the party about the budget. "I can't remember any minister of finance doing that before," commented the party president. The former MP from Prince Rupert, B.C., said it was too bad about the photo, referring to the picture of the budget docu- ment taken by a Hamilton television sta- tion. "That's what happens when we have 19th century laws and 21st century technology," said Ms. Campagnola. She cautioned against lumping the media together and blaming them all for the actions taken, but also questioned the ethics of the particular photographer in question. Ms. Campagnola suggested the Liberal party has to utilize the media, because if it doesn't, the opposition will. The party president said she raised the issue to point out that the party has to reflect a changing society. She referred to media guru Mar- shall McLuhan's comments that society to- day is like the Elizabethan era because it is living with two cultures at one time. The Elizabethans were moving from visual to linear, and movement today is from linear to audio-visual. She encourages ridings to use this technology, particularly computers in the campaign process. Speaking about cam- paigns, Ms. Campagnola hinted at a possi- ble election in 1984. While not definitely spelling out Prirne Minister Pierre Trudeau's retirement, she said there will be a "great vacuum" left when he retires. "He'll be recognized as the greatest Prime Minister Canada ever had," said Ms. Campagnola. With comments such as "A Liberal is a Liberal is a Liberal" and "we cannot af- ford the luxury of not working together" Ms. Campagnola said the party is in the process of building towards speaking in one voice across the country. She noted the best gift the Liberal party has received is the "factionalized opposi- tion" whigh is currently undergoing a leadership election. The Liberal Party president took the op- portunity before and after the dinner to speak to many of those in attendance. Timbrell to announce new farm program Ontario's agriculture minister, Dennis Fimbrell told a meeting of Huron federa- tion members in Lucknow last week he will announce a program for beginning farmers shortly after the province's treasurer presents the 1983 budget, May 10. More than 30 young people and adults did their bit for cancer research on Saturday when Clinton hosted its first 3ike Ride For Cancer. Travelling a 15 kilometer route around town, bicyclists Blyth Festiv 1 will decide F helped to raise $1,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. (Shelley McPhee photo) d outlet pen din By Rod Hilts Blyth council has approved a request for a mobile food outlet to locate in the downtown area. The establishment of the outlet is subject to the approval of the Blyth Centre For The Arts. At their May 2 meeting council heard a brief presentation by Bob Johnson, who explained he wanted to establish the outlet in the vicinity of the Blyth Summer Festival from 8 to 11 p.m., seven days a week. The outlet will sell hot dogs, pop- corn, pop and coffee. Mr. Johnson asked that he be able to locate close to the theatre in hope that he could serve some of the summer festival patrons. He said that when most of the theatre productions are over. there is nothing open to buy food and soft drinks. "There's nothing wrong with the concept but we should make certain that the theatre doesn't oppose the move," said Councillor William Howson. Another concern of council was the clean-up of the theatre area after the nutlet closed at night. Mr. Johnson said that he would be responsible for the clean-up. Council will charge Mr .Johnson a fee of $15 a month for operating the outlet in the village. Council reminded Mr .iohnson that to t operate the food outlet the minstry of health must inspect the premises and give their approval. Clerk Larry Walsh is expected to contact the theatre some time this week and get their feelings on the food outlet. Liquor and beer store denied Blyth council received a letter from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) Committee for Store Development stating that a liquor and beer store in Blyth is "not waronnted". The LCBO Committee said that the Brussels liquor and beer stores are only 10 miles away from Blyth and that it is not operating at full potential. Therefore it was decided that such an operation in Blyth would not be feasible. On December 14 council sent the ap- plication for a liquor and beer outlet to the I,('130, after local businessmen com- plained that residents were leaving Blyth to do their shopping because other centres had outlets. Council decided there was no need to pursue the issue. Grading to be done council inspected the parking lot beside the new bank building and decided the approval grade of the lot should be levelled to permit paving in the future. Council made this decision after it was discovered that the bank is planning to pave their section of the lot sometime in the month. Council agreed that an ac- ceptable grade must be made im- mediately, with construction commencing as early as today. The parking lot project is expected to run for three days. Funding will come from the 85,(4)0 land sale made with the Canadian imperial Bank of Commerce. Legal Action Nick Hi11Y partner in Hill and Rorgal Architects. has been informed by Blyth Council that the contracting ` firm of Weigher and Stahle have been advised of the council's proposed legal action against the firm involved with the installation of the heating units. Clerk Larry Walsh asked council what their next step was. Councillor Albert Wasson requested that council should receive a copy of the letter sent to the firm by Hill and Borgal before anything was done. Clerk Walsh was instructed by council to Turin to page 3 Timbrell was speaking to the North West Huron federation of agriculture annual meeting held at the Lucknow District Com- munity Centre, April 20. More than 200 area farmers and members of the Ashfield and West Wawanosh Township federations of agriculture attended the meeting which was open to the public. Timbrell said hp recommended the pro- gram for beginning farmers to cabinet shortly after he became minister of agriculture along with an improved stabilization program and the proposed ex- tension of the Ontario Farm Assistance Program. The program was presented to the treasury department the middle of last June, right at the time treasury officials were informing cabinet the government's revenues were going to be a minimum of $300 million less than projected. This pro- gram and several others had to be shelved. Timbrell assured the meeting he would not be a party to including the program in the throne speech a second time if he did not already have the assurance of the premier and the treasurer that they will proceed. Jim Boak, an Ashfield Township farmer, asked the minister during the question period, if the program would permit his two sons who have lost their farm to start farming again. "The cows are gone, the quota is gone, and so is the farm," said Boak. "Your government is now proposing a program for young farmers, will my boys have a chance to start over again?" "We haven't finalized the qualification criteria for the program, so I'm not in a position to tell you tonight," replied Tim- brell. "I cannot promise you tonight that the program will cover your sons ... Whatever we introduce, there are going to be some people who will not qualify." The minister told the meeting he is disappointed the federal budget announc- ed last week did not allocate more funds for the Farm Credit Corporation and en- courage investors to put their money into agriculture through agri-bonds. Regarding the virtual abandonment of farmers in the budget, Timbrell said he had expected the federal government to use the legislation they pushed through last year, permitting them to borrow money from international money markets where interest rates are lower than prevailing rates, to recycle money to the farm community through FCC. At the time they talked about doubling the amount of money in FCC which gets about $500 million from the federal treasury, said Timbrell. To date they have only been able to add about another $50 million. The minister also criticized the federal government for refusing to include a tax incentive through agri-bonds, in last week's budget. From what he had seen of the federal budget at the time of the meeting, Tim- brell predicted the 1983 Ontario budget will be very tight. Remarks made by Ontario's treasurer Frank Miller after the federal budget, indicate the treasurer is going to be in a very tight spot. Miller estimates the federal budget will probably cost the Ontario government another $100 million in lost revenue, in ad- dition to the several hundred million dollars lost in transfer payments. The treasurer is sitting with a deficit of $2.5 billion and we don't think it can be allowed to go much higher without en- dangering the province's triple A credit rating, Timbrell commented. The treasurer has already com>iip with money to match federal dollars for job creation and there isn't much room for cut- ting programs, he added. Jack Riddell, MPP for Huron -Middlesex was back in top auctioneering form in Clinton on April 29. Jack was the guest auctioneer at the Clinton Hospital dinner and celebrity auction. The event, attended by 90 people, raised $2,500 for the building fund. Estate jewelry, carvings and paintings, such as this Jack McLaren original were sold. (Shelley McPhee photo) Heather Gardens' residents re -located in Vanastra By Rod Hilts "As long as they're happy, we're hap- py." The words of Marilyn Hohner revealed a +Stint note of relief after the 12 former residents of Heather Gardens were located by the ministry Friday af- ternoon. Mrs. Hohner, the administrator for the provincial ministry of community and social services' in Clinton, said the wherebouts of the 12 was confirmed on Friday, when :lf of ,e group picked up their family benefit cheques. "We're most happy we found out where they are and that they managed to get in to pick up their cheques," said Mrs. Hohner. Conirroversy , surrounding the "unac- countable" dozen came when Heather Gardens was shut down on April 21 by order of medical officer of health for Huron County, Dr. H. . Cieslar of Goderich. Sixty-five of the residents were placed in other institutions across south- western Ontario, while 12 were taken into homes by Heather Gardens owner Clair Haskett and some of her staff. Ministry officials were unable to account for the group after the relocation of the residents. Since the closure, Mrs. Haskett has rented two townhouses in Vanastra to accommote the group. Mrs. Haskett said that she has paid $1,21 I to cover first and last month's rent and hydro deposits on the houses. The ministry conducted individual in- terviews with each of the 12 people on Friday and according to Mrs. Hohner "most were happy with their arrangements." Mrs.. Hohner said six of the 12 are receiving family benefits and the other six are on old age security. On May 4 the ministry will be carrying out a more thorough inspection of the group's living accommodations but Mrs. Hohner said she "doesn't anticipate any problems." Vandals create havoc at Blyth Pubic chool Hilts Vandals smashed windows and set fire to a number of text books at the a,lyth Public School ever the weekend. On Sunday afternoon at 5:10 the Wingham detachment off the OPP responded to a call from the caretaker of the school, who had noticed the broken windows. According to Blyth Public School Principal William Black, the incident was the first he has witnessed in his 24 year term as principal. "There must be a few people out there that are lacking a few brains or something," Mr. Black said of the van- dalism. RIC gr nt avail le in Tuckersmiiih Tuckersmith council has agreed to take part in the provinces BRIC ( Building Rehabilitation and Improvement Cam- paign ), which will provide grants of up to $8000 for each designated heritage building in the township. At its Apr. 19 meeting, the township entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Citizenship and Culture to get involved. Under BRIC, officially designated heritage buildings are eligible for grants of up to $2,000 a year for up to four years for work which enhances or preserves a home's exterior architectural features. The owner must match the grant. At the same meeting, township council gave first reading to a bylaw designating the George Romanik home for heritage purposes. First and second readings were given to the township's secondary plan by law Court of revision was held on the Buchanan Drainage works. There were no appeals and the tender for the work was awarded to the firm of Hodginson and Hayter of Parkhill at $5,711. The tender for weed spraying in Tuckersmith was awarded to the township of Stanley. The next Tuckersmith township council meeting will be held May 3. Mr. Black said some trophies and a camera were broken in the break-in. He also said some text books were ruined when a smouldering fire was discover. • in one of the classrooms. Some smoke damage was caused by the fire and Mr. Black estimated the overall damage at "a couple of hundred dollars." He also said the motive for the break-in was probably money. Wingham OPP Sergeant Roy Anderson said the break-in appears to be the work of youngsters. He said that vandalism of this sort is unusual for Blyth and that in the past only problems concerning vandalism to cars has been reported. "The vandals made more of a mess than anything else," Sergeant Anderson commented. The Wingham OPP are investigating the incident. CtMING M;y2O,2I 20 in the Clinton Community Park KL . MPEN FEES 11 G ," Wpother 1983 1982 APRii, 26 27 28 29 30 MAY 1 16 2 20 Rain 47 mm HI 10 HI 1,() 21 4 24 8 15 2 15 1 14 6 1 8 19 11 12 17 20 17 18 5 l 3 2 1 6 2