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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1986-03-26, Page 4Page 4--CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1986 The Clinton letters -Record is published each Wedn00001 et P.Q. Oak 39. Clinton, Ontario. Conaria, NOM ILO. Tel.: 403.3443. Subscription Pete: Canada • 121.00 Sr. Cltlxon - 710.00 per year U.S.A. foreleg 000.00 per your 1t Ir registered as second clary nieil by the port offrco ander the permit number 0017. The News.Recard incorporated In 1914 theituron New..Record. founded in 1011, and The Clinton News Ire, founded in 1405. Tetoi press runs 3.700. Incorporating TriE BLYTH STANDARD J. HOWARD AITKEN - Publisher ANNE NAREJKO - Editor GARY HAIST - Advertising Manager MARY NN HOLLENBECK - Office Manager Display advertising rates evallabie on request. Ask for Rate Cord No. 1S effective Oc. tabor 1,1,14. PONA ♦CIA MEMBER MEMBER Katimavik benefits youth The public outcry concerning the loss of the Katimavik program should tell the government they have made a are loudlyake. A u hunger striker, the thousands of letters and former participants P fact -that they are willing to pay whatever cost is necessary to give the youth of this country an opportunity to grow. Rumblings of the possible cut of the $20 -million volunteer program were first heard in Clinton in April, 1985. At that time, 324 Katimavik pro- jects were being carried out in Canada with 99 of them in Ontario. Katimavik had undergone a drastic cutback before the final axe fell. In 1984, they had a budget of $45 -million. In 1985, that figure was reduced to $19.7 -million. However, the program still attracted many participants and leaders were not scarce. In this case, the government is simply looking at the dollar figure. They feel by paying the participants $1 per day for nine months, they are not solving the high youth unemployment problem. However, it has been argued that $60 -million in assests has been accumulated. For only $1 a day, participants plant trees, help teachers, do carpentry work, renovations and assist at social functions. Other larger jobs includ- ed building playgrounds and bridges. Disregarding the financial aspect, the youth have the opportunity to travel, try their hand at jobs they may have never considered, lend a helping hand to others, and most importantly, share a littler bit of themselves with complete strangers. , Katimavik plays a vital role in the development of its participants. It may not solve the high Canadian youth unemployment dilema, but it has a lot of meaning to those who take advantage of what it has to offer. ° Maybe Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his associates should sit back, take a look at the long range benefits, then decide whether this country can afford to invest in the future of its youth. They might find they can't afford not to. - by Anne Narejko Maple Madness Dust off the baseball gloves, dig out the bats and line the diamonds because I'm ready. The sunshine, "warm air and a taste of out- door exercise has given me spring fever. I caught the bug during the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority's Third An- nual Pancake Day last Sunday. The News - Record was invited to partake in media and council competitions at the Maple Keys Sugar Bush with the winners taking home the coveted Maple Madness trophy. Our team, consisting of advertising manager Gary Heist, advertising rep. Janice Gibson, her husband Rob, and myself, didn't win the trophy but we did place second in the media competition. However, win or lose, we enjoyed fresh air, good exercise and had a whole lot of fun. The first of four events was the log sawing competition. This one took both Janice and myself by surprise as we understood only two members from the team had to par- ticipate. No problem we said, and quickly volunteered the inen. But the man with the megaphone won't let us off that easily .and coaxed us up to the log opposite our team members. After showing us how to hold the saw, the clock began to tick, and tick, and tick...Hiding our embarassrnent, ( and ex- haustion) we told each other jokes, com- plained about being given the hardest tree in the forest and the dullest saw they could find, until we finally got through the log. We may not have had the best time, but we were the only ones to get a standing ova- tion. Extra -billing gives treatment to fortunate ones Dear Editor, The fundamental question on the issue of extra billing is "Are we prepared to accept a health care system that provides one stan- dard of care for the rich and another for the poor?" The answer is a resounding "no". The Liberal government in Ontario is fun- damentally opposed to the idea that some people, because of their financial good for- tune, should have access to special treat- ment by paying extra fees. This week, in an open letter, my col- league, Health Minister Murray Elston said, "Canada has a unique health care system." Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of Elston and the Liberal government, Dr. Earl Myers of the Ontario Medical Associa- tion has repeatedly refused to negotiate. the ban on extra billing. On December 19, Els,ton introduced the Health Care Accessibility Act, which will prohibit all physicians, including those who are opted out of the Ontario Health In- surance Plan (OHIP) and who bill their pa- tients directly, from charging more than OHIP rates. In addition, the ban on extra billing will extend to all insured dentistey services performed in hospitals and all in- sured optometry services. Furthermore, by ending extra billing in Ontario and thereby complying with the federal legislation, this province will be per- mitted to recover the transfer funds for health care which have been held back since 1984. To date, the province has lost $88 million in federal transfer payments because of extra billing. The Liberal government, led .by Premier David Peterson, has taken this action because it firmly believes that extra billing represents a derious threat to the publicly financed administered health care system of this province. As Elston said only last week, "Our health system rests on the fun- damental principle that no one will be deter- red from receiving needed care because of financial status or inability to pay." Also, Elston pointed out that extra billing represents a genuine barrier to health care for many people, and it threatens to destroy the very foundation of our medicare plan by fostering a two-tiered system of medicine. In this country, we are fortunate to have a medicare system which is unique in the world. Our health system is different from that in Britain as well adethe system in the LQ;ttQrs United States. It is worth fighting tor; it must be preserved. It is the goal of the Liberal government in Ontario to help preserve the. Canadian way of providing health care. Despite what some critics have sug- gested, a ban on extra billing'does not create civil service medicine. In Ontario, the vast majority of doctors are already practicing medicine on an opted -in basis, and they are entirely free to treat their patients as they see fit. The Liberal government is not in the business of making medical judgements. As Health Minister Murray Elston has said, "The only change resulting from the ban will be a requirement that physicians charge no more than the fees agreed upon after negotiations between their profes- sional representatives and the province." Extra billing has nothing todo with a doc- tor's experience or skill.Physicians themselves decide whether to opt -out. Any doctor, however junior, can extra bill. And. no one, - not even the proponents of extra billing - argues that the care provided by opted -in doctors is inferior in quality to that provided by those who are opted out. Elston, on behalf of the Liberal govern- ment, has repeatedly indicated that both he and the government are willing to deal sen- sitively and in good faith with physicians to ensure that they receive fair and reasonable compensation. But it is also this government's respon- sibility to ensure that all patients have ac- cess to the physicians of their choice, that they are able to seek necessary health care free from any financial constraints, and that they are fully covered by their health in- surance plan and do not have to pay extra for these services in Ontario. -- - As Elston said, "This is a commitment that has been made, and it is a promise that we will keep." Yours sincerely, Jack Riddell, M.P.P. Huron -Middlesex Minister of Agriculture and Food The next competition was nail driving. Janice and I started to panic about this one but quickly relaxed when we were told only two.members from our team had to enter. As you can probably guess, we elected the men for this one. Gary was up first and did fairly well until the nail decided to enter the wood on an angle. But he straightened it up to finish with 11 hits. Rob followed Gary, and after sending two nails off in opposite directions, finished with nine hits. The pancake flipping relay was one event Janice and I could not squirm our wayout of as all team rnernbers were needed. But when it was all said and done, we were glad we had competed, The tools for the pancake flipping relay were a pancake and a no -stick frying pan. The objective of the game was to flip the hpancake five times while running and then and the pan and pancake to the next per- son. If the pancake happened to fall out of the frying pan, that person had to go back to where they began and start over again. We did well in our first heat with only one person dropping the pancake. Our perfor- mance was good enough to give us second place and advance us to the finals. With a little bit of experience,.( and a colli-. sion between two of the other teams(, we easily took first place. After the victory, our confidence (and heads) had grown and we were ready for the Sugar Bush Special, also an event which in- volved the entire team. The Sugar Bush Special turned out to be a scavenger hunt. We were given a map and had to locate red and white signs from which we had to unscramble the letters and mark down the symbols. We were sure we'd do well in this because we had Gary, who we considered the trivia king, and Rob, who knew his way around the bush. After running around in the mud and snow, looking under lids, behind trees and picnic tables, our time was 16 minutes, which was good enough foe third place. Awards were given to the top finishers in the council category, the media category as well as the overall winner. Winning the council division was Hullett Township Council. (Tom Cunningham had great eye -hand co-ordination in the pancake flipping relay). CKNX took first place in the media category as well as first place overall. Although the News -Record team didn't take home the Maple Madness Award, we did receive maple syrup, maple sugar can- dy and a button. But most importantly, we had the opportunity to see how Indians and pioneers boiled the sap many years ago, we had the chance to smell the pancake and sausage meals cooked outdoors by the Ethel Women's Institute and we participated in- sane interesting events. I can't think of a better way to spend the first Sunday of spring. Bowling For Dollars Area resident Helen Lobb won the jackpot on bowling for dollars recently. Her perfor- mance, which made her and a pen -pal richer by $507, can be seen on channel 13 on March 29. Daffodil Tea The annual Daffodil Tea will be held on April 4 from 2-4 p.m. at the Ontario.United Street Church. Proceeds from this event will go to the Canadian Cancer Society. UNICEF campaign successful Dear Friends of UNICEF, On behalf of the Ontario UNICEF Com- mittee, I wish to thank all the people in On- tario who supported UNICEF this past year. Through the Halloween collection, generous donations and thoughtful purchases of UNICEF cards and gifts, UNICEF Ontario realized over $2 Million to help the world's children. The success of our 1985 campaign was due in no small way to the many volunteers who gave their time and enthusiasm to our organization, ` This was cornplemiefited bY'" the warm response UNICI7p`,r~eeelved from the media in Ontario. 1966 will mark the launch of a major in- itiative on the part of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) - universal child irnrrrunization by 1990. Usingsimple cost- effective vaccines it is possible to eradicate the six Major child -killing and disabling diseases - tetanus, measles, polio, tuber- culosis, diphtheria, and whooping cough. New technologies and methods of delivery et the vaccine, and the commitment of in- dividuals and governments in both developed and developing countries, make il ' pryssrbi e� to drastically' reduce child deaths. Turn to page 5 e Frozen Forage By Alan RivettS ck Riddell, MPP Free trade or not? In the last several weeks, many consti- tuents have raised concerns on the "free trade" issue. As this issue may be one of the most important challenges facing Ontario and in particular the agriculture and food industry, I wbuld like to take this opportuni- ty to respond to their concerns in some depth. The Prime Minister of Canada has in- itiated these bilateral trade negotiations, or "free trade" talks as the media has coined them. The Government of Canada believes that such an action is necessary to maintain and enhance the economic future for our, county. The Premier of Ontario, the Honorable David Peterson, has spoken out very strong- ly tron - 1 that he is unsure of the economic benefits and he has advocated a cautious a.. proach further anal analysis Of the ossible pending,y � . impacts.' I share the Premier's concern over the lack of information; the unclear role of. the provinces, and the real likeilhooll that not all sectors of the provincial. econertny , will benefit from these, negotiations, It in torr thin reason that the Government of Ontario has r withheld any forel indication of approval or disapproval of the anticipated negotia- tions. The case for, or against the "free trade" talks remains to be proven In particular, I am concerned over the im- pact of these negotiations in Ontario's agriculture and food industry. If, as the Americans suggest all sectors are "on the table", then I have a number of serious con- cerns. I am not ready to see the supply - managed segments of this industry lose their hard fought stability, nor am I certain that all of the- food processing sector can compete with the vast capacity and low wage structure of their American counterparts. Yet, I must recognize that segments of Ontario's agriculture and food industry are very competitive with the Americans and could benefit from increased access to that market, The netA benefits or costs of these negotiatiO0 ate still unclear. I remain un- convincert to date by the arguments of the federal ggoyernmcnt sir other provinces of the abs'lute needfor,these talks. q....to 1 oVi�eirer, it chid be irresponsible avoid these `talks ;if and When these occur. he Ministry of Agriculture and Food will he taking a' lead .role in encouraging cairn processor, retailer and agribusiness groups to understand and respond to this issue. Moreover, this Ministry will attempt to [o- rdinate an industrywide consensus if possi- ble. It is my intention to speak out clearly on this issue on behalf of all participants in the agriculture and food Industry. As fehave indicated, until the Government. of Canada begins to reveal its own position on these trade talks, it is only speculative to focus on the outcomes of the trade negotia- tions. I am concerned as indeed are many other Canadians over the "trade-offs" in other sectors, the protection of our culture and sovereignty, and the need tp have specific policies to meet local or regional economic or social demands. These are only a few of the issues that will be. raised in the bilateral trade discusStons. Itis my hope that when the Government of Canada proceeda on these talks, it will do so based on hard,factual analysis of the possi- ble outcomea and the net benefits aalso all Canadians, Moreover, I would a� hope that the current focus on bilateral Canada-U.S, trade does not hinder the real need to maintain' and enhance our multilateral trade,