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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1982-10-20, Page 35ys infl BY JACK RIDDELL, MPP • The debate on Bill 179, an act respecting the Restraint of Compensation in the Public Sector of Ontarioand the Monitoring of Infla- tionary ('onditions in the Economy of the Province, continued throughout the week with Members on all sides of the House par - tion will be QUFEN'S PAIR K ticipating either in support or objecting to the restraint program. I personally spoke at some length on the bill as I believe that inflation is the major issue facing this country and that urgent measures must be taken to control it. If infla- tion is left unabated it will drive this country into a deeper recession and I believe that all of society must share the 'responsibili- ty of bringing it under con- trol. It is unfortunate that the econornic conditions of this country have reached the point where a restraint pro- gram must be imposed ori the people of this province. However, I think by and large, a restraint program eaten with peo would be supported if it was an across-the-board pro- gram pertaining to wages and prices. Such a restraint program has to be fair and seen to be fair, one that is at least grudgingly accepted by both business and labour. I stressed that a policy limited to the control of public sector wages does not pass the test. It is difficult to see why this particular group should be singled out for controls, especially when Riddell says mineral tax disturbing The recent proposal by the Ministry of Natural Resources to impose an acreage tax on all privately held lands in the province with mineral rights along with the threat of forfeiture of these rights to the Crown if not explored and developed is totally unaccep- table and should be rejected, outright by the Minister, says Huron -Middlesex MPP Jack Riddell. "The fact that these pro- posed revisions were not cir- culated to many concerned organizations, such as the Ontario Federation of Agriculture and the Cgn- servation Council of Ontario is very disturbing. These groups were left to discover the existence of these pro- posals purely by accident," he says. "It is more disturbing to note that if this proposal for an acteage tax was. adopted, it would apply to the ,vast majority of the approx- imately 15 million acres of • agricultural land in the pro- vince. The tax under the pre- sent Mining Act does not ap- ply to mineral rights includ- ed with those lands that were granted by the Crown unless there is severance or actual use for mining purposes. The suggestion that private mineral rights may revert back to the Crown if undeveloped is nothing more than expropriation without .compensation," he con- tinues. "This same proposal had been recommended to the government by the Advisory Committee On The Revision of The Mining Act in 1973. It was not pursued at that time because of the strong opposi- tion of the many concerned groups. The opposition to this proposal by the agriculture industry has not changed." "I call on the Minister of Natural Resources to reject the proposed imposition of this tax for once and for all," he concludes. Want action to stimulate more jobs BY JACK RIDDELL, MPP Provincial Treasurer Frank Miller has indicated .that the government. is in the process of studying possible job -creation plans, although it has, no intention of moving until it sees what action the. federal government will take. Ile believes that Ottawa will act soon to stimulate the economy and to create jobs, and that joint federal -provincial programs .would be a good solution. Opposition Leader David Peterson has cited province - wide layoff figures which:are heaa:ly two and a half -times as large as last year and has rerlrinded the'1'i•easurer that "when he first brought his wage restraint program, he said it was the first step and the first step only". He asked how long we have to wait for the second step - job creation. Noting that the Treasurer's public sector restraint program dif- fers in many key respects from that of the federal government, he asked why the Treasurer would not "follow his own example now and do something about the people who will be facing the bleakest winter in memory?" Land Banking It has been announced that the government now intends to gradually sell the 68,000 acres of property which it has aniassed over 30 years of expropriation and AECB increases power levels at the Bruce The Atomic Energy Con- trol Board - (AECB) has autrhori7ed a four per cent in- crease in reactor. power at all four of tire nuclear reac- tors at Bruce "A" generating station. ' The increase will not - af- fect the maximum electrical output of; the reactors (750,000 kilowatts), but will allow production of steam for the Bruce Heavy Water Plant while. maintaining full electrical output. Solar study expands Ontario Hydro. has expand- ed its solar water heating pilot project to 50 homes after successful initial testing. A comprehensive field trial', which involved in- stalling solar equipment at the homes of five hydro employees . in November, 1980, showed solar systems could be used for domestic water • heating purposes in Canada. The trial fohnel' that in surrun r months, solar equiprii nt could heat as much as -90 per cent of the water used, while the average year-round solar contribution was about ' 33 per cent The second stage of the project involves further ,monitoring of 50 more solar units installed at employees' homes. Hydro is focusing on ways to make the system more economical. Peak demand Peak demand for electrici- ty in Ontario in September was" estimated 14 million kilowatts, a decrease. of 1.5 per ' cent from the September, 1981 peak. Ontario energy consump- tion for the month was also down with a 3.6 per cent decrease to' 7.5 billion kilowatt-hours, compared to 7.8 billion kilowatt-hours in September, 1981. Exports increase Due to continued strong sales to the New•York Power Pool, electricity exports to the U.S. amounted to 815.8 million kilowatt-hours, an in- crease of 25 per cent over September, 1981 exports. The' power sales earned Hydro alnet revenue of $10.1 million.. • Strong export sales in re- cent months have helped to offset the lower than forecast U.S. sales during the first half of the year. A took To Ms inr The i insomnia Peter S. MacEwan Insurance 38 Sts Ihvld St, 524-9531 GENERAL INSURANCE BROKERS acquisition. This land bank has cost the people of Ontario about $500' million, and is at present held by the Ontario Land Corporation. Reacting to the news of the proposed Sales, David Peterson reminded Mem- bers of the Legislature that the interest alone on these controversial land purchases amounts to some $100 million annually. "The land banks have been an absolute boondoggle", he said. "The interest clock is ticking and when you factor in all the -costs we'll probably be looking at $1 billion in property costs for virtually no value to the Ontario public." Government Advertising It's been strongly .recommended by my Colleague, MPP. for St. Catharines, James Bradley, that the provincial gover- nment should set a good example in this period of restraint, bycutting its $40 million advertising budget by 75 percent. He pointed out that the government is the sixth largest advertiser 'in the entire country, and urged that advertising budgets be "cut to the bare bones in non- essentials". The Treasurer, Mr. Miller has stated that Ministers have been advised to reduce advertising budgets as part of a $400 million budgetary. cut for this fiscal year, although no specific adver- tising. budget cuts have been imposed. • Road Deaths According to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, the death rate on Ontario highways decreased in 1981 to its lowest level in more than a quarter of a sentry. Also for the first time in that period, the use of provincial high- ways has declined. Traffic deaths declined to01,445 from 1,508 in 1980, and at the same time the number of kilometres .travelled dropped from 72.4 billion in that year to 70.9 billion in 1981. However, the year's fatalities among motor- cyclists increased some 16 percent, from 81 in1980 to 94 in 1981, the highest figure since 1975 when 97 motor- cyclists died. There was an increase of the percentage of fatal automobile accidents involving drinking drivers, to 32 percent in 1981 from 30.1 percent the previous year. Statistics show that of all the drivers killed in ac- cidents, 58.7 percent had been drinking. According to ministry figures for 1981, passengers and drivers who were not wearing seatbelts are 23 times as likely to be killed in an accident than those who have buckled the belts. Health Nurses A.group of\nurses from the Niagara Region told the Legislature's Social Development Committee that the government is en- trenching old-fashioned costly medical policies in its public health reform bill. The nurses claimed that the bill's delegation of authority is "based on the patriachal supremacy of the medical doctor over other health professionals....and fosters medicine's vested interested in maintaining solely curative goals." In a 'brief to the Com- mittee, the nurses stated that public health nurses and other advocates of health and prevention have "not HAIR AFFAIR' Hair Sti hng for Ladies and Genf/et/len. 53 South St., Goderich. Ont. 524-4279 • BOOT TRADE IN SALE! Your old work boots are worth a S10 discount on the purchase of our regular -priced leather boots. OVER 50 STYLES Kaufman, H.H. Brown, Greb Kodiaks, Terra Nova, Arnie, Canada West At Best Possible Prices! SAMPLE VALUES iiAcme Work TERRA N esteem Boot Reg. $69.95 ' Reg. $39.95 5995 Kaufman_ • 8" insulated • Green Patch • Size 7-13 • Everyday tow price , - •79.95 • Less 810.00 2995 ORES KODIAK N39570 Reg. '79.95 • 8" Insulated • Green Patch • Sizes 6-13 6995 11 1 Ir I I 1 1 1 11. 11 I 1 I t � . �; ilofk'1 Werk Wear hove We believe In ••Cenadlan Made" Old you knout thet over 90% or all our rnerchendlee le Cenedlen made. "Guaranteed Good aurally" et low everyday prices. • Y VISA Jtl _ CQMIi11551pNt as S w .iY5 S, 5 655 Wellington Rd. South 685-3360 OPEN — MON.•FRI. 9-9 SAT. 9.6 dlta Che olecl< €1131\ stet Orel and vhded lNav+01b °16 aN0 et hall to ie �s lhat Uoo pall 0100 charee. i • OVMOas S. 630 Dundee S1. E. 434-2101 OPEN MON.-FRI. 9-9 SAT, 9-6 been given equitable recognition and protection" by the bill. Two examples cited of nurses being capable of doing a better job than doctors were healthy ,baby and iinmunization clinics. GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1962—PAGE 13A le support commercial sector wage set- tlements have been running slightly ahead of the non- commercial sector in the past year. Such a limited program may also be ex- pected to have a correspon- dingly limited effect on the inflation rate: If everybody accepted a reduction in the rate of in- crease of their income at the same time, then wage and price inflation could come down together and people would not necessarily be any worse off in real purchasing power or living standards. If only one group in isola- tion accepts the lower in- come increase, then that group will certainly be worse off. In my speech I reiterated that we in the Liberal Party will be supporting the princi- ple of restraint as only a first step towards an economic recovery but we will endeavour to amend the bill to make it fair and equitable for all. We will encourage the government to take the challenge of reindustrializa- tion seriously. We have half the formula right: we are starting to restrain con- sumption and wage demands in the fight against inflation. The second stage of the fight against inflation is pro- ductivity and real economic growth. What we cannot and must not restrain is invest- ment in human and physical capital and intellectual and natural resources. Whether the restraint on wage and prices is six and five or nine and five, it shouldire balanc- ed by a much larer percen- tage to be spent on research and development. It is in this sense that governments must implement policies of growth, not restraint, and strategies of investment rather than retrenchment. and a moose hunt Earlier this month, the. provincial government spent some $10,000 to entertain one man, the President of the Friuli-Venezia-Giula region of Italy. Entertainment ex- penses included a moose hunt, arranged by the Minister of Northern Affairs, Leo Bernier, using govern- ment planes, at an estimated cost between $1,200 and $2,700. The members who took of- fense to the expenditure find it a little strange that the government would be spen- ding money in this manner when they are preaching restraint. South African luncheon The chief government whip and tvo Conservative backbenchers intend to at- tend a luncheon hosted by the South African Consulate, an action condemned by Liberal Deputy Leader Sean Conway, who found it in- conceivable that any MPP who is a member of a Legislature which passed Ontario's revised human rights.eode could participate in such an event red by a country w an apartheid policy. Opposition Members in- tend to boycott the luncheon. No special investigation In the Legislature's Justice Committee, the Con- servative Majority defeated a motion by the Official Op- position for a special in- vestigation into the question, of a promised place on the Ontario beach for the Mayor of Kitchener if he was unsuc- cessful in a bid to win the Kitchener riding held by Liberal Jim Breithaupt. The spokesman, Sean Con- way, charged that the government has suppressed a special investigation because this would have damaged them politically. "The stone wall is up, the Tories have built the fence and drawn the wagons round this wretched event," he said. "The iron heel of Tory majority government has come down...I know to what lengths the Conservative Government will go to achieve a majority govern- ment in Ontario." He related how an attempt had been made to entice him to join the Conservatives with only thinly veiled pro- mises of a Cabinet post. 1razir Onta'no. ONTARIO MUNICIPAL BOARD IN THE MATTER OF Section 41 (1) of The Ontario Heritage Act, (R.S.O. 1930, c. 337) -and— IN THE MATTER of an application by The Corporation of the Town of Goderich for approval of By-law 2 of 1982, being a by-law to designate an area of the town as a Heritage Conservation District as set in the Schedule "An hereto which by-law can be viewed at the clerk's office during regular business hours: ,16 dst HERITAGE CONSERVATION DISTRICT ta.treee R•ve• ' ® APPOINTMENT FOR :HEARING THE ONTARIO MUNICIPAL BOARD hereby appoints Wednesday'; the 10th day of November, 1982, at the hour of ten o'clock (local time) in the forenoon, at the Town Hall, Goderich, for the hearing of all persons who desire to be heard in support of or in opposition to the application. 1f you do not attend and are not represented at this hearing, the Board may proceed in your absence and you will not be entitled to any further notice of the proceedings. . In the event the decision is reserved, persons taking part in the hearing and wishing a copy of the decision may request a copy from the presiding Board Member or, in writing, fr:.. m the Board. Such decision will be mailed to you when available. DATED at Toronto this 22nd day of September, 1982. SECRETARY