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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-05-08, Page 1ti yi.fl ;t j I1: 137 YEAR -19 GODERICH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1.9A Riddell, Elston retail Miller's Conservatives barely hang on to In one of the *closest elections in On- tario's political history, Frank Miller's Conservatives barely hung on to power by the slimmest of margins after Thursday's general election, winning 52 of 125 seats in the Legislature. The 52 seats assured Miller that his ,con- servatives would be the governing party in the Legislature but it was a major disap- pointment for the Tories who held 72 seats at dissolution under former premier William Davis. But while the turn in Miller's campaign during the final week of the 37 -day affair was reflected in the popular vote, the Liberals under David Peterson were . the surprise, winning 48 seats, its best showing since 1937. The Liberals, provincially, showed no mercy on the conservatives and even government cabinet ministers fell to the sweeping change. Consumer and Commer- cial Relations Minister Gord Walker of London was soundly defeated by Joan Smith, a defeat that reflected the mood of the voters across the province. While the Liberals added to their for- tunes by adding 20 seats to the 28 it held at. dissolution, the New Democrats under Bob Rae managed only to add three seats to the 22 held when the election was called in March. Overall, the Liberals and New Democrats combined to win nearly two- thirds of the popular vote. The Liberal gain at the expense of the Conservatives was manifested in the results of two local ridings. EXETER - in a win which reflected )rovince-wide Liberal fortunes, Huron- Vliddlesex Liberal MPP Jack . Riddell of Exeter scored the greatest majority of his politicalcareer in the May 2 provincial election. In the riding to the north, -Huron-Bruce Liberal incumbent Murray Elston increased his margin of victory from 224 in the 1981 election to 8,061 votes. Riddell, a 12 year veteran MPP, securely held onto his legislature seat throughout the election evening. All 121 polls reported, he had 13,820 or 61 per cent of the vote while Progressive Conservative candidate Bryan Smith of Lucan was second with 7,381 votes for 33 per cent. This improved the Liberal's last election showing in which Riddell out distanced his closest rival by 2,089 votes. NDP candidate Paul Klopp of Zurich placed a distant third with 1,145 votes for five per cent of the vote. The final candidate, ELECTION +85 50 CENTS PER COPY 0 lYl with 52 seats a HYdra will aa40 8ae� 18 y w is oftwo system, it pre AO 4 the power out of the Bruce .Isucler Powor Development.. Huron Couentnty's senior planner, Wayne; Caldwell, said he had been given ROWS time line recently and passed the infernal - tion ormation on to Huron County Council. The two routes are, M11 which would pro- vide lines from BPD to London through Huron County and M3, a route from Bruce to Esse (near Barrie) and then along the 401 to London. Caldwell said he has been told "unofficial- ly" that Hydro's preferred route through Huron County is the most . westerly one, through the townships of Ashfield, Colborne, Goderich, Stanley, Stephen and Hay. The planner said the provincial utility is expected to officially announce the prefer- red Ml route within the next few weeks. Once the preferred system is announced this summer, environmental assessment hearings; similar to the ones which took place in,Stratford in 1982, will take place. Thieves enter A and :. through roof HURON -MIDDLESEX Dawson Klopp Riddell Smith (Rhino) (NDP) *(Lib) (PC) Adelaide 23 38 591 310 East Williams 18 318 175 West Williams 3 Ailsa Craig 31 Parkhill 4 Biddulph 9 Lucan • 4 McGillivray 5 Usborne 3 Stephen 18 Exeter 12 Hay 1 Zurich 1 Hensall 4 Tuckersmith 12 Seaforth ' 13 Stanley 1 Bayfield 3 Clinton .. 23 Goderich Tp, 8 Goderich 38 Advance polls 8 19 20 27 48 28 19' 39 98 82 85 50 37 69 53 44 40 64 45 203 22 TOTALS 231 1,146 • 268 129 241 137 369 290 601 401.. 301 ' 492 516 293 506 190 1,240 583 1,121 630 656 246 333 89 327 200 ' 819 365 731 265 453 253 238 134 960 463, 656 322 2,1I9 1,124' • The Goderich Police Force is in- vestigating a break-in and theft at the A & P grocery store, over the weekend. Sometime between Saturday evening and early Sunday Morning, someone broke into the"llading, located in Suncoast mall on Bayfield Road, through the roof. They entered the manager's office, broke open a safe and took a small amount of money, police report. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR 456 ` 290 Ptogressive Conservative candidateBryan Smith concedes victory to Liberal Jack Rid - 13,820 7,381 dell the evening of May 2. Riddell, th incumben't MPP for Huron=Middlesex, gained the largest majority of his 12 year politikacareer in an election which saw the Liberals vy- ing with the Ptogressive'Conservatives for the right to form a minority government. (James Friel plhota) Rhino member Carman Dawson of Ailsa the 42 year Progressive Conservati#townships: but was beaten in the vast Craig received 227 -votes for one per cent at...4.53151. fitif*Abelstberals.. o'a�' o tations throughout the riding. the popular vote. Riddell sang The Auhtioneer'8 Song after� `seats the Liberals gainedtai�io PC candidate Mike Snobelen and Norma Peterson of the NDP challenged Murray Elston in the Liberal stronghold of Huron - Bruce, but fared poorly. The Liberal pulled in 16,191 votes while Snobelen had 8,130 and Peterson received 1,958. An elated Riddell arrived at campaign headquarters in Exeter with a large group of• party workers and friends after the voter trend to the Liberals had firmly established itself. Liberals from across the riding had already made their way to the South -Huron Recreation Centre in Exeter to celebrate the shift in both rural and urban ridings from greeting friends and credited his "tremendous organization" for his win. He thanked many of those involved with his re- election, including- his family, campaign manager and the secretaries operating his two constituency offices. "We've got the policy, the leaders and excellent candidates to show the direction -Ontario can go," he concluded. He commended PC candidate Bryan Smith for the campaign the Lucan resident ran when Smith arrived to concede the race. Smith, a Lucan town councillor, won all the polls in the town and some is neighboring is the best ,showing since the 1937 Liberal government under Mitchell Hepburn won 63 'seats. The Liberal total is four seats short of the. Progressive. Conservative showing and places the province in a minority government position prompting suggestions of a Liberal -NDP coalition to interrupt Tory rule. Liberal. leader David Peterson has rejected that idea but stated that if the Conservatives lack the confidence of the house, Lieutenant -Governor John Aird • Turn to page 2 • King and Queen of the Goderleh District Collegiate Institute Prom on Friday night were Rick Haas and Lisa Brown. The two were crowned at midnight. (Hunderttnark photo) County proceeds with expropriation of land BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE Huron County is expropriating approx- imately 1.5 acres of land in Tuckersmith Township so it can go ahead with the con- struction of County Road 3 between Egmondville and Brucefield. County council approved the -expropria- tion procedures at its May 1 session. County lawyer Dan Murphy of Goderich said he vvoUllr- e'diateiy-liifuiin- the -three --co- owners of the expropriation and adver- tisements will be placed in local newspapers for three weeks. Mr. Murphy said 30 of the 32 landowners along the 9.3 km. stretch of road to be con- structed have settled with the county at a price of $2,400 per acre. e coun y ro said only one of the three co-owners is holding up the process. "He wants the value of the land plus the value of the fence," said Dempsey. The .$2,400 has included the price of the fence said the engineer. The three parcels of land to be ex- propriated by the county are part Lot 29, Conc. 6, London Road Survey, which is own- ed by Merton Keyes of RR 4, Seaforth, Ruth Carter of Woodstock and Stuart Keyes of Brampton; and part of the east half of Lot 30, Conc. 4, London Road Survey and part of Lot 31, Conc. 5, London Road Survey both owned by Merton Keyes. Dempsey said that while Stuart Keyes is holding out, his brother and sister won't sign, although they agree to the terms. Not all county councillors wanted to go ahead with the expropriation process. Goderich deputy -reeve John Doherty said it would probably be cheaper if the county set- tled with Keyes for the amount requested. The county engineer said the road com- mittee had considered that option but pro- mised the other landowners an equal amount. Tuckersmith Reeve Bob Bell also said the county should pay off Stuart Keyes. "We didn't recommend taking the action withouta lot of soul searching. It's very, very to pting to move on, it's tempting to go the route-andfor-gel about_CountyRoada. "But it's not fair to condemn everyone who lives on County Road 3 when the Work is being heldup by one person who is a non- resident," said road committee . member Russel Kernighan. Murphy said once the landowners have been served with a notice of the expropria- -tion; they-Irate-twe-options..--Onels.-.to ap- proach county council for a decision and the other is to go to a provincially appointed board of inquiry. The lawyer noted the coun- • ty is not bound by theboard of inquiry's decision. After the expropriation notice has ap- peared in the paper for three weeks, and if the owner takes no action, the county then passes a bylaw taking.possession• of the pro- perty. 13y law, however, that possession takes three months to be finalized. But, Mr. Mur- phy urphy said the county could approach the - county court judge to have the possession date moved up. It was noted that construction on sewers has started at either end of the construction project. Dempsey said the Keyes property is just about in the middle of the two ends. The county has been buying up land in a 17 foot swath down the county road from ex- isting property lines. The county engineer said theroad allowance was 66 feet but is be- ing expanded to about 100 feet. Soccer Action OPP hold Open House The Goderich detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police will be throwing their ' doors open to the public during National 4 Police Week, May 12 to 18. OPP Sgt. John Donatis said the local force is not planning any special events for the week, due to a manpower shortage. The local detachment needs every available man for crowd control duty at the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant, where workers are striking. However, "The public is welcome to come in and browse around and see what we are doing," said Donatis. The Goderich Police Force is not plann- ing any special activities for the week. The Gn('1 Spnior_ansLlunior yilnsgs �__ continued to burn up the Huron -Perth Con- ference with two victories each in soccer action this week. Stories and photos on Page 1A. Balloon Days Despite rainy weather Saturday, the Goderich I{inettes raised $1,000 for Cystic Fibrosis, through ice cream sales and donations during Balloon Days, here. About 40 volunteers, including 20 gaily - dressed clowns, could be seen around town, on The Square and at Suncoast Mall during the celebrations. Details and photos inside. Mother's Day Mothers' Day is this Sunday, May 12. The Signal -Star recently polled a Kindergarten class at Victoria School on . their feelings about the annual salute to Moms. Story and photos inside this sec- tion. "The Crucible" The GDCI Drama Club is preparing for a three -night run of their latest prgfluction, "The Crucible". The play explores the persecution of innocent citizens during the "Witch Hunts" in Salem, Mass. during the 17th century. Details and photos in our Recreation section.