Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-06-11, Page 1the 'iu'nt7nielk iYd 138 YEAR - 24 GODE1 'CH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 11, 1986 60 CENTS PER COPY Judge acquits local fisherman BY SHARON DIETZ A provincial court judge has ruled that a Goderich fisherman did not exceed his fish quotas bcause no quotas were in existence after they had been declared invalid by the Ontario supreme court. Ron Moody, 54 of Goderich faced nine counts of exceeding his fish quotas when the Ministry of Natural Resources laid ,._ta_i, „ refine court charges after the Ontario svY-�-•-� decision was subsequently overturned by the appeal court in February, 1985. Judge C. E. Perkins of Chatham agreed with the defense argument that the law between October 15, 1984 and February 5, 1985 was such that no quotas were --in ex- istence because they were declared in- valid. Defense lawyer, Frank Montello of Windsor also argued that by virtue of com- munication from conservation officer Blake Evans and other ministry officials, Moody had done everything possible to find out if he could fish. "I won but I lost," said Moody, Tuesday. "I spent $125,000 and had to sell my fishery to meet my legal costs, so as I said; I won but I lost." Moody said he still intends to pursue his challenge of the ministry's for- mula for fishing quotas to the Supreme Court of Canada. Moody testified at his trial that he was aware of talks beginning in 1976 that ran into the 1980s between the ministry and the Council of Commercial Fishermen of On- tario that aimed at modernizing" the fishing industry. He said he understood that a unanimous vote was going to put fishing quotas on Lake Huron on an "equal quota" basis, rather than a "past performance" for- mula. Somehow the ministry prevailed with the past performance system. Moody bought his fishery in 1980 and his quota was based on the past performance of that business which had been somewhat i t'ry a in the previous years He said he didn't think his quota alloca- tions were fair, when fisheries which could catch enough fish to operate profitably had quotas more than 10 times the poundage allocated to him. Moody made written notations on his fishing licences that he did not agree with the allocated quotas and at the same time took his case to court. Mr. Justice E. E. Smith of the Ontario supreme court made a ruling on an appeal launched by Moody and another fisherman against the quota system. Following ad- vice from his lawyer on the interpretation of the Smith decision,, Moody believed the quotas were off and went ahead and fished. Mr. Justice Smith's decision was subse- quently overturned by the appeal court 'and the matter is currently before the Supreme Court of Canada for a final decision. In the meantime Moody's failure to ob- tain a viable quota from the natural resources ministry has forced him out of business. Moody says the ministry put him out of business. He sold the boat and the quota well below market value and is now operating a fish shop and restaurant. Moody says he's being harassed by the ministry because he's challenging the system. A fellow fisherman fished for 15 years and only had one charge laid. Moody has had 37 different charges laid against him in four years. "The decision was pretty solid," said Moody whois doubtful the ministry will get the right to appeal. "If they do,appeal, it's nothing more than harassement. I'm not on the lake anymore, so it's just straight harrassment." Moody said he thinks some of the top ministry officials should be changed because they are harassing the fishermen. `Fishermen used. to be able to talk to the ministry about what's going on on the lake. Instead they're using Hitler tactics:" Man arrested in hotel brawl nac - Goderich fisherman Ron Moody has been acquitted of charges that he exceeded his fishing quota in the fall of 1984, after a provincial court judge ruled last week there were no quotas in existence because they had been declared invalid. Moody, who says his failure to obtain a viable quota from the natural resource ministry has forced him out of business, intends to pursue his appeal of a stilt iequent ritiljng, vvhich raw the quota .system reinstated,; to the Supreme Court of Canada. (photo by Sharon Dietl �x,s:: ,.+t 1w'L". `.ftypavra"� Q,""'' : with resisting arrest and causing a distur- bance following a series of fights at the Bedford Hotel on May 30. Two Goderich policemen were injured in the incident and Chief Pat King expects they will be off work for two weeks. Goderich OPP and Clinton Town Police were called to assist before the disturbance was brought under control. A GDCI student suffered burns to his face when someone in a car approached him from behind as he walking to school and held something which was "sparking and hissing" out the car window. The youth could not give a description of the car or the persons involved because everything happened so fast, said Chief Pat King. Police are not sure what caused the injury but believe it could have been a flare. The youth was treated at hospital and released. A break and enter at Victoria Public School on the weekend resulted in the theft of eight boxes of popsicles from the school's home economics room. Windows in two doors were smashed in the incident. A case and half of beer and some cans of pop were stolen from a residential garage over the weekend. A blue pickup truck with a white top was spotted in the area at the time of the theft. Fire extinguishers were also stolen from the apartment building at 26 Bennett Street. Police are continuing their investigation of the above occurrences and anyone who has any information is requested to con- tact local police. Parents -can't do without quality day care BY SUSAN HUNDERTMARK When four-year-old Nathaniel Donald arrived home from the babysitter's, he us- ed to vomit because his nerves were so bad. And,the next morning, he would cry and cling to his mother as she took him back to the sitter's place. But, a few days after he started at the ri Day Care Centre in Goderich, he was up at 6 a.m., waking his parents and wanting to get dressed to go. "Before he was so shy, timid and withdrawn but now he's so outgoing, it's unbelievable. He's relaxed and more confi- dent about himself," says his mother Linda. "The structure of the, centre and the discipline is so good for the kids. And, he's learned so much," she says. Donald says a babysitter used to keep her child outside all day long, even during lunch which was served on a picnic table. On rainy days, the child was stuck in a dark basement where he had to sit in front of a television; he couldn't run or play. "Parents don't want to go to work and worry that their child is being mistreated. The majority of babysitters only want the money; they don't care too much about the children. There are some good sitters out there but finding them is the hard part," she says. When five-year-old Stacey Armstrong came home from her babysitter, she used to spank her dolls all the time. But, within two months of attending the K Day Care Centre, Stacey's' behavior changed. Instead of spanking her dolls, she put them in the corner explaining to her mother that her dolls must take time out and think about what they had done wrong. When asked by her mother if she should spank a bad doll, Stacey said, "You don't spank, Mom!" "She was altogether different when she started going to the day care centre," says Pat Armstrong. "We weren't satisfied with babysitters and Stacey's been there since the first day the centre opened. I was.just about ready to quit work when the centre opened," she says. Stacey's learned to count, print, tell stories, eat nutritiously and make friends. She's also gained a positive attitude, says her mother. "She tells her 11 -year-old brother, `Mark, you don't do things like that. That will hurt someone."' says Armstrong. "There's nothing harderthan leaving your children and going to work in the morning. You've got to be sure who's look- ing after your kids is trustworthy. The cen- tre has done such a good job in a year," she says. Patti Pitre says she thinks day care is the best thing that ever happened for her two-year-old daughter Lisa. Committee. to address need for day care centre A committee made up of the Godericn administrative committee and three representatives from the Goderich Day Nursery committee will study thefeasibili- ty of opening a municipal day care centre. The committee was formed at the June 9 meeting of council when close to 30 parents who use the K Day Care Centre packed the council chambers. The K Day Care Centre was served a notice of eviction from the Kinsmen Comnaunity Centre on May 28. "As parents, we are deeply concerned about the closure of the K Day Care Centre which opened last May. Eighty children use the service and there is a definite need for quality, affordable day care to fulfill the educational and social needs for the children of the county," said Brian Donald, spokeman for the group of parents. "We're here to ask council's assistance to produce a municipally -funded facility that will meet the needs of this growing and prosperous community," he said. t;oun. Jim Searls suggested the parents approach Huron County council about a day care centre since people from outlying townships use the centre. After Donald told Searls that the centre serves 57" Goderich children, three children from the VLA subdivision and 20 from outlying townships, Searls asked, "Do you feel it's fair to subsidize people from outlying townships?" Donald said, "Yes." "My feeling is I'rn willing to subsidize single parents in need so they can go out and work. I'm not in favor of subsidizing two parents working. We have seniors in this community on limited- incomes and it's unfair to ask them to subsidize day care," said Searls. Deputy :Reeve John Doherty said he agreed with Searls and added, "I'm not sure we can support a day care and a nursery school as well."Turn to page 2 • "I've been through at least six babysit- ters. It's hard on a kid to get to know one babysitter and bang, there's someone new again. The centre is more dependable," she says. Two weeks after Lisa started day care in January, her mother couldn't believe all that she'd learned. She knows her ABC's, the days of the week and how to count. She also has learned how to play with other children. "One morning, she just sat up on the couch and started singing, 'Good morning, good morning' and I found out it was a song they sing at the day care. She always looks forward to going," says Pitre.. Because she'd been paying as much as $80 a week for a babysitter, Pitre says she wouldn't mind paying rnore for day care. "It wouldn't bother me as long as the service stayed the same," she says. Flower pots Cause debate Goderich council participated in two recorded votes before coming to a decision about hanging flower pots on the inner cir- cle of The Square at its June 9 meeting. A letter to council by Elsa Haydon pro- mpted the debate about whether council could afford to spend $160 of the parks committee's $8000 flower budget on the baskets. "It must be through a misunderstanding that a decision was made to leave the inner circle of The Square without hanging flowerpots this year. In the past they have added highly visible and much ap- preciated color and charm to our famous and popular core area—an important part of our tourist attractions and local ac tivities," said the letter. - When Coun. Bill Clifford asked why the pots were not hung this year, Deputy - Reeve John Doherty said he thought the town could not afford them. As chairman of the parks committee, he said he'd spent $7000 of the $8000 flower budget already. After Works Commissioner Ken Hunter said the 16 pots would cost $10 apiece, Coun. Jim Searlssaid he'd like ,to see the pots hung for $160. "I think we should check those prices. I haven't seen flowers that cheap," said Reeve Harry Worsell. "It's getting late if we don't act now," said Coun. Glen Carey. The first recorded vote to file the letter was defeated. Voting yea were Reeve Harry Worsell and .Deputy -Reeve John Doherty. Voting nay were Mayor Eileen Palmer, Coun. Jim Searls, Coun. Bill Clif- ford, Coun. John Stringer and Coun. Glen Carey. Coun. Stan Profit and Coun. Peter McCauley were absent. The second recorded vote to hang the pots was carried five to two. Voting nay were Worsell and Doherty and voting yea were Palmer, Searls, Clifford, Stringer and Carey. Alan Day is worried that his two boys ag- ed five and two will have tobe looked after by strangers if the day care centre closes for good. "At the centre, I knew they were getting good care. They were getting outside to play, having good meals and rest time and it's a shame to see the centre in difficulties." "The whole problem is they're treating it as a business. Kids aren't a business," he says. Day has had good experience with the Goderich Day Nursery in the past but he complains that the facility is only open four hours a day for kids. "If there was a day care at that building too, it could be open all day. Who's more important, kids and their working parents or guys who want to play racquet ball?" he asks. Turn to page 2 • Doctors will meet to discuss strike plans BY SHARON DIETZ As of press time Tuesday evening, it was not known whether Goderich doctors will join their colleagues across the province and begin an indefinite strike to protest the proposed ban on extra -billing in Ontario on Thursday. The Ontario Medical Association's 250 -member council, representing more than 17,000 Ontario doctors, voted over- whelmingly in favour of a prolonged strike ata meeting Monday in Toronto. Dr. Donald Neal, chief of staff at Alexan- dra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich, who attended the OMA meeting, plans to meet with his colleagues before Goderich doctors decide what action they will take. -' Although emergency rooms in the pro- vince's hospitals will remain open, doctors plan to cancel all elective or non -emergency surgery in the province; ask chief of staffs and chiefs of medical services in the Ontario hospitals to resign and unlike the two-day general strike two weeks ago when emergency ward staffs were bolstered, the association says it will be up to individual doctorsto decide what constitutes an emergency.. Many doctors' offices may be closed and elective or non -emergency surgery cancell- ed along with some outpatient clinics. Anyone needing medical treatment will have to go to the emergency ward at the hospital if Goderich doctors decide to begin an indefinite strike Thursday. According to the OMA, the intention is to back up emergency departments, seriously inconveniencing patients who will have to be prepared to wait, because causing problems for patients is the only way to pressure the government into backing down from its plans to ban extra -billing. The OMA's call for chiefs of medical staff and chiefs of service, such as medicine, surgery pediatrics, to resign is an attempt to put t ie Ontario health minister Murray Turn topage 8.• • Ministry turns down funding request for Huronview renovations By Man Rivett You could have heard a pin drop in the Huron County Council chambers after it was announced the county's request for $750,000 for renovations to Huronview was turned down by the Ministry of Community and Social Services during the meeting on June 5. Huronview Administrator Wayne Lester, in answering a question by Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle regarding the funding situation, told council he had been informed by Minister John Sweeney moments before the' council meeting that the county's grant re- quest had been denied for the nursing home near Clinton. 0 "I think we just lucked out. I don't have any other answers," said a disappointed Mr. Lester. First phase The first phase of the $1.5 million expan- sion and renovation project at the county - run nursing home was slated to begin this year with matching funds from the county • and province. Huron County had placed $750,000 for the project in their 1986 budget set in March with the assessments already passed on to themunicipalities. Calling the • fnding situation a "schmauzel", Mr. Michie chastised the government for going hack on its premise to Turn to page 2' INSIDE THE SIGNAL. -STAR Donald Bert's tugs Many people owe their lives to Donald Bert MacAdam and his fleet of tugboats, but when asked to give an official count of people he's rescued on the lake, he declines. Since the time he went aboard the last schooner on the Great Lakes as a five year old boy, Donald Bert can't remember a time when he wasn't on board one boat or, another. See today's Communi- ty Page feature on Donald Bert and his tugboats, front page section A. Oldtimers' soccer Stratford edged Goderich to win the sixth annual Oldtimers' Soccer Champion- ship held in Goderich, June 7. Goderich lost on a final shootout after competitive play throughout the tournament. See the feature report on today's sports page in section A, page 8A. •