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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-09-02, Page 1oaerich 139 YEAR — 35 GODERICH ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1987 60 CENTS PER COPY After seeing how a Sherlock Manning piano is assembled at Draper Brothers and Reid Ltd., NDP leader Bob Rae sat down at a "player piano" and literally pumped out a few tunes. Sources say Mr. Rae is a former concert pianist, so the Aug. 28 tour in Clinton was right up his alley. In the background, owner Paul Ryckman (right) explains the mechanics of the piano to Huron Riding NDP candidate Paul Klopp. (photo by Anne Narejko) NDP leader Bob Rae tours Clinton factory BY ANNE NAREJKO CLINTON - Time is running out for Canada's last remaining piano factory and it's up to the provincial and federal government to step in and provide assistance, says New Democrats Party leader Bob Rae. Mr. Rae, a former concert pianist himself, toured Draper Brothers and Reid Ltd. on August 28 with a large entourage of media people and a few local NDP supporters. The 112 -year-old Draper Brothers and Reid Ltd. was $1 -million in debt when Paul Ryckman purchased it, but despite this, he thought there was a future. To prove his point, Mr. Ryckman tried untapped markets and . was rewarded with a 1,200 piano order, more than triple the 352 pianos sold last year. However, the company has no operating capital and is behind in their delivery. Various avenues have been tried by Mr. Ryckman, including the Ontario Develop- ment Corporation (ODC), the Federal Business Development Bank (FBDB) , banks and private investors. The ODC has guarenteed a $400,000 loan and Mr. Ryckman has worked out an agreement with Robert Reid of Arcom Development to carry out the building rehabilitation once the operating capital has been secured. However, Mr. Ryckman claims he was told to "go find another bank" after trying to obtain a loan from the Royal Bank and the FBDB has not came through with a loan either. "We're not looking for a handout. We don't necessarily want a grant. We're will- ing to take a long term loan," Mr. Ryckman told the crowd gathered at the factory on August 28. Mr. Ryckman was told the government could not pay for working capital, and Mr. Rae says this should be changed. When asked what he'd do, he said, "I'd expand the mandate...Treasurer Robert Nixon has to sit down with the people of Ministry of Trade and people of elsewhere and work this out," he said. "The govern- ment of Ontario has got . to provide assistance...especially when the market is there." "The pr uduct is competitive in tone, in 4' quality and price, yet the school boards buy elsewhere," commented Mr. Rae on the government's purchasing policy. A press release distributed by the NDP noted, "Earlier this summer, the Universi- ty of Western Ontario - about 80 km. away - used a provincial government grant to buy 15 West German pianos. Draper Brothers and Reid weren't even asked to bid on the sale. "The province's failure to give domestic producers the same break in Ontario that other governments give their homegrown producers has added insult to injury for Clinton's piano makers..." The latest figures available show that in 1984 nearly 30 per cent of the $15.5 -billion of purchasing by the Ontario government, municipalities, school boards, hospitals, universities and Crown corporations went to imports. Mr. Ryckman'said during the past years Draper Brothers and Reid produced a pro- duct that cost less than the imports, but the prices are relatively competitive now. "Our quality and size of product are competitive, there's no reason why they can't buy a Canadian piano," he said. If the piano factory was to close its doors, the government would lose $3.5 -million on an 11.3 per cent tariff. "They say this isn't necessarily so. They'll take it and bargain somewhere else. Am I to tell the people of Clinton they're a bargaining tool?" asked Mr. Ryckman. The last proposal Mr. Ryckman and his lawyers made, enabling them to keep their doors open, was that they would have their operating capital by August 31. This date has come and gone and they still have not been able to obtain the capital needed so they are proposing an extension to September 30. This is the last extension they can be granted under the original pro- -posal made in April. But if Mr. Rae has his way, the piano factory will continue to produce for many years to come. "The people of Clinton have been mak- ing pianos for two and three generations and they need to continue to do so," he said. "We (the NDP) are going to fight to see that the government does what needs to be done." Rail strike did not untrack local industrial operations The week-long national rail strike by nearly 50,000 Canadian National and Cana- dian Pacific workers last week had little effect on 'transportation of goods to and from Goderich, represenatives of local in- dustry said this week. While ships lined up on the coast of Western Canada, grain piled up in the prairies and trucking firms in some parts of the country ran round the clock, it was mostly business as usual at the Goderich Elevators. ' George Parsons, president, said it is "very rare," for grain to be shipped out of Goderich by rail, as most of it goes on "short hauls to small mills," many of which are not along railway lines. Also, he said, smaller mills do not have thesturage facilities to hold a large shipment of one particular type of grain, so trucking in smaller shipments is more feasible. However, by "a complete coincidence," said Parsons the elevators, were expecting six empty rail cars to be loaded with wheat bound for the United States during the strike, which lasted from Aug. 29 to Sept. 6. All but one of the cars arrived and Parsons said it is possible the car was detained for repairs which could not be made because of the strike. Champion Road Machinery Ltd. also felt little effect from the strike, said John Stall, materials management supervisor, because only a small percentage of their larger orders are shipped by rail. However, he said, "Almost any other time of year other than just after our vaca- tion shutdown, it would have been more important," noting that the company had no road graders ready to ship at the time the strike hit. There was some problem with incoming material, Stoll said, as the strike shut down container handling facilities in Toronto. The effect of the strike at the Goderich Domtar Sifto Salt mine was more notici- ble, said Mine .Manager Gaston Brousseau. Domtar ships anywhere from 30 to 60 carloads of salt, the bulk of their chemical salt business, by rail each week. However, Brousseau still described the impact of the strike as "small," because "most of our stuff, at this time of year, goes by ship". Because of the brief duration of the strike, Brousseau said he believes most of Domtar's customers would have enough salt in storage to keep them going. Committee negotiates to obtain ownership of site The Holmesville Landfill Site Commit- tee is negotiating with with current owner George Lavis to obtain ownership of _the landfill site, currently shared by six municipalities. Goderich Administrator Larry McCabe and Public Works Commissioner Ken Hunter are negotiating with Lavis on behalf of the committee, which includes representatives of the towns of Goderich and Clinton, the townships of Goderich and Colborne and the villages of Lucknow and Seaforth, on a deal.tilat would see owner- ship of the site transferred from Lavis to the committee for a nominal amount. A draft agreement has been circulated to the respective councils of the par- ticipating municipalilties for considera- tion within the next few weeks. The propos- ed agreement calls for the group to be responsible for any problems relating to landfill, past or future and to pay for all surveys and legal costs, including costs in- curred by Lavis.. Under the agreement Lavis would no longer be the owner and operator of the site, but would continue to supply fill and cover material for the site at an agreed' price. McCabe said the agreement, which has not yet been approved by any of the coun- cils involved, is still in the negotiation stage, so he could not release details on potential costs to the municipalities. If an agreement is reached, as McCabe expects one to be withing the next few months, costs may also be shared by the Town of Seaforth and Tuckersmith Township, if they are accepted as users of the site under a separate agreement now under consideration. Former lawyer and judge dies The Honourable Frank Donnelly, a pro- minent Goderich lawyer for many years and a retired Judge of the Supreme Court of Ontario, was buried in St. Peter's Cemetery Monday following funeral mass at St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church. The Honourable Judge Donnelly dn-d St. Joseph's Hospital, London Friday, Au;_;. 28 in his 87th year. Born in Greenoch 'Township .July 31, 1901, lie was the sun of Jaiiies J. Donnell, and the former Julia Caroline McNab. A graduate of Osgoode Hall Toronto, Mr. Donnelly was called to the bar in 1924, launching a law career that would span six decades. During the 1920s, he was engaged in the family lumbering operation in Bruce County before opening his own law prac- tice in Goderich in January of 1931. In 1954, his son Jim joined the law firm and they worked together until the elder Donnelly was appointed to the bench on October 1, 1959. He was a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ontario until his retire- ment on his 75th birthday on July 31, 1970 Mr. Donnelly was predeceased by his I wife, the farmer Ina Cecilia Kehoe. He is survived by three children; sons Richard of North Bay and Jaynes of Goderich, and one daughter, Moyra Campion of Welland. He is also survived by two brothers, Ar- thur and Harold, both of Pinkerton, Ont., thirteen grandchildren and three great- granchildren. Prayers were held at the McCallum and Palla Funeral Home Sunday evening and Father T. McNamara conducted funeral mass at St. Peter's Church, Monday at 11 a.m. Pallbearers were Michael Donnelly, Stephen Campion, Frank Campion, Daniel Donnelly, Patrick Donnelly and Richard Scrimger. Whelan attends local meeting Former federal Agriculture Minister, Eugene Whelan will be participating in a panel discussion on the effects of free trade on' the agricultural industry at the Goderich Township Hall in Holmesville, Thursday, Sept. 3. Organized by a group of concerned farmers in the. area, the panel discussion' will feature Whelan as the guest speaker .on the subject of the threat that free trade poses to .supply management commodities. Organizer Hugo Maaskant said the panel discussion will feature local members of the provincial and 1 ederal parliaments, while candidates in the provincial election will be invited but not included on the panel. There will be a question and answer session. The meeting, which begins at 8:30 p.m. will be of interest to farmers in Huron and Perth counties. For information call George Underwood (335-62771 or Chris Van Laren (271-8389). INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Ontario's Minister of Agriculture and Food and Huron's MPP, Jack Riddell, spent a gruelling day campaigning in Goderich Monday before meeting with party supporters at the Goderich Memorial Arena for supper. Riddell told his supporters he is campainging as hard in this election as he did the first time he ran in 1973 claiming "there's no room for complacency" in this election. Riddell will also appear at a meeting in Holmesville Thursday evening with Eugene Whelan to discuss the impact of free trade. (photo by Dave Sykes) Liberals prove their worth The Liberal party has "proven its worth" over the last two years in office and Huron MPP and Minister of Agriculture and Food, Jack Riddell, told supporters that his party would continue to make the tough decisions after the election. Speaking to a few hundred party sup- portes at a special campaign supper at the Goderich Memorial Arena Monday, Rid- dell told the gathering that the Liberals were taking tough stands on issues "that had been neglected over the years." "The government has proven its worth over the two years and there's no dobut about what we've done," he said. "Tough decisions have been made and David Peterson has taken tough stands." The Liberals are committed to improv- ing the quality of education in the pro- vince, to provide young people with the necesary skills and training. "Skills training is badly lacking and its important to have skilled labour. We can now train our own and not rely on impor- ting skilled labour," he said. "We want to reduce the large class sizes because young people can fall through the system. We can improve that." The Liberal government took a tough stand by banning extra -billing by the pro- vince's doctors when faced with an ultimatum from the federal government, which was prepared to reduce transfer payments unless the ban was imposed. Riddell said the government is prepared to make more decisions with respect to health care by improving facilities and the r administration or care. Carrying on,with his thematic approach, Riddell said Environment Minister Jim Bradley is one of the toughest ministers who was out to improve the quality of water and the quality of the environment. "We need control measures in agriculture so we produce the highest quality food with no contaminants. We have to meet that challenge," he said. "The greatest pollution problem is acid rain and maple trees and the syrup in- dustry is being wiped out. We're getting tough with polluters and Bradley is leading by example. Hopefully, with his example, the U.S. will follow suit." Riddell admonished his supporters with the caution that complacency could only hurt the party and its candidates in this election. "Many challenges lie ahead and we've just made a start," he explained. "There's no room for complacency. People have asked me why I bother to campaign. I won't accept that and I'm campaigning harder in this one than when I first ran." After a gruelling day of campaigning in Goderich Monday, which began at 6:30 a.m. at the Sheaffer Pen Co.,Riddell said he was still meeting cabinet and ministry commitments during the campaign. 'IN Thursday evening, Riddell will be part of a panel discussion on the impact of free trade on certain farm commodities at a meeting at the Goderich Township Hall in Holmesville. Former federal Agriculture Minister, Eugene Whelan will be a guest speaker at the meeting. Paradisiacal hobby A Goderich area man has made his dream come true by transforming a piece of land into a park which holds ex- otic animals and Dutch symbols. For story and pictures on Harry Burgsma and his hobby, see Page 7 of the Com- munity section. Girls softball The Dungannon girls softball team capped an undefeated season with an 18-4 victory over Goderich Township in the finals of the annual inter -township playoff tournament. For story and pic- tures see front page sports. Young Offenders In the final part of a two-part series on young offenders, Goderich Police Chief Patrick King and crown attorney Bob Morris discuss the revised Young Of- fenders Act. For stories and pictures, see the front page of the Community section.