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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-03-17, Page 5ODE:RIC t s t at t meof-Year,again. Time for the annual hysteria here in Canada, and indeed Ole rest of the world, over the 'murder'" of baby seals inthe 0ulf ofSt. Lawrence, The !Ines are being drawn. On one std thb anti -seal hunt lobby, who believe either (or both) that the seals are. an endangered species on the verge -of extinction. or that the killing methods are inhumane and cruel. On the other side, the hunters and a great many residents of Eastern Canada, who say .the seals are not in danger of extinction, that the killing methods are not inhumane and 'that without the .annual' seal hunt a great number of Canadians would suffer economic hardship. Even the clergy is getting into the act, Several of Newfoundland's 'religious leaders have joined the 'provincial government and island fishermen in an effort to discourage outside groups fl ',nina to pretest the hnnt ewfoundland's Fisheries Minister Walter Carter says that statements by .stdc1'rprotest groups as the Greenpeace paundatien and the International Fund far >Animai Welfare have Newfoundlanders an given undeserved reputation as "a barbaric, cruel and brutal people". "These People, in their desperation to brainwash ' the so-called do-gooders of the world, have gone to unbelievable lengths to discredit our Newfoundland sealers and are causing unknown damage to this province and indeed to all of Canada," Carter said in the Newfoundland legislature. "This is no longer a simple protest against the seal hunt, but has emerged as a moral issue in which the good name of our people is at stake." I really find myself sympathizing with what Mr. Carter is saying. yp Thr•re is e, faint-, on the number of seals 8vy which' are to betaken during this year's six week hunt, .170,000. One must assume that the Canadian government has set that qubta in such a way that the harp seala'. will not •be threatened with extinction. If this is not the case, then , both the government and hunters are obviously involved in a self-defeating exercise. fl Whether or not the seals are facing elimination may be only a secondary question here though. It seems while the conservation groups may make this argument occasionally, the real gut reaction and loudest screams are coming from those who feel that a crack over the head with a hardwood stick is an unhumane method of dispatch. The point has been made before, but I would like to make it one more time. To •add my voice to arguments. With certain exceptions, we humans are a meat -eating species, and we sure •burger stoplo const o it'reac . there re plat . With rar , iceptlq s It au e somebody between, tie eye with the batik' fan axe, a -•sledge hammylr. a btrl�t. inn or: maybe even a hardwoodstick. ,? The slaying of a hog to•prroiduee breakfast bacon or dinner pork chop makes the killing et seals look like ev most peaceful death imaginable. •'' Now before the seal hunt critics jurrtp all oyer me with "Yes, but' we need•to eat. we don't need deal-skin'coats, ]4`tl like to say I agree entirely, My point;is simply that allegations of gross cruelty don't stand up and that when someone comes up with a viable employment alternative for the East coast seal hunters I'll give some consideration. to lending my voice to calls for an end to the hunt. it a:. INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION Y I gone '.'2,869 stud rsities incre. In 19 of ,tion 197 nn to or gh the 1 nio ivingi atios' ave the q stud bett ave he n_ by s can :oncl "eE arks, a rom ued dd All ;.11 do8 cl er 1 must be allowed to carry on erations in an agricultural out fear of interference, the unty Federation of Agriculture members of parliament last,- in a brief. ock odors must be regarded as phenomenon and noise bylaws interfere with farm operations me, including night, Sundays ys," the brief added. of on land use policy was during the Federation of re's annual members of nt dinner during which tatives of 11 commodity groups and other. agricultural HERE organizations met with MP Bob McKinley and MPPs Murray Gaunt and Jack Riddell. According to the brief the Huron County Federation of Agriculture en- dorses the policy of preserving Class One and Two land, however, in addition "steps must be taken to preserve the agriculturally oriented community, which provides a compatible economic and social environment in which the family farm Fan function efficiently". "The Federation of Agriculture and other farm organizations must demand a reasonable economic return for far- mers so they will be encouraged to preserve farm land," the brief said. federal -provincial home p program providing financial ughout the province was an- ast week by Ontario's Housing John Rhodes. eral Assisted Home Ownership (AHOP) and the provincial ership Made Easy (HOME) e been integrated to offer in- nancial assistance to a wider lover income Ontario home e said. ed purchasers taking AHOP assistance, and in - reduction loan and a subsidy of e first year of ownership, may ly for an additional grant from ince of up to $750 in the first IN HURON It went on to say that severences for the rural community. new' residences must be prohibited in The brief notes that "major disruptive rural areas, to prevent gradual ur- industrial and institutional complexes ban ization of the rural community. must be prohibited in Huron County". It It then added that the Huron County Federation of Agriculture has serious reservations on granting severences for existing surplus residences. Mobile homes, it said, should be permitted only as part of a mobile home park, or as a secondary or primary residence where the occupant is actively engaged in operating a farm. Under this view, mobile homes as temporary residences where a father and son wish to work for several years would not credte another permanent dwelling in went on to name power plants as one example of this. In other words," the brief says, "the type of establishment that would attract a major influx of people and cause an increase in pollution (ozone, carbon monoxide)." The F'ration notes that already studies haVe indicated the ozone level in Huron County is "dangerously high", and stressed that "provincial govern- ment action is required to control this type of development". The farmers' brief suggests that a limited amount of planned expansion may be permitted in, or adjacent to existing towns, to allow for a limited urban growth. Priority.sho.uld be given to maintain as much natural cover as possible, the brief urged. "We recommend that property taxes on this kind of land be minimal." Cottage development, the Federation says, should be permitted only along the lakeshore and "only under strictly controlled and limited conditions". The brief also pointed to "a need for provincial government involvement in the planning process", to designate large areas for specific uses—such as Southwestern Ontario for agriculture, the Niagara Peninsula as special fruitlands. That involvement, it was also suggested, could help direct urban and industrial development away from agricultural areas, provide assessment at realistic agricultural values and reduced taxes on woodiots and similar property. Huron County is, as yet, not seriously encumbered with urban development, the Federation noted. "This unique situation must be, preserved and protected by policies at all levels of government, for present and future 'generations." PROVINCIAL .POINTS year, depending on the household's income. AHOP and HOME , will reduce minimum annual income requirements for qualified purchasers of new homes by as much as $2,500 below existing AHOP levels. For example, a purchaser in Metro Toronto buying a $47,000 townhouse would require a minimum household income of $9,520, and a highrise con- dominium apartment selling at $42,000 would require an income of $7,790. Other maximum house prices range from as low as $34,000 in Kingston, St. Catharines, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie to the Toronto high of $47,000. he good old Unemployment e Commission • finds itself in- acase of alleged sexism. mmissio'h last month decided uld appeal to the Federal Court an Umpire's decision that 46 of the Unemployment Act is inoperative. ection of the act states that a claimant is not entitled to Unemployment Insurance during the period beginning eeks before, and ending six ter, the expected birth of her cent Vancouver case appeal to Umpire, Judge J. Collier, held ion 46 is inoperative because it The maximum provincial grant would be $750 in the first year, and the total assistance would be decreased in the following years. Buyers qualifying for maximum AHOP assistance, an interest reduction loan to bring the mortgage rate down to an effective eight percent and the $750 subsidy, and still spending more than 30 percent of the household income on mortgage payments and municipal taxes may apply for the provincial HOME grant. The provincial component of AHOP- HOME is designed. to bring the total monthly payments down to the 30 per- cent level. Builders will be responsible for marketing units to purchasers qualifying for AHOP-HOME assistance. Rhodes said the provincial grant is designed to complement the current AHOP formula. Rhodes said this partnership program will help even more purchasers to take advantage of AHOP which has already assisted many Ontario residents to buy their homes. Rhodes cited the federal -provincial Municipal Incentive Program under which a $1,000 per unit grant is given to municipalities that approve medium density housing projects priced with AHOP ranges. He said the combination of slightly higher densities and smaller housing CANADA IN SEVEN infringes on, or abridges, the rights to equality before the law of certain pregnant or post -pregnant women, because of discrimination by reason of sex. He held this insofar as Section 46 purports to deny regular Unemployment Insurance benefit to certain pregnant or -post pregnant women who 'may be otherwise capable and available for work. Consequently, Judge Collier con- cluded, Section 46 abridges the right of equality of all claimants in respect to unemployment insurance legislations. Judge Collier therefore set aside the decision of the Unemployment Insurance Commission and the Board of Referees. •The Unemployment Insurance , Commission however has decided to appeal 'Judge Collier's decision to the Federal Court of Appeal the next inission adds, could mean they could be entitled to regular unemployment in- surance benefits. Such cases could number 25,000 to 30,000 in 1977 alone. Under Section 30 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, a woman who proves her pregnancy, who can show that she was actively in the labor force at the time of conception and who is a so-called 'major attachment claimant' can receive unemployment insurance maternity A 'major attachment claimant' in Unemployment Insurance Commission terms, is one with 20 or more weeks of insurable employment, in the preceding 52 weeks. With the decision to appeal Judge units reduces the impact on farmland required for residential purposes. Rhodes outlined his reasons for in- tegrating the AHOP and HOME con- cepts. "The introduction of AHOP-HOME assistance means that increased aid is available right across the province. Previously, provincial assistance was offered only in selected communities where the HOME plan is active," he said. More than 25,000 families have been assisted through the HOME plan which is administered by the province, In line with present Ontario policy to eliminate duplication between various levels of government, the AHOP-HOME Collier's ruling, Section 46 remains operative until the appeal is decided by the Federal Court of Appeal. In the Unemployment Insurance Commission system, an Umpire (in this. case Judge Collier) is a Judge of the Federal Court of Canada, sitting as an Umpire, and represents the second level of the unemployment insurance appeal The section now in dispute was in- troduced in 1971 to clarify the period for which pregnant wornen were then considered to be incapacited as far as work was concerned. A number of other changes are already in the -works at the Unem- ployment Insurance Commission. program will be administered by the federal government through the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation. AHOP-HOME will not be restricted to land developpd by the province or in partnership 'With the federal govern- ment, but will apply. to all units priced under the AHOP maximums. Rhodes said that to the greatest extent possible units constructed on land developed by the government wilt be built under the AHOP price ceilings. However, he said he was concerned that some of the larger government developments did not reflect the normal range of incomes one would expect in a community. A bill was introduced late last year which will lead to the integration of the Commission and the Department of Manpower and Immigration to form the new Canada Employment and Immigration Commission. That bill also provides for an increase in the number of weeks required to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits from eight weeks to 12. New amendments will also authorize more productive, "developmental" uses of unemployment insurance funds in- cluding income maintenance for claimants on training courses, job creation projects and work - sharing. programs, according to ttie government. sg to the Communist party er Pravda, the west Is trying to edetente under a smokescreen ing dissidents and is interfering airs of the „communist coun- ,,,sPonse to Ainerlean pressure an rights, th4S6viet Union has ciindemned .dissidents in the iltlgoek arid their Western tick tame, In an editorial Nit'dettilletteetinter-blitst to Carter .'''itifittiniatrationss WC3RLDVVEEK criticism of the recent clampdown on dissidents in the USSR and other eastern European nations. According to the communist newspaper an example of American interference was "the recent act of the State Department of the United States Which expressed suspiciously warm 'concern' for 'dissidents' in the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia." The .State Department had expressed concern over the arrest of Soviet activist Alexander Ginzburg, who ran a fund for jailed dissideos and their families. It has also accused Czecholovakia of violating the 1975 Helsinki pledges on human rights by detaining members of the -Charter 77 group. In the first Russian press reference to dissident activities in Poland and East Germany, Pravda said a concerted Western campaign was being aimed at the Communist countries. Describing the campaign, it said there was'an "unprecedented hullabaloo over the anti -socialist lampoon, the So-called Charter 77, whiich was fabricated by a group ot right-wing counter - In addition, there was "a campaign in defence of 'workers' rights' allegedly violated in Poland and the continued fuss over the measures taken by the German Democratic Republic to safeguard its legitimate rights", Pravda said. But the editorial reserved its bitterest words for the Russian- dissidents "They are tryinA to show that there is an opposition to socialism „but really the opponents are just a small group who represent nobody, far from the -SoViet people in their thinking," Pravda said. "They exist only because.they are paid, supported and praised by the west." Russian authorities have accused the dissidents of being in the pay of the West through emigre organizations such as the NTS (People's Labor Alliance). A month before his arrest, Mr. Gin- zburg said he feared serious economic charges would be brought againit him following a raid on his apartment during which police said ther found- fbreign currency. He alleged that the police planted it there during the search. Dissidents have suggeested that the latest wave of arrests is -part of a crack- down before the Belgrade conference in June which will review the results of the 1975 Helsinki declaration on Human rights and East-West detente. Besides Mr. Ginzburg, recent arrests have included Yuri Orlov, leader of an unofficial group set up to monitor Russian compliance with the Helsinki pledges, and Mikola Rudenko who heads the group's Ukrainian branch. But the Pravda articleItiggested that the West was deliberately' using the dissident issue to secure its own position before the conference In Juni.