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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-12-27, Page 1Goderich SIGNAL STAR 132 YEAR -52 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1979 35 CENTS PER COPY Faces of the future Look inside this week for a special photo feature by Dave Sykes saluting the Year of the Child just ending. Dave has been collecting these photographs all year long. They are candid photos of local youngsters. You are sure to enjoy them. Also inside this week's edition are as many of the I Want To Be An Editor submissions as there was room for, as well as a group of essays by students from economics students at GDCI who are commenting on some of Canada's bigger problems as the decade closes. In the event that some have to be left out this week because of space limitations, watch for them next week in the first issue of 1980.,, Ministries reason for rnove BY SHIRLEY J. KELLER It sounds like a simple case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. One could say it is bureaucratic bumbling ... or government gobbly-gook. No matter what you call it, the Ontario Ministry, of Health and the. Ontario Ministry of Community of Social Services aren't at all agreed about what is planned for the Bluewater Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped just south of Goderich. The board at Alexandra Marine and General Hospital has been informed by ministry people - confidentially it appears - that within three There's still no final decision on the matter, but if the present plans in the AM&G board room are approved by the Ontario Ministry of Health, there could be a third floor on this building just above the main entrance to house, a 20 -bed psychiatric ,unit. While the board insists it has been advised by Ontario government officials that the present psychiatric unit housed at Bluewater Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped will have to move within three .years, Ontario. Ministry of Community, and Social Services say there is no reason for the shift. Ontario. Ministryof Health, in the meantime, continues to study the matter and local hospital hoard officials are optimistic the ministry will approve funding for the project. (staff photo) Palmer boycotts committee Bi' JEFF SEDDON Goderich Reeve Eileen Palmer told county council recently she would boycott the county social services committee rather than serve on it. Palmer told council she was unhappy with her three year appointment to the committee saying she didn't "believe" in social services and had "nothing to offer". Palmer' reacted to the appointment at Wednesday's inaugural session of county council. Traditionally council appoints- Its committee m..embers, at .the first session of the year and any council member finishing a term on' one co.m'mittee will be re -appointed to another. Palmer just finished a three year term on the health board and said she wanted to get in- volved in hard services. She said she had in- dica-ted she would like to serve on the -council road committee, planning board or executive com mittee. "I was looking for something I could get my teeth into," she said after the council session. The Goderich-reeve pulled no punches telling council what she thought of her appointment. She and Leona Armstrong, deputy -reeve of Grey townsh-ifyrtthe only two women c n the 32 member council, were both appointed to the Take a free. ride and stay healthy If you plan to celebrate the arrival of 1980 by partying and having a few drinks there's no need to worry about who's going to drive home. For the third year in a row a group of Goderich merchants is sponsoring a free New Year's taxi service in town to keep the big evening accident free. . Goderich Taxi and Bluewater Taxi will be available to all party gders in Goderich that will be heading home between the hours of nine p.m. December 3] and 2 a.m. January 1. If you call for a cab forget,the tab. It will be shared by 29 merchants in' town providedyouur party is•mithin town limits and your destination is within town limits. The numbers to call for the service are 524- 7305 and 524-6594. • Hosts and hostesses are advised to post these nurnbers near the phone to ensure any of their guests that tip the glass once to often get home ��safeiy. social , services committee and Palmer suggested the appointments smacked of sexism. "It's a sad day when two women are both stero-typed, ,in female bottle washing, diaper laundering, do-gooder roles," she said. She„said such thinking does no good for the cause of women in Huron county or in Canada. Palmer softened her criticism somewhat , saying she realized the striking committee had a difficult. task assigning committee roles and ,pleasing everyone. But she added that she had did .nat believe in the cause df social services and would "boycott the committee rather than serve on it". Armstrong did not support Palmer's claim saying later the Goderich reeve was not speaking for her when she made her comments. She said she has been on the social services committee one year and found the work beneficial. Armstrong 'conceded that when she was appointed to social services one year ago she had feelings similar to those.Palmer expressed. But she quickly added that she "enjoyed her work and I haven't washed any bottles or changed any diapers". Palmer stuck by her guns Wednesday. The social services committee met after the council session but the Goderich reeve did not stay. Bruce Shaw may follow in MKin1ey'sfootsteps BY SHIRLEY J.KELLER Bruce Shaw, Exeter, principal of Seaforth high school, is the first to announce that he is seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination for the. Huron -Bruce Riding to replace R.E.McKinley who has resigned. In a telephone interview last Thursday, the 37 -year old Shaw told the Signal -Star he has been considering federal politics in his future and wanted to be the first to put his hat in the ring for the job held by McKinley for 14 years. Shaw admitted he has been a little disen- chanted with the Clark government, noting he had been concerned about the "apparent flip- flop" on the matter of the Canadian embassy in Televiv and the "indecision" on the Petrocan issue. "I didn't like a lot of things that happened in the fall," admitted Shaw, "but I thought the budget was responsible, I thought there were other, more justifiable reasons earlier on for bringing down the government than the budget." But Shaw hasn't given up on Joe Clark. "I'm a party man," said Shaw. "I think itis still too early to tell what, anyone thinks of Joe Clark as a prime minister." A married man with two c ildren, Shaw believes the fact that Pierre Elli tt Trudeau is back to lead the Liberal arty, will work I in favor of the PCs. He doesn' think the Canadian people have changed their minds about the former prime minister. ' `,But the Liberals didn't have much choice," said Shaw. At press time, the date of the PC nomination 'meeting was unknown. Also at press time, no other PC hopefuls had announced their in- tentions to this newspaper, although it is un- derstood there are some more possible can- didates'in the offing. Shaw's municipal experience includes four years on the Exeter council as a councillor and four years as mayor. He is also president of the Progressive Conservative Huron -Middlesex (Provincial) Association. Asked whether he'd considered what would happen to his position of school principal if he were elected next February, Shaw claimed, "There are lots of capable people just waiting in the wings,; to take over from me." years at the most, the present psychiatric unit housed at Bluewater Centre but operated under the auspices of AM&G will have to move because of coming changes at Bluewater Centre. That fact was noted at the November meeting of the hospital 'board. Administrator Elmer Taylor said he could not elaborate further on plans for Bluewater Centre, but he did say the local hospital board is looking seriously at moving the psychiatric unit to AM&G and that the whole matter is under study presently also by the ministry of health. But the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services flatly dehies the psychiatric unit will have to move ... or that an alternate use is planned for the facility at Bluewater Centre. The Signal -Star was in touch this week with Dr. R.A. Farmer who is general manager of the facilities services division of the ministry of community and social services. Dr. Farmer said emphatically that there is "no pressure whatsoever" on the ministry of health or the board at AM&G to move the psychiatric unit out of the Bluewater Centre. "They are welcome to stay on at this site for 10 years or longer," said Dr. Farmer. The current lease with AM&G comes due in 1983, Dr. Farmer said, but it "can be and probably will be renewed". Dr. Farmer added that he had first heard of this matter about two weeks ago. He said he asked for clarification and learned there is no final decision by the ministry of health to move out of the Bluewater Centre. Dr. Farmer added that he understood it was entirely a detfsion by the board at AM&G to move the psychiatric unit to the Goderich hospital. In a telephone interview on Tuesday evening of last week, Bill Gregg who is administrator of the Bluewater Centre for the Developmentally Handicapped told the Signal -Star that he saw absolutely no reason for the psychiatric unit to be moved out of the present facilities. "I know of no alternate use that is planned for the Bluewater Centre," said Gregg. "I would be very surprised if that were the case." Gregg said there are presently 125 residents at the Centre and in the coming year, he's expecting another 25 residents to arrive. "Across the system, there are other people who belong to the catchn rit area to Bluewater Centre serves," said Gregg. However, even if these 25 additional persons do take up'residence at the Centre, there is still plenty of space for the psychiatric unit. Gregg admitted that some internal problems at the Q;entre could be alleviated if the psychiatric unit -moved out. But those are problems with workable solutions, having nothing at all to do with space available. This week, Elmer Taylor said he had been in touch with the ministry of health to verify his understanding that the psychiatric unit would have to move. - Taylor said he was advised that while the ministry of health could not speak for the ministry of community and social services, the matter of moving the psychiatric unit from Bluewater Centre to AM&G was being actively pursued and would likely be accomplished in the foreseeable future. Taylor claims the lease with Bluewater Centre is up in 1981, not 1983 as Dr. Farmer indicated,.,:,,. "That's really all I can say," said Taylor. At the December meeting of the hospital board, members went into committee of the whole to discuss --the new psychiatric wing proposed for AM&G`:"After that session, board members had nothing new to reveal to the public. "We're still very optimistic about it," Taylor said at that time. He also said the board was very hopeful that the ministry would find funding for the project. Earlier on the day of the board meeting, Taylor had been in Toronto on other business and had met as well with ministry officials. He said it was the results of that meeting and some other information, that was being discussed by the board. "The project is very active in their (ministry representatives) minds," Taylor insisted. Taylor was asked if he believes the ministry of health would consider closing down the psychiatric unit entirely rather than move it from Bluewater Centre to AM&G. The administrator said he doubted that. He„ pointed out that the ministry is very interested in small psychiatric units similar to the 20 -bed unit presently at the Bluewater Centre and the out-patient clinic in Wingham, both of which are operated under the jurisdiction of AM&G. The AM&G administrator said the ministry has plans to *aye another out-patient clinic established at Seaforth ands` possibly one in Exeter, both to be operated through AM&G's psychiatry department. First plans to move the psychiatric beds from Bluewater Centre to AM&G were announced publicly in November, after management •consultants-hired-byAM&G at the insistence d the ministry of health discovered that $115,000 in savings could be produced annually by relocating the unit at the local hospital. Board members learned that another $35,000 in savings had -been identified by AM&G ad- ministration, bringing the total annual savings by moving the unit to $150,000. The board presented plans for a 20 -bed unit to be housed on a third floor at AM&G, just above the main entrance; Cost for the project was estimated at about $1 million. However, board members agreed that without ministry participation, the costs of the project could not be borne by the hospital even with the $150,000 annual savings. Dr. Michael Conlon, vice-president of the board at AM&G and chief of psychiatry here, said while the project was dear to his heart, he wouldn't recommend that AM&G try to fund it without the help of the ministry. "It would be like tieing a noose around our necks for the next 10 years," Dr. Conlon said. Board members expressed concern that if the hospital took on the project, the drain of funds Turn topage 19• Pick up the carcass... but does it have to be done on overtime Reeve Eileen Palmer didn't like the idea of a dead cat costing the town money and told council recently she was going to try to ensure it won't happen again. Palmer was upset when she learned' from town road superintendent Stan Meriam that he had been called out one evening to remove a dead cat'frdm Bayfield Road. In his monthly report to council Meriam noted sev,:ral emergency projects he was called out at night to handle. One of those was the removal of a dead cat from Bayfield Road. Questioning Meriam about the matter Palmer learned that the road superintendent had been called away from home by the Goderich police. Meriam said the police con- tacted him at home and requested he come out and remove the carcass. Meriam said such calls. were not unusual claiming he had been called out since the time of his report to take a dead dog off the street. Both animals had been struck by a car. • He told council most of the calls are from police who either discover the carcasses or are contacted through complaints. Palmer felt such calls were an unecessary expense for the town. She said she had no ob- jection to Meriam answering such calls from residents of town but felt police could remove the carcass themselves. Police look for drinking drivers The ,Goderich police department and the Goderich detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police plan to step up patrols for drinking drivers-N-ew Ycar's-E-ve-.__. Spokesmen for both police units said Friday officers will be stopping any drivers suspected o operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. Both plan to stop m'Ore cars than would normally be stopped in one night. The effort by the police is aimed at ensuring that New Year's Eve is free from fatal or in - ,furious auc dent. and hopefully free from accidents. Officers from each can't remember a New Year's Eve accident free but are hopeful 1979-wilthrearftr`st. _ _ . _ For those that are stopped by police and are under the influence of alcohol the event will be expefisive. Officers have promise to lay charges where' the situation warrants it. Fines for liqour offenses under the Highway Traffic Act and the Liquor Control Act can range anywhere from $100 to $2,000 plus suspension of drivers' permits. She told council it cost overtirne wage for Meriam to handle the chore and the town is paying the police ar'fyway. She felt the officer discovering the carcass could dispose of it in some fashion himself. Meriam said he understood the reason the police called was to take advantage of the town superintendent's truck. He said they were not eager to put the carcass in the "trunk of their car". "It's not their car it's ours," said Palmer adding the town "doesn't have to pa,y police overtime". She told council she would be checking into the matter to see if another arrangement could be made with the police. Ding dong... this is a recording BY JEFF SEDDON For those of you that haven't noticed the chimes on the court house clocks are broken...and have been for a year. But that's not the bad news. The ancient chimes may have to give way to modern technology. They may be replaced by a cassette tape. Deputy -reeve Bob Allen told town council recently the chimes were beyond repair adding the type of chimes in the county court house weren't made any more. The chimes have been signalling the hour, and every quarter hour,_in Goderi'chsince.the present court house was constructed in the late '50s. Prior to the fire that destoryed the original court house residents of Godericlki heard the arrival of very hour when the clock struck. Town cl rk Larry McCab said the chimes were mai • tained by the tow and the county. He said the town had a sery a contract worth $500 to keep the chimes ope atirlg and of that Turn to page 19 •