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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1988-03-08, Page 5• 1.0 .16 (Continued from Page 4A) Andrew, 4. Princess Anne, 13, now takes fourth position. Miss Anna McDonald, . women's editor at CKNX, has been named as a member of the board of directors of th'e Conference of Women of Ontario. The Conference isan ad- visory body, working in conjunction with the Ontario Trade Crusade, under the Ministry of Trade and Development. At .the annual meeting of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority held at Wingham, Robert Wenger was elected chairman by acclamation. Alvin Smith of Turn - berry was elected vice-chairman. The resignations of Harley Gaunt and Don Sallows were tendered at the last meeting of the Wingham Fire Department. Jack Shaw of Wingham was accepted as a fireman. MARCH 1974 At Turnberry Central School, Ross Baird from Grade 8 went from class to class and Showed a beaver to the students. The rodent was, caught in Turnberry Township, weighed 45 pounds and was four feet long. The children touched the animal's thick fur and peculiar tail and a lot of questions were asked. Two new wheelchairs have been donated to the Wingham and District Hospital in memory of Mrs. Norma Anderson by her husband, Wilfrid. The wheelchairs have special removable sides which make moving from bed to chair or vice versa easier. '" Rev. R. H. Armstrong of St. Andrew's. Presbyterian Church is a patient in Guelph General Hospital following a tar accident near that city. Mrs. Armstrong was also in- jured in the accident. She was released from hospital on Tuesday and it is hoped he will be able to return to Wingham ,by the weekend. The car was extensively damaged. Miss_ Mary Ellen Walsh, of Belgrave returned home last week from the Northwest Territories, Fort Smith, where she was doing social work among Indian children. Murray Wilson was named to replace the ,late Donald Thompson as a livestock evaluator for the township of West Wawanosh when members of township council held their March meeting Canadians know from experience that trade brings great benefits to all. Our country was built on it. Foreign trade is the basis of our current prosperity. In fact, exports account for roughly 30 per cent of our income and trade with the United States; our biggest customer by far, brings in roughly a quarter of every dollar we earn. For the past 50 years, Canada has been seeking to gradually reduce barriers to trade through bilateral and multilateral negotiations. The new trade agreement that has been negotiated with the United States is the most significant step in this process — a process which will ensure that trade with our major partner will flow more freely and securely by the end of the- 20th century. It is an agreement designed to prepare Canada for .the 21st century. The agreement will: -Ensure our industries can grow from their Canadian base. -Encourage new investment in world-class Canadian enterprise. -Create a more stable and certain framework for co-operative relations between Canada aid the United States. --Set a bilateral precedent for global action. This agreement will give us im- proved and more secure access to the world's largest market. It will encourage Canadian producers to improve their competitiveness, and give them a market large enough to create the economies of scale and specialization necessary to be competitive in markets around the world. And aboYe all., it will lead to the creation of hundreds of thousands of new jobs, according to the Ecoribiinic Council of Canada. Of fundamental importance, the free trade agreement respects Canada's political independence and cultural sovereignty, Our system of social programs, and Our regional development policies. It preserves theseinstitutionS and values which define us as Canadians, and it does so in a way that increases our ability to maintain our way of life. One of the best analogies I have heard about what is being ac- complished here was by Charlie Mayer during his recent visit to Huron and Bruce Counties. Charlie, the Minister of State for Grains and Oilseeds, referred to the establishing of trade rules. He said that up until now, we virtually do not have any trading rules in agriculture. As an example: "Everybody knows thatNumber 99 (Wayne Gretzky) is the best hockey player in the world and he shows it every night when he goes out and plays. Every time he laces on the skates he shows the world how good he is, and one of the reasons he is able to do that is that he is playing a game that has some rules." No matter how good our product is, we can be the best in the world, but if we have to "keep our bulls hi a pen in a slab fence behind the barn because we can't get 'em out in the international marketplace to compete", literally it doesn't matter how good we are, we can't compete in a world that has no rules. We cannot ignore actions by the Europeans and Americans. The vastness of that competition is more than we could take on withoutrules. The.only sensible thing for us to do is to sit down and work out a deal so we can compete with a common un- derstanding of what the rules are. That's essentially what we are doing! Ontario's future looks very good indeed under the free trade agreement. Right now; the Americans sell as much to the Province of Ontario as they do to the country of Japan. We;, are very important to: them. The American market is equally as impotent t lad: _SAA new study released by the Ontario Treasury Department says that Ontario's economy has, been outproducing all its U.S. coun- terparts, and Will continue to expand under the .agreement. The study indicates that free trade for Ontario will result in lower consumer prices, increased real incomes, a stimulant for industry in general, a tom petitive boost to some Canadian industries in the U.S., and a positive net effect for Ontario. Despite Premier David Peterson's allegation that free trade will hurt the automotive industry, his own treasury department expects the Ontario share of North American auto sales and . production to in- crease in the coming years. The main concern in the farming communities seems to be supply management. The question rural members of Parliament are hearing is: "Willour supply management programs survive in the free trade agreement?" I can answer that with an unequivocal yes! This is specifically addressed in the agreement. It recognizes Article 11 under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which makes provisions for countries to impose controls in order to protect the in- tegrity of their supply management systems. This was demonstrated by the recent announcement that the im- portcontrol list is being amended to include ice cream, ice cream mixes, ice cream novelties, ice milk and mixes, and yogurt. Also, liquid forms of skim milk, buttermilk, and blends of these products. I am convinced that the free trade agreement and the trade rulings established will create solid op- portunitiesfor Canada's agriculture and export industries. The major (concerns have been addressed. Supply *MOtl09bA,�Aw.-... ra ■4 a=ataaea�,Ci[1Cn6 will be maintained. The underpinnings, including quotas, have been retained and we retain the .right to introduce the new supply management systems. That is all good news for agriculture! Important note: The Free 'bade Hotline numbers as printed in my February Householder have been changed. The hew numbers are: 1® 806-261.8527, 1,600.26782, 140467 - country - -267- country. —John FKennedy • d• •S.Ii1lI a a . or�h keyparent coach . and who become .appalled at the co!ntaet' violence w lie.h Deems to have in- ' I hav+ filtrated the game. At present,, I aria : sesta tl , trying ,conduct a s roviace-wide Devel +tlp�t survey to see if there are others who help de rLsl feel as: I do--- that a major change is �--'dere n needed in minor hockey. players: regj - The only plausible way I cap see to andanother Iii do this.survey is through the:local. papers of Ontario. Therefore, I ate writing you to ask for your help by carrying this accompanying letter in your newspaper..By doing so, you may be helping the. development of Canada's greatest game, and making it more fun for thousands of children. Please rest assured that my only motive for this survey is to make hockey safer and more fun for the thousands of or children who love to play this game. Sincerely Kevin Dunlop Concerned Parent Editor's note: Following is. Mr. Dunlop's open letter, addressed.to all minor hockey parents in. Ontario. "I am writing this letter to you as a fellow minor hockey parent and coach, because I need your opinion and your help. Over the past six or seven years, I have become in- creasingly appalled at the amount of unnecessary violence and the use of intimidation, tactics which seem to have become part of minor hockey. "I am at the point where I have decided that, my three boys will not be allowed to play 'OMHA' hockey beyond the Atom level (body contact starts at the . PeeWee.rage _ group) unless something is done to clean up the game.If you have had, or are having the same thoughts, then perhaps we can join together and help change this great game for the better. "What I am proposing to you is the elimination of body contact in all levels of minor hockey. Tyke, Novice, Atom, Oldthners, and most men's recreation leagues now play no -contact hockey and I don't think you'd find many of them saying the game has deteriorated _ because of the lack of hitting. To the contrary, most will tell you that both thespeed of the game and the skill of the players have increased. My per- sonaI opinion is that a combination t of high emotions, sometimes e questionable coaching tactics, a e feeling of invulnerability, and in- consistent officiating, all combine to present a problem with too many s variables to allow for a quick solution under the present format. I re are 0, (Major tinnier ) w main feeding ' ground professional -hockey.. —Less than one ' per cent I amateur boekey playersin will turn.prooessianal: and only 0,1 per cent played'in the "My point is this: over r cent. of all amateur haokey players play' the game for fun and recreation': It is not a means of earning a laving! Itr is a game! I feel we should do whatever is necessary to keep it as much fun as possible, and let: those - few who' decide to make hockey a career, learn the hitting skids from professional coaches; "My Main- Concerns are: 1. To keep the game fun for:all players; 2. To ell. to .the fear factor and intimidation tactic, 3. To :protect the smaller players; 4. To allow for greater skills developmentby taking the emphasis off hitting. "If you are also a concerned minor hockey parent -- whether or not you agree with my opinion --please take a minute of . your time and answer the following questions. Then, mail your reply to Kevin Dunlop, Box 1168, Bracebridge, Ontario, POB 1C). "MY goal is-to-have12 ,000 or more responses, compile the data, and take the : exults ..,io__..the-- OMHA general meeting in. June. Hopefully, with a' united effort we can affect a major change in time for the next hockey season. "Thank you all for your help" Questionnaire Name and address. Number of children in minor hockey and their ages. Leagues — OMHA, MTHL, ODHA, NOHA, Other? Are you concerned about the violence in minor hockey? Yes or No Would you like to see body contact eliminated from all levels of minor hockey? Yes or No " May I use your name on a petition o the OMHA and other league xecutives requesting the limination of body contact in all levels? Yes or No Can you think of any other possible olutions to this problem? Further comments. Kevin Dunlop calls latest Reader upset, C•UPW plan outrageous Dear Editor: The plan by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to use $2 million in^ wurkerst. forced dues to campaign against 49 MPs in the next federal election is an outrageous affront to democracy in Canada. An overwhelming majority of Canadians — including members of unionized households — oppose the use of forced union dues for political purposes, polls have repeatedly shown. On July 4, 1986 Justice White of the Supreme Court of Ontario ruled in my favour when he decided that "the use of compulsory dues for pur- poses other than collective bargain- ing and collective agreement ad- ministration cannot be justified in a free and democratic society; where the individual objects to arch 'ase," I've urged federal Labour Minis- ter Pierre Cadieux to live up to the 00-0 And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your . spirit of Justice White's decision by amending labour law without delay. I ask your readers, if they agree with roe, to urge him likewise. ..., Sincerely Mery Lavinge, 580 Brewster Street, Haileybury, Ont. PUC to pay for employee's benefit package The Wingham Public Utilities Commission has agreed to pay a retiring employee's benefit package for one year in view of his long service. Ken Simmons retires this May after ahm sst 30 years with the PUC. Even though at 64 years of age he is taking an early retirement, the commission will pay Mr. Sinnnons' hospitalization and dental benefits for one year. The premiums will amount to approximately $600 per year, according to Ken Saxton, PUC. manager. •