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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-04-05, Page 4Zbe Wtngbam ante =trim( Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road, Wingham, Ontario Phone (519) 357-2320 Fax (519) 357-2900 J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 We are: Jim Beckett — Publisher Audrey Currie — Manager Cameron J. Wood — Editor Norma Golley — Ad. Sales Stephen Pritchard — Comp. Jim Brown — Reporter Margaret S.taplpton—Reporter Eve Buchanan — Office Louise Welwood — Office Z Member of: OCNA CCNA '? The Wingham Advance -Times is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership. Letters Policy All letters to the editor must bear the writer's name, telephone num- ber and address. The Advance -Times comes letters. We re- serve the right to edit, but will endeavor to preserve the author's intent. Deadline for letters is Monday before 10:00 a.m. Some exceptions may apply. Fax: 519-357-2900 or mail to: P.O. Box 390, Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 Editorial Viewpoint ouncil now feels vindicated following, a meeting with Wescast Industries chief executive office Dick LeVan. During the public session of the meeting it was ex- plained by Mr. LeVan that even if the town had given the auto parts firm the railway land in question to develop a driveway and preserve the former CN bridge, the cost of preserving the bridge would still had negated their idea. It seems the price tag of over $300,000 was too much. And so, with the announcement, we at the Advance - Times eat crow. Or do we? Never let it be said that we can't take our lumps as good as we dish them out. But like political bodies, we too have our say. The decision regarding the bridge was made in council some three weeks ago. The motion, made in a public for- um by Archie MacGowan and seconded by Denise Wil- kins -Treble, was to reject Wescast's offer to buy the land. During the entire discussion immediately prior to, and thereafter, there wasn't any mention of Wescast's aversion to the price tag on the project. Council may have had some idea that a high price tag would spell the end, but their actions were not indicative of that. They simply said no to an offer on some land through a major- ity vote. Was council apprised of the bridge cost? Only they know that for sure because that falls under council privacy rules..• Was even the offer a decent one? Same again. What leaves us still a little miffed, and wondering just what we should have for Lunch, is why this situation de- veloped the way it did. Of course there were the usual ar- guments of "I was misquoted..." and "My comments. were taken out of context..." But then again, these people on both sides are business people. They are supposed to base decisions on fact and figures. When they make comments to the media, they should expect those com- ments to reflect their business philosophy. So when one individual doesn't communicate with an- other, we're all left with partial ° facts and figures. So, it took a CEO and principle owner of the industry attending council to sort out the details. Hmm. That leaves us wondering how this business managed to reach the magnificent heights it has. When things get hot, like they have over the past couple of weeks, will it always be left to the CEO to sort it out? Who knows. As previously mentioned, the fact that the bridge costs were too high was never discussed in a public forum. And we can only wonder what was said during Monday's in camera session with Mr. LeVan. We apologize to council for the heat we placed on them over this, but bear in mind, we are expecting some company for dinner. — CJW :::�S:k+:i^:e.�:.:«�`;`�:SN •. ,: t'•.;�a..� :.^Kb5\�3�; .',C,`.iph:;�"����•,�.•`,?,�'3�\. . ,::ei.�5y.':Y,��.'.2%„ a:S�„'^;, �:4„S;<fi`,� �: a:ti:'t ii:6.:it.,o,.,F:,: .:; ,te e.<•:�;?§ S cs �kiC :?< : •e •x;:;,:: a,., .:.; `,�s : :•;vg;;k.:.,:aF:�y` Vic;, ...,...N..:.,�.ti.�...,::.:,.:.a..,.#.,...,...,...:.t.,.�.'t.:..�..�.�,:o>C`.>:..,aeo::,,a...:..::...:.:o.,.,a�N \:.c^5t:�'c��a�<. �3 M•�a ^'� WED MAY, APRIL 5,1995. F Specially hnne1we au]d'do without. Congratulations to our budding young scientists, as the suc- cessful candidates at the school level advanced to the region= al science fair in Goderich. with Margaret Stapleton APRIL 1948 The Wingham Town Hall was filled to capacity last Tuesday night when Teeswater talent pre- sented their minstrel show under the auspices of the Wingham Fire Department. The show was ex- ceptionally well presented and kept' the audience in a state of laughter from start to finish. H. H. Mann acted as interlocutor and Mrs. R. H. King was director and pianist. Mr. and Mrs. W. C. King, Brussels, announce the engage- ment of their daughter Janet to John Hastings Day, son of Mr. and Mrs. George Day. The mar- riage will take place in April. Congratulations to Marjorie Moffat, seven-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Moffat, who won a prize of $10 at the am- ateur contest held by the Brussels Lions Club recently. Marjorie danced the highland fling, accom- panied by her sister Jean. The Wingham Town Band is being taken over the by 2Ist Regi- ment RCA, Lieut. -Col. R. S. He- therington reported to the April meeting of town council. APRIL 1961 It was with an acute sense of loss that members of this commu- nity learned of the death last Tuesday evening of the Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Nimmo, who had served as minister of St. And drew's Presbyterian Church in Wingham for the past 16 years. Dr. Nimmo, who suffered a heart attack one year ago, was taken ill at Georgetown and died in hospi- tal a short time later. Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Parish, Wingham, will observe its 50th anniversary this year. A par- ish committee has been formed to be in charge of marking the occa- sion and includes Mrs. Owen King, Mrs. Clarence Borho, Mrs. Wilfred White, Anna McDonald, Gerry Brophy, John Hanna and Robert Ste. Marie. Wingham Town Council dis- cussed the merits of parking me- ters at some length at the April meeting. While some members felt that meters in the business area would be advantageous, it was decided to get public feed- back before proceeding. Marianne McKibbon of Wing - ham, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. W. A. McKibbon, became the bride of Beverly Brooks of London, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Brooks of Wingham. The ceremony was held in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. APRIL 1971 Plans are moving ahead for a building to serve as area head- quarters for the Department of Lands and Forests, which will be situated on four acres of land pur chased from the Robert Arbuckle farm south of Wingham on High- way No. 4. Mr. and Mrs. Brian Taylor, Minnie Street, will move this week to the farm they have pur- chased from James Wilsop on Sideroad 39-40 of East Wawa - nosh. Karen Ann Laidlaw, daughter of a Mrs. Arthur Laidlaw Wingham, was receivededinto he Wingham United Church by baptism last Sunday morning by Rev. Barry Passmore. APRIL 1981 Ronald Reagan, president of the United States, was wounded in an assassination attempt Mon- day. Barbara Bender of Wingham has been hired as the new admin- istrative clerk -typist at the Wing - ham Town Hall. , Carl Martin and John Vander- leeuw were inducted into the Wingham Lions Club last Tues- day evening. by Don Coghlin, past deputy district governor. Liberals can't get any higher TORONTO - Premier Bob Rae will climb into bed with anyone; but this is not necessarily a bad thing. The New Democrat premier has been more adventurous in seeking allies than previous premiers, for which he has not been given much credi t. Progressive Conservative pre- miers up to 1985 rarely gave public posts to those who did not echo their views and when they did it was usu- ally for crass gain. Premier William Davis in 1977 and desperate to regain a lost majori- ty, for example, named Liberal MPPs Phil Givens to the Metropoli- tan Toronto Police Commission and Vernon Singer to the Ontario Munic- al Board to create vacancies in seats he promptly won. David Peterson, when Liberal pre- mier from 1985 to 1990, gave jobs to. a dozen former Tory and NDP MPPs, but more to hand them a few dollars or weaken their parties as threats than for real help in govern- ing. Rae has also overwhelmingly ap- pointed his own party so that boards are stacked with former MPPs,: can- didates and officials, including many who have made the pilgrimage from other provinces. But he also has formed an increas- ing number of alliances with a few who do not share'his philosophy, his most conspicuous success being to hire Maurice Strong, multimillion- aire entrepreneur, apostle of Private enterprise and federal Liberal, to run with Erie Dowd the spendthrift Ontario Hydro. Strong has cut the utility's staff by nearly one-third, which a long line of Liberals shied from, and it has survived, kept down rates, an- nounced a profit and looks to have a secure future, which Rae never could have achieved but for' his strange bedfellow. Rae has taken on anot) t'. d ally in Davis as chairman of a board pro- moting exports. While the former Tory premier has not been a whiz in business and a. land development company he heads in struggling, for- eign companies are impressed by government titles, which gives him some value. Some of the same .can be said of Tory former lieutenant -governor Lincoln Alexander, whom Rae has drafted as an envoy of trade. Alexan- der was an MP and minister in the brief Joe Clark government and his stature will open doors. Rae 'has resurrected the respected Tory, and former Canadian Medical Association president, Bette Ste- phenson, to supervise province -wide school tests using experience of hav- ing been education minister for sev- en years. Stephenson also can be relied on to tell it as she sees it. She once called an opposition MPP a hypo- crite, retracted at the Speaker's re- quest, called him a guttersnipe in- stead and had to withdraw that too. Rae has brought back former Lib- eral minister John Sweeney, who re- tired at the 1990 election, to head a task force reducing school boards. Sweeney's forte was solving prob- lems with minimal confrontation, a talent the NDP can use. Rae named another retired Liber- al, the admired former attorney - general Ian Scott, to study a commu- nity college problem. Scott's last words as an MPP oddly had been that Rae appoints too many New Democrats. Rae chose another Liberal who caught his eye, Ann Golden, to study the problems of Greater Toronto. In her last spell at the legislature she was his rival party's director of re- search. Rae doubtless made these appoint- ments partly trying to show he is open to others' ideas and when faced with an election rind still has not ap- pointed many who do not share his own philosophy to public posts. .w. But he •has brought in a few and they have been appointees of quality - with the glow from Hydro he can even argue that they have started to pay off: