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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1995-12-06, Page 4je ; jngbam gbbance tl Gimes Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road, W ingham,.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 Cathy Hendriks — Ad. Sales Stephen Pritchard — Production Jim Brown - Reporter Margaret Stapleton—Reporter Eve Buchanan — Office Louise Welwood — Office CL 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 wel- 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. Sott}e exceptions may apply. Fax: 519-357-2900 or mail to: P.O. Box 390, Wingharn, Ontario NOG 2W0 Edit°Hai Viewpoint orttze when roads are closed uron County Engineer Denis Merrall is on target when he says that the time has come for county residents to assume more responsibility for them- selves when travelling on county roads in foul weather. The county, in light of the Harris government transfer payment reductions, has made the decision to stop plow- ing county roads between the hours of 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. The decision, Merrall told council last week, has been part of Huron's own austerity plan with poten- tial to save the county from more serious budget deci- sions despite the provincial economic statement. Some argue that the decision places a severe strain on the liability of the county, stating they would rather pay overtime of roads maintenance than have someone dead in the ditch. As residents living in the region with perhaps the best road system in the province, the time has come for all of us to prioritize what that convenience means to us. Mer- rall is saying to county residents that in bad winter weather, justify having to be on the roads beyond the maintenance schedule. The time has come to look deeply at our overly -mobile, ultra -transient 'lives. By maintaining the roads until midnight, and begin- ning early in the morning, the county roads department can ultimately preserve the zero per cent increase on tax- ation from their point of view. Internal restructuring has led to even greater savings. Merrall says the hours of maintenance will still allow the majority of residents the opportunity to safely travel to work: the main priority of adulthood, he claimed. Our lives, in the cozy comfort of Huron County have become overly convenient. Many of us hear the tales of previous storms. We have seen the pictures of 20 foot snow banks, and trucks literally carving trenches along Highway 21. And despite the fact that winters are not nearly as bad as they once were, few seem to have main- tained their respect for Mother Nature's winter wrath. The time has come for us to consider our priorities when travelling along the highways in winter. Employ- ment may be one priority to take us out in bad weather; or family emergencies. But a few tonics in the neigh- boring town after broomball or hockey may not be as im- portant as we think. Snowstorms and Denis Merrall's roads department may also have the key to preserving family unity in Hu- ron County. With the greater chance of getting snowed in at home, perhaps we can turn our attention to some very important family time and encourage in the imaginations of our children tales of the great storms of 1995-96. CJW WEDNE L1A) DECEMBER 6 4 reason to smile W€ngfinm. The county. For already having an austerity plan to cope with massive cuts introduced by the provincial government. Foresight is a tremendous gift to have. with Margaret Stapleton DECEMBER 1948 A good crowd was on hand for the town nomination meeting last Monday evening. There will be an election for reeve and commis- sioner, but several offices were filled by acclamation. Jack Reavie was acclaimed to the mayor's seat, while Robin Campbell, Jo- seph Clark, W.W. Gurney and Norman Rintoul were returned to council. They will be joined by two new members, Hugh Carmi- chael and Norman Welwood. Canadians, as well as other citi- zens of the Commonwealth, are surprised as well as distressed to learn of King George VI's illness. It is hoped that his ailment will yield to rest and treatment. Homemakers can luxuriate in the new Westinghouse appliances now available at Pattison Radio & Electric in Wingham. A "true - temp" refrigerator sells for $369, an electric range for $299 and a new Westinghouse ringer wash- ing machine for $159. The first meeting of the North Huron Junior Farmers was held in the Foresters' Hall, Belgrave, last Thursday night with 70 district young people present. C.R. Coultes was named honorary president and Jack Currie, presi- dent. Frank Nesbit and Audrey Bradburn are vice presidents. DECEMBER 1961 Ivan Haskins is the new reeve of Howick Township. Morley McMichael and Morley Johnson have been elected to the school board. The newly -constructed Toron- to -Dominion Bank in Wingham will be open for business on Mon- day, Dec. 18. Merkley's new "Red Front Grocery" holds its of- ficial opening this Thursday, Fri- day and Saturday and the new Wingham Motel opens to the pub- lic this Saturday. Cyril "Cy" Robinson is the new president of Branch 180 of the Royal Canadian Legion, Wing - ham. He succeeds George Brooks, who becomes past president. Vice presidents are Glen Sinnamon and Dave Crothers. Over 100 members of councils from rhunicipalities served by high school districts at Ripley, Lucknow and Wingham met to discuss a proposal to establish a composite high school at Wing - ham. It was noted that the federal government would pick up 75 per cent of the cost of the building and the province the remaining 25 per cent. DECEMBER 1971 Contrary to common knowl- edge, "lightning" has struck in Wingham three times since last spring. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hender- son were advised they were win- ners of a 1971 Comet in a draw at Orangeville on the weekend. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Garniss won a car in September and Mrs. Day won a major cash prize in a bingo earli- er. Wingham's newly -formed maj- orette corps, the Deb -U -Tons will take part in the town's Santa Claus parade this Saturday under the direction of Patti Robertson. DECEMBER 1981 Ashfield Township is not at the top of the list of sites being con- sidered for a liquid industrial waste disposal plant, says Huron County Planner Gary Davidson. Local township councils are be- ing approached this month for their approval of a plan to enlarge and renovate the Wingham Fire Hall. Executi ve members of the Wingham Happy Gang szniors in- clude Annie and Johnston Conn, Verna and Gordon Fr mcis and Jean and Russell McGuire. Herb Phillips is back in his fa- miliar spot with the Salvation Army ball collecting donations. Some user fees don' When it comes to implement ing user fees for certain ser- vices in the province, I must admit I have a real problem. Not being a tremendous believer in socialist policies, I do feel certain areas of government services should . be free to all citizens of the province. Take, for example, the latest pro- posal in light of massive budget re- ductions following last Thursday's economic statement. Libraries across Ontario are facing a 40 per cent re- duction in grants. For many, this . leaves little choice but amalgama- yon, closure or user fees. :4 Most recently we discussed the Huron County Board of Education's consideration of a recommendation to limit credits for students in high school. Despite minor exceptions, it surely can't big that tremendous an issue when we consider the amount of non classroom waste that tradi- tionally occurs within school boards. Libraries offer one thing: educa- tion. No matter what specific service one uses when they enter a library, they have a greater knowledge when they leave. Libraries are the corner- stone of our progressive society. They hold the answers to the majori- ty of life's questions and the solu- tions to numerous problems. Yet, we go again, talking about placing an economic restriction on access to knowledge. Limiting op- portunities where we should be en - The - Outer Edge Cameron J. WOOD make sense couraging them. Many communities are spending a great deal of time and effort on liter- acy. Across the continent it has be- come a forefront issue of this dec- ade. We see programs sponsored by. some of the biggest corporations to improve their employees reading and numeracy skills because better edu- cated people can produce better products. There is a strong beginning to commitment to intellect; whether that intellect is Cat in the Hat or Dante's Inferno. To request user fees for such things as books rubs me the wrong way. Primarily because I earn my living from the written word, I feel I must defend people's access to it. Books, and even newspapers, have gradually become an expensive luxury in the Western world. Paper costs, production costs, distribution, etc., have put the written word in a position of luxury. Yet, with local li- braries offering the opportunity for those who cannot buy off the shelf a chance to read and learn, have guar- anteed that :everyone has access to new opportunities. Yet, other areas of our social fab- ric go untouched: unmarred by gov- ernment budgets. People have been screaming blue thunder because the Harris govern- ment has axed some of the money earmarked for health care. But, when people shuffle off family members every time a snee;e is sneezed or a sniffle is sniffled for more antibio- tics, it puts incredible, unnecessary strains on our health care system and drug benefits. There has been talk about the ef- fects this same level of user fees will have on seniors. But when physi- cians prescribe drugs at will that may not have any impact on overall health (and there's talk of people be- ing over -medicated), further strains are felt by all. The time has come for each of us to take greater responsi- bility for our own temples. If we simply allow ourselves to take ad- vantage of our health care systems, then we deserve incredible taxes and substantial user fees. But, this responsibility boils down to education. If we cut off access to information, be it through user fees at local libraries or restrict the num- ber of credits for students, we are setting our selves up for a society that becomes increasingly consumer and significantly less producer. A balance is required. But some services are better left untouched. Overweight public sector on diet TORONTO -- Progressive Conser- vative Premier Mike Harris is cutting Ontario's overweight public service and he is really tearing down the house the Tories built. By downsizing public service jobs to reduce debt and taxes, Hams de- serves a niche as the first premier to tackle a job that was long overdue (although many will argue he is go- ing too far.) But Harris is kind to his party when he blames the Liberal and New Democrat governments from 1985 until last June for building up an ex- cessive public service, because Tory governments in the previous 42 years built it more than anyone. Al- most every time a concern was raised in the legislature, Tory pre- mier William Davis and some prede- cessors would set up a branch of government to cater to it. Through having too many em- ployees, the Tories allowed it to be- come almost a byword that public servants did not have to work hard (although some did) and more could always be hired and paid for by tax- payers, the bottomless pit. In the Tory governments, managers who often were Tories were allowed to build empires and had the incentive that their salaries increased if they had a bigger staff. Provincial employees were given more holidays than others, including a day off for Remembrance Day even when, as recently, it falls on a weekend on which they could visit a cenotaph, which meant even more with Eric Dowd were needed. The Tories created jobs for rela- tives and friends when none existed. A press aide to Davis got him to in- vent a job for her husband in an arca where they wanted to live so she could run for MPP, although there was no work to justify it. Another Davis aide had five of his children on the government payroll at a time when there were no jobs in the pri- vate sector for incoming youth. The Tories set up the system, now to be dismantled, which provides a huge staff to serve the legislature as if it operates year-round. when in ef- fect it sits only a couple of days a week so the rest of the time many do nothing. They offered little resis- tance to demands by public sector workers with loud voices and. for example, allowed teachers to gouge out pay and pension and other bene- fits private sector workers can only dream of. Although they once brought in a bill to ban teachers from striking to back their lobbying, the Tories retreated when teachers swarmed the legislature. The Tories rarely noticed all this fat when they were in government, because they wanted to avoid of- fending ffending the huge public service vote, while the Liberals in opposition had no criticisms for the same reason and the NDP defended workers no mat- ter what the issue. Before Davis left, after concerns about cost, the Tories even boasted that they had cut the public service. But instead they hired consultants and classed workers with as much as five years' service as temporary so- they othey did not show on the list of em- ployees, which enabled them to claim they had reduced the public service while the puhlic wound up paying as much as before. The Liberal government that suc- ceeded the Tories thought good times would last forever and added more programs and jobs, although some merely by properly upgrading the temporary employees to perma- nent. The NDP government added a few more before accepting that it was in deep financial trouble. And the NDP's Bob Rae, not Harris, then became the first premier in half a century to make deep inroads in pub- lic service costs through his so- called social contriitt, but this forced puhlic servants to take Jays off with- out pay rather than cut jobs. The Tories are comparative John nies-corne-lately to the idea of cutting the public service and even built it up -- and, ironically. lured many to jobs they will now lose.