Loading...
The Wingham Advance-Times, 1983-02-09, Page 4TNS DV CE A page of a itorial opinion F!bruary 1983 Published al Wingham, Ontario. by W eager Bros. Limited Barry Wenger, President Henry Hess, Edjtor Member Audit Bureau of Member — Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Subscriptions $20.00 per year Second Class Mail Registration Na 0821 Robert O. Wenger, Sec.•Treas. Audrey Currie, Advertising Manager ' Circulations Ontario Community Newspaper Assoc. Six months $11.50 Return postage guaranteed Welcome sign of agreement The people of Wingham, as well as those in the surrounding townships which make up the local fire district, will be pleased that misunderstandings over changes in administrative pro- cedure have been cleared up. Chief Dave Crothers and members of the fire brigade met last week with representatives of the town and town- ship councils and it now appears that the path is now open to a logical consid- eration of whatever problems may exist in the proposal to broaden the ad- ministrative base of the area fire protection service. For many years the smoothly -op- erating area fire department, in which town and surrounding townships co- operated to provide excellent fire pro- tection, has been an outstanding example of just how well town and country people can work together to fill a common need. Another equally ef- fective example of such co-operation is the Wingham and District Hospital. Antagonisms between town and country dwellers are not uncommon in communities the size of ours but it is gratifying to know that such is not the case here. Knowing what we eat The ever-increasing use of pre- packaged and sometimes pre-cooked foods has posed a health problem which could make an important difference between the healthy generation and an ill -nourished one. A growing awareness of the many benefits of good health has led to the appearance of thousands of devoted joggers and walkers, so it is not surprising that many people want to know precisely what they are putting into their stomachs. Yielding to this widespread public concern the federal government has announced the first step in a campaign to give consumers a better idea of the nutritional values of the foods they eat. Health Minister Monique Begin has outlined a plan to require nutrition labels on some processed and pack- aged foods and encouragement of voluntary labelling on others. In the United States and some European countries standard labels are used to list the number of calories and the amount of protein, fat, carbo- hydrate, sodium and postassium in a typical serving of food products. This clear identification of ingredients is not only helpful to the healthy person who wants to stay that way, but is vital to the thousands who are on various types of diets, such as diabetics and those who suffer from high blood pressure. Advertising for certain types of foods favored by children should also contain clear statements of nutritional values and contents. For example, quite a few of the highly -advertised cereals contain from 40 to 50 per cent sugar — an ingredient which can cause not only tooth decay, but hyperactivity and, behavioural problems in young- sters. This recognition of the need to know what we are eating comes none too soon. In the days when our forbears were sweating out long days at heavy manual labor the problem did not exist to anywhere near the same degree. In the first place, sugars and starchy foods were not available, or at (east their price was so high that few could afford them. And secondly, the heavy exercise required in their daily work burned up the excess fats without any residual herrn' to their bodies. Clear labelling of contents on the foods we buy is a sensible requirement which will be of practical use to a high percentage of consumers. It makes a great deat more sense than compulsory use of metric weights and measures. A party's death knell? A couple of weeks ago it appeared that there would be a general insur- rection of labor in the Province of Quebec. Today that threat has all but evaporated. The Levesque government ordered a roll -back of some union workers' wages by as much as 20 per cent. With the province's school teach- ers in the van, public service and hos- pital workers were set to follow them off their jobs and into the streets. Under ,the threat of extremely tough legislation, some of which is still pending, most of the workers went back to their jobs. Although the threat of jail and -or heavy fines may have smothered the present labor conflagration, the sparks will smolder for a long time. The Partie Quebecois, which swept the province a few years back, has already lost siz- able chunks of its nationalistic halo. Its inability to deal with worse -than -aver- age economic woes has cost the PQ many erstwhile supporters. Arbitrary language laws and education regula- tions have sheared off another seg- ment. Now the drastic and heavy-hand- ed treatment of organized labor will, in all probability, be the last straw. Admitting the reality of Quebecers' desire to retain their traditional language and customs, the establish- ment of such priorities by government enforcement has proven the wrong way to achieve the goal. Most of us react better to persuasion than to command and the people of Quebec are no differ- ent. It is possible that the evidence of strong government action will be seen as nothing better than dictatorship when Quebecers next go to the polls. Violence unrestrained The United States is a wonderful country. Americans, there is no doubt, are a nation of achievers. They excel) in many of the skills and technologies which are so relevant to success in this century. But there are some aspects of their national life which we hope are never emulated in Canada. For the past two weeks we have read and heard about the progress of the truckers' strike south of the border. But by week's end there had been over two hundred incidents of shooting by striking truckers as they sought to ter- rify their .non -striking fellows off the roads — including several Canadian targets. Delivery of the Canadian - made space arm intended for the next shuttle flight was gravely endangered on its trip through Gegl ,ia'rae wipe perched on highway over • .. Sint 51 Fit the trucks passing below. Violence on Canadian picket lines is not entirely unknown. Non -strikers have been beaten, tires have been slashed and charges have be laid. But we have never heard of violence reach- ing such a stage that lives were threat- ened and people killed. Depsite Can- adian ineffectiveness in many situa- tions, we believe that, if "necessary, both police and armed forces would be mobilized to put a stop to such lawless- ness long before it reached a magni- tued comparable to that in the U.S. In fact it is difficult to imagine Canadians ready to shoot fellow workers, no matter how extreme the situation became. The dainage done to organized labor by such outbreaks is incalcula- ble. The image of violence and intoler- ance remains in the public mind long after the events themselves. Forgotten, perhaps even unknown are the many benefits which labor unions have achieved for working people. We tend to forget that it was unions which brought justice to the all but enslaved mine and factory workers, put the final trip of disapproval on child labor and vii,eat shop working conditions. Many of the larger unions today finance and operate comprehensive social services for members and their families. 1t is thus self-evident that not only government, but unions themselves should use every means at their dis- posal to put an end, once and for all time, the use of violence in labor disputes. 4 Pit) AF' A,1", 7/ERE/0 N07.'/4/& 0 CAN DO 1109YBE YOU ®v'i? �PEc,ALi.57®/ ::;:\ �\"�:;�•• �\tip\ `;\'��:*+. �~:::>..+.\�. �'+'.t, ` . Outstanding young people nominated as Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year Twelve outstanding young people have been named Ontario's 1982 Junior Citi- zens of the Year \ it was an- nounced by Ontario) Com- munity Newspapers and. CP Air, co-ordinator and patron of the Junior Citizen awards program. The selected 12 range in age from eight to 18 and were chosen from 104 nominations submitted by supporters, schools and community newspaper editors from across Ontario. Dave Wenger of.„Mount Forest, Chairman of OCNA's Junior Citizens program, said the 104 nominations represented a "very grattfy- ing” response in the second year of the program. "We had 172 nominations the first year (1981) and we heard about some terrific candi- dates for junior citizen awards,- he said. "I was afraid we might suffer from such an overwhelming suc- cess the first year — I was concerned we might not get many entries in 1982. But 104 Turnberry Twp. entries came pouring in and we were amazed at the qual- ity of the nominations. Every one was a worthwhile con- tender for an award. There are some great kids doing some fantastic things in our province." Lieutenant Governor Aird supports the program, whole-heartedly. "Our confi- dence in our future is renewed and strenghtened by the and courage," he said. "It is extraordinary that their outstanding achieve- ments should be accom- ijj1ishedpeot'il so young:'!' E. W. Ogden, CP Air's Vice -President, Eastern Canada said the . excellence represented by the young people nominated is "our assurance of a better tomor- row." He congratulated both the award recipients and all those nominated, for their outstanding citizenship. Although the panel of newspaper editors who judged the entries did not, attempt .to categorize the award recipients, the cita- tions were evenly distributed among three distinct areas of achievement. Chosen for outstanding service to their communities were Lisa Andreassi, 13 of Seaforth; Patrick Carter, 15, of Newmarket; Jose Medeiros, " 15, of Toronto; and Brenda Vines, 18, of Elmira. In the field of heroic acts, Tim Christo, 15, of Norwich; Annie Janzen, 12, of Strat- ton; Chantal Michaud, 13, of Mattawa; and Hack Waldon, 8, of Thunder Bay were selected.' Award recipients who have worked td overcome physical limitations include Steven Barkley, 9, of Win- chester; Leah Chorniak, 8, of Brantford; Frank Meyer, 18, of Mississauga; and Faith Swann, 18, also of Mississ- auga. All 12 Junior Citizens will be guests of OCNA at its annual convention in Toronto, March 4, where Ontario's Lieutenant Gover- nor, the Hon. John B. Aird Council concerned about costs associated with dump The incredibly high cost of establishing and certifying a waste `disposal site to government standards has members of Turnberry council concerned that those costs and stringent regulations will force many small municipalities out of the dump business. John Earl of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment attended last Tuesday evening's meeting of council to explain the government's certification process for waste disposal sites and to answer council's questions. Under MOE guidelines, all dumps in the province must have an approved plan of operation drawn up. Last year, Turnberry Township Council hired Maitland Engineering of Wingham to conduct the hydrogeological studies needed for the plan, but council instructed the firm to wait until the ministry informed council how much grant money would be forthcoming. Turnberry has been given priority for a grant this year, Mr. Earl said. The maximum grant available is $4,000 and the study can cost up to twice that amount, or Tess, he added. "How extensive a plan are we looking at?" asked Reeve Brian.Ji1cBurney. The first thing the MOE is interested in is the safety of the site, Mr. Earl replied. Therefore, extensive hydrogeological surveys must be made to determine how much, if any, con- tamination is at the site. Grey Township currently is involved in the study and certification process, said the reeve. That township has spent $12,000 already and it still doesn't have final MOE approval. "That site of ours is good for about another three years, so why spend a lot of money on a -plan? she asked. Mr. Earl said t-heplan could specify the site's present use as well as plan for its eventual closure. When asked how long it would take to have a new site approved, Mr. Earl admitted it is a lengthy proceedure. In addition to purchasing a new dump site, the township must have the area studied. If the municipality has a population of over 1,500 residents, a hearing, or even hearings, must be held over the matter. At last count, Turnberry had a population of 1,515. The whole process can take one to two years on average, he said, which is why council should be looking for an alternate site now. "Is it logical for us to go through the same process as a city like London?" asked Mr. McBurney. Mr. Earl said the township must go through the legal process of certification before the ministry can approve a site. The entire process of certification could cost Turnberry $20,000 to $30,000, which is "quite a little chunk", according to the reeve. Mr. Earl admitted those figures were not unrealistic. The other members of council said they thought those costs are outrageously high and agreed with Mr. McBurney when he said government regulations will put little township dumps out of business and municipalities will go back to the problem of having refuse dumped in the ditches and in farmers' fields. Deputy -Reeve Doug Fortune expressed concern over a new government regulation which forbids the burning of household gar- bage at the dump. For the sake of convenience, Turn - berry's waste disposal site is open all day Saturday, which makes it virtually impossible to get someone to compact the garbage at 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Therefore. it makes more sense for the refuse to be burned then instead of waiting until the first of the week because of problems with rats, litter and odor. Mr. Earl suggested that council write a letter outlining its concerns to one of his superiors at the Owen Sound office or arrange for a meeting at the regional office in London. Council instructed Clerk -Treasurer Dorothy Kelly to set up a meeting sometime in the future at the Southwestern Ontario regional office in London. will make the presentation to the Junior Citizens. The young people and their families will also be given a tour of the Ontario Legisla- ture and attend a reception with the Lieutenant Gover- nor in his Queen's Park suite. Citizens and the news- papers which nominated recipients, will also receive a certificate attestipg to their support of the Junior Citizen program. "The award program was launched in 1980 to recognize the province's "quiet -_cele- brities" — the -young people who exemplify such values as courage, ingenuity, resourcefulness and forti- tude that are fundamentally important in today's society," said Bill Pratt of Tillsonburg, president of the 225 -member community newspaper association. Summer Canada to create jobs Dear Editor, The Minister of Employ- ment and Immigration has just announced the Summer Canada Program. Under this program, funding is available to community organizations to carry out projects which will provide additional employment for students in your area. The projects must be of benefit to the community and provide jobs for students registered at the Canada Employment Centre or at the Canada Employment Centre for Students. Your application can be obtained from the Canada Employment Centre in your area or from the Employment Development Branch, London. If you are interested in applying for this funding, please contact a project officer in this office who can assist you in meeting the requirements of the progra m. Janet Richardson , Project Officer London HAROLD KEATING is a volunteer with the rehabilitation unit of the Wingham and District Hospital A resident of Belgrave, Mr. • Keating has been helping out at the rehab unit since the spring of 1 981 . tk.r Wingha1: zoning ylaVv approve with only some minor variations Almost eight and one-half years after it was fiat passed by the town council, the Town of Wingham's zoning bylaw has finally received the stamp of approval from the Ontario Municipal Board. While this approval makes little difference to the way the bylaw is applied, it does make it possible for the town to prosecute violators in a court of law and to seek penalties. Before, the town could refuse to issue a building permit which contravened the bylaw, but it could not actively prosecute offenders. In the end, the bylaw was approved with few changes from the way it was first adopted back in 1974. Of four objections presented to the board at its hearing last Tuesday, two were resolved by making minor changes while the other two were turned down. An objection from the Riverview Drive -In to its designation as strictly a drive-in restaurant, while it also does an eat -in business, was resolved by rewording the bylaw to permit "an eating establishment, including a drive-in" on that property. A problem encountered by Maitland Engineering, which found itself operating as an illegal use in a C-6 (service station commercial) zone, was cleared up by leaving that lot unzoned pending an application for a zoning change. That problem arose because the engineering firm took over a building which used to be a service station, however the town had issued building permits for the new use and no objections were raised to it. Two other objections, by Bateson's Dairy on Patrick Street and Joe's Truck and Trailer on Josephine Street, were left unresolved, with the board ruling that any changes to the zoning of those areas would have to be done as future amend- ments to the zoning bylaw. John Bateson had asked for a less restrictive zoning of the dairy, since the existing spot zone prevents him from operating anything but a dairy products outlet there and also requires building setbacks which make expansion difficult. However he declined to elaborate on his plans for the business, and OMB Chairman T. F. Baines, QC, who con- ducted the hearing, ruled that since the dairy is in a residential area it would not be proper to change the zoning without giving neighbors a chance to comment. The most controversial matter the board was asked to consider concerned Joe Clark's operation of a trucking business including a newly -built truck wash on a property which is zoned partly C-5 (highway commercial) and partly R-2 (medium density residential). A number of neighbors attended the hearing to object to the operation on the basis of noise and smell, while Mr. Clark, through his solicitor A. R. Mill, argued that the trucking operation is an existing use which predates the zoning bylaw and should be allowed to continue. Mr. Mill argued that, because of inaccuracies in the mapping of the zoned areas in the bylaw, problems with the zoning and the time lapse since the passage of the Official Plan in 1970 and the zoning bylaw in 1974, zoning of the property should be withheld until the various issues can be resolved. However John Skinner, solicitor for the town, argued that to leave the property unzoned would put the municipality in a "very difficult and perhaps dangerous position". It would put the town in a "virtually impossible" position with regard to protecting the rights of its ratepayers, he said, while at the same time making it impossible for the ratepayers to protect their own rights. He said if Mr. Clark is able to establish certain uses of the property as of 1974, the) town will have to accept them, but added the town should not be placed in a position where it could not prosecute violations of the bylaw which might have occurred since 1974. In his decision, Mr. Baines noted there is "considerable confusion" about the mapping on the zoning bylaw and the Official Plan, and said the board appreciates that both Mr. Clark and the town have some problems with the property.,, However he agreed with Mr. Skinner that this was not the place to make any changes to the bylaw in the face of so many difficulties. He also agreed that to leave the property unzoned pending resolution of the disputes could create a "hiatus in zoning" during which the uses which exist on the property today could gain the status of legal, non -conforming uses. He said the board does not see the present zoning as terribly satisfactory, but it would be even less satisfactory to decline to approve it. Therefore he approved the existing designations and left it up to Mr. Clark to seek any necessary amendment. Contacted following the hearing, Gary Davidson, director of planning for Huron County, said the decision leaves Mr. Clark with two options: he can apply to the town for an amendment to the planning documents to bring him into conformity with the bylaw, or he can wait and see what the town does. If he makes an application and it is refused, the whole matter could end up in front of another OMB hearing. On the other hand, if the town were to prosecute Mr. Clark for violating the zoning bylaw, he could then apply for a zoning amendment, which likely would halt the legal proceedings until a decision was reached on the amendment. Should the town decide to simply ignore the matter, the objecting residents could take action on their own and, if successful, could then come after the town for costs since it failed to enforce its own bylaw. "It will take a little time for the whole thing to unfold," Mr. Davidson said. The real question on the truck wash will be whether Mr. Clark has changed the use of the building from what he applied for on the building permit. "There's a lot of messy stuff involved in that one. The town's in a position where there is no easy way out." Mr. Clark said last Thursday that he had not yet decided what his next step would be. He was waiting for advice from his lawyer "whether we make the next move or they (the town) have to." "I'm not sure what the best approach is neither is anybody else by the sound of it." He said the board's decision did not surprise him. "I really expected that's what would happen. Now the town has a legal bylaw we can get everything out in the open and find out what happens next." In the meantime, he said, he will continue to do business as usual. Mayor William Harris said he did not know what the town's next step would be. The matter would be considered by council, which would have to make some decision. However he expressed satisfaction that the town finally has gained OMB approval of its zoning bylaw. "Now we can put some teeth in it." With regard to Bateson's Dairy, Mr. Davidson said the board decision leaves its situation unchanged "That building can stay as a dairy outlet forever. He can sell it or do anything he wants." In order to convert the building to any other use, however, the ownerwould have to go through the process of obtaining a zoning amendment.. "'"