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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1974-03-14, Page 1NO. 11 cru©0 FIRST WITH THE LOCAL NEWS SAFETY AWARD - The staff of the post office in Zurich were presented with a Certificate of Safety last week, by area inspector Harvey Pfaff, of Exeter, Left to right are postmaster Murray McAdams, assistant Mrs. Bella Farwell, and Mr. Pfaff. The certificates are being presented to post office staffs who complete one or more year without any type of accident. RCSS Board support amendments to H T A (by Wilma Oke) The Huron -Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School Board meeting in Sea - forth Monday night supported the position of Hugh A. Croth- ers, Toronto, who is seeking public support and support of members of parliament in the introduction of a bill amending the inconsistencies in the High- way Traffic Act. The Highway Traffic Act requires (a) School buses must have flashing lights operating when children are being loaded or unloaded. (b) School buses must have a sign or lettering, indicating "Do Not Pass When Signals Flashing." (c) Motor- ists --approaching from either direction must come to a full stop until the flashing lights stop. Mr. Crothers pointed out that these regulations are not requ- ired in areas where speed limits are not more than 35 miles per hour. He said the Traffic Act allows the Council of any city to exempt highways under its jurisdiction where speed limits may be more than 35 miles per hour. Mr. Crothers said it was an extraordinarily dangerous sit- uation and that the protection provided a child in a 36 mile per hour or over zone, is just as vital to.a child in a 35 mile or under zone, noting that being hit by a car at any speed could cost the life of a youngster. The board will write Mr. Crothers that its position is that all vehicles should stop when a school bus is taking on or letting off passengers in all sp- eed zones. Thackery Roofing of Kitchen- er is to replace the roof on St. Patrick's School in Kinkora at a cost not to exceed $7,131 and part of the roof on St. Ambrose School in Stratford at a cost not to exceed $4, 910 The work is to be done between May 1 and July 15. Valad Construction of Strat- ford is to demolish the house, garage and shed at 29 Well Street, Stratford, for $760. The property bought in Dec- ember 1973, is adjacent to Immaculate Conception School and will provide more parking space for the teachers. Patrick Carty of Stratford was named to the Convention Com- mittee to replace Joseph Looby who is away on a holiday. Others on the committee are Vincent Young, of Goderich, Donald Crowley and the Acting Superintendent of Education, Joseph Tokar. The committee will decide how many trustees are to attend the various conv- entions and conferences held for trustees in 1974 and will report at the next meeting of the board Nine trustees will attend the Ontario Separate School Trustee Council convention in Toronto on April 3, 4, and 5. They are Michael Connolly, Kippen, Francis Hicknell, Seaforth, Don Crowley, Gadshill, F.J. Vere, David Teahen, Howard Shantz and Patrick Carty, all of Stratford, Ted Geoffrey, Zurich and Arthur Haid, List- owel. Francis Hicknell was named chairman of the baa. rd Liaison Committee which will meet from time to time, with a similar committee composed of clergy, with Rev. Carl Keane, of Stratford, chairman, to dis- cuss relevant issues related to (continued on page 2) 071,61._ THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 1974 1064.11O6Nainalaynmaxpasimilasueamornm man 15 CENTS PER COPY Teachers urged to improve image (by Wilma Oke) "If teachers are going to continue to receive the respect and support of the community, of parents, taxpayers and cit- izens, they must improve their professional image, " Jack Riddell, Huron MPP, told about one hundred teachers from the Huron -Perth Unit of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association at a meeting in Seaforth Tuesday night. He said teachers should have the right to strike "as a last resort if negotiations break down completely" notwith- standing the fact that teaching is an important profession, it is not an essential service. Mr. Riddell, a former teach- er and Huron Board of Educatior. Trustee, said that there are many people in Ontario who insist that teachers should not be allowed to strike and are skeptical to the point of disbel- ief when teachers maintain that their real concerns are for the quality of education in our schools and not exclusively for their own well being. He told the teachers the public sees them as "overpaid and under - worked and they must convince the people of this province that although they do meet the standards of professionalism, they should have the same rights as other people working in areas which are not essential to health and safety of society." The teachers were told that a single professional organizat- ion with uniformly high stand- ards would enhance the image of teachers rather than the pres- ent fragmented structure which differentiates between women and men, Roman Catholic and Protestant, secondary and ele- mentary. "The time has come for tea- chers to decide whether they are professionals or organized labour, " Mr. Riddell said. Ontario teachers should acqu- aint the public with their exc- ellend record of responsibility, he said. He spoke of the fact that teachers have been negot- iating thousands of contracts with local school boards for the past twenty years, in only a relatively few cases have schools been closed by disputes. "We believe that in any case where the right to strike is denied, the affected employees must be assured of fair wage settlements through compulsory arbitration. The Provincial ceilings on local school board expenditures are inconsistent with such an assurance. School boards must now justify their financial activities to Tom Wells instead of to the people who elected them. They have no freedom in their contract negotiations with teachers, " he said. Many taxpayers support the Education Minister's spending ceilings which were established three years ago to limit spirall- ing education costs which have increased more than school board expenditures during the same period, Mr. Riddell said, He was critical of Education Minister Wells' action in bring- ing in Bill 274 last December in an attempt to prevent teach- ers from resigning, as it caused new tension in school board - teacher relations and was with- drawn because of massive opp- osition to it. Mr, Riddell said Bill 275 is opposed by trustees as well as (continued on page 2) can board official. claims demand high Filet mignon prices for white beans don't seem to be spoiling the appetites of Can- adian or European buyers a co- operative grain marketing conf- erence was told last Wednesday. Philip Durand, of Zurich, chairman of the Ontario bean marketing board, said the position of Ontario white beans has improved steadily over the past year. A year ago, less than one-half the 1. 8 million hund- redweight crop was sold and Ontario beans were selling for $10.50 on the export market. This year, close to 95 per cent of the crop has been mark- eted and a return of more than $25 a hundredweight to the producers is anticipated. The price right now is hover- ing around the $50 a hundred- weight level, but Mr. Durand isn't expecting that to hold. The bean board chairman said an acreage increase of at least 12 per cent is expected this year because of the high prices. Board representatives found European buyers ready to try Ontario's small white bean, and acceptance there is increas- ing. In Canada, sales do not seem to have been hurt by bad public- ity generated by the consumers' association and the prices rev- iew board over the high prices. Mr. Durand said he is convin- ced European countries are will- ing to pay a reasonable price for white beans, probably in the $25-30 per hundredweight range. He was optimistic about the industry's future. Ontario beans have an advantage because the research department has kept the industry ahead of competit- ors in production techniques. The result is that Ontario white bean yields are at least 20 per cent higher than Michigan's. But Mr. Durand said escalat- ing production costs could be a problem in the future, if Ont- ario producers are to continue to meet competition. 0 Bayfield village council is proceeding with the controv, ersial expropriation of about 2.3 acres of property, common- ly called the river flats, on the north side of the Bayfield River, RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY - A large crowd attended the official opening last Saturday afternoon of the new facilities of the Hensall District Co -Operative, located on Davidson Drive, in Hensall. A highlight of the opening was the ribbon cutting ceremony, performed by a past secretary of the Co -Op, Bert Klopp. Shown in this photo assisting in the ribbon -cutting are Gordon Dejong, a director, Delbert Geiger, president of the Co -Op, Julian Smith, general manager of United Co -Operatives of Ontario, Mr. Klopp, and Bill Dowson, vice-president of the organization.