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Home My WebLink AboutZurich Citizens News, 1974-08-29, Page 4PAGE 4 ZURICH CITIZENS NEWS THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 1974 It looks like we will be pay- ing an extra $300 million this year for hospital services. Hospitals across the Province have recently completed wage settlements with nurses and other hospital workers which will cost about $400 to $500 million extra per year accord- ing to the Ontario Hospital Association. When the financial estimates for the Ministry of Health were introduced in April the figure required for operat- ions of hospitals was about $1.2 billion. Since the government operates on a fiscal year which starts April 1 and ends March 31, it will not have to ask for the whole $400 to $500 million, as our fiscal year is already one-third over. I predict that when the Legislature resumes sitting in the fall, Health Min- ister Frank Miller will have to ask for about $300 million in supplementary estimates in ord- er to pay for all the recent wage; settlements. A couple of years ago, form- er Health Minister Richard Potter decided to do something about the high cost of hospit- als. He instructed hospitals to close down beds and cut back services. This measure was supposed to save us some money, but I have yet to see any savings. Instead the health bill just gets larger and larger every year. At the time of the cutbacks, Dr. Potter said we would be moving away from expensive treatment in hospitals wherever possible, and toward treatment in less expensive extended care facilities such as nursing homes. Dr. Potter imp- osed a freeze on capital const- ruction of hospitals, he granted only a ago increase to the oper- ating budgets of hospitals and closed down 1, 500 active - treatment beds, Obviously these measures were unsuccessful in keeping down the cost of what Dr. Potter described as a "Franken- stein monster" our Provincial health bill. There has never been a co-ordinated approach in the Ministry of Health to really try to apply some fin- ancial contraints on all sectors of the health care delivery system. First the Ministry of Health re -organized itself, then it decided to appoint a Task Force on Health Planning --it's rather like putting the chicken before the egg. The Government knew Jottings by Jack from Queens Park several months ago that there were going to be some labour problems in hospitals so rather than dealing with them, they appointed a Committee to look into the problems back in Jan- uary. The Committee still has not reported and all the wage settlements are long since passed. I wonder what the cost will be to the taxpayer for the Committee whose recom- mendations will now seem after the fact? If the health bill continues to increase at the rate it is presently increasing, it will bankrupt the Province by the year 2, 000. This is becoming obvious when just four months after the start of the fiscal year the government is already $300 million short. Did you know that the target date for total conversion to the metric system is 1980? The Federal Government first start- ed moving in that direction in 1970 after the publication of the "White Paper on Metric Conversion in Canada." Although this is Federal respon- sibility, it will require the co- operation of all levels of government. On highways around Ontario you can already see the beginnings of conver- sion as some road signs show distances in kilometers. The Provincial Liberal Cau- cus held a Thinkers Conference in Hamilton last weekend where ideas were discussed which could form Liberal pol- icy for the upcoming election. There were 20 papers published ranging from Women's Rights to Agriculture. Experts in var- ious fields of interest were present as resource people and participated in the various discussions. With an election probably no more than a year away, the Party is gearing up for a good fight. A serious shortage of housing is developing very rapidly in Ontario. The latest Central Mortgage and Housing Corpor- ation figures show that the number of loans from approved lenders for the first seven months in 1974 was 9, 291, this is down from 26, 902 for the same period last year. The total number of CMHC loans for the first seven months in 1974 was 14, 660 --this is down from 32, 046 for the same per- iod last year, whichis more than a 5O10 drop in one year. ZURICH Citizens NEWS PRINTED BY SOUTH HURON PUBLISHERS LIMITED, ZURICH HERB TURKHEIM, Publisher Second Class Maii Registration Number 1385,0 Member: ' Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association •'4�R X54 ®yd* a' Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association; Subscription Rates; $5.00 per year in advance in Canada; $G.00 in United States and Foreign; single copies 150 International Scene (by Raymopd CONFUSING BUT NOT AMU SING In case you haven't noticed it, we have a very confused world on our hands righ now. To a considerable degree, this has gone unnoticed by a majority of Canadians who are more occupied with the rapidly increasing cost of living than they are with international affairs. Nevertheless, the infl- ation we have been experienc- ing lately is just part of the total picture and, while all our inflation is not caused by external events, some of it certainly is. Take a look at the price you have been paying for sugar lately. If somebody had told yoi a while back that some day you would be paying at least 50l a pound for sugar, you would have laughed at such a ridiculous statement. Yet that is about what you are paying for this essential commodity these days and there is no indication that it is about to go down. It may even get worse before it gets better. The same thing may happen to wheat that has happened to sugar. We have all the wheat we need but this year's crop is going to be below expectations and so is that of most of the wheat growing nations. The law of supply and demand is a fairly accurate gauge here and a drop in wheat production can only mean one thing --high prices for everybody, including Canadians. Part of the problem, however, is not due to any real drop in supply coupled with an increase in demand. It is simply because the world is experiencing a considerable amount of confu- sion in how to prevent specul- ation and panic buying from driving up prices. I can assure you that the cost of producing sugar has not risen nearly as much as the price we are paying for it and so you may rest assur- ed that the 500 a pound is due partly to people in the industry trying to make a fast buck. I am involved, to a considerable degree, in the commodities market and I have watched offer after offer jacked up in price by brokers out to make a fortune or by people trying NOTICE To Students Attending Schools Operated By The Huron County Board Of Education The procedure for the first day of the Fall Term, Septem- ber 3, 1974, shall be as follows for all schools operated by the Huron County Board of Educat- ion: 1. All schools will open at the regular hour in the mornings. 2. All buses will travel at the regular time in the morning. 3. All schools will close ONE HOUR EARLIER than usual. 4. All buses will depart ONE HOUR EARLIER than usual. R.L. Cunningham Transportation Manager HURON COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION 103 Albert Street Clinton, Ontario. Cannon) to buy a commodity at any price. I was involved in negot- iations on a commodity that was offered by the producer at $19. a ton. By the time all the brokers and sepculators had finished with it, the price had risen to $29 a ton. In other words, 10 dollars a ton had nothing to do with the cost of production; it was simply a case of too many people trying to make a profit. You may have read that a large German bank had to close its doors recently due to errors in speculation in foreign (continued on page 10) DASHWOOD Phone 237-3381 or 237-3422 Banghart, TKelly, Doig and Cos Chartered Accountants 268 Main St., Exeter ARTHUR W. READ Resident Partner Bus. 235-0120, Res. 238-8075 Business and Professional Directory OPTOMETRISTS J. E. Longstaff ,OPTOMETRIST SEAFORTH MEDICAL CENTRE 529-1240 Tyesday, Thursday, Friday, Sat- urday a.m., Thursday evening CLINTON OFFICE 10 resat Street 482-7010 Monday and Wednesday Call either office for appointment. 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