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Home My WebLink AboutZurich Citizens News, 1978-09-28, Page 4Page 4 Citizens News, September 28, 1978 0 According, to Heather Worsell happiness is a salted _s®da biscuit.,,,,,11a,1,1,o„o,,„o1,11,,,,,111,,,,1,,,,1111„1, 111,,,,,,1111,1,„ 1,,,,,,11,,,1„s,11, 11„1,1,11,,,1,1,,,1, IViewpoint nuiuwoinnmm�nnninmiunniaiuiumn�nniiniuunnnnnnuuuiniunnunuuiuiniuuninninnuninnnnnimm�nisntniinnninnnininunnniunn�iuiniC Z.C.N. Zurich wants to grow The recent meeting between a ministry of the environment official and village council spread very little light on the town's future growth ... and that's too bad. Zurich is in the unenviable position of having an up to date official plan which clearly defines where urban growth takes place but also has two outside developers who seem reluctant to take their land out of an inactive stage. One of the problems very well could be a lack of confidence in the village as a viable community what with the continuing shift towards develop- ment in larger communities. An item which could renew the vigor of these two companies to get their developments off the ground is the proposal that the village take it upon itself to expand the capacity of the sewage holding ponds. This paper whole heartedlysupports such a move if it proves to be economically feasible even though the above two developments would not tax the ex- isting sewage capacity. If a municipality shows faith in itself by spending dollars to promote itself, it should beneficial a few years down the road. One of the problems that is mixed in with all the above is an apparent lack of communication between the ministry's Sarnia office and council. While this newspaper was only present for a small part of the meeting between the ministry and council, the ministry's representative Neil McMullen, displayed a somewhat flippant attitude toward's Zurich's situation. His reply to a question by Reeve Fred Haberer that the village might be better off with no growth at all was correct in a purely technical sense but it's something which is a blow to the elected leaders of community who have made a sincere ef- fort to promote growth. The growth of a community is a good thing if it provides a boost to the spirit of its people and to its businessmen. Hopefully, McMullen was sincere when he said he was willing to reassess Zurich's file. Wintario tightens up If there's one word that's become synonymous with this province in this decade it has to be "Win- . tario.” For what seems to be years now, the people of Ontario having been forking over their voluntary tax of $1 every other week for a chance at a $100,000 (or whatever it is these days) with the side effect of certain community groups being able to receive - part of the millions that have been "donated" to the province. As of August 1 a few road blocks have been put upon the golden road t o the Wintario millions s w' ith the province finally realizing the fact that some groups s hav e been receiving funds who were not in financial need.. According to a newsletter from the London branch of the ministry of culture and recreation a municipality must now submit a needs study and that projects submitted with a needs study will be on a priority list. One of the most important changes has been to the support of construction programs by non - municipal bodies. These projects will only receive high priority when a needs study has been con- ducted and where the municipality has contributed at least five percent of the total capital cost. The newsletter said these changes will allow municipalities to have a stronger voice in deter- mining the priority -of Wintario capital costs. The above changes could signal a complete revamping of the Wintario grant structure with an employee of the ministry str Yof culture r e and recreation telling members of a local recreation group a few months ago that the gdays of heavy Wintario support for major municipal cultural and recreational facilities may be severely curtailed. It's just one more indication that the economic situation of this province isn't as rosy as it once was and that the move towards less government started by California's proposition 13 is moving westward and northward. �I1111111U111i1lIIIlUlIU1111111111tU11lU111111��'11'6111��!��E��61u111�Ulihl1ull Miscellaneous Rumblings By TOM CREECH So the Post Ofhic is on strike, eh? At this time of year it is fashionable among the gentlemen members of the press to begin their annual (or semi-annual) series of swipes at that treasured government agency once known as the Royal Mail and now simply referred to as the Post Office. It's at this time of year when either the inside .._labor force or the letter -carriers decide to hitthe streets for a better deal that some of the heat leveled by critics of the postal system is directed away from management. The point of the matter is that criticism leveled at the Post Office for the simple reason of labor shor- tages and its adverse affect on the delivery of mail, is short-sighted. An example of the "let's criticize the posties" movement that springs up this time of year comes from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business in the form of their weekly column that's dis- tributed to weekly newspapers across the county. In a satyriclook at strikes in the public sector, Jim Smith of the Federation laments: "The trouble with strikes in the public sector, the way we see it, is that they aren't universal. For reasons which remain beyond our comprehension, it's always the same worker groups that hit the pavement: the postal workers, Air Canada, the postal workers, garbage men, the postal workers, transit drivers, the postal workers, garbage men, the postal workers and so on (not to overlook, of course, the postal workers)." Put yourself in the position of a post office employee: how would you like to be the butt of a joke on a rotating basis? (Sorry, I couldn't resist it. ) The point of the matter is thatthecristicismsof the Post Office over the years by the unions have been in large part, valid, as shown by a government study on the PostOffice, released last week. The report was prepared by three senior govern- ment officials appointed last April to examine the problems involved in converting the Post Office into a crown corporation. According to the study, a majority of the problems between the Post Office and its employees stems from the multiplicity of government agencies which the Post Office must deal with. The report says Post Office management now • must deal with three other departments; public works for building construction and maintenance, supply and services for payroll and the treasury board for its financing . And its hiring policies are ultimately governed by the public service commission. A change to a crown corporation would sever the ties from other government agencies and allow the Post Office to act in a more independent manner. It would be bloody hard to negotiate with a union if you knew that in the back of your mind there was a possibility that some bureaucrat in Ottawa's ivory towers could nix what you had accomplished over a marathon bargaining session. As this is being written, talks between the letter carriers union and the Post Office had broken off. Hopefully when they return to the bargaining, they realize that this could be the last strike against the Post Office in its present form and that the sooner they get back to work the sooner the machinery for turning it into a crown corporation can be im- plemented. I see where the city of Toronto's anti-smoking bylaw received a test in the courts with Toronto General Hospital being fined $400 for failing to post no -smoking signs in its reception area, While the hospital pleeded ignorance in saying that the no -smoking signs were ripped down on a con- tinuous basis, it nevertheless seems ironic that an in- stitution of that nature would be the first one to receive a conviction. .yAS:<s+°;naamnrAnar?®�s7,RrtN1:M!"!!PR iaRa14� �w • . `. 111161 *101 {OCAI HEWS Published Each Wednesday By J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Member: Canadian Weekly Newspapers Association Ontario Weekly Newspapers Association News Editor - Tom Creech Second Class Mali Registration Number 1385 Subscription Rates: $7.00 per year in advance in Canada $18.00 per year outside Canada Single copies 20-