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HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Citizens News, 1976-06-02, Page 7Jottings by Jack -from Queen's Park Want farmers prctected The Minister of Agriculture announced the establishment of a financial protection task force to review methods of protecting farmers against default of pay- ment for their products. In making the announcement, Mr. Newman said he is concerned about a situation where a pro- ducer sells his entire crop or livestock to one or two buyers and then, because of difficulties experienced by the buyers, may be unable to collect all or part of the payment due him. The bankruptcies of various packing plants within recent years and the concern expressed by the producers who have lost a large amount of money because of these bankruptcies, has result- ed in such a Task Force being established, so that some deter- mination might be made as to the best method of extending financial protection to producers. Mr. Newman said the Task Force will examine existing Provincial programs and also look at methods used in other jurisdictions. The Task Force will ask individuals and interested organizations to submit briefs and comments. Publication of the revised Agricultural Code of Practice for Ontario, was announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Food. The Code was revised by the Ministries of Agriculture and Food, Housing and Environment, provides guidelines for the man- agement of livestock operations to minimize problems of odour from manure. The new edition of the Code contains minimum distance for- mulas to keep rural residences a reasonable distance from live- stock buildings and manure con- centrations. The formulas take into account such variables as the type of livestock, the number of animals, the type of manure system and manure storage. • The Code's guidelines apply to the design location and manure management system of new live- stock buildings, the renovation or expansion of existing livestock operations and the control of water pollution caused by anim- als watering at streams, ponds or lakes. They also discourage open manure lagoons and govern the disposal of dead animals. In its original form the code re- duced problems for neighbours of livestock operations, but pro- vided the operators with little protection from encroachment by other types of development, particularly, rural non-farm resid- ential development. The mini- mum distance formulas had been designed to help provide such protection. Municipalities will be encour- Watmalha AVAILABLE AT COUNTRY CORNER MT. CARMEL — 237-3456 OPEN TILL 10 P.M. Large Variety of Plants * Begonias * Geraniums * Cactus and * Succulents * Peperomia Bill Lansbergen 1 mile north of Zurich Phone 236-4817 aged to incorporate the provisions of the Code into their official plans and zoning bylaws. A model bylaw is being developed by Huron County. When it receives approval from the Ontar- io Municipal Board, the model bylaw will be offered: to other municipalities which may use it or modify it to suit local con- ditions. The Agricultural Code of Practice was originally drawn up in 1970 and has since gained wide acceptance by farmers. Its suc- cess has been the result of the high degree of co-operation among farmers, farm organiza- tions, municipal officials and the Government of Ontario. The new version was drafted in consulta- tion with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. Because of its positive reaction . by farmers the Code is not compulsory. Farmers who plan changes to their oper- ations are encouraged to apply for a certificate of compliance, which will be issued jointly by the Ministries of Agriculture and Food and Environment after an appraisal of the proposed chang- es. The Attorney General has in- dicated support for a suggestion that drivers be allowed to appeal lengthy licence suspensions. Al- bert Roy, Liberal M.P.P. (Ottawa East), has suggested that a judge might impose a 15 year licence suspension even though a driver could be fully rehabili- tated after five or ten years. Under proposed legislation,- Ont- ario judges would be able to impose up to a life -time licence •suspension . He asked the Attorney General whether On- tario intends to set up an appeal mechanism now that licence suspensions are a provincial matter. The Attorney General said suspensions of more than three years would relate only to criminal offences where there is a possible penalty for life im- prisonment. However, he said he agrees in principle that a mechanism should be established to deal with the new changes in legislation. Liberal Leader Stuart Smith told the Legislature this week that a least two employees at a small Hamilton firm have devel- aped lung diseases which appear to be caused by asbestos fibres. He raised the matter while . criticizing the Ministry of Health for the inadequate inspection of industrial plants, asked the Minister to investigate the com- pany in question, and submitted for analysis a sample of dust from the premises. The Minister indicated that his Ministry is experiencing some difficulty in recruting occupational health inspectors. Apparently there is a world-wide shortage of qualified people in this field. He indicated that the Ministry's main respons- ibility is to set' standards for occupational health, with the Ministries of the Environment, Natural Resources and Labour carrying out most of the inspec- tions. The Leader of the Opposition has charged the Minister of Community and Social Services ‘vith trying to pull a "veil of secrecy" over information the public is entitled to have. He made public an internal memor- andum which the Minister sent to officials within the Ministry, ordering that any communication Citizens News, June 2, 1976 -Page 7 Jock Riddell subject to his authority be deem- ed confidential until he approved it for publication. The memo dated the 19th May, makes a distinction between "informa- tion" which should be readily available and "intelligence" which should .not. Information according to the Minister, is "factual, quantitative data, such as numbers, navies, dates, locations, etc. of services and facilities of the Ministry properly in the public domain". Intell- igence is described as "reports, correspondence, conceptual ide- as, proposals, programmes, pro- jects, procedures, etc...not to be made public knowledge unless and until considered such by the Minister", Liberal M.P.P. Albert Roy told the Legislature that police sus- pect people involved in organized See page 8 Wettable powder herbicide For Pre -emergent weed control in soy.a field a d 1 Why spray for weeds you don't have? If you don't have velvetleaf, cocklebur, thistle, yellow nutsedge or bindweed, but you do have troublesome grass problems like crabgrass, green foxtail, witchgrass, and weeds like Iamb's - quarters, black nightshade, pigweed or ragweed, then Patoran is your most efficient and most economical weapon against weeds. AGFIO-CHEMICALS OF OUR TIME. BASF Canada Limited 10 Constellation Court, Rexdale, Ontario 416-677-1280