Loading...
The Times Advocate, 2006-03-29, Page 66 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 Tobacco Plants Help Fight Cancer: Researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have used tobacco plants to produce cancer -fighting antibodies. The antibodies that encounter colorectal cancer have been produced in mice in the past and trans- ferred to patients. The research team says growing them in tobacco plants is both safer and cheaper and their trials with mice indicate the antibodies will be just as effective. Mouse -grown antibodies have been used to treat humans with advanced -stage colorectal cancers. The tobacco -grown ones were tested on human cancer cells transplanted to the backs of mice and the research team reports that they seem to work just as well as mouse -grown monoclonal antibodies. Ontario Farmer Canadian Diabetes Words to Watch For Many products in foods are not always labeled under their common names. Here is a list from the Canadian Diabetes Association of alternative words for foods and additives. 1. Fat: Glycerides, Glycerol, Esters, shortening, Oil 2. Saturated Fat: Tallow or beef fat, lard, suet, palm oil, hydrogenated fats and oils 3. Trans fat: Hydrogenated fats and oils 4. Sodium (salt): Monosodium baking powder, brine, soy sauce, sodium hydroxide 5. Sugar: Fructose, sucrose, maltose, honey, dex- trose, molasses 6. Sugar alcohols: Isomalt, lactitol, manitol, sorbital Identity Theft: Think you're not at risk ... Unfortunately you are. • Do you hand your credit card to servers at restau- rants? • Do you sign your credit cards? • Do you supply information over the Internet? • Do you keep your SIN in your wallet or purse? • Do you leave mail at your home or business for the carrier to collect? • Do you shred unwanted mail with personal infor- mation? The Canadian Government is promoting Fraud Awareness Month along with the RCMP, OPP, and PPL Legal Care of Canada. Your local Chamber of Commerce is supporting a workshop to help raise awareness about the reality of Identity Theft in the community. Please consider attending this meeting on March 29 at 7 p.m. at the Ranch House where they will discuss ALL FIVE AREAS of Identity Theft and THREE AREAS OF COVERAGE that consumers should look for when they are prepared to seek out an identity theft protec- tion plan. Stop Health Sector Privatization: The McGuinty government was elected to rebuild public health care and public services in Ontario — not sell them off to the private sector. So why is Health Minister George Smitherman planning to contract out the Trillium Drug Program? The Trillium Drug Program provides subsidies to more than 200,000 Ontarians who face extremely high drug costs. The program's clients include people with arthritis, can- cer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, respiratory diseases and other serious health problems. The WRONG way to go... Contracting out means people who can't afford medically necessary drugs will have to rely on a pri- vate, for-profit corporation to review and approve their applications for coverage. Privatization will also put clients' confidential health records and income tax information into the hands of the lowest bidder. Sound like a bad idea? It is! In Ontario's privatized drivers' license system, the Auditor General found private contractors responsible for thousands of secu- rity breaches, including the loss or theft of 56,000 drivers' licenses, plates and other permits. As part of the Ministry of Health and Long -Term Care, skilled, dedicated employees now run the Trillium Drug Program. The program is launching a new automatic application renewal system. It can be run efficiently within the Ontario Public Service. If this information interests you, contact your MP or MMP. Help keep the Trillium Drug Program public! Health Minister George Smitherman has announced plans to contract out Ontario's Trillium Drug Program to the private sector. This is a very bad idea. The good news is there is something you can do to help. Visit the new campaign web site at www.keeptrilli- umpublic.org. From there you can: Find out more about the Trillium Drug Program and the government's plan to contract it out. Send e-mail or print a fax message to George Smitherman. Send e-mail to friends, family and colleagues, including a link back to the Keep Trillium Public site. Download copies of OPSEU's flyer and poster. Subject:THE PARROT A woman went to a pet shop & immediately spotted a large, beautiful parrot. There was a sign on the cage that said $50. "Why so little?," she asked the pet storeowner. The owner looked at her and said, "Look, I should tell you first that this bird used to live in a house of prostitution and sometimes it says some pretty vulgar stuff." The woman thought about this, but decided she had to have the bird anyway. She took it home and hung the bird's cage up in her living room and waited for it to say something. The bird looked around the room, then at her, and said, "New house, new madam." The woman was a bit shocked at the implication, but then she thought, "That's real- ly not so bad." When her two teenage daughters returned from school the bird saw and said, "New house, new madam, new girls." The girls and the woman began to laugh about the situation consider- ing how and where the parrot had been raised. Moments later, the woman's husband Keith came home from work. The bird looked at him and said, "Hi, Keith!" Statements called "uninformed," "simplistic" At the last South Huron council meeting on March 20, Mayor Morley made a com- ment, "the economy of this whole community is in the toilet." This is an uninformed statement. The community of South Huron has a diverse eco- nomic base. We have many large businesses from every sector, large construction firms that operate all over the province, financial services firms, manufacturers of everything from modular homes to widgets and whatchamacallits, a diverse retail community, large livestock operations, publishers, food processing plants, aero- space refurbishing, large scale food growers including many acres under glass and plastic, entertainment and tourism based businesses, not to mention the hundreds of smaller more flexible firms that slog away every day unnoticed that also have a considerable impact on our local economy. For the mayor to comment that the current price of corn is the main reason why any of the above mentioned businesses may be having trouble is simplistic. The chances of all of them having trouble at once are possible but not probable. Each of these sectors has very specific needs. To think that Huron County's mayors will come up with a viable economic vision and be able to act on it without actively seeking the input of as many of these businesses as possible is naive at best. The one thing that every business has in common is that if they are lucky enough to be successful they will have to pay taxes to the province and the feds. The other thing they have in common is that they either directly pay, or indirectly pay, through rent, property taxes and municipal service fees for as long as they are capable. The warden of Huron County (South Huron's mayor) has set up a committee for eco- nomic development. They have had four meetings so far. Two -hundred thousand of our tax dollars every year for the next five years has been set aside in Huron County's budget for this committee. So far they have decided that the best way to spend this money is to hire someone to fill out forms so they can try to manipulate another $100- 200K from higher levels of government which they are told they will not get the first time they apply. Let's hope that future meetings will yield more creative and produc- tive results. Otherwise all any of us will get, business owners or private citizens, is higher taxes at all levels. There are a number of individuals who are fed up with the status quo in South Huron. To date two informal and one meeting at council were attended. If anyone else is interested in becoming involved and affecting change in this community (as well as having a little fun) please contact Dean at hurcon@cabletv.on.ca or Wally at wpf13@hotmail.com for information on the next meeting. find it fascinating that an economic development conference didn't invite business owners to participate. After all, as we all know, business owners and employees of those businesses pay a large portion of the taxes which pay the wages of many of those who attended the conference. They also could contribute more than fancy graphs and rehashed statistics when developing a master economic plan for Huron County. During the meeting, I asked those attending if there was anyone who had a plan in place to deal with businesses currently contemplating leaving Huron County. There was no response. I addressed the question again. A Huron County Planning Department official responded, "No." I believe the most effective way to market Huron County is through individual municipalities. Currently, North Huron and Huron East have their own eco- nomic development programs in place. I would suggest other munici- palities follow their lead, rather than create another level of bureau- cracy at the county level. Municipal officials should meet with businesses and residents of their municipality to address the concerns/needs in their communities. If this was done on a regular basis we would not need to create a Warden's Economic Development Committee and budget $200,000 of county funds to justify it. Letters to the Editor DEAN DUCHABME , Exeter Economic development concerns should be addressed On March 23, I attended (uninvited) the Warden's Economic Development Conference held at the Huron County offices in Clinton. After initial introductions, I discovered that the majority of those in attendance were county staff, federal and provincially funded bureaucrats and municipal politicians. I WALLY FYDENCHUK, Crediton Unity and strength in the agricultural community The unity and strength of purpose of Huron's agricultural community to ensure that government is aware of the income crisis hi agriculture, continues to grow and solidify despite or because of government action. Attendance at recent rallies and meetings has been exceptional in numbers. People have been determined, respectful, and responsible. To everyone, thank you for a strong "united voice" as we focus on the economic health of rural Ontario. A special note of thanks to our local media for their coverage of the issue. Special recognition is sent to the North Huron Trail Groomers for sending support by way of Don Hardy and Simon Vandriel, who floated the trail groomers to Queen's Park to join the tractor rally March 23 . To those individuals and companies who provided and/or drove the tractors, and who organized the rally, thank you. To those who went to Toronto, thanks for setting aside personal plans for the day. A huge thanks for all the donations we have received to cover the costs of the buses. Please continue to send your positive messages to Steve Webster as he continues his presence at Queen's Park. We encourage everyone to please phone, fax, e-mail your concerns to friends and the local MP and MPP. Encourage them to lobby in the best interests of their rural people. Our government needs to understand that an investment equivalent to the cost of one cup of coffee, per week, per each Ontarian would support the extra agricultural needs in Ontario . On April 5, we will be heading to Ottawa for a "Solidarity Rally." Book your place on a bus by calling 482 - 9642 or 1-800-511-1135 . NICK WHYTE Huron County Federation of Agriculture