Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1985-10-16, Page 2EvHuron • 4xposltor' - SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 .?y' A t a o es BP,,Ep hr'rSPAPEp''. OMPES\��� Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 527-0240 Published in SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER McILWRAITH, Editor The Expositor is brought to you each week by the efforts of: Pat Armes, Bessie Broome, Marlene Charters, Joan Guichelaar, Anne Huff, Joanne Jewitt, Stephanie Levesque, Dianne McGrath, loll McLlwaln, Bob McMillan, Cathy Melady and Patrick Raftls. Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc. Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rates: Canada $20.00 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $60.00 a year (in advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1985 . Second class mail registration Number 0696 Sad state Tax increases are on the way for Ontario residents. So what else is new? If there's two things one can be sure of in life it's death and taxes. Ontario Premier David Peterson made the forecast of future tax increases to the Conference Board of Canada last week. Through the news media, the premier is strategically bracing the public for the blow before it comes. Since July, Peterson and Treasurer Robert Nixon have been studying the province's financial position. The news isn't good. Peterson is blaming the Tory "bookkeeping inadequacies" for the sad picture. The bad news begins this way. Peterson says that the Tory books included as assets, debts that can never be recovered or assets that were overvalued. He says that the Tories reported a budget deficit of $1.7 million but that they also overvalued government assets that could run into the billions of dollars. If things are as bad as Peterson claims, the tax increase could be larger than we think. As leader of the opposition for many years, did Peterson not know of the debt problems being created by the Conservative government? This is no time to cry over spilt milk. The ball is now in Peterson's court. The latest report may throw a twist into the election promises Peterson made. How will the Liberals afford to increase spending on social programs and credit assistance to farmers if the province's financial situation is to such rough shape? These promises will have to be put on hold unleS's Peterson expects taxpayers to shoulder the burden through high taxes. isn't it ironic how the Federal Tories blamed the Federal Liberals for inheriting the sad state of the country and now the Provincial Liberals are blaming the Provincial Tories for inheriting the sad state of the province. (Mitchell Advocote) Too many banks When we look at businesses in a community it sometimes seems there are too many of one kind of business. Competition is the life of trade, they say, yet like everything else it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Too many stores of one kind make it difficult for any to do well, and lead to the failure of one or more such ventures. It has happened in Seaforth with the Intense competition between stores over a market that could little bear such intensity. Is this now the situation with Canadian banks, leading to the failure of two regional banks in Western Canada? It became necessary recently for the Mulroney Government to appoint a Royal Commissioner to investigate the affairs of these two banks and to give reasons for their liquidation. Up until the past few years, Canada had five national chartered banks, plus two chartered banks in Quebec. From this total of seven, the number of banks in Canada has increased over this short period of time to around 70, including a number of foreign banks now operating in Canada, as well as the regional banks. Is there enough business for all? Does the competition make it necessary to offer more in interest rates than good business warrants, and to lend money under more and more doubtful circumstances? Some of these questions the Royal Commissioner will answer, yet the essential question does remain: Has this country now too many banks? One is also left with the impression that after the number of banks was permitted to increase In legislation put forward by the Trudeau government, was the government's bank inspection service increased sufficiently to oversee the greater number of banks? Are we suffering? While the Huron Board of Education deliberates over the money it will be spending on capital projects for next year, the money available for those projects is apparently being eroded away. it is possible the Ministry of Education's grant funds will be dried up by the demands caused by the extension of funding to separate schools. Boards of education are funded by government in two separate ways. They receive grants on a per student basis, for the regular operation of the school system. But there are always repairs to buildings, additions, acquisitions of new teaching material, which don't fall under the general guidelines of 'regular operation'. They can't be fit into a board's operating budget. For that, the Ministry of Education has additional grants available. But only so much money is available each year for those grants. Most boards of education have for years been forced to priorize needs for capital projects, so that the little money available through the grants is used to maximum benefit, Implementation of publicly funded Roman Catholic secondary schools will mean theireation of new facilities across the province. As a result the demand for additional grants from the province will be exceptionally high this year. But there has been no indication the Ministry of Education intends to add more money to its coffers to help compensate that demand. Across the province, needed repairs to schools, additions of gymansiums or libraries, are going to be slipped a little further down the list of the government's priorities. It's an additional price individual public boards are paying for the implementation of Bill 30, one that wasn't Immediately apparent. As repairs of schools are delayed, the cost of repairs increases. The general standard of education slips in those facilities that need repair or improvement, year by year. Now with Bill 30, it would appear that the reserves of the board of education are going to be further thinned out. The Ministry of Education is failing to live up to the promise of its government: that the implementation of the separate secondary system would not adversely affect public schools in Ontario. ,OPINION Overhead view Photo by Heather Mcllwraith Canadian Football in trouble The Canadian Football League . is. in trouble. Big trouble. Althpugh we've heard that tired refrain yearly since time began, it doesn't take a gridiron expert to see that the cracks in the foundation have evolved into massive fissures. The damage may be irreparable. It's not really the players' fault either. They have to compete with an. uncaring news media and an upstart United States Football League that nabbed many quality players. The other "competition," the National Football League provides a vastly superior product that can now be watched by anyone with cable TV With the growing number of problems facing the league the biggest is still management. The Ottawa Rough Hiders are a prune example. So far/this year 58 players have worn the Rider colors. In contrast the British Columbia Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers have had 43 and 42 faces respectively and you know where they are in the standings. Maybe Ottawa should change their name to the Airlifts. That way we would have a truer picture of their operation and the league, mercifully, would be left with jus%ne-Rough Rider team. Nine teams and two have the same nickname. Hamilton and Calgary may very well be terminal cases while Toronto, Montreal and Saskatchewan are experiencing problems. The big field, single point, lack of running ?????????? by David Broome game, the huge turnover of players, three downs, boring games, bad management and stiff competition from two rival leagues are all combining to turn the screws on the C,F.L At this writing only three teams had better than 500 records and all are in the Western conference. You cannot realistically expect peo)Sle to feel anything but apathy for a league that has not improved itself one iota over the years. A few years ago a couple of friends of mine came over to my house after their Montreal Alouettes won the Grey Cup. They hollered themselves hoarse during the game. The same two fellows today don't even follow the C. F. L and would be embarrassed to admit it. Many of my sport loving buddies just don't care anymore. It's also very sad. I think, in time, with some co'6rage shown tfj/ the powers that be, the league can be saved. It will take a massive overhauling and a change of philosophy to accomplish, but it can be done; providing the patient doesn't die before action is taken. Some things that could be changed are: - move the goal posts to the end zone, it's just ludicrous to have to watch a club play around an immobile object. It would also de-empha- size the kicking game; - get rid of the single point. Some guy who flubs a 20 yard field goal does not deserve a single point; -go to four downs. This would help put the running game back into Canadian football. Fm tired of drives that consist of an incomplete pass, flag and then punt; -improve the officiating which at the best of times is adequate. The refs don't have the benefit of instant replays but some of the calls these guys make are enough to make the hardiest of jocks cry in their beer; - instead of recyling the same tired coaches the league would be well advised to recruit younger, brighter men with good ideas. Of course the nationalists will whine that some of these changes will take away from the Canadian game. That argument rings hollow when the league depends on its very survival by the number of American players it recruits each season. The patient is very sick. It may be the time to toss away the placebos and look for a cure. Seniors eligible for tax grants The Ontario Ministry of Revenue mailed Property Tax Grant applications to eligible seniors in late August. The Property Tax Grant of up to $500 per household is paid to seniors who pay property tax either directly or through rent. The first installment of the 1985 Property Tax Grant was mailed in April. To qualify for the final installment eligible seniors must submit an Ontario Property Tax Grant application to the Ministry of Revenue by December 31, 1986. Applications have been mailed to those who became Old Age Security recipients before July, 1985. Seniors who turn 65 and receive the Old Age Security pension (OAS during the latter half of 1985 will receive applications no later than January. 1986. Those who think they're eligible, but who do not automatically receive a 1985 Ontario Property Tax Grant application should call the Ministry's multilingual Information Cen- tre. PROPERTY TAX GRANT CHEQUES The Ministry will begin mailing the final Property Tax Grant installments on October 25. This cheque will be based on information reported on the 1985 Ontario Property Tax Grant application. JACK'S JOTTINGS by Jack Riddell, MPP Seniors who turned 65 this year will get their 1985 Property Tax Grant in one payment. REMINDER To be eligible for the Property Tax Grant. the applicant must be a permanent resident of Ontario when the Ministry receives the application for processing. A senior who leaves Ontario before that date no longer qualifies for the grant. NURSING HOME RESIDENTS Residents of nursing homes subsidized through the Extended Care Program, homes for the aged and other institutions that do not pay property tax are not eligible for the Property Tax Grant. However, if they moved to a tax-exempt property in 1985, they are eligible for a Property Tax Grant based on rent or property tax paid before moving. Sinulany, nursing home residents who continue to maintain their home may claim the Property Tax Grant if their home remains unoccupied during their stay in the nursing home and if they intend to return. SALES TAX GRANT The 1985 Sales Tax Grant of $50 will be mailed to all eligible Ontario seniors on November 29. To qualify. the senior must be a permanent resident of Ontario on that date. Seniors who haven't established their eligibility for the 1984 Sales Tax Grant through Old Age Security have until December 31. 1985 to file an eligibility application FURTHER LNFORMATION Seniors who require further information should contact the Ministry's multilingual Information Centre free of charge from anywhere in Ontario, dial 1-800-263-3960. Ontario Hydro informed public For the record, the recent series of Ontario Hydro information centres on the Southwest- ern Ontario transmission study concluded an intensive public information program carried out over the past year. With the valued assistance of the public, routes for transmission lines and a transform- er station site were selected to impact as little as possible on prime farm land. On these transmission line mutes, subs- stantially more expensive narrow -based towers, with a 13 -foot concrete base, will be used in mid -field locations to reduce the difficulty in manoeuvering farm equipment around the towers and eliminate weed growth under the towers. Wide -base towers will be used along fence rows. From the Bruce nuclear generating station to the proposed new transformer station in Caradoc town- ship, only 25 acres of land will actually be removed from production. The route follows the fabric of the township as much as possible. The route selected from the new transform- er station to Nanticoke will be a rebuild of an existing 115 -kilovolt transmission line (built in 1929). The new 500 -kilovolt line will, of course, carry much more power. Also the new towers will allow 40 -foot clearances from the ground to the bottom transmission line, double the clearance under the existing line. Farmers with high pressure irrigation equipment will fmd it easier to operate under these new lines. About 80 per cent of the new towers on this route will be narrow base. Extensive studie have never proven any TO THE EDITOR adverse effects on livestock or crops from transmission lines. Hydro's present compensation policies have been reviewed by farm organizations, government ministries and other agencies. They found them to be fair, open and just. Hydro's construction crews are careful to cause as little disruption to the land and businesses as possible. The Joint Board hearings under the Consolidated Hearings Act (preliminary hearings start in Guelph on October 16) offer groups and individuals a chance to respond to Hydro's recommendations. The bottom line is the transmission lines are needed to get cheap. clean nuclear generated electricity out of the Bruce stations: to provide for the growing electricity needs of Southwestern Ontario and to support Hydro's obligation to maintain adequate interchange capability with Michi- gan utilities. When people are attempting to entice new automobile and other plants in their commun- ities, does anyone ask - will the electricity be there to run them? Yours very truly, D.A. Drinkwalter Director - Western Region OH should be relaxed Ontario Hydro must be leaning back in its comfortable, old armchair a little more easily lately. Despite Hydro's lengthy and harmon- ious "marriage" with the conservative government ending so abruptly, they are making headway toward a cosy "common- law" relationship with the Liberals. Hydro did have a severe case of the jitters when the Liberal party first took office - however, now the "watchdog" committee on Hydro includes two, true blue, former energy ministers, one as chairman, things appear well under control. Even Premier Peterson soothed some of Hydro's jangling nerves by stating that Darlington may be too dose to completion for cancellation to be feasible - an abrupt reversal of the Premier's statement to the Legislature on July 2, "Darlington will turn out to be one of the great mistakes that we have made." A word of warning to Ontario Hydro - that comfy old armchair is beginning to show signs of wear - the springs that support your hefty weight are starting to groan: (Continued on Page A3)