HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1989-05-03, Page 1Births - A5
Sports - A10, All
Weddings - Al2
Graduates - Al2
Walton - A17
Walton standoff brings suspended sentence. See A5.
Serving the communities
and areas of Seaforth,
Brussels, Dublin, Hensall
and Walton
Seaforth, Ontario
HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 1989
STOCKING THE CREEK - Dave Hedley of RR 1 Belgrave was in Seaforth Thursday
to stock Silver Creek with trout in time for Saturday's Fishing Derby. Mr. Hedley was
has a Ranbow Trout Hatchery and Fishout Pond increased the trout population of
the creek by 306. Mcllwraith photo.
50 cents a copy
Post office clarifying tenant status
Tenants of Seaforth's federal building
(a.k.a. the post office) have yet to be of-
ficially notified about Public Works
Canada's intention to remove that building
from its inventory, despite the fact that
task is slated for completion by March 31,
1990.
"We haven't officially been notified,"
said Dr, Mike Soots, District Veterinarian
for Huron County and an employee of
Agriculture Canada's Food Production
and Inspection Branch and Veterinary In-
spection Directorate, located on the
building's second floor.
"I'm not even sure what's going on. All
I've heard are rumors. Certainly we'd
have to find alternate accommodation if
they were to get rid of the building," said
Dr. Soots.
On the other hand the Canada Post Cor-
poration, who inhabits the buildings' main
floor, had been advised in November that
Public Works Canada was leaning towards
disposal of the Seaforth building. But a
spokesman said CPC was surprised at the
way it happened.
"The timing was a bit of a surprise,"
commented John Proctor of Canada Post
Corporation, Ottawa. "We were not of-
firially informed. The first we heard about
it was through your paper (The
Expositor)."
Mr. Proctor noted that Canada Post Cor-
poration is in the process now of clarifying
the situation with Public Works in terms of
its lease, and will be seeking out its options
once that has been done. Until then, he
said, Canada Post is not really in an ideal
position to say what its next step will be,
"Until we clarify our situation with the
landlord, we can not say what will be the
best possible way to proceed. This has all
caught us a bit by surprise. We're not sure
when, why or how to proceed," he said.
"But I do want to reassure people that
we are committed to maintaining and im-
proving postal service in the Town of
Seaforth: There's no possibility of us
eliminating postal service in Seaforth."
Rick Huband, Public Works Canada's
Director of Accommodation for Ontario,
admitted he would have liked to have seen
the planned disposal of Seaforth's federal
building revealed differently. However, he
said, there was no opportunity to do that
once the Town of Seaforth requested
Public Works Canada's participation in its
planned streetscape project.
Mr. Huband confirmed that as a result of
government -wide intitiatives Public
Works Canada is disposing of a variety of
federal buildings from its inventory over
the next several years - Seaforth being one
of them.
"We're finding them too costly to
renovate," he said, "too much investment
compared with the revenue gained from
the tenants."
Other federal departments are now be-
ing notified of Public Works intent to
dispose of the Seaforth federal building,
and will have first chance at having it
transferred to their inventories. Provin-
cial and municipal bodies will have the se-
cond and third options of purchasing the
building. If there is no interest at any of
those levels, then the building will be con-
sidered Public Works surplus and will be
offered for sale by general tender,
Whatever happens to the building, Public
Works Canada plans to be rid of it by
March 31, 1990.
Landowners urged to go to Queen's Park
Landowners from the Townships of Mor-
ris, Hullett and Grey, with properties abut-
ting the railway line which runs between
Goderich and Guelph, were advised to bring
their concerns about future plans for that
railway property before Queens Park. Ap-
proximately 80 property owners, all part of
the United Groundhog's Day Committee,
along with Federation of Agriculture
members and representatives from the
township councils, meet. Thursday night in
Walton with two members of -an Ontario In-
terministerial Committee formed to ad-
dress the issue of abandonned rail use.
After listening to the farmer's concerns,
the interministerial committee members
told the farmers their concerns were valid,
but that they should be addressed to the en-
tire interministerial committee and not just
two of its members.
• "I'm fully satisfied. There's no need to
convince me of what your concerns are. 1
am converted," commented Cikiah
Thomas, Senior Transportation Analyst
with the Rail Office, and Ministry of
Transportation and Communications'
representative on the Interministerial
Committee.
"I'm convinced of your concerns, and I'm
going to take those concerns back to our
boss."
"But the committee is not just.us," added
Tony Tosine, Associate Director for
Southwestern, Central and Northern On-
tario's Foodland Preservation Branch, and
the Ministry of Agriculture's representative
on the committee.
It's made up of 12 ministries, and a lot of
people on the committee are not aware of
the issues faced by farmers on the route.
This (Thursday's meeting) is a start, but I
recommend you take the same message to
Queen's Park - make a formal presentation
to the Interministerial Committee," he said.
Mr. Tosine added he was impressed by the
large number of farmers in attendance
Thursday, especially considering .the time
of year and the obvious workload at in-
dividual farms.
"It's a significant number. It indicates the
Groundhog's Day Committee is not just six
radicals from Huron County, but has the
support of all the landowners," he said.
Mr. Tosine noted too, the fact the Groun-
dhog's Day Committee has the support of
the councils of Morris, Hulled and Grey
Townships, is also a strike in its favor. He
suggested that all parties, municipalities
and landowners prepare written submis-
sions of their concerns and/or problems
they have encountered in the past with the
rail property.
"This is just one avenue. You should
follow through. Put togetheryour ideas and
put them before the committee. You could
be very convincing," he said.
In answer to questions from the farmers,
Mr. Tosine and Mr. Thomas explained that
the Interministerial Committee was formed
in response to increasing abandonment of
"a tremendous amount of branch line in On-
tario" by the CN and CP Rail Companies,
.and out of a desire by the government to
look at the -fiitiiF ti attsportation needs in
Ontario.
"Once we took the situation into account,
we discovered that there were several in-
terests here - that several groups, like
agriculture, had to be recognized," said Mr.
Thomas.
"And the basic idea was that if they were
to be backed constitutionally, those in-
terests must be represented on the
committee."
Mr. Tosine pointed out that anyone can
make a claim to purchase the abandonned
rails, and that a number of presentations -
including one from the Maitland Trail
Association - have already been shade to the
interministerial committee regarding alter-
native use of the rail line. Mr. Thomas
pointed out that that presentation had been
Turn to page 10
WOW program
WOW will be coming to Seaforth District
High School this summer.
WOW, or World of Work, is a program in-
tended to give students who are in danger of
dropping out of school a job for the summer,
and an opportunity to see that what they
learn in school may be useful to them in the
real world (of work).
Jayne Delaney of SDHS is an organizer of
the project. She says 10 students will be
selected who typically don't do well in
school and who are probably well suited to
joining the work force. "So we give them a
chance to learn practical skills," explains
Miss Delaney.
Miss Delaney says the program is also in-
tended to make these students, who have not
had an easy time of school, see education in
a positive way.
"It's to give them the experience of suc-
cess. If they find that there's something out
there they might enjoy in the .workforce,
they may see the benefit of the work they do
$140,000 from
canvass banked',
?! At this point the final figures, from the;':;
"s,Seaforth Community Hospital door -to door #
canvass are not yet available, but $140,000'.
ito ot toward the construction of the;;;
hospitalg addition has been banked. '>
Hospital Administrator Don Smith says,
4Fflie $140,000 was collected from ,only a j
<small portion of the canvass returns, and%'
;. many of the canvassers still have their;;
V:
h
�#�canvassutg kits which is causing a delay. :#
#; "What's happening.is if a person has six;:'
people to canvass, and they get five but;;,
'don't get the sixth, they'll wait until theys'
get that sixth person and then hand in their ::%
it,kit. And that's what we wanted them to:
do,".he•eaplains. ^:
Flow has the canvass gone? F.
"idol toolad,".says Mr. Smith "it'd be'
le4040tWkbad�pore. lits t;"
Adifiittiatratnr tt&Ys dill hist: :
.thatin coming weeks the complete results
:Aittli plutF 04fe#41fA9stl ll I( d;
kf i� ufr T tr% x' /s .e
comes to SDHS
in school and its application."
Beginning in late June the 10 students in
the program will be given a week and a half
of seminars, followed by six weeks of work
placement. The employer they are placed
with will be determined by the students' own
interests and the availability of employers.
Employers will be mostly in the Seaforth
area and may include businesses, mills, the
Town, the Public Utilities Commission, a
wildlife conservation area, etc. - depending
on participant interests.
"We're hoping the businesses and com-
panies in town will be receptive to this,"
says Miss Delaney. "They can be assured of
getting someone keen."
Employers provide only training. The
Canada Employment Centre pays the
students. Participants will be paid
minimum wage, and will work the hours of
the company they are employed by.
Each Friday participants will be in
workshops. The purpose of these workshops,
as well as the orientation workshops, is to
form a strong group of people who can learn
from each other. The Friday workshops
may be used to do activities which the par-
ticipants may not otherwise do, such as visit
the Blyth festival, go to Grand Bend as a
group, or take other field trips.
"It's supposed to create a fun, positive at-
mosphere for the group," says Miss
Delaney.
The workshops will also be used to show
students how to put together a good resume,
the importance of appropriate dress, con-
fidentiality on the job, loyalty to an
employer, communication among co-
workers, the importance of making con-
tacts, and about unions, and other informa-
tion they will need to be successful in the
work force.
Prospective participants in the program
will be nominated by the teaching and sup-
port staffat SDHS and interviewed. The pro-
gram will be particularly targeted at
students in the Grade 9.10-11 range, as they
typically have greater problems finding
'summer jobs in their. areas of.interest.
This summer marks the .first tit' this
progratn spall 2be,avt abje,at 5D05, .and
rgabiorgAiaYtitlivigPi a an. goipkpro-
gr`am och-sitmmer, .Iong,ds funding=;fs
available from theAgoven went.
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