HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-10-18, Page 271,
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*toone in Canadnwith even a remote connection With;
agriculture should be watching, what': happens when, Dr
Hugh Horner of Alberta tries to sort out the wheat Problem;
in this Militia'.
Although only sit:: per cent of the population is actively
engaged in fanning, the entire country has a stake in this
appointment because it dealswith some of the biggest and
most powerful', institutions in Canada.
Western fanners could grow twice as much: wheat aa:
they are now growing but they say there is 00 incentive.
Yet, most people in the world,; 70 per cent of them, Re to be
hungry every night, Estimates, of land lying: fallow .in, the
West range as high as 25 million• acres. Wheat once was
kung but is becoming, 'a poor cousin to other crops.
Dr, Horner,.thenew transportation czar for Canada, has -
a. rough, tough job ahead of him. He is going to need all
the muscle, all the clout hecan get.. He Must battle the
solidly. entrenched Canadian Grain. Commission, the
powerful Canadian Wheat Board, the two giant railroads,
the wheat pools and the grain trading companies.
Canada; could sell millions of bushels of wheat more: than.
what is being sold now. In fact, half' of last year's crop is
still in stora$e• Officials admit this country is losing $2.
million, every day in wheat sales. A. billion dollars a year!
To those of us directly connected with agriculture, it all
seems to be -a nightmare. Here we are, sitting with a
potential to double our grain' sales yet we are losing our
markets to the U.S., to Argentina and even to Australia;
What is the problem? That is going to be. Dr. Horner's
job: To find out. All aspects of the grain chain get blamed
to some extent. Grain freight rates set more than 80 years.
ago, say the railroads, make it unprofitable to give grain,
shipments any priority, Farmers say it is useless to grow
more grain when the grain' board can't sell it Outdated
equipment from the farmgate to the docks - shipping
facilities, storage facilities,loading facilities -- is also ..
blamed.
Outside observers say the railroads just don't give a
damn if they ever carry another bushel of wheat.They are
into other things these days such as real estate, mining, oil
and airlines; They aren't interested in transportationany
more, especially when they can only get 12 cents a.bushel..
Others blame the unions, particularly, the dockworkers.
Canada sells the grain but strikes prevent shipments. •
Ships lineup to load but sit empty; •
All the nitty-gritties are too numerous to mention in less
than 'a thousand words but the answer, it
seems to me ,
rests - to a great -degree within a transportation system;.
which we Canadians,have allowed, to decay to the point of
dereliction.
The farm lobby itself, let it be said: is responsible for,
problem
some of the mesa. Farmers have lobbied Ifor S0, hears te.
leave the Crow rate alone. Now, some of them are
grudgingly* admitting_ adjustments are necessary.
So Horner' has a big job ahead of him• He has a lot of big
guns lined up against him but he certainly has a lot going;
for him, too. He's a seasoned. politician. He was deputy'
premier in Alberta, born a Westerner. He has been both
agricultural minister' and transport minister 'in .Premier
Lougheed's cabinet• Those who know him say he will not
be a puppet oft a :string; for any of the big or little
institutions,, organisations or industriesinvolved in the:
grain chain..
I personally,, think his; appointment is an excellent'
choice.
What remains to be seen is whether the new Tory,
• government in Ottawa will back, him all along the line, The
Tory could
Prime minister is a and Westerner: Which:
mean much in this battle to solve the grain problem, a
problemthat could mean a great deal to every Canadian in
years to come. If it isn't solved, it could affect everybody in.
this country because we all have to eat.
We need those balance of payments which only massive
grain sales can give us.
Good luck, Hugh.
Maintenance ovoids barn fires
Practically every week; diminishing the fire hazard.
newspapers, radio and TV Regular cleaning of electric
supply us with reports of switches, heat lamps, heat -
barn fires. The use of heat ers and ventilation fans is a
lamps and!. other supple- must. A fire extinguisher
mental heat, at this time of
year, certainly adds to ; the
occurrence. Proper manage-
ment and preventive meas-
ures :.can, certainly aid in
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With JHnaisMon's1.1mots
FEAWRING,
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AND 1HE a
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can be a real help. Make sure
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time:
0 radzehrs
rndrkrR i)l lrrx• hxal,
. Make teaming fun for your chil-
dren by collecting the colorful
volumes of The Sesame Street
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In this great new series, Big Bird;
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So when you visit one of our
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.Quin
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THEM.80
SII ti ; *.
JACKS JOTTINGS
It has been estimated that
sore 413,000 of .Ontario's
lakes will become biologic-
ally sterile due to acid. rain; -
precipitation which runes
with industrial pollution and
falls into our lakes and rivers.
as a mild but destructive acid
,,» within the next: 15 to 20
years. Some 140 lakes have
already died ., and we have
not,as yet,, even begun to
measure the results of acid
rain: pollution.
What is being done to
our lake$ for future genersave-
ations? What can be .done?
What must be done?'
A, senior federal scientist
has warned that the damage
alreadydone. to Canada's
environment by the acid
precipitation. may well al.
ready be impossible to re-
pair. in addition to the lakes
which are; irreparably dam-
aged, or 'threatened, import-
ant Atlantic salmon spawn-
ing rivers may also be affect-
• ed, and vast tracts of forest
could be stunted.
While this problem has
existed for decades, it is
quickly becoming critical as
soil_ and water .lose their
chemi'oal ability to neutralize
the acid, and as more acid is
created by new coal-fired
plants. According to reports,
more than 30 million tons of
sulphur dioxideis being
spewed out of eastern North
American stacks about 2,4
million tons from Ontario
sources - every year; and.
much of the acid rain is
falling on Ontario, Quebec
and the Maritimes.
To add to the general
concern about the damage
caused by acid rain to our
•
!Resources Development'
Committee,, having studied
a made
acid,h sanumber of
recornntendatipns, and
believes the prabte m. should
be considered . anational
emergency..
It recommended the con-
vening of an iriterna' ionaI
conference, involving the
Premier of Ontario, the
Prime Minister of Canada,
and the Premiers: of other
Provinces; affected by acidic
precipitation. This should be
organized on the carne basis
as that which wasconvened
when the 1972 accord was
drawn, upby the Inter-
national Joint Commission
on Water Quality, As soon as
possible, a federal; -provincial
agreement should be devel-
oped on joint action required
of all Canadian governments
in this connection.
Because Ontario is also
' affected by emissions origin-
ating in the U.S. efforts
should be made, without
delay, to obtain a trans-
boundary agreement control-
ling such. emissions.
To demonstrate its serious
intentions with respect to the
acidic precipitation problem
and its commitment to an
international • agreement on
air pollution, Ontario should
take an active role in reduc-
ing emission of sulphur ox-
ides. and nitrogen oxides
within our own borders. The
Ministry' of the Environment
should give consideration >• to
the incorporation of special
abatement . provisions to.
meet the acidic precipitation
problem . in general abate-
ment orders issued to indus-
tries which contribute: to this
pollution. ,
environment,: Dr.. Leonard w All existing coal-fired
Hamilton, head of the • generating stations .in, ,Ont-
environmental . assessment ario should be made to
division of the Brookhaven comply with the point source
National Laboratory in New removal of sulphur dioxide
oxr.d
e
York, has: stated that acid based on the best ,available
pollution kills an estimated technology. - . as soon . `as
5,000 persons • in Eastern possible. , In addition, all new
Canada every year; coal, -.fired generating -plants
The Legislature's Standing should be .equipped with the
u PE. .h QMF
in the morning
BY PAT
ALAN SCOTT
In recentweeks we'vehad
fiiwppointed callers who
couldn't reach a certain staff
member when they called or
!copped in. The best time to
zilch us is from 8:30 a•m. to
10 a.m. After that, there's: a
pod chance the man • you.
want • won't be in.
Several of ' the people at
our, office cover several
counties' and up to five in
some cases. They have to
;pend time in these and
other counties and so it's not
=prising when you call in
and they are out or tied up on.
another line or talking with
an office visitor. The best
may is to chat with another •
staff member or ,request 'a
:all; back._
We're behind an indiv,
idual consultation work
Assoc. Ag. Rep, • Barry
Sinclair left in June and it's
not likely we'll get a replace-
ment until • next spring.
We're really missing Barry's
contribution. It's one of the
reasons why we're behind`'
right 'now.
We try toprovide on -the -
sprit service for 'questions;
that have to be answered
right :away. If you call and -
we're Out, try and leave some
indication. of the nature of the
enquiry so that we can dig
out any reference material'
before we call back.' If ;the
enquiry is detailed, then it's
best to make, an appoint-
ment. ,
Madre Learni ,; g F
VOLUME i':
aNf
: 'rto�ur Children'
o .
OiLJMES 2-15
ofliY',
15 Colorful Volumes of StorkP
Picrtures, RIddlesi ReCtpes and
is
COON. nwarr+r+...w*rraw 16,04+1 w tri+. Ow.'
Some i
for Everyone..
Ever. y►where.. in 00.
CLASSIFIEDS
Affirmative!' Classifieds
are progranimed to offer
you the widest selection
of data for buying, selling
or renting products or
services! Check thele!
heAuroni4A
Phone 521.0240
best re .availablbeingepertecmhnitted ology
;to
commence operations.
A report on the
Programs of the Ministry
should be submitted this fall,
including information on the
extent of acidification of our
hakes and the effects of fish,.
the food, chain, soils; .and
ve$etation, buildings and
structures and human,
health, The comm ittee urged
joint studies by the Minis*
tries of Industry and Tourism
and. Natural Resources ofrthe
costs of acidification of our
lakes on tourism and recre-
ation. A careful study should
be undertaken to identify and'
quantify the sources of the
pollutants causing acidic
precipitation in Ontario.
There should be a program
aimed at changing public and,
industrial lifestyles tocon-
tribute substantially, to:
reduction. of theemissions
which are the principal cause
of acid ram. This would
involve re -design of Indus-'
trial and smelting processes,,
reduced energy demands.
and conservation of re-
sources.
The province should ` re-
quest the federal Depart-
ment of the Environment to.
conduct studies of methods
for reducing emissions, in-
cluding, assessment of vari-
ous types: of sulphur dioxide
emission abatement equip-
ment, sulphur tax proposals
and preferential use of low-
sulphur coal, These . studies
should also include assess-
ment of the 'anticipated costs.
of not reducing these emis-
sions from the point of view
of tourism, recreation, dam-
age to: vegetation and agri-
cultural crops, and effects on
health.
-Feasibility of using abate-
ment by-products - sulphur.
sulphuric acid and gypsum •
as well as potential markets
for these products shoule.
continue to be investigated:
In the light of the potential,.
. employment aswell as:
environmental benefits of an
innovative Canadian pollu-.
tion abatement technology
industry, and in ,recognition
of the likelyincrease in
international demand for
such technology, the commit-
tee urged the federal. govern -
Merit to. reconsider its .deeis,
ion to end the program to
support and encourage
development of abatement
technologies in Canada and
to, give -serious, thought to
development of an Ontario
based pollution: abatement
Industry.
Gaps in the present system
of data collection on this
problem should be closed,
It was recognized t
that
while remedial: measures.
such aa: liming and other
methods of maintaining the.
alkalinity of threatened lakes:
may offer some short term
improvement, such.. nieas
tires merely "buy time.""
Find out howby getting in on
Enersave, a free government ser-
vice. Ifs a personal home heating
analysis that will pin -point exactly
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insulation.
Send us the coupon and we'll
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When we receive your answers
we'll send you back an easy -to -
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October is International,
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•
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Name
Address:
City/town: ..3 ... ,
Pmvinee« Postal Code.
Send to Enersave Questionnaire
PO. Box 4510, Station
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5135
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