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The Huron Expositor, 1978-02-16, Page 14 OPNOTCH TOPNOTCH FEEDS LIMITED APPOINTMENT Richard Reeder Bill Strong Mr. J. M. Cunningham, General Manager of Topnotch Feeds Limited, is pleased to announce the appointment of Richard Reeder, B.A1, B. Comm., as Manager of Manufacturing, Seaforth, Ontario. Previous to this appointment, Mr.. Reeder was with the• parent company, James Richardson & Sons Limited in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Mr. Reeder replaces Bill Strong who, after 4years ,with Topnotch, is entering . into his own business operation." In his new venture, 13111 will he closely associated with James Richardson and Sons Limited in the Mill feed supply business and we at Topnotch look; forward to a continuing association with him. We take pleasure in welco'ining Richard to Topnotch and would like also to extend sin. ere appieclation to Bill Strong for his many years of dedicated seivice to the Company and wish hint success and happiness ' ills new venture, • Seaforth 527-19i0 I I I • • • •-•'•A gi ROYAL COMMISSION -OF INQUIRY INTO THE Confidentiajity of Health Records in Ontario By ,Order-in-C6uncil dated the' 21st day of DeceMberi1977, The' Honourable Mr. Justice Horace Krever was appointed pOrsuont to The Public Inquiries Act, 19,71, , 1. review all legislation administered by the Minister of Health (for example, The Public Hospitals Act, The Health Disciplines Act, The Health Insurance Act and The Mental Health Act), together with any other ' relevant legislation administered. by other Ministers, and any Regulations passed thereunder, to determine Whether proper protection is given to the rights of perseas who have received, or who mcipeceivc, health services, to preserve the confidentiality information respecting them collected 'under that legislation; 2. to .revieW-t1;e legality of the adrninrstrative processes under the above Acts; and 3. to report thereon to the Minister of Health with any recommendations for necessary amendments to the legislation and the. Regulations passed thereunder. . NOTICE OF HEARING The first session of-the Commission will be convened on Monday, the 20th day of February, 1978, at the hour of 10:00 o'clock in the forenoon, at the Sutton Place Hotel, 955 Bay Street at Wellesley, Toronto, Ontario, for the purpose of establishing procedures and granting status to interested-individuals and organizations. Any- one intending to participate in the Commission's hearings is invited to; attend and may make submissions at the above noted time. The \dates, times and places of public hear- ings will be announced at u later time. The Commission is asking for opinions, com- ments and information from all interested in- dividuals r and organizations. Anyone wishing , to make a written submission or deliver relevant information to the Commission may do so, 'addressing it to: ROYAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY INTO THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF HEALTH RECORDS IN ONTARIO, 22nd Floor, 180 Dundas Street West, . TORONTO, Ontario M5G 1Z8. Telephone: 14161 965-4003 The HO: Mr. Mike Horace Krever, Commissioner. Harvey t Sirosberip, Counsel to the Commission. 7•••••••- 1$:4embers, of Huron County Council turned back to committee a recommendation of the Executive Committee to advise the Ontario Government council was, Agreed ' the Zioncept of market value assessment. Bill Elston', reeve of 'Morris ToWnship seemed US' speak for all the farmers on council when he said he was not opposed to many of the principles involved in . market value asiessment, bu•t he, was concerned about a provision in the current proposal that the government would pay in a lump sum to each-municipality all taxes on facmland, farm buildings. manake& forests, and managed marshes. "I --dan't know why the government wants to pay our to es," insisted Reeve Elston, "I don't want the government to pay my taxes. Ninety per cent ,of the farmers in this county don't want the. government to pay: their The proposals .as laid out, by Treasurer Darcy McKcough in his jaiiiiary 4 statement on, property tax reform suggest that farmers would pay property-tax on their houses, and a reasenableoamount of land., while the prop erty tax on the land and--farm buildings -- would be paid by the government. ingoln a t ion alization of farmland in Ontario," Reeve Elston contended rFor us to sit here and approv'etthis clause is ridiculous." The main concern of farmers. menibets of Huron County Council who spoke on the subject, is fear that the farmer will lose control of his own land. The presen0 system whereby .government rebales...1) portion of ' the. farmer'S taxes is much preferred by farmers. 'if they want to give us sonic money' back, that's all, right,". Reeve Elston said, 'But let them give it to • us, not to the muncipality," "It is quite obvious we need a change in the property tax system," said Stanley Township Deputy reeve Paul St eckle, yointing, out •his beli& that the present system has many in-equities. ''But we need assurance that The grants in lieu , of taxes • oii , the.. farmland arc unconditional." 'Two, •• representative's . Treasury, Economic's • and • Intergovernmental Affairs production control , .What more, it was pointed out by Marlatt and Knox that an independent farmer does T5Ve— tit option to pay all the Property taxes connected with his farm; Council learned there will be a date by which a farmer will have, to notify the' municiPar Cletk that he wishes to pay his • total tax bill, tend- the accounts will be sent to him as is now happening. Where Does the Money Come From "If you cfon't have 'taxes- on farmland, where are you going to, get the .money?" asked Reeve Harold Robinson Of Hoick Township. • Knox and Marlatt said the whole sy st erir ''' -Wou Id. be revanped, including the grant systemTheysaid. the inequities in the distribution of .provincial grants had been pinpointed b y government, avid that proposed property tax reform would correct this .unfair system.• which distributes at least half of the pro,vince's total assistancegolocal governments on the basis or assessment. The TEIG A representatives said that in the case of Huron County where there is a large amount of farmland', there was everx. jiklihood:thLit nu)iey would come from .outside the county to pny,, ghe• costs of farmland taxes. Municipalities tTirougtout °mark.) with very high population in Qiler WOrdS, would probably experience lower grants and that the money that is saved would be applied to ateas• like Huron where' there is 'a great deal of farmland and low population! • - "It is all part of the proposed tax . t•eforni in Ontario".. Said Marlatt. "IN cleat' where the money is coming from," said Cal K tauter, reeve of Brussels "The small businessman is going to pay John Stafford, Deputy Reeve of Howickgave Iris idea of where the money was coming from. ' • "It all comes out of the stone pants." he said 'pointing to his pockets. "It might come from this one or this cone, but the same' fat w 'is going to cevy• Steckle said this was no so Winn .at Accerding to, him:""the • main,. pi iblem• is that farmers are not go_ ling what they should. for„their pr (Bice. • e 'II produce all the food you (TOGA), Jane Marlatt and Pual wan • and, we'll produce ,it at a . Knox, each said, the payments yeast oable price," he said. "let Would be Made . to municipalities us pay our own taxes. Thai's the by. government in lieu. of taxes on':-'="1-6";( 11 ' ' • n , so.ution. ' farmland "no strings attached":,':, ' not Ginn said did "This -: is- 'a 'property tax not dispute.. Reeve Steckle*.s • gystent". pointed out Marlatt. -It Pointed- in principle, but is_ not land control or, even farm Pointed - out that hi actual fact, it N EF(PO IT9B, FEBRIMAY .16, 1)78, ves 01,4 • would just never work. He said if Canadian farmers were to be pid on the basis-of what the food th-4"-produced was v,'att the Canadian public an food consumers in other countries would just not buy it. According to Warden . Gina, the farmers in thellnited States arc "s'ubsidl. A to the hilt" and would be able to sell their productS much cheaper. ''People should pay for people services atid• the land should pay for services td the 'land,'" said Reeve Stafford, referring to a combination of property tax 'figured on' a per capita assessment: basis and on* a property assessment basis, ' Warden Ginn reminded' Reeve (Stafford Huron County is already doing that for the purpose of the county assessment. "As far as I kno\xweiv the only . county in Ontario that does that." the Warden said, A spokesman faun the Huron County Federation of Agriculture was in the audience....and said that Ontario citizens in general did not seem, partial to the idea of people paying for peOple• sersiees (Health, welfare. library: schools etc.) and 'land paying for ,services to property (roads. planning etc.) AsScssment should be-based on the productive values of land. he • said. The F.of Alas approved the proposal for assessment, but feel there mint • Asgessment of farm land in TOritaiio, based strictly on market values: could have far' reaching impliCations.; for the farming industry in this province. Nearly all land in Southern Ontario is affected by real estate values not related to the productive agricultural value. The Huron County Pcdcratioti of Agriculture fcels that taxation based on , market value, tinder theSe circumstances. would not' reflect a farmer's '.'ability to pay", which is supposedly' the basic principle of taxation. • • •• WEDDING INVITATIONS THE HURON EXPOSITOR PHONE 527-0240 SEAPORT( TheH.F.A.'s Executive supports 'the Ontario Federation ,of Agriculture's position • on ,property tax refornr. which, is outlined below:' (1.) 2.F „,A• has a long standing., ptilre'Olial"'prelrfett libeeeklictit I'd". • azt: be some'qualifications put on it, What is a Farmer? 'The representatives from TEIGA told • coun,ell the government is looking to the Ontariq Federation of ,Agricult tire and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food for a definition of a bona fide. farmer. So far. they said.t li •government says that anyone who. earns $2,000 or more from the farm is a fainter.. 'There is juSt a bottom limit," 'said-Jane Martial. "There's no acreage limit.-Alt we really ask it. is the land being used for agriculture purposes," It was, explained that even farmland owned by developers who maintain the land in active agriculture production . will h ave taxes paid by the government on farmland. Such payments.- the TEIGA people said,. would be recovered 'through ,•the Land, Speculation AcE. If a speculator bought some land, got somebody, to farm it, had the • land.- taxes • paid by government -and- then sold the land, undeveloped, it would be subject to Land Speculation Tax. Only,. when • Iltr'inland is sold farmer to farmer does the unconditional grairt clause apply. "Farmland is subject to tax at 100 percent of market value to Lpect-i-Uuors out the la's reform is ju st aunt h er way to prdtect• ageffikural land and to keep Ontario's freiiiliffilrin production. No eleat definition' was given coneerning what would happen if a farmer sold his land to a person who developed a farm related manufacturing or retail business. Assessor Speaks W..F. Jenkins. ' assessment commissioner for the Huron , Perth region. said' there would be a differential between the value of a farm house-and a .similar house in an urban area or in a rural area on a severed lot. He said there is no Way a Mon-Muse attached to a farin could be as valuable as a siMilar house elsewhere. The amount of land which would be attached to the farm- house buildings and upon which • • the-farmer )vould pay 'property taxes would he "the amount of land necessary to utilize a farm residence'% according to Jenkins. In most cases. -that would be between one and two acres, said Jenkins, but when a house is built , in a centre of a, farm which is o.ccasionally atkiitred. the eXtra property would be,drawn into the assessment ,;figures. Mayor.. Deb Shewfejt of Goderieli. also a 'menilier of .the Association of Municipalities in Ontario', said he was concerned that. . when' market , value assessment bPginS, the people of Ontario--will be treated fairly. "There will he • specific problems," said Mayor Shewfelt. "How do we deal with our people. to make:SIAM theme are treated assessment that wAS applied to' the residence shougd become the equiValent equalized assessment assessed value of the farm, home and, the farmer would pay taxes based on this value. The goVernmer has proposed that thcfarru house,and a deemed lot be assessed separate from the farm. O.F.A. is opposed to this proposal because a-farm houSeTs an integral part of the farm and does not be-ar a similar value to a house on Li severed lot. • O.F.A. President' Peter, Hannam will be the guest speaker at the annual banquet of Hay and Stanley Townships' on Friday, April '7th. Any O.F.A. member who Would like , further information about the above policy .is welcome to attend this meeting. Tickets are available at the Federation. Office, VanaStra. •s. fairly'? Jenkins' advised that plans are already afoot for ppen house gait 'at the assessment Offices across the province Mien market, value assessment is instituted. He said people will -be encouraged to attend these , Stistetis. and to'havetheir rights and their questions explained to them. Wilmer Hardy, clerk ' of ,Colborne. Tow,t1Ship.,. was one. of many municiplil.employees in the audience at the, February session of county council. He said he saw the new prOposals as double the work for clerks and municipal tax collectors: Jenkins said the municipality would be advised the assessment office i how 'mud] farmland in the would come and r the govern- municipality meat's jurisdictio as far as tax payment is concerned, and that would be 'applied for in a "lump sum". Other tax bills to farmers would go out as usual and would contain the assessment on their, home and other buildings, any tile drainage costs that may be applicable and; in the case of farmers who choose to-pay the tax on the land, the assessment for „_. the 'land. Ervin Sillery, reeve of ..Tuekersmith said it,rcaily_troiled down to whether farmerg were going to pay land tax or income tco,, "Ikappsars the farmers want to be Hayden, a visiting councillor frO the Town of :Ooderieh,. "1 ra er sympathize with the farmers. Somebody somewhere is fOreing upon farineis sdmething they .de. not want. Who' benefits from forcing the • farmers • into a 'situation they are not happy about?" A recorded vote tallied 28 - 19 against the- recommendation of the executive committee -to' ask the, provincial Bovernnient' to implement market value assessment and property tax reform at the earliest possible date. Those opposed,- were 0.W.Bray, Allan Campbell, Ken Campbell,__Bill Daft, Murray Dawirjen, .Cecil Desjardine, / Norman Dursf, Bill EIStOn, John Flannery, Simon Hallahan', Car Krauter, • Bob, ' Lyons, J..F. MacDonald, Ralph McNichol, • Tom Miller,.,Harold Robinson, Erwin Sillery, John Stafford, Paul 'St eckie, John Tinney., Raj; Williamson ,and Waren Zinn. • Absent from-the Meeting were Claire Pejchert, Don -E.adie;-7 Harold Elliott; Joe Bunking, John Jewitt, Harold Knight, Don McGregor. Ed Oddleifson and Cy Simmons. 141A--THE HUB only be used to pay for set,. ices -to property.. Education and other people-oriented services should be supported by sonic other form of taxation. The government recognized this principle when it agreed to the 50% rebate- of their property tax, which farmers can apply for.But\ --apparently. thii. rebate systeiii will - not by incorporated in the 'proposed' tax reform. • (2) D.E.A. believes that assessment of farm land must be based on productive value, net on 'Mattet' ' 'asseSSment appears to be a "sacred cow" that must not be violated. O.F.A. has proposed-that if farmers are to be assessed at market value the,n • . ota) They he assessed a one unit: house, farm :buildings. farm land, woodlot. etc. (h) The agricultural portion farm buildings. farm • land, Woodlot, etc.) be' considered. non-tax bearing assessment and legislation passed'Io'rilitke such .a declaration permanent. The P government would 'pay the municipality an unconditional., market value. 'The gOX:ernment,otoo grant, equal- to what the'. taxes., refuses to accept this principle in would have .,been on the total... the propoSed property tax reform.. agricull Iral assessment of • the' • t f, (3) Since the provincial municip• ity. It should be noted government is not prepared. 'at. 'that this 's quitP different than this time, to recognize the abae the, government paying the taxes two „basic: points, : and • ',since on individual farms. . , • . ' (c) The balm of . the ' farm ICI I. OPEN! fiery is now NEW STOCK is arriving weekly from the.... JANUARY , LAMP SHOW! operated by • tl • • • eat estate values not related Feel free to come in and browse!! We have LIGHT FIXTURES and LAMPS of all types! CANDELABRA • MODERN • TRADITIONAL • ETC. Fpr tlhe best in style, and selection Come see us first!