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The Citizen, 1994-03-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1994. 1—1 itizenciTheNorthHuron CNA P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M1H0 Phons 523-47! FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1 HO Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell r«iO The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.) for local; $31.03/year ($29.00 plus $2.03 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $60.00/year for U.S.A, and Foreign. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 4 p.m. - Blyth. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 E ditorial Too good to lose Given the tremendous success that the Brussels Bulls Junior C hockey club has had over the years, it's hard to imagine how, after only one season when the team wasn't near the top of the standings, the organization could be in trouble. But that’s how it stands, club executive members say. If people don't come forward to help out, the club will be sold. With the growing interest in Junior C hockey, it seems there are plenty of other towns interested if Brussels isn't. At a time when towns want to keep all the economic activity they can, it seems impossible to think that the people of Brussels would let such an organization go so easily. While the team finished in fourth place this year, for years it battled for the top spot with the invincible Hanover Barons, a team that captured the Ontario championship. Year after year there were thrilling playoff confrontations that packed the arena with people from miles around. But after one bad season attendance dropped enough this year that the team ran up a deficit of $8,000 despite the fact the budget has been cut in half in recent years. There are too few people willing to take on executive jobs to be able to hold the fundraising events needed to keep the team going. Junior hockey teams, even at the Junior C level, are expensive to operate. As a community that is justly proud of its hockey heritage, Brussels now faces a choice: either get behind one of the most successful hockey operations in the region, or watch it leave. It's difficult to measure the economic spin-off from a successful junior hockey team but it's hard to think that all those crowds over the years didn't pump a considerable amount of money into the local economy. It would seem like Brussels has too much to lose to watch the Bulls leave town. — KR Bureaucratic idiocy Quietly, with almost no public notice, a piece of the most restrictive legislation in history is making its way toward law in Ontario. The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs is holding consultations this month on proposals for changing land use planning, proposals that affect rural Ontario more than anywhere else. The recommendations, many of which will give bureaucrats immense power, come out of the Sewell Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario. The problem is that Sewell, a former mayor of Toronto, knew virtually nothing about the world outside the big smoke when he started, and learned little along the way. Dr. Gary Davidson, Huron County's director of planning and development, said he debated Sewell recently and the attitude seemed to be that the environment in the city was already ruined so now the city people must protect the environment in the countryside. These city attitudes imposed on rural areas are evident throughout the proposals. Take one phrase on development, for instance: "Development will not be permitted in significant ravines, river, stream and natural corridors, and in the habitat of endangered, threatened and vulnerable species. Development will not be permitted in significant woodlands south and east of the Canadian Shield. Development will not be permitted on adjacent and related lands if it adversely affects the integrity of the natural features of ecological functions of the areas included in this statement. New infrastructure will be located outside these significant features unless it is demonstrated that there is no reasonable alternative." What’s left? Does it mean the only development in Ontario can take place in Scarborough? Dr. Davidson says the definitions contained in the new proposals are so strict that it's possible that a homeowner living within 120 meters of a woodlot could have to hold an environmental impact study before erecting a deck. His department, Dr. Davidson says, is concerned that this document could virtually shut down rural Ontario if it was implemented in a strict way. Government officials say that such an interpretation is not what they mean, he says, but the way the words are on the paper the potential is there. No law should be allowed to come into effect if there is doubt as to how the terms can be applied. The power of interpretation should not be left in the hands of faceless bureaucrats in Toronto who kndw nothing about life outside the city. Ontario faces a growing danger of being a province split on rural/urban lines. Too much power over rural areas is vested with people who know nothing about living in rural Ontario. Now is the time to fight back while we still can. — KR Photo by Bonnie Gropp Letters MPP writes THE EDITOR, I am responding to the article "Doctor closes Blyth office" which appeared in the March 2 edition of The Citizen. The article suggests that local doctors are closing portions of their practice because of restrictions placed on them by the social contract Specifically, there was a reference to having a cap on billings of $175,000. I would like to set the record straight. There is no cap on doctors' billings of $175,000. (There is no cap until a gross income of $404,000 per year is reached, at which point income earned above that amount is reduced by one-third.) The doctors do have a cutback under the social contract. The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) negotiated with the provincial government on behalf of all the doctors in Ontario to reach an agreement under the social contract. It was agreed that all fee- for-service payments would be reduced by 4.8 per cent. However, there is no limit on the volume of work that a doctor may do. The OMA, which represents the doctors, recommended to the government a cap of $175,000. However, the government did not accept that recommendation. It was rejected specifically to avoid the situation where doctors would be discouraged from practicing in rural Ontario. I must wonder whether the OMA considers the welfare of their rural doctors. The provincial government is very much aware of the necessity for quality health care in rural communities and the need to encourage doctors to practice in rural areas. We are also working very hard on the issue of emergency service. Our community has benefitted from the services of highly competent and hardworking doctors. It is in ail our interests that they should thrive in our communities and feel that it is worth their while to practice here. Paul Klopp MPP Huron THE EDITOR, I would like to respond to the criticism directed towards myself and Ontarians for Responsible Government by Paul Klopp, as reported in the Feb. 2 edition of your newspaper. It is obvious from Mr. Klopp's remarks that he is grossly ignorant of the facts surrounding Bill 91, which would allow the unioniza­ tion of Ontario's farms. I would like to comment on three of the most blatant examples of Mr. Klopp's abuse of the facts, as reported in your newspaper. 1. Mr. Klopp: it is not realistic to expect a union will accept two members. The Facts: Mr. Klopp was referring to the fact that under Bill 91, any farm that has more than one employee could be unionized. What Mr. Klopp does not realize is that while unions may concentrate on large farm operations initially, they are only too eager to form a bargaining unit wherever they are able, regardless of whether a farm has two, three or four employees. A union is made up of individual farms and not two solitary workers. At the same time, unionization within a larger farm operation will force wages up on smaller farms even before a union manages to encircle it with their tentacles. 2. Mr. Klopp: "O.R.G. (and Thom Corbett) are Toronto people going out here and I don't know what they're doing." The Facts: First of all, I am a Guelphite whose organization was approached by farmers in Klopp's own riding asking us to help them fight this unionization bill. What Continued on page 6