The Citizen, 2003-02-26, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2003.
Letter to the editor
Writer says arena rates send him out of town
THE EDITOR,
I would like to comment on
the article entitled Council
Ponders Rental Fee on page 28
of the Feb. 19 Citizen.
I, for one, have made recent
enquiries concerning the rental
fees for both the Blyth and
Brussels Community Centres
for a wedding reception. The
occupancy of both arenas is
similar; however Brussels is
liquor licensed; Blyth is not.
The following fees were
quoted to me; Blyth
auditorium, $400; reserving it
for the night before for
decorating: three hours at
$26.25/hour, $78.75; SOCAN
(Society of Composers,
Authors and Music Publishers
of Canada) fees, $61;
bartender fees, approximately
$200; bar licence,
approximately $100; security,
negotiable. Add to this the
inconvenience of travelling to
and from the local LCBO both
the morning of the wedding
then returning the remaining
liquor the following week.
Also liability insurance is
required. Thus the person
renting the auditorium receives
all the returns from the bar.
Brussels, rental of the
It’s expected that meetings will eease
explained Avon-
education
Geoff
Continued from page 1
of marks and attendance. It’s
expected staff meetings • and
department head meetings will
cease.
“We knew that it might
happen. We knew they were in
the position because we had
gone through the steps that are
required before a strike action
is taken,”
Maitland
superintendent
Williams.
Williams noted that “strike
action” is the correct legal term
for the union’s activity.
He added the Huron-Perth
local’s decision came as part of
“a provincial thrust,” and
suggested there was little the
board could have done to
prevent the work-to-rule.
Secondary teachers serving
boards around Windsor,
London and Sarnia had
announced identical actions
just prior to or at the same time
as the Avon Maitland
announcement.
Huzar admitted it looked like
the union locals were acting
together, but he then iumed the
argument back into the
of the school boards.
“It happens to
coincidental with the
boards, but there was very
much a concerted effort by the
OPSBA (Ontario Public
School Boards’ Association) to
have a provincial position, and
it’s holding us back locally,”
the local president said.
Besides, he noted, “it has
been very clear right from last
August that the situation was
not acceptable to teachers, ever
since (OSSTF provincial
president) Earl Manners said
he expected the government to
take action based on what we
expected to be m the Rozanski
Report.”
Huzar said the report,
completed under the leadership
of University of Guelph
administrator
Rozanski and
November, confirmed that
there are problems with the
fact the government requires
school boards to sign three-
year deals, yet only provides
funding on a year-by-year
basis.
And, even though the
government came through with
short-term funding to allow
boards to tackle this year’s
staffing challenges, it has not
yet committed long-term
Mordechai
released in
hands
be
other
dollars.
“They’ve put the employers
in a very difficult position in
terms of negotiating and
they’ve put the teachers in a
similar position.”
Still, in recent weeks in
Ontario, three deals have been
negotiated between public
school boards and their
secondary school teachers.
One, in York Region, has been
ratified by both parties, while
the other two are still up for
votes. Huzar calls these “very
positive . . . They’ve created a
stable solution for this year and
next. I hope our board can look
at those deals and see what it
can offer along those lines.”
Will it happen on March 6?
Williams is confident that,
since the work-to-rule has
somewhat of a provincial
flavour to it, “it’s not
something that reflects on our
relationship with our teachers
locally.” Huzar notes that “we
haven’t faced a strike in this
district for a long time, and I
would hope that it wouldn’t
deveiop into that this time.”
That doesn’t mean, however,
that there are no outstanding
issues. The board has been
careful to stress that, despite
the fact it recently found itself
with approximately $1 million
in unexpected surplus from last
year, it is still overspent in
areas like transportation and
special education.
The union local, on the other
hand, wants to see more than
just a pay raise but also a
resolution to some workload
issues.
“The board has made a
salary offer, but they’ve not
been willing to discuss some of
the issues we’ve raised —
issues of workload and support
staff,” said Huzar, who argued
the Avon Maitland board
doesn’t have enough librarians,
resource people, teaching
assistants, or specialists in such
things as special education and
students at risk.
“They’ve received funding
and our board is relatively
well-off,” the union local
president continued. “They had
a surplus this year that they
placed into reserve .. . The
money is there to address the
issues that we’re bringing to
the table.”
auditorium plus reserving it
the night before, $440;
SOCAN fees, included in
rental fee; bartender fees,
included in rental fee; security,
included in rental fee; bar
licence, included in rental fee,
liability insurance, included in
rental fee.
Liquor is already there, so
there’s no hassle required to
pick it up or to return it. The
renter receives a rebate of 50
cents for each drink purchased
at the bar.
It was based on these facts
that we decided to take our
business out of our community
in Blyth to Brussels. It is
disappointing to support one’s
own community in the
restoration of its arena, only to
find that, in our situation, it
was not convenient to rent it.
We did contact a local
organization member about
having them run the bar and its
proceeds, but no reply was
ever received.
I hope that this will help to
clarify some of the comments
that you quoted our council
members as saying.
A local North Huron
Township taxpayer.
With thanks
Mike Scott and his wife Arden (not pictured)
received a certificate of commendation for
service to Scouting from Agnes Denham at the
annual Scouting banquet in Blyth on Feb. 19.
David Cartwright, who was not present for the
evening’s events, received this year’s
Citizenship award. (Joan Caldwell photo)
Many for bylaw
Continued from page 1
numerous individuals, in
person and in writing, as well
as health foundation
representatives voiced their
support for the bylaw, saying
they had voluntarily gone
smoke-free over the past
years, both for their clients
and themselves.
Rick Kloss of Town and
Country Bowling Lanes in
Zurich said he has been
praised by smokers and non-
smokers alike since he went
smoke-free. “It has been a
totally positive experience.
Business has improved as
clients eat and stay longer.”
Even Goderich Lion
Maurice Jenkins, who told of
a $4,000 loss at club bingos
over a six-month period,
supported full implementation
of the bylaw so that all
gambling facilities would be
an an equal playing field.
Many respondents also
asked that all establishments
be treated equally, therefore
permitting no exemptions.
Medical Officer of Health
Beth Henning closed the
morning session by reminding
councillors that it takes “great
courage to be politicians. This
council has the courage to
pass the bylaw as they want to
protect the
residents.”
Because
considerations
requested exemptions, county
council will not vote on the
proposed bylaw March 6.
health of
of further
given to
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<7—i----------is the party
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IMPORTANT NOTICE
To Employers
Summer Career Placements is a wage subsidy
program that enables employers to hire students during
the summer for a period of 6 to 16 weeks. Private, public
and not-for-profit employers are invited to submit their
application by:
March 28, 2003
The objective of the program is to provide students
with work experience related to their field of study.
Applications will be evaluated based on the quality
of the experience offered, local and regional priorities
as well as available budgets.
Employers are eligible to receive up to 100% of the
provincial/territorial minimum wage if they hire a student
with a disability through the Summer Career Placements
program.
To apply or to find out more about this program, please
contact your nearest Human Resources Development
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Internet: www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
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