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The Citizen, 2004-07-08, Page 6PUBLIC NOTICE FOR CANADIAN FARMERS There is still time to apply for payments under the Transitional Industry Support Program (TISP). TISP includes a direct payment to producers of cattle and other eligible ruminants and a general payment to all producers. You have until July 31, 2004 to apply for both the Direct and General payments. Direct Payment for Cattle and Ruminants Producers of cattle, bison, sheep, goats, elk and deer are eligible. To apply, you must complete and submit a form reporting your inventory. General Transition Payment Individuals, corporations, trusts, co-operatives and communal organizations reporting farming income (or loss) for 2002 are eligible for the transition payment. Status Indians farming on a reserve are also eligible. Note: supply managed commodities are excluded. Important: If you were a VISA participant or you received a Risk Management Funding payment in the last two years, you will automatically receive a payment. Others must apply. Application forms are available online at vnvw.agr.gc.ca/tisp or by calling 1 866 367-8506. 47°,. swop; 141 Agriculture and Agriculnue et Agn-Food Canada Agruairnentaire Canada Canact3 PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 8, 2004. Young entrepreneurs get start with program Healthy business Kalli Ann Taylor of Auburn has successfully started her own business as a result of her participation in the 2004 Summer Company competition. With financial assistance from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Taylor has opened Meadowbrook Garden Produce on her family's farm, offering her customers a wide variety of vegetables and fresh cut flowers. (Elyse DeBruyn photo) Letter to the editor THE EDITOR, I am writing to report a robbery. I along with millions of other Canadians have been robbed of political representation by our "fibt past the post", "winner take all" electoral system. And in this recent federal election we and Canada are the losers. Democracy is based on the premise that each of us has an equal voice in electing our government, "one person - one vote." Fair Vote Canada recently released a report titled "Dubious Democracy" which looks at the failure of our system to produce parliaments which actually reflect the voters' support of the various political parties. We have a system which routinely produces fake majority governments, distorted minority governments, over represents regional interests and regularly disregards nearly half the ballots cast. If we had proportional representation, where every vote counted equally toward parliamentary representation, the over half a million voters who chose the Green Party would have 13 representatives in this parliament, not zero. The NDP would have 29 more seats and would far better reflect the over two million people who voted for them. Why does the Conservative Party with less than twice the number of votes get five times the number of seats as the NDP? Because our first past the post system is badly flawed. The Christian Heritage Party and the Marijuana Party might each have one. The Bloc Quebecois would have 16 fewer seats, the Conservatives would have eight less and the Liberals would have 22 less. This would be a Parliament that truly reflected what voters said on June 28. Some form of proportional representation has been adopted by nearly all western democracies over the past 100 years because they realized that the "first past the post" system was not adequate to a modern democracy. The holdouts are England, the U.S. and Canada. If we want people to vote, we have to stop throwing out their ballots. We need to treat all votes equally and give representation in Parliament equivalent to popular support. In this election the NDP got a representative for every 111,000 votes cast for it. The Liberals got a seat for every 36.600 votes. If the tables were reversed and the Liberals had to get 111,000 votes for every seat and the NDP got a seat for every 36,600 the NDP would have gotten 58 seats and the Liberals 44. If we used the Green By Elyse DeBruyn Citizen staff As a result of the 2004 Summer Company competition, two local students have started their own full-time businesses. Greg Bowers, a 15-year-old student from Brussels and Kalli Ann Taylor, also 15, of Auburn, are among the area students to successfully complete the competition and have started their businesses with financial assistance from the Ministry of Economics Development and ' Trade (MEDT.) The MEDT granted 250 Summer Company awards this year and Bowers and Taylor are among six Huron County winners. Bowers, a Grade 11 student from St. Anne's Catholic Secondary School in Clinton, has started Greg's Firewood, a business which he says takes a lot of time and is hard work, but well worth it. "I'm enjoying it. I like being' able to start my •own business and being given the opportunity to make some money is a great experience," he said. The Summer Company program aims to inspire more young people to choose entrepreneurship as a career and equip them with the tools they need to succeed. The program is designed for- students 15 - 29 years old who are going back to school full time, and provide them with up to $1,500 towards start-up Party's ratio of over half a million votes and NO representation in the Parliament, nobody would get any seats. This is stupid. Let's get a system that doesn't lend itself to this type of distortion and really reflects what Canadians want in a government. If people would like more details they should visit www.fairvotecanada.ca for their report "Dubious Democracy". Better yet join Fair Vote Canada and help make this the last undemocratic election in Canada. - Be well. Tony McQuail. Letter THE EDITOR, I have always made a point - in watching the Canada Day celebrations on CBC every year from Ottawa, feeling proud to be a Canadian. (Coincidentally, our grandson was born July 1). My husband and I were in total dismay as 99 per cent of the entertainment was by French entertainers singing in French. Not only that, the large flag on the stage behind the performers was a Quebec flag with a maple leaf on it. Where was our Canadian flag? Was this a Canada Day celebration? Lois van Vliet. costs. When a student has successfully completed the program requirements, the he/she is eligible for an additional award of up to $1,500. "We're pleased that Huron County won six of (the awards)," said Alison Lobb, a business consultant at the Huron Business Enterprise Centre in Seaforth. Each student had to submit a comprehensive business plan with their application and then participated in an interview process. The students then participated in a series of business training workshops called Business Start-up Series, which were also open to the public. The workshops included designing an effective record keeping system and basic bookkeeping principles. The next workshop is July 8, where students will learn about setting and achieving business goals. Bowers' decision to start a firewood business came from the fact that electricity and natural gas heating cost care generally high. "People might be interested in buying firewood now since electricity and gas prices went up. There's also the chance of power outages again and people will need something to keep warm," he said. Taylor said she and her brother considered starting a gardening business, but he got a job on his grandfather's farm, so she took on the gardening herself then "it grew into a business." She said in the early stages, she had been toying with the idea to have a garden business, then she saw an ad for the Summer Company in the local paper. She then attended a meeting in Seaforth to "get a better idea of what it is was about." Although it was close to the application deadline, Taylor managed to construct her business plan by taking a few weeks off school, as her -family is home-educated. After hours of research, her business plan was complete and Meadowbrook Garden Produce was born. "The work load was a little more than I expected it to be, but I am really enjoying it now," said Taylor. She sells melons, Continued on page 7 Writer wants change Young, but in business As a result of their participation in the 2004 Summer Company competition, area students will be starting full-time businesses this summer with financial assistance from the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade who granted 250 financial awards this year and six of them are from Huron County. Greg Bowers of Brussels, was chosen for an award and has started Greg's Firewood, a business he runs from hoMe'selling firewood, which he cuts and splits himself, to local residents. (Elyse DeBruyn photo)