The Huron Expositor, 1994-09-21, Page 21S -TNI HURON EXPOSITOR, S•pt•mb•r 28, 1994
News and Views
Phone system structure 'unlawful'
BY TIM CUMMING
Expositor Editor
The Tuckersmith Municipal Tele-
phone System is not being
'hijacked' by a proposed change to
a cooperative corporation, a lawyer
told about 300 phone customers
near Varna on Thursday night.
"Do not assume when you wake
up tomorrow somebody has left
town with the telephone system,"
said Paul LaBarge, a lawyer from
Blake, Cassels and Graydon. "Any
program is not going anywhere
without your support."
Tuckersmith Municipal Telephone
System must become a corporation,
said LaBarge.
"Your existing form is unlawful,"
he said. "Your commissioners, in
the discharge of their statutory
responsibilities have an obligation
to maintain their operations in a
form that conforms with the law."
The municipality is not the owner
of the system, but a trustee, he told
a restrained crowd. A cooperative
corporation is the best model to
serve subscribers' interests, said the
lawyer.
"We tried to find a structure
which emulates the principles
behind the municipal telephone
system as it currently exists."
Prior to Thursday's meeting some
phone customers had suggested
looking at other structures, such as.
a public utility, like that formed for
the Bruce Municipal Telephone
System.
A public utility, however, may not
be condoned by certain parts of the
Municipal Act and Public Utilities
Act. Telephone systems can be run
as public utilities under the Ontario
Telephone Act but that legislation
may be unconstitutional. A recent
Supreme Court decision says tele-
phone system regulation is entirely
in the federal jurisdiction.
"1'd gladly pay to
maintain service."
The crowd patiently listened to
long, detailed discussion of the
proposed phone system changes in
a humid climate at the Stanley
Township municipal complex. On
two different occasions the crowd
clapped for people who defended
the phone system in its move to a
cooperative structure.
Bill Wallace, of RR 4 Seaforth,
said he wants to see the company
retain local control and maintain
local service.
"I'd gladly pay to maintain ser-
vice in this community," he said to
applause. "It would be extremely
short-sighted to let something
unique slip through our hands."
Glenn Grubb, the manager of the
Huron -Kinloss phone system and
chairperson of the Ontario Tele-
phone Association, said the CRTC
doesn't consider a subscriber -owned
municipal system a corporation.
The former chairperson of the
Tuckersmith Municipal Telephone
System, Dave Brock, charged that
when Huron -Kinloss decided to
become a cooperative there was no
vote of telephone customers.
The lawyer who spoke at
Thursday's meeting says there's
nothing undemocratic about the
move to a cooperative corporation.
There are options available to any-
one who opposes a cooperative, he
said.
Firstly, the transfer of assets can
only be made through a bylaw of
the initiating municipality
(Tuckersmith Township).
"That's one check and balance of
any hijack (of the phone system),"
said LaBarge. "You're certainly
free to make this an election issue."
Secondly, an application must be
made to the Ontario Telephone
Services Commission which can
hold a hearing if required.
Another phone customer asked
why the Ontario Telephone Associ-
ation (OTA) wasn't pressing for
recognition of municipal telephone
systems as corporations.
Grubb said it would be an issue
of 'tax avoidance' because the
municipal corporations don't pay
corporate tax. He asked why phone
systems should be exempt from
corporate tax when small businesses
had to pay the tax.
Maybe all businesses should be
run by municipal councils in order
not to pay taxes," he said rhetori-
cally.
"If we have the advantage why
give it up?" responded the ques-
tioner.
The cooperative structure will
save management the hassle of
potential litigation over its sub-
scriber list, said the chairperson of
the phone system, Ross McBeath.
He described the issue of an official
'subscribers' list as a "pain in the
butt for 85 years."
"In our opinion it's not possible
to ascertain...all subscribers," said
McBeath. "We decided the cooper-
ative is the only way to go."
One member of the audience
suggested this is why the OTA has
"jumped on the bandwagon" of
cooperative corporations.
Former commission member Vern
Alderdice said recent CRTC deci-
sions will dramatically change how
the phone company will get its
income in the future. The company
will be facing technology changes
such as wireless and fibre -optics.
He asked if the company had a 5 -
year capital budget for technology
changes.
Two members of the commission
made comments which suggested
there was no long-term capital plan
in place.
Chairperson Ross McBeath said
it's impossible to plan for all
changes, saying at home he could
not predict when a piece of farm
equipment was going to break
down.
A former commissioner of the
phone system, Robert Cooper,
asked if the phone system had been
asked in writing to change the
structure of the phone system. The
response was in the negative.
A bureaucrat in charge of devel-
oping cooperatives was at the Sept.
22 meeting to speak in favour of
that corporate structure. George
Alkalay, of the Ministry of Finance,
said it was the sixth trip to an area
phone system to speak on the
issues.
"Cooperatives can play a role in
community development and
keeping a community strong," he
said. "Co-ops are a lot more demo-
cratic in a lot of ways than our
political process."
Cooperatives provide local control
and ownership that is the envy of
people in urban areas, said Alkalay.
He said the structure allows a
democratic one member -one vote
structure and an emphasis on ser-
vice and not profit. Any profits can
go back to the users in terms of
reduced phone rates.
The government feels the cooper-
ative is important because it's an
alternative to small corporations
being bought out by larger ones. In
those cases the decisions are made
from far away, not from the place
where people use the service.
The CRTC thinks it's fantastic
phone customers will have a say in
small phone systems through a
cooperative structure, echoed
Grubb.
A petition of subscribers has
called for a general meeting to be
held.
r
I. PIAN() TUNING
a • REPAIRS • REBUILDING
e��i�• • KEYS RECOVERED
F! • OAMPP CHASERS
• REGULATING
rl • BENCHES
BRUCE
PULSIFER
r
McLaughlin
Chev-Olds Ltd.
13 Main St. Seatorth. 527-1140
•Service •Selection 'Savings
•Satisfaction •Leasin�g
•Complete BODY SHOP Servke
•
WE'VE EXPANDED
TO MAKE ROOM FOR
"THE PARTY CORNER"
y0 ea
Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en
decorations
Lots & Lots to choose from
paper GHOSTS 4
pumpkins & GOBLIN
TABLE CENTERPIECES
Scary
witches
53" skeletons
that glow in the
dar
HALLOWE'EN
BANNERS
PETE'S PAPER CLIP
19 MAIN ST. , SEAFORTH
527-1681
11M CIJMMINO P11010
SHOPPING TREASURES - These three Seaforth girls found lots of treasures on Saturday at the
• Northside United Church Morning Market in Seaforth. They were buying the items to help outfit their
playhouse at the Short family home. The young shoppers are Amanda Short, 8; Jennifer Short, 11 and
Shealynn Austin, 8. The girls bought blinds for the window, place mats and a 'tree' for coffee mugs.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ac a fl'S . . .ThE F1RST AND IAST *ORDONovie
• • • • • • • • • •• •
Shaliog, '4e
.fir i9
Skalioy. (17./
qi.144118 Sha quikate
JUST ARRIVED NEW '94
• Dresses • Scribes
• Skirts • Scribe Bags
• Leggings • Tights
• Sparkle or Marble Guards
• Skate Cleaners & Polishes
• Turtlenecks • Skatebags
• Warm-up sweaters
• Sweatshirts
SKATES BY DON JACKSON,
CCM, LANGE & DOMINION
We sharpen
•
4, •
•
4/ ,I
•
Imo.
S4, of
�t2 ciaaing
tie Slot:
v�?��p
Sh4
sotewelll MOee
Automotive
Parts
mach ans
110 MAIN N. EXETER 2300800 or 237-3150
Home
narctware
Radio Jhaek
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
ON TOP QUALITY WlabarT
51110 PAIN
SAVE 8
• Deeper colours available et ahpndy higher pease
t Compared to SICO'S Agar Sale Prim on Paint In a1Nd Ocbb& 29.1994
W
"CANADIAN MADE
CANADIAN OWNED
FOR CANADIAN CONDITIONS"
LATEX CEILING P,
For use on cerknps
twang and non-
ettertrg Soap and
water dean -up t •�•''
n•r'
Nom MOO
sap. glnUN*
SAVE $9
ACRYLIC LATEX P
For use on previously
permed alkyd 8 latex
surfaces. new drywall,
Outer. meso rjo
Seale
SAVE S9
7
/111r
ATER
Atm leis
M1p, f7 M
ACRYLIC LATEX
t
F81
nth. velvety. e
nrth for most roomsoom,
Kph hieing and lestA 111111*
1 See Sr
drying Easy soap and
water dean up 1� Ulm
r�il1�
SAVE S11
KID'S ROOMppEH
Core rt°oat QDWf�eeMON
•ne.g.
Low
• alp/4 f0 VW P.M MI
SAVE '•12
KITCHEN & BATH
1 Oc% S°ry4 Dant
Weeluae and sonlbw
a
Rover modow and
mer
create SuSdherenl
now 'num
res
'Senn: nulo
a.,r i�i1
SICO Interior Paint Tips
1 Prepare surface, fill holes, sand, and
spot prime with SIC° 165-125.
2 Wash walls with TSP solution.
SICO General Paint Tips
1 Apply pant In a 'W' pattern, then ItIl in with
a horizontal stroke, and finish with a vertical
motion for maximum coverage.
2 Paint in 2' x 7 areas.
4 When applying paint to a stucco ceiling, a
split loam roller should be used.
•
ZURICH
CO-OP
1/2 Mile East of Zurich 236-4393
SEAFORTH
CO -QP
Main St. Seaforth 527-0770