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The Huron Expositor, 1996-02-07, Page 3News and Views Look at other ministries for cuts Continued from page I she lidded as. the cut; are ex, peeled to coupe by the end of. March. "We need these took to carry on," another participant said of the agriculture ministry. "We need these photocopiers. If we start eroding I•ronl the bottom up there will be nothing to stand on." The consensus at die meeting was for the different farm groups to band together as one voice and present their op- position to the govcrninenl. "If we speak in one voice and if everybody works together, we can accomplish s,nleUling," stand Kirkby. "When we fall on tough lilies the gov.crnmetlt is there to help its," said Tont Pollard. "Now the government is having a tough time and we can. help then,; let's come to their res- cue." he added, statil,5 that this is the chance for their groups to aid the government finan- cially. "Ontario agriculture has already taken its share of hits," said Bill Wallace, past president of the HCFA. Wal- lace suggested that the government look at other ministries for cuts before coming back for more cuts to agriculture. After debating the issue, the group decided to gather the facts and figures on agriculture in both Huron County and Ontario and present that infor- mation to Huron MPP Helen Johns. "We must show the importance of Huron County in agriculture," said Kirkby. "We arc one of the biggest producers of agricultural products in Ontario. We must give Helen Johns the am- munition to take back (to the government)... Helen Johns is just one voice. But if we speak loud enough, more than Helen Johns will hear us." Need for continued spending restraint Continued from page 1 "Absolutely not. Last week they came out with the outra- geous statcinetlt they could layoff 27,(XX) of us. There's no possible way the government could operate any services or programs if they ever made that attempt. Not a chance. The government would he out of business," Elliot said. Elliot said the Conservative stance at negotiations with the union is putting the province on the fast-track to a strike by public sector workers. If nego- tiations don't progress and OPSEU members "give their union a strike mandate, the union could he in a legal strike position by February 21. It would he the first in OPSE(' history. as the union only gained the right to strike (lur- ing the term of the previous NDP government. "They won't meet with us. The Conservatives will not meet with us! We've been har- gaining.for so long now and they have not traded one con- crete position across the bar- gaining table." Fiscal situation deteriorating . During 'the annual meetin;g. Eves. focused on the need tier continued spending restraint and deficit reduction. He told the crowd in the packed audi- torium that "Ontario's fiscal situation has deteriorated sig- nificantly over the past 10 years." He said government spending has doubled, from $28 billion in 1985-86 to over $56 pillion this year, even with the gov- ernment's recent spending cuts. Accumulated debt has tripled, he said, from S33 billion in '85-86 to S97 pillion in the cur- rent fiscal year. - "And what do Ontarians have to show for this huge debt'? There are fewer jobs now than there were in 1989. The unem- ployment rate is higher. There are two -and -a -half tinges as many people on social assis- tance as there were 10 years ago. but the cost of social assistance has gone up five - and -a -half times. "It is abundantly clear that overspending, high taxes and deficit financing of the past decade did not create lasting ,lobs. If it did.. everybody in the province would have. two." Eves said. • • Ontario's annual interest pay= nlents on the debt arc now• around S9 billion, which erodes the.governments ability 10 provide health care, educa- tion, social assistance and other services, said Eves. The debt interest each year. is more than the province spends on either education or health care ppfilially, Eves,noje ,, "I1 we don't get our govern- ment spending under control. We will he in a situation where we will he discussing not the level of services we want to offer Ontarians, but we may well he in a situation where programs simply will be elimi- nated." Eves said the government is planning cuts of one-third in its own operations, on top of measures already introduced. While that sounds drastic, he said it was important that Ontarians put it in perspective. • "If we closed down every single government office all across the province tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. If we got rid of every singlegovern- ment employee. every single government building, every single MPP, everybody that works for the province of Ontario, we would save $5.8 pillion. We would Still be over S3 billion in debt for this year alone. And, we would still owe almost SIO) billion." Eves said Ontario's transfer partners. municipalities, hospi- tal's. school boards. etc., account for approximately 70 per cent of all government . spending. So you carPreadily see that our transfer partners have. to be part Of the solution — because they're spending approximately Continued on page 15 LiorisClub ertW c"h `Easter Seals The Seatoi tli • Lions Club annual Easter SeaIs ('au1100 is set to begin soon. Tom Kale, Easier Seal chair- man for Seaforth, says resi- dents should be receiving flyers in the mail soon on the fund- raising campaign which bene- fits children cvitIi physical disabilities and their families.. "Proceeds will bench' local people, says Kale, who has • been involved with the cam- paign for the past seven years. Local donations are sell to Kale; who then , issues tax receipts. "Government cutbacks arid increasing costs for essential equipment and services mean a tougher road ahead for our families. In turn, they will•rely more on Easier Seals to fill in the gaps from reduced govern- ment funding," says Peter Ely, Executive Director, Faster Seal Society of Ontario. • The funds. raised during the campaign will help the Faster Seal Society provide direct services to children with physi- cal disabilities and their fam- ilies through community nurs- ing, financial • assistance lily equipment, camps, parent sup- port programs, advocacy and funding for research. "The seals help create aware- ness and generate essential funds lor children with physi- cal disabilities," says Kale. Sea forth'scampaign officially kicks off on iNlarc h 6. FREE Valentine 1 MUG PER FILL -UP MINIMUM 30 LITRE PURCHASE REQUIRED ARCHIE' S se,t0eee eeafte 24 Goderich St. E., Seaforth 527-0881 UPI TM Ethanol Gasolines • Exhaust Systems • Oil Changes Hunting & Fishing Licenses • Tire Sales & Repairs Washing & Waxing • Pop • Snacks • Ice 4 Crimestoppers Goderich businesses victims of break-ins There were several break, enter, and thefts in Goderich on Jan. 27. The break and. enters included VanDely's on the Square, Zoni's restuarant, Kingston Street, Circle City gas bar on Hwy 21, and Foodland on South Street. Private residences were also entered on Bennett Street. A quantity of money and cigarettes were stolen from the businesses and property From the residences including a GT Snow Racer, roller blades, Sony discman, binoculars, hockey bag, Cooper ice skates, and a pair of Cooperalls. THEFT FROM VEHICLES On Jan. 27 between 8:30 and 9:30 there were several vehicles entLrod on Queen Street and vicinity. One of the vehicles had the rear window smashed out of it. Some of the stereo equipment stolen was Alpine. BREAK AND ENTER Sometime between Jan. 21 and 28 unknown persons entered a residence on Cameron Street in Bayfield and stole several items from the house. The stolen property included a Sanyo VCR, model VHR 5412, Radio Shack telephone, Magnicon stargazer telescope, black briefcase, Black & Decker jigsaw, Porter router, Black & Decker chainsaw and some frozen food. THEFT FROM HOUSE Thcrc was a party at, a residence on the 19th concession of Stephen Township Jan. 28. When the guests had left, the owner of the house noticed that he was missing a JVC video camera, a Magnavox CD player, and some Hammerhead darts. APPLIANCES? 001 *mom.- SERVICE • PARTS DIyYSDALE MAIO! MSN SA t./1-. 21 --27'28 THE HURON EXPOSITOR, February 7. 1996-3 PIANO T['NI\% • REPAIRS • REBUILDING • KEYS RECOVERED • DAI,IPP CHASERS • REGULATING • BENCHES BRUCE PULSIFER 348.9223'.11 11 111.11. McLaughlin Chev-Olds Ltd. 13 Main St. Seaforth. 527.1140 •Service •Selection •Savings .Satisfaction 'Leasing •Complete BODY SHOP Service MAIN STREET VIDEO 51 MAIN ST., SEAFORTH 527-2774 Over 0 Movies for sale from $4.99 KIDS' MOVIES •Free Willie 11 *Cinderella *Etc. $999 ONLY CD's STARTING AT $600 TOP TEN! NEW RELEASES! CD'S reg. $19.99 ONLY Si 3.00 t11BOOKS PAPERBACKS 25C HARD COVER 75' e Qoses are lied, Violets are Blue sugar is sweet and your honey is too! SAyHAPP}' VALENTINE'S with... Kettle Creek,CFeocolates Sugar & Spice Chocolates gfaC<martCarrfs Picture frames Cordless Phones Clock,Rarfios Scepter! Candles Cassettes e3' CDs and more in store items 5-lappy valentine's Day from Tim, Danica and Staff, BOB&BETTY'S GIFT&VARIETY 33 MainStreet, Seaforth 527-1680 "Your Lottery Head Quarters" ANNOUNCEMENT The Physicians and Staff of SEAFORTH MEDICAL CLINIC 2$ Centennial Drive, Seaforth. Are pleased to announce that Dr. Daniel Rooyakkers will be joining our staff MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1996 For appointments Call: 527-1770 New Patients Welcome CLINIC HOURS Monday 8:30 - 5 Tuesday 8:30 - 5; Evening 6 - 8 p.m. Wednesday 8:30 - 12 Thursday 8:30 - 5 Friday 8:30 - 5 Qoses are lied, Violets are Blue sugar is sweet and your honey is too! SAyHAPP}' VALENTINE'S with... Kettle Creek,CFeocolates Sugar & Spice Chocolates gfaC<martCarrfs Picture frames Cordless Phones Clock,Rarfios Scepter! Candles Cassettes e3' CDs and more in store items 5-lappy valentine's Day from Tim, Danica and Staff, BOB&BETTY'S GIFT&VARIETY 33 MainStreet, Seaforth 527-1680 "Your Lottery Head Quarters"