Huron Expositor, 1999-12-08, Page 13Father
steps down
from church
By Tim.Cumming
Mitchell Advocate Staff
There are no weekend
masses at St. Columhan
Roman.Catholic.Church until
further notice. following a
decision by the church's
priest,' Father• . Maurice
Charbonneau, to step down as
pastor of that church.
Weekday masses will
continue under the .retired
Father Paul Mooney. •hut
Saturday night masses are
unlikely anytime soon.
It will be hard. to find a
priest to do the. weekend
services. said Bishopiohn
Michael Sherlock. in a
telephone interview on
Thursday.
"We are in the midst of a
grave shortage of clergy."
Father Charbonneau. who.
will continue to serve as
Pastor of -St. Patrick's Church
in Dublin and St. Vincent De
Paul in Mitchell. came to the
area less than six months ago
when he replaced outgoing.
priest Father Tony Del
Ciancio who had served in the
area for about five years.
Father Charbonneau made a
decision to • discontinue
servicesbecause he felt
'respect for his authority as
priest had been "eroded" by
''the actions of some
parishioners: according to the'
Bishop.
The loss .of the church's
pastor was unexpected..
"I didn't think we'd come
to an impasse like this." said
• Bishop Sherlock. "This
situation is a little bit
unexpected •. and
unprecedented.'
The (Bishop said he will
have to review the situation at
the church. "It's all essentially
. just happening.;. I'm goingto
try to make some definitive
statement before long."' .. .
Members Of .St. Columhan
Church will be able to
worship in other churches on
the weekends, he/said.
''The people wil) have to
find alternative-piaces'to.
fulfill their Sunday
obligation."
-A notice saving therewould •
'be no. weekend mask was
expeEted.to be posted by .the
weekend.' •
The church is not being
closed. according to the
Bishop. The- diocese . is
planning a viability study of
its churches but that study
hasn:t started.
Corrections
A headline in the Dec: 1
issue of The Huron Expositor .,
links a Huron Perth Cancer
Society produced booklet with
alternative therapies when. in
fact, the booklet lists general
cancer care services, of -a
traditional nature. For more
information.\ people can call
the society at 1-800=29.3-0086.
In the same issue:' an
accident report provided by
the OPP listed Mary -Hart as
88 when. in fact. she:is 83.
A photograph appearing on •
the front,depicts a float with a -
"Save bur School" message.
The cutline indicates it is the
Seaforth Public School float
when. in fact. it was
Grassroots Construction.
In a November issue of the
Huron ,Expositor, a short
articledetailed a fire truck as
purchased by Seaforth when.
in fact. those costs are shared
by all the area municipalities
that are served by the fire
department. and tea Saturday:afternoon
•
News
Local agriculture federation upset
by changes to OMAFRA
By Dave Emilie
Clinton News -Record Staff
The Ontario Ministry of
Agriculture. Food and Rural
Affairs (OMAFRA) has been
providing personal service to
Huron County farmers for
over 80 years. but .this will all
change under a recent
ministry realignment. -
Minister Ernie Hardeman,
in a release last week. stated_
that changes being made to
the delivery of programs and
services .at OMAFRA "will
better - position the
organization to support a
competitive agri-'food sector
and rural communities now
and in the future."
However. there is
argument that the
realigninent. which will see•
farmers receiving their
information over the phone
or on the internee, will not he
a benefit to the agriculture
sector.
Pat Downs. president of the
Huron Count Federation of
Agriculture. expressed her
disappointment with. the
impending . hanges. "I'm
very disappointed.we can't
gef anyone=on-one, face-to-
face discussions. fin the
restructured ministry)," she
said.
Dan Carlow,. OMAFRA
Field Services Manager.
discussed the •changes from
the Clinton •office on
Monday. He began hy stating
that the best way to look at'.
the changes is to consider the
fact that the ministry had 35.
field offices across the:
province. and "basically
We're closing all of them."
With•offices closed. he
explained that itiformation.
will he made available to
client, from three different
avenues He first made
mention of call centres:
which will he established and
up and running within the
next six month,. "The
general public will . he.
iencoutaged to call that
nutmber for information," he
said. •
•
The. next . source - of
information. he ,said. will be •
through the internet. The
Quoted
'I view it as a
significant
change in the
way we deliver
service' --
Don Carlow, OMAFRA
fi&d sarvkes manager
ministry. Clow has a
comprehensive web site in
operation. •
The third avenue willbe
government information
centres. These centres.-
Carlow
entres:Carlow said. will basically
offer the public one-stop
shopping ,for any provincial
government information..
About 61 will be in place
across the province. with the
nearest to this area being -
situated in Stratford. That
centre is already up -and
running. -and he said it
"works very well."
The ministry's field offices.
the release stated, will he
replaced with 1.3 resource
centres; seven co -locations
and`six northern sites. •
Carlow explained that the
resource centres; one of
which will be located in the
Clinton office. will house
prop incial specialists -and
program leads. "They will be
developing leading edge
information for producers,'
he said; adding that while the.
information will he
developed in Clinton, it
won't be provided nut .of the
office as is currently the case.
The ministry release stated
that the information
developed "will he provided .
in a. variety of ways:
eminars, publications,
interactive technology
resources such as CD Rom.
the Internet: media. farm.
organization puhlications and
applied • research
demonstrations."
With the 'realignment,
Carlow said, the ministry will
not have. as much of a public
presence in Clinton and
Huron County. He noted that
.while the focus will be on
developing leading edge
technology. ''The delivery
structure' won't be there
Locally to deliver the
information."
And while the program was
designed to meet the,
government target of fiscal
restraint_. Carlow said he
thinks the office as it once
was will be missed in Huron
County. ''I think just. the
physical presence in the
community will he. missed."
he said.
He als9 made note of the
.fact that this realignment is a.
big change. as the ministry
has been "providing service
to farmers since .1918.-
'1 think it. will he• a real
adjustment for people..( view
• it as a significant change in
the way we deliver service."
Carlow said: adding. "it
won't beas convenient for
people."
However. he .said those
with the ministry are hopeful
- that the call centres and
internet-will be•put to good
use as information providers.
"i hope once they are up and
going they will provide good
service to people:" he said. •
Not only clients of
OMAFRA will he affected
hy the realignment. as
Carlow said that of the 10
people who currently work at
the office, eight have
received.'notification of
change. Those staff -members
who have been informed that
their positions no longer
exist. he continued, will h
.encouraged to apply for thc
new•positions created in the
realignment. In -all. there will
he' six positions in the Clinton
resource centre, hut he noted
that some staff will•have to
Took at job openings. •a-nd
-decide whether they want
work in a location. other -than
'Clinton. .
Once positions are filled.
"the remaining staff will
receive surplus.notices:" he
said,. adding. that once• the.
staff issues are settled, the
former field office :will
become a resource centre: He
expects thi. change 10 t;lke
place by the summer -of 2000.
Baked delights
•
Viola Lawson (right) helps Nora Sills with the selection of
some baked goods at Maplewood Manors Christmas bazaar
Scott Hilgendorff photo
Premier could help board be -accountable
From Page 4
commercial park. He has
indicated that there are at
feast two companies more.
than interested but has also
said that, should the public
and high schools close. these.
potential employers will not
consider moving here for
lack of facilities for their
employees.
We are • currently
amalgamating with two
other large townships. If the
school board moved the
boundaries for busing to
these border's our schools
would be overflowing. There
is one school in this new
area that is 1005E bused at
the present time but the
hoard will not look at that
schtttol. Why '
We hawe been sending you.
• the Minister of Education.
and our local MPP news
clipping to show you what
has been done and.said.
Our committee is small.
Mr. 'Premier, but we have
had meetingsin the past with
Dave Johnson when he was:
the Minister of Education.
Mr. Johnson was helping us
get the information we
needed before his untimely
removal from office.
The current minister of
education. Janet Eckert
seems to be ignoring the
difficulties that Mr. Johnson
was aware of. This is
frustrating to not only us but
also to Helen Johns,•our
local MPP and your Minister
of Citizenship. Culture and
Recreation.'
Mr. Premier. all 1 am
asking ,for is your time.
Could you please spare us an
evening and join us on Dec.
8? We want the board to be
accountable as your mandate
stipulates. Without you
there. the board will
continue to ignore us. your
mandate and. most hurtful of
all. our children: their
students.
Please RSVP as we would
like to greet you in the
proper manner.
Helen. M.R. Nock
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, D.eomb r 8, 1999-5
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Request' for Public Opinion - .
on the Proposed
Nursing Home Annual
Licence Renewal of
Seaforth Manor, Seaforth
In accordance with the Nursing Homes to. public opinion is being requested pnor to a final decision being made
on the above.•
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if you have comments or opinions and wish to bong them to the attention of the Ministry of Health and Lung -Term (;are
mu may submit them In wrung by addressing them to.
Director. Health Care Programs
Ontano Ministry of Health and Long -Terni true
5'00 Yonge Street, *manioc Level
North York, Ontario M2M 155
(416) 326-1215. byJaesary I0, 20(10
Please include the name of the nursing home and quote Protea 1236-101 on all wnuen submissions
The Ihrecior orifi consider all submissions before making a final decision