Times Advocate, 1996-09-25, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, September 25,1996
Publisher & Editor: Jim Beckett
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Worth their weight in gold!
s Canadians we recently
basked in the glory of our athletes at
the Olympic Games. The gutsy perfor-
mance by these young people caught
the imagination of all. It takes determi-
nation and hard work to reach that level
of performance. We had the right to be
proud of them all.
But not all the top performers were at
the games in Atlanta. They were with
us here in our home community. They
were not striving for gold medals as
they went quietly about their goal of
making this community and this prov-
ince a better place in which to live.
They are the young people who meet
life's challenges head on, who help
those less fortunate than themselves.
Who see a need and step forward and
fill it. They are our neighbors - the
good kids in this community.
They're out there. Plenty of them. In
fact in Ontario, there are close to two
million young people between the ages
of six and 18. Among them are the
young people who deserve an Ontario
Junior Citizen of the Year Award.
Jointly sponsored by the Ontario
Community Newspapers Association
(OCNA) and Bell Canada, the Ontario
Junior Citizen of the Year Awards pro-
gram has, since 1981, paid tribute to
exemplary individuals and groups of
young people who are our leaders of to-
morrow.
From this group of young people we
are asking you, as interested communi-
ty
residents, to help us find up to twelve
young people to receive this prestigious
award.
Some will be honored for their tremen-
dous attitude in living with a disability.
Some have identified a local need, and
have taken a leadership role by devoting
a tremendous amount of time and energy
towards community service.
Still others will be selected for re-
sponding instantly in a moment of crisis,
or for the way in which they have shown
kindness and compassion.
Every nominee will receive a certifi-
cate stating they were nominated for this
distinct honor and have contributed
greatly to their community. Those cho-
sen to receive the award, along with
their families, are guests of honor at a
luncheon in Toronto during the annual
convention of the Ontario Community
Newspapers Association. Award recip-
ients are invited by Ontario's Lieutenant
Governor for a reception and family por-
trait at Queen's Park, and are presented
with $200 and a Junior Citizen pin.
These young people have done their
part. Now it's up to all of us to find
them and make sure they receive the rec-
ognition they deserve. It's up to you to
say `thank you' to some special young
person in our community by filling out a
Junior Citizen of the Year nomination
form - available now from this OCNA
member newspaper.
Here's our golden opportunity to ac-
knowledge their. performance.
Your Views
Letters to the editor
Thanks to Kirkton fair volunteers
Our fair may have sufferred finan-
cial losses but with such great
volunteers ! know we will struggle
to our feet....
Dera Editor:
As President of Kirkton Agricultural Society, I
wanted to express my thanks to every volunteer that
helped make this year's fair special.
Small fairs all across Ontario are struggling with
grant cuts at all government levels, increased insu-
rance rates and lack of dedicated workers. However
volunteerism is alive and well in Kirkton. The abili-
ty of the Kirkton Agricultural Society to achieve a
great fair against all odds was apparent this week-
end. Thank you volunteers, the society's ability to
achieve any results rests on you. Your intangible
values of caring for your community, commitment
to your tasks and enthusiasm are keeping alive a
valued country tradition.
Special thanks to committee members who
worked so hard and then had to cancel their events
due to rain. Steve and Rob thank you for your perse-
verance to the very end trying to save our demoli-
tion derby. Now I know who to call when I get wa-
ter in my basement.
Congratulations to the 411 members who showed
their calves in the rain. You were all winners.
Our fair may have suffered financial losses but
with such great volunteers I know we will struggle
to our feet and be there next year to try again.
Thank you to all our private and company spon-
sors. No little fair could survive without your sup-
port.
Good luck Exeter with your upcoming fair. I hope
that you will have lots of sunshine and volunteers as
great as mine.
Carole Damen, President,
Kirkton Agricultural Society
A View from Queen's Park
TORONTO -- Unions are showing that while
they are definitely down, they are not complete-
ly out in their fight with Premier Mike Har-
ris. The Progressive Conservative premier
has trampled over unions by stripping them as
promised of some of their powers to organize
and picket in strikes.
Harris has taken away the voice unions had
in government under the New Democrats and
virtually frozen them out of new appointments
to boards, which they had to some degree under
previous governments of all stripes. The pre-
mier did not even meet union leaders until he
had been in power almost a year, and it was a
strained encounter, unlike those of a Tory pre-
decessor, William Davis, who held regular and
at least formally friendly meetings.
Harris has no rapport with unions, which is
the way he wants it. The public mostly has
sided with Harris and criticized unions for
holding their so-called days of protest, which
tried but mostly failed to shut down cities. It
has been the roughest year in memory for un -
By Eric Dowd
NEWS /TEA?: Obstetricians refuse to treat
pregnant women to protest Ontario health
care cutbacks...
Your Views
;; Letters to the editor
Chance to have your say
"In the midst of the constant
change that we are faced with to-
day, we need a strong statement
of community goals."
Dear Editor:
How many times in my years as a municipal
councillor in Huron County have I heard the ques-
tion - "Who made these rules?" I am referring to the
policies and guidelines of the County Official
Plan.The first Huron County Official Plan was writ-
ten over 25 years ago. As the document which has
the broadest statement of the County's goals and ob-
jectives related to land use and development, it has
served the community well. Huron County is now
writing a New County Plan. The plan will affect
many aspects of our every day lives such as the lo-
cation of businesses, environmental protection, and
economic development strategies, just to name a
few.
In the mist of the constant change that we are
faced with today, we need a strong statement of
community goals.The New County Plan is our plan
and the only way to make it our plan is to give our
input. An opportunity for you to participate in chart-
ing the future of Huron County is available to you
with a series of workshops. All workshops are open
to all members of the community. You may attend
one or more of these workshops as they will build
upon each other. The workshop themes are based on
values and issues identified by nearly 1000 county
residents who participated in the Community Action
Kits or attended earlier meetings. The themes, loca-
tion and dates are as follows: Agriculture (October 3
- Goderich Township Community Centre, Holmes-
ville; November 25 - Hensall Community Centre);
Natural Environment (October 10 - MVCA Office,
Wroxeter; October 23 - ABCA Office, East of Exet-
er); Aggregates (November 6, OMAFRA, Clinton);
Economy and Employment (October 15 - Erb's
Country Kitchen, Zurich; October 30 - Wingham
Town Hall, Wingham; November 13 - Goderich
District Collegiate Institute, Goderich; Community
Services (October 16, Clinton High School), and
Settlement Patterns (November 7 and 28 - Clinton
High School).
For more information see the ad in this edition, or
call the Huron Planning and Development Depart-
ment at 519-524-2188.
Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. If
you want your ideas discussed and perhaps incorpo-
rated you need to present them at one of these meet-
ings.
Pat Down,
Chair, Huron County Planning
and Development Committee
ions.
But recently they have had some modest
successes. The most notable was forcing the To-
ries to delay legislation that would have allowed
workers to bargain away rights they have had by
law for years, such as overtime pay after work-
ing 44 hours a week, statutory holidays and va-
cation and severance pay in exchange for other
benefits they agree to with management.
Many employers want this to avoid paying
overtime and holiday pay, and the pro-business
Tories say more 'flexibility' in bargaining can
provide advantages to both sides, but unions
fear their weaker members will be frightened
into surrendering basic protection.
After the unions managed with the help of
New Democrats to get the proposal referred to a
legislature committee, Labor Minister Elizabeth
Witmer told ft she will postpone considering it
until the Tories start a more comprehensive re-
view of employment taw in the fall, although
she remains committed to ensuring 'more flexi-
bility to freely negotiate contracts.'
Need to innovate to win respect
Witmer, Ontario's version of the Iron Lady,
normally is as immovable as the sandstone leg-
islature building, so the unions have made the
Tories realize they have something to worry
about and forced a retreat to savor. The Onta-
rio Federation of Labor and allies also scored a
public relations coup by setting up a "Bad Boss
Hotline" which workers were invited to phone
with information about unfair. employers. The
unions may even have copied this tactic from
Harris, who has hotlines to report welfare and
tax cheats. The bad boss line produced a flood
of reports of employers forcing workers to stay
on duty too many consecutive hours without a
break, using unsafe machinery, paying piece-
work rates that work out to less than the mini-
mum wage and closing down and moving to
avoid paying 'wages. They were not being
caught by regular labor ministry enforcement,
probably because many of the employees are
uninformed and frightened immigrants. .
Unions have suffered unfavorable publicity
the past few years trying to stave off cost-
cutting by first the NDP government and now
Harris, but for a change managed to point a fin-
ger at faults among employers and remind why
unions exist.
The OFL also is helping a campaign to
curb the excessive overtime being done by
some workers and create jobs for the unem-
ployed. Some employers with highly skilled
work forces find paying overtime cheaper than
training extra workers and paying their bene-
fits. Many union members earn a lot of over-
time and would rather have the cash, so the
OFL is showing an element of public spirit.
Those who feel there is a place for unions
also have been cheered by the Canadian Union
of Public Employees' local which won a con-
tract to haul garbage because it has a clean
driving record, while a private company which
submitted a slightly lower bid admitted an ap-
palling 500 violations of highway safety law.
Unions will need to innovate to win respect.
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