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Times Advocate, 1999-11-10, Page 7Wednesday,November 10, 1999 7 Opinion&Forurn I O YEARS AGO November 8, 1989 - The cheers could be heard all over. town Saturday night as OW South Huron District High School field hockey team returned victorious from the OFSSA champi- onship. Not only did the Panthers become the first team outside of the Toronto area to clinch the medal, they became South Huron's first team to win an OFSSA championship. 20 YEARS AGO November 9, 1979 - Two of the area's largest employers have announced layoffs which will see almost 200 workers affected. Dashwood Industries at Centralia will lay off 105 production workers and 80 workers at the modular home plant of Bendix Home Systems in Hensall will be laid off. 30 YEARS AGO November 7, 1969 - A brush wolf was killed in Hay Townwship this week by Larry Willert. Exeter council authorized high school prin- cipal Joe Wooden to write a history of the town for a centennial•book. Trivitt Memorial Church is offering a tour of its bell tower to local people interested in the tower's 10 bells, the largest of which weighs 2,019 pounds. 35 YEARS AGO November 10, 1964 - Two veteran members of the Exeter School Board announced this week they would not stand for re-election. Retiring after 17 years is W.G. Seldon, the senior member of the board and also Ray Frayne who has served for seven years. 40 YEARS AGO November 9, 1959 - Preston Dearing and son Gerald of R.R. 1, Exeter captured every major prize in the Dorset Horned sheep com- petition at the Royal Winter Fair. Old Orchard Lord Vern 24L, owned by Whitney Coates and Son of R.R. 1, Centralia took highest honours for Canadian Herefords Thursday when it won the grand champi- onship ribbdn at the Royal Winter Fair. 50 YEARS AGO November 9, 1949 - The Huronia choir trav- elled to Hamilton Saturday and carried off second prize at the Hamilton Music Festival. Dr. Harry Seldon, a native of Exeter was elected president of the American Anaesthetist Society. A bronze plaque in honour of Sir John Willison, journalist, author and publicist who died in 1927 and who began his career as a printer with the Exeter Times will be unveiled this month at the Huron County Court House. 60 YEARS AGO November 8, 1939 - Another of the old land- marks in Exeter is soon to disappear. The frame structure on Wellington Street that once formed part of the old Verity Plow Works has been sold by W.C. Pearce for Thomas Allen of Usborne to Clifford Brintnell of town. The building will be razed and the lumber used for other purposes. It is the last remaining link with what was at one time Exeter's leading industry. In spite of the second Great War, Canada will observe Remembrance Day on Saturday, November 11, the anniversary of the conclu- sion of the first Great War, .as a statutory hol- iday. 75 YEARS AGO November 8, 1924 - The Times Advocate received a letter from Lorne W. Brown of ' New York City, formerly of Crediton congrat- ulating 'us on amalgamation of the two Exeter papers. Mr. Brown was in Europe this sum- mer attending the World's Sunday School convention in Glasgow. William Statham and R. Welsh of Exeter and John Decker of Zurich bagged a large number of rabbits while on a two-day hunting trip at Whitechurch in Bruce County. Miss Lila Taylor, a promising artist of Usborne township has had her work recog- nized by having one of her paintings hung in the Canadian Academy in Ottawa. ROSS HAUGH BACK IN TIME OPINIONS AU[) t.tI EF< South Huron school region wants to give. input on accommodation studies aAiletter is intended to inform you of the recent es of the South Huron Region Accommodation Review Committee. As many of you are aware, the Avon Maitland District School Board has asked that a committee of community representatives and princi- pals from the South Huron Region of schools meet to provide information to the Board so that community input is taken into consideration when school accom- modation changes are being developed. The schools represented include: Exeter PS, Hensall PS, Huron Centennial PS, McCurdy PS, Stephen Central PS, Usborne Central PS and Zurich PS. The committee first met last April, and has prepared a report that is designed to help guide the Board in its decision-mak- ing regarding school accommodation review for the 2000-2001 school year. The report summarizes the work of previous committees in the South Huron Region that have addressed the school accommodation issue over the past year. The report also describes the process used by the current committee to reach the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report. The report is not a blueprint for action, and contains no specific recommendations for school closure, boundary change, program change or facility change. The report however does focus on what our .committee believes are the most important priorities that the Board should consider when changes are contemplat- ed and implemented. These priorities are what we consider to be the most important priorities for our children, and are summarized below: Primary Priorities: • Long Term Solutions - We strongly urge the Board to find solutions that are long term, because we do not want to revisit the accommodation review each year. We certainly do not want short term solutions that will be overridden in a year or two, resulting in further uprooting of our children from their schools. • Specialized Teachers - We believe that the new Ontario curriculum places more demands on teachers, especially in the intermediate grades. We therefore would urge the Board to consider changes that would provide for more specialized teachers with a sound background in elementary education. • Move Whole Schools - We believe that it is impor- tant to keep a school community together, and there- fore would encourage the Board to seek changes that move whole schools as a "community body" to another school if that is required. In addition, if moving a whole school is not possible, we suggest that families remain together rather than grades (i.e. group geo- graphically, not by grade). • Keep Configuration of Schools K-8 - We believe that the K-8 configuration has been very successful, and would encourage the Board to seek change options that keep this configuration. If, after extensive study and review, the Board considers it necessary to move Grades 7&8 into high schools, we strongly urge the Board to provide for "a school within a school" so that these early adolescents can have a separate timetable, location and program structure. • Improved Standard of Education - We believe that the Board must consider changes that will improve the standard of education in our schools, not simply main- tain the status quo. If we are to support the kind of large-scale changes that are being suggested, then educational improvement must be seen as the result, not educational maintenance. Secondary Priorities • Elementary Students Remain Part of the South Huron Community - We believe that it is important for all our students to continue to attend South Huron District Secondary High School. • Travelling a Reasonable Amount of Time - We believe that no elementary student should travel on the bus for more than 60 minutes. • Move Resources with Kids -- We believe that resources such as computers, playground equipment, etc., must move in proportion to the children that move from one school to another. In the case where , signifi- cant funds have been fund -raised in the community, and the resources cannot be moved (e.g. playground equipment) then the Board must provide compensation to the receiving school(s) so that these resources are still available in any new school configuration. • Closure Information Readily Available - We believe See ACCOMMODATION pie • Rights for same sex TuKONTO - David Peterson said while premier that after he retired he would like to go to some third world country and devote his life to the underprivileged. The Liberal premier thought it would be reward- ing and 'quite glorious' to take his family to a needy place like Papua New Guineau and do some sort of development work there. His unselfish and public-spir- ited words probably impressed some at the time, but unfortu- nately he never went. Instead he spent his time in Ontario collecting company directorships like virtually every premier before and after him. The Ontario Securities Commission has now charged Peterson with failing to disclose to the public material information that a firm of which he was a director was being investigated on suspicion it had ties to foreign criminals. Peterson has said the accusation is nonsense and he will defend himself vigorously. He is the first former premier accused of such an offence. But ex -premiers have been in huge demand to join company boards and questions should be asked about why and what services they provide. Peterson is also on the boards of communica- tions, banking, land development, insurance and mining companies and Chapters Inc., the giant bookstore which, while obviously providing a ser- vice many prefer, has squeezed out many small bookstores. Peterson, as premier, spoke at least weekly of the need`to maintain small business. Tory Frank Miller before him, although premier only a few months, has been director of, among others, trust, car and clothing manufacturing com- panies. William Davis, also a Tory, helPed stay in office by portraying himself as a smalltown lawyer with no affinity for big business, but quickly found he could feel at home on boards of banking, land development, financial services, insurance, auto- making, auto parts, aerospace and mining compa- nies. Ex -premiers do not talk much about the prac- tice of joining boards, but John Robarts, Davis's predecessor, let slip he,had so many invitations he asked the head of a university business school to draw up a list of the 'benefits and privileges' each offered before throwing in his lot with many com- panies. Leslie Frost, before Robarts, said he received numerous invitations to join immediately it became known he would retire and rejected some (he never explained why) but went on others. Even New Democrat Bob Rae, who spent a lot of his premiership railing against big business, quickly found he could fit in on the boards of ' air- line, financial services, steel and paper companies. Boards want ex -premiers for varied reasons. They confer respectability. Those who rise to head governments mostly have talents useful in other arenas. Some have experience in business. Miller, although the shortest -lived' premier, had been a successful businessman and retained drive. He sold 50 cars a year after retiring, to clients includ- ing Peterson who pushed him from office and half the legislature press gallery, and did not shirk changing their licence plates personally in their driveways. Some companies have invited ex -premiers rec- ognizing they served the public for low salaries. Financier and former lieutenant -governor Hal Jackman seems to collect ex -premiers, having Peterson and Miller on one board at the same time. But one danger is an ex -premier in a position to advise a board on how to lobby government, using knowledge obtained in a privileged position to give one company an advantage over others. Another is that . a premier may shape a policy hoping for a reward from business. When Davis went on the board of a liquor company, .opponents charged he was paid for having relaxed liquor laws late in his term. There also is no doubt current premier Mike " Harris, when he retires, will be offered more com- Er+ directorships than any predecessor. because gas sided with business and weakened its opponent. organized labor, more than any premier in memory. ERIC DOWD A VIEW FROM QUEEN'S PARK