Clinton News-Record, 1985-08-14, Page 18Gertie Stade of Dashwood is welcomed by; Ontario Agriculture Minister Jack Riddell to
his barbecue on August 7. Also present at the barbecue was Huron -Middlesex Liberal
President Joe Hogan and Riddell's daughter Deb, Thompson. (T -A Photo)
� 5
Conference deais with
wide range of topics
By Jack Riddell, M.P.P.
I had the privilege of representing On-
tario at the Federal -provincial conference
{ of ministers and deputy -ministers of
agriculture held in St. John's, New-
foundland from July 22 - 26.
The 35th annual meeting laegan with a
wide-ranging discussion of current issues
St and the future of agriculture to the year agricultural stabilization, , national
2000. • marketing boards, crop insurance, farm
My fellowragriculture ministers were join; chemical pricing and registration, and
ed by the Federal Minister in presenting a agricultural development.
specific recommendations for the con- • Unfortunately, the Federal government
has failed to take any further action on a
"Tripartite Red Meat Stabilization Pro-
gram", following the conference. The pro-
gram,. which hasthe support of Ontario's
red meat producers, would see a single,
uniform, .national stabilization program,
funded equally by the producers and the two
levels of government. It would be voluntary
on the part of producers, and would function
in the coming year toward the preparation like insurance programs that would pay pro-
of acceptable optionsfor the upcoming ducers when prices fell below a certain pre -
General . Agreement on Trade and Tariff determined support level.
(GATT) negotiations, and addressing the
As this was the fourth year in a row that
issue of increased protectionism by our ma- • Tripartite has be•
en on the agenda, I felt it:
jor trading partners.
provinces stressed the urgency of federal
government action, in consultation with the
provinces and industry, to develop a na-
tional sugar/sweetener policy to ensure the
survival of the industry. •
Other issues discussed during the week-
long conference included the farm financing
crisis, ' taxation, feed grain ' policy,
tinued, • co-operative development of the'
Canadian agri-food industry by recommen-
ding that programs and activities be based
on market-oriented, commodity -based
development strategies.
• The minister unanimously endorsed the
activities to the Federal/Provincial
Agricultural Trade Policy Committee and
directed the focus of the committee's work
was time for action. Both B.C. and. the
The ministers stressed the importance of Maritime Provinces had indicated their sup,
ensuring that producers have input into the . port, but Quebec would have nothing to do
development of Canada's position for GATT with it. It is my intention to keep pursuing
negotiationsand agreed that a high profile some course of stabilization. •
of agriculture in these negotiations is essen- I also proposed a debt review board, a
tial'for a healthy Canadian industry. ' p p
third party review' agency . whi h would
assess the financial situation of farmers,
who through bad luck rather than bad
management or under ' risk taking, find
themselves unable to meet their obligations.
Failure to provide a review forum, with
powers to act, would result in the loss of
some excellent farmers. '
The -ministers recognized the importance
of the inter -relationships between domestic
agriculture policy and Canada's interna-
tional trade obligations.
•
Also discussed by the ministers were ma-
. jor trade issues such as the 1985 U.S. Farm
Bill, countervailing tariffs, Anti-dumping
petitions, and beef imports.
They also re -affirmed their commitment
to -agricultural research and development,
• supported by federal funds.
The grave situation of Canada's sugar
producers and processors, for instance, was
discussed by the ministers. The producing
Federal Agriculture Minister John Wise,
however, is looking at amendments to the
Bankruptcy Act instead of an agency with
powers to make business -like decisions in a
non -emotional' manner on a fair and 'consis-
tent basis so that concessions go to above
average farmers whose difficulties arose
because of unfortunate circumstances.
Catch tit
(Clinton
Raceway
It's
SEAFORTH DAY
at CLINTON RACEWAY
Clint in Fairgrounds.
AUGUST 18: Post time 1:30 p.m.
ELEVEN RACES SPONSORED BY THE
SEAFORTH BUSINESS COMMUNITY
COOLERS DONATED BY:
• The Commercial Hotel
• Lane Farms
• Dr. Brian Nuhn
• John H. Mcillwaln Construction Ltd.
• Seaforth Gulf Service
4
• Seaforth Insurance Broken
• Seaforth Meat Market
• Seaforth Legion, Br. 156
• United Trails Inc.
• Seaforth Freeze King
and by
THE TOWN OF SEAFORTH
presented by Mayor Alf Ross
CHICKEN I®ARRFQUE
To fellow the races
TICKETS $6.00 Adults, $4,50 Kids
Available from the above businesses
or hi Clintons at Belli & Muteh Furniture
QUANTITY LIMITED - GET YOURS EARLY,
toW at ,,, a 1 fti etown t
wa con et ,on he racetrack, compete
witb j and bei:10Jeas than an hour
and a 'half, f' lye trues loads of dirt were us-
edin-the construction..
-Spectators were entertained by a.two and
a half hour -Show' that was one of the best
racing events of theseason,
Local riders got the fans on their feet and
the loudest cheers as they took on the out of
town riders from'all across Ontario. In the
out -of -field class the winner was Ralph Eyre
from Brigden. Paul Farquhar of Clinton and
Bob Brulotte from Dorchester fought tooth
and nail in the 200 Modified class, but Far-
quhar came out on top with the, win. Chuck
Collins of Varna won the 250 Modified .and
the Open Modified.
ATV racing and CRC Productions will
move to Leamington Fair on August 18.
Results are as follows: -
200 Modified
Paul Farquhar, Clinton; Bob Brulotte,
Dorchester; Jon Rummey, Strathroy.
250 Modified
Chuck Collins, Varna.•,;,,, Mike Rummey,
Strathroy; Wally Gordon; Ingersoll.
®pen Modified
Chuck Collins, Varna; Mike Ruminey,
Strathroy; Myles Mc)achran, Blenheim..
Although these two didn't win first place in the bicycle decorating competition held by
the Clinton Playground, they did give it a good shot. Richard Trentelman and Jeff
Busman took part in the bicycle decorating and parade on August 8. (Anne Narejko
photo)
Children don't have caring parents?
By Joan Van den Broeck
"The trouble with kids to-dayis that
parents don'tcare." Familiar words? I
have heard them often enough to be com-
pelled to respond. I do not believe that
parents do not care for the welfare of their
children. I do know that many parents lack
all the ingredients for successful child-
rearing.
Most parents at one time or another,
unless they are, very fortunate, run into
problems that require special help or out-
side intervention. Parents who know to
seek help - through the• Huron Centre for
Children and Youth in Clinton for instance
- are often better able to stave off family
conflict and cope with child-rearing stress.
However, back to the point I would like to
make. . .
As a society, we do a pretty poor job of
caring for all our children. In so-called
`primitive tribal societies' everyone in the
community , cares for the children. The
child is completely at ease with . most
everyone and will go for succor to any
available adult at hand.
On a few generations ago in our own
society child-rearing was more of a shared
responsibility within the family. It was,
common to send children away to live with
aunts and uncles for periods •of time for,
among other things, to reduce family
stress. If things were going badly at home,.
the child knew that there was always so-
meone within his extended family to whom
he could look for aid and comfort and who
would be his life-long confident. For,
unlike friends, families would, by their
nature, remain solvent through the dif-
ficult times.
Today, the model for child rearing is the
nuclear family. At best, there are only two
parent figures. These two, usually quite or-
'.dinary people, are expected to meet all the
challenges of raising children in the '80s by
the •grace of God. Society's expectations
for their success are unrealistic and when,
as can be expected, some fail the Marne is
laid quite unjustly at their feet.
In the community, we are discouraged
from offering communal aid to children -
on the contrary, ,it is acceptable to point
our finger and say "that child is obnoxious
(or whatever) what is the matter with his
parents - don't they care.." I would have us
ask, "what is the matterwith us!"
To illustrate my point, consider parent
•
teacher interviews. Some teachers have
been known to comment that they never
see the parents of real problem .children
because 'the parents don't care'. They
always see the parents of children who are
doing well. The conclusion: Parents who
care have children who are a pleasure in
the classroom.
. Parents who's children are doing well
love school interviews. The teacher's glow-
ing report makes them feel good about
themselves and their success as parents.
Parents of children with problems are
comfortable with school interviews only if
they are self-confident individuals mental-
ly, emotionally and physically able to ad-
dress the concern. Parents who lack the
resources to deal with problem behaviour
will not attend school interviews.. Quite
simply - they know their child's shortcom-
ings and are incapable 'of dealing with the.
problem: The teacher's comments are not
seen as constructive but rather as an in-
dictment of their shortcomings.
The next time you are inclined to say,
"The trouble with kids to -day is that
parents • don't care", consider. instead,
"The trouble with kids today is the society
in which we live."
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