Loading...
The Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-09-16, Page 1Gthe erich 139 YEAR. — 37 GODERICH ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1987 Liberals win it Party gains huge majority Ontario voters spoke loud and clear in last Thursday's election, re-electing Premier David Peterson's Liberal govern- ment with an overwhelming majority of seats in the provincial legislature. Following the Sept. 10 landslide victory, the Liberals now hold 95 seats, far more than the minimum 66 seats needed to form a majority. The New Democratic Party, led by Bob Rae, is in second place with 19 seats, even though the party dropped four seats from it's standing after the last election, when they joined forces with the Liberals to form an extremely popular minority government. Rae, himself won a close race with Liberal candidate Alan Tonks in York riding, to barely retain his own seat. Progressive Conservatives leader Larry Grossman didn't even fare that well, los- ing his own seat in the Toronto riding of St. Andrew -St. Patrick to Liberal Ron Kanter, as his party tumbled to third place with on- ly 16 seats. Grossman resigned as party leader on election night, saying he will relinquish the leadership after seeing the party through "a reasonable transition period". Locally, Huron Liberal Jack Riddell, Agriculture Minister in the previous ative lures ' ar Defeated Conservative sand i Peters, Who:. OtiShad.. scan" ridding balloting election, Liberaals used a " luring the electorate<1 vr#re•lining Majority; legislature "David Peterson 00000k 1000 a +ith a ne free trade r1 c dation$ aL t0r0 • Liberal minority government, retained his seat in the house, winning the newly - formed riding by a 9,000 vote margin over second place Conservative Candidate Nico Peters. Riddell is part of a Liberal sweep of Southwestern Ontario, which saw only one Conservative candidate, Sarnia's An- dy Brant, elected in the entire region. Oddly enough, it was a federal issue, free trade negotiations between Canada and the United States, that became the main bone of contention between the pro- vincial parties. With the Liberals promis- ing to attach strings to any Ontario support of a free trade deal and the Conservatives backing the federal government's at- tempts to strike an accord, voters choose the more cautious Liberal approach. The NDP stood firmly opposed to open- ing up Canada -US borders to trade, and found a high -interest issue of their own with a pledge to create a government -run automobile insurance industry. The huge majority means that; to be at all effective as an opposition, the NDP and the Conservatives will have to co-operate. to some extent. It takes votes from a minimum of 20 opposition members to force government bills to committee for public hearings: 60 CENTS PER COPY dot' 4tOti40* come acs would tIo. .. toil; lOat.fortt0M4 Ott„„ did "Ars we massive' vanta e;. Ridde 1, Fs+ speaks tin their in u ri Peters fix Yl- with , . Riddell KlopF Petears l .s . tattotoosoo restgring tl de feat Thu'i word a HCB seeks new trustee The Huron County Board of Education is seeking a• new trustee td represent the Goderich area. A seat on the board of directors has become available as the result of 'the resignation of Mary Anne Dempsey. Mrs. Dempsey served on the board for two years as the elected member from Goderich. She resigned from the board at the September meeting. Her resignation was necessitated by a move to Woodstock where she and her fami- ly now reside. Chairman of the board, Art Clark noted, "The people of Goderich should be advised that they have been well represented." In their goodbye bouquets to Mrs. Demp- sey, board members spoke of her dedica- tion, her persistance and excellence in her work. Most recently she played an impor- tant part in the development of a new public relations program for the HCBE. Mrs. Dempsey said that her work on the board had been a valuable learning ex- perience and she was proud of the results, and the opportunity to work with a dedicated, talented staff. "I don't think that .public education has seen the last of Mary Ann Dempsey," Mr. Clark noted. A replacement will be sought immediate- ly. The board will advertise for participants who wish to secure the appointment. Letters of application will be studied by board members and a new trustee will be chosen by a Secret ballot vote. Council Goderich Town Council has tabled a bylaw which would see the nurrcber of subsidized spaces at a local day care cen- tre increased from five to eight, wi n they await further information ane availability of provincial funding. y§ Currently, the "Little Kids Corner,; daycare Centre has an enrollement of 32 children,five of Which are elassifed ss "needy,"' andaregranted a subsidy (80 per cent provincial, 20 per cent Municipal) covering the approximately $14 daily cost of attendance, Debbie Selkirk, president of the cen- tre's Board of Directors, requested the increase irn subsidized spaces after enrinia°ont Ott centre jumped from 24 children to 32 ate to have to ed of daycare if vl'er i abl to afford the. present ".- �_., elkir in a letter to council.. selsseil the matter in closed cotmut of the<.whole, prior to making the decision to table the by-law pending information from the, provincial authorit . Families currently receivinglhe sub- sidized spaces have annual incomes ranging from $1,980 to.. $14,548. All are single -parent families, with one to three children. Parks Association tourney here The Ontario Parks Association will hold their annual field day in Goderich this year, in the form of a golf tourna- ment at Maitland Country Club. The association was established in 1936 to bring together people, from all walks Of life, having a common interest and concern with public parks. The objectives of the association are the advancement of parks, civic beautification and conservation of the natural beauties of Ontario. Membership meetings are held for the mutual ex- change of ideas, inspection of park systems and the gathering and dissemination of information. Locally, the Association is represented by Ontario Parks Association Treasurer Dave Gower, of Goderich, who also represents the Maitland Valley Conser- vation Authority. Elsa Hayden,' of Goderich, is a past -president of the association. Also attending the tournament will be President James A. Houston, of North Bay, and outgoing President Ed Martin, director of parks and recreation, Stratford., Jack Riddell was re-elected as the Huron riding representative during the latest pro- vinical election. Mr. Riddell thanked all of his volunteers and family for their support during the campaign, adding it was them who helped himwin. Standing by his side was his wife, Anita, at Goderich Township Hall in Holmesville as he gave his speech on September 10. (Anne Narejko photo) Riddell retains riding BY ANNE NAREJKO HOLMESVILLE - .Those who follow politics must have found the recent pro- vinical election quite interesting as leaders resigned and the opposition party has changed. Leader of the opposition, Larry Grossman, lost the election in his own riding and quickly made the decision to resign as the Progressive. Conservative (PC) Party leader. New Democrate Party (NDP) leader Bob Rae had a few anxious moments dur- ing the September 10 election as he came close to losing his own seat. However, the outcome for Rae was a bit brighter than for Grossman as the NDP became the of- ficial opposition party. As for David Peterson and his Liberal party, they won a landslide majority government. In the Huron r.. 1g, Liberal candidate Jack Riddell had an extremely strong showing at the polls, taking the majority of votes in all 26 municipalities for a grand total of 16,099. In second place was PC candidate Nico Peters with 6,725 while Paul Klopp finished third with 3,842 votes. Once the majority of polls had phoned in their results to the Liberal campaign head- quarters in Clinton, Riddell journeyed to Holmesville where a crowd of Liberal sup- porters were waiting to applaud the elec- tion outcome and congratulate their can- didate. During his speech, Riddell said he was, "Proud to be a part of the Peterson party and proud to represent the new riding of Huron in the Legislature." He also went on to say he would give all the constituents in the riding, "no matter what their color stripe," good representation. But Riddell did not take all the credit for the win, instead he thanked a long list of volunteers for their hard work and 'dedication. "They're the reason why I'm standing before you," he said from the stage. "The candidate is only as good as the team behind him or her," Riddell explain- ed. "And they had to work extra hard because of the time demanded on me by cabinet." Before closing, Riddell mentioned the PC and NDP candidates, saying, "I was glad to have worthy opponents in Nico Peters and Paul Klopp - thanks for the challenge." Both Peters and Klopp went to Holmesville to concede the election. Huron Riding Clinton Goderich Goderich Twp. Tuckersmith Bayfield Stanley Hay Twp. Zurich Hensall Stephen Exeter Usborne Turnberry Wingham Howick Ashfield West Wawanosh East Wawanosh Blyth Morris Twp. Brussels Grey Colborne Twp. Hullett Twp McKillop Twp. Seaforth ADVANCE: TOTAL: Klopp Peters , Riddell 210 380 870 626 871 1701 168 290. 635 206 307 759 65 124 252 78 224 449 129 148 685 60 75 327 81 135 333 294 370 1324 214 504 1128 85 292 780 80 199 382 148 509 675 169 306 711 132 185 422 82 113 298 62 138 , 254 65 148 232 90 215 398 73 203 239 109 174 441 179 190 472 95 191 519 51 130 400 150 211 672 141 292 780 3.842 6,725 16,099 Goderich enrolment high The Huron County Board of Education (HCBE) will meet with planning board of- ficials in Goderich to discuss the near capacity school enrolment in the town. The issue of concern was discussed at the HCBE September meeting when trustees studied a subdivision plan for the town that will see the development of 88 single-family residential lots. The subdivi- sion is located on the southern boundary of Goderich immediately south of Suncoast Drive. The board of education involvement in the housing proposal concerns the need to place a school site in the plan. Currently the two elementary school and one high school in Goderich are running at higher than optimum levels established by the HCBE. Projected enrolment at Robert- son Public School for September is 372 and the HCBE optimum number is 371. The Ministry of Education sets maximum enrolment at 464. At Victoria Public School the expected enrolment for the new school year is 392. HCBE figures put the optimum enrolment at 357, while ministry maximum figures run at 446. At Goderich District Collegiate Institute the enrolment is antidipated at 811. The school board suggests that 768 is an op - Cove beach designated The newly -developed beach area south of the Goderich Water Treatment Plant, known unofficially until now as "St. Christopher's Cove, has been granted Ap- proved Parks designation from the, Ministry of Natural Resources. Goderich Town Council was informed at their Sept. 14 meeting that an order -in - council approving a $7,5000 grant under the Parks Assistance Act for the establish- ment of an Approved Park, to be know as St. Christopher's Cove has been passed. The cove area was created by the in- stallation of a groyne, which trapped large amounts of sand at the new beach area. It has been a popular swimming spot for the past two summers. The project is expected to be eligible for future govenment grants as well. A claim for the payment of the current grant is to be submitted on completion of the project. Long-range development plans for the new beach area have not been finalized, but will be discussed further by council and at public meetings over the coming winter months. County to get more authority timum level and the ministry suggests that maximum enrolment at the high school could run upwards of 960. While the HCBE and the ministry of education differ in their tallies of enrol- ment levels, the local school board is plac- ed in the position that there are some 295 students seats available in the town before the government would consider funding additional classroom space. With that limitation, the HCBE advises that it does not require a school site in the new subdivision plan. Still, concerned about what they con- sider to be enrolment capacity in Goderich, HCBE board members believe that communication should be set up with town planners to address alternatives for the future. One alternative is to establish portable classrooms. However, this could still be met with ministry opposition because of the maximum enrolment figures that have been established. A second alternative could see students bused to Colborne or Holmesville Public Schools, however, education director Bob Allan suggested that this would be a ban- dage solution as those schools "are full in their own rights". The Huron County Department of Plann- ing and Development is considering a pro- posal in conjunction with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, to delegate the authori- ty to approve certain planning applica- tions from the provincial to, the county government level. Goderich Town council, at their Sept. 14 meeting, tabled an invitaion to the town adminstrator (LarrY McCabe) and chief building official ( Public Works Commis- sioner Ken Hunter) to attend an Oct. 16 meeting of county, provincial and municipal officials to discuss the proposed changes, pending further information from County Planning Director Gary Davidson. The most visible change under the pro- posal would be that when someone from a municipality applies for a Plan of Subdivi- sion, for example, rather than being refer- red through Queen's Park in Toronto, he or she will be applying through the County Planning Department. Likewise, the com- ments of the municipality would be provid-. ed to the county, as opposed to Queen's Park. Functions under the planning act, which would be delegated to the county level from the province would include; approval of: plans - of subdivision, .plans of con- dominium, part lot control by-laws and road closings under.Section 298(11) of the act. The county would also excersise the minister's authority to comment on zoning by-laws. If approved, the proposal would place a greater emphasis on local decision making and increase accessibility to both the plan- ners and the council involved. The intent is also to: reduce approval time, provide a greater accountability to the public, ease administration efforts and treater a " greater recognition of local varience. Council plans to invite Davidson ..to ad- dress them on , the proposal at a future meeting. INSIDE THE SIGNAL -STAR Terry Fox Run The Terry Fox Run was held in Goderich Sunday morning with a number of people running, walking and biking the 10km route. For pictures and story on the annual run for cancer, see the front page of the Community section. Special tribute Austral:an resident Jennif Rankin, a former exchange teacher at Robertson Memorial Public School, sends a tribute to a special "Canuck" friend who recent- ly celebrated his 92nd birthday. For a letter, story and pictures from his "bud- dy down under", see Page 2 of the Com- munity section. Hockey school The Junior C Sailors ran a free hockey school for all youths registered for minor hockey this past weekend. Bill Wilkin- son, coach of the Western Michigan University Broncos, conducted the clinics. For story and pictures, see the , front page of the Sports section.