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The Wingham Advance Times, 1995-11-15, Page 44 g trbe �r� tit ant abbance -Mingo tmeo Published each Wednesday at: Box 390, 5 Diagonal Road, Wingham, Ontario Phone (519) 357-2320 Fax (519) 357-2900 J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd. Second Class Mail Registration No. 0821 We are: Jim Beckett — Publisher Audrey Currie — Manager Cameron J. Wood — Editor Cathy Hendriks — Ad. Sales Stephen Pritchard — Production "'Jim Brown — Reporter Margaret Stapleton—Reporter Eve Buchanan — Office Louise Welwood — Office Editorial Viewpoint Try policies WEONESOAY NOVEMBER 15,1995 rotesters against the Harris government cutbacks have been successful in attracting media attention in many communities throughout the province in the past few weeks. On Friday, November 3 about 50 people showed up at Helen Jchns' office in Exeter to demonstrate against the announced funding cuts to Second Stage Housing pro- grams. Although Johns was not available, the group man- aged to make the point. We can expect many more demonstrations of this type as more and more provincial government cutbacks are an- nounced. So far the Harris government has taken aim at many services and programs that have been relied on for years as providing a measure of comfort and stability for hundreds of thousands of citizens who are on the bottom end of the economic scale. Many believe Harris and his cabinet are rushing to live up to all their election promises in a bid to get the difficult decisions out of the way as quickly as possible. It seems that every few days we hear another example Of how the province has slashed another program with savings of a few million here and there. Most of the readers of this newspaper have been insulat- ed from a direct hit and have managed to maintain their normal lifestyle. Life has continued with little concern for those who are at the bottom end of our materialistic socie- ty. Demonstrators and protesters have been people we see on television and read about in the newspapers. But things could change as more reductions in what the government does for us strike home. Last week it was announced that a fee of $2 per pre- scription could be levied on medication for senior citizens. Another report stated more than half the snow plowing staff in the Barrie area received layoff notices. And there's more to come. Premier Harris and his band of budget balancers are be- coming less popular each day as they continue on their mission to bring financial responsibility back to Ontario where it's been absent during the past 20 years or so. The Conservatives are on a mission sanctioned by the majority of the voters in the province. It's not a popularity contest. It's a dirty job that should have been done gradu- ally and with compassion over a long period of time. Unfortunately the result of big government and big spending that depended on year after year of booming economies is an economy in need of major surgery. It's going to take a variety of bitter pills to cure the financial ilis of Ontario. We elected Mike Harris to do a job. So far he has approached his task with enthusiasm and dedication and with a plan that will not be swayed by disgruntled demonstrators. Many people are going to have their lifestyles come un- der a great deal of stress as they struggle to live day by day in a much tougher environment. Instead of placing the blame on Harris, perhaps it's time to examine how we ended up in this position in the first place. z 0 A reason to smile Wi ham The F.E. Madill Girls Basketball teams. The Juniors will play host next Wednesday to the Huron County Champion- ship after an undefeated season. Great effort girls. O Member of: OCNA CCNA The Wingham Advance -Tines is a member of a family of community newspapers providing news, advertising and information leadership. Letters Policy All letters to the editor must bear the writer's name, telephone num- ber and address. The Advance -Times wel- comes letters. We re- serve the right to edit, but will endeavor to preserve the author's intent. Deadline for letters is Monday before 10:00 a.m. Some exceptions may apply. Fax: 519-357-2900 or mail to: PO. Box 390, Wingham, Ontario NOG 2W0 NOVEMBER 1948 The Rt. Hon. William Lyo MacKenzie King has tendered hi long -expected resignation a prime minister of Canada. Thu ends 21 years, five months and five days of service to the Crown in that highest political office o the Dominon. Our new prime minister is Louis St. Laurent, a 66 -year-old Quebec lawyer. In a cold November drizzle, a .large crowd gathered to see Huron County Warden Hugh Berry cut the ribbon to open the Gorrie Bridge to traffic. It was noted that the first bridge at Gorrie was built ie 1856 and this is the fourth bridge to span the Maitland at this point. Mr. and Mrs. A. Edgar, who have been residents of the second line of Morris for the past 30 years, are moving this week to their newly -erected home on Scott Street. A prince who may one day rule over the Commonwealth was born on Sunday night to Princess Eliza- beth and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. The name of the child, which is second in line to the throne, has not been announced. NOVEMBER 1961 A tremendous expansion pro- gram may be in the offing for the Wingham District High School, board members were informed at their regular meeting last Thurs- day. The million dollar expansion plan will eventually see students at the Lucknow High School move to Wingham for a total en- rolment of 1,000 students. Wingham Mayor R. E. McKin- ney has made an interesting sug- gestion to the provincial minister of highways: a small lake on what is known as the prairies just south of town. Mr. McKinney proposes that a clam at the west end of town would hold the water back, except at flood. time. He writes, "We feel with Margaret Stapleton this area should be planned now n before the new highway is com- s pleted." s The Wingham Salvation Army s. held a special service to incorpo- rate its 75th anniversary here in town. Following the Sunday f morning service, the Salvation Army band paid a visit to the Brookhaven Nursing Home to play for patients and then went on to CKNX to appear on "Sing - Time". Mr. and Mrs. William Forgie, Frances Street, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on Sat- • urday. NOVEMBER 1971 Members of the Graduate Nurs- ' ing Association from Wingham and District Hospital provided the studio audience for a taping of "Act Fast" which will be aired on CKNX-TV on Friday. Books will be added to the nursing library with the $raised by participa- tion in the program. Florence MacKenzie, president of the GNA and Mary Lee, both of Wingham, talked with Bill Brady, program host. Jack Gillespie, Mrs. Dave Bender and Blake Chapman, will play lead roles in an upcoming production of Dickens' "A Christ- mas Carbl" by the town players group. NOVEMBER 1981 A group of young men from the Gorrie area is attempting to get into the Guiness Book of Records for most empty beer bottles eitil- lected. More than 20,000 bottles have been collected over the past four years. Randy Clarke, Kevin Townsend, Kevin, Don and Brian Hastie, Blaine McCutcheon, Owen Curtis and Dale Edgar. Scott Metcalfe has taken over the position of part-time book- keeper at the Wingham Town Hall. Mr. Metcalfe is in process of becoming an accountant. Using unconventional delays TORONTO -- Ontario's opposition parties are pulling out the stops to hold up Premier Mike Harris - but why not, because he did it to them? The New Democrats and Liberals used procedural manoeuvres• for three days in the legislature to delay passage of the Progressive Conserva- tives' first major legislation, which reduces the powers of unions and gives more to employers. The Tories were in a hurry, as they are on just about everything, first because Harris promised in the June election that he would repeal legislation through which the NDP government gave unions more power the moment he became premier and it became something of a symbol. The Tories more practically be- lieve that easing restrictions on busi- ness will create investment and jobs which they need quickly if they dare td fulfill their main promises to cut incorie tax and bane the budget, on which they will stand or fall. They also wanted their law passed before opposing unions could orga- nize, and were reluctant to have pub- lic hearings across the province, which normally accompany such im- portant legislation but would provide a forum for criticism. The opposi- tion's delaying tactics had only mini- mal success, because the Conserva- tives invoked closure to cut off debate, despite having called the NDP dictators for using closure, and the labor law was approved after only five days or about 18 hours of debate. This is probably the shortest de- bate ever for a bill of such impact and controversy, which takes away not only rights the NDP gave unions but -also 'some given by previous Tory governments. Veteran Liberal house leader Jim Bradley predicted that the Tories would get away with it almost unnoticed because news media take little interest in procedu- ral disputes, seeing them as com- plex, in-house and of concern only to MPPs, and he has been almost right. But the Tones have deprived many MPPs of an opportunity to speak and the public had no chance. After rejecting requests day after day for province -wide public hearings, the Tories at the last moment made a gesture of offering limited hearings once it was clear that the NDP would reject such a bone. The Tories' view privately is that they did their consulting on election day. An unbiased observer would conclude that the scrutiny was 'cur- sory for such momentous legislation. The Tories also accused the oppo- sition parties of obstructing and wasting time, which they did, but re- vealed their own short memories. Harris in opposition, like the other, party leaders, used conventional tac- tics' like staying out of the legislature to prevent votes being taken, to sup- port his demands. But Harris is remembered particu- larly for inventing new ways to hold . up government. MPPs are allowed to read the titles of private member's bills they introduce, and Harris brought in one entitled a bill to de- termine the zebra mussel content of virtually every lake, river, creek, pond and hay in the province and held up the legislature for an entire afternoon while he read all their names. Some of his fellow Tories, whb now complain that other parties are obstructing, then encouraged Harris to take even longer by shouting "slow•down, Mike -- you're speaking too fast." This playfulness prevented a discussion of injured workers' problems, which are not high on the Harris agenda. A couple of weeks later Harris in- troduced a bill to require a study of the effect of the provincial budget on various industries, whose names he read to the legislature to Tory glee for another couple of hours. The Tories still later introduced another bill to inquire into the impact of pro- vincial tax policies on several hun- dred companies whose names also took hours to read. Harris has done his share of ob- structing, even if he considered it all good fun.