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The Huron Expositor, 1987-04-15, Page 1Births/A15 jNDEXCiassifieds /Al2, Al2, A14 Dkitin /A6 .. ' EntertalilMent '/A16; A17 Family /Ale • Graduates /A16 ' Hensall /A6 • Legion /A11 Obituaries /A16 People /A1.6 Serving, the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensel! and Walton THE HURON EXPOSITOR, APRIL 15 1987 • 50- cents a copy Insurance reform inevitable Just about every aspect of the. automobile insurance industry in Ontario has come under scrutiny in •the past several months. The provincial New Democratic Party is • calling for tighter government control of the industry, customers are demanding lower pretnuims and a reduction in the rates charged to drivers in "high-risk" classifications. Those involved with the in- surance industry have also indicated some unhappiness with the current state of affairs. Reform, it seems, is inevitable. The main question now is, what form will new insurance regulations take? Basically, the government and the in- surance industry are considering three dif- ferent options for providing automobile liability insurance to Ontario motorists,. PRESENTSYSTh}M ' A random sampling of area insurance brokers indicates most feel it is unlikely Ontario will retain the current system of providing ^ coverage and determining premiums much longer. "This ( insurance brokage) Is a difficult AIIIMANIPW business to be in right now, because it seems like the rates are going up twice a year. It's not the companies who take the heat for that, it's us," said Jean MacEwan, of. Peter S. MacEwan Insurance Brokers.. "For that reason, I certainly think some sort of 'reform -'is neceessary, although I •.don't neccessarily mean `no fault,' "I expect, there will be some sort of change, although I can't say exactly what kind," said Jim 1Vlulhern, of Lyons and Mulhern Insurance Brokers. "They seem to think that it's going to be some sort of 'no fault,' as the answer. If ,the situation (settlements '.and premiums) is going to continue to escalate, then the government is going to have to take a look at it." Len Theedom, of Clinton, 'Public. Rela- tions Committee Chairman for the In- surance Brokers Association of Ontario says reform in the system of determining premiums will probably occur because the present method, based, on sex, age and marital status of the driver is "socially unacceptable". Right now — with this so-called 'adver- sarial system' the way premiums are Mons:.to host fir au do Due to space restrictions at the Cable TV this year the Seaforth-Mitchell.Dublin Liana clubs will hold a live auction. The event wilt start at noon on Saturday, but viewing of the donated items will begirt at 10 a.m. Lions club members Are still looking for donations of raerchandiso'or vouchers from Seaforth and area merchants;. Those who donate will havo the added benefit of having their naives displayed on a large billboard, as wall as hearing. it mentionned,several times during'the auctionitself. The profit from items donated goes directly to the Seaforth Lions Club to be used for the various community projects, the most noticeable being the Seaforth Lions Park and Last year the Seaford) Lions Chili realized a riot profit iii excess of 1,500 Pram the tion. Tide year it is hoped the live auction format will raftte over 32,000for the Seaforth.', area; Bill Scott elected chairman The Board of Directors of the Ontario Egg Producers' Marketing Board has elected Bilt Scott of Seaforth as its new chairman. Mr. Scott succeeds Jim Johnstone who stepped down as chairman of the board after 15 years in the position. As the board's chairman, Mr. Scott is responsible for conducting board meetings and for acting as spokesman on behalf of the Ontario Egg Board. Mr.. Scott operates Scott Poultry Farms .Ltd., near Seaforth in Huron County. His operation includes a custom hatchery, pullet facilities and 15,000 laying hens. He and his wife Gwen have been farming since the mid-1960s. Mr. Scott holds a Master of Applied Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Toronto and prior to con - mooing his farming career he worked as an engineer for the National Research Council, Mr. ,r " has served as a director to the 0111100. Board for 10 years and has represented Ontario producers as a director to the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency for the past four years. Mr, Johnstone who operates an egg operation near Alliston will continue to represent the 53 egg producers in the court - ties of Bruce, Grey, Dufferin, Simcoe and Muskoka. Mr. Johnstone has been an egg producer t ector sincetBoardlsinee 197b and as been its Chairman since 1972, ' Policies and operations of the Ontario Egg Producers' Marketing Board are the responsibility of 15 producer -elected direct- tors. Thirteen of these are elected by egg producers in 13 zones or areas of the pro- vinces, two are eleeied by pullet pro- ducers, or farmers who raise chicks to egg -laying age. The Chairman is elected for a one-year term. collected at the present time, for the given conditions, the current method of doing it is the fairest; looking at driver experience, and distance travelled and :other factors. "But, once premiums start getting high, it doesn't become socially acceptable to use our present methods (.of, determining premiums)," he said, However, he warned, a change may not benefit all drivers equally. "If it comes down to it, that we can't use sex, age -and marital status, then the. premiums payed by young drivers are go- ing to drop, while the premiums of older, more experienced drivers will go up," he pointed out. The present system of determining . liability and . damage awards, says Theedom, has so many built in legal costs that it . results invariably, in high premiums. • "The present system that we have is based on the Common Law system. It's an adversarial system and it says that the driver in an accident is responsible for damages to the extent that he was negligent. Likewise, the victim is compen- sated to the extent that he was non - negligent. "The problem with the adversarial system is that the actual decision about who is to blame, and for how much, can take years and years. There is a great deal of legal cost involved in deciding who's at fault." t TOTALNO FAULT Total no fault automobile insurance is a fundamentally different method of com- pensation, according to information pro- vided by the Insurance Brokers Associa- tion of Ontario, which establishesfdr all in- sureds the right to at rre losses from their own insurer. Ittakesaway the right of an injured party to sue another driver for recovery of damages. There is no need for the injured driver to prove negligence on the part of another driver for damages to be recovered. No fault insurance does not automatical- ly mean a govenment insurance monopoly. The only true no-fault ,automobile in- surance plan in Canada is in Quebec, where lawsuits based on automobile acci- dent injuries are prohibited. Instead, peo- ple are compensated •according to a schedule of fixed benefits. In Quebec, auto liability insurance is sold only by a govern- ment agency. Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia have government insurance monopolies. However, they all permit lawsuits for personal injuries. In those provinces, as in the rest of Canada, people injured in auto accidents are entitled to certain no-fault benefits, as are their dependants. However, there is no restriction on the right to go to court, Neither the idea of either government run, nor total no fault insurance is the ideal situation in the eyes of the insurance industry. Jean MacEwan said initiating a govern - mot rim program would be a "gross er- Turn to page 18A Legion films school students Film footage will be taken of approx /Mately 90,000 students in the counties of Huron, Perth, Bruce, Wellington and Waterloo, as part of a child videotape pro - grain sponsored by District C of the Royal Canadian Legion. That number includes 8,000 elementary school students in Huron County. Boll Chapman, of the Goderich Legion, was in Seaforth last week filming students at the public school. Four other schools in the county had already been done and stops this week were to include the various rate schools in the area. The film footage, which; consists of a 30,second spot of each child in which heshe walks into the camera, stands in' front of a measuring tape which records height, give`s WOW name, age, grade and means of travel. to and front school, and then walks away foam the canner% - will be stored in the various schools , only to be pulled should a student disappear The appropriate portion of tape can then be fed into television net. Working to help in the search for theTiiissing child. 'ift just records the child's walk, vette and height, and. adorns into his -her facial features to help with ideitifieation said - Tom Wiihee, a- menthol' of the Seaforth Legion, Branch 1:56 "It's just a heresay thing that came to be known to tis;" added Mr,Chapman, "We hope We neverhavo to use it, but if we have to, it's there "" The Legion Ptirehated two sets of 'equip- Went at a 'tett of approximately .500 in Order to get the program operational, Addi- tional eash'is spent on tapes, one per schnol. All the manpower IS voluntary. It is ex- peeted fitiris will have to he updated ever two, yenta:: • .,.:., , . , . ...M,... . FILMING Ci ilLditety . Bob clhapmatfiy of the Goder th l.egiol , and Toni Wilbee of th'e Seaterth Legion, wera at area school§ last Videk to videotape students, as part iiif a child 'identtlleatton program sponsored by District C, of the Royal Canadian Legion Vitleataes of the Children p en are stored at the Sabel and can be transferred trite the televise On network Mt identttioation purposes should a child become tort ■ McI w arch photo. P 1 1R EN �� CT • i SHOWING THE AFFECTS of different chemicals on the growth of corn is what Jonathan Wheatley's science fair project was all about. Jonathon was one of three students from the Seaforth Public School who competed at the regional science fair held Friday and Saturday in Clinton. Mcllwraith photo. Four students in nationals Four local elementary school children will compete in the Canada wide Science Fair to be held May 10 to 17 at the Erindale Campus in MIssissauga. Andrew Kennedy, of Seaforth Public School; Tammi Medd, of Blyth Public School, Tom Cull, of East Wawanosh Public School and Derick McGee, of Zurich Public School, were chosen as the area represen- tatives by judges at the regional science fair held in Clinton on Friday and Saturday. Ap- proximately 65 students with 43 different science projects competed in the science fair. Each school was allowed two entries and one computer project. The top three projects in each category were recognized and four were chosen to go onto the national competition. In the computer category it was Andrew Kennedy's "Stellar Astronomy - An In- troduction" that earned him the right to compete nationally, Andy Grainger and Kraig Gingerich, Grade 7 students from Huron Cen%nnial School Bruectield, villi their entry "School Filer", and Andrew Lee • and Daryl Bakalar, Grade 8 students at Howick Central, with their entry "Number Processing" were also applauded. In the Physical category Derick McGee will compete nationally with his project en- titled, "The affect of pitch and diameter on propellor thrust". Other top projects includ- ed "Oxidation of Metals" by Peter Poulin, a Grade 8 student from Wingham Public School and "Strengths of Construction - Wood" by Tom Cull, a Grade 8 student from East Wawanosh Public School. In the Biological category it was Tammi Medd's "Spiderland" that will be seen at the Canadian Science Fair. Todd Chadwick, a Grade 8 student from Wingham, with his project, "Genetic Research" and Regan Millian, a Grade 7 student from Colbourn Central, with his, "Who Nose?" were also recognized. An award, presented by the Conservation Authorities, went to Tanya Ross, a Grade 8 student [ram Gederich, for her project on "Erosion Control. Serious injury. avoided. in ioccil caro Tanya R A Seafertlrmama escaped serious injury when the tat she was driving was struck broadside by another vehicle. Seaforth Police say Mary Coyne was pull- ing away from the stop signers Bast William Street ibeside the Sunoco Gas Station) to cross Goderieli Street East in heaityy traffic, and failed to see an eastbound vehicle, Oven. by Janes Barnes of Seaforth. The Barnes vehiclestruck the—Coyne vehicle and turned it around. Approximately WOO damage was done to Mrs Coyne s, 1954 Plymouth, Mr. Barnes vehicle, a 198' `- hei'rolet pick np, received approximately $30i) damage: - Mrs. Coyne was taken to the Seaforth hospital, checked and sent hone, Neither IMIi'.Baines, nor two other parssengets in the truck, were injured, In other police business Luke's Machine Shop reported a break and enter on Friday, April 10. Approximately $14 in change was taken as west as some -diplomat coffee and goods from the snacktinie box. Tom Lenton was the victim of vandalism Thursday, April 9, when the right rear tail light on his rental car was smashed while the tar was parked in front of his High. Street residence. A shoplifting took place at Box Furniture, 22 Main Street South, on Monday, March 30. The store listed a brass horse, brass dog, brass car, cup and saucer, china candy dish ami antique ink dish, as missing, On March 23 approximately 5500 damage was done to the hallway outside the apart ments above Anstett Jewellers Police say the waterpipes, drywalling and skylight in the halfway, were darnaged. . Liquor licence 'act to be enforced and no person shall purchase liquor except fram a government store or from a person authorized by licence or permit" "The consumption of liquor is only lawful in a licence premise or a residence and any person who causes drunkeness or intoxica- tion, endangering to cause injury or damage to property of another, such other' person is entitled to compensation by civil liability of the person What—Old the liquor." "A Police Officer who finds liquor in con, travention of the Act can seize it,. search a vehicle search anyin that . _... ,.i�rtson ,..., ., . vehicle and arrest art person who refuses to identify themselves: The OPP will be enforcing these areas of the Liquor Licence Act and any contraven tions found fetidin resultcharges beinglai . The Huron County OPP Detachments at Exeter, Goderich and 1V'uigham are attemp- Ung to make people aware of the unlawful use of Special Occasion permits "We would like to address those people who run stag and does or buck and does, field parties, ball tournaments or the like, on the possible prosecutions and civil a't- tions that may arise *hen running these events .unlawfully," said Provincial Con- • J stable C. Marshall Community Services Officer for Huron County. • Quoting some sections of the Lignor Licence Act and regulation Conistable Mar= shall said, "A licence premise, mean a premise far which a lieeiii& or permit has been issued and no person shall keep for sale, offer for Saler or sell liquor except under the authority of a licence lir permit,