Clinton News Record, 2015-10-07, Page 5Wednesday, October 7, 2015 • News Record 5
"Are foreign food products up to Canadian standards?"
CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 3
The Conservative party is
completely against the legal-
ization of marijuana, Lobb
said.
He said the "cost to soci-
ety" of such a potential deci-
sion "far outgrows" any tax
revenue."
Referring back to the origi-
nal question, he said there
would not likely be any
opportunities for farmers
because the cost to produce
pharmaceutical -grade mari-
juana is very high.
"There are much better
and practical uses of farm-
land," he added.
The current situation in
Syria has become a hot issue
on the campaign trail, and
local candidates were asked
how they feel about Canada
accepting refugees, and
potentially decreasing health
care benefits for them.
Thompson said there a
number of Canadians who
are concerned that this
could potentially open up
the doors to "admitting an
endless number of people
into Canada"
He said Canada should
play a leadership role and
the Liberals would admit
25,000 displaced Syrians
immediately.
Lobb said the Conserva-
tives would not offer "any
more or less" in terms of
health care to Syrian
refugees.
He said the party is open
to helping but it should be
done in a controlled
manner.
He pointed out that the
U.S. is only taking in 10,000
refugees, the same number
the Conservatives have pro-
posed, while adding that
neighbouring countries
around Syria are not taking
any.
However, Splettstoesser
criticized Lobb for "picking
the countries with the worst
records', stating that coun-
tries smaller in size than
Canada, such as Germany,
have pledged to take in more
refugees.
"I am not suggesting we
follow them, but we need to
get away from prejudice,"
she said. "Not every person
from Syria is a potential
terrorist."
Creces said the federal
government should take a
lesson from local initiatives
to sponsor Syrian refugees.
He said the PCs have cre-
ated a "huge culture of fear"
and should stop discrimina-
tion based on religion.
He said health care could
be better both for "Canadi-
ans and people who are
coming here."
The final written question
of the evening queried can-
didates on whether they feel
enough is being done to
ensure foreign food products
are up to Canadian
standards.
Splettstoesser said cuts to
the Canadian Food Inspec-
tion Agency (CFIA) have left
fewer resources to protect
Canadian consumers.
She said while she
believes Canada has some of
the highest standards for
food inspection, she can
only hope other countries
would have the same.
"We have to make sure we
are applying Canadian
standards to products com-
ing into our country," Creces
said.
He added that the federal
government should to "have
the backbone to say 'no"' if
other countries don't want to
live up to Canada's
standards.
Thompson said under the
Harper government, the
CFIA has not had the
resources to deliver proper
inspection.
"Even when the govern-
ment identifies a problem, it
takes too long to develop a
solution," he said. "The Lib-
erals would put procedures
in place to make sure food is
safe"
Lobb said the CFIA has a
great track record and some
of the highest standards in
Canada.
Speaking on the closure of
government libraries and
research centres, as well as
"destruction of records; Cre-
ces said the Harper govern-
ment has been "allergic to
inconvenient information:'
He said there is a need to
bring back "scientific fund-
ing" and that there is often
not enough data to base
decisions on.
"If you don't know the
truth, you can't react," Cre-
ces said.
Thompson claimed the
Conservatives have "brutal-
ized science, scientific
research and knowledge."
He said they have become
a government that "runs on
an ideology instead of evi-
dence -based policy making'.
Lobb said his party has
invested more in science
than any other government.
He claimed the national
media and opposition par-
ties have conjured up the
idea of a "war against
science':
In response to the notion
of "destruction of records';
Lobb said they have in fact
been digitized, not
destroyed.
"That's the way it works in
2015," Lobb said. "It doesn't
have to be all paper files."
Splettstoesser said some
Green Party candidates, who
have worked as government -
employed scientists, have
claimed their budgets were
slashed by up to 75 per cent
under the Harper
government.
She urged that the work of
scientists should be pro-
tected so it can be used in
policy-making.
In his closing remarks,
Thompson called this elec-
tion "the most important" in
a generation.
He told those in attend-
ance when casting their vote
they would be deciding what
of leadership they want, stat-
ing they could choose "more
of the same" or the "positive,
optimistic vision" he feels
Trudeau will provide as
Prime Minister.
Creces said the "reds and
blues" want voters to be
scared of the NDP.
He believes because of
past governments the "next
generation of voters feel like
they don't have a choice"
and that Canada's "arms and
mind" is "closing':
He said the NDP could be
the change on the road to
"progress and prosperity."
Splettstoesser said when it
comes to her, "what you see
is what you get"
She promised to "help
restore good government'!"
"Positive vision and hard
work will beat the tired sta-
tus quo," she said.
Huron -Bruce incumbent
Lobb closed out the debate
by stating "only a Conserva-
tive government can be
trusted to protect family
farms, keep taxes low and
protect benefits for all
Canadians."
"Since 2006, we've taken
action," he said.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
15 Years Ago...
• After being subject to strikes by
teachers over educational reforms,
CHSS students staged a walkout of
their own to protest the absence of
extra -curricular activities. Approxi-
mately 100 students did not return
to class after their lunch hour. Prin-
cipal at the time, Mike Ash, said the
students asked good questions
regarding the options that are avail-
able to them to get their message
across. The walkout was only the
first stage in a process the students
have initiated to bring back the
extra -curricular activities to their
schools. Students were told that in
order to continue with extra -curric-
ular activities a teacher would have
to be present for that to happen,
meaning a member of the commu-
nity could not oversee instead.
• Roxanne Raczycki's siblings car-
ried on her fight against cancer
when they hosted a memorial con-
cert in her honour. Raczycki was a
Clinton resident a the organizer for
the Terry Fox run before succumb-
ing to the disease. One benefit con-
cert was held in town and another
in Toronto. Between the two con-
certs $15,000 was raised for cancer
research.
• Clinton's Computer Training
Academy (CTA) offered courses to
allow students to certify for their
Masters - Microsoft Word, Excel,
Power Point and Access.
25 Years Ago...
• Smoked pork chops, baked
beans and scalloped potatoes high-
lighted the menu at the Clinton
Ontario Street United Church bar-
beque. The annual event attracted
more than 950 people.
• Huron County council consid-
ered opening a new federal women's
penitentiary. At a council meeting it
passed a motion authorizing the
clerk to begin the information gath-
ering process and to indicated to the
proper authorities the interest of the
county. The federal government was
seeking to build a new women's
facility in a new area as the current
penitentiary in Kingston was to be
closed.
35 Years Ago...
• Work was completed on Robert-
son Memorial Public School to
replace ceiling tiles loaded with
amphibole asbestos. The asbestos
was discover in studies initiated by
Huron County board of education.
Certain amounts of asbestos were
found in several other county
schools and was set to be
eliminated. Robertson was termed
the most serious case of all the
schools because its corridor ceiling
tiles contained the most dangerous
asbestos particles called amphibole.
Amphibole fibres are the smallest of
all asbestos fibres. If a ceiling tile,
which contains asbestos is broken,
it explodes with these tiny particles.
A single fibre, upon entering the
lungs, may cause cancer.
• An orphaned cat nicknamed
Annie, was discovered. Some sug-
gested she be euthanized and oth-
ers suggested she be taken to the
humane society in Stratford. The
black and white cat was adopted
by a mother and her teenage
daughter after she was found
abandoned.
• A 23 -year-old man from Eng-
land was hitchhiking across Can-
ada and the U.S. to visit his grand-
parents who lived in Clinton.
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