The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 85

Problem 'overblown Renfrew county see i 1 I Education costs tourist Jbooty -Wells No crisis Of 32 reported "vacation areas, we ranked 23rd in terms of percentage share of tourist dollars," Mr. Stoodley said. "From the evidence, it was clear that we had to pre Mr. Lewis said that, for all boards, the grant increases do not match inflation. But the rural boards, are in a Jaycee convention in Perth on weekend particularly difficult position he said, because unlike urban areas they have no strong as- sessment on which to raise higher revenue.

In addition, the NDP leader said, the province reduced its payment toward school bus costs from 95 per cent to 75 per cent "this really hurts the rural areas, because they have the greater use of buses." Lanark County "has $200,000 less to spend this year than it had last "year," Mr. Lewis said. The New and Renfrew as examples because he recently visited the districts. More arm rtewf on Page 5 By ERIC DOWD Journal Toronto Bureau TORONTO (Staff) Education Minister Tom Wells Tuesday rejected a claim that Ontario' are facing a "crisis" in education costs and said jthe counties can expect no extra provincial funding this year. The "crisis" charge was made by New Democratic Party Leader Stephen Lewis, who cited Renfrew and Lanark as two of the counr.es most concerned about inadequate provincial funds.

TKia prlnratinn miniatAr r. torted the counties problems are nowhere near as big as them. He added: "There's no way we have any more moneyit has all been distributed." The province increased its grants, to schoolsJ)y-Jiearly nine per cent this year in effect, it told boards who want in srwnri mori tn thf money themselves. By RON THOMAS Journal Reporter PERTH (Staff) Lanark County board of education has received two more complaints from teachers' groups about the hiring of "imports" for senior positions. It was also suggested the board lacks any kind of a training program to give local share of the booty than it won lact year.

Firepower has been concentrated in the recently-commissioned Renfrew County Travel Association. ilWe have been developing a strategy for tourist develop--ment for some time," Renfrew County Economic Development Department manager-Michael P. Stoodley said Tuesday. "We are now ready to implement the The county has been divided into six "vacation areas," each of which may "form a mini-association and elect or appoint a representative" to the 12-member bounty travel association committee. tion would-implement is com- posed ot tnree main variables marketing, public relations and management," said Mr.

Stoodley. a long nst oi program com- Donents ranses all the wav from organization of seminars for resort operators to erec- tion of information Some battle-worn informa- tion Doouis are to ce repairea and new ones will be built. "We feel that information centre myolyement is a very necessary component of the tourist development strate gy, Mr. Moodley said. iney will not only provide us with a direct link with the public.

They will ako help us create good Good will created last year resulted in only 1.3 per cent of the total of tourist dollars spent in Ontario being left in the Upper Ottawa Madawaska Valley vacation area. Comparative figures are: Hastings Land 'Lakes, 0.5 -per cent; Rideau Lakes 1000 Islands, 5.58 per cent; Seaway Valley, 2.9 per cent; Lower Ottawa Valley, 5.4 per cent. pare a long-term tourist devC elopment strategy. "We hope we will be able to cut through some of the gbvr ernment red tape that tourist operators usually encounter." the last fatal jtoel Joughtjn Canada which took place off the banks of the Tay River just outside Perth, in 1833. The Chimo region includes Canada Jaycee units throughout Eastern Ontario and part ot jyuebec The Canada Jaycees whose national headuarters are in Kanata consist of eight regions across" Canada.

The" Jaycees are represented in 80 and have a membership of more than 450,000 young people between the -ages-of-i8-and-4fr -yearsTf -age. remains closed costs in completing and maintaining the park. The park on Rideau Lake covers 2,900 acres and was started in 1972 and 'already S2.5 million has been spent, on road construction, buildings Ana-parKaeveiopmenu-iL wm C03t abut $300,000 to $400,000 to complete the park, Although no cars are at- lowed into the park, if is mg used as parfof the 'Ri- deau Trail and as a recrea: tion area. By BILL COLLINS -Journal Reporter PEMBROKE (Staff) Preparing for the annual battle for tourist dollars, Renfrew County, having reformed ranks, anticipates a larger amends plan ARNPRIOR -(Special) McNab Township council ap- official plan of the lower Ma-dawaska conservation area that will permit the construction of one residence on a live-acre of land witiV a minimum 300-foot frontage. This ls-a reductKn -W rem the present 15 acre re- quremcnt.

But despite this at least one o. the 13 ratepayers at the meeting felt that the a-icagc iequircineni siiuum reduced to one -acre, claiming no one could proper- ly take care of a. larger area. The purpose of the amend- ment was three fold: to permit further development; to designate as rural land certain areas now designated residential and industrial; and most important, to amend the conservation and recreation area to ease the present re-sriction on residential development from the 15 acres to five acres. An engineering consultant said the original Dlan was weak in that severances could be obtained without much opposition.

He thought the plan-should incporate clauses keeping in mind such things as highway traffic, schools, water and sewage. PERTH (Special) Two to attend the annual Canada jaycees Chimo regional con- vention to be held here this weekend. The opening ceremonies wji officially take Dlace Sat- 'rv: "A UU II lllUlltUlg. -7 the keynote speaker will be Morrie Morrison, manager of Ontario East and North Dis- trict of the Royal Bank of Canada, who will talk on free enterprise. The theme ofLiheconven tion is Duel 76.

This refers to Murphy Point PERTH (Special)- The Murphy Point provincial park 10 miles south of here will stay closed. It was scheduled to open this year. Wim Vonk, district manag er of the ministry of natural jesourcesrLanarkr-said the earliest possible opening date will be April 1977 and even that is not certain. He said provincial govern- ment spending restraints have cut funds to cover labor Complaints grow in Lanark County Almonte budget okayed ALMONTE (Special) -Council approved Tuesday a $704,427 municipal budget that calls for small mill-rate increases. The educational levy of the Lanark board of education is expected to push up the tax increase.

The budget is up $32,000 over last year, the residential tax rate up 1.70 mills and the commercial rate up two mills. Treble Clef Stereo Mr; Wells replied that "there is no crisis developing." He said there is "logical concern" about mill rates and education costs and the -nine per -cent increase 'has caused certain belt- tightening." The province by its substantial funding has held mill rates down consistently over the past five years, the minister said, and boards which recognize this, "when they look at what's actually happened to mill rates over the last five years, find that, in fact, the increase on the local level is not that horrendous although it's coming" in one year," Mr. Wells said. ThemTnTs rercbriceded there are "problems with transportation. We are happy to hear frcm boards about what those problems are.

"They will all be taken into xoniderationin mc-kind ol grants devised for next year, but I Cannot assure any of them that there will be any to each of the smaller schools in the county, to provide the necessary training for teachers aspiring to make the jump up to principals. It "acknowledges it will cost more in salaries, but said the benefits justify the increase. Under the. present setup, few teachers have the oppor-t i for promotion, it charges. A letter from the Lanark teachers' organization notes other school areas have train-.

ing plans and vertical mobility built into their systems. "We realize that applicants from without the county may have better qualifications, but how are our staff members going to gain experience in positions of added responsibly if these posiions are it asks. At its meeting, the board received a letter from the women's eachers' federation complaining about the same issue, and about appointment with CUPE, representing 51 clerical and technical workers, calling for a 12.3 per cent wage hike in the first year and 11.2 per cent raise in the second. The contract is retroactive to Oct. 1, 1975.

Another five office staff, not part of CUPE because of their positions, will receive equivalent increases. Trustees also ratified a one-year pact with its, 80 custodial maintenance, and trades staff for an 11 per cent increase, effective Sept. 1 this year. Trustees said they expected the settlements would meet anti-inflation board guidelines. The new agreements will give CUPE workers a salary range of $116 to $230 weekly in the first year, and $128 to $248 weekly in the second year of the contract.

Custodians will earn from $169 to $215 a week in the agreement, and tradesmen a maximum $241. Cleaners will be paid $3.45 and $3.62 an hour. Cost-of-living clauses have been dropped, since under AIB guidelines they are included as part of the increase. It is more advan-tagous to take the maximum increase from the start of the contract, rather than cost-of-living increments building up to the maximum at the end of the contract. "It seems the AIB controls are designed to discourage COLA clauses," explained business administrator Don Timmins.

THOMAS WELLS no more money change in the moneys available this year. The grant rates are set." James Foulds (NDP-rPprt Arthur) claimed the province has "created a disparity between rural and urban boards. The equality of education you like to talk about will be "destroyed if this trend is con-' tinued." MrrWells saidhc gets more complaints about inadequate funding from urban than from rural areas. He said the ministry would -be -concerned if a disparity was I co not believe that some this is developing, as would have you be of outsiders to senior administrative posts. Board director Robert Cressman indicated a recoiw-mendation on the matter was expected for the next meeting.

Board chairman John Mon-treuil noted the board was faced with a "dilemma" in the suggested they had to consider engaging the best-qualified individual to ensure the students interests were being protected. He also said losing candidates interviewed for the position, that he had talked to, indicated they felt they Jiad been "fairly" dealt with. In other business, the board approved a number of policy amendments, including corporal guidelines and student-locker search procedures. Under the policy, the strap may be administered only the presence of a and, except in extreme cases, consultation must occur between the "school" and the "home" before punishement. In addition the principal must prepare a memo for the board listing the reasons and extent of punishment, witness fes) present, and persons interviewed or consulted.

The latter provision is intended to help protect against any legal action that might be taken against the board, suggested trustee Duane Dixon. Principals, or their designates, may search lockers if they have reason to be'ieve the student is hiding illegal materials, such as drugs. If anything is found, the proper authorities must be called in, the board and parent informed of actions taken. Portland man dies in Perth after crash PERTH (Special) Roy Robert Rogers, 18, of RR 3, Portland died in the Great War Memorial hospital here shortly after he was involved in a two-car crash in Perth Tuesday. Police said Rogers was travelling south on Gore Street and lost control of his car and skidded into a northbound car driven by Gerald Shepp of Perth.

Mr. Shepp only suffered minor injuries. Defence College appointee dies KINGSTON, Ont. (CP) -Canadian career diplomat Gordon G. Crean died Monday in London, England, at the age of 62.

Mr. Crean, a former British Army intelligence officer, was to become the first non-military commandant of the National Defence College at Kingston, in September. He was in London consulting officials at the Royal College of Defence Studies In preparation for his new post. Lanark board settles with custodians, clerks 20 PERTH (Staff) Lanark County board of education has settled contracts with it pi 4 Little old schoolhouse closed at Williamsburg teachers a chance to' compete on an equal footing with out-of-county applicants. The board received two letters Tuesday both dealing with the appointment of a principal for Maple Grove public school.

The local public school teachers' federation suggests vice-principals be appointed. The increases are in line with council's policy of fiscal restraint. "In former years it was usual to approve a mill-rate which combined the town, country and educational levies. However, since the town has not yet received the levy of the Lanark board of education, my committee decided to set the municipal rate said finance committee chairman Terry Kennedy. custodial and office workers.

The board Tuesday approved a new two-year agreement committee's recommendation, Trustee Sandra Enns said she still felt the board would be better off closing the school but at the same time a promise was made. "Well I'm glad to see that," Trustee Claude Courville said. "Too many boards in this province look at schools as giant factories and I'm glad to see the parents view their children as human beings." In other business, trustees were more than upset and one demanded a retraction by Morrisburg Reeve William Dillabough of charges he has made in print about board budgeting practices. In a letter to the board, the reeve complained that school taxes in his municipality increased by almost 47 per cent this year, and he called the increase irresponsible. Most trustees said it appeared the reeve and his council did not understand how tax levies for school purposes were arrived at and proposed the board explain these personally to the Morrisburg council.

But director of education Rosaire Leger said that would be a dangerous precedent because the board could find itself tagged with being responsible to municipalities rather than to the people that elected them. Eventually, the board voted to send a letter of explanation to council. ifSS: TURNTABLES These turntables are representative of the high degree of craftsmanship and precision for which the Swiss are famous. Treble Clef is pleased to be in the position to make this great offer to you. CORNWALL (Specials) The closing of a three-room public school at Williamsburg by the Stormont Dundas and Glengarry board of education has been postponed for at least a year after strong complaints by residents in the area.

The action was taken by the board Tuesday following a public meeting at the school. The issue had surfaced earlier when the school-closing committee recommended the school be closed because it was uneconomical. It has 38 pupils. Parents in the area say the low pupil population leads to a better school lile and that the board promised not to close the school until better facilities could be offered at Elma Public School, to where the pupils would be bussed. Justifying the change in the Police identify drowning victim RENFREW (Special) -in Renfrew said today the man who drowned in the Ma-dawaska River Monday was Robert Shipman, 30, of RR 5.

Muncey, Penn. Divers resumed their -search today for the body. Mr. Shipman was fishing with friends and is believed to have fallen out of his boat. The men were staying at a lodge in the area.

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