The Ottawa Journal from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Page 3

THURSDAY. APRIL 17. 1980 OTTAWA JOURNAL PAGE 3 Hog producers in row with market By Henry Heald JOURNAL REPORTER CORNWALL Andre Dumas, president of the Prescott County pork producers association, threatened yesterday to walk out of an appeal tribunal hearing into pork marketing board practices in Eastern Ontario. "The truth isn't getting out," Dumas said. "All we are getting is contradictory statements.

In a battle with the marketing board, the producers are bound to lose." Dumas was cross-examining witnesses who had spoken on behalf of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board at the earlier hearings pf the tribunal here March 26 and 27. A seven-member panel of the Farm Products Appeal Tribunal, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ken McEwen, is hearing an appeal by the Prescott County producers and a- group of Glengarry County producers against a Westport split on hostel issue By Richard Landis SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL WESTPORT The Canadian Hostelling Association could have an uphill battle on its hands. It has now been a month since the group held a public meeting in West-port and expressed interest in establishing a youth hostel here. But opinion in this small community of 650 appears to be divided on the hostel question.

"I'm not in favor of them at the moment with the information I have," said Reeve William Thake, "but I've asked the association for more material. Both Thake and Westport Mirrow editor Lee Hutchinson agree residents are equally split over the issue. "We've received about a dozen letters and they seem equally divided," said Hutchinson, whose paper is conducting a mail-in survey to gauge local opinion. One village resident who has made his views clear is Douglas Beaudoin who is presently campaigning to keep the hostel out of Westport. In a letter and two petitions circulated throughout the village, Beau-Uoiu says "the hostel-centre is-noroT" God.

It can only bring trouble to our children, our businesses, our houses, our farmers, our community and our souls. "Passerby travellers in hostel centres come in every kind of people most of them teenager couples together as homosexuals, drug addicts. unmarried boys and girls living to- gether, lesbians, criminals, escapees, Education levy up by 4.4 per cent PEMBROKE The Renfrew County board of education brought down its 1980 budget last night resulting in an average 4.4 per cent increase in education taxes for area tax payers. Total expenditures in the budget for both the elementary and secondary panels totaled $36 million, an increase of 5.8 per cent over last year's budget. The budget package will result in no increase in the elementary residential mill rate and a hike of 3.62 mills or 9.8 per cent in the secondary residential rate.

The combined result is an increase of 4.4 per cent, said chairman of the finance committee Stuart Mark. He said a decision by the province to shift a portion of the education taxes from residential to commercial taxpayers resulted in an increase of 10.5 per cent in the commercial rate. Mark pointed out that a drop in enrolment in the county had not re "How can you say that under oath," Dumas retorted. "That is a terrible thing to say." "I know I am under oath," Willems replied. "You may not remember, but I do.

It hurt me very deeply. That was when I resigned as a director." Much of the discussion yesterday centred on whether Glengarry producers really favored the one-board concept or were pressured into it by a small group within their association. Dumas contended that the directors of the Glengarry association had threatened producers that if they didn't support the central yard at McCrimmons Comers, the Prescott producers would get a new yard for themselves at St. Isidore while Glengarry producers would be stuck with the old rented one at Alexandria. Kitty Ewaschuk, former secretary-treasurer of the Glengarry association, maintained that the Glengarry chats with Don McLauchlin of MacMillan-Bloedel at luncheon plant purchase positive step' Since the takeover, the company has Invested some $250,000 in approving machinery at the plant including a new litho-laminator to "tune up" the operation and make it as "productive and competitive as possible to ensure the future of the operation," said John Montgomery, vice-president of the Ca nadian packing division.

'We will continue to -r-evtew ihe operation and, with the local manage- (fevetOpthe-opcrations' capacity as a ment, will consider whatever future producer of specialty products," said investment will be necessary to keep McLauchlin. Renfrew closer to new town hall RENFREW (Staff) Renfrew is one step closer to a new town hall. Council has agreed to hire an architect after receiving assurances that provincial government offices will be located in the new building. Renfrew Reeve James Donohue, chairman of the building committee, said Minister of Government Services Doug Wiseman has promised to lease 9,000 square feet of office space about half the size of the new building including new court facilities. "The province has promised to enter into a long-term lease to return the capital investment to the town for this space, including interest rates," said Donohue.

"If we build the hall to their specifications, the province will come with us in the joint sharing of the building." The decision by council to hire an architect for the project was unanimous and a previous set of plans drawn up 10 years ago will be scrapped. The hall will be built on property adjacent to and above the present police station. Donohue said the building is Renfrew's number one project. The town has advised the Ontario Municipal Board it will put $1 million into re company is coming in or not," Bathurst Reeve Art Bowes said prior to the meeting, "but if they did come in the land which is presently zoned agricultural would have to be rezoned and a building permit issued. "Jhey can't do anything without the township's okay.

Besides, there's no way on earth they can start this summer (as some residents here claim)." "It would take years," he added. During a -question and answer period following an address by a local lung specialist. Dr. Ross Craig, Ottawa lawyer Greg Anderson told a group of 200: Pork Producers Association was run by a clique who elected directors when they supported its point of view and got rid of them the next year if they didn't stay in line. Feelings have been running high in Prescott and Qlengarry counties on the marketing yard issue for more than a year.

Pork production in the two counties has been increasng rap-, idly in recent years and many of the producers have only been in the business for four years or less. Howard Malcolm, chairman of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board, contends that producer estimates of the numbers of hogs that Prescott County would ship have not been realized. Bitter exchanges between board members and Prescott County producers have marked the hearings. A large sign stating: "For the sake of justice, citizens of Prescott and the operation fully productive and profitable," said McLauchlin. He said the company plans no new major expansion at the Pembroke facility but considers the skilled senior labor force a major asset.

"We felt immediately and we still feel that the future of Pembroke will be tied to enhancing the business that is already in place and continuing to serve funds over the next five years for the project. Council hopes the project will be completed sometime in 1981. The architect will also do an appraisal on the existing town hall on Raglan Street to see if it is structurally sound and could be restored as a heritage building as suggested by Heritage Renfrew. However, Donohue said his committee believes the present building is inadequate to meet staff needs and the construction of a new town hall is long overdue. "If the building were not owned by the municipality it would have been condemned a long time ago as a public building," said Donohue.

"On top of that it is a firetrap, the walls are cracked and the beams in the basement are a horror story." Council has delayed the project for the last two years hoping that the new town hall could be incorporated with the construction of new county buildings should the county seat be moved to Renfrew from Pembroke. This idea was squashed by Wiseman after his last visit to Renfrew County. He said the province could not afford to purchase the present county buildings in Pembroke for another 10 years. "The company purchased mineral rights in the township years ago with the idea of mining them should American supplies be depleted. "Their plans at this point are only tentative and the company has informed me they would not be interested In coming into a community where there is extreme local opposition.

"But a move here by the company would be a boon for the community," Anderson added. Senator Royce Frith, who did not attend the meeting, sent a message to through Dr. Craig that drilling will be conducted by June. If the project appears feasible It will go ahead. Residents meet to oppose silica mining By Richard Landis SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL PERTH The prospect of an open-pit silica mine in Bathurst Township has raised the concerns of residents here.

"At least we can take precautions if it goes ahead," says Township of Bathurst Ratepayers Associaton secretary Mary Doyle. Part of those precautionary measures included public meeting last night to discuss health hazards related to silica, an important Industrial mineral. The most serious problem, residents were told, is the danger of silicosis, a lung disease caused by long-term inhalation of silica dust. decision by the pork board to build one central marketing yard to serve the two counties. The two parties presented their positions during the previous two days of hearings.

When the meeting resumed Dumas challenged statements made by witnesses for the board. Refuting a statement by William Vander Byl, who told the tribunal that spring floods on the South Nation River forced a detour through Vank-leek Hill for two to six weeks every spring, Dumas cited figures from the South Nation River Conservation Authority showing that the average time the road to St. Isidore was under water was 5.3 days per year for the last eight years. Prescott County producers want to have a marketing yard at St. Isidore de Prescott.

The board had originally agreed and then changed its mind in favor of a large, central yard at veneral disease carriers, drunks, etc. etc. etc. "They are not good law-abiding citizens, they are out for a good time, an evil time. Is this the kind of people that you want to walk our streets? "Hurry sign the petition today and bring it to the Westport Mirror.

Tomorrow will be too "May God protect your family." The hostel, adds Beaudoin, would also add to the unemployment rolls here and would create an influx of newcomers. "The strangers that will walk our streets because of the hostel centre certainly cannot be all good and most probably are mainly bad," says one of two petitions. Beaudoin's point of view, meanwhile, has members of the hostselling association scratching their heads. "I have worked one night weekly at the Nicholas Street hostel (the former jailhouse in Ottawa) for the last year and a half and I've encountered very few of those people" (portrayed in Beaudoin's letter) says association committee chairman Jim Fraser. Meanwhile, another public meeting jgxpcled soon nnd the hosteling association is keeping its fingers crossed that Westport which is located on the Rideau Trail and could be used as a connecting link between Kingston and Ottawa, will eventually approve plans for the hostel.

But the group will not force themselves where they are not wanted. "If the people don't want the hostel." said Fraser, "then we'll back sulted in a corresponding drop in taxes. He said that although provincial grants increased by 8.8 per cent, a drop in enrolment by three per cent meant that the board received only a 5.4, per cent increase in funds. "In order for us to reduce local education taxes, it would be necessary to keep the increase in expenditures below 5.4 per cent a virtually impossible task," said Mark. In other business, the board passed a motion to set up a committee to look into marijuana use chaired by Egan-ville trustee Barbara Hlnsperger.

Hinsperger said people in her community were upset by a recommendation in the throne speech that the drug be decriminalized. "I think the board should look into the adverse affects and otherwise of the use of marijuana." she said. "People in my area are opposed to decriminalization and the board should make known its position in a public way." Prolonged breathing of the dust, they were told, results in a chronic shortness of breath as well as other respiratory problems. Local concern over a silica mine resurfaced recently after residents learned that Illinois-based Ottawa Silica Company, the sole mining operation with interests in the township informed township council Feb. 12 that the company might do initial excavation work at Dewitt Comers in 1982.

The company, which first began to acquire property in Bathurst as early as 1966 now owns about 150 acres of land outright with mineral options on another 1,000 acres. McCrimmons Corners, nine miles farther east along Highway 417. Glengarry County now has a rented yard near Alexandria which both producers and the board agree is inadequate. The most heated exchange came when Dumas challenged Harry Wil-lems, a former director of the Prescott County Pork Producers Association, who told the tribunal last month that Prescott producers who favored the one-yard concept had not been allowed to explain their case at Prescott County meetings. Dumas contended that Willems had always been free to state his case.

"Did I intimidate you?" he asked. "Yes you did," Willems replied. "At one meeting you started speaking French and said 'we've spoken English long enough'." Willems explained that he didn't understand French. BONMC CAMPBELL JOURNAL Pembroke Mayor Henry Brown meeting. MacBlo called 'a By Bonnie Campbell JOURNAL REPORTER PEMBROKE Executives from MacMillan-Bloedel assured city officials yesterday that there will be no layoffs at the newly-acquired city plant, resting the fears of some 300 employees.

In an informalone-dav visit to the area, five senior" executives fiuui Hie Vancouver office visited their new acquisition here formerly owned by Abitibi-Price which manufactures corrugated containers. Last year, they also purchased a mill at Sturgeon Falls and the Continental Group of Canada Plants at a price tag of $45 million as part of the company's eastern expansion. Part of plan At a luncheon meeting, Don McLauchlin, senior vice-president of the company, told city and county officials that the company viewed the acquisition of the plant "as an excellent fit with our other activities and we are now moving to integrate Pembroke and other plants in Ontario and Quebec into our long-term investment plans." "If I were a citizen of this area, I quite honestly would view MacMillan-Blodel's acquistion in Pembroke as a very positive step," he said. "In terms of timing, it couldn't be better with reference to our long-standing desire to anchor ourselves more completely in the markets of the east, as well as in terms of our investment program." At an earlier press conference, McLauchlin gave firm assurances that the takeover would not mean layoffs for the 300 employees at the manufacturing facility which marketed some 400 million square feet of corrugated board last year. "Of course like any other company we are not immune to other economic problems," he said.

McLauchlin said the company is aware of how careful it must be in planning for the future of the plant considering that it is one of the city's five major employers. Company representatives have told township council Its holdings located about six miles west of Perth would not be developed for at least 10 years. But residents here are not convinced the company will wait that long. "The letter (to the township from the company) says 1982. But I'm inclined to believe it will be sooner than that," says Doyle, adding "they would have to build a plant and office building before then." "Some residents -are also fearful that if substantial uranium deposits are found that would take precedent over any silica mining," she added.

"Council has no Idea whether the i board Glengarry support your pork producers against unfair marketing board," has appeared on the side of an abandoned house on the 66-acre site that the pork board has bought for a marketing yard at McCrimmons Corners. Tuesday morning a number of mutilated hog carcasses were also on the site, but they had been removed by yesterday afternoon. None of the producers attending the hearing claimed any knowledge of who was responsible for either the sign or the carcasses. The hearing is expected to conclude this morning with the final presentations by Dumas and Malcolm. McEwen told Dumas that he should feel free to simply state his view of the case if he felt the facts were not coming out from his cross-examination.

4 Historic play's future in doubt By Marc Pilote SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL CORNWALL The future of the musical play A Day to Remember, presented for the last two years near Upper Canada Village, now lies in the hands of the provincial government. A letter sent to Premier Davis by the president of the Seaway Valley tourist council says funding for the play is forthcoming by the end of April, it will not open this year. During a meeting of the tourist council yesterday, members were informed the province has acknowledged receipt of the letter. President Bob Scott said verbal discussion with the premier's staff indicated it was being passed on for study and a decision on1 the request for funding should be made soon. Village flooded The letter said the play, which depicts life in the village of Wales before it was flooded by the construction of the St.

Lawrence Seaway, is a major tourist attraction for the area. Scott said the play has proven its worth both in terms of tourism and culture. The problem, he continued, is that neither the Canada Council nor the Ontario Arts Council will fund the play because it is a repeat production and does not fall within their guidelines for funding. Thp Ipttar nfikwl for support for another year or two since the Ottawa playwright who composed the musical, George Blackburn, is not prepared to fund it another year. Blackburn has told the council he is $50,000 in debt due to the play.

Scott noted the play last year managed to draw enough people for it to break even and the $50,000 debt represents the capital costs incurred by Blackbum not covered by grants from the provincial government when the project started. The letter also said the tourist council supports the Prince of Wales Theatre's request for a change in location. The theatre is now set up about a mile from Upper Canada Village. Could turn profit Scott noted a feasibility study conducted before the theatre opened showed the play should be held as close as possible to the site of the. village.

However, he said, the St. Lawrence Parks Commission refused that location and put it in a less-favorable area. Supporters of the theatre argue that if it could be moved, it would draw enough people to turn a profit on attendance figures and help retire some of the capital debt. The letter also includes a favorable assessment of the first two seasons prepared by John Hill, a former executive director of Theatre Canada. 78 jobs to be lost in Brockville BROCKVILLE (Special) High interest rates in Canada and the United States were blamed yesterday for the loss of 78 jobs at the Brockville plant of AEL Microti.

George Franklin, senior vice-president of the firm, said the 78 will be laid off on May 30, bringing to about 200 the number laid off this year. Some of the latest workers losing their jobs have up to seven years seniority. "Companies which normally buy the products of AEL Microtel are delaying their projects because of the high cost of borrowing money," Franklin said. "We are aggressively pursuing new markets and working on developing new technology. In the meantime we are also continuing attempts to balance our production by accelerating some orders and delaying others.".