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» =" 24 Scugog Citizen - Tuesday, Novemb 18, 1994 \ Heather Ferguson Queen of the Furrow EE EVE Heather Ferguson, (right), was crowned 1994-95 Queen of the Furrow at the annual Plowman's Banquet recently. With Heather Is last year's queen, Heather Vale. See story at right. Cictnas The easiest way to send your Chfistrnas Greeting is through the pages of the Scugog Citizen. We have a delightful selection of greetings for you to choose from. Just drop into our rest, The Greetings will be published in a special Christmas edition of the Scugog Citizen on December 20th, 1994 Deadline for selecting your greeting is December 9th, but hurry in for best selection - first come, first choice. NYelllclelc CITIZEN 36 WATER STREET, PORT PERRY Phone 985-6397 Fax 985-1410 office to make your choice and we'll do the \ by Heather McCrae Heather Ferguson of Sunderland was crowned the 1994/95 Durham Rama Mara Queen of the Furrow at the annual Plowmen's Banquet held October 26 at Leaskdale Presbyterian Church. Speaking to the Citizen, Heather said she's the third consecutive 'Heather' to win the crowning title. her best friend, Heather Vale, was Queen of the Furrow last year and the year before Heather Timbers was queen The sixteen year old Grade Eleven student at Brock High School lives on a dairy farm in Sunderland. It was Heather Vale she says, who encouraged her to take up plowing competitively. Heather says she plows at home "a bit" and her coach has always been her dad, Jim Plowing competitively at the Durham Plowing Match held in September at Brian DeGeer's farm she placed second over six other contestants throughout her reign and will be attending the three-day annual meeting of the Plowmen's Association in Waterloo next Spring, the host city of the International Plowing Match in 1995. At this meeting shell have the opportunity of meeting all the other Queens of the Furrow. And at next year's IPM she'll display her plowing skills as she competes against these girls. Her boyfriend, Mike Moore, has been plowing competitively for several years now and has been very "supportive of her endeavours. "He'll probably hear my speech many times® she grinned. She told the Citizen she's looking forward to 'her' year. "It'll be fun" she smiled. Rural backlash over Bill 163 A political firestorm will ignite in rural Ontario if the provincial government pushes ahead with final passage of Bill 163 predicts the Ontario Taxpayers Federation The planning act portion of the omnibus Bill was intended to remove government red tape and give local municipalities more control over development As Queen of the Furrow, Heather will be visiting the local fairs in Durham Region pr Eva A available to order from thé many books that we carry (catalogues may be borrowed overnight) Port perry printing limited 201 North Street, Port Perry, Ont. L9L 187 Phone: (905) 985-9755 » Fax: (905) 985-0687 But the Federation said the Bill will have far greater implications by denying rural Ontarians the due process of law by effectively confiscating property without any compensation "The Bill 43 a fundamental attack on rufal property rights and smacks of central planning", said the Federation's executive director, Paul Pagnuelo. The [Federation charges that the NDP government has invoked closure so it can shut down public debate over serious concerns with the Bill. "The government is using closure to silence valid criticism in an effort to keep Ontarians in the dark about the eventual impact of the Bill until its too late", said Pagnuelo. According to the Federation, under the provisions of Bill 163, rural property owners can lose their right to the reasonable use and pleasure of some or all of their property. "If you own rural property in Ontario", said Pagnuelo, "be ready to find yourself subjected to arbitrary land use decisions by over- zealous planners, unelected people sitting in judgement on provincial authorities, boards and commissions, and Worst of all, the bureaucracy at Queen's Park". Pagnuelo said the Ontario government is being deliberately silent on the huge costs which its heavy handed legislation could have on municipal and provincial taxpayers. } "One estimate by, critics of the Bill puts the tab at more than $9 billion over five years. The development of new official . plans, environmental studies, new staffing requirements, loss of property values, and the potential logs of municipal revenues resulting from assessment appeals are costs which the Rae government is ignoring in its rush to get the Bill passed into law", said Pagnuelo. Ontario's farmers, rural lot owners and many cottagers stand to lose twice under the Bill through higher taxes and lower property values.- The Ontario Taxpayers ~ Federation is working with other organizations under the umbrella of the Ontario Property and Environmental Rights Alliance (OPERA) to fight the Bill.