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Ag. Minister Brings Good News The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvillc, April 8, 1998 Pace 3 Ontario farmers will continue continue to receive a provincial sales tax rebate on farm building materials, a Blackstock audience was told last week. But that wasn't the only good news Ontario's agriculture agriculture minister brought to the audience attending the annual Blackstock Lions Club farmers' farmers' night banquet on Wednesday, April 1st. Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Noble Villeneuve, also described new right-to-farm legislation, plans for reinvesting reinvesting in the future of Rural Ontario and even the • merits of growing industrial- Noble Villeneuve Ag. Minister grade hemp as a new form of cash crop. The agriculture minister was guest speaker at a banquet banquet held annually by the Lions Club to raise funds for agricultural scholarships to rural youths. Villeneuve told his audience audience the farming community asked for an extension on the building materials lax exemption exemption and has received an extension until the end of March 1999. On the subject of Bill 146, an act to protect farming and food production, the minister said the document is very important in areas where urban and rural communities intcr-minglc. "The current act docs not meet the needs of present-day agriculture," he said. The new bill strikes a balance balance between the rights of farmers to conduct their business business and the rights of their non-farming neighbour. However, farmers must still adhere to applicable environmental environmental laws. The bill would allow normal normal farming operations such as the weekend operation of equipment during harvest season. "Normal farming has to be done at night, weekends and sometimes on Sunday." If necessary, a board would make a ruling on whether a complaint was justified or merely represented normal farming practices. "The bill will be passed early in the next sitting of the legislature," Villeneuve predicted. predicted. Rural Ontario can also look forward to a $30 million rural strategy fund which is investing in the future of Ontario's countryside. The money will be used for marketing marketing and information technology, technology, building partnerships and promoting experts. Exports arc especially significant, significant, Lions Club members and guests were told, since 12,000 to 15,000 jobs are created created for every billion dollars in exports. Through a rural youth initiative, initiative, the government will be working at providing more opportunities for young people people in Ontario's country communities. communities. Villeneuve described the process as "keeping the best and brightest brightest close to home." During a question-and- answer session, the subject of commercial hemp crops was raised. The minister reported that the plants can grow to 10 Tax Hike Expected feet in height. Only the stems and their fibres being used for processing. Commercial hemp docs not have the hallucinogenic powers of marijuana, he assured the group. "The commercial commercial hemp that will be licenced has very little hallucination hallucination qualities." Nevertheless, the crop cannot be transported if leaves are attached. Commercial hemp has about 10,000 uses, ranging from smoke to paper, he added. As an alternative crop, it may work well for some growers, he suggested. In his remarks, the Minister also took the time to thank all farmers who assisted assisted their neighbours in eastern Ontario and Quebec during last winter's ice storm. Donations of generators, batteries, batteries, coal oil, and other necessities helped gel them through "the biggest natural disaster that Canada has ever seen." As a resident of one of the hard-hit communities, the Minister personally felt the impact of the storm. His own house, located near Maxwell, Ontario, was without power for 18 days. "It's truly heartening to experience and sec the way all Ontario reacted," lie said. To help raise some.'extra spare change for the new seniors' centre in Bowmanvillc, this, replica of the centre has been built .to serve as a baric. June Clark, a miembèr of thè.fund-raising committee for the older adults"centre, drops some change into the bank. New School Needs a Name The new Catholic elementary elementary school due to open in Bowmanvillc this September needs a name. Trustees with the Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board are hoping the public can help. Suggestions for school names can be submitted to the board by e-mail, fax or post no later than Friday, April 24. A school naming committee committee will be formed to review submissions. The new name should meet the following criteria: • It should honor the Divinity, or a person or group that has been officially recognized recognized by the Church through beatification or canonization, or an outstanding Catholic figure, cither national or international. • The word "Catholic" shall be an integral part of the school name. Any names that could lead to abbreviation or nicknaming nicknaming are discouraged. The Board also specifies that the possessive form should not be used and that there be no duplication of names within its own jurisdiction. jurisdiction. All submissions must be in writing and include the author's name, telephone number and mailing address. Send your suggestion via fax to: (705) 748-9691; by email to: nsharpc@pvncrc- ssb.on.ca or by Canada Post: The Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, 1355 Lansdowne Street West, Peterborough, Ontario, K9J 7M3. J ; From page 1 • up with many roads needing < ito be re-done at the same v'time. t - 'w While "deterioration is ( 'normal and unavoidable," f tÇannclla says, "pave now or ", pave later" could be the difference difference between $1 million i mow to fix the road and $8 ( million later with total '•..reconstruction, f. The works budget also 'takes in Parks and - Recreation costs. This year ; the municipality will go ' through a site selection - process and initiate a design 5 for a skateboard park. This j part of the process is csti- ' mated to cost $30,000. ? There is also money ($5,000) in the budget to put a up another skateboard ramp » near the core of \ Bowmanvillc.' 3;. Also in the works are :: (garbage receptacles for '•'Orono and the relocation of the senior soccer pitch and the replacement of bleachers bleachers in the Tyrone Park. 1 Looking at over 40 buildings owned by the municipality,-the-council---• lors learned from Property Manager Fred Horvath all of them are being looked after thanks to "the partnerships partnerships we have forged with the hall boards." In fact, the town has "320,000 square feet of municipal buildings" in its holdings. i . One of the buildings, the Newcastle Community Hall, will be celebrating its 75th anniversary and to mark the occasion, the board wants to put on a small addition which would include a handicapped washroom and a janitor's room. The addition would also provide access to the kitchen and a permanent bar area. The- municipality has agreed to put $35,000 towards the Newcastle Community Hall, : Another., municipally- owned-.building could sec; new tenants this year. A rCpf reséntative of Bcthesda House would like to see the former Harbour Master's house on Port Darlington Rd. used as a resource centre centre for women and children. Mary Anne Martin, a support support and advocacy worker, asked in a letter to councillors councillors to hold off on making a decision regarding the house, since the board of directors for the shelter has not made a decision on the matter, . Mayor Diane Mature asked councillors to put the $20,000 needed for the project project aside. She noted this partnership would be "a win-win situation," : A number of other municipally-owned buildings buildings will be •gelling some work done inside and outside, outside, including the Brownsdalc Community Centre where cracked toilets toilets and rotted-oul partitions - head up the to-bc-rcplaccd list. There are two other factors factors in the tax increase for the capital budget. The treasury treasury department wants to put $800,000 into a new financial system over the next three years to accommodate accommodate the year 2000 compliance. compliance. In addition, the Public Works Department equipment fund needs to be "re-inflated." The equipment fund has been depleted because provincial roads grants have been eliminated. Finance Committee Chair John Mutton told council after the process he thought the impact on the taxpayer was fair. Clarington has had a zero per cent tax increase for five years while working with a 10 per cent growth factor. 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