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BUY ONE ...GET ONE FREE mÊÈÊK *' * * # ^MiÊÊBÊÊi r kV " 4 ', " ' 'i*f#> •(*£g«# y* ?; : >racT ':51pz:p/p-ppipp'-?p'p'-" PT 1. i r * j I : , //.. '//,,, ,/ y , t, r -- s^a v |V, "/'/",! r ■ '■ I ■s* - « _i l£SIISSSS& M I Dill !>T6<3K , _ T . » 6SS 10itm$tlÊê lilS^S*SSIiE • •«.••••»* Everx Dav - Xooi ÇvSiiiïStfïS&SSvÿiiÿiSSft^ 4 Course Luncheon Specials New Dutch Oven Oro.no Weekly Times, Wednesday, December, 8th, 1976-5 Richardson takes over head job Bob Richardson takes over ; the top civil servant position in the region today, Dec. 6.* Mr. Richardson, 50, replaces replaces Bill Manning, who is retiring as the region's chief adminsitrative officer., Mr. Manning will be an executive assistant to the regional chairman until April, April, 1977. The chief administrative officer is given the responsibility responsibility by bylaw for the operation and performance of all department heads, and for the general overall administrative administrative control of all the region's departments. Mr. Richardson, who has been commmissioner of works since, the region was formed in 1974, was appointed to his new job following a ihree-hour debate by regional council in October. During the debate, held -during a closed session, a motion was even moved to abolish the chief administrative administrative officer's position. But that motion apparently failed to gain support, and was tabled by the council. Coun. Alan Dewar,-chairman Dewar,-chairman of council's management management committee, described Mr. Richardson's qualifications qualifications as "pre-eminent in his field." Mr. Richardson, an engineer engineer by profesion, was Osh- awa's planning and development development commissioner before taking over his regional job. A new works commissioner has not been appointed yet. The candy booth at'the Rebekah bazaar was another of great interest. The table was snipped oi us goodies in short order. » Queens Park Report This week I would like to discuss recent announcements announcements by James Snow, Minister Minister of Transportation and Communications, regarding a drop in gasoline prices by Imperial Oil. These prices affect specifically the service centres on Highway 400 and 401. One of the areas mentioned mentioned is Newcastle where the price drop is from 92.9 cents a gallon to 83.9 cents. Other places mentioned were Maple and Ingersoll which will have different price drops due apparently to a variance in the market prices in those areas. The centres are placed far enough apart on the highway on controlled access routes, and this, in conjunction with increased traffic flow puts the consumer virtually at the mercy of the international oil cartels which own these centres. The Minister's apologies for the higher gasoline prices are based on the lease agreements agreements that these centres have with the oil companies. These leases were drawn up at a time when the.fuel costs were at a lower rate. In addition, the lease agreements call for a percentage of the gross revenues rather than a per gallon rate. This combined with an increased federal tax of 10 cents per gallon has led to grossly inflated gasoline prices. . However, all this does not justify these costs and it is the consumer that suffers, not the government, not the oil companies. companies. In a press release that Ed Philip, NDP, Etobicoke, and myself issued on October 20, 1976 we called for the ministries that we felt responsible responsible for this problem to respond to the needs of the consumer and work to change this. I feel that a combined effort by the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Consumer and Commençai Relations, and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications Communications would result in fair pricing. Our suggestion was that standard wholesale gas prices to all dealers would allow fair competition at the local level. This would also prevent the squeezing out of small independents. We did hot get any response from thesë ministries. Since the Ministry of Transportation Transportation and Communications Communications has virtual control over the highways it would then follow that ■ it would be • possible, not withstanding federal regulations, to control and regulate gasoline prices. If it is not possible to fix the prices it should be possible to set a maximum. It should also be possible to have a monitoring monitoring system to ensure that these prices are maintained. We also do not have any assurance that the other major oil companies will join Imperial Oil in lowering their prices since they have b,een asked voluntarily by the Ministry to do so. While I am glad to see that changes haye been made I certainly see no cause fob jubiliation at this point- 1 feel that much more has to be done in this area to ensure that inflated costs once again don't cripple the consumer, F.R. Tennant Fuels Ltd. Phone 983-5693 •V i ; ,,v .Crafts and Antiques ■ Brighten Your Christmas Giving with Antiques BRASS CHINÀ COPPER PEWTER : and a fine selection of Antique Furniture at ' Kendal Hills Antiques •KIRBY - Highway 115 & 35 ' 983-5476 Open Daily 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. -- Sunday 12 Noon-4 p.m. £ <=m aren c REWARD 9% ON THE BIG snCK-UP Z-BRICK -REft.S8.48 CTN Oijomo Fuel & Lumber lm. Lumber & Building Supplies - Fuel Oil - Oil Furnaces 983-9167 Station St & Hwy. 115,,Orono