PLUG
PLUMB
PLUMMER
PLUMPTRE
PLUNKETT
PLUG o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-02-20 published
KUINDERSMA,
William
II Timothy 4: 7,8
Peacefully in the Palliative Care Unit at Bluewater Health on
Saturday,
February 16, 2008 William
KUINDERSMA age 78 of Sarnia.
Beloved husband of the late Cotje (2004). Loving Father of Trudy
(Ron) SCHIESTEL and Joan
VANDENBERG. Cherished Pops of Steven
and Renee, Jaclyn and Jimmy, Heather and Craig, Chuck and Lindsay,
Ryan, and Grand Pops to Ethan, Nicole, Robbie, Amber, Jori and
Chase. Survived by brother Robert (Mary)
KUINDERSMA, sisters
Tess (Jim)
McWHINNEY,
Greta
(Hank)
PLUG, and sisters-in-law Denyse
and Mickey
KUINDERSMA.
Also survived by brothers-in-law Bill
(Edie,) and Peter (Lynne) Esser and sisters-in-law Kay
CHIVERS,
Lena (Jim)
JOOSSE,
Betty
VANDERHEIDE and Jennie (Lex)
KAPTEYN.
Uncle Bill will be fondly remembered by his many nieces and nephews
as a man of tremendous generosity and optimism. Predeceased by
brothers Reinder, John and Pete and parents Ynte and Anna
KUINDERSMA.
Bill moved to Sarnia from Windsor in 1945 and was employed as
president of K&E Sand and Gravel for 38 years. He served the
First Christian Reformed Church as Deacon, Elder and Cadet Councilor
and combined a love of sports and of young people by coaching
church hockey and baseball for many years. Family and Friends
will be received at Smith Funeral Home 1576 London Line, Sarnia,
on Thursday, February 21, 2008 from 2 until 4 p.m. and 7 until
9 p.m. The funeral service will be held on Friday, February 22,
2008 at The First Christian Reformed Church (corner of Exmouth
St. and Murphy Rd.) at 11: 00 a.m. Interment to follow at Blackwell
Cemetery. Sympathy may be expressed through donations to Christian
Reformed World Relief Committee or John Knox Christian School.
Memories and condolences may be sent online at www.smithfuneralhome.ca
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PLUG o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-05-13 published
KAPOGINES,
Betty
Jane
At Saint Thomas Elgin General Hospital on Sunday, May 11, 2008.
Betty Jane
KAPOGINES of Aylmer in her 69th year. Beloved wife
of Michael
KAPOGINES. Dear mother of Kelly
GARROD and husband
Mike of Aylmer, Karen
HUNT and husband Keith of Aylmer and Peter
KAPOGINES of Cochrane, Alberta. Loving grandmother of Ryan, Megan,
Erin, Samantha and Kristen. She will be sadly missed by a sister-in-law
Wanda KAPOGINES and a number of nieces and nephews. Predeceased
by her mother Vera
(FOOTE)
CRANE and her sisters Patricia
PLUG
and Sandra
MARTIN.
Born in Saint Thomas, Ontario on March 22, 1940.
She was a member of the Ladies Dart League at the Columbus Club.
Betty loved the outdoors and camping with her family. Friends
may call at the H.A. Kebbel Funeral Home, Aylmer on Tuesday 2-4 and
7-9 p.m. where the funeral service will be held on Wednesday,
May 14, 2008 at 1: 00 p.m. Interment, Aylmer Cemetery. Rev. Donald
GRAHAM, officiating. Donations to the Cancer Society or the Aylmer
Community Foundation would be appreciated. Condolences can be
expressed at kebbelfuneralhome.com
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PLUMB o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2008-02-21 published
PLUMB,
Norman
Victor
At the Deep River and District Hospital on Tuesday, February 19,
2008. Norman
PLUMB age 79 years. Beloved husband of the late
C. Muriel PLUMB
(HARTWIG.) Dear brother of Albert
PLUMB of London.
Cherished uncle of 20 nieces and nephews. Predeceased by a brother
Donald PLUMB and a sister Elsie
DEANE.
Also survived by a dear
sister-in-law Freida
HARTWIG of Deep River. Friends may call
at the Valley Funeral Home, Deep River on Thursday from 2-4 and
7-9 p.m. Funeral Service will be conducted in the Real Hope Christian
Assembly, Deep River on Friday at 11: 00 a.m. Interment in Emmanual
Baptist Cemetery, Killaloe (in the Spring). In memoriam donations
to the Four Seasons Lodge, Deep River would be gratefully appreciated.
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PLUMMER o@ca.on.grey_county.artemesia.flesherton.the_flesherton_advance 2008-07-16 published
PLUMMER,
Mervyn▼
Albert▼
Mervyn PLUMMER of Duncan, born in Collingwood Township, a son
of the late Earl Milton and Wilda Viola (née
WILKINSON)
PLUMMER,
passed away in Meaford on Friday, July 4, 2008 at the age of
Mervyn was well known in the local area communities and surrounding
area as he was always interested in vehicles and equipment and
he loved to drive. Before returning to farming Mervyn enjoyed
a brief career in trucking which included a bread delivery route,
livestock cartage and gravel trucking for area construction projects.
After returning to farming Mervyn still enjoyed his vehicles
and was well known to area implement dealers as he was always
interested in what was new in the industry. He also drove many
students for several years on a local bus route. Mervyn also
enjoyed the outdoors and the pleasures of nature and hunting.
He was a devoted and valued member and supporter of Kolapore
Calvary Church of the Nazarene.
Mervyn was the beloved husband of 36 years of the former Lois
HALLAM and he will be lovingly remembered as Dad and Grampa by
his son Paul and grand_son Seth of Quesnel, British Columbia,
daughter Connie and her husband Marc
DEN
BOK and their son Andrew
of Duntroon, and by his son James and his wife Michelle also
of Duncan.
Mervyn▼ was a loved brother of Eunice
PLUMMER of Creemore and
Marjorie (late Gary)
WELLER of Douglas and he predeceased by
a brother Ernie
PLUMMER and will be remembered by his wife
Audrey
of Collingwood.
He will also be remembered as a dear son-in-law of Sadie
HALLAM
of Feversham and brother-in-law of Barb and Walt
SHIER of Feversham,
and Bonnie and Wayne
DAVIDSON of Orangeville.
Mervyn's family received many Friends at the Ferguson Funeral
Home, The Valley Chapel, in Thornbury on Monday afternoon and
evening and funeral services, officiated by Pastor Terrence
GOUDY,
were conducted at Kolapore Calvary Church of the Nazarene on
Tuesday, July 8, 2008.
Special music was provided by Roger and Lora
DINSMORE, and Terry
and Jan CARSCADDEN and by pianist Carrie
CARSCADDEN. son Paul
delivered remembrances of his Dad on behalf of the family and
nieces Melanie
CATHCART and Karen Davidson offered selected scripture
readings. Former Kolapore Pastor Mark
ROYALE closed the service
with prayer and delivered the benediction.
A service of committal and interment followed at Feversham Presbyterian
Cemetery with nephews David and Bruce
PLUMMER,
Lee
WELLER, son-in-law
Marc DEN
BOK and sons Paul and James
PLUMMER serving as pallbearers,
Mervyn's▼ daughter-in-law Michelle
PLUMMER and his daughter Connie
DEN
BOK served as flower bearers.
Page 6
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PLUMMER o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2008-07-07 published
PLUMMER,
Mervyn▲▼
Albert▲
Mervyn PLUMMER of Duncan, beloved husband of the former Lois
HALLAM, passed away in Meaford on Friday, July 4, 2008 at the
age of 67. son of the late Earl and Wilda (née
WILKINSON)
PLUMMER.
Lovingly remembered as Dad and Grampa by his son Paul and grand_son
Seth of Quesnel, British Columbia, daughter Connie and her husband
Marc DEN
BOK and their son Andrew of Duntroon, and by his son
James and his wife Michelle also of Duncan. Loved brother of
Eunice PLUMMER of Creemore and Marjorie (late Gary)
WELLER of
Douglas and predeceased by a brother Ernie
PLUMMER and remembered
by his wife
Audrey of Collingwood. Dear son-in-law of Sadie
HALLAM
of Feversham and brother-in-law of Barb and Walt
SHIER of Feversham,
and Bonnie and Wayne
DAVIDSON of Orangeville. Family will receive
Friends at the Ferguson Funeral Home, The Valley Chapel, in Thornbury
on Monday from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services,
officiated by Pastor Terry
GOUDY, will be conducted at Kolapore
Calvary Church of the Nazarene on Tuesday, July 8, 2008 at 11: 00 a.m.
A family service of committal and interment will follow at Feversham
Presbyterian Cemetery. As your expression of sympathy donations
to the Meaford Hospital Foundation or a charity of your choice
would be appreciated.
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PLUMMER o@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.collingwood.the_connection 2008-07-17 published
PLUMMER,
Mervyn▲
A.
We would like to extend our gratitude to relatives, Friends and
neighbours for their continued support during the illness and
passing of Mervyn A.
PLUMMER. A special thanks to Pastor Terry
GOUDY and his wife
Shirley,
The
Kolapore Church, Palliative Care
Nurses at Meaford Hospital, Doctor
SAURIOL and The Ferguson Funeral
Home. Sincerely, Lois and Family
Page 27
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PLUMMER o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-01-15 published
CONN,
Leila
The family of Leila
CONN sadly announce her passing on Sunday,
January 13, 2008 after a long and full life. Beloved wife of
the late Sydney D.
CONN.
She will be missed by son Gary and daughter-in-law
Jean, by Melanie and son-in-law Bob
POTEGAL, by her grandchildren
Laurie CONN,
Esther and Avi
SINGER, Daniel and Pam
CONN, Jess
CONN-
POTEGAL and Nadia
PLUMMER.
Lovingly remembered by her great-grandchildren
Amanda and Ryan
JELILYAN,
Jonah,
Zoe and Dylan
SINGER, Samuel
and Joshua
CONN. Survived by her brother Paul
SKUP in Cuba and
sister-in-law Dolly
TARSHIS and many nieces and nephews. Leila
was born in London in 1914 and came to Toronto with her parents
as an infant. When she was twenty she met Sydney, the love of
her life with whom she enjoyed sixty-five years of marriage until
his death in 1998. Always a great beauty, Leila also loved art
and her colourful oil paintings grace the homes of her family
and Friends. In recent years she found much pleasure in attending
Lunch and Learn at the Holy Blossom Temple and greatly appreciated
the warmth with which she was received there. Leila delighted
most in her family, especially the accomplishments of her grandchildren
and her great-grandchildren who will miss their Nana, but have
many good memories of her. Our thanks to her wonderful caregivers,
Iris, Luz and Eva. At Holy Blossom Temple, 1950 Bathurst Street
for service on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at 1: 00 p.m. Interment
Holy Blossom Section of Pardes Shalom Cemetery. Shiva at 480 Queens
Quay West, Suite 503 West. Donations in her memory may be made
to the Conn Family Fund c/o The Baycrest Foundation, 416-785-2875
or Holy Blossom Temple Monday Seniors Program, 416-789-3291.
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PLUMPTRE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-04-07 published
PLUMPTRE,
Beryl
Alyce (née
ROUCH,) O.C.
With her family beside her, Beryl died peacefully in her own
home as she wished on Friday, April 4, 2008, nine months shy
of her 100th birthday. Articulate, sociable and elegant to the
end, she was predeceased by her beloved husband Wynne, with whom
she shared a varied and fascinating life of public and community
service, combined with a strong sense of family, a love of travel
and cultural pursuits, and a flair for entertaining second to
none.
Born in 1908 in Melbourne, Australia, Beryl graduated from the
Presbyterian Ladies College. Shortly after launching her career
with the Bank of New South Wales, she won a scholarship to Cambridge
University where she pursued graduate studies in economics with
John Maynard Keynes. It was at Cambridge that she met Wynne who,
having fixed his sights on her, had to sail to Australia to ensure
she followed through on marriage plans. She was a devoted partner
throughout his distinguished career, working by his side in posts
at the University of Toronto, the Canadian Embassy in Washington,
North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Paris, the Department of
Finance in Ottawa and the University of Toronto at Scarborough,
where she and Wynne presided over the flowering of the College
during his tenure as its first full-time Principal.
Unfazed by the fact that women in the professions were still
uncommon, she established her own credentials as an economist,
working with agencies such as the Wartime Prices and Trade Board,
the Tariff Board and the Royal Commission on Coastal Trading.
She also became a fearsome consumer advocate, serving as National
President of the Consumers Association of Canada from 1961 to
1966. She played a determining role in the establishment of a
new federal department responsible for consumer affairs -- an
effective but short-lived voice for Canadian consumers that subsequent
governments soon muffled by burying it deep within the bureaucracy.
She also spoke up for consumer interest as a member of the now-defunct
Economic Council of Canada. Then, in 1973, she was appointed
to head the Food Prices Review Board, where she insisted that
she would report not to the government, but directly to the people
of Canada. With her no-nonsense attitude and independent spirit,
she earned the respect and gratitude of Canadians across the
country by speaking up for their interests and "telling it like
it is," without regard for bureaucratic inertia or efforts at
ministerial interference. This appointment was followed by another
as Vice-Chair of the Anti-Inflation Board, from which she resigned
to care for Wynne prior to his death in 1977.
Not content with retirement, she took up arms against forces
threatening to destroy the character of the village of Rockcliffe
Park by getting elected Reeve and serving as a member of the
Regional Council of Ottawa-Carleton. Beryl also served on several
corporate boards, including Dominion Stores and Canada Life,
and as chair of various non-profit organizations, including the
Vanier Institute of the Family and the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
An incomparable hostess, avid gardener and bird lover, she leaves
behind her adored and caring children, Judith and Tim, along
with their spouses, Alex
WEDDERSPOON and Barbara
LASKIN. A proud
grandmother to Caroline and her husband David
CLARKE of Vancouver,
Michael WEDDERSPOON and his wife
Marisa of Edinburgh, and Bora
and Genny PLUMPTRE of Ottawa, she took enormous pleasure in their
accomplishments, many of which she aided and abetted. She was
a delighted great-grandmother to Zachary, India, Scarlett, Sylvie
and Layla. Her loss is deeply felt by her devoted caregiver,
Tess TAPECERIA, who was a great help in her last years, by her
nephew Peter
ROUCH and his wife
Anne in Australia, and by many
loyal Friends and former colleagues.
Her family expresses deep appreciation to the wonderful Doctor Frances
KILBERTUS, her colleagues at the Elizabeth Bruyère Health Centre,
to the Community Care Access Centre, and to caregivers from St. Elizabeth
Health Care for the compassionate and professional care they
provided to Beryl in her latter days.
A memorial service will take place at St. Bartholomew's Anglican
Church, 125 MacKay Street, Ottawa, on Wednesday, April 9 at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Elizabeth Bruyère Health
Centre (SCO Health Service Foundation, 613-562-6319) or the
Kidney Foundation of Canada would be appreciated.
Condolences/Donations/Tributes at mcgarryfamily.ca
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PLUMPTRE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-04-08 published
Beryl PLUMPTRE: 99
She Headed Trudeau's Anti-Inflation Board
By Sandra MARTIN,
Page▼ S8
Toronto -- An economist by training, an activist by nature and
feisty to the core, Beryl
PLUMPTRE, O.C., was the national president
of the Consumers' Association of Canada, a member of the Economic
Council of Canada and, notably, Liberal prime minister Pierre
Trudeau's appointee to head the Food Prices Review Board in 1973-
although she refused to report to the government of the day and
insisted on speaking directly to the people of Canada. She also
served as vice-chair of the Anti-Inflation Board and was a long-time
volunteer with non-profit organizations including the Vanier
Institute of the Family and the Kidney Foundation of Canada.
She was Australian by birth and met her late husband, economist
and diplomat A.F. Wynne
PLUMPTRE, at Cambridge University, where
she was a student of John Maynard Keynes in the 1930s. Mrs.
PLUMPTRE,
who was 99, died surrounded by family in her home in Rockcliffe,
the Ottawa enclave where she had served as reeve for several
years.
A full obituary is forthcoming
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PLUMPTRE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-04-10 published
Trudeau's anti-inflation watchdog was a Nader of the True North
Forthright, opinionated, blunt and self-confident, she took on
Ottawa on her own terms and triumphed during the Egg-gate scandal
of 1974. 'No one,' she said, 'looks out for the consumer'
By Sandra MARTIN,
Page▲
S10
Beryl PLUMPTRE - her name conjures images of a headmistress at
a jolly girls boarding school from the 1930s, the kind of woman
who wore lisle stockings and sensible shoes and tolerated no
nonsense. In truth, the only aspect that the elegantly coiffed
and garbed Mrs.
PLUMPTRE shared with that caricature was her
antipathy to nonsense wherever she found it - in government,
the media, marketing boards and, especially, in the pronouncements
of her nemesis, agriculture minister Eugene Whelan.
She was named Canadian newsmaker of the year in 1975, a considerable
feat for a woman who hailed from Australia and who, until she
was appointed chair of the Food Prices Review Board at the age
of 64, had spent most of her adult life as a homemaker and a
volunteer.
Her topping of the newsworthy polls coincided with her tenure
on the government payroll, a tenure that had seen her ridiculed
for the size of her salary - this was before the term "employment
equity" had been conceived - her mandate and her effectiveness.
In an editorial in August of 1973, The Globe and Mail demanded
rhetorically: "What in heaven's name possessed the Government
to pick Mrs.
PLUMPTRE for this job. Did it never intend the board
to be anything more than what an opposition member of Parliament
called it some months ago - a half-baked sham?"
A little more than two years later, The Globe allowed that she
"has not turned out the way we [or the government] thought she
was going to turn out." The editorial went on to praise her for
attacking federal and provincial government ineptitude with regard
to rising consumer prices and inflation, and called for the federal
government to extend her term by another two years.
As sometimes happens, the government of the day failed to heed
this august advice and rolled the Food Prices Review Board into
a new agency, the Anti-Inflation Board, headed by Jean-Luc Pépin,
with Mrs. PLUMPTRE as vice-chair. Nobody challenged Mr. Pepin's
$55,000 salary. As for Mrs.
PLUMPTRE, she refused an inflationary
increase from the $40,000 she had negotiated three years earlier.
The person who never changed his mind about Mrs.
PLUMPTRE was
her old foe, Eugene Whelan. As agriculture minister in Pierre
Trudeau's Liberal government, he represented farmers and favoured
marketing boards, while Mrs.
PLUMPTRE advocated for cheaper food
for consumers, and wanted marketing boards dismantled to encourage
competition. "She was a snob," Mr. Whelan insisted in a telephone
interview this week, saying she looked down on him because he
was a farmer. "As much as I disagreed with her and her outlook
on people and society, she was not dumb," he allowed before lapsing
into a rant about how people should be more concerned about the
price of energy than the cost of food.
Beryl Alyce
ROUCHE was born in Melbourne, Australia, at the end
of 1908, the younger child and only daughter of Edward Charles
and Alyce (née)
ROUCHE.
Her father was in the lumber business
her mother, a homemaker, was prone to periods of ill health.
Beryl, who was educated at Presbyterian Ladies College, is said
to have acquired her initial interest in economics from her older
brother, Alan. After high school, she attended the University
of Melbourne, graduating with a bachelor of commerce degree in
For the next two years, she worked for the Bank of New South
Wales. After she won a scholarship to Cambridge University, the
bank granted her a two-year leave of absence - a doubly huge
feat for a woman in those days. She arrived in England in 1936 to
study economics at a time when John Maynard Keynes was teaching
at the university and about to publish his pivotal work, The
General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
She had more than economics on her mind after meeting Arthur
Fitzwalter (Wynne)
PLUMPTRE, a graduate student in economics
from Toronto. They became engaged, but Ms.
ROUCHE was called
home to Australia by a family crisis (involving difficulties
in her parents' marriage or in her mother's health or, more likely,
in both.) Mr.
PLUMPTRE finished his degree and, after a back-and-forth
correspondence with his beloved, he made the lengthy journey
to Australia to claim his bride. They were married on May 21,
They travelled to Canada because Mr.
PLUMPTRE had an academic
appointment at the University of Toronto. The
PLUMPTREs and their
children - Barbara (1941) and Timothy (1943) - lived in Washington
during the Second World War because he was on the staff of the
Canadian embassy. He was director of the Washington division
of the Wartime Prices and Trade Board and a delegate to international
monetary and financial conferences that were instrumental in
the establishment of the United Nations. They later lived in
Paris while he worked for North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
In the late 1940s, they spent two years in Toronto, where Mr.
PLUMPTRE
worked as associate editor of Saturday Night magazine, before
moving to Ottawa as head of the economic division of what was
then called the Department of External Affairs. He went to the
Ministry of Finance in 1954 as an assistant deputy minister and
executive director of the International Monetary Fund.
These were the years when Mrs.
PLUMPTRE was preoccupied with
raising her children and supporting her husband's career as he
rose through the diplomatic and financial ranks of the federal
civil service. Nevertheless, she worked briefly as a research
officer for the Wartime Prices and Trade Board and later as an
economic consultant to the Tariff Board and the Royal Commission
on Coasting Trade.
She was a committed volunteer for organizations such as the Children's
Aid Society, the Family Service Agency, the Canadian Welfare
Council and especially the Consumer's Association of Canada.
During the five years she served as president, from 1961 to 1966,
she developed a national profile as a no-nonsense and ferocious
advocate, sort of Ralph Nader of the True North.
Barbara remembers helping out her busy mother by doing the grocery
shopping with her father, and bringing home sausages larded with
fat for dinner. Outraged by the substandard sausages, Mrs.
PLUMPTRE
later confronted the shoddy producer, waving the offending specimens
and demanding higher standards.
Mrs. PLUMPTRE's advocacy helped press the Trudeau government
to establish the Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs,
making Canada one of the first nations to give a seat at the
cabinet table to consumers alongside the interests of agriculture,
industry, mines and other producer groups. Ron Basford was the
inaugural minister.
Her husband retired as assistant deputy finance minister in 1965,
two years after he was passed over for the deputy's job in favour
of Robert Bryce, who had also studied at Cambridge under John
Maynard
Keynes.
Mr.
PLUMPTRE then became the second principal
of Scarborough College, a satellite campus that had been established
at the University of Toronto in 1964. Mrs.
PLUMPTRE moved into
Miller Lash House with her husband on the Scarborough campus
and took on the considerable duties expected of the principal's
wife while completing the last year of her mandate as Consumer's
Association of Canada president.
In 1968, she was appointed president of the Vanier Institute
of the Family, a non-profit agency that had been created with
a $6-million endowment from the federal government. The institute
was modelled on recommendations from the proceedings of the Canadian
Conference of the Family, which had been organized by Georges
Vanier and his wife, Pauline, at Rideau Hall in 1964 during his
tenure as governor-general. She succeeded neurosurgeon Wilder
Penfield. At the time, she was a member of the Economic Council
of Canada, the Ontario Economic Council and the Consumer's Association
of Canada, which had just changed its name to the Canadian Consumer
Council. Not surprisingly, given her consumer advocacy roots,
she insisted that the focus of the Vanier Institute "must be
thoroughly in touch with family life of all kinds, not the ideal
of the family, but the reality of the family as people live it."
The PLUMPTREs moved back to Ottawa in 1972 when his term as principal
ended, as coincidentally did hers at the Vanier Institute. But
she was not out of the public eye for long: Mr. Trudeau appointed
her chair of the Food Prices Review Board in May of 1973. She
was 64.
In announcing the appointment, Herb Gray, then minister of consumer
affairs, stressed that the board would be independent and have
the power to summon witnesses: and require them to give evidence
under oath. Other members included Gordon Burton, an agricultural
economist and rancher from Alberta; Louis Lorrain, executive
vice-president of the United Paper Workers International from
Quebec; Evelyn Root, a journalist from British Columbia; and
W. Grant Thompson, a chartered accountant from Nova Scotia. The
board's job was to monitor food prices, conduct investigations
of unusual price increases, and produce quarterly reports and
make them publicly available. Responding to a question at a press
conference, she said that recommendations would be submitted
to the public and consumers affairs minister. "Then it is up
to the public. That's where the power lies."
In the beginning, she withstood attacks in the House of Commons,
even from the party that had appointed her. "We could hire a
preacher cheaper," a Liberal member of Parliament mused in June
of 1973, proposing prayer as a more effective means to lowering
food prices. The New Democrats wanted her fired and the board
abolished. Gradually, though, as she hammered away at price inflation
and produced quarterly reports, her credibility increased. As
she observed: "The Department of Agriculture looks out for the
producers, trade and commerce looks out for the processors, but
no one looks out for the consumer."
And then there was Egg-gate, the rotten-egg scandal of 1974.
The Department of Agriculture, headed by Mr. Whelan, established
the Canadian Egg Marketing Agency to set provincial production
quotas and prices. The farmers got higher prices, but consumers
had to absorb those increases. Egg production grew rapidly, but
egg consumption went down, at least partly because of cost, and
the agency itself soon ran into trouble, racking up a $10-million
debt.
By the end of September of 1974, food inspectors had decreed
that some 28 million eggs stored in warehouses were rotten and
needed to be destroyed. The wastage, which agriculture officials
tried to minimize, prompted a public showdown between Mrs.
PLUMPTRE,
who was waging battle on behalf of consumers, and Mr. Whelan,
who was supporting the egg producers. The controversy changed
public and press attitudes about Mrs.
PLUMPTRE.
From a scapegoat,
she had become a champion, and there were calls to extend her
mandate.
Nevertheless, Mr. Trudeau terminated the Food Prices Review Board,
set up the Anti-Inflation Board and invited Mrs.
PLUMPTRE to
serve under Mr. Pépin. She refused the job at first, but was
persuaded by consumer affairs minister André Ouellet to change
her mind. No matter how cynically the government had acted in
appointing her to the Food Prices Review Board in 1973, it now
wanted her on the Anti-Inflation Board because of the credibility
she had built up with the public.
After only eight months at the Anti-Inflation Board, she announced
her resignation, citing personal reasons. Her husband, who had
been diagnosed with a form of skin cancer in 1960, was very ill,
and she had only agreed to work at the Anti-Inflation Board long
enough to see it and its policies established. Wynne died in
A little more than a year later, she accepted an invitation to
sit on the board of Dominion Stores. "You're not going to suggest
I've sold out just because I'm on the payroll of a food chain,"
she said in an interview with the Toronto Star in May of 1978
after her appointment was announced. "I was on the payroll of
the government and you wouldn't say then I sold out. I'll tell
you the government didn't think so, anyway." And that - forthright,
opinionated and self-confident - was Mrs.
PLUMPTRE. To ensure
the reporter got the message, she added: "I'm a professional
person and I get paid for giving professional advice - but what
I get paid as a director is not going to make me a millionaire."
She also served on the boards of Canada Life, Canada Permanent
Trust and Hollinger, the company that Conrad Black once controlled.
She told her son she resigned from Hollinger because, as a director,
she didn't feel she was getting enough information about the
company's operations and plans.
Having been a high-profile public appointee, she finally sought
public office in local politics as the reeve of Rockcliffe Park,
a position she held from 1978 to 1985.
She spent her last years gardening, bird watching and keeping
an eye on public and consumer affairs.
Beryl Alyce
PLUMPTRE was born in Melbourne, Australia, on December 27,
1908. She died of pneumonia at home in Rockcliffe Park, Ottawa,
on April 4, 2008. She was 99. Predeceased by her husband, Wynne,
she is survived by her children Barbara and Tim. She also leaves
several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
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PLUNKETT o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2008-01-17 published
PITTS,
Helen (née
PLUNKETT) (1916-2008)
(Graduate of U of T, Victoria College)
After a brief illness, on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 at the Oakville
Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, Helen Margaret beloved wife of Oliver
PITTS for 66 years. Loving mother of Jane
JUSTUS
(Phil,)
John
(Donna,) and Martha
DISHER
(Bruce.)
Lovingly remembered by her
8 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be
held at the Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home, 64 Lakeshore
Rd. West, Oakville, (one block east of Kerr, 905-844-2600) from
7-9 p.m. Thursday, January 17, 2008. A Private Family Service
will be held. In lieu of flowers, donations to the charity of
your choice would be appreciated. Condolences may be made through
www.koprivataylor.com
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