HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-07-12, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2018.
Letters to the Editor
Schwartzentruber critical of natural heritage plan
THE EDITOR,
"We absolutely have the right to
pass any bylaw we want on private
property." Who spoke those words?
Raise your hand if you like when
others impose their ideas on you.
By regulations? With force?
Western history (in the broad sense)
provides ugly examples of using
centralized power to force ideas —
immediately the failed Soviet model
comes to mind, complete with
central planning and a Gulag for
dissenters. Of necessity, that system
dehumanized the people.
While we might think of efforts
such as the "Huron Natural Heritage
Plan" (HNHP) as being quite benign
in comparison to that example, we
cannot escape the reality that
dictatorial systems all begin with the
premise that force of some sort is
used to impose an ideology on the
people.
I have emphasized directly to the
Huron County Planning Department
that the objectives of the HNHP
are not necessarily wrong, just that
their methodology is deeply flawed,
to the extent that the plan likely
contains the seeds of its own failure.
There has been no response to this.
Fact: the HNHP will almost
completely remove the management
of private forests and lands from
the property owners without even
taking into account their own
capabilities in forestry management.
As a former forestry worker, I very
likely have more practical
experience in the woodlot than many
whose qualification is a piece of
paper on their wall.
Many absolutely resent being
subjugated by the imperialistic,
unthoughtful and demeaning process
that the county is imposing on us.
Why does the county not look at
alternatives to forcing its designs on
private property owners? A better
example that provides solid evidence
of success is the voluntary
"Alternate Land Use Service"
(ALUS), an independently -
administered initiative that turns
fragile lands back into forested or
uncultivated landscape. Past director
Dave Reid encouraged a "human -
based approach", saying that the
focus should be on the person rather
than the project, such as a wetland.
Yet, a closely connected source
claims that one of the reasons that
the ALUS program floundered in
Huron County may be due to a
heavy-handed county approach to
conserving undeveloped natural
areas on private property.
Unsurprising perhaps, in that
bureaucracy tends to become tone-
deaf and self-serving.
Has Huron County, through its
costly and de -humanizing regulatory
effort, not taken the exact opposite
approach as demonstrated by
ALUS success? Has the Huron
County Planning Department not
effectively reduced the people of
rural Huron County to mere dots and
lines on a map? Or turned taxpayers
into a bank account to fund their
high-risk venture onto private
property through constructive
expropriation?
Indeed, in trying to enforce the
forestry bylaws, the county has
incurred shockingly high legal
bills on our "behalf' as taxpayers.
Press reports indicate that their
adversarial approach seems to be
deeply embedded. The court records
bear evidence of the failures of
these unfruitful efforts. What if
that money had been invested in
reaching people rather than
prosecuting them for alleged
legal infractions of ineffective
regulations?
But perhaps worst of all is the
human cost on those who were/
are often wrongfully dragged
through the legal gulag. One farmer
gets fined for rehabilitating an
abandoned gravel pit. Yet, a
council member quietly cleared a
large chunk of land designated as
"Natural Environment" on county
maps without any consequence.
Does this not indicate a two-tier
enforcement system and Politburo
privilege?
All these considerations raise
questions whether the Huron Natural
Heritage Plan is just wrongheaded,
intrusive and demeaning to the
residents of Huron County. It
tyrannically supersedes landowner
rights while running a huge financial
liability to the taxpayers of Huron
County. This is being imposed on us
with insufficient dialogue and
largely without our consent, the men
and women who call Huron our
home.
Huron County Warden Jim Ginn
stood before a gallery full of
shocked observers at a Committee of
the Whole meeting and proclaimed:
"We absolutely have the right to pass
any bylaw we want on private
property".
Bev Hill responded with: "If you
can do this, what can't you do?"
Some councillors responded to
public objections with "Let the
courts decide". In other words,
"We'll pass the bylaws. You take us
to court to challenge them." How
democratic...
Does that sound like a
"collaborative" effort, as touted in
the NHNP, a plan stating intentions
to broaden its grasp even further?
Does that sound like a
democratically -oriented approach
to private property management?
Do those words seem reasonable
for a representative of those who
elected him? Should trust be given
to someone who essentially has
declared that our rights are non-
existent?
When "projects" take precedence
Thompson disagrees with column
THE EDITOR,
Keith Roulston's recent column
"Don't spread misinformation",
when it comes to supply
management was, itself, mostly
misinformation.
For example, Roulston's claim —
"the U.S. exports five times the
value of dairy products to Canada
than it takes back" is a classic
example of misinformation. It's a
wonder we sell any dairy products at
all to the U.S. considering that we
are a high-cost/high-price
jurisdiction while the U.S. is not. Or
to look at it another way, this
complaint is exactly the same thing
as complaining that Eskimos are
selling more igloos to us than we are
to them.
While this type of data is often
cited by supply management
supporters as a reason to defend
supply management, it simply
doesn't stand up to any scrutiny or
even common sense.
In addition, criticism of U.S.
subsidies is also based largely on
misinformation. For example, a
recent report prepared for the Dairy
Farmers of Canada (DFC) claimed
that U.S. dairy farmer subsidies
include " very substantial pass
through benefits from feed grain
production to livestock that benefit
dairy cattle and dairy production".
Yet the report's authors
disingenuously did not mention that
because we have an open border for
feed grain between Canada and the
U.S., this subsidy is also very much
a subsidy for Canadian dairy
farmers, thereby reducing the
credibility of the entire report to
substantially less than zero.
Finally, while Roulston laments
what he sees as antipathy in urban
media toward supply management,
the urban media seems to be the only
media able to filter through the
misinformation constantly coming
from supply management. For
example, a recent article in the
National Post cited OECD
(Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development) data
showing that, thanks to supply
management, Canadian consumers
faced an average overcharge of 89
per cent for dairy from 2000 to 2017,
yet this type of data is studiously
ignored by DFC in its never-ending
attempt to hoodwink the unwary.
Stephen Thompson,
Clinton.
Knott's resignation
causes complications
Continued from page 1
Councillor Trevor Seip felt that
hand -selecting Knott's replacement
wouldn't be fair.
"I know you say we're going to
find out the name and it might be
fine," he said. "What strikes me as
odd is that the rest of the community
hasn't had an opportunity [to submit
their intent] if they have an interest
in doing it."
Seip said that, for the cost of
advertising the position, a
representative could be chosen
sooner than the six weeks that
Vincent's plan would take.
Councillor Yolanda Ritsema-
Teeninga said she agreed with
Seip's suggestion, saying it would
be more transparent.
Campbell said the last time
council had invited applications for
a vacated seat on council, applicants
had to write an essay and go through
an interview process.
Council has employed both
methods since amalgamation. Knott
was chosen to replace outgoing
Deputy -Reeve David Riach several
years ago, following which Knott
was re-elected to serve as one of
Blyth's representatives.
Knott's fellow Blyth
representative Brock Vodden was
selected alongside Riach in 2009 via
an interview process to replace two
Blyth empty council positions.
All three individuals proved they
had the support of Blyth by being
re-elected after being initially
named to the position.
No formal action was taken in
open session regarding Knott's
vacancy.
over "people", then all of us are
expendable. Even governments.
Whose rights will next be
sacrificed for the "public good"?
The upcoming elections are a time
for evaluation.
John Schwartzentruber,
Brussels
Camouflaged
Emmitt Shortreed found a great hiding spot during a game
of "Shepherds Tag" at the vacation Bible school held this
week at the Blyth Christian Reformed Church.
Unfortunately for Shortreed, organizers of the game quickly
told him hiding wasn't an option in the particular variant of
freeze tag they were playing. (Denny Scoff photo)
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