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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-02-16, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2017. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston • Associate Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $36.00/year ($34.29 + $1.71 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/year in other foreign countries. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisement will be credited. Advertising Deadlines: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 Canada RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. • The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1 HO NOG 1 HO Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca AOC11a � ber Member CMCA CCNA AUDITED Member of the Ontario Press Council We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are m Copyright Who'll speak up for rural towns The recent release of the first batch of figures from the 2016 census showed the trend toward concentrating Canada's population in a few small cities continues. Federal and provincial leaders need to ask themselves if this is healthy for the country as a whole. Census statistics showed that 35.5 per cent of Canadians now live in Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver. These areas are also growing the fastest. Toronto, the country's largest metropolitan area with 5.9 million people, grew by 6.2 per cent since 2011. Montreal's population has surged to 4.1 million, while Vancouver now has 2.5 million people, up 6.5 per cent. People in Toronto and Vancouver complain that they can't afford to buy a home. Cities plead they can't afford to expand services to meet population growth. But meanwhile small towns and cities worry about merely trying to find jobs to keep the population they have. There are certain economic realities that will continue to favour Canada's cities but ignorance of the potential of smaller communities doesn't need to be one of them. Many businesses automatically think of the metropolises when they look for a location. Mightn't federal and provincial leaders urge them to look at smaller cities and towns where they can find cheaper accommodation for the business and cheaper housing for workers? In this digital age when companies can send work online to India or elsewhere around the world, can't we spread the wealth here in Canada? There are important political and sociological advantages to revitalizing our small communities. Rural and urban Canada are beginning to be separate countries as rural areas continue to remain mostly white, while cities which get most of the immigration that made up two-thirds of Canada's growth since 2010, are increasingly multicultural and racially diverse. If we don't find jobs to bring more diversity to small towns we're courting future trouble. This is not a suggestion that governments should subsidize growth in small towns and cities. It's just a suggestion that persuasive voices could shift a tiny fraction of big -city growth to smaller communities. — KR We're not so insignificant If there's one thing that must be particularly galling to Canadian Prime Ministers and government officials, it must be having to make the trip to try to educate each incoming U.S. President on the reality of the U.S./Canadian relationship. Every four or eight years, with plenty of reminder trips in between, our leaders have to schlep down to Washington to remind American leaders that despite being a country seen as so insignificant to the U.S. that we become a blank space on their maps above the northern border, Canada buys more U.S. goods than any other country. In 2015, for instance, Canada imported $280 billion worth of U.S. goods. That amount is equivalent to 18.6 per cent of the United States' overall exports. In 2015, by comparison, China, which is seen as a mighty trading partner, imported $116.2 billion of U.S. products, amounting to 7.7 per cent of America's exports. Maybe we're just too quiet and friendly. Here's guessing a poll of Americans would show that more think that noisier countries like Israel or Cuba were more important than the quiet neighbour to the north. Still, if money talks, Americans need to realize that their bread is really buttered on the north side. — KR What's a subsidy? Any time a government gives a business money, even a loan as the federal government did to Bombardier recently, critics are sure to complain about subsidizing businesses that can't stand on their own. The reality around the world, however, is that aerospace companies wouldn't exist without government. In the U.S. it's government defense contracts that help companies pay the bills while developing new aircraft. Small items like hammers take on a big price -tag when the government is paying the bill. Companies like Bombardier are more important than their mere employment numbers. Canada's experience with the long-term costs of cancelling the Avro Arrow should have taught us that. — KR Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. BROMANCE Donald J. Trump IF @YugePrez Sunny Ways? What's that? Gag me wia spoon. Sad. #Loser Baowo SELTZER Looking Back Through the Years February 16, 1944 A play entitled Ready Made Family was all set for production at the Brussels Town Hall on Feb. 18. The play was presented by the Walton U.F.W.O. and music for the evening would be supplied by an orchestra. St. John's Anglican Church in Brussels was set to hold its annual Shrove Tuesday pancake supper, which was hosted by the Ladies' Guild and held in the Sunday School room of the church. St. John's Anglican Church in Brussels was also the place to be for the World Day of Prayer, which was set to be held on Feb. 25. All the women of the community were invited to take part in the event. February 23, 1967 Marlene Smith was named the Brussels Centennial Queen after a weeks -long campaign. Linda Lowe and Ann Lowe were honoured as Smith's attendants that night. Smith was crowned as part of a special ceremony at the Hi -T dance in front of a large group of young people. She was crowned by Archer Grewar, chair of the centennial committee. A meeting at the New American Hotel made a lot of progress towards plans for the Brussels Centennial celebration. The meeting space was said to be full and many enthusiastic volunteers were there exchanging ideas ahead of the big event now that their queen had been crowned at the Hi -T dance. A large number of parents and friends were at Grey Central Public School to witness the school's annual public speaking competition. Wendy Smith was the top speaker in the Grade 1/2 class, while Mark van Veen was the second -place speaker in the class. Murray Cardiff placed first in the Grade 3/4 class, followed by Linda Smith, who placed second. February 18, 1981 An overheated wood stove was to blame for a Blyth house fire on the morning of Feb. 16 said Fire Chief Irvin Bowes. Addie Walsh, owner of the home, said she tried to put out the fire herself, but when she was unable to, she called the fire department. Firefighters were able to keep the blaze contained within the house's kitchen, but in the end $8,000 in damage was caused and much of the Dinsley Street home had been damaged by smoke. Over 250 snowmobile riders took part in the annual poker rally just west of Blyth with the weather said to be ideal for the event. Gary Harron, a 44 -year-old beef farmer from Allenford, was selected as the Progressive Conservative candidate for the Huron -Bruce riding. The decision was made at the riding's nomination meeting, held on Feb. 12 in Kincardine. Harron defeated Mike Snobellen of Ripley on the third ballot to win the nomination. Hullett Central Public School students came up big at the annual Clinton Winter Carnival. Sandy Carter, Donnie Sparks, Brenda Nesbitt and Gordon Sparks all represented the school in the carnival's toboggan race, while Carter, Gordon Sparks and Robbie Radford participated in the snowshoe race. All students won gold medals in their events. February 19, 1997 The Blyth Festival's 1997 season was set to begin with a returning classic, Quiet In The Land by Anne Chislett. The 23rd season of the Blyth Festival would open with the play that premiered at the Festival over 15 years earlier in the 1981 season. Since its premiere the play had won numerous awards, including the Governor General's Award. The season would continue with the production of Paul Thompson's Booze Days in a Dry County, followed by David Scott's There's Nothing in the Paper and Norm Foster's The Melville Boys. Four teachers federations held a joint press conference in Clinton to declare that education reforms and cuts were making it more and more difficult for teachers to do their jobs in Huron County. "We cannot do more with less. We can't even do the same with less," said Paul Dyck of the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation, one of the four federations represented at the joint press conference. Dyck spoke against statements made by Minister of Education John Snobelen that stated that for every dollar spent in the classroom, 80 cents is spent outside of it. "In his redefining of `classroom' Snobelen has neglected to include in his calculations such things as libraries, guidance, teacher preparation time, school resource teachers, principals, vice -principals, art, sports, custodial services, school secretary, transportation and busing," Dyck said. Several local secondary school students were getting in touch with their dramatic sides as part of the Crossroads Drama Festival that was being held in the Bainton Gallery at Memorial Hall on Feb. 14-15 As part of the festival, area students learned the basics of character creation and development, improvisation and sword fighting.