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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-06-08, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston • Associate Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser 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 AOCna tom. Member CCNA Member of the Ontario Press Council CMCA AUDITED We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are m Copyright Another rural blow The Ontario government's announcement last week that the minimum wage will leap from the current $11.40 an hour to $15 in 2018 will probably hit businesses in rural Ontario harder than anywhere else. More than larger urban centres, rural Ontario depends on small businesses owned by individuals and families While some of these are thriving and can afford to pay the higher wage, indeed already may pay it, many others struggle just to keep afloat and seeing the wages of employees increase by up to 32 per cent plus having to pay for an extra week's vacation for staff with five years seniority may be the final straw. Larger companies can pass on these added costs in their prices (people are still going to buy their Tim Hortons coffee even if prices rise) but small employers often don't have that option. Shoppers have already been abandoning their neighbourhood stores because they deem them too expensive. If these retailers raise their prices they're likely to lose even more customers. We may find it even harder to keep the stores on our local main streets filled. Also not to be ignored is the psychological effect for small business owners. If you already struggle to keep your business going the perception that your government doesn't give a damn about your survival as it desperately looks toward its own by courting the most voters possible, may be the blow that makes you throw in the towel. Whether or not the huge hike in the minimum wage helps Premier Katheen Wynne get re-elected, it may profoundly affect the rural economy for years in the future. — KR So who wants nuclear waste? Ontario Power Generation (OPG) took a public relations beating again last week when it released a report that confirmed the best place for a bunker to store low-level nuclear -waste is at the Bruce Power site where the waste is created. The location of this proposed disposal site, 680 metres below ground in stable, dry rock, has become an international flashpoint with American politicians protesting that it sits only 1.2 kilometres from the shores of Lake Huron, from which many cities and towns, American and Canadian, draw their drinking water. Faced with these protests, Canada's Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has asked OPG to consider other possible locations. OPG keeps coming back to its Kincardine site, drawing criticism from opponents. But realistically, what are the chances of finding any other location for the disposal site? If OPG were to propose someplace in Northern Ontario, for instance, not only would people in that area protest, but residents of every community along the route that the trucks would travel to transport the waste from Kincardine to the new location would fight the move. Five years ago when Bruce Power tried to ship boilers to Sweden for recycling, 70 communities on the U.S. and Canadian sides of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River protested. The shipment was cancelled. Meanwhile, 40 years worth of spent fuel rods, items with a very high level of radioactivity compared to the gloves, etc. that OPG wants to bury at the site, still sit in swimming pools at the same location beside Lake Huron as the proposed waste site, and nobody seems to worry. All Ontarians have enjoyed the benefits of economical electricity from the Bruce site for decades but we've postponed dealing with the waste. Now it's time to face the issue and most people seem to think if we continue ignore the problem it will somehow go away. It won't. — KR Trump's not that powerful In denying climate change that the world's top scientists and 190 countries say threatens humans' ability to live on this planet, U.S. President Donald Trump could take a lesson from King Canute. The legend of the ancient king is that flattering courtiers told him he was all powerful so he set his throne on the beach in the incoming tide and commanded the waves not to wet him. They continued to roll in, of course, and Canute used this to demonstrate the limited power of kings. Of course he was only King Canute not Donald Trump, who withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Trump has long claimed that the concept of climate change was a hoax, dreamt up by countries that wanted to take advantage of the U.S. in trade (everything is designed to treat America unfairly in Trump's world). He is wiser than the leaders of all those signatories of the agreement and all the scientists who say there is a crisis in the making So the United States joins Nicaragua and Syria as the only countries not to sign the agreement. Luckily, however, just as King Canute couldn't turn back the tides, President Trump's cancellation won't change all the work being done by state governors, mayors, business leaders and individuals to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Stupid as these people are, they may help save their country's future. — KR Looking Back Through the Years June 7, 1944 The Brussels Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion was in the planning stages of its bathing beauty contest. The Branch was asking that local women put their names up and give it their all in an effort to win the prize money. The first -place winner would go home with $15, while second -place winner would take home $10, followed by $5 for the third-place finisher. The Brussels Post promised that a "prominent out-of-town" judge would be on hand to govern over the event and its eventual winner. Over 550 four -week-old chickens were destroyed as a result of a fire at the Walter Rose poultry farm. The fire, which could have had more dire circumstances, had been brought under control by those on premises once it was discovered by one of the farm's employees. Firefighters believed that the fire was caused by a coal oil stove on the ground floor of the barn. June 8, 1967 The Brussels Horticultural Society held its annual Spring Tea and Flower Show at St. John's Anglican Church and it was said to be a great success. The president, Mrs. G. Wheeler, presided over the special event, which included readings from a number of women and a duet by Mrs. Ken Smith and Mrs. Robert Smith. Mrs. George Jutzi played piano in the background while tea was served. Several officers and members of the St. John's Masonic Lodge in Brussels paraded to the Brussels United Church on the morning of May 28 to attend the service. The local Masons were accompanied by a number of visiting Masons from neighbouring lodges. Rev. Hugh Wilson of Exeter and Belgrave was the special guest speaker for the event. Wilson was both a former member and master of the lodge. With red, white and blue pennants rippling in the wind, Brussels was beginning to have the look of a village that was ready to celebrate the country's centennial anniversary. The Brussels Fire Department was thanked in the pages of The Brussels Post for helping to hang the pennants in anticipation of the big weekend. Grey Township was set to host its own centennial celebration in the village of Ethel on June 17. The celebration would include a special parade that included plenty of money available in prizes. The Academy Award-winning Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, was set to hit the screen at Brownie's Drive-in in Clinton. June 10, 1981 Blyth Village Council made a drastic decision on its taxes, deciding to increase taxes on residents by over 15 per cent. While council made the decision, however, much of it was out of their hands as the bulk of the increase was due to education costs. The education rates for the year were nearly $10,000 higher than they were the previous year. While councillors voted to approve the budget, they were still hoping to receive an explanation for the increase from the local representative John Elliott. Blyth was flagged as a potential community for hydro lines thanks to an area just west of Seaforth that was part of a corridor in four of six expansion plans under consideration by Ontario Hydro. Blyth athletes were successful at the area track and field meet that had been held the previous week when 50 Blyth Public School athletes travelled to Seaforth to take on their counterparts from Hullett, Clinton, Clinton Christian, Seaforth and Huron Centennial Schools. One of the successful teams was the Midget relay team, which consisted of Dan McDougall, Dave McClinchey, Graham Glousher and Brent Scrimgeour. June 11, 1997 Huron County councillors were set to hold a special meeting in Goderich during which they would discuss the concept of restructuring the county and perhaps amalgamating. There was a lengthy debate on the topic of even scheduling the meeting due to strong opinions on both sides of the issue. Morris Reeve Bert Elliott said that if there was going to be a meeting about restructuring the county that his entire lower -tier council would want to be involved in that meeting. The Huron County Board of Education received a warning that a labour disruption by the board's teachers was likely on its way. The teachers were taking a stand against Mike Harris' government and its plans for the future of education. At the weekly Brussels Livestock sale, lamb prices plummeted to a new low for the local sale. The Huron Society of Artists was all set to host its annual exhibition, which would be held at the Bayfield Town Hall. Ron Walker, one of the artists involved in the show, said that the show would involve a number of different forms of media on display for the show.