HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-08-24, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 2017.
Editorials
Opinions
Publisher: Keith Roulston • Associate Publisher: Deb Sholdice
Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott
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Somebody's got to pay
It's not often you'll find Premier Kathleen Wynne, Progressive
Conservative Leader Patrick Brown and New Democratic Party Leader
Andrea Horwath agreeing on anything but last week all three were quick
to say no to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario's (AMO) request
for an increase in the HST from 13 to 14 per cent with the extra money
to go to municipalities.
With a provincial election scheduled for June of next year, none of the
party leaders was likely to commit political suicide by promising to raise
taxes, but the municipal leaders at least made their point. Municipalities
are creations of the provincial government. Most can only generate
income from property taxes and fees for things like building permits and
garbage collection. For everything else they depend on the generosity (or
whim) of the province. Rural municipalities, in particular, have been
getting hammered in recent years through continued reductions in grants
from the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund. They've been having to
hike property taxes significantly to make up the difference.
AMO's tactic is unfair in asking provincial leaders to take the flack for
raising taxes rather than local politicians having to raise property taxes,
but it does demonstrate that many municipal problems begin with
funding cuts by the provincial government. As next summer's provincial
election draws near, local candidates for all parties also need to be put on
the spot about what their party, if elected, would do to make rural
municipalities financially sound. — KR
Let's be fair
As people seeking asylum in Canada continue to pour across the U.S.
border into Canada, there's one thing that our government must do: be
fair in warning people that just because they enter Canada doesn't mean
they'll be able to stay.
Most of these migrants (80 per cent by some counts) are Haitians who
were in the U.S. at the time of the earthquake that struck their homeland
in 2010 and were allowed to stay temporarily. Now the U.S. government
has notified many that they may have to go home and they've chosen to
come to Canada because of our reputation as a welcoming country.
But many Haitians who were given temporary permission to stay in
Canada after the earthquake have already been sent back to their
homeland since we shut down our own temporary program a year ago.
Despite this, news has spread among the Haitian community in the U.S.
that all they have to do is get to Canada and they're home free. But in
2015, Canada accepted only 38 per cent of asylum seekers from Haiti.
If people are going to be sent back to Haiti anyway, whether from
Canada or the U.S., it would be far better for them to not have disrupted
their lives more than necessary by detouring to Canada. It's hardly our
government's fault that false rumours are making people think they can
avoid reality by fleeing to Canada but the government must do everything
possible to get the sobering facts out to Haitians living in the U.S. that
they may be wasting their time and money by crossing into Canada. — KR
We must be ready to say no
While the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) is only in its second week, here's hoping our government has
the courage to be ready to pull out of the talks if necessary.
Early signals from U.S. negotiators are not encouraging. They seem to
have picked up the same unreasonable tone as their president — that there
can be only one winner in this: the U.S.
The U.S. has said it wants to eliminate bi-national resolution panels
that settle trade disputes. They say the reason they want to do away with
the panels is that they contravene American sovereignty but a more likely
reason is that too often the Americans have lost when they went before
these tribunals. Americans have regularly lost over softwood lumber, for
instance. What they're asking is similar to a big, rough hockey team
feeling its penalized too much so demanding that the referees be fired so
they can throw their weight around as much as they like.
The other issue that's so far popped up shows the U.S. government is
not interested in fair trade. Negotiators are demanding U.S. companies be
given greater freedom to bid for contracts by Canadian governments at all
levels. That would be fine if the more lenient rules went both ways but
the U.S. government is insisting that it maintains its own "Buy American"
provisions in government purchasing.
Leading up to the NAFTA talks the federal government has done a
huge amount of work, building alliances with U.S. politicians and
businesses. While some have criticized our government for not being
more harsh in its condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump, it has
wisely kept its powder dry. The government must have the backbone to
stand up to the Trump government if needed, however. After all, the
Americans have as much to lose in NAFTA as we do. — KR
Looking Back Through the Years
August 23, 1944
St. John's Anglican Church in
Brussels was said to have been filled
to capacity on Aug. 20 for a
memorial service for Trooper Ross
Frederick Whittard, who had been
killed in action in Italy on July 21.
The entire church was decorated
with white and red flowers,
accentuated with a special wreath
given by the Brussels Imperial
Legion.
The annual Sunday School picnic
at St. John's Anglican Church was
held at Flowing Well Park in
Formosa on Aug. 17. Games,
contests and races were held as
highlights of the day.
At the monthly meeting of the
County Road Commission, Warden
Fred Watson said that the new bridge
over the Maitland River in Ethel was
coming along nicely. The bridge,
when complete, would span 19 feet.
August 24, 1967
A meeting was scheduled to be
held in the Brussels Library on Sept.
6 regarding the potential closure of
the Canadian National Railway
station in Brussels.
A representative of the Board of
Transport was due to be on hand for
the meeting and to answer any
questions those in attendance might
have.
The chairman of the Brussels
Medical -Dental Clinic in Brussels
received word that Dr. K. Zyluk
from Barnet, England intended to be
in Brussels by the end of September
to begin his practice.
Progress at the centre was said to
be going well and a dentist and
doctor had already been confirmed
for the site.
For the week of Aug. 13-19,
Wingham Ontario Provincial Police
officers were said to have worked
over 212 hours and patrolled 2,471
miles. As a result, five were charged
and eight were warned with traffic -
related offences.
August 19, 1981
While total damages had yet to be
assessed, a fire destroyed a barn and
70 sows at the farm of Ralph Datema
in Hullett Township.
Fire Chief Irvin Bowes said that
the cause of the fire had yet to be
determined, but Datema also lost
900 bales of hay and 500 bales of
straw as a result of the blaze.
Datema told firefighters that he
had been in the barn earlier, but then
left to walk down his laneway and
retrieve his mail. When he looked
back at the barn, he could see smoke
coming from it and called the fire
department.
The Londesborough Lions Club
was working to help the Clinton
Hospital Fund with a special
breakfast.
The hospital was hoping to raise
nearly $350,000 for some new
equipment. The total, however, was
still just a portion of the $866,000
total, much of which would be
covered by grants and government
assistance programs.
The Blyth Board of Trade was in
the midst of planning a special
dinner meeting on Sept. 3. Bruce
McCall of Brussels was slated to be
the guest speaker for the evening.
Alma Madill was the big winner
at the Blyth Flower Show, receiving
a silver plate as an award for her
great showing. She was awarded by
Dick Poore and the prize was
donated by the local branch of the
Canadian Imperial Bank of
Commerce.
August 27, 1997
Robin Dunbar, the deputy -reeve
of Grey Township, said it was
important that rural Ontario
residents needed to know that the
provincial government's "dumping"
was costing taxpayers.
"I think the public should know
what is going on. They need to
understand that the Harris
government is dumping everything
on local governments," Dunbar said
after reviewing a Huron County
report that outlined the cost of
downloading to Huron
municipalities.
As detailed in the report, Dunbar
said that Grey Township could be
the municipality hardest hit by the
downloading. The report indicated
that some residents could face an 81
per cent rise in property taxes as a
result of the changes.
The Blyth Squirt Boys baseball
team played against a team from
Teeswater in the Western Ontario
Athletic Association playoffs,
beating them by scores of 21-4 and
12-6 to win the series.
The win meant that the locals
would now take on Fullarton in the
semi-finals in the coming weeks.
Father Dino Salvador was named
the new priest for St. Michael's
Roman Catholic Church in Blyth.
Salvador would also serve at the
Roman Catholic Churches in
Clinton and Seaforth.
The Blyth Festival was in the final
planning stages of bringing an
evening of jazz to the Memorial Hall
stage. The Joe Sealy Quartet would
perform on Sept. 27.
Sealy, however, was no stranger
to the Memorial Hall stage, as he
had performed as the pianist for
Timothy Findley's The Piano Man's
Daughter... And Others, which was
on the Blyth Festival stage the
previous April.
The Juno Award winner had been
taught piano by Daisy Sweeney, the
daughter of jazz legend Oscar
Peterson.