Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-02, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • 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 The charges never made sense Anyone who follows Canadian politics even a little should not have been surprised last week when Judge Howard Borenstein threw out all charges against two provincial Liberal party officials accused of trying to bribe a potential candidate and an actual candidate for a provincial election. If the pair had been found guilty, dozens, if not hundreds, of charges could be laid against federal and provincial parties of most stripes dating back decades. Many, many times parties have recruited star candidates to run in elections. Sometimes there's a sitting member who "decides" to retire and is given a political appointment to a government board or as an ambassador, in federal cases. Sometimes, as in the instance in Sudbury, the party tries to ease the exit of the star candidate's competitor for the nomination by giving him/her alternative reward. You can disagree with the practice, especially if a local candidate is nudged aside for a star candidate parachuted into the riding, but parties, in the long run, have the right to choose which candidate will represent them. That's why Judge Borenstein ruled that no law was broken, or could have been broken and made a rare "directed verdict" because "no reasonable jury" could possibly convict. Opposition leaders have made great hay out of what Progressive Conservative Party Leader Patrick Brown has called "Liberal corruption" but this is not like the other case currently before the courts where workers in former Premier Dalton McGuinty's office are accused of erasing computer files to hide details of the billion -dollar boondoggle of a decision to close gas-fired electrical generating plants. Had a guilty verdict been found in the Sudbury case, there's a chance sometime in the future that Brown or a successor could face the same sort of charge. But Brown has only grudgingly acknowledged the judge's decision not only to direct a not -guilty verdict but to scold the crown attorney for having brought the charges in the first place. Similarly, Brown has refused to withdraw his accusation that Premier Kathleen Wynne herself was on trial for bribery, even as her lawyers pursue possible libel charges against him. Brown's cynicism, and the general cynicism of our time, has spilled over into distrust of our entire legal system. Since the verdict, many comments on social media have questioned the integrity of Judge Borenstein himself, suggesting he must have been bought and paid for by the Liberals and that he's angling for a Senate appointment. As political parties jostle for an advantage leading into next year's provincial election, we need real leaders, people who understand that protecting democracy is more important than whether their own party forms the next government. Don't undermine our faith in democracy and the judicial system just to gain a short-term electoral victory. — KR Pay me later Apparently the federal Liberal government can't stand prosperity. Thanks to a surging economy, Finance Minister Bill Morneau, in his fall financial update last week, was able to announce that the government will have $8.9 billion more income than expected. Rather than pay down the deficit, he then went out and spent the windfall. Not that some of the spending isn't welcome. Among new spending is a promise to add a cost -of -living index to the Canada child benefit program, which gives families with children under the age of 18 a monthly payment. The government is also lowering the tax rate for small businesses and boosting its working income tax benefit, a refundable tax credit for low income Canadians in the workforce. The new expenditures will no doubt help lower-income Canadians but meanwhile the deficit continues to grow. Morneau is like the guy who wins a small lottery prize but decides to buy a new car instead of paying off his credit card debt. Someday the bills must be paid. — KR Playing the victim card When Canadian Members of Parliament unanimously approved a new law recently that will target the Canadian assets of gross human -rights violators, they probably inadvertently helped Russian President Vladimir Putin hold onto power even longer. Putin immediately accused Canada of playing "unconstructive political games" for passing its own version of a "Magnitsky" act, named for Russian whistle -blower Sergei Magnitsky, who died of abuse in a Russian prison after accusing government officials of a $230 million tax fraud. Putin has won support among Russians by portraying the world — western nations especially — as picking on Russia unfairly. Only he, he tells people — and they seem to believe — is strong enough to stand up for a victimized Russia. So sadly, a new law designed to punish wrongdoing by friends of Putin might actually allow him to cling to power longer. — KR Looking Back Through the Years November 1, 1944 Mr. and Mrs. Francis Kerney celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Oct. 24 at their home with friends and family. Rev. Kenneth McLean of the Presbyterian Church in Wingham was set to move to Cavan Presbyterian Church in Exeter after living in Wingham for 14 years. McLean would officially begin his time with his new church on the evening of Nov. 24. The seventh recent blood donor clinic in Brussels was held at Melville Presbyterian Church and 131 people were out to help make it a success. The clinic was carried out by Mrs. Jackson, nurse technician, and Miss Jamieson, mobile unit truck driver. The Kitchener Quartette would be performing at a fowl supper set for the Belgrave United Church on Wednesday, Nov. 8. November 2, 1967 The Brussels Lions Club decided that its next big purchase would be a projector that could be used throughout the community. Lions Club members said they would use the proceeds of the NHL hockey draw tickets to purchase the new projector. As had unfortunately become tradition in Brussels, the local fire department found itself busy on Halloween night, tending to a number of fires through the night. A representative of the fire department said that firefighters were called out to 20 separate fires over the course of the night, ranging from tire and straw fires to fire hydrants being opened and streets being flooded. It had been announced the previous week that a three-day deer - hunting season would be authorized in Huron County on Nov. 6-8. Shotguns had been authorized for use in the Huron hunt, while rifles were permitted in hunts in Grey and Bruce Counties. October 28, 1981 The Blyth Lions Club was in the midst of planning a special Halloween party for children within the village. The party would be held at the Blyth and District Community Centre for pre-school and lower - aged public school children. Costumes would be judged that night as well. George Radford Construction was awarded the snowplowing contract for Hullett Township for the coming winter. Under the contract, the township would pay the company $26.50 per hour. TVO spent some time in Blyth and the small village was set to be the topic of interest for The Spirit of Blyth, a documentary that would look at the ongoing "theatre experiment" at the Blyth Festival. The Blyth theatre gala, which was held on Oct. 23-24, was said to be a success with several thousand dollars being raised to benefit the Fall Building Fund project. Adrian Vos, a resident of Blyth, decided to put pen to paper and commit his family's history to a new book, which had just been released, called Blood of Foxes. In the book, Vos detailed his family's history, dating all the way back to 1268 when a member of the family was a steward of an estate in Belgium. November 7, 1997 The Huron County Board of Education took a stand on the books of children's horror author R. L. Stine and banned Hide and Shriek from schools throughout the board. "It is a horrible book for children to be reading," said Lynda Horbanuik, trustee for schools throughout Blyth and Hullett Township. The issue was first raised by a small group of Blyth parents who were concerned with the graphic violence depicted in Stine's books the previous June. As a result of the complaint, the board took the concerns under advisement and members even read some of the books themselves in order to understand them better. The result was the banning of Hide and Shriek, followed by a pledge to continue to monitor other Stine titles through the school year. While little other information had been made available, the Ontario Provincial Police said that thieves had stolen and destroyed a 1990 Dodge pickup truck by dousing it with gasoline and setting it on fire on County Road 15 just north of Highway 8. With the cost of policing in Huron County on the rise, Brussels Village Council was in discussion with Jim Dore, chief of the Wingham Police, in regards to potentially partnering with the force in Brussels and other parts of northern Huron County. Dore urged councillors to use patience in moving forward and to not rush a decision to go with the OPP before all other options had been considered. The Auburn Community Hall was the place to be just ahead of Halloween for the village's annual pumpkin party. Local children were encouraged to come out and carve a pumpkin just ahead of the scariest day of the year. Over 60 village young people took advantage of the day and the warm hall to do their decorating work.