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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-30, Page 4PAGE 4.THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 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. Canada MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 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 1H0 NOG 1 H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca ocna ab CCNA Member of the Ontario Press Council CMCA AUDITED We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright It's time for homework It's a shame that only a handful of people turned out for North Huron Council's town hall meeting in Belgrave, recently, which gave local residents an opportunity to have a say in their government. With both a municipal election and a provincial election to be held in 2018, it's time that all of us buckle down and do our homework. Of course, most people don't want to accept that democracy is both a privilege and a responsibility. They want to leave governing to the politicians, whether local, provincial or federal, at least until they become irate about some decision or policy. We've come to take democracy for granted and when people don't appreciate it enough to fully participate, democracy is endangered. Just look at what that kind of indifference led to in the 2016 U.S. presidential election! The term "use it or lose it" applies to democracy too. So now is the time to start preparing for 2018's elections. Ontario's Progressive Conservatives released their platform for the next provincial election this past weekend. Study it and the platforms of the NDP and Liberals so you can make an informed decision long before the viciously negative election advertising makes it more likely you'll irrationally vote against some leader instead of for good policies. — KR How can we prevent this? In the wake of Basil Borutzki's conviction for the 2015 murder spree that took the lives for three former partners, Leighann Burns, executive director of an Ottawa -based women's shelter said more should have been done to protect the victims from a man they feared as violent and dangerous. She's right. But what could have been done? Another women's group argued that for too long Canadians have looked the other way in their neighbourhoods and communities while domestic violence endangered the lives of women and children. That's true and it's the one place where we as individuals can make a difference. Too often we feel that what goes on inside the homes of people we know is none of our business. For the most part, it isn't, but if women's and children's safety, or even their lives, are at risk, we all need to do what we can to protect the vulnerable, whether that's providing shelter to victims or reporting the offender to the police. Society can also provide refuge to victims and potential victims of violence. Shelters are now available in many parts of the country for women and children but once their initial emergency is over, families often need a safe place to live for a longer term so they don't need to depend on the men who put them in danger in the first place. The federal government designated some of the money promised in last week's national housing strategy to meeting this need. On an enforcement level, police have improved their response to domestic violence a great deal over the years but remain handicapped by having to choose sides in a he said/she said retelling of what has occurred. A welcome change from the past has seen police emphasize the protection of women and children in a potentially violent situation. Still, society remains badly handicapped in rooting out domestic violence. Courts can order those charged with domestic violence offences to stay away from the victims but if the offender is determined, we don't have enough police to stop him. In a case like Borutzki's, who went on a rampage of revenge against his former partners, it's hard to see how that can be prevented unless in the future we have, as in the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report, a special police unit that's able to read criminals' intentions and arrest them before they commit their crimes. Meanwhile all we can do is stand ready to help anyone who needs protection from domestic violence. — KR You really want this? Back in September, there were sighs of relief when German Chancellor Angela Merkel won re-election, despite fear far -right political parties would make significant gains. Last week, however, after months of trying to form a coalition government, Merkel announced failure and said she'd try to operate a shaky minority government. Meanwhile in Ireland, the government of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar stood on the edge of defeat earlier this week, when its coalition partner vowed a motion of non -confidence unless the Deputy Prime Minister Frances Fitzgerald resigned. Recently, as the report card for his first two years was written, a black mark against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was his decision to abandon electoral reform, such as proportional representation. Smaller parties such as the NDP and Greens like proportional representation because it generally gives them more seats and invariably leads to minority governments where they can bargain with leading parties for support in forming a coalition government, giving them greater power. It also leads to unstable governments like those of Germany and Ireland. Given that choice, most Canadians will support Trudeau's change of mind. — KR Looking Back Through the Years November 29, 1944 The 45th annual meeting of the Huron Old Boys' Association of Toronto was held at Haddon Hall on Nov. 24. Nearly every part of the county was represented at the meeting. The association was said to be the oldest and largest of its kind in Canada and had never missed holding an annual meeting. The association's first-ever president was the late Sir John Willison in 1900. Two operettas were set to be performed at Brussels Public School on Dec. 15. First, The Land of Dreams Come True, would be performed by the Junior grades, while the Seniors would stage Bringing Up Santa. November 25, 1981 The Blyth Board of Trade had been busy in recent weeks working to beef up the village's Christmas lighting, orchestrate several free public skating sessions at the arena and to sell Christmas trees to residents of the village. Christmas trees being sold by the Board of Trade would cost $8 each and the proceeds would go towards both Christmas lighting in the village and the Blyth Leo Club. The Blyth PeeWee 'A' team opened its regular season with a win and a tie. On Nov. 18, the team travelled to Zurich where sloppy third -period play resulted in a 4-4 tie. Two days later, however, the Blyth team went to Monkton, where players collected a 13-3 victory. December 3, 1997 Huron County Council added its name to the growing list of counties and municipalities asking for the downloading of provincial services to be delayed. Exeter Reeve Bill Mickle said he was asking for a one-year delay so that municipalities across the province could better prepare for the massive transition ahead of them. North Huron Publishing President Keith Roulston said that 1997 had been a record year for the company that saw revenue coming in from both The Citizen and The Rural Voice that hadn't been seen before. He said that over the course of the year, more than half of the company's revenue had been generated by The Rural Voice, which greatly helped to pick up the slack. In addition, he said that hundreds of hours of donated staff time helped the company to realize a profit in producing a special history book for the village of Brussels. Gail and Brad's Marvelous Wedding Adventure made a comeback on the Memorial Hall stage, which featured raucous entertainment by The Nasty Habits, a group of Blyth -based comedians and performers. The Blyth Festival received word that its productions were up for seven Stage Door Awards thanks to Quiet in the Land and Melville Boys. Quiet in the Land was responsible for five of the theatre's seven nominations. David Fox was up for best actor, Sharon Bernbaum was nominated for best actress and Barna Moricz was up for best supporting actress. In addition, the play was up for best drama and Leslie Wilkinson was nominated for the play's lighting. Melville Boys was nominated as best comedy, while Sharon Bernbaum was nominated as best actress twice in the same year. December 1, 2016 Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn was acclaimed to the position of Huron County Warden. He was the second person to hold the position since it was extended into a two-year position, following Morris- Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing. Goderich Deputy -Mayor Jim Donnelly, whose family had a rich history with the Ginns, formally nominated Ginn. Ginn said that while there were many important initiatives he hoped to oversee as warden, one of his main motivations behind running for the position was that he felt a farmer should be warden when the county hosted the International Plowing Match in September, 2017. Fordwich native Rachael King was named the new General Manager of the Blyth Festival. King said that her first brush with the Festival was when she was 13 and spent the night sleeping in the June Hill Room as part of an overnight trip to Blyth. That visit, she said, planted the seed and she always knew she wanted to come back to the Festival and work again one day. North Huron Councillor Bill Knott began the process of collecting signatures for his petition lobbying for a set of traffic lights at the Blyth intersection of Blyth and London Roads. Knott took on the cause after a rash of accidents occurred at the intersection over the course of the summer and into the fall. A large amount of grading and clearing had been completed along the portion of the Goderich-to- Guelph Rail Trail running between Blyth and Walton. Trail representative Chris Lee said that work on portions of the trail near both Milverton and Millbank remained, but that progress was being made.