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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-12-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 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 HO 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 Home-grown talent looks good Watching the recent revolving door of people being hired by local and county governments, then leaving for better jobs elsewhere, could give a local resident an inferiority complex. What's so bad about living in Huron County, one wonders? One of the advantages of amalgamating municipalities was supposed to be the ability to hire topnotch staff, compared to the old, smaller municipalities which usually hired a local person and trained him/her to grow into a position. Instead we now bring in people from across the province but they seem to be using our area as a stepping stone to something better. Sometimes, as in case of the county's past chief administrative officer, they change everything to suit their own vision, then leave. It makes one yearn for home -gown, loyal, committed talent. — KR Pretending to want competition It's hard to imagine that at any other time in the past century two companies would be so brazen in suppressing competition as the deal between Postmedia Network and Torstar last week that saw the companies swap 41 community newspapers and then close all but five. Nobody seems to fear the Competition Bureau anymore. From 1900 until fairly recently, governments and taxpayers worried about the accumulation of power in the hands of too few companies through exactly this sort of deal. The charge had been led in the U.S. by trust-busting President Theodore Roosevelt who saw that mega - corporations were driving up prices and having too much influence over governments. Canada followed suit in the belief that competition was the best route not only to lower costs, but to drive innovation. The great newspaper swap would be the definition of reducing competition. In the Stratford area, for instance, where Postmedia owns the daily Stratford Beacon -Herald, Torstar handed over the competing weekly Stratford City Gazette and the nearby St. Marys Journal -Argus to Postmedia, which immediately shut down both papers. In other regions where Torstar had a major paper, Postmedia transferred smaller newspapers which Torstar then closed in order to reduce competition for its larger publication. The last couple of decades the whole thought process about comp- etition seems to have been turned on its head. The goal now seems to be to create large, globally competitive companies not rein in monopolies. Last year, for example Loblaw simply informed its suppliers it expected them to reduce their prices by 1.45 per cent. Since Loblaw is the largest of a small group of grocery chains, the suppliers had no option. And why would they hope that they might be protected by the Competition Bureau? The Bureau had already investigated Loblaw for more than three years but concluded there wasn't sufficient evidence to support allegations that the company abused its dominant position. Now the Competition Bureau promises to investigate the Postmedia/Torstar swap. Well, at least it will create jobs for Bureau employees, at least until they decide, against all obvious evidence, that there's nothing wrong with this manoeuvre. If government wants to trim costs it could start by getting rid of this unfortunately useless remnant from the past. — KR Nice idea, but it won't work Prime Minister Justin Trudeau added a lot of carbon to the atmosphere this week by jetting to China to try to improve trade. He probably should have paid more attention to his pledges to reduce global warming by staying home. With China's population of more than 1 billion people, it's easy to see how tempting it is to dream of a free trade agreement with it, but if we think dealing with U.S. President Donald Trump is difficult, that's nothing compared to the situation with China. Chinese leaders have the power that Trump only dreams of having. The largest corporations are owned by, and are instruments of, China's communist government. Despite trade agreements China may sign, if foreign competition becomes too stiff, the government simply restricts imports. Meanwhile when these companies buy a Canadian company, for instance, the goal of that company is to advance the Chinese government's interests. Then of course there is China's horrid human rights record which includes persecuting Canadian citizens through kangaroo courts. If Canada was fair about application of the recent Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, it would be applying sanctions against many top Chinese officials just as we have against Russian and Venezuelan leaders. We won't, of course, because we're tempted by the dream of greater trade with this massive market. Perhaps we'll be lucky if the Prime Minister fails on his trade mission. A deal with China might be as close to a deal with the devil as we're likely to see. — KR The • ". Year's Hottest Gift! `Justin'' Time for Xmas! This certificate entitles To ONE OFFICIAL CANADIAN GOVERNMENT APOLOGY* *Financial compensation and sincerity not included. One apology per recipient. Looking Back Through the Years December 6, 1944 The Brussels Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion elected its officers for the coming term. M. Wineberg would be the president, while Harold Thomas would be the vice- president. Movie fans in Brussels were urged to get excited, as the village was getting closer to being the home of a new movie theatre. Mickey Carlton of Wingham, who had previously worked at CKNX, was working on remodelling the F.R. Smith building, that had previously been home to the Mitchell barber shop, in the hopes of making it a movie theatre. Carlton said he hoped to host a grand opening for the theatre early in the new year. Readers were told to watch The Brussels Post for details. December 14, 1967 At the annual meeting of the Ontario Creamerymen's Association in Toronto, the Brussels Creamery was informed that it had placed third in the High Quality Competition for the butter that had been manufactured there in the past year. The creamery also competed well in many of the other categories, meaning that it placed 11th overall among all of the creameries in Ontario. Mr. Lawrie Cousins and Mr. Grant Stephenson were honoured by The Brussels Post as the butter - makers at the creamery, saying they should be celebrated for their provincial achievement. The Brussels Lions Club entertained their ladies at a special Christmas party at the Legion Hall. Lions Club President Cal Smith presided over the meeting. Stuart Nichol, a Brussels native, had been awarded a scholarship thanks to having the highest standing in any section of the second year of the Ontario Diploma of Horticulture program at the University of Guelph. The scholarship was said to be valued at $175. December 2, 1981 Howick Township Reeve Harold Robinson and Goderich Township Reeve Grant Stirling were both putting their names forward in hopes of becoming Huron County's next Warden. This would be the second time Robinson ran for the Warden's chair after he was narrowly defeated the previous year by Fred Haberer of Zurich by a 16-15 vote. Huron County Planner Gary Davidson said there were no immediate plans for a new liquid waste disposal complex in Ashfield Township. Councillors said there were major concerns in the community about the placement of a new waste disposal facility and they were looking for the support of both Huron and Bruce Counties to ensure one wouldn't be constructed there. Carol Wheeler, the daughter of George and Shirley Wheeler of RR5, Brussels, received her diploma in the executive secretarial course at the Lougheed Business College in Kitchener. In addition to graduating, Wheeler also received a number of awards for her hard work and achievement while at the school, including in the areas of shorthand and typing. She placed second in typing among students at all Canadian colleges. Wheeler was busy working at her new job in Labrador City, Newfoundland, so her mother accepted her awards on her behalf in Kitchener. December 10, 1997 Over 10,000 worth of marijuana was found after the execution of a search warrant at a residence in East Wawanosh on Dec. 3. While the names of those accused had yet to be released, Huron Ontario Provincial Police officers said that approximately four kilograms of marijuana was recovered from the home, found in two different rooms. Several Blyth residents were in the midst of planning a special Christmas pageant for the village on Dec. 20. Fran Cook and Don Scrimgeour were hard at work planning the special holiday event that would feature photographs with Santa, musical performances, carol singing and a collection for the local food bank. Paul Carroll, the newly -appointed director of education for the Avon Maitland District School Board, said that while he was excited for the future, it was also frightening for a number of reasons. To help spread reassurance, however, he said that uncertainty is nothing new for him, as he had been a director with the Huron County Board of Education for a number of years. Grey Township Council met for its inaugural meeting for the coming term. Robin Dunbar would serve as the township's reeve, while Alvin McLellan would be its deputy -reeve. Lyle Martin, Helen Cullen and Graeme MacDonald would serve as councillors for the coming term. Betty and Allan McCall of RR3, Brussels spent some time celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on Nov. 20 with a special party with friends and family.