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Clinton News Record, 2014-04-02, Page 5letters to the editor Local separatists missing the bigger picture To the Editor, For all of this talk of the middle ages, Magna Carta, and the great "petition of right; local separatists are forgetting that in the middle ages they at least knew not to put the cart before the horse! The promise of money, your neighbours are all signing it, and someone in your face pres- suringyou... sounds like the tactics of wind company lease agents that some of the very people who were once so critical of have now used to get signatures on this bizarre de -amal- gamation process petition. It would be nice if the proponents would have presented the information to residents and then told us where a petition could be signed in a neutral, non -pressure atmosphere but alas it appears there is no information to prove their promises! The reasoning given over and over for want- ing to de -amalgamate is: lower taxes, less gov- ernment, and self-govemance. How much lower taxes will we have when the former Goderich Township has to provide its own fire, police and road, water and sewer services and supply its own recreational facili- ties when we move from a municipality from where this is all already in place? According to a report on last weeks CKNX news, - they don't know... they haven't even worked that out yet... First they want to focus on separating. Wasn't that THE point? Less government? It appears these people are adding another layer - first everything has to go through an elected landowners associa- tion and then through the layers we have now. Why just separate from Central Huron? Why not go all the way? It's not Central Huron that imposed the Green Energy Act or the Nutrient Management Act or forced this amalgamation process on us in the first place. Why not sepa- rate from the province and the country as well? I am sure when the Queen looks around the world and sees all that is going on, she is going to be VERY proud of these petitioners who are so oppressed that they have to go through these elections "every four years'; and will give it her full priority... Why are they going to the Queen in ENGLAND if they want self -governance? "We have four years of dictatorship and two months of democracy" as quoted from this group's representatives in last weeks paper. How does this group propose to solve this? An election every two months less a day? Does the Landowners Association itself not operate on a system of elected officers? Or are they the as yet undiscovered perfect group were every single one of their members gets exactly what they want all the time. Such a clean system of democracy... Self-govemance? Pretty rich given that the person always demanding self -governance is not even a resident of the municipality that she wants to "self governWhy doesn't Miss Moyer go to her own municipality and self govern? And why does our local council even give her a voice in council chambers when she has NOT been elected by the general popula- tion of this municipality. What exactly does "self -governance" entail if this group doesn't want elected officials cre- ating laws telling them what to do? Does this mean that they can stop wind turbines no matter what the province says and I, since I will be self -governed, can build wall-to-wall wind turbines on my own property anywhere I want? It has always been said that actions speak louder than words and that change starts with "me': So ... when we have a claimed proponent of lower taxes on council we would expect him to be setting the example for all councilors as to how to save the taxpayers of Central Huron on per diems and expenses but alas, not even close. It is a big kudos to Councilor Metzger, a councilor who is obviously frustrated by this whole ridiculous de -amalgamation fiasco, who is by far showing us how he is trying to serve constituents. And after repeated expressions of concern that Central Huron has been taken to a level of excessive debt load, it is mind boggling that the councilor who is proposing the de -amal- gamation - is the one who doesn't want to use proceeds from the recent sale of Clinton hydro to pay down debt... he would like a fund cre- ated to assist developers. It would be similar to if Councilor Westerhout suggested we use it to create a fund to help those who would like to build a chicken barn... Frustrations run high with the state of rural areas in all of North America, everyone wrings their hands and gnashes their teeth as to what to do. At least our council in past years tried to do something. Only time will tell what the ulti- mate success of the REACH centre will be, but last weeks paper gives us a glimpse of what could be possible. When our original munici- palities were created people walked or took horse and buggy, we can drive to the new arena, the services for it are already there, we don't need to have these expenditures spread around the municipality. Repairing and build- ing roads is a process. If you want to dwell on fairness of expenditures then you also have to ask which part of Central Huron in the past benefited, tax wise, from the arrival of big box stores and you cannot deny that the Clinton ward of Central Huron still suffers because of that once one sided benefit. If you are a resident who has signed this petition because you were simply told you would get lower taxes, call up the petitioner and ask for proof, the numbers in black and white (or red) or, ask to have your name removed if it can't be supplied or ask if the petitioner also has a free cruise for you or knows of any of your relatives in a far flung country who need money sent from your account via the intemet. Thank you John M. Brand R.R.#3 Clinton, On. Wednesday, April 2, 2014 • News Record 5 I www.clintonnewsrecord.com Sending patients stateside a health care tragedy To the Editor, What is wrong with this picture? What can't I see? A person I know goes to the eye specialist and is informed that cataract surgery will remove the impairments to his vision almost 100 per cent. He is then informed the surgery will be in four to six weeks. Three weeks later he calls to the office to find out the surgery date and is informed it will be at least eight months. A lengthy discussion reveals that while he is frustrated about the timeline, others who can only distinguish dark from light must also wait. It seems the surgeons can only do a quota of surgeries. After some reflection, he then phones the Premier's office and later the Provincial Health Minister's office. After the fourth call to the latter, a courteous representative returns his calls and informs him that with the proper paperwork, authorized by the family physician - not the eye specialist - he can proceed to the U.S. of A. and get the sur- gery done and the Health Ministry will pay for it. Some time later, he happens to be in the company of a 'not in power' party member and describes these events to that person. The first response was, "Well good for you. You'll get your eyes fixed" This person didn't get it either! Meanwhile, someone who loses focus for a split-second, has an accident of any descrip- tion and is now a patient of the health care system until mended. The surgery the man needs costs less than $2,000. How many days in a hospital (with minimum required atten- tion) do you suppose it would take to use up the $2,000? And our provincial government would happily send it stateside. The local surgeon is a taxpaying citizen liv- ing in the community who will be there if the surgery doesn't go as planned. Do you think staff at the ACME Eye Com- pany in the States will care? I thought our doctors and surgeons were paid salary. I guess it is piece work instead. Tom Pollard P.S. May God be with you if you can't walk and need joint replacement surgery. Reader amused by de -amalgamation To the Editor, I had to chuckle at your area hiring Gary McHale to try and de -amalgamate. How much is he being paid, and by whom? Gary lives in Binbrook, in the Amalgamated city of Hamilton. He has never, ever spoken out Fair elections end with Fair CONTINUED FROM > PAGE 4 The line that got the most airplay, however, was that this bill - which takes power away from both voters and Elections Canada - was to strengthen the integrity of elections. Rather, it will strengthen only the Con- servative base and disqualify many who might vote otherwise. Chief Electoral Officer Mark Mayrand has ripped the bill a new one, almost to the letter. There are too many criticisms to site in one column. If you have the opportunity, please look up and read his against this in his own city. You are creatures of the Province, and they aren't interested in allowing any jurisdiction to de -Amalgamate. Like trying to unscramble an egg. Respectfully, Mark -Alan Whittle coming to an Elections Act whole testimony. A simple google search will bring you there. For the above reasons and so many more, I honestly could not print a story based on misinformation and talking points. I apologize to readers that were expect- ing more, but again, I don't want to pre- tend to defend something that should not pass. Rather, if you have questions or concerns, call your MP and talk about it. Just don't mention any criticisms from the press, the Opposition, or NGOs if you want your opinion to matter. Call THE LUNG ASSOCIATIONT' 1 When you can't breathe, nothing else matters.T^' Asthma? We can help.