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Clinton News Record, 2014-10-22, Page 5letter to the editor Wednesday, October 22, 2014 • News Record 5 www.clintonnewsrecord.com Regarding the municipal election in Central Huron and Bluewater To The Editor, It appears that the new nemesis of a couple of candidates is, key the catch phrase, "big government." Once again it is interesting that some candidates seek to solve "Big Government" at our small- est government level. Interesting also that they would use big government tac- tics like parachuting a candidate into a municipality or advertising that their experience includes being a "political staffer" on Parliament Hill- basically synonymous with.... "big government" It raises the obvious query- what did you do to reduce "big government" when you were part of it?? Apparently, these candidates are so against "big government" at our munic- ipal level that they would like our local municipal government to take on responsibility for the energy portfolio of the province -given that this topic domi- nates their writings and web pages. Even federal conservative commenta- tors can't help but notice that when our federal Conservative environment min- ister recently appeared at the UN sum- mit on climate change, she reported that Canada was a world leader in clean energy production and closing coal fired generators- ie- Ontario's energy plan! When the federal Natural Resources minister was recently in Lambton County and was asked about the controversial fracking process, he insisted that these types of energy deci- sions were provincial responsibilities. He loves the fracking technology but not the political responsibility! In Bluewater, it is interesting to note from a book I read a few years ago on the formation of the Landowners Asso- ciation, that they got their start in East- ern Ontario stopping the construction of livestock operations and the con- struction of uranium mines.(curious, given their opinion on wind energy) One must ask: would a victory for this group in agricultural dominated Blue - water mean that they would also attempt to repeal the Nutrient Manage- ment Act there? The Nutrient Manage- ment Act after all operates similar to the Green Energy Act in that it supersedes local municipalities and creates a com- mon set of standards across the prov- ince for livestock operations. So, in that scenario, if I as a LANDOWNER wanted to build a large hog barn on my property anywhere I wanted: would this candi- date stand with me the LANDOWNER or would she, like with wind energy pro- jects , demand community consensus which would be influenced by the rhet- oric of the most vocal activists in the area (and beyond) regardless of the landowners wishes?? If candidates want to provide infor- mation, or make statements to us on their websites and prove they will make decisions that make sense perhaps it would be best if they didn't rely on the fodder of activists. A quick check on Wikipedia or even an e-mail sent to flu- ent energy ministries in Germany or any of it's provinces would without much effort tell those (who want to be informed), what most of the world already knows, that is which electrical energy supply Germany IS abandoning due to cost and safety concerns (nuclear) (as is Quebec) and that they are and will continue to expand their renewable energy sources. For those candidates who wish to pro- mote the Fraser Institute, although I have not been schooled in the halls of Parliament Hill on the subtleties of political spin, nor am I a prestigious conservative "institute", a read of the Fraser Institute's much worshipped report and it's graphs makes me ask CONTINUED > PAGE 28 EARLY FILES October 16, 1969 Fires which broke out in the final hours of the Thanksgiving holiday lev- eled a Blyth district barn and a Clinton trucking company warehouse. Causes of both blazes remain unknown. Blyth Fir Chief Irvine Bowes said the wind - fanned flames caused an estimated $32,750 damage on the farm of Gordon Carter, RR 3, Blyth. Clinton Fire Chief Grant Rath said the Boyes Transport Co. warehouse on Ontario Street and its contents were valued at about $7,000. The Carter farm is situated in East Wawanosh Township 1.25 miles west of Highway 4 and about 1.5 miles north of Blyth. The red glow over Blyth was still visible from Clinton almost two hours after the fire broke out. Sea - forth OPP Cpl. Ray Primeau said he first spotted the fire from Dublin. Spec- tators converged on the scene from every direction. October 22, 1970 Subject to a cost survey which is approved by the Huron County Board of Education, members of that board agreed to offer half day kindergarten from September to the end of Decem- ber to all schools in the county with transportation both ways to be pro- vided by the board. The offer also includes alternate full-day kindergar- ten from January to June for those same kindergarten students. The deci- sion came after a delegation from Ste- phen Township asked for transporta- tion all year long to half-day kindergarten in Stephen Central School. October 19, 1988 A proposal to convert the former piano factory into a 20 -unit apartment building was given the go ahead by council at their October 17 meeting. The decision to approve the project, which calls for amendments to the town's official plan and zoning bylaw, was given following a recommenda- tion after a public meeting on October 12. Councillor Case Buffinga, who was the only councilor to vote against the proposal, and Mayor John Balfour who voiced strong concerns, were against the approval of the apartment building for the same reason a few residents voiced at the public meeting - sanitary sewer capacity. October 18, 1995 They call him The Axe, The Hatchet - man, The Knife. Premier Mike Harris is gaining a reputation as a cold, heart- less dismantler - one more intent upon tearing down than building up. In the recent round of program cuts, the Har- ris government has ordered about three-quarters of a billion dollars struck from Ontario's spending. It appears that every government department has been hit with some kind of budget reduction. No one is safe from the Harris chopping block. It's making everyone nervous. Nobody knows when the slashing will stop - or where it will strike next. We aren't cer- tain how Ontarians will cope with the changes, particularly the most vulner- able of our society. We wonder what will be the net effect on income and lifestyle across the province. October 16, 2002 Telling students to reach for their own stars was fitting advice from a Clinton -native, who spends his time training astronauts. Former Central Huron Secondary School (CHSS) stu- dent Daryl Hemingway made a quick stop at an awards ceremony honour- ing CHSS students. Hemingway, astro- naut trainer and expert on space suits, spoke to CHSS honour students and subject award winners at a ceremony held last Friday in the school's gymnasium.