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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2014-07-02, Page 44 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, July 2,2014 www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com Ilion Expositor PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 P.O. Box 69, 8 Main Street Seaforth Ontario NOK phone: 519-527-0240 fax: 519-527-2858 www.seaforthhuronexpositor SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca MAXWELL BICKFORD Advertising Rep. max.bickford@sunmedia.ca DIANNE MCGRATH Front Office seaforth.classifieds@sunmedia.ca WHITNEY SOUTH Multimedia Journalist seaforth.news@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2 YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT RO. Box 69 Seaforth ON NOK 1 WO For any non -deliveries or delivery concerns: phone: 519-527-0240 Advertising is accepted on condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographical error, advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Advertising is merely an offer to set and may be withdrawn at any time. The Huron Expositor is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproduction purposes. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPP) for our publishing activities. Canada editorial Liberal majority will be useless to rural Ontario Welcome to Torontario. That's pretty much what rural resi- dents of Ontario face after the election. Once again the folks of Fortress Toronto, with the help of a few other scattered locations, ignored all the Lib- eral abuses of power over the past dec- ade to hand them a majority. And the heartland is left out in the cold. During their years in power, the Lib- erals have alternated between ignoring rural issues and stomping all over the rights of people who make their homes in the boonies. Nobody is expecting any change to this sorry state of affairs under a Kath- leen Wynne majority. In an interview with Sun Media this last, Wynne promised her government will listen to members of the Opposition. However, this government has never listened to anyone north of Hwy 7 and there's a snowball's chance that will change any time soon. Wyrme's record with rural Ontario is illustrated in the agricultural portfolio. The premier also served as agriculture minister in her first term in the big chair. However, taking that post was token- ism at its cynical best. The ministry has accomplished zilch with Wynne in charge. The ministry's website shows that the department is too tied up in bureau- cracy -speak to bother with farm -speak. Here's an example: "Ontario's agri- food industry is ... poised for even greater success, and with the premier as minister of agriculture and food, there is a unique opportunity to shine a light on the strength and potential of this sector ... We will work to bridge the gap between rural and urban in Ontario and support economic growth for our agri-food industry!' Those are great words if you ignore they're meaningless if no one bothers to walk the talk. At least the ministry understands the rural -urban divide. One of the few times the premier/ag minister both- ered to even mention rural Ontario during the campaign was to deny the existence of said gap. As the manufac- turing sector disappears, Ontarians must find work in other fields. Some of those jobs could be on one of the 52,000 farms in the province or with the 3,000 food processing operations. The ministry recognizes that with $10.8 billion in annual exports, Ontario is a leading agricultural export province. And yet the sector gets zero to nil attention at Queen's Park The ministry has three goals to help agriculture grow: • Make Ontario a better place to do business • Increase competitiveness through innovation • Grow markets at home and abroad And yet electricity — a key input cost in agri-related enterprises just like other businesses — continues to be a market in disarray. Costs are in the stratosphere and the Liberals have no appetite for getting them under control or for cleaning up the mess that is Hydro One. It's anybody's guess how the gov- ernment might grow agricultural markets. As food costs continues to rise, markets are likely to shrink. Producers are enjoying the finan- cial benefits from these rising mar- kets, but there is little confidence the good times will roll for long. Of course agriculture is only one segment of life for folks outside urban Ontario. Premier Wynne has taken only baby steps to fix the destruction her predecessor brought to rural Ontario with the suspension of landowner rights in locating wind factories and with the knee -capping of the horse race industry and associated loss of thousands of jobs. These and many other issues need to be addressed. But there's fat chance any of them will surface at Queen's Park Column Whitney South Huron Expositor Look before you leap Whitney South Huron Expositor Since its invention in 1960s, to its rise in popu- larity throughout the 80s and 90s, the Internet has made the world a very different place. Granting us the ability to share information and technology all over the world, the web has changed not only the way we communicate, but also the way we live our everyday lives. Few among us can say they're not regular users of some sort of social media platform. From Facebook to Twitter; Tumblr to Pinterest, there seems to be no end to what you can do, or how much time you can waste in front of a com- puter screen. The briefest touch of the keyboard can bring up information on anything and everything. Even news outlets have jumped on the band- wagon, sharing live updates on stories from around the world. But with great power comes great responsibility. Taking in everything we read as truth is one of the most common mistakes we can make these days. Stories detailing everything from the hidden toxicity of toothpaste to the sudden death of a popular celebrity plague the worldwide web, passed on by those who truly believe what they read must be true. It's on the Internet after all. With just the click of a mouse, rumors, gossip and slander can be shared instantly. Perpetuating misinformation is something none of us want to be accountable for, and it's up to all of us to use appropriate caution. Heck, I've even had to have this conversation with own father. In essence, we're fueling the nastiest of gossip circles, while relieving everyone of any account- ability for their actions. Some of the greatest Internet hoaxes include everything from learning to charge an iPhone with onion (2007), to much more serious stories of organ thieves making the rounds in New Orleans (1997). When you really think about it, don't we have enough to be concerned about without tales of alien chickens and giant camel spiders in Iraq? So before you hit that 'share' button, do a little research. After all, if we aren't able to tell fact from fic- tion, how can we really hope to learn anything? 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