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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-01-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 2016. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Brenda Nyveld 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. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca 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 Canada ..ocna CCNA Member of the Ontario Press Council We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or Department of Canadian Heritage. photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright CMCA AUDITED Parties can build communities Congratulations for those Grey Ward residents who are planning a celebration this June for the 160th anniversary of the founding of their former township. Events need to be celebrated. Community celebrations are more important than ever in this disconnected world. At a time when communities are swallowed up by amalgamated governments that are hard to relate to, and where an increasing number of people spend more time on their electronic gadgets than with their physical neighbours, the sense of community that has long been a strength of rural life is weakening. Communities gain strength in two ways from such celebrations. First, the people working to plan the party build a team that often leads to other projects in the future. Then, when the celebration is held, people come together to have fun with their neighbours and friends. So the planners for events like the Grey celebration or next year's East Wawanosh 150th anniversary, should be congratulated and thanked for their efforts. You're helping to keep your community's spirit strong. — KR Paying the price Much is being written and said about the increasing cost of food these days. To use an old farming -based expression, Canadian consumers are reaping what they've sown. There are two major factors in the issue: Canada has become increasingly dependent on food imports and the Canadian dollar has tumbled in value against the U.S. currency. We've become like the person who gave up having her own garden because it was so cheap at the supermarket, but then complained when the store raised prices. Globalization has seen 143 food processing plants, such as the canning plant in Exeter closed, often moved abroad. This loss of market has seen farmers abandon vegetable production on 84,000 acres. Meanwhile consumers have become increasingly particular. A McMaster University economist studying the food system found that trucks take Canadian carrots to the U.S. because of their good taste, then bring back less tasty U.S. carrots that had green tops. One television host complained recently about having to pay $7 for asparagus — which used to be a spring delicacy but consumers expect to have year-round. What the current situation should bring home to Canadian consumers and our governments, is just how vulnerable we have become with our lack of self-sufficiency in food. It's time to remedy the situation before one of the countries most blessed with food growing potential becomes totally dependent on food imports. — KR Stop this silly fighting Canada faces the prospect of another regional divide after Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre and other area municipal leaders last week came out against the proposed Energy East pipeline which would bring western oil to the east coast for refining and exporting as being too risky. Coderre's opposition brought instant reaction from westerners, from Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi to Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who pointed out Quebec gets more than $10 billion in equalization payments, much of it earned by Alberta's energy sector. It's been convenient for everyone from environmentalists to U.S. President Barack Obama to demonize oil from Alberta's oil sands projects as dirty and dangerous. While there may be a slightly greater contribution to greenhouse gases from the mining of this oil, we're all being hypocritical if we continue our own oil -guzzling lifestyles while pointing fingers at Alberta oil. Most of the proposed pipeline already exists. It would be repurposed to carry oil instead of natural gas. If it doesn't go ahead, the oil will still flow in dangerous rail tanker cars — remember the 47 people killed when tankers exploded in Lac-Megantic? Then there's the $15.7 billion TransCanada, the pipeline owner will spend converting the project — more money than the federal government plans to spend on infrastructure in a year to stimulate the economy. If we all do without oil we won't need such pipelines. Until we do, opponents like Mayor Coderre are creating a silly fight that will divide Canadians and hurt the economy, and possibly the environment. — KR Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. Looking Back Through the Years January 28, 1959 The members of the 4-H Club Leaders' Association of Huron County held their annual meeting and Ron McMichael of Wroxeter was elected to be the group's president for the coming year. The evening's guest speaker was Brad Schneller of Petrolia, assistant agricultural representative of Lambton County. The Rural Hockey League season was close to wrapping up and the Blyth team was assured to finish in first place. Blyth had yet to be defeated with just two games remaining in the season. The Blyth Standard, however, reported that, despite the success of the local team, games were sparsely attended. In its second -last game of the season, Blyth was scheduled to play against Constance, while the team's final game of the year would be against Auburn. January 29, 1970 At the annual meeting of the Brussels Agricultural Society, it was decided that the Brussels Fall Fair would continue as long as possible. The Brussels Post quoted a member of the association as saying the fair is a community event and not a money -making venture. The society also elected its new executive for the coming year. Jan van Vliet would serve as the organization's president, while Murray Hoover would be its first vice-president. Hockey players visiting Brussels from Garden City, Michigan left with a good feeling as both Novice teams came away with victories. In the first game between the Garden City and Brussels Novice squads, Garden City shut -out the home team by a score of 7-0, while in the second game Garden City still triumphed, but by the closer score of 4-2. January 22, 1986 A new elementary school staffing formula adopted by the Huron County Board of Education would not hurt small schools, members of the board urged. Joan Van de Broeck, a representative for the Colborne and Goderich Township area, said she wanted some assurance from a special committee struck to handle the new formula that smaller schools would not be unduly affected. Bob McCall of the school board's operations department said that the formula would actually have a positive impact on small schools and that the impact on the county's smaller schools was something that had been thoroughly discussed throughout the process. Also at the board's meeting, a ban on smoking in schools was suggested by the Ontario Medical Association, but instead of making a decision at the meeting, the issue was referred to the board's executive committee. A number of revised re- assessment notices created a "flood" of inquiries that "swamped" the Blyth municipal office, according to Clerk -Treasurer Larry Walsh. Walsh said there had been a significant increase in the assessment of some properties and people were concerned with how their taxes would rise as a result of the increases. The Citizen reported that several members of Blyth Village Council were actually among those hit hardest by the re -assessment. Representatives of Huron County began discussing alternatives to running traffic across Ball's Bridge any longer. Huron County Engineer Bob Dempsey suggested building a new bridge two kilometres south of the historic bridge, saying it would be the cost-effective way of handling vehicular traffic with a price tag of $1.8 million for a brand new bridge. James Roy, a co-founder of the Blyth Festival, was told that his contract as the artistic director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre would not be renewed at the end of the current season. The Citizen reported that the announcement did not come as a complete surprise to Roy, who said he felt as though he had been on the "hot seat" since first taking the position two years earlier. January 30, 2002 Dave and Brenda Linton were honoured with the title of producer of the year at the annual meeting of the Huron County Pork Producers, which had been held in Seaforth the previous week. Both were greatly involved in their community, which factored into their win. Brenda had been volunteering with the local Humane Society for a number of years, while Dave had spent two years as the Huron County director on the Ontario Pork Board, while also being involved in consultations on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's proposals to regulate drug use in on-farm feed milling operations. Clinton's Curtis Meyers, the grandson of Brussels' George and Pat Langlois, was one of a group of young people who had been nominated as Junior Citizen of the Year. The winner of the competition, held annually by the Ontario Community Newspapers Associat- ion, would be announced in March.