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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-08-11, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 11, 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, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 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 Taking time out wise The decision by Central Huron council to take a time-out on the talks on sharing services with its neighbouring municipalities is a wise one. After the breakthrough agreement between North Huron and Morris Turnberry to share services, the idea spread like wildfire. There seemed to be a feeling among other councils that if two municipalities which had previously feuded over services like fire protection were going to work together to share services like the public works it must be a good idea. For councils desperate to balance budgets at a time of increasing costs and decreasing revenue the idea of sharing services to cut costs is certainly attractive and should be explored. But in slowing the momentum of the movement, Central Huron councillors are right in saying they want to see how well the process works for their northern neighbours before they rush to jump into a similar arrangement with Huron East and Bluewater. The shared services idea may be everything everyone hopes it will be, but slowing down and seeing how it works for Morris-Turnberry and North Huron and learning lessons from their implementation of the plan, makes sense. — KR Half full? Half empty? Last week 500 people lost their jobs when Arc Productions, Canada's biggest animation studio, filed for creditor protection. The layoffs were tragic for the employers but were taxpayers also abused, as opponents of the Ontario government suggested? Taxpayers play into this story because the Ontario government of Premier Dalton McGuinty gave the company a $23 million grant back in 2009 to help create 200 jobs. Since 500 people lost their jobs when the company ran into financial trouble seven years later, whether you see this as a good investment or a waste of money comes down to whether you're one of those who see the glass half-filled with water, or half -empty. Whether or not governments should give grants to private companies is an issue that fundamentally divides voters. An injection of taxpayers' cash sometimes can pay huge dividends, such as when the Canadian, Ontario and U.S. governments invested in stabilizing the North American auto industry during the 2008 financial crisis, saving thousands of jobs and keeping those employees paying income taxes instead of collecting unemployment insurance. On the other hand, governments seeking to stimulate their economies have wasted taxpayers' hard-earned money too often in the past. New Brunswick's failed investment in the infamous Bricklin automobile still comes to mind as a "what were they thinking?" moment 40 years later. Which way did the Arc Productions' investment go? Well, the good news is that Ontario's animation industry has been growing at a rate of 20 per cent a year despite this failure. Whether or not the government's investment helped spur this growth is open to question. One thing is certain, if politicians are going to invest public money in private business they must treat the decision as they would if the money were going to come out of their own pockets. — KR The high price of prestige The quadrennial spectacle of the Summer Olympic Games has taken over the world's airwaves as millions watch the triumph and defeat played out among athletes from all over the world, but the huge event also raises questions whether a good idea has gone too far. Once a rather modest affair when the Olympic Games were started more than a century ago, the size and cost of the games have continued to explode. Often costs are of no concern for governments trying to prove they're "world class" such as Russia, China or Brazil. When a First World city like London takes on the Olympics, at least the bill will be paid by fairly prosperous taxpayers (it took Montreal 30 years to pay off its debt from the 1976 games). But when cities like Rio de Janeiro stage the games it can be a costly, misguided exercise in trying to impress — a bit like selling your child to be able to buy a Rolls Royce. It's been estimated the games will cost more than $4 billion in a country with huge slums of poor people. If the same money had been spent to help Brazil's poor, the effects would have been much greater and lasted far longer than the two weeks of the Olympic Games. — 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. Their home melted, so I invited them to live in our 3ti freezer! '41/ tas .A.,' tvon s• Cog Looking Back Through the Years August 19, 1959 Fourteen members of the Blyth Women's Institute, as well as two visitors, were special guests of CKNX TV Wingham's program, M'Lady. On the program, Margaret Brophy interviewed the president of the organization, Mrs. W. Good, as well as several others from the club. Children from all across Huron County were ready to assemble for the 4-H Home Garden Club's annual achievement days, which were set to be held in Wingham on Aug. 25, then in Blyth the following day, wrapping up in Seaforth at Seaforth District High School on Aug. 27. The members had all finished their summer projects in preparation for the special day. August 13, 1970 A track team from Brussels featuring 34 children under the age of 15 took home the gold medal in the 16th annual Lake Huron zone track and field meet. The team from Brussels ended the competition with a total of 171 points, besting the second -place team from St. Marys with 165 and third-place Owen Sound with 145. Maxine Watts led the team in the Class B group, while Kenny Higgins led in the Class D group. Fire completely destroyed the RR1, Walton home of the Thamer family. The fire broke out just before 6 p.m. on the previous Sunday night and by the time firefighters arrived on the scene, the two-storey home was completely engulfed in flames. The Thamer family was not home at the time of the fire, the cause of which was still unknown. Brussels Village Council received a number of noise complaints pertaining to motorcycles driving throughout the village. Council, however, handed these complaints over to the Ontario Provincial Police for further investigation. August 13, 1986 After a near -miss in attracting industry to the village, Brussels Village Council voted to buy a 113 - acre parcel of industrial land at the north end of the village. The property, purchased from William Wheeler, was one of two land purchases council had been considering. Brussels Council was also busy "cleaning up" local business — specifically a lot on the village's main street that was once the site of Trollope's Upholstery Shop. Councillor Malcolm Jacobs said he felt the site was unsafe and that it should be either cleaned up or fenced off. Other councillors agreed with Jacobs, saying that council had spent money to clean up the adjacent lot, so it only made sense for the other lot to be clean as well. In similar action, council also voted to evict a trailer from the village's trailer park after the tenent was behind on his rent and there had been similar complaints about the trailer's upkeep. The Brussels Lions Club was hard at work continuing to raise money for the new pool in the village. In an advertisement in The Citizen, the club said it only had $16,500 left to raise to reach its goal. The Honourable MP Murray Elston was set to host his annual family day celebration at the Belmore Community Centre, welcoming residents from throughout his riding on Aug. 17, when corn on the cob would be on the menu. August 14, 2002 The bill for Huron East's fight against the closure of Seaforth High School was in and it tallied just over $33,000. Councillors were said to be surprised when they saw the size of the bill, which had to be added to additional costs that included advertising and other expenses during the lengthy battle with the Avon Maitland District School Board. The actual cost of the challenge, however, was nearly $44,000, but thanks to a contribution from the Seaforth Student Success Foundation, the total was reduced by $10,000. While councillors were surprised at the costs, Mayor Lin Steffler said that council should have expected a hefty bill, even though the case didn't go very far. "The judges made it very clear that they expected the municipality to pay the court costs," she told councillors. The Blyth Storm men's slo-pitch team made its way across the country to take part in the national slo-pitch championships and came away with a national gold medal, defeating a team from British Columbia in the tournament final to claim the win. Over the course of the tournament, the Blyth team had played eight games, winning five. With the win, Blyth became the team from the smallest -ever community to win the national slo- pitch title. Gary Courtney and Doug Scrimgeour were hard at work placing Blyth's new mini -museums around the village. The kiosks, which were built by the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, aimed to tell the village's story at various sites throughout the community.