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The Citizen, 2015-04-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Amanda Bergsma The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council 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 N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca April 4, 1979 It was announced that Morris Township had an accumulated deficit of over $27,000, but had $20,000 in reserve capital that could help offset the deficit. Council pointed to overflowing roads costs, with a projected $94,000 in costs that actually turned out to be nearly $110,000. Catherine Cardiff, a member of the Brussels Figure Skating Club, won a gold medal at a skating test day held in Dundas. Cardiff won the highest award the day had to offer by mastering a number of dances on her skates, including the rumba and Westminster. April 4, 1990 A lengthy dispute over costs associated with renovations at the George Radford Memorial Ball Diamond finally came to an end as all involved parties finally came to an agreement. The Huron County Board of Education said the area was not yet ready for Junior Kindergarten, voting 11 to four in favour of not including the year of schooling in the board’s curriculum. Erica Clark and Jodee Medd, both Grade 7 students at Blyth Public School, were awarded top prize at the school’s science fair earlier in the week for their project “To Bee Or Not To Bee”. Their good work would continue on at the Huron County Science Fair in Clinton the following week. The Huronview North project, which would see a $21 million home for the aged built at the south end of Brussels, was given final approval by Huron County Council. If all went well with studies required for the building, those involved said that tenders for the project could be called as early as August. April 4, 2001 One of Huron County’s greatest annual events had to be closed due to a global agricultural scare as the spread of foot and mouth disease across Great Britain and other European nations led the organizers of Slice of Huron to cancel their event for the year. “The dairy producers decided at the end of last week to pull out,” said Rhea Seeger, chair of the event’s horticultural sector. “The committee felt it would be just a matter of time before other livestock exhibitors did the same and [the animals] are a big attraction.” The move was strictly a precaution, Seeger said, as there had not yet been a confirmed case of the disease in Canada. Blyth Festival Artistic Director Anne Chislett received word that Not Quite The Same, her latest play, had been nominated for the prestigious Chalmers Canadian Play Award in the theatre for young audiences category. This marked the third time that Chislett had been nominated for the award, as she had been previously nominated for Quiet in the Land in 1982 and Flippin’ In in 1996. Both plays won the award in their respective years. The Canadian Fiddlers’ Hall of Fame announced that it would be holding its major induction ceremony at the Heritage Theatre in Wingham. According to a spokesperson for the organization, Wingham was selected as the host for the event due to its rich history in country music with Radio CKNX, the Ranch Boys and the Barn Dance organization. April 7, 2011 History was made at an Ashfield- Colborne-Wawanosh farm that was years in the making as Huron-Bruce MPP and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Carol Mitchell announced that a risk management plan would be part of the province’s 2011 budget. Mitchell called the budget, the farm budget. One hundred and fifty million dollars had been earmarked for that particular division of the budget, Mitchell said, which was building on the successful grains and oil seeds pilot program that came into effect several years earlier. Mitchell told those in attendance at the event that the process had begun several months earlier when she consulted with leaders of various commodity groups. “I’m extremely proud,” Mitchell said to those at the event. “This couldn’t have been done without the hard work and support of everyone in this room.” She credited a number of “chats” with farmers about the need for the program, adding that some of the chats were not exactly in hushed tones. The new building for the Emergency Services Training Centre just south of Blyth remained on budget, but not on schedule after weather delays set the project back over eight weeks. “We’re still on track financially,” said North Huron Fire Chief John Black. Central Huron’s budget for 2011 was presented with a 3.95 per cent tax increase to the public and continued to include funding for the Regional Equine and Agricultural Centre of Huron (REACH), which was a controversial decision for some critics. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Change for best, not cheapest Officials from Huron and Perth will begin meetings next week to explore the possibility of merging the health units and emergency medical services (EMS) departments of the two counties. Here’s hoping decision-makers can keep their focus on service, not just cutting costs. There’s almost a knee-jerk drive toward amalgamation these days, an underlying belief that bigger is better, or at least more efficient. But reality has shown us that often it just isn’t so. Can anyone really demonstrate the municipal amalgamation has cut taxes? Forced amalgamation of school boards so they cover both Huron and Perth has mostly resulted in the distancing of the decision-making process. How many people can even name their local school trustee? Huron County is a unique area. With no city in Huron, we’ve become much more attuned to listening to people in all corners of the county. With more of its population in larger centres like Stratford, St. Marys and Listowel, Perth County has a different culture. If amalgamation can save money and preserve or improve service both for the present and the long term, then by all means go ahead. Huron residents, however, have been burned often enough in the past by these kinds of “improvements” to make them remain cautious. –KR How do they get this way? This week the criminal trial began for disgraced Senator Mike Duffy, accused of fraudulently charging the taxpayer for personal expenses. On the eve of that trial, last week Senator Nancy Ruth nicely symbolized the sense of privilege of some senators when she complained because the Auditor General was investigating her claim for the cost of an additional breakfast because an in-flight airline meal, consisting of “cold camembert and broken crackers” was “awful”. How do these people get this way? Senator Ruth comes from a wealthy Rosedale family so she has probably been raised with a sense that certain standards must be met. The two most high-profile over-billing Senators, Duffy and Pamela Wallins, however, are former journalists who, in their careers, would have roasted politicians for doing the sort of thing of which they are now accused. They are earning nearly $140,000 a year but that’s not enough. They want to milk the government for every penny they can. It’s popular to point out these extravagances as a sign Canada should abolish the Senate but this sense of entitlement spreads far beyond the Senate. There’s a notorious case of the $16 glass of orange juice charged to the taxpayer by former cabinet minister Bev Oda. Closer to home there was a storm of protest last week over revelation that Amit Chakma, president of Western University in London drew compensation of $924,000 last year. Normally his salary is an already- hefty $479,600 but a clause in his contract pays him his full salary when he takes a sabbatical. Last year was a sabbatical year but he didn’t take time off, so he got his regular salary plus his sabbatical and thought nothing of it until his income was revealed in the “Sunshine List” and the outrage began. Especially offended were students who have seen their tuition fees soar in recent years with the university pleading poverty. All these people would call themselves public servants, yet somewhere along the way their sense of entitlement has taken over. Sadly, it’s a human flaw that means we’ll always need auditors general and Sunshine Lists to expose greed that’s confused with “service”. –KR So crazy, so sad It’s hard to imagine what goes on in the minds of people who can massacre 148 people, as a group of al-Shabab terrorists did at Garissa University in Kenya, Thursday. The terrorist group claimed they were punishing Kenya for interfering in their rebellion next door in Somalia, but they also had a twisted logic that they were doing God’s work by separating out Christians students and killing them. It would be wrong to blame Muslims as a whole for the killing. It’s fanaticism that’s the problem. We need to remember that fanatical Protestants have killed Roman Catholics and vice-versa in the past. –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.