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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-04-16, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 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 19, 1962 The Canadian Cancer Society was in the midst of planning its annual fundraising campaign in Brussels. Community members were encouraged to donate to the Society after polio and tuberculosis had been wiped out using the same fundraising methods. The previous year, a canvass in Brussels yielded just under $400 for the Society, in addition to thousands of bandages that had been made by local women and then transported to the Society’s headquarters. In a letter to The Brussels Post, W.C. Kerr, chairman of the Canadian Cancer Society urged Brussels residents to aid the fundraising campaign, assuring them that every dollar they could raise would count towards the fight. Dr. E.F. Shaughnessy, a dentist from Wingham, was welcomed as the guest speaker at a meeting of the Brussels Home and School Association at its regular meeting. Shaughnessy was introduced to the group by member George Elliott and President Gerald Exel. April 16, 1979 To help celebrate a very special birthday, a reporter from Brussels, Belgium was scheduled to be sent to Brussels, Ontario to find out a little bit more about life in Canada. Brussels, Belgium, the sister city of its Ontario counterpart, was set to celebrate its 1,000th birthday in 1979 and to further investigate the lives of those who call the Canadian Brussels home, a reporter would make the trip across the ocean. The one problem that needed to be solved, however, was with the language barrier and Brussels Clerk Bill King was asking for anyone who could aid in that task to come forward and offer their assistance. George Langlois, a French- speaking Brussels resident, was put forward as a possible interpretor for the trip. In The Brussels Post’s coverage of the potential project, it was mentioned that there has never been an official reasoning as to why the village was named Brussels after initially being called Ainleyville. A “homebound” centre, catering to those who due to age or other reasons are bound to their homes, was scheduled to open in Brussels. This centre followed in the footsteps of the Wingham and Area Day Centre for the Homebound, which had opened earlier that month. After Walton resident Graeme Craig announced that he would be running for office as a member of the Liberal Party, he, along with a number of his volunteer workers, officially opened the Graeme Craig committee rooms in Walton. Supporters of the Huron County Board of Education would be facing an 8.4 per cent increase in their education taxes in the coming year. This came after the board passed a budget in excess of $23 million, which was an increase of over 13 per cent over the previous year’s budget. Trustees were told at the meeting that the secondary school teachers strike during the 1978 school year actually helped the budget and cushioned the tax increase felt by Huron County residents. As a result, the average homeowner living in a Huron County house assessed at $3,000 would face a tax increase of $18 to $20. April 11, 1990 Jodee Medd, a Grade 7 student at Blyth Public School, was about to take her science fair project “To Bee Or Not To Bee” on the road to Windsor, where she would compete in the Canada Science Fair. Medd’s success comes after she already achieved top marks in the Huron County Science Fair in Clinton. Medd’s project looked at the effects of a fruit tree insecticide on yellow jacket wasps. While it may have been raining on the first day that members of the public could buy tickets to the Blyth Festival, it didn’t dampen the spirits of dozens of theatregoers who lined up outside Memorial Hall to ensure they would snag the best seats to this season’s shows. At its year-end banquet, the Brussels Curling Club announced that it would be donating $2,000 to the Brussels, Morris and Grey Arena. April 11, 2001 Neil McGavin of Walton was one of 11 people across the province recognized for their volunteerism, in Guelph, with a Agri-Food Rural Communities Volunteer Recognition Award. The Citizen reported that in addition to McGavin’s work at his farm machinery business, McGavin had spent countless hours serving with a number of organizations, and always doing so with dedication and “his irrepressible humour”. A rough winter and high snow banks had taken their toll on trees and shrubs throughout the community, The Citizen reported. Damage caused by the snow and wind, as well as animals over the course of the long, cold season, had left plants in need of special care as spring approached. “This is the worst year I have seen for animal damage,” said Don Henry, owner of Maitland Manor Nursery and Landscaping. 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 The devil’s in the dollars Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne announced Monday that this province will join Quebec and California in cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The question for many is whether the biggest attraction of the system for the government is the encouragement it gives major polluters to reduce their reductions of carbon dioxide or the revenue this may bring the cash-strapped government. A University of California Berkley study, released when Wynne made her announcement, estimates the system will add 2.6 cents to the cost of a litre of gas. However, in the longer term, improved fuel efficiency is predicted to save the average person $400 annually by 2020. Companies that produce heavy emissions will have to buy permits to allow them to pollute. Companies that improve their efficiency can sell their permits to larger emitters. Ontario and Quebec, representing 60 per cent of Canada’s population, will join California, the eighth biggest economy in the world, in a grouping that has the potential for a huge impact in North America. It all sounds positive but following the money trail will tell if it works as advertised or not. Premier Wynne has promised that money raised (there have been estimates it could bring in $1-$2 billion a year) will be invested “in a transparent way back into projects that reduce greenhouse gas pollution and help businesses remain competitive”. If she’s tempted to siphon off some of that revenue to help bring down the current deficit, however, the cost isn’t worth it. Premier Wynne and her predecessor Dalton McGuinty have been visionary in trying to create a modern economy. McGuinty hoped his Green Energy Act would bring new jobs through the construction of wind turbines and solar panels as well creating green energy but many think it’s been a failure. Now Wynne is taking her crack at the issue. Here’s hoping she gets it right. –KR Legislating a class system People for Education, the parent-led Ontario education watchdog, this week released a report that says Ontario’s decades-old policy requiring students to select whether they’ll to be educated in the “applied” or “academic” streams before they enter high school fails students. The report says that while those students who select the applied stream can later transfer into the academic stream if they want, only three per cent of the principals of the 1,196 schools in the study said students often made the switch. Meanwhile a provincial study showed that only 21 per cent of students who took applied courses went on to college after graduating. Too often streaming tends to confirm a class system and discourages upward mobility. In the Toronto District School Board, for instance, only six per cent of students in the highest income neighbourhoods take the majority of their courses in the applied stream, while 33 per cent of students in the lowest income neighbourhoods were streamed into applied studies. People for Education doesn’t call for an end to streaming but it does argue that the decision of which stream to join should be delayed until at least the end of Grade 9. It’s a reasonable request. We need to give students as much time and flexibility as possible to improve their academic qualifications and set their sights higher. –KR Don’t stereotype cops, either Video shot by a bystander that showed a South Carolina police officer shooting an unarmed man in the back has shocked people and confirmed for many, coming as it does in the wake of other shootings of black men, that a lot of white cops in the U.S. are all to ready to turn to violence. The various deaths reveal a disturbing situation, but just as police are wrong to fear and distrust all black people they interact with, it’s also wrong to turn all cops into bad guys. Many cops serve the public tirelessly and honestly. A few bad apples can give the wrong impression. Still, it’s important that police departments carefully choose the right people to be officers, set proper standards of conduct, and enforce those standards. We need cops – good cops. –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.