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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2015-05-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 28, 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 May 30, 1979 Bob McKinley was re-elected to represent the Huron-Bruce riding for a fifth time. McKinley defeated upstart candidate Graeme Craig of the Liberal Party by 9,000 votes, returning him to Ottawa. NDP candidate Moira Couper saw a 25 per cent increase in support for the party in the riding, which she called “super” adding that she was glad that anyone voted for her. The Brussels Business Association (BBA) announced that its annual Carnival Days event lost money in 1979, despite making a good profit with the 50/50 draw. Students at Walton Public School performed their annual spring concert at the hamlet’s community hall. Principal Mrs. Marie Toll welcomed everyone to the concert, which kicked off with the singing of O’ Canada. Slo-pitch returned to the Brussels area with the season’s first game, a contest between the Gangbusters and the Crushers, ended with a 14-9 win by the Gangbusters in the Brussels Industrial Slo-Pitch League. Murray McArter served as captain for the Crushers, in a league that was also home to the Untouchables, captained by Dale Machan, the Devils, captained by Laurie Campbell and the Gangbusters, whose captain was Bill Smith. The sign at the village’s liquor store was damaged to the tune of two holes in the sign, which caused between $300 and $400 in damage. The investigation was ongoing. May 30, 1990 Westfield-area resident Simon Hallahan had been chosen as the Blyth and area Citizen of the Year for his extensive work in the community over the course of his 91 years. Hallahan’s major involvement over the years had been with the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association and 4-H, as well as its predecessor the Boys and Girls Club. He also served on the Belgrave Co-op board for over 15 years and was East Wawanosh’s Reeve for seven years, serving as a councillor for 10 additional years. Known as a joker with a great sense of humour, Hallahan loved to poke fun at himself, his Liberal politics and his Catholic religion, The Citizen reported. In a pamphlet distributed to Huron County ratepayers, the Huron County Board of Education warned people that taxes would be increasing dramatically over the course of the next few years, but blamed the provincial government for the change. “Despite best efforts to spend wisely and cautiously, provincial legislation had added initiatives to education, which though important, must be paid for and will, the board predicts, be expensive,” The Citizen reported. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were being added to the budget that year for pay equity and changes to the pension plan, as well as a number of other factors. While the board was facing an increase of 12 per cent in operating funds for the year, since 1976 Huron County had seen an 18.4 per cent decrease in funding from the provincial government while at the same time the area had grown four and a half per cent. May 30, 2001 A proposed budget plan for Huron East could mean a 20 per cent jump in property taxes for McKillop Ward, an 18 per cent hike in Grey and an eight per cent increase in Brussels. The budget plan, proposed by Deputy-Mayor Bernie MacLellan, reflected the newly-amalgamated municipality’s ongoing struggle with how to share the municipality’s money amongst its wards and how to balance tax hikes. Councillor Greg Wilson said that Brussels was not getting its fair share out of the budget and felt another tax hike would be inappropriate. In the face of further increases, he said that Brussels had lost two of its municipal workers, as well as its office. “We have nothing to show for it. It’s not fair,” he said. MacLellan, however, disagreed, saying that in the upcoming summer, 40 per cent of Huron East’s road budget would be spent in Brussels. North Huron was determined to get tough on skateboarders, passing a bylaw that stated that if anyone was caught skateboarding on sidewalks, streets or parking lots in Blyth they could be fined up to $250 for breaking the law. Clerk-Administrator John Stewart said that he hoped the bylaw wouldn’t result in fines and court appearances, but that it would serve as a deterrent to those wanting to illegally skateboard in the village. “Our hope is that the first time the enforcement officer speaks to them, they pack up and the problem will be gone,” he said. If that first conversation didn’t go as planned, however, he said the township needed to be ready to act. “If push comes to shove, they have to be prepared to be a witness in court,” he said. 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 It’s not a lot to ask The current Ontario government’s reputation for not understanding rural Ontario, (and not caring that it doesn’t), is only reinforced by its deafness in issues like Bill 100, its Supporting Ontario’s Trails Act. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has expressed frustration that it cannot get the government to listen to the concerns of the farmers on the issue. While the OFA says it’s supportive of the trails, it wants the legislation to address farmers’ issues such as amendments to the Trespass to Property Act, setting a minimum fine of $500 for trespassing, and broader police enforcement of the Act to address farm safety and biosecurity concerns related to trespassing. It’s great that the province is encouraging trails – great for the health of trail users and great for the local economy – but the trade-off needs to be giving comfort to farmers who live near these trails that there will be protection to their property and their livelihoods. Toughening trespass legislation would bring more landowners on side, instead of setting landowners against trail users. It’s not as if this is burdensome for hikers. As caring, nature-loving people very few would trespass anyway. Just employing some common sense, such as improving trespass legislation to protect farmers, would do much to help rehabilitate the provincial government’s reputation in rural Ontario. If it can’t even get this minor issue right, it’s beyond hope. –KR Obviously oversight is needed Ontario Ombudsman André Marin’s explosive report that Hydro One screwed up the bills of more than 100,000 customers – and wasn’t in a hurry to fix the problems until he stepped in – shows just how much ordinary people need someone like him to turn to. But under its omnibus budget bill, Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government plans to strip the Ombudsman, and six other independent watchdogs, of their right to oversee Hydro One’s activities. Instead a new internal Hydro One ombudsman is to be set up as part of the government’s plans to privatize the utility. Once again a government is trying to sneak through an important non- monetary change under the guise of a budget, meaning the vast majority of taxpayers, and even much of the media, don’t know the change is in store until it’s too late to react. Marin’s report shows Hydro One customers would have been in a pretty bad state if they hadn’t had his office to turn to, because the utility had done its best to hide the problem that was brought about by malfunctions in its new computer system. One senior citizen had $10,000 taken out of his bank account without warning. Another customer was billed $11,000 for five years worth of electricity he had already paid for. A ski resort was sent a bill for $37 million! Ontario can’t afford to sell part ownership of Hydro One if it means there isn’t as much customer protection as the Ontario Ombudsman’s office offers now. Any change proposed should certainly not be hidden in a bill that’s supposed to be about the provincial budget. –KR Somebody make it better When a rowdy fan harassed a female reporter with crude comments outside a soccer game in Toronto a couple of weeks back, he was quickly fired from his $107,000 job at Hydro One. Now, employment law experts are wondering how much it might cost the employer if the former employee goes to court suing for false dismissal. The yahoo in question is not the first person to lose a job over silly public acts. One woman made a stupid Facebook comment that could be interpreted as racist as she was getting on a plane and found out she’d been fired by the time she got off. We want the world to be a better place and we now expect employers to make it better by instantly punishing people who do things of which we disapprove. Of course we also want laws that prevent employers from firing people on a whim. People who wanted that Hydro One worker shamed and punished got their way. Now, if the utility is hit with a large settlement, we Hydro users will have to help pay the price. –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.