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The Citizen, 2015-06-18, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 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 June 21, 1962 Area voters went with the Progressive Conservatives once again, re-electing MP Elston Cardiff as their representative in Ottawa once again. This would be Cardiff’s seventh straight term in office. Louise Porter, a teacher at Brussels Public School for the past 10 years, was honoured with a special celebration that featured a musical performance by her Grade 5 and 6 students. Porter was recognized for her years of commitment at the regular meeting of the Brussels Home and School Association. Gerald Exel, president of the association, spoke about Porter’s hard work and dedication to her students, while Gordon Stephenson, a member of the school board, presented Porter with a travel alarm clock to thank her on behalf of the board. June 20, 1979 McDonald’s Build-All in Brussels celebrated its 50th anniversary and handed out a number of service awards to employees who had been with the company for a number of years. That included Ethel Brewer and Vera Hastings, both of whom had been with McDonald’s for 35 years. A highland night in Brussels, featuring the music of a number of bands, as well as highland dancing, saw about 200 people attend the outdoor event. Performing at the concert were bands from Brussels, Mitchell, London and Mount Forest, while highlands dancers travelled to Brussels all the way from Stratford for the event. Over 1,500 people were in Brussels for the fifth annual flea market. Held at the Brussels Fairgrounds, the event was sponsored by the Maitland Valley region of the Historical Automobile Society of Canada. Organizers said the event played host to nearly 50 vendors who sold everything from hard-to- find car parts to airplane parts. June 20, 1990 Taxes for Blyth residents were set to rise once again, this time by 8.66 per cent in Blyth Village Council’s newest budget. The proposed increase came as a result of a rise in the school board budget, which was 8.66 per cent for those who supported the public school system and even higher at 8.72 for those who contributed to the Catholic system. Taxes were due to rise across the board, however, in many other area municipalities. Taxes would rise in West Wawanosh Township by 9.77 per cent, while Hullett taxes rose 8.9 per cent and McKillop taxes went up 9.2 per cent. Wingham OPP officers were busy investigating a robbery that occurred sometime through the evening of June 12 and the morning of June 13 at Humphries’ General Store in Walton. Police were notified the morning of June 13 when owner Bill Humphries noticed the break-in. Police said that the thieves had gained access to the store through a basement window. They made away with $1,200 in cash and some cigarettes. Finance Minister Michael Wilson was in Wingham and explained that farmers would come out ahead with the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST). He also said that the Free Trade agreement in place was working well for Canada. While in Huron County, Wilson spent some time at CKNX where he taped a special episode of The Family Farmer for the network. June 20, 2001 A Brussels native and her husband were in Venice, Italy taking top honours at a premier arts competition. Janet Cardiff, daughter of Jack and Audrey Cardiff, and her husband George Bures-Miller won the Venice Biennale Special Award for their work on The Paradise Project, a 15- minute audio and video installation piece. The piece, which was composed collaboratively by both artists, had also won the Benesse Prize in Japan, which carried with it a cash prize of one million yen, which, at the time, translated to approximately $13,000 Canadian. Avon Maitland District School Board trustees accepted a tender to begin the process of bringing F.E. Madill Secondary School into compliance with current fire and life safety regulations. The tender would upgrade the school’s northeast exit, which would improve the fire rating in the ceilings, walls, heating system and ventilation system in the wing of the school, which had been built in 1959. The vote passed 6-2, with the two trustees who voted against it questioning how necessary the project was. With the hot weather in Huron County, two poor air quality warnings had been issued in the area in the past week. Bob Worsell of the Huron County Health Unit said that the conditions could be most dangerous to babies and the elderly during periods of poor air quality. 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 Can we afford to be fair? The Avon Maitland District School Board will once again study the issue of bringing French Immersion classes to Huron County but in a cash-strapped system, can we afford to be fair? There’s no doubt that it’s not fair to parents in other parts of Huron and Perth that the only schools to offer French immersion are in Stratford. Given that some people think a knowledge of French gives students a leg-up when they go into the workworld it could even be argued that students in Huron County are bring discriminated against. On the other hand, there’s the reality of geography. There’s no community as large as Stratford in Huron meaning that to assemble a significant population of French Immersion students there’s going to be extensive busing involved. Not only is this costly, but it can mean tiringly long rides for young students. It would be wonderful if Huron County parents and students could take advantage of French Immersion but we can’t afford a costly new program if the expense contributes to funding shortfalls that would lead to the closure of even more schools. — KR When enough’s never enough The highly publicized firing of CBC Power and Politics host Evan Soloman over conflict of interest allegations because of a side-business shows that for some people enough is never enough. Soloman is accused of collecting commissions for putting a Toronto art dealer in touch with high-profile people he interviewed on his shows. A Toronto Star exposé that led to his dismissal from CBC claimed he had accepted $300,000 in commissions over two years. The scheme blew up in Soloman’s face, The Star reported, because he felt he should have received his same 10 per cent commission in the sale of a painting for more than $20 million. Soloman had one of the top jobs in Canadian journalism and one would expect he is well compensated. But when you associate with billionaires like Blackberry founder Jim Balsillie, as Soloman did, a good salary can look like a poverty wage. The temptation to spin those contacts into extra income apparently was too much for Soloman. The very ethics of making money from people you might, as a journalist, someday need to ask tough questions seems to have been lost on Soloman. It wasn’t lost on co-workers, one of whom called Solomon’s actions “stupid”. Soloman’s situation brings to mind the ongoing scandal in the Senate where for some Senators it wasn’t enough to make a darned good salary for the rest of their lives, they also felt the right to try to have taxpayers pick up the tab for household and personal travel expenses, and in one case even a Senator’s wife’s business expenses. Sadly, these cases show the frailty of human beings and how easily being surrounded by power can make people think they are entitled to be rewarded beyond a merely good salary. –KR First truth, now reconciliation The truth about the 100-year failure of native residential school came out in last week’s report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but the reconciliation is going to be the hard part. The Commission declared the schools were an attempt by the Canadian government and church administrators of the residential school system to wipe out the native culture – cultural genocide the report called it. Much damage has been done. As former Prime Minister Paul Martin said, generations of native children were separated from their parents and had no experience of a proper parent-child relationship. Is it any wonder native people have had so many social issues. Martin has been heavily involved, since his election loss in 2006, in trying to improve educational opportunities for First Nations students, often pointing out we spend a fraction as much educating these students as we do in the provincial school system. Undoing a century of mistakes and prejudice is going to be a huge challenge, but it’s one we must tackle if Canada is to be the kind of country we want it to be. –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.