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The Citizen, 2015-08-27, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 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 August 22, 1979 Brussels Reeve Cal Krauter and Clerk-Treasurer Bill King were invited to Brussels, Belgium to be guests of the city after Brussels, Ontario welcomed several Belgian residents with open arms earlier in the year. The invitation to the two men was sent by Pierre de Vos, the news editor of the Belgian radio station that started the whole process and made his way to Brussels, Ontario in May. September 5, 1990 The Huron County chapter of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation hosted several MPP candidates for an all-candidates meeting, which was held at Central Huron Secondary School. At the meeting, various education policies were debated by the candidates with answers on all ends of the spectrum. Tom Clark of the Family Coalition Party, for example, said that he felt the public school system was corrupt and needed to be completely overhauled. In a county where 90 per cent of parents wanted their children to be able to pray in school, Christianity was being legislated out of schools, Clark said, which he felt was wrong on a number of different levels. He added that the public school system was teaching a number of things that “are completely contrary to our scripture” and that the school system had a large part to play in the “moral breakdown of our youth.” A number of boating safety recommendations were handed down to local derby organizers as a result of an inquiry into the death of Brussels’ Theodore Kumm and Lorne McTeer of Chepstow, who lost their lives in a boating accident off the shores of Kincardine. Kumm, 63, died of a heart attack while participating in the Kincardine Salmon Derby, while McTeer, 34, drowned during the incident. Blyth and the surrounding communities were busy preparing for what would be the 29th annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association. Over 12,000 people were expected to make their way to Blyth, with the bulk of the visitors coming on Saturday and Sunday. Twelve contestants had thrown their hats into the ring in hopes of becoming the Brussels Fall Fair’s next ambassador. September 5, 2001 The Huron Pioneer Thresher Association accepted a cheque for $1,000 from the Blyth Lions Club, which helped to fund new bathroom facilities at the Blyth Fairgrounds ahead of the next Thresher Reunion, which would be the organization’s 40th. In addition, the Threshers’ Shed 3 was officially re-opened to the public after a number of improvements had been made as a result of Trillium funding. Huron-Bruce MPP Helen Johns was on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony to make the grand re- opening official. Sales from the Brussels and Seaforth Public Utilities Commissions were anticipated to bring in $1.9 million in proceeds to Huron East, with Festival Hydro paying for all of the assets belonging to the two commissions. The bulk of the money would be brought in by Seaforth in the form of $1,369,146, while the assets of the Brussels body would bring in $514,916. With the 2001/2002 school year on the horizon, there was little change in enrolment for various community schools, increasing or decreasing by a handful of students in most cases. September 4, 2014 The cast of Stag and Doe, a hit comedy in the 40th anniversary season of the Blyth Festival, was pictured on the front page of The Citizen being hit with gallons of ice cold water after taking on the ALS ice bucket challenge. The cast included Greg Gale, Jason Chesworth, Nicole Joy-Fraser, Eli Ham, Rebecca Auerbach and Elizabeth Kalles. A slow corn crop was beginning to worry farmers throughout Huron County. Peter Johnson, a cereal crop specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food spoke on the topic at a special meeting of local corn producers. With dramatic changes on the horizon for Brussels’ main street, the heavy construction was beginning to hurt Brussels businesses, as road closures and rough driving conditions were deterring shoppers from making their way into the village. Some businesses reported decreases in profits anywhere from 10 per cent to 60 per cent compared to the year previous. Marian Hallahan and David Stephenson were named Citizens of the Year for the Blyth and Brussels communities respectively. Both were acknowledged for their tireless dedication to non-profit causes and their ongoing presence in the community. George Underwood, and the rest of the Underwood family, were named the “farm family” of the Huron County Ploughing Match, honouring the Underwoods for their dedication to the world of agriculture in Huron County. 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 Lending a helping hand The generosity of local residents, seldom in doubt because of their support over the years, is in evidence again lately because of efforts to help two local families in crisis. Last week’s Citizen contained the story of efforts by people in the Walton, Brussels, Blyth and Seaforth areas to help the family of Neil and Marie Mitchell and to pay back some of the assistance they’d received from Ronald McDonald House in London. Community members not only gave a cash donation of nearly $2,700, but volunteers also served a traditional country dinner for 70 members of families staying there. Meanwhile, support for Blyth teacher and cyclist Julie Sawchuk, badly injured July 29 when she was struck by a car while riding her bike, also continues to grow. This kind of generosity makes Huron County a very special place to live. — KR Bought with our own money If there’s one similarity among the political parties in the October 19 federal election it’s that the leaders keep promising us goodies that we’ll eventually have to pay for with our own money. Whether it’s the $15-a-day daycare offered by the NDP, the Liberals’ Child Care Benefit or giving a more generous break for adoptive parents as the Conservatives promise, all these things cost money. They can cost the government directly or, in the case of tax breaks, reduced revenues for the government so it can’t carry out other programs. There are, of course, the dream programs such as the Liberals and NDP promise where ordinary folks will get more, but the price will be paid by the wealthy or big business. On the other side there are the tax breaks the Conservatives have given over the years, built on the perception that taxation is theft of our hard-earned money. The result of those tax savings, however, has been to impoverish the government so it can’t provide the services many of us want, such as better health care or proper funding of the armed forces. As the old saying goes, there’s no free lunch, yet as long as people respond to these kinds of promises in choosing which party to vote for, politicians will continue to make promises. What we really need is for voters to do their homework to decide which party offers the best chance of a balanced, effective and compassionate government. – KR Backing the wrong horse Canada is paying the price these days for betting their economic future on becoming the supplier of raw materials to China. As China shifts gears, and it growth rate slows, our economy that has been concentrated more and more on wealth from materials dug out of the earth, has been pummeled. While most of us have been mesmerized by China’s seemingly never- ending growth, close observers like Nicholas Lardy, of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, have noticed that China has shifted from being primarily a manufacturing economy to being a service economy. The change has been profound and “grossly underappreciated” Lardy commented recently in The Globe and Mail. Growing numbers of steel mills are losing money, 70 per cent of coal companies are in the red and profits of cement companies are down by two-thirds. Meanwhile, hotels, banks, cell phone providers and other service businesses meanwhile are growing. Manufacturers complain that young people want to work in white-collar jobs, not factories. If assessments by people like Prof. Lardy are accurate, Canada may be in for a rough ride. The stock market collapse early this week saw commodities like oil, nickel and copper all tumble in price. For decades Canadians were warned we must be more than “hewers of wood and drawers of water”, that we must do more finishing of products. In the last decade we’ve done just the opposite as soaring commodity prices drove up the Canadian dollar and made it hard for our industries to compete. Few worried as long as mining commodities brought prosperity. Now that we’ve put so many eggs in one basket, however, we may wish our economy was more diverse. – 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.