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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-09-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2013.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Sue Brindley The CitizenP.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; $130.00/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 September 21, 1988 The Huron County Waste Management Master Plan was in the midst of being created and those involved were looking for public input. Jo-Anne Richter, project co- ordinator, told residents that the plan would affect nearly everyone in the county, as many local landfills were approaching their capacity. Norman Parks Garrett, a former Blyth teacher who had passed away one year earlier, left a bequest of $60,000 to establish a scholarship trust. The trust would be used to support secondary school graduates from his home town of Blyth. Walton’s Jeff McGavin won the title of reserve champion at the Canadian Plowing Championships which were held in Agassiz, B.C. McGavin, however, wouldn’t be defending his junior title at the International Plowing Match, being held in Stratford the next week, as he didn’t want to miss any of his classes at the University of Guelph. He was in the midst of pursuing a science degree at the university, with some help from the Ontario Plowmen’s Association and the scholarship he won there as junior champion of the previous year’s International Plowing Match. The Mercey Brothers, one of Canada’s top country and western music groups, was set to take the Memorial Hall stage in Blyth with a concert scheduled for Oct. 15. September 20, 2000 The Huron-Bruce Liberal Association held its annual nomination meeting in Lucknow and MP Paul Steckle was acclaimed as the party’s representative for the riding once again. Stan Eedy, who nominated Steckle for the position, said Steckle was a great leader and the right candidate for the Liberal Party going forward. “We have such a candidate, a proven leader who can stand up and state his views,” he said. He also added that Steckle had served the party “extremely well” during his time as its representative. With the municipal election a month away, nomination papers began to make their way into municipal offices. Morris Township Deputy-Reeve Keith Johnston announced that he would seek the position of mayor of the newly- amalgamated Morris-Turnberry. In North Huron, just Mason Bailey and Murray Nesbitt had announced their intention to seek councillors’ seats in the Blyth Ward. Bailey said running for a councillor’s position was well- timed, as he intended to run for the position of Huron County Warden. If he was simply a councillor, he said, he would have more time to dedicate to the warden’s chair. September 21, 2006 The Blyth Festival had an excellent 2006, according to General Manager Jane Gardner, who said ticket sales had increased by seven per cent over the previous year. Gardner attributed some of the season’s success to the Festival’s 100th world premiere, which was Leanna Brodie’s Schoolhouse. Schoolhouse sold 87 per cent of its tickets, while not far behind was The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom, which sold 77 per cent of its tickets. Another Season’s Harvest sold 72 per cent of its tickets while Lost Heir sold 55 per cent of its tickets. The Avon Maitland District School Board announced that its schools were once again among the provincial leaders in standardized Grade 9 math tests. The recently-released statistics, however, showed that the reverse was happening for the board’s Grade 3 and 6 reading and writing statistics. September 20, 2012 On the one-year anniversary of getting elected, Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson reflected on all that she had accomplished, and all she had learned in those 12 months. John Black, the late chief of the Fire Department of North Huron, was set to be honoured by Huron County as the county’s top firefighter of the year. The decision had been made by the warden’s task force with the formal presentation set to be made in Goderich on Oct. 3. The awards first started two years earlier in the wake of the murder of Huron OPP Const. Vu Pham. The awards were suggested by Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson. Douglas Barrill, an economic development specialist with Huron County, was set to kick off a county- wide business retention and expansion study that he hoped would be completed by January, 2013. A group of angry teachers demonstrated in front of Thompson’s office, expressing their displeasure with Thompson’s stance on ongoing negotiations between teacher unions and the government. Huron County Council officially retired the page program at council meetings, citing a lack of interest. A young student would often act as the page for meetings, handing out documents and assisting staff in administration. Several councillors expressed their disappointment in the discontinuation of the program, but admitted that it was time for the program to end. 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 Don’t make it worse Though on the surface, most taxpayers probably shook their heads in amazement when it was announced last week that Ontario will now pay some wind power producers not to produce electricity, there may be some logic in the move. What doesn’t makes sense is allowing more companies to build more windmills that we’ll have to pay not to produce power. The provincial government’s decision gives the Independent Electricity System Operator the authority to order wind-generated electrical companies to shut down if their electricity is not needed. They will then be paid at a lesser standby rate. To be fair, this is the same deal Bruce Power gets when its electricity is not needed. It’s like paying snowplow operators on winter days when they’re not needed but they still have costs that must be met such as the cost of their equipment and employees on standby for when we do need them. Also, to be fair, Ontario’s in a much better position today than a decade ago when we were facing electrical shortages and had to depend on importing electricity from our neighbours. But by the end of 2014, the amount of wind and solar power being produced in Ontario is projected to triple to more than 5,000 megawatts. All of this will be produced at guaranteed rates that are higher than the market rate for electricity and much of it will be paid to energy giants like U.S. giant NextEra or Suncor. As Huron-Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson pointed out to Premier Kathleen Wynne in the legislature earlier this week, it makes no sense to bring another 3,700 megawatts of subsidized electricity on stream when we already have to pay companies not to produce electricity. “I don’t understand how the Premier can justify building more turbines in unwilling host communities when we are paying the ones we already have built not to produce a single megawatt of energy,” said Thompson. “This makes zero economic sense, and will only lead to yet another increase in energy rates.” Premier Wynne has made a point of trying to rebuild bridges with rural Ontarians after the Liberals were punished in rural ridings in the 2011 election. A first step would be to halt wind projects that are angering rural residents and clearly aren’t needed. If these projects proceed after the government killed two suburban gas-fired electricity plants in suburban Toronto because of local opposition, it will only reinforce rural residents’ sense they are second-class citizens. –KR No right thing in Syria If there’s one thing that most people can agree on over the tragedy in Syria it’s that there’s no right thing for the outside world to do. Oh yes, and there seems to be agreement on one more thing: no matter what U.S. President Barrack Obama proposes to do it’s wrong. Criticism of the U.S. President has been relentless since it was announced on the weekend the U.S. had reached an agreement with Russia under which the Syrian government is to turn over its chemical weapons (weapons it was denying it had only two weeks ago) to international custody. The U.S. has given up leadership of the issue to Russia, some opponents said. It shows the U.S. as weak and tells important allies the U.S. can’t be counted on to come to their defence if needed, said others. Yet when Obama was proposing bold action in the form of a strategic attack to punish the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for its use of chemical weapons against its own people, the opponents were just as critical of him getting the U.S. into yet another foreign war. The U.S. people were strongly opposed to action, no matter how eloquently Obama made the call for action. Politics, and diplomacy, often involves acceptance of what is possible, not what’s perfect. Only time will tell if Obama’s acceptance of a Russian role in eliminating the use of chemical weapons in Syria’s civil war was a wise one. Let’s hope it is. –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.