Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-10-31, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 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 November 2, 1961 The Brussels Lions Club held a Halloween parade through the village, which began at the CNR station and ended in the village’s downtown core. The parade was led by the Brussels Legion Pipe Band. The Lions reported that the parade included over 100 children, who all received Halloween treats at the end of the parade. At their annual meeting, members of the Brussels Lions Club once again made George McCutcheon the club’s president. Cecil McFadden was named secretary and first vice-president, while Charles Thomas was named second vice-president and William Stratychuk was named third vice- president. The Women Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, North Huron division, hosted a turkey dinner at Brussels’ Melville Presbyterian Church. November 2, 1988 Efforts were underway to revive the Brussels Stockyards after it was closed the previous week when owner Klaus Henschel disappeared, leaving unexplained discrepancies involving payment for cattle ordered from western Canada. Bruce McCall, the stockyards’ former owner, said that his son would be seeking licences to operate a sales barn under a new company, which was in the process of being formed. Four candidates vying for a seat in the next federal election debated the issues of the day in front of 200 people in Clinton at an all- candidates meeting hosted by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture. The candidates, Tom Clark of the Christian Heritage Party, Ken Dunlop of the Liberal Party, Tony McQuail of the NDP and Murray Cardiff of the Progressive Conservative Party, discussed everything from free trade to nuclear submarines to the role of women in government over the course of the night. Blyth residents had a rude awakening when they woke up on one late October morning with over four inches of heavy, wet snow dumped throughout the village. The heavy snow broke several branches off of trees, leading to power outages. Halloween passed with no notable incidents of vandalism. Police in both Blyth and Brussels were on duty patrolling the villages due to a history of bad behaviour on Halloween. Several piles of leaves were set ablaze in Brussels, but other than that minor incident, there was nothing else to report. November 2, 2006 The Huron County Federation of Agriculture voted to close snowmobile trails that run across farmers’ land, which was called the “only lever” that farmers had left in their fight for a fully-funded risk management plan. “We hope this action is only temporary,” said the federation’s president Stephen Thompson. “I have said that if we get a plan, I will be the first to show up and stake trails anyplace, anywhere.” Thompson acknowledged that the decision may not make farmers many friends, but felt it was a necessary one. “No difficult decision is made without that. But we had a full quorum and made the decision with the knowledge of the full risks. We feel we have no choice. It’s a matter of economic survival,” Thompson said. Local historian Brock Vodden led a guided tour around the Village of Blyth as part of the province-wide Doors Open program. November 1, 2012 The Gateway Rural Health Research Institute, based in Seaforth, announced that it would be officially partnering with Georgian College out of London. “I’ve been so impressed with what’s happened in this rural community,” said Georgian College’s Associate Dean Elizabeth Erwin. “This is a dynamic and futuristic community and I know we will do good things together.” The special announcement was attended by Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb and MPP Lisa Thompson, who both acknowledged the achievement of the group. “A lot of people wanted this with all their hearts and I can’t wait to see this grow,” Thompson told the group. The Blyth Festival announced the plays that would comprise its 39th season, which would be held under the auspices of interim Artistic Director Peter Smith. He said he hoped the season would reflect people’s lives back at them from the stage. “More people buy mirrors than they do paintings,” Smith remembers former Artistic Director Anne Chislett telling him. Smith announced that the Festival would be revisiting The Farm Show, a play that proved to be instrumental to both the Blyth Festival and Canadian theatre overall, with Beyond The Farm Show. Blyth’s Steve Howson was named the Citizen of the Year for Blyth and its surrounding communities. “Steve has Blyth’s best interest at heart and truly deserves the honour of Citizen of the Year,” one nominator wrote of Howson. 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 our turn for fight Poppies are blooming on the lapels of many local residents with the approach of Remembrance Day as people pay their respects to those who sacrificed to protect democracy. Given the happenings in Queen’s Park and on Parliament Hill these days, perhaps it’s a blessing there aren’t too many veterans left to see what has happened to the democracy for which they fought. Democracy isn’t only in danger from exterior threats like the world ambitions of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler or successive leaders of the Soviet Union. Democracy is also threatened when people become so cynical about the democratic process that they feel there’s no use in voting, or even keeping up with the issues. The numbers of people voting in elections in Canada has been steadily dropping and isn’t likely to improve with the activities demonstrated by our “leaders”. Seldom have we seen such acts of cynicism as have been illustrated by the gas plan cancellation debacle in Ontario and the Senate scandal in Ottawa. When you must choose between the least dishonest or the least contemptible side, it hardly inspires ordinary people to admire their political process. The cancellation of two gas-fired electrical generating plants near Toronto during the 2011 election campaign illustrates the worst kind of cynicism. Then-Premier Dalton McGuinty, facing local opposition and the reality that both the Progressive Conservatives and New Democratic Party had promised to cancel the plants, did so himself, without really looking into how much it would cost to do so. In fact there has been some evidence that in order to make the problem go away quickly, he agreed to a too-generous deal. That deal is now costing electricity users more than $1 billion. But it’s not exactly as if Ontarians can turn to the opposition parties as shining examples of ethics. Both opposition parties, in blasting the Liberals for buying votes, forget that they promised to kill the plants first. We can hope perhaps that they might have struck a better deal than the Liberals but it would still have cost electricity users something for cancelling those plants. In blasting the Liberals day after day and doing everything possible to keep the controversy cooking, the opposition is being just as opportunistic as McGuinty. Meanwhile in Ottawa, the duplicity of the Prime Minister’s office has had the dubious effect of making people almost feel sorry for three Senators who improperly claimed expenses for housing and travel. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who once promised to reform the Senate, later embraced the notion that it was a way of rewarding people who had helped his party. When things started to go badly, he turned against some of the people he had appointed. Now they’re fighting back, releasing more and more information that is catching the Prime Minister in his own web of intrigue. Harper, McGuinty, the cheating senators in Ottawa and the cynical opposition leaders in Ontario are all undermining the democracy our veterans fought for. Now it’s up to us to keep democracy strong. We can’t turn off and pretend we have no part of this. We must engage and we must make cynical politicians pay for their contempt of voters. It’s the least we can do for those thousands who risked, or gave, their lives for our freedom. –KR They think they’re special The sense of exceptionalism which underlies much of the American political psyche seems evident, again, in the news that U.S. spy agencies have listened in on the communications of some 35 leaders of other nations, many of them supposedly U.S. allies. Such is the power of the U.S., such is the all-inclusive bubble of American media and culture that means voices from outside the U.S. are seldom heard, that America feels it is morally a step above even its closest friends. Because of this, Presidents from both parties have long declared their duty to do “what is in the best interests” of the U.S. They don’t say “do what is right”. It is assumed that what is right for the U.S. is what is right. For U.S. allies it means you can never quite trust your “friend”. –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.