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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-11-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2013.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Sue Brindley 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; $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 9, 1961 Earl Anderson, secretary- treasurer for the Morris Township Federation of Agriculture, announced his resignation from the position at the federation’s Nov. 3 meeting. Also at the meeting, members agreed to donate $2 to each 4-H Club member who had completed one or more projects in 1961. Oct. 28 saw the best Apple Day in Brussels history with the boys of the First Brussels Scouts collecting just under $200 as a result of the initiative. After expenses, the scouts cleared just under $150. The drive began at 9 a.m. and ended at 10 p.m., at which time 15 bushels of apples had been sold throughout the community. November 9, 1988 After nearly two weeks of turmoil, it was announced that it would be business as usual at the Brussels Stockyards for the weekly Friday sales. This came after new licences were issued to Bruce and Ross McCall, the former owners of the stockyards. The stockyards had lost its licences a week earlier after a hearing before the Livestock Commissioner of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. A family of six narrowly escaped a devastating fire that destroyed their home on Morris Township’s Sixth Line in the early morning hours of Nov. 4. Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling said that the Van Beek family escaping the fire without any injuries was “a miracle”. Just days after the fire, members of the community had assembled and begun plans for a massive relief drive to aid the family in their time of need. Wingfield’s Progress was set to take the stage at Blyth Memorial Hall. The show, starring Walt Wingfield, played by Rod Beattie was billed as a sequel to the popular Letter From Wingfield Farm. At the Park Theatre in Goderich, Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers was gracing the town’s silver screen. November 9, 2006 Blyth Festival Artistic Director Eric Coates announced that the 2007 season of the Blyth Festival would focus on exceptional women. On the heels of a very successful 2006 season, both critically and financially, Coates said he designed a playbill that would pay homage to “a bunch of distinctly Canadian vibrant women”. “The interesting thing is that none of these plays can really be put into a box to describe them. They are complex and inspired by the audience response to the 2006 season,” Coates said. The season was scheduled to feature The Eyes Of Heaven by Beverly Cooper, Queen Milli Of Galt by Gary Kirkham, World Without Shadows by Lance Woolaver and Reverend Jonah by Paul Ciufo. At their Nov. 2 meeting, Huron County councillors voted to set a meeting with representatives of the Friends of Ball’s Bridge and councillors from Central Huron and Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh. The 10th anniversary of Town and Country Dining Out Services in Blyth was marked with a meal and celebration at Trinity Anglican Church. Bill 140, the Long-Term Care Homes Act, had several Huron County officials concerned. Barb Springall, administrator of Huron County’s homes for the aged, said the act could have some serious liability implications for municipalities down the road. November 8, 2012 On Nov. 1 Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Chris Lewis and several other members of the OPP brass were in Goderich to officially dedicate three bridges to honour fallen police officers. Bridges were dedicated in the names of Bruce Crew, Dave Mounsey and Vu Pham at a special ceremony that was held at the Knights of Columbus hall in Goderich. Crew’s bridge is in Goderich crossing the Maitland River, Mounsey’s bridge is in Bayfield crossing the Bayfield River and Pham’s bridge is in Port Albert, crossing the Nine Mile River. Blyth’s Russ Nesbitt was on hand to deliver Pham’s biography as part of the ceremony. A Country Carol, a community- driven Christmas play with Blyth Festival Artistic Director Peter Smith at the helm was progressing well, he said, with a number of local actors coming forward to participate. “We have an eight-year-old in the cast and we have an 80-year-old and we have everybody in between. We even have a farmer in the cast,” Smith said. Morris-Turnberry Council held a public meeting where councillors received input from residents on whether or not to eradicate the municipality’s ward system, as well as a proposed reduction in the size of council. The proposed changes would take effect after the 2014 election. Morris-Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing said he had been a strong proponent for dissolving the ward system since the 2010 election, when he was elected as mayor. 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 He gave politics a good name At a time when the antics of various politicians are putting public service into disrepute, people like Murray Cardiff, who died late last week, are sorely missed on both the federal and provincial scene. Cardiff, who served as the Member of Parliament for Huron-Bruce from 1980 to 1993, was the kind of guy who gave politics a good name at the grassroots level. He was truly a public servant, working hard at the constituency level to help people solve their problems with the federal government. Hard work on behalf of constituents was a tradition in Huron County in those days with the two Murrays, Cardiff at the federal level and Gaunt on the provincial side, stressing serving the people of their riding. It’s not the kind of work that gets you attention from the media in Ottawa or Toronto but it wins the respect and the love of the people who should matter most – your constituents. Murray Cardiff was an example of the way our parliamentary system was meant to work. He worked hard in his local community of Brussels and on a broader scale as chairman of the White Bean Producers’ Marketing Board. Having earned a solid reputation he became an obvious choice for public office. He represented the Progressive Conservatives but aside from election time, it would be hard to tell his party from talking to Cardiff. He was non-partisan in everyday dealings with the public and voters of all political stripes could count on him to work on their behalf if the need arose. You had the sense that he actually had a mind of his own because he didn’t endlessly spout the party line as seems necessary today. Young people, who are being so turned off by politics these days, are disadvantaged by not having more people like Murray Cardiff to demonstrate what public service is all about. He will be missed. –KR Paying the price for community No doubt some North Huron voters will be upset by the decision of their councillors to pay more to send bills in order to support local post offices, but it’s the kind of short-term pain we must be willing to pay in order to continue to have vibrant communities. Councillors, as reported in last week’s Citizen, decided not to use Canada Post’s epost electronic billing system even though it would save the municipality money in reduced postal costs. Councillors were concerned that if business was taken away from local post offices, they might close, taking away jobs and a local service. Canada Post, and other public and private entities, seem to be setting up systems to prove that they can’t afford to continue to provide service to rural areas. For instance, though North Huron may continue to give business to local post offices in terms of mail to sort, if the municipality is using a postage meter, the local post office won’t be credited with selling the postage. Until a few years ago customers with postage meters took them to their local post office, along with a cheque, to have them filled with postage. Canada Post set up an electronic system under which the money goes straight to head office, bypassing the local post office. North Huron Publishing Company Inc., the community-owned company that publishes this newspaper and The Rural Voice magazine, sends out more than 230,000 pieces of mail a year and pays more than $100,000 to Canada Post, but hardly any of that revenue is credited to the local post office anymore. (Not to pick on Canada Post exclusively, chains that operate newspapers in other nearby communities have been using the same tactics, taking revenue for things like classified advertising placement and subscription renewal out of the local community to centralized centres, along with the jobs these services provided.) With all this revenue routed away from local post offices, it’s easy for post office officials in Ottawa to argue that, regretfully, they must close small local post offices because they are losing too much money. The game is rigged. North Huron councillors’ small decision may, in the long run, prove futile but at least they’re making an effort. We all need to examine our own choices to make sure saving a few bucks doesn’t have the unintended consequence of losing our community services. –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.