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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-01-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 2012.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com 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; $115.00/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: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 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 January 28, 1965 The Brussels Horticultural Society approved its new slate of officers for 1965 at its annual general meeting on Jan. 18. Mrs. Carl Hemingway was elected to the position of president while Mrs. D. A. Rann was named first vice-president, Mr. A. Knight was named second vice-president and Mrs. E. Shurrie was named secretary. Dorothy Elliott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. O. Elliott of Brussels was awarded the first place trophy for the Grades 7 and 8 public speaking competition sponsored by the Wingham Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. For her achievement in the competition, Elliott received the Dr. W. A. McKibbon Trophy. Ralph Shaw was named the new secretary-treasurer of the Morris Township School Board. Shaw was named to the position at the board’s first meeting of the year on Jan. 20 in Brussels. Seven new members were enrolled in the Brussels Brownies. The members were Kim Sullivan, Susie Spier, Julie Hanna, Lori McCutcheon, Joyce Pearson and Dianne Thomas. The seven new members were welcomed to the group by Captain Kellington. Duff’s United Church held its annual general meeting on Jan. 21. The church’s annual financial report showed favourable figures being reported from all organizations. January 28, 1987 A man charged in connection with a robbery at Brussels Variety on Nov. 29, 1986 was sentenced to eight years in jail after an appearance on Jan. 26 in Goderich court. Milo (Tom) Wood, 22, of Seaforth, appeared on all 12 charges, which included five charges of robbery. A fire of an unknown origin destroyed a Londesborough-area farm and hundreds of animals on Jan. 21. The fire, which was of an unknown origin, was called into the Blyth Fire Department around 12:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived on the scene, the building was already engulfed in flames and there was nothing that could be done to save it. Firefighters remained on the scene for several hours, however, despite the fact that the building could not be saved, as a strong wind was fanning flames towards the Hillis home. Blyth Fire Chief Irvin Bowes said that nine sows, a number of feeder pigs, 500 chickens and a small number of cattle and sheep were lost in the blaze. People from as far away as Vanastra reported being able to see the flames from the Londesborough- area farm. With nearly a three quarters of a million dollars worth of building permits issued in 1986, the year was declared to be a booming one for the village. After the great year 1986 proved to be, Brussels had established itself as one of the liveliest communities in Huron County, enjoying a building boom unmatched in previous years. There had been no specific reason pinpointed for the boom, but it was believed that with its close proximity to Kitchener/Waterloo, Brussels was becoming a bedroom community for that area where housing costs had skyrocketed in recent years. January 26, 1994 The home of Hank Dyk of Morris Township was destroyed by fire after a blaze was sparked by the wood furnace in the basement of the home. Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling said the family was in the barn doing evening chores when the fire started and the house was fully engulfed by flames when they returned. Josling said that while the home’s structure remained, it was a complete loss due to the fire. Wingham OPP officers arrested a man in connection with a rash of snowmobile thefts in the area. Police said the man, 22-year-old Brad Peel of Belgrave stole as many as three different snowmobiles from the area. January 25, 2007 Three Conservative MPPs met in Brussels to have a serious discussion about the state of the economy in Huron County and all of rural Ontario. MPPs Bill Murdoch, Frank Klees and Norm Miller all attended the discussion which brought the thoughts and concerns of Brussels business owners to the politicians. The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority was set to hold its annual Snowfest event at the Wawanosh Nature Centre, welcoming people to snowshoe around the grounds and take in the nature Huron County has to offer. The Huron County Beef Producers held their annual meeting and learned of an organization in Germany called Animals’ Angels, which was set on inspecting and taking action on behalf of animals’ best interests. The group’s website contained several Canadian stories along with a handful of inspections in Brussels. The Beef Producers also presented outgoing president Glen Walker with a framed picture to thank him for his years of dedicated service to the group. Harvey Hoggart was named president as Walker’s replacement. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Time to listen to concerns Last week the Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA), with the largest membership of farmers in the province, called on the provincial government to halt the expansion of industrial wind turbine projects. In a commentary, Mark Wales, OFA president, said his organization’s concerns with regard to setback issues, induced current and noise impacts remain unaddressed. He also said that removal of municipal input into industrial wind turbine projects under the Green Energy Act has alienated the rural population and ignored competing community needs and policies. It’s important that the government listen to these concerns for a number of reasons. For one thing, the OFA is expressing views that are widespread across rural Ontario. In fact, the federation is coming late to the issue. It started out being generally supportive of the Green Energy Act because it saw an opportunity for farmers to earn additional income by leasing their land for wind turbines or installing solar panels. As rural opposition built, the OFA expressed concerns about certain problems with windfarms, but still stayed supportive. That one of the government’s few rural allies in green energy is now opposed to more industrial windfarms should tell the government it’s time to take rural concerns seriously. — KR Minority rules At a time when it’s struggling to continue to fund programs like education and healthcare, the Ontario government said Monday it will need to spend $1 billion to implement the federal government’s new omnibus crime bill. Community Safety Minister Madeleine Meilleur said it will cost $900 million to build a new jail to house an additional 1,500 prisoners caused by minimum sentences and other reforms, plus $60 million a year to run the jail. There will also be extra court costs and extra time for police testifying in courts when more defendants try to fight cases because they can no longer plea bargain for a lighter sentence. Do the majority of Ontario voters want to spend money on jails instead of hospitals and schools? Given that kind of stark choice, probably only a minority would still support tough-on-crime legislation at a time when statistics show the crime rates are dropping. But the minority that wants this get-tough-at-all-costs approach is important to Stephen Harper’s Conservative government. It might even be a minority among Conservative Party supporters, but it’s the tail that wags the dog. Last spring’s federal election may have given us a majority government in Ottawa, but it’ a minority that’s running the country.— KR You don’t know what you’ve lost Probably a lot of Canadians didn’t understand what all the fuss was about last week when the news broke that international publishing conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, owner of Random House and its Canadian subsidiaries, absorbed the final semi-independent remnant of iconic publisher McClelland & Stewart. Many Canadians today don’t remember what it was like 50 years ago when there were few Canadian books on store shelves. They don’t remember when the company’s owner at the time, Jack McClelland did publicity stunts like selling books on street corners to draw attention to his authors who included now household names like Leonard Cohen, Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje and Farley Mowat. The news was mostly met with a shrug because we think we’ve moved beyond the point now – just as most people don’t appreciate the importance of the CBC in forming the Canada of today. Sadly, in not valuing the institutions that helped create today’s Canada that is confid- ent in itself, we may be replaying the words of another iconic Canadian of that era, Joni Mitchell in her song “Big Yellow Taxi”: “Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.” — 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.