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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-04-12, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 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 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; $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 April 22, 1965 The Brussels Creamery celebrated its 25th anniversary at a time when 75 stores and restaurants within a 20-mile radius were proud to use Cousin’s Ice Cream or dairy products from the Brussels Creamery. The business was first purchased by R.B. Cousins on Nov. 28, 1939 from F.M. Samis. In 1942 the Brussels Dairy was acquired and one year later the business moved into the building being occupied in 1965. The business was expanded in 1955 when Cousins began making ice cream. In 1940 the staff consisted of one person and two part-time employees. In 1965, however, the business employed 12 full-time workers. The Cranbrook W.I. installed its slate of officers for 1965 with Mrs. William Bremner being named honourary president, while Mrs. Mac McIntosh was named president. April 15, 1987 The eighth annual Brussels Tradefest was forced to cancel due to a lack of interest from potential exhibitors. The event, which had attracted over 3,000 visitors in 1986, was the first trade show in the area, but by the registration deadline only 20 exhibitors had responded, of an expected 100. The Brussels Lions Club, which had sponsored the event, made the decision to cancel the show, saying that no trade show was better than a poor one. Tom Cull, a student at East Wawanosh Public School and Tammi Medd of Blyth Public School were both on their way to the National Science Fair in Toronto after scoring high marks at the Huron County Science Fair on April 11. Brussels Village Council was in the midst of discussing a beefed-up OPP presence in the village after Brussels suffered from severe vandalism. Sgt. J. McKee of the OPP appeared before Brussels Council to discuss council’s options before Halloween rolled around once again. The Huron County Board of Education was in support of a review of Bill 100, which governed the process of collective negotiations between school boards and teachers in Ontario. On March 30, a three-man delegation from Huron County appeared before the Ontario School Trustees’ Committee in Windsor, which had undertaken the review process. April 13, 1994 It was a hot night at Brussels Village Council, The Citizen reported, with enough residents at the meeting to steam up the windows of the office. Residents were there in support of Paul Mutter who presented a petition on behalf of homeowners who faced paying part of the cost of the Nichol Municipal Drain to service a nearby Morris Township farm. “It’s our feeling that only the farm owner will benefit,” Mutter said. “We realize we are not going to stop this drain but we don’t think we should have to pay for it.” Huron County Council was set to grow after the adoption of a voting system under Section 28 of the Ontario Municipal Act. The system stated that each municipality would be allowed to have one councillor represent the municipality, but that larger municipalities would be rewarded with more votes. For example, under the new system, communities like Blyth, Brussels and East Wawanosh would each have one vote at the table, while Goderich would have four. Hullett, Morris, Grey, McKillop and West Wawanosh would all have two votes each and Colborne and Howick Townships would have three votes each. April 12, 2007 A family in Hullett Township lost nearly everything they owned in an early morning fire on Easter Sunday, but after hours in the burning home, their three-year-old beagle Clyde was alive. The family did lose their 14-year-old beagle Cindy in the fire, but Clyde was able to make it out of the Montgomerys’ home alive. Huron County EMS received some recognition on April 4, cutting down its 90th percentile response time by nearly an entire minute. “It’s good to see the response times come down and I want to commend the ambulance services staff,” said Warden Bert Dykstra. “I think you’re doing a great job.” Author Sigmund Brouwer visited with the students at Grey Central Public School, telling them stories about his life as an author and providing them with some of the keys to success as a writer. The Seaforth All Girls Marching Band, featuring several local musicians, made its way to Nashville, Tennessee to perform several shows and even stop at Graceland. Huron County Council began considering the establishment of a heritage fund that would receive an annual contribution from the county, as well as encouraging donations from residents. Blades of Glory starring Will Ferrell hit the screen at Goderich’s Park Theatre. 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 On edge on the edge No matter how much municipal amalgamation is undertaken, there’s always a place where one municipality ends and another begins, and lately that boundary causes plenty of problems. Boundary issues are everywhere in this week’s news. Morris- Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing asked Huron County Council to explore creating a county-wide fire service to solve cross-border fire protection issues. North Huron Council had a lengthy debate about whether to provide a fire hydrant to a business that most casual observers would call a Wingham business, but is actually across the border in Morris- Turnberry. Meanwhile Huron County planning officials urged Morris- Turnberry to take part in a comprehensive planning review along with North Huron because so many planning issues cross borders. When these kinds of problems arise, there’s usually someone whose solution is more amalgamation. This may solve some jurisdictional issues, but more will arise wherever the new border is. Create a county- wide fire service, for instance, and there will still be issues where Huron touches Bruce, Perth or Middlesex. The former villages of Blyth and Brussels now find themselves on the edge of their municipalities, sometimes uncomfortably. When they were small municipalities, they knew they had to co-operate with their neighbouring townships and the townships knew they needed to co- operate with the villages that were at the centre of the community for at least part of that township. As municipalities get larger, there seems to be more of an illusion of self-sufficiency in the minds of some politicians and staff that makes it even harder to co-operate with neighbours. But no matter how big a municipality gets, it still must deal with its neighbours. We must find better ways to work together. — KR We need to talk A number of Huron County residents were part of a protest by Wind Concerns Ontario in Toronto last week, objecting to Ontario’s Green Energy policy. The energy debate needs to go way beyond Green Energy. It’s easy to be against things. It’s easy to understand why people surrounded by towering wind turbines can be against them. Those people would probably say we should turn to other ways of generating energy – such as natural gas. But in the midst of last fall’s tight provincial election, the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty, in one of its less-noble moments, gave in to protesters near Toronto who wanted to stop a new generating station to be fired by natural gas. The one energy option people seem to like is hydro electricity, with the harnessing of the power of Niagara Falls always coming to mind. But our need for electricity has long outgrown what Niagara Falls can provide, even with its recent expansion. Try to build a new hydro electric project today, with the need to flood thousands of acres of land and dislocate people and wildlife, and the protests will get loud and long. Locally, right now, many would choose nuclear as the preferred option if we need more electricity. Try to build a new nuclear plant today, however, and memories of the radiation spilling from the Fukushima nuclear plant following last year’s Japanese tsunami will be front and centre. No one will want to live near a new nuclear plant after seeing the zone designated as uninhabitable about the damaged Japanese plant. Those who aren’t worried about the safety of a nuclear plant, won’t like the cost. We’re still playing for plants build decades ago. Let’s not forget the current government’s venture into Green Energy came, in part, because it was trying to fulfill an election promise to close down coal-fired generating stations after the province’s doctors said we’re shortening the lives of our citizens through contaminated air. We keep using more and more electricity, yet somebody’s against every one of the options to create more power. The best option is to reduce the energy we use, limiting the need for new generation facilities, but few people will voluntarily use less electricity and attempts to encourage conservation, like time-of-use metering, anger consumers. We need to have a serious discussion about our energy use but it’s difficult to get it going. From politicians to single-cause protesters, it’s much easier to say what’s wrong than how to solve it.— 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.