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The Citizen, 2012-05-31, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 31, 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 June 10, 1965 The annual I.O.O.F. Decoration Service of the Western Star Lodge and the Brussels Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion was held at the Brussels Cemetery on June 6. James Edgar of Listowel was in charge of the I.O.O.F. service. Edgar was a past noble grand of the Western Star Lodge. Gorrie’s Norman Wade was the guest speaker at the meeting of the Huron Historical Society held at Howick Central School. Wade spoke to the audience about the early days of Howick and how times had changed. Enrolment for swimming lessons was set to take place later in the week. Sponsored by the Brussels Legion and the Brussels Lions Club, it would cost parents $3 to enroll their children in swimming lessons for the summer. A capacity crowd filled the new Brussels Legion Hall for Hydro Showtime, which was sponsored by Ontario Hydro, Brussels P.U.C. and the ladies division of the East Huron Agricultural Society. Brussels Reeve Calvin Krauter officially opened the show. June 3, 1987 Close to $350 in cash was stolen from the office of Manning’s Building Supply Ltd. in Blyth sometime between the evening of May 30 and the morning of May 31. The thief gained access to the office through a rear window and “ransacked” two different offices in the building, dumping papers and records throughout the office, said a representative from the Wingham OPP detachment. The Huron County 4-H Youth Council held its monthly meeting in Clinton and decided to host a fundraiser where members would wash the cows of local farmers in exchange for a small donation. The money expected to be raised would go towards the 4-H Club’s summer events, such as a dance, a baseball tournament and various bus trips throughout the season. Brussels Village Council authorized the short-term financing of $62,000 to help cover the expense of new sewer construction to service the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. This was for the estimated amount of the main line. Brussels Village Council passed a new dog bylaw forbidding the running-at-large of dogs in the community, but also prohibited the persistent barking, whining and growling of dogs that was determined to be “clearly audible” from any other home other than that of the owner. June 1, 1994 Blyth Village Council made a decision to pick up the village’s commercial cardboard after the volume of it had continued to grow. After first implementing a program with Bluewater Recycling, the company said it wouldn’t pick up commercial cardboard and councillors didn’t want the cardboard to be collected with other non-burnable waste, therefore not being recycled. The Maitland Valley Conservation Authority planted approximately 75,000 trees and shrubs throughout the watershed. Blyth Festival representatives reported that tickets for the Festival’s 20th anniversary production of He Won’t Come In From The Barn were selling well. Festival representatives said evening shows were virtually sold out and that very few tickets for scattered matinee performances remained. Low remuneration was the topic of discussion with members of Blyth Village Council. Several councillors said that by the village lowering the remuneration over the years, several people had been unknowingly disqualified from running, neglecting to throw their hat into the ring because of the low level of compensation. Reeve Dave Lee said he wasn’t lobbying for more money for himself, but for his eventual replacement at the council table. “Anyone who may replace me might have to think again if they realize they’re going to have to take 25-30 days a year off work,” Lee said. May 31, 2007 Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada Stéphane Dion was in Blyth for breakfast and also to endorse Blyth Federal Liberal candidate Greg McClinchey. Dion began his tour of the village on main street, meeting several residents before he made his way into Memorial Hall for a breakfast with a large group of Liberal Party supporters. The costs associated with upgrades to the water system in Belgrave had many residents hot under the collar, as evidenced in a public meeting held in Belgrave. Ratepayers were confused over how much costs rose in just under six months. Costs for upgrades began as low as $1,400 per household and jumped to $2,625 in just under six months. HealthKick Huron, a health care initiative centred out of Seaforth, was honoured with an innovation award at the 2007 Health Care Expo Awards. The first-ever Last Light Photo Show in honour of former Citizen reporter Sarah Mann concluded, raising a total of $700 for Community Living Central Huron. 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 Wishing doesn’t make it so At the conclusion of last week’s public meeting to discuss a proposal for a fire service, Morris-Turnberry Mayor Paul Gowing said the message from the 350 people at the meeting had come through loud and clear and the key point was they wanted council to get back to the negotiating table with North Huron. Gowing was saying what people wanted to hear, even if it’s a naive wish. While it may seem perfectly reasonable to Morris-Turnberry ratepayers that the two municipalities should negotiate a deal rather than have a second fire service within the area now covered by North Huron, it takes two sides to make a deal. North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent was also saying what people wanted to hear when he was quoted on the radio as saying North Huron was willing to reopen negotiations but he added the important qualifier that they needed a “reasonable offer” from Morris-Turnberry. North Huron has said, over and over, that it has no room to renegotiate the price it wants from Morris-Turnberry, even though it expects its neighbour to pay the same share of fire costs it did to the old fire area boards even though North Huron now only provides coverage to 63 per cent of Morris-Turnberry. Meanwhile, Morris-Turnberry never seems to acknowledge, at least publicly, that although its annual cost is higher when it buys service from North Huron than it was through the old fire boards, it also does not have to set money aside separately for new capital assets. It did not have to come up with 20 per cent of the new Blyth fire station, for instance. As well, it received money from North Huron for its share of the capital assets of the old fire boards. Ironically, the virulence of ratepayers’ opposition to Morris- Turnberry’s proposal for a fire service probably undermined any readiness on the part of North Huron to negotiate. The one thing that might have pressured North Huron to cut a deal might have been pressure from their own ratepayers fearing that a new Morris-Turnberry fire service might mean they had to pick up the $223,000 Morris-Turnberry would have picked up, beginning in 2014. With Morris-Turnberry ratepayers telling their council in no uncertain terms they want no fire service, North Huron ratepayers can relax and their council, hold firm. Morris-Turnberry ratepayers at last week’s meeting might as well have told councillors “Shut up and pay them whatever they want.”— KR This is no improvement The key recommendations of consultant George Cuff’s report into improving the workings of Huron County Council continue a disturbing trend in Ontario: give more power to public servants, reduce the number of municipal councillors overseeing them, and reduce the scope of those politicians to oversee public servants. Cuff proposes to reduce the size of council from 16 to nine. Councillors would only have one employee in the entire county staff: the chief administrative officer (CAO). Everyone else on staff would report to the CAO. Council should set policy and leave the administration to senior staff. It’s basically the same thrust as the “Fewer Politicians Act” of the Mike Harris government that celebrated the reduction of ordinary citizens involved in municipal politics and put more power in the hands of staff through municipal amalgamation. Such is the distrust of politicians that these recommendations will likely be supported by many in the public. The most disturbing thing about last week’s public meeting over a proposed Morris-Turnberry fire service was the utter contempt and distrust many in the audience seemed to have for their municipal councillors. They might have concluded that, though they thought the fire service was a mistake, it was an honest mistake by councillors who thought they were doing what was best for their constituents. Instead, many complained councillors – their neighbours – were on an ego trip or worse. Sadly, we seem to be treating municipal politicians the way the upper classes in India treat the “untouchables”: people who do the dirty work we don’t want to do ourselves but who are worthy only of our contempt. This is not healthy for democracy. — 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.