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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-06-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 7, 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 17, 1965 Taxpayers in the Village of Brussels were set to enjoy a cut in tax rate (a five-mill reduction in all) in 1965. The reduction was attributed to the increased local assessment and the decrease in the Wingham and District High School and Brussels Public School mill rates. Taxpayers would also see an additional two per cent decrease to their taxes if they were to pay them by the end of June. The decision was made at the June 7 meeting of Brussels Village Council. The Brussels Lions Club installed its officers for the year, naming Hank TenPas president, George Mutter first vice-president, Leonard Machan second vice-president, Calvin Smith third vice-president and Cecil Parker treasurer. Calvin Krauter, Gordon Stiles, Gordon Workman and Jan van Vliet were named directors. Charles Thomas of Brussels was featured as a guest on the CBC’s television production of Take Thirty. On the program he discussed genetics and their involvement in his farming operation. A fire of unknown origin broke out in the early morning hours of June 12 at the Brussels Sales Yard. Serious damage was averted when the alarm was raised by women returning from work at the Campbell Soup plant in Listowel. Tom Pletch was notified and he helped keep the fire under control until the members of the Brussels Fire Department could arrive. June 10, 1987 Twenty-eight new high pressure sodium street lights had been ordered for Belgrave after the June 2 meeting of Morris Township Council. Taxes in Hullett Township were set to rise by 5.5 per cent despite a small 0.35 per cent rate in the township’s portion of the taxes. A surplus from 1986 in the amount of $81,608 helped to keep the township’s portion of the taxes low. At the same time, the Huron County mill rate rose by over seven per cent and the public school rate rose nearly 10 per cent. Building in Brussels had been booming with just under half of the year gone over $500,000 in building had taken place in the village according to Clerk-Treasurer Hugh Hanly. Huron County Council decided to take up the Hwy. 4 cause after receiving letters from both Blyth and Wingham regarding improvements that needed to be made on the road, according to councillors. June 8, 1994 The annual Huron County road budget was being hit hard by provincial cuts. Huron County Engineer Denis Merrall told councillors that they better get used to a reduced level of service on their country highways after the announcement of the cutbacks. Residents in Brussels were upset about being charged late fees after not purchasing dog licenses in time. In fact, some residents were unhappy about having to purchase dog licenses altogether. Local NDP member Paul Klopp was blasted for his party’s support of same sex benefits for gay and lesbian couples. In a motion that was passed at Huron County Council with 28 votes for the motion and one vote against it, council called for the government to halt its attempt to institute the same rights for homosexual couples as were available to heterosexual couples, such as rights to health plans and pensions, as well as the right to adopt children. The motion was brought forward by West Wawanosh Reeve Bob Hallam, who was especially critical of Klopp for voting along with his party, as opposed to representing the feelings of the majority of his constituents in Huron County. Judie and David Glen of Glen Farms of RR2, Listowel were presented an award for best small booth display at the 1994 Canadian Fine Foods Show in Toronto on May 30. June 7, 2007 Doug McArter was named Citizen of the Year for the Brussels area. McArter was honoured due to his work with the Brussels Optimists, as manager of the Brussels Tigers and his annual involvement with the Terry Fox Run, in addition to his involvement with the 2007 Homecoming Committee and his local church as well. After Huron East Council placed several planters in the downtown core in an effort to beautify the village ahead of the upcoming Homecoming celebration, the planters didn’t last a night before they were vandalized. Four of the planters were overturned, causing hundreds of dollars of damage. A $500 reward was being offered for information that may lead to an arrest. A public meeting to discuss the future of the Brussels Library was held at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Options to renovate the existing library and to build a new library were both on the table, with both options exceeding $1 million each. Huron East Mayor Joe Seili said the timeline was uncertain, but that work could possibly begin the following spring. 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 Government double standards Bill Siemon, McKillop Ward Councillor on Huron East Council hit the nail on the head when he accused the province of a double standard for being so protective of farmland through its Provincial Policy Statement (PPS) when it comes to residential development, yet allowing wind turbines to be built all across the farm belt. Governments, just like the rest of us, can be wonderfully contradictory when it comes to their own interests – look at the “do not call” list for telemarketers where the rules exempt political parties from the rules that are supposed to keep businesses from calling people who have registered that they want to be left alone. Of course governments are in a delicate position – often having to choose between two things that will be good for the public. If a group of people find themselves in the way of a new highway needed to move thousands of travellers, the government will most likely act for the needs of the travellers. Still, farmland is becoming a particular subject of contradictory government policy. Rural municipalities are frustrated that they are often blocked by the PPS from making land use changes that seem logical to local councillors to allow houses to be built on rural properties. Meanwhile projects that will take farmland out of production but will benefit people in distant cities, like electrical transmission corridors or landfill sites, are exempted from the same rules. Just to make it more confusing, farmland can be lost for farm use for protecting endangered wildlife – such as controversial proposed legislation to protect the habitat of bobolinks. Siemon is right to put forward a motion that at least points out the hypocrisy that makes farmland so important yet not if it’s going to be taken up by wind turbines. An individual wind turbine may not take up a lot of land, but when you multiply if by the thousands that are going up across Ontario’s most productive farmland, and you add the land needed for roads to service the turbines, it adds up to a substantial acreage lost for food production.— KR Downward, ever downward Last week 2,000 Canadian auto workers found out that by this time next year they’ll be out of work as General Motors Canada announced closure of another of its Oshawa auto plants. Some of those jobs will be shifted to a GM plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee where workers have agreed to work for far less than workers in Oshawa make. Workers are under constant pressure to reduce their expectations, or even give back wages and benefits if they want to keep jobs. Chris Buckley, president of Canadian Auto Workers Local 222, bitterly complained that his members already made concessions to help GM escape from bankruptcy in 2009. Noting a Mexican autoworker makes $5.22 an hour, with no benefits, Buckley added, “We can’t race to the bottom.” Many people will have little sympathy for autoworkers, feeling they’ve priced themselves out of a job and deserve what they get. They have a point if everybody else takes less too, but GM executives will no doubt be getting big bonuses on top of high salaries while they lay off Canadian workers and outsource jobs to Mexico and China. What’s more, the collateral damage will affect many more people whose jobs involved providing services to the plant or the people who work there. Some estimates say as many as 18,000 spinoff jobs may be affected. The federal and provincial governments took in a lot of taxes from the autoworkers and those working in associated jobs. In 2009, in an attempt to save jobs in Canada, and Ontario in particular, the governments of Ontario and Ottawa invested $8 billion in GM. Apparently that bought just a couple of years of job protection. No matter what you think of how much autoworkers were paid, if we’re going to expect factory workers to lower their expectations, then we all need to, from GM executives to doctors, lawyers, construction workers, even people who pick up our garbage. If not, we continue to create the unhealthy split in society where some people have more and more and others have less and less. — 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.