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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-12-13, Page 5PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 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 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; $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 December 16, 1965 William King resigned as the clerk of the Village of Brussels. King moved on to become the clerk of Waterloo Township, a position he would take over on Jan. 15, 1966. King took over the clerk duties in Brussels in 1959. He replaced Hartley Fischer. The Brussels Lions Club held its annual ladies’ night at the Melville Presbyterian Church. The evening included a dinner for the 28 club members and their wives, as well as a sing-song that was led by the club’s Lion Tamer Cecil McFadden. The Brussels Legion Auxiliary held its annual election of officers and Vera Hastings was elected as president. Doreen Rutledge was the immediate past-president, Mary Pennington was the first vice- president, Jean Lamont was the second vice-president, Mary Lowe was named the secretary and Kay Duncan was named the group’s treasurer. A Christmas Candlelight Service was scheduled to be held at Melville Presbyterian Church. The evening would feature a performance by the choir of Melville Presbyterian Church. The annual holiday concert was to be held at the Cranbrook Community Centre. The concert would include music, skits and an adult play called “The Bigger and Better Babies Contest”. Huron County Judge R.S. Hetherington officially opened the new $65,000 Stone School bridge in Morris Township. Hetherington said that Morris Township Council showed a lot of foresight in going ahead with the bridge. He said the bridge was futuristic and it would handle township traffic for years to come. The 150-foot bridge spanned the Maitland River and Hetherington said it would always stand as a permanent achievement. The new bridge replaced the previous 56-year-old steel one-lane structure. December 9, 1987 The Brussels Santa Claus Parade saw hundreds of children and adults line the village’s main street. Children were treated to a visit with Santa Claus, candy and a magic show after the parade. Londesborough-area farmer John Jewitt was named chair of the Huron County Board of Education. This comes after he spent the previous two years serving as the board’s vice-chair. Jewitt was acclaimed to the position and would serve a one-year term as chair. Icy road conditions were to blame for a number of collisions in the community over the previous weekend. Kenneth Hodges of RR1, Dungannon was in intensive care in Stratford after he and his wife Elizabeth, also in intensive care, were involved in a two-vehicle collision at the intersection of County Roads 12 and 25 just east of Walton. There were several other collisions resulting in hospital stays as a result of the icy weather. The Walton UCW was celebrating the 25th anniversary of its founding. The meeting to celebrate the anniversary was attended by the group’s first president, Annie Reid, who was also honoured with a birthday cake to mark her 80th birthday. Doug Garniss of RR4, Wingham, a past-president of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, was elected to the executive of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. The Morris Township farmer became the first member of the executive elected from Huron County since Merle Gunby of Ashfield Township who served on the board in the 1970s. December 21, 1994 Huron-Bruce MPP Paul Klopp announced on Dec. 12 that the $2.3 million jobsOntario project that helped reconstruct Hwy. 4 through Blyth was complete and that it had created 39 full-year jobs. Hullett Township received word that it was approved for a $300,000 project to build a new municipal building in the township. The partnership between the provincial and federal governments would contribute over $105,000 to the project. Jordin Rutledge of Auburn won an Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year Award. Rutledge, who had just turned 10, was honoured with the award for his heroic efforts to save his mom’s life after a brutal shooting in North Carolina. December 13, 2007 Central Huron Deputy-Reeve John Bezaire was elected Huron County Warden on Dec. 5. Bezaire defeated Morris-Turnberry’s Dorothy Kelly, who had been nominated for the position by Bluewater’s Bill Dowson. The Blyth Festival and North Huron Township announced that they would be entering into a marketing partnership in hopes of reaching out to broader community. Londesborough-area theatre guru Shannon Scott was working on her biggest project to date, Little Women at Goderich’s Livery Theatre. Scott brought several local young women she had worked with in her Serious FUN! theatre group to act in the production. 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 Time to patch things up The Municipality of Morris-Turnberry last week issued another offer to the Township of North Huron in an effort to find an solution to the long-standing dispute over fire serve provided by North Huron to its neighbour. North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent rejected the proposal almost immediately. This conflict has been going on from the moment North Huron decided to pull out of the old fire area boards for the Blyth and Wingham departments. Morris-Turnberry has been unhappy with the price it must pay and the lack of any input. North Huron Council says it’s right and there’s no need to renegotiate the service which it provides on a take-it- or-leave-it basis. But this is more than a two-way dispute. Two other partners in the former Blyth and District Fire Area Board – Central Huron and Ashfield- Colborne-Wawanosh – have also been unhappy with their contracts with North Huron. When two people are arguing and one says “I’m right and you’re wrong” there’s a 50/50 chance they’re correct. When there are four people and one is adamant he is right and everybody else is wrong, most people are going to question the odds of that person being totally correct and the others all wrong. Killing the fire area boards took fire coverage from a co-operative, partnership model to a market-style system with one municipality providing the service and others buying it. But in the normal market place if a buyer feels they don’t like the offer, they have the option of seeking another seller. The knowledge that there are other options is a moderating factor in the price that is asked for a good or service. Fire service doesn’t work that way. You can’t source fire service from London or China. Because you need it fast, you have to take the closest source, even when you don’t like the price. Central Huron and Ashfield- Colborne-Wawanosh found that out when they tried to find a cheaper alternative to North Huron’s service but local citizens rebelled because they wanted the most prompt service they could get. So North Huron’s got all the power in this situation, but that doesn’t make it right. We’ve gone from co-operative relationship to one which sets neighbours against neighbours, damaging the sense of community. This unrest is not going to go away. All efforts must be made to find a solution that rebuilds our communities. –KR Some things more equal In the effort to encourage more trade, the rights of citizens of a country to shape their own destiny are being sacrificed to multi-national companies that want to be above the laws of individual countries. Last week U.S. drug giant Eli Lily & Co. announced it would submit a challenge under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) requesting the Government of Canada pay it $100 million compensation because the Supreme Court of Canada ruled a lower court was right in stripping the company of its patent on a profitable drug that’s used to fight attention-deficit disorder. Several years ago, another U.S. company got a big settlement because it claimed it was damaged by a move by provincial governments to ban lead in gasoline. The ban was imposed to protect the health of Canadians. The NAFTA panel ruled the health of the maker of lead for gas trumped the health of ordinary citizens. Now the government is discussing extending this same sort of power beyond NAFTA to new investor-protection agreements with China and the European Union. Once upon a time companies obeyed the laws of the country they did business with. Now, if they don’t like the law, they claim they should be compensated for damage done. Under these expanded rules for multi-national corporations, Canadian governments at all levels, including provinces and municipalities, can’t concentrate simply on passing laws to protect their citizens. They must also bear in mind that international companies are looking on and may decide these rules hurt their business. If the companies can prove damage, Canadian taxpayers may not only lose a law that was in their best interest but may have to cough up millions in compensation. Canadians must not become second-class citizens in their own country to foreign companies. — 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.