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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-05-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2011.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 $34.00/year ($32.38 + $1.62 G.S.T.) in Canada; $115.00/year in U.S.A. and $175/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: norhuron@scsinternet.com May 3, 1950 The Brussels Lions Club held a Bingo night fundraiser where 18 games that carried a prize of $5 each were won and two $25 games were also played. Winners of the $25 games were Dick Whitfield of Grey and Harry Bowler of Brussels. Mietek Skowronski, a member of the Melville Presbyterian Church Choir for two years, was honoured when he decided to leave the choir. The remaining members of the choir held a farewell party for Skowronski and made a presentation to him as well. The Brussels Cubs and Scouts held a card party in order to raise funds for the summer camp excursion. Members of the Brussels Legion were planning to erect a memorial in memory of the men of Brussels who went to fight in the Second World War and didn’t make it back. Between 1939 and 1945, 21 men from Brussels gave their lives in the Second World War and Legion members were raising funds to honour their memories. Legion members were selling $5 tickets to win a 1950 DeLuxe Coupe with the draw to be made on July 19. A list of nearly 100 citizens was listed in The Brussels Post as already having purchased at least one draw ticket. Three pupils of local music teacher L.D. Thompson competed in the Huron County Music Festival in Goderich, including outgoing Melville Church Choir member Skowronski. May 1, 1974 In order to resume their summer hours for the year, Blyth merchants would be open on Friday nights once again beginning on May 3. Local merchants said they would be open until 9:30 p.m. on Friday nights throughout the summer in order to accommodate citizens who wanted to shop locally, but were unable to do so during the day. New regulations concerning the installation and subsequent maintenance of septic tanks were discussed by Huron County Council. Several residents seeking permits for installation of their septic tanks found themselves in limbo, as the Huron County Health Unit could not issue the permits and neither could health officials in London. Several counties throughout Ontario, including Huron, had yet to sign the new regulation agreement with the province, leaving several local areas in this state of limbo with their septic permit forms. The tax levy for the Huron County Board of Education in Blyth rose $2,000 from 1973 levels. There was in increase, however, across the board, as levies across Huron County all saw varying degrees of a raise in education taxes. April 30, 1986 Former Huron County Warden and Brussels Reeve Cal Krauter was named Citizen of the Year for Brussels and area. As voted for by area citizens, Krauter had served two extended terms as reeve of Brussels before retiring in November of 1985. While he had spent several recent years as an area politician, he also ran a successful plumbing business in Brussels from 1948 until he retired. He also served overseas in the Second World War. Krauter’s wife Marguerite was the director of nursing at the Callander Nursing Home. Members of the Brussels Lions Club celebrated the club’s 40th anniversary by holding an anniversary banquet on May 12 at Melville Presbyterian Church. Robert Brak of Blyth won the Maitland Valley Anglers Fishing Derby in Goderich on April 26-27. Sportsmen from all over southern Ontario were in Goderich for the event, but it was Brak who came out on top of the trout category with a 12.25-pound rainbow trout. Dozens of Huron County businesses were set to make their way to Brussels for the seventh annual Brussels Tradefest. In 1985 over 4,000 were in attendance at Tradefest, which was held at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. May 21, 2003 CKNX’s Bryan Allen was set to broadcast his radio show live from the Blyth Festival stage on May 29. The entire show would be dedicated to the Blyth Festival and it would feature guests such as Eric Coates, Ted Johns, Janet Amos and Paul Thompson. Allen and his guests would be exploring the effect the Festival had on the area over the years. Brussels Public School student Heather Bone cut her hair for the first time in eight years in order to make a wig for someone who had lost their hair due to cancer. Brussels resident Nicole Lowe, a student at Fanshawe College, had just completed a co-operative education placement abroad on a cruise ship. Lowe spent three weeks aboard the boat as part of her final year in the college’s Recreation and Leisure program. A balanced school day pilot project was given a try at Grey Central Public School. The program was described as having standard lunch breaks, but no traditional recess breaks. The program was scheduled to be in seven or eight area schools in the next year. 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 And now for the future Despite the cynicism at the beginning of the federal election campaign from Canadians who said nothing would change and their vote didn’t matter, voters radically reshaped Canada on Monday. By electing a solid Conservative majority government with the New Democratic Party (NDP) as the official opposition, Canadians have begun an experiment that may reshape the country for years to come. First and foremost the question to be determined is if Stephen Harper, with his majority government, can reshape the country’s thinking to make it more conservative so that, like Alberta, the natural governing party is conservative and it is only likely to be challenged by an even more conservative alternative (like the Wild Rose Party in Alberta). This has been the goal since the beginning of his career for Harper and a group of advisers including Tom Flanagan, American-born political science professor at the University of Calgary. With total control of parliament, parliamentary committees and the senate, there will certainly be no barriers to Harper doing what he wants. He will even be in a position to reshape the Supreme Court since three positions will come up for appointment in the next few years. Some of his agenda will be welcomed by many Canadians, like the cancellation of the long gun registry. Others may not. Meanwhile with the NDP forming the official opposition there has been a polarizing of the Canadian political scene. The NDP is now where it has dreamed of being – replacing the Liberals as the logical choice if people get tired of the Conservatives in the next, or any future, election. Will Canada now become, like Britain or British Columbia in the past, where voters alternate between right wing and left wing extremes? In those places governments spend the first two years of their mandate undoing the work of their predecessors, then the next two passing legislation which would be undone by their successors. Perhaps the one development most people (outside Quebec at least) can agree is positive is the NDP’s demolition of the Bloc Québecois in Quebec, reduced it from 47 seats to just four. On top of bringing to parliament MPs from Quebec who actually want to participate in Canada, there are other benefits. One observer, for instance, pointed out that BQ MPs used their parliamentary research resources, staff, travel budgets and mailing privileges to advocate for Quebec independence. So the people have spoken (even if only 60 per cent of eligible voters cared to cast a ballot). Now the consequences of their choices will play out in the coming years. Here’s hoping the voters were wise. — KR Little to cheer about Perhaps Canadians are in no position to understand the celebrations that took place in the U.S. when the death of Osama bin Laden was announced and Americans took to the streets. We, after all, were not directly victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Still, celebration seems hardly appropriate. For one thing, the death of any human being, even an evil killer, isn’t something to celebrate. What’s more, the scenes of celebration may fuel even more resentment that helps recruit more terrorists to seek revenge on the U.S. Remember how offended Americans were by isolated scenes of Muslims celebrating the 9-11 attacks? There can be quiet satisfaction that this remote-control mass murderer has found some sort of justice, but simply killing the leader doesn’t mean the threat will go away. Americans quoted, during the celebrations, as saying their country is now safer, may live to regret those words. Other al Qaeda leaders have already pledged revenge and the U.S. is on alert. Certainly the ability of the U.S. intelligence community to finally locate bin Laden and daring and expertise of special forces troops to drop into a country half-way round the world and attack a protected compound and kill and capture its inhabitants, will help alleviate the sense of impotence many Americans have felt since 9-11. Still the consequences of these actions can’t be known and celebrations can easily backfire. — 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.