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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-07-21, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 21, 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 July 24, 1974 With the ongoing issues Blyth had been having with its landfill, Wingham Mayor DeWitt Miller read a letter from the Ministry of the Environment regarding regulations surrounding its landfill at a recent Wingham Council meeting. Miller read the letter which outlined issues at Wingham’s dump in East Wawanosh. The letter stated that the Ministry wanted the town to pump water out of the site, as it was an old gravel pit. In addition, all garbage would have to be covered daily and the burning of garbage would have to stop immediately. East Wawanosh Reeve Joe Kerr said the only fire at the landfill was caused by arsonists in April and that no garbage was being burned any longer. Seaforth was also facing a similar problem when reports surfaced stating that inspectors were not happy with what they found at the town’s dump. As a result of that inspection, the purchase of a $115,000 incinerator was authorized by council. In addition to the added costs the incinerator brought with it, there would also be costs associated with a maintenance person, who would have to be present at all times when the machine was operating. The opposition against a Provincial Government plan to overhaul the healthcare system was high in Huron County as hospital budgets were proposed to be dealt with at a much higher level. This proposal left members of Huron County Council with concerns as to how smaller hospitals in Huron County could hope to compete for funds. The proposed borders for the District Health Council would include Huron, Perth, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin Counties, which would mean a total of 550,000 people, only 50,000 of which would be from Huron County. July 16, 1986 Blyth Reeve Albert Wasson was disappointed in the recent approval of a waste management study at the Huron County Council level. The study cost between $150,000 and $200,000 with 50 per cent of the funding coming from the Ministry of the Environment. The study, however, would still punish local municipalities that were in good shape with their waste management practices. Wasson said waste management was a very controversial topic at the Huron County level because many municipalities were being forced to find new sites that would fit into the strict environmental guidelines set up by the Ministry. The fourth annual Hullett Days celebration was held on July 11-12 with children participating in a children’s tractor pull, in addition to a barbecue and a variety show later into the night. At Hullett Days, Jack Armstrong was also honoured as 1986’s Citizen of the Year. Brussels residents were largely supportive of a new industry that was considering relocating to the village. Astra Pyrotechnics Canada Ltd. held a demonstration on the farm of Frank Rutledge, subsequently a public meeting was held. The company, which was stationed out of Guelph, was looking at Brussels as one of a number of additional sites. The company took out a 64-acre option on the outskirts of Brussels that, if developed, would cost over $400,000 and employ over 80 people. July 15, 2004 Jim Schneider of Auburn discovered an old threshing machine at the former Ontario Agricultural Museum in Milton over 10 years earlier that was originally built in Auburn. Schneider felt it would be nice if the machine could be brought back to Auburn for the 150th celebration of the village. After a lot of talking and planning, Schneider was able to bring the machine to Auburn where he was cleaning it up in preparation for the big celebration. Huron County Council approved the reinspection of older septic tanks throughout the county to help keep the area’s water supply safe. “I hate to see this drag on and on,” said Goderich’s Deb Shewfelt. While the county had an approximate 14,000 septic systems, the Huron County Health Unit’s resources would be best spent on the 5,000 systems that were said to be older than the county’s records, said Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh’s Ben Van Diepenbeek. North Huron Councillor Doug Layton officially announced that he would be running for the position of Huron County Warden. As a retired man, he said, he felt he had the time to dedicate to the position. He had the support of the rest of North Huron Council. Verna Steffler was elected to another term as chair of the board of directors at the Wingham and District Hospital. John Verwey of Auburn represented Team Ontario at the Canadian National Darts Championship on Prince Edward Island, it was there that Verwey and his partner John Part of Oshawa captured the national men’s doubles championship. 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 Regaining a balance of power Aside from the disgust surrounding the voice-mail hacking scandal by British tabloid reporters, the real concern should be the revelations of influence that media baron Rupert Murdoch had over politicians in that country. The issue also holds lessons for Canada. There’s been a feeding frenzy in the British parliament as MPs turn on Murdoch, finally free after living in fear of the huge power of his empire of newspapers and television stations. Evidence has surfaced that former Prime Ministers John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown all shaped the policies of the British government to win support of Murdoch. One of the victims of the current scandal was Brown, who believes his family’s medical, bank, and perhaps even tax records, had been hacked into. Current Prime Minister David Cameron hired the former editor of Murdoch’s News of the World as his press officer, later having to dismiss him when his connection to the phone-hacking scandal was revealed. Cameron had another of the disgraced executives of the Murdoch empire as his guest at Christmas. Police, too, apparently shaped their actions to win favour, or prevent attacks, by the Murdoch media. Until the current scandal undercut his position, there were those who believed that Murdoch was the most powerful person in Britain – more powerful than the Prime Minister. Ironically Murdoch, an Australian who moved to Britain, now lives in the U.S. and has taken out U.S. citizenship. Media concentration has long been a concern for exactly the reasons illustrated by the Murdoch scandal. In years past there have been inquiries here in Canada into media concentration by the likes of the late Senator Keith Davies. He conducted his investigation decades ago when the concern was mainly that a handful of media companies controlled too many daily newspapers. Today there are fewer companies than ever and they also own many of the smaller community newspapers. In those days, too, the Canadian Radio Television Commission was concerned about concentration of power, refusing to allow cross ownership between different media or dominance of one company of a local market. Recently these concerns have become passé. For more than a decade the new mantra has been “convergence” – the blending of the new media of the internet connection with the content produced by traditional media. The “new reality”, perceived at least, is that world-scale companies were needed to pioneer this brave new information age. This movement has led to Bell Canada buying CTV and A Channel and The Globe and Mail. The Quebecor Media empire includes newspapers (the Sun Media newspapers in English Canada), television stations, cable television and internet services. Quebecor Media’s chief executive officer, Pierre-Karl Péladeau has made no secret of the fact that he wants to influence politics, having founded the Sun TV news channel to give a more right-wing slant to news coverage. Ironically, his model for this is Murdoch’s Fox News in the U.S. We don’t need a Canadian version of Rupert Murdoch. We don’t need media barons who may be tempted to use their power not just to try to influence by the power of persuasion, but to intimidate governments into doing what they want them to do. Nowhere is the free market more important than in the media where we need as many views expressed as possible. We do not need the homogenization of news so that if one reporter gets something wrong, it shows up in dozens of newspapers across the country. We don’t need editorials being written at headquarters, as they were with the now- defunct Canwest Global Communications Corporation newspapers. The British scandal has shone a light on the dangers of the concentration of media power. There has never been a better time for a new study into media concentration in Canada and its possible detrimental effects. — 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.