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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-05-06, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Reporters: Shawn Loughlin, 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;$105.00/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 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com May 12, 1948 The Huron Tuberculosis Association had just completed arrangements with the Department of Health to provide Huron County residents with free chest x-rays. Clinics took place in Blyth, Brussels, Gorrie, Clinton, Seaforth, Hensall, Zurich, Dashwood and Exeter. The previous year, free chest x- rays were offered at clinics in Wingham and Goderich and over 8,000 people were x-rayed. Snow and rain combined to make the previous weekend’s weather “disagreeable” according to The Blyth Standard, which stated that soft snow whipped around by a driving wind in a real blizzard earlier that week. East Wawanosh resident Ted Quinn reported driving into a two- foot-deep snow bank, saying that isn’t something that happens very often in the first week of May. The Blyth Lions Boys and Girls Band hosted their annual spring concert with a program arranged by Bandmaster A.C. Robinson of London. The Blyth post office changed its hours. A.R. Tasker, Blyth’s postmaster said that the office had to come under 44 hours per week and that the new hours would be strictly enforced. The new hours stated that the office would be open from 9 a.m. until 12:15 p.m. and then from 12:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. A meeting of the local members of the United Church of Canada, which was held in Seaforth, called on the government to mandate a more strict observance of the Sabbath Day. The town’s nicest trout so far that season was brought to the office of The Blyth Standard for observation. The 13-inch speckled trout, which was caught by Reg. Schultz of East Wawanosh, was accompanied by a 17.5-inch brown trout, which Schultz described as the most beautiful fish he had ever caught. Schultz also had some time for some humour around the office. When one of the members of The Blyth Standard staff asked where he had caught the fish, he replied “in the water”. May 9, 1968 Fire destroyed Carl Hemingway’s barn in Grey Township, damaging a large quantity of grain, but no livestock. Just a few kilometres away, a second barn fire was spotted while firefighters were on their way to the first fire. The second fire, which took place on the property of Morris Hemingway, was extinguished before much damage was done. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Triebner, the couple who lived in the house on the farm, were able to assist firefighters by removing cattle from the barn. The second annual Music Festival was held at Blyth Public School. Over 400 students from Blyth, Brussels and Belgrave participated in the festival, with seven-year-old Laurie Haines of Belgrave being named the top individual with 88 points overall. Eight different candidates sought the nomination as the Huron Liberal Party’s representative for the June 25 election. President of the Huron Liberal Association, Walton’s Gordon McGavin announced that the nomination meeting would take place in Clinton on May 13 at Central Huron Secondary School. May 2, 1990 A former Walton man was sentenced to four months in jail after being convicted of assault. The conviction stemmed from an incident where the cutting down of trees was disputed by two neighbours. “You could have taken his arm off with that chain saw,” Judge R.G.E. Hunter said to John Morley Shepherd as he sentenced him for his assault on Robert Walker. The Huron County Board of Education rejected the year’s budget that would see a 22 per cent increase in expenditures. May 7, 2009 North Huron’s “Hot Stove” group was in the midst of preparing itself for battle as the accommodation review process had its sight set on potentially closing five area schools. Despite other recommendations, Accommodation Review Committee co-chair Mark Beaven said the group remained committed to its original recommendation. “The main thing for us is to get the public’s support to help make sure the trustees listen,” Beaven said. Responding, however, was Avon Maitland District School Board superintendent of education Mike Ash, saying that the picture being painted of area high school students wasn’t a fair one. “Inadvertantly, I believe, the members of the community have painted a picture of the students of F.E. Madill Secondary School as drug fiends, smokers, alcoholics and child molesters, and that is the furthest thing from the truth,” he said. “These are good kids. These are the kids that babysit our young children, these are the kids that work in our businesses. They are responsible, well-behaved students that have a lot to offer the community and they have a lot to offer the Grade 7 and 8 students in terms of mentoring.” We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright A short-sighted bargain There may still be no free lunch, but farm income projections released last week show farmers are certainly not contributing much to whatever the cost is. Little noticed by the national media, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada last week released figures that showed Ontario farmers, as a whole, lost $330 million last year – and are projected to lose a further $500 million this year. Obviously that’s a situation that can’t continue. Despite their constant complaints about the high cost of food, Canadians are not paying what it takes to grow our food. We’ve been getting “going out of business” prices but the problem with living on clearance sales is that eventually the sale ends and the business ceases. Ironically, at the same time as the local food movement puts growing importance on reducing the distance travelled between grower and consumer, we are abandoning our Canadian food producers. The media didn’t even mention the financial crisis on the farm. When urban commentators mention farming at all, they’re usually bashing the import controls that “drive up” prices for milk, eggs and poultry products. They want to eliminate the tools that help some farmers actually earn a living from growing food. (Imagine how horrible those overall farm income figures would be if not for the supply managed commodities?) Our governments seem to have shrugged off concern for the situation. A coalition of Ontario farm groups has been calling for an insurance plan to protect farmers in times of low prices but the federal government has ignored the call and the province says it needs the feds on board before it can kick in its 40 percent of the cost. Our federal government has also failed in its duty to give farmers an even break on international trade, failing to require the same kinds of restrictions on imported food that it enforces on food processed in Canada. With store shelves overflowing with food, it’s hard to make Canadians see that the security of their food supply is in danger. The reality remains that sooner or later Canadian farmers are going to exhaust their ability to subsidize their farm production with off-farm income. Our stores may still be full of food from foreign sources but we won’t have control over how that food is produced and our supply will be vulnerable to wars and trade disputes. Maybe then Canadians will wish they had cared about keeping their farmers in business. — KR The price of freedom Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be in Holland this week to represent Canada at the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Holland from Nazi occupation in World War II. No doubt there will be speeches about how our soldiers paid the price for freedom. But while some countries have their freedom taken away by invasions by their neighbours, many others have lost theirs because the people did not stand up for the democracy they espouse. People paid no attention as, little by little, their governments took away their freedoms. Perhaps they thought it couldn’t happen to them. That may be why Canadians pay so little attention to the attempts by Harper’s government to nibble away at the freedoms we take for granted. Last week Peter Milliken, speaker of the House of Commons, battled back saying that when the majority of MPs vote that the government must provide the uncensored documents from the Afghan detainee issue, the Prime Minister must obey the order. Harper has repeatedly said he’ll keep the documents secret in the interest of national security. Harper has previously said he won’t obey orders from the Supreme Court of Canada to seek the repatriation of Omar Kadhr from a Guantanamo prison. He has tried to hamper journalists who seek details of government actions through Freedom of Information legislation. And yet polls show Canadians don’t seem to care. Apparently they regard the concerns of the media, the courts and opposition politicians as so much political game-playing instead of something that could affect their lives. Here’s hoping they don’t live to regret this attitude. — 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.