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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-10-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2010.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; $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 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com October 27, 1948 A crowd that exceeded the expectations of organizers sat down to a fowl supper at the Londesborough Community Hall. Over 800 people were fed at the dinner, which was sponsored by the Londesborough United Church as part of its Golden Jubilee Celebration. There were no advance ticket sales for the dinner. The tickets went on sale at 5 p.m. on Oct. 26 and after the ticket sales were tabulated, 812 tickets had been sold. The first meal was served at 5:30 pm. and the last meal was finished by approximately 10 p.m. A West Huron District Women’s Institute Rally was held in Belgrave with members from branches in Clinton, Blyth, Wingham and Belgrave attending. October 31, 1968 Work on Huron County roads was reported to be on schedule and nearing completion, according to Huron County engineer J.W. Britnell. The total budget for the county’s roadwork was $1.9 million. Huron County Council decided to declare open season for deer hunting on Nov. 4, 5, 6 at its October session of council. This was passed, provided that the adjoining counties passed similar motions. The Brussels C.N.R. station was broken into. Entry to the station was gained by the smashing of a window, but it was said that nothing of value was taken and the culprit was frightened off from the scene upon the arrival of the local agent, Gordon Ross. The Township of Grey posted its voters’ list for 1968 at the Ethel office. The last day for appeal was Nov. 11. The Brussels Lions held their annual father and son night. Lions president Jan van Vliet presided over the evening and welcomed all the guests. November 7, 1990 Members of the Blyth and District Fire Department were forced to demolish a silo on Carmen Craig’s farm in Morris Twp. The fire was discovered in the unused silo and there were hopes that the fire could simply be sealed into the silo and the fire would just burn itself out, said fire chief Paul Josling. However, it was discovered that large holes had been burned in the side of the silo by the fire, which threatened adjoining buildings on the property. A crane with a wrecking ball was brought in from Wingham to demolish the silo and enable the firefighters access to the fire before it was able to spread. Eventually a high-hoe was brought in to finish the job as the fire raged on through the evening. A controversial zoning change was rejected at Brussels Council that would allow a homeowner to add an apartment to his home. It was the request of homeowner Frank Backhaus which was rejected. He was hoping to add an apartment to his home that would house his mother. Reeve Gordon Workman said that Backhaus’ home was already one of the biggest in the village, and said that he hardly saw the need for an addition to house one more person. On the other hand, Councillor Greg Wilson said that Backhaus should be able to do whatever he wants with his property. Wilson was the only councillor to vote to allow the zoning change. When asked if people remember enough on Remembrance Day, Brussels World War I veteran Herb Stretton said that “the younger generation seems to forget it, or at least I think they do, because other than the school children at the service at the cenotaph, you don’t see too many young people there. I believe the Legion deserves more recognition for their services. There will be wars and rumours of wars as long as there are people on earth.” October 30, 2008 The Minister of Education in Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, visited Brussels, speaking at a Huron-Bruce Liberal Association fundraising dinner at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, saying that the government was committed to publically-funded education. She stressed that despite economic challenges, the provincial government was going to maintain its plans for education. Local playwright and Blyth Festival favourite Paul Cifuo had been named as a finalist for the Governor General’s Award for his 2007 play,Reverend Jonah. Jesse Imeson, who had been on the loose for over a week in the summer of 2007, pled guilty to three counts of second-degree murder in Goderich court. Imeson was charged with the murders of Bill and Helene Regier of Mount Carmel and Carlos Rivera of Windsor. Imeson was eventually tracked down near the Ontario/Quebec border. Members of Kids Care in Brussels had pledged to take to the streets for Halloween for Hunger, a campaign organized through Free the Children. The campaign involved local youth collecting non- perishable food items for their local food banks on the evening of Halloween. 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 Thanks to the candidates The people have spoken in the area’s municipal elections. Some of the brave people who put their names forward have been successful. Some have not. All deserve our thanks for being brave enough to risk rejection by putting their names on the ballot. Many of us think we know better how to run things than the politicians we elect, but only a very few brave people are willing to stand for office, putting themselves forward to be judged worthy or unworthy by their fellow citizens. These people deserve so much credit for taking an interest in their community. The results of the election show the electorate was in a mood for change and many incumbents lost their council seats. Despite the dissatisfaction that voters may have expressed, these outgoing councillors deserve our thanks for their years of service. Whether you agreed with them or not, they put in a lot of hours on your behalf – and no, they didn’t just do it for the money. — KR Picking the easy target With the next provincial election a year away, the provincial Progressive Conservatives are already running election ads featuring leader Tim Hudak. In those ads, Hudak is taking on the Liberal government of Dalton McGuinty by attacking the issue that seems to touch a nerve with the public more than just about anything else right now: electricity rates. It’s an old political axiom that you fight with the weapons the public gives you. If people are upset about taxes, you promise lower taxes. If people are upset about higher electricity rates, you praise lower rates. But over and over we’ve seen that offers of wish fulfillment that get politicians elected often have to be abandoned once they get elected. Politicians, for instance, make the handy claim they can lower taxes without cutting programs by rooting out waste spending, only to find out there isn’t as much waste as they think there is. If he capitalizes on the kind of voter anger that’s been in evidence in the municipal election, Hudak stands a good chance of being the next Premier of Ontario and then he’ll have to deal with the realities of the province’s electrical system. Speaking at a recent farm meeting in the region, Don McCabe, vice- president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture told his audience: “We need to get real” about electricity rates. Because of successive governments’ decision to freeze electricity rate for nine years, the debt servicing charge that’s part of the electricity rate isn’t even paying the interest on the former Ontario Hydro debt, let alone beginning to pay it down. The unpaid interest is accumulating, making the debt even larger. What’s more, current rates do not include anything for future needs of the system. “Your hydro bill will go up more,” McCabe said. “At the end of the day we have to have some sanity.” People angry over their electrical bills don’t want to hear that, of course. It’s more tempting to accept the promises of a politician who says he’ll do something to reduce costs, even if he can’t. — KR Making the law appear an ass It’s easy not to have sympathy for Omar Khadr, coming as he does from a despicable family that joined in terrorism. Still his conviction for “war crimes” by a U.S. military court in Guantanamo Bay makes reasonable people question the laws under which he was convicted. He was found guilty of “murdering” a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan in a battle during the NATO invasion of that country. He was 15 years old at the time. He’s been held in jail for eight years since. Kahdr’s attorney says he only pled guilty because there was no hope of proving his innocence under the military court. Even if he is “guilty”, however, one has to ask, if the U.S. soldier had killed him, would he have been charged? If the Taliban had won and tried a U.S. soldier, would we have accepted that? When, in the midst of war, one side killing the other on the battle field becomes a crime, the law looks stupid. — 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.