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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-12-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 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 December 15, 1948 The Sunday School class at Blyth United Church was the focus of the Dec. 12 service, which was the annual presentation of the White Gifts. The Londesborough Athletic Club held its annual meeting where they decided to enter a hockey team in a WOAA Intermediate C tournament. The Blyth Lions Club and the families of members held a turkey dinner on Dec. 13 at Memorial Hall. Over 125 people were in attendance for the fowl dinner meeting. Boundary Farm Forum held a meeting at the home of Johnny Waterson on Dec. 13 with the topic of “Let’s Go to the Movies”. The Wildcats led the Auburn Bowling League with a total of 14 points with a record of six wins and three losses. In second place were the Bearcats with 11 points, followed by the Spitfires with 10 points and the Hotshots with seven points and a record of three wins and six losses. December 19, 1968 The weather smiled on the village of Brussels over the weekend for what was called one of the best Santa Claus parades in recent years. There were 41 entries in the parade and the Brussels main street was lined with families watching. Music at the parade was provided by the Brussels Legion Pipe Band and the Seaforth High School Drum and Bugle Band. In the parade there were horses and riders, horse-drawn vehicles, a donkey and several fire trucks. The Brussels Horticultural Society won best float, which was judged by Brussels Reeve J.C. Krauter. In second place was the Walton Institute and in third place was the float entered by Brussels Minor Hockey. The Cranbrook Community Centre was hosting a New Year’s Eve dance featuring the music of the Tru-Tones. December 18, 1990 Another local post office received its pink slip as the Bluevale post office was slated for closure for March 1. A public meeting was held on Dec. 5 in Bluevale to announce the closure of the post office which had opened 131 years earlier. Super mailboxes were scheduled to be installed in the hamlet for residents. Two area businesses were burgled on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12. The Diesel Car Diner, which was just north of Brussels, was broken into sometime during the evening of Dec. 11. A similar-style break-in was then discovered the morning of Dec. 12 at Brussels Variety where the back door of the business had been forced open. McKillop Township Reeve Marie Hicknell lost out on her bid to become Huron County Warden. She would have been just the second female warden in Huron County’s history. Dr. Walter Wong opened a medical practice in Brussels, after having a practice in Wingham for years. Wong opened his practice on Nov. 19 and was scheduled to be in the Brussels Medical Centre every weekday. Members of the Ontario Public Education Network Committee met with Huron MPP Paul Klopp asking for fairness in education. It was said that rural school boards were having trouble meeting the demands requested of them year after year, as the Ministry of Education had increased expenditures, despite the fact that the student body had remained relatively constant throughout the decade. December 11, 2008 Winter came early in 2008, but there was not enough snow to warrant the snowmobile trails to be opened. Bruce Howson of the Blyth Sno-Travellers said that the biggest problem at the time was that there was still corn in many area fields. Representatives were saying that it could be another week until the trails were ready to go. Former Brussels resident Janet Cardiff received the 2008 Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award, a $25,000 prize for outstanding achievement by a Canadian artist. Cardiff received the award on Dec. 2 at a ceremony held at the University of Toronto. North Huron Council decided that it would opt out of the OPP contract with the rest of the municipalities in Huron County and that it would negotiate its own contract for policing in the Blyth and East Wawanosh Wards of the township. South Huron’s Ken Oke was named Huron County Warden, beating out incumbent John Bezaire from Central Huron. “I know I can bring a different flavour to this position,” Oke said. “I know I can be the warden the people of Huron County can be proud of.” Pastor Ernest Dow of the Living Water Christian Fellowship contributed a piece to The Citizen discussing the sense of community that would be lost in Blyth, should Blyth Public School be closed by the Avon Maitland District School Board. The Blyth Legion welcomed four new members to the branch, including Jesse Hakkers, Zack O’Krafka and Mark and Glenda Chaput. 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 Good luck with tough job All across the area new municipal councillors are taking their oaths of office this week. Here’s wishing them good luck and good wisdom as they tackle their new jobs. Despite what many people sitting on the sidelines might think, being a councillor isn’t an easy job. No doubt many new councillors are about to find that out. Those who ran with the idea they were going to “shake things up” may find that change isn’t as easy to bring about as they think. What most people who never attend a council meeting don’t know is just how few things, even within their supposed sphere of influence, municipal councils really control. Municipalities have become, to an extent, a method of outsourcing for the provincial government. Things the province would find too inconvenient, or too expensive, to do directly, it mandates to municipalities. But just because they don’t want to do the work, doesn’t mean provincial politicians and bureaucrats don’t want to control what is done, so municipalities have strict rules and limitations placed on them by the province. Take planning, for instance, one of the persistent areas of frustration for municipal councillors. The provincial policy statement on planning sets rigid rules that govern what municipalities can do in their official plans. There are strict setbacks between residential and agricultural buildings, prohibitions about creating residential lots in rural areas and rules governing expansion of urban areas into farmland. With municipal amalgamation being a councillor has taken on a whole different set of challenges. Prior to amalgamation councillors could concentrate their efforts on improving a relatively small area in their own backyard. Today councillors must have a much wider vision. They must be able to look at what’s best for the entire municipality, but also not get caught up in serving the majority at the expense of the minority. The sheer geographic size of some amalgamated municipalities makes it easy to forget some fringe areas – as evidenced in the problems Auburn residents experience in being on the edge of three different large municipalities. So being a municipal councillor is a challenging job, harder than many candidates probably thought when they ran for office. We depend on them to do a good job, but we also owe them a little slack. The first time a councillor makes a decision that doesn’t make sense to you in your home or on your farm, doesn’t mean she/he is stupid. It may mean the situation is more complicated than it appears from the outside. — KR What we didn’t need to know The ongoing flow of “secrets” being revealed by Wikileaks is a little like it must be going to a nudist camp – after a while you realize that for everything revealed that you find exciting, there’s a whole lot more you wish had been kept covered up. The revelations contained in the U.S. government diplomatic cables that have been released by the pirate website, have generally been pretty “ho-hum”, much like reading a family member’s diary and finding out what they really think about you when they’re being honest. There might be the odd hurtful comment, but really, it’s been much ado about nothing. Not that the media isn’t trying to make as much of it as possible. At the same time as they wag a finger at Wikileaks and its elusive leader Julian Assange, media editors keep reporting news that is hardly earth- shattering. So addicted to leaked information is the media that it must be reported on even when it’s not newsworthy. There’s been lots of outrage over what Assange has been doing, especially in the U.S. where some right-wing commentators have called for him to be captured and imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay with other terrorists and some have suggested he should be assassinated. But there’s an easy way to make Assange and Wikileaks go away: give him the attention his revelations deserve. Wikileaks may prove important if real secrets are found that should be revealed. In the meantime, let’s just ignore the silly stuff. — 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.