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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2007-09-20, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2007.Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie GroppAdvertising, 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 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years 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 $32.00/year ($30.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $92.00/year in U.S.A.and $175.00/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 Sept. 20, 1950 It was predicted by scientists of the time that the leaning tower of Pisa had another 300 years of existence before it would collapse to the ground. At a height of 179 feet, the reports stated that the tower had moved a quarter of an inch farther since 1939, and was currently 17 feet off of straight-standing. Several times concrete had been injected into the 10 foot long foundations of the structure but the tower still continued to lean. The entrance floor had long been buried four feet into the ground. It was again the season for fall fairs in Ontario. Among the draws at Zurich’s extremely successful Fall Fair of 1950 was The Schmaltz and Lina Pickleheimer Band providing humour and musical entertainment. There were as well a horse-jumping course, shooting gallery, and countless animals being shown. A new item was becoming much in demand in care packages sent to countries in need. A small plow, easily assembled, was now being added to the traditional care packages containing food, clothes, and medical supplies as it represented endless opportunity for the improvement of farm crops in impoverished countries. The plow had a single wheel and could be easily pushed along the ground, weighing in at 15 pounds. Sept. 20, 1961 Noted painter Grandma Moses was all smiles and laughter as she celebrated her 101st birthday with family and friends. A large chunk of glass, 48 inches thick and 4,000 pounds heavy was to be cut and shaped to form an important piece of a big project. The glass was to be shaped into a precision-finished telescope mirror 84 inches in diameter and 13 inches thick to be placed in a telescope being built at the University of La Plata, Argentina. This wasn’t just any telescope, though. It was expected to be the largest telescope in the Southern Hemisphere, and wouldn’t be completed until late 1962. Hurricane Carla hit hard on the American coast. The tropical storm struck the areas in the southern parts of Louisiana, including New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama. The hurricanes seemed to strike the same areas every season, as damage had been reported in these areas or a yearly basis since 1909. Things were getting worse on both sides of the Berlin Wall. Communist police had begun using tear gas grenades to prevent people, sometimes even families, from speaking to each other across the vast wall. Rev. Alfred Bengsch was appointed by Pope John XXIII to the position of Bishop of Berlin. The reverend lived in East Berlin would be cut off from visits to West Berlin. He was succeeding Julius Cardinal Doepfner, who had moved on to become Catholic Archbishop of Munich. Sept. 20, 1972 Huron County was worrying about how to deal with a substantial increase in rabies cases in the area. Dr. W. J. Thompson, D. V. M., sub- district veterinarian, Canada Department of Agriculture, Health of Animals Branch at Seaforth stated that during the first eight months of 1972, total confirmed cases of rabies in both wild and domestic animals was 52, representing a 50 per cent increase over the number for the same amount of time in 1971. The 52 positive animals were a varied bunch, ranging from cows and pigs to foxes and skunks. Residents of the area could be more at ease, however, considering that these numbers also showed a lack of cases in dogs or cats, which were the animals most likely to pass the rabies on to humans. What made the increase frustrating to solve was the fact that although there were more rabies cases, the number of animals vaccinated was also up. There wasn’t much more any officials could do, but people were still asked to be cautious, and always keep your pets under control and away from possibly infected wild animals who may be carrying the rabies virus. Following a lot of campaigning to raise money and earn grants, the Van Egmond committee was presented with a cheque for $7,000 from the Heritage Foundation of Canada. A further donation of the same amount would follow if the committee could match that $7,000 with fundraising. The committee was a group of people working to buy the deed to the historic Van Egmond mansion home in Van Egmondville. Sept. 21, 1988 The play Bordertown Cafe was packing up its props, equipment, cast and crew to go on a two-month, 21-theatre tour of Ontario. First produced at the Blyth Festival Theatre, the show made the 1988 Festival season one of the most successful in its history. Brussels Bulls player of the week was centre Brian Campbell, who, in his third season with the team, was called “a prized face-off man”. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was Dan Aykroyd and John Candy in The Great Outdoors: “This is no holiday ... This is war!”. Also playing at the Lyceum Theatre in Wingham was the classic action flick Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis. THE EDITOR, When the 103 randomly-selected voters of the citizens assembly, one from each riding in Ontario, began their work in the fall of 2006, they were asked to look at Ontario’s existing voting system and see how it shaped up against the following criteria, legitimacy, fairness of representation, voter choice, effective parties, stable and effective government, effective parliament, stronger voter participation and accountability. To this the members added simplicity and practicality. After several months of study and comparisons to systems throughout the world, the assembly held public meetings, received submissions and travelled across Ontario listening to voters about what they liked about our current system and how they would like it updated. Voters expressed support for local representation but frustration when faced with a local candidate they liked running for a party they did not. Voters were upset that the first past the post system wasted so many votes which counted toward no representation in the legislature. Voters expressed concern that in the current system parties do not end up with seats proportional to their actual popular vote leading to phony majorities where a party with 40 per cent of the popular vote wins 60 per cent of the seats and governs like it has 100 per cent of the power. Some felt that the current system was fine and should not be changed, but most called for an update of the system. Next, the assembly designed and considered various options and voted. Ninety-two per cent recommended that Ontario adopt a mixed-member proportional system or MMP. Their report was titled One Ballot, Two Votes. With the MMP, voters get two votes on a single ballot, one for their local candidate and one for their political party. The party vote determines the total share of seats each party wins. The legislature would be made up of 90 members elected locally (70 per cent) and 39 list members elected province wide (30 per cent). The assembly concluded that a “mixed-member proportional electoral system for Ontario will provide greater voter choice, fairer election results and stronger representation.” Tony McQuail 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 You’re to blame, farmers Last week a prestigious British medical journal attacked the livestock industry, saying farm animals produce 20 per cent of the greenhouse gases in the world. Farmers, it seems, are the source of many of the world’s problems these days. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Develop- ment also came out with a report last week that said “The current push to expand the use of biofuels is creating unsustainable tensions that will disrupt markets without generating significant environmental benefits.” In July the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations said the demand for biofuels is inflating food prices. Delegates from Latin America attending a recent conference in Calgary gave “emotional commentary on the terrible impact skyrocketing corn and grain prices have on food for the poor,” according to The Globe and Mail. As if it’s not enough that farmers who grow crops are causing Third World starvation, opponents of Canada’s supply management system for milk, eggs, chicken and turkeys, portray these farmers as promoting poverty of farmers in poor countries by blocking imports of cheaper products from whichever is the cheapest source at any given moment. All these attacks on farmers come, ironically, at a time when farmers have never felt their future was so fragile. Those bemoaning the “skyrocketing” price of corn for ethanol are comparing the new price to the record low prices farmers have been getting. They’re ignoring the fact that farmers couldn’t afford to keep producing corn at those prices and there would have been a shortage, and higher prices, whether the ethanol boom came along or not. Canadian beef producers are still trying to recover from the BSE catastrophe. Canadian pork producers, dependent on export markets, have been hard hit by the high Canadian dollar. About the only farmers who make money on a regular basis are those who have supply management on their side, and they live in fear of the constant attacks by trade officials, multi-national processors, myopic consumer groups and the media. Missing in all this debate is the farmers’ viewpoint. Farmers, in fact all Canadians living outside the major media centres, have become an invisible minority. Food is so plentiful that people, including reporters, don’t have to consider the realities of what it takes to get it to their table. So many of these “experts” speaking out against biofuels or the danger of keeping animals or supply management, seem to think that farmers should go on producing food at fire-sale prices. If North American farmers go broke, well there are Third World farmers who will still supply us (as they do already in many supermarkets). There are even those who say it is more energy-efficient to ship food from half-way around the world that is produced with low energy inputs, than to get food from down the road produced by our high-energy food system. Such foolishness comes from thinking on a full stomach. — KR & Letter to the editor