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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-02-14, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1990. Back to the table The dispute over reconstruction of the Radford Ball Diamond in Blyth has come to the point something must be done to resolve the problem or the community is going to suffer badly. It’s time both sides took a look at the situation and sought a solution. As someone said at the original meeting to discuss the problem back on January 16, all parties entered into the redevelopment of the ball diamond in good will. The project had been spearheaded by the Blyth Slowpitch League and the village council had tried to facilitate the process by applying for grants. Radford Construction had volunteered to donate half the amount of its construction bill plus $1,000 from each of Doug Scrimgeour and Diane Wasson. Huron Pioneer Thresher Association officials had co-operated to make sure the project would benefit everybody. But somewhere along the way something went wrong. The project grew. Through lack of communication, costs became higher than some people expected. There’s not a lot of sense pointing fingers now as to who is at fault. Like people who have found themselves marooned on an island after a shipwreck, it isn’t going to do anybody much good to argue over who steered the boat wrong, it’s going to do a lot more good to work together to get out of the mess. The thing that is threatening to tear the community apart is trying to figure out why there should be such a huge fuss over something that in real terms is not a lot of money. Yes six or eight thousand dollars is a considerable amount but either the company or the village has had surprises like that before and it didn’t become such a wrenching issue. Butas people look for reasons below the surface for something that on the surface seems a silly dispute, they start speculating on all kinds of possible causes. The issue is particularly clouded by the almost-family nature of the dispute and the feeling that somebody is out to get somebody, to seek revenge for past injustices. After speaking with both sides at length over the past copule of weeks, it seems obvious that nobody is out to get anybody but each side is worried about the other’s motives. Both sides are fighting for principles but, as somebody also said at that January 16 meeting, principles don’t pay bills. The taxpayers of Blyth are in a position where, if neither side blinks, the case may end up in court where nobody but the opposing lawyers will win. The cost of legal action would likely be far higher than the cost overrun. The village also ends up with an unfinished ball diamond and a lot of hard feelings as neighbours continue to fight against neighbours. Something has to be done to break the deadlock. It may seem strange, coming from this newspaper that has always fought against closed meetings of council, but we propose (and have already proposed to both sides in person) that another closed meeting be scheduled between the village council, Radford Construction, officials of the ball league and the Threshers Association. At this meeting, an outside party, whether an independent legal council or an official of the county government or some other independent person, would chair the meeting and act as a councillor to try to bring both sides to an agreement. The person would need to be someone with enough knowledge and clout to rap anyone on the knuckles if they get out of line. Everyone involved entered the project with the best of intentions. Everyone involved admits the current dispute is only hurting the community. It’s time everyone involved got involved in finding a solution. A matter of trust This country greatly needs, and needs soon, some politicians the people feel they can trust. At least part of the problem with the declaration of various communities in Ontario that they are going to be English-only, is that they just plain don’t trust the provincial government. While some politicians are just plain confused about the province’s Bill 8 which provides French-language provincial government services in 22 designated areas across the province where there is a significant French population, others don’t trust the provincial government to keep it that way. They have watched too many times when the province has paid to introduce a new program at the municipal level, then withdrawn funding and expected the municipality to pick up the whole tab. They’ve watched too many times as the province said it only wanted a small change, then kept making the change bigger. They worry that Bill 8 is just the first step and that down the road they’ll be forced to provide municipal services in two languages. Whether it’s these creeping tactics of the provincial government or the tendency of the federal government to say one thing before an election and something else after it, Canadians have come to the point where they just don’t trust their leaders anymore. With the provincial Conservatives and the federal Liberals both picking new leaders in the next few months, perhaps party members shjould remember that the best leader will be the one who stands for something, who people can have faith won’t sneak a new policy in or change a stand with the latest political winds. It’s called integrity. Taking a break Letter from the editor A special time BY KEITH ROULSTON Twenty-five years ago, Feb. 15, 1965 we stood in the snow outside my little high school in Lucknow and shivered as we watched the new red and white maple leaf flag raised on the flagpole. So much has changed and so little has changed in that quarter century since. I’m not really sure for some of us if it was the cold that made us shiver or the emotion of finally having a flag we felt was our own. We were the first of the baby­ boomers, the first of the children born to returning warriors in a time when the country was finding a new sense of itself. It seemed time for us, past time in fact, that the country had a symbol that was truly its own. It’s hard to remember now how much bitterness and anger that new flag brought about. The de­ bate raged seemingly forever be­ tween those who wanted the old tradition preserved and those who felt it was time we put a truly Canadian stamp on our country. In the end, as in most things Cana­ dian, the new flag was a compro­ mise: the single maple leaf instead of a cluster of three, the red and white instead of red, white and blue. Today it’s hard to imagine that anybody could ever have chosen anything else. That flag is everywhere with the stylized maple leaf popping up on everything from political party emblems to the front of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ jer­ seys. The flag was just part of the battle for a new self-awareness for my generation. It was a nation still shedding the last of the colonial remnants of Great Britain while at the same time already under the dominant influence of the new world power to the south. At times it was hard to know if we were just imagining we had a separate country as we watched American movies, listened to American music or that new wave from Britain led by the Beatles, and seemingly copied either the British or the Americans in everything. But the tide seemed to be changing. We young people want­ ed to believe our country could be something more than a poor copy of something else. One of the few acts of rebellion I can recall in our high school years was a class revolt when we refused to stand up for The Queen one morning because we felt it was time O Canada was played instead. There were tremendous changes in the next few years. The Centenn­ ial and Expo 67 brought a new sense of self to a country that seemed to be going through the same maturing process as our generation. Suddenly there was Canadian music to be heard on the radio (though it took government Continued on page 5 P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of 519.00/yr. ($40 00 Foreign). 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. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Production Manager, Jill Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968