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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-12-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1990. Opinion Political fumble Politics, like everything else, is a skill that some people possess more than others but sometimes you have to wonder why politicians make a mess out of something that could be simple. A number of Morris Township ratepayers from the Belgrave area are upset with their township council these days after a grant to the proposed Belgrave Kinsmen community centre project got all balled up. The issue has been ongoing for some time after the Belgrave club asked the council for a $20,000 grant to match the grant given by East Wawanosh for the project. Morris was somewhat hesitant about the grant and one can understand council’s caution. The recreation bill for supporting other arenas in Blyth and Brussels already takes a good chunk out of the township budget. Belgrave arena, through its low maintenance and the tremendous community involvement, has cost the township only $ 1,000 a year in grants. One can see councillors worrying that a larger facility would bring calls for maintenance grants similar to the other facilities. When council proposed a special tax levy on Belgrave area ratepayers to raise the money, the Kinsmen withdrew their offer because they didn’t want additional taxes imposed on the people of the community. Several Belgrave-area taxpayers were not satisfied, however. They noted that the taxes from Belgrave homes within Morris and the use of the arena from those in the area would seem to indicate the township should be much more generous with the Belgrave project. They asked for a meeting with council to discuss the matter. They were invited to the Nov. 20 meeting of township council to discuss the issue. Meantime, however, council met on Nov. 19 in closed session to discuss the issue. Councillors decided to donate $10,000 to the Belgrave project. The delegation was informed that since the decision was already made, they needn’t bother showing up at the council meeting. Politicians have tough decisions to make. They know many times they won’t be popular in the decisions they make. They should, however, listen to people and give people the impression they’ve considered the arguments before making a decision. Morris councillors, by meeting in secret in advance, then announcing a decision before the delegation had been heard, created problems for themselves they needn’t have. If they had listened to the delegation, then announced the $10,000 grant, they might still have been unpopular but at least would have been respected for making a tough decision. By not listening, they’ve created a lot of unrest they could easily have avoided. People wanted to be given their chance to speak, to lay their side of a story before the people. Politicians who miss the opportunity to give people a voice needlessly provoke cynicism from their electorate. Opposite directions Seventy years of history changed in the Soviet Union Monday as the Supreme Soviet voted to let farmers own land privately for the first time since the Communist revolution. In the years ahead more and more Soviet farmers will own the land they work. The question is, will Canaaian farmers? Already we have huge tracts of land in this area that are owned by management companies and rented out to cash cropping farmers. There are agricultural economists who claim that renting land is the way of the future for farmers. With farm financing being a major part of the overhead of farmers these experts suggest that a farmer may in the future, use rented land rather than tying up his money in land ownership. Another university professor specializing in agriculture, even suggested that in future farmers might work on franchises, like the people who run a fast food restaurant, paying a fee for the use of land and equipment from someone who would own these means of food production. It’s ironic that at a time people in the Soviet Union have come to the realization that a farmer who owns his own land is the most efficient producer of food, our free enterprise, capitalist system seems to be taking ownership of more land out of hands of farmers. The Soviets realized that despite huge areas of agricultural land they weren’t feeding their own people, let alone having food to export. They realized that the farmer who owns his own land will best take care of it, best get the most out of it and care for the food he produces. They have learned, in short, what we in Canada have known for a long time. But will we have to relearn our lessons from them in the future? Winter begins Photo by Tracy Finch 'J -•! k 5'■ I A 2?* z^' X it* z i i i M: •V.-v ■ The Short of It Garbage goddess strikes again BY BONNIE GROPP Well, the goddess of garbage has done it again! Several years ago the music video channels introduced an unsuspecting audience to a simper­ ing, trashy-looking hoyden, who lolled around in comic posturing of apparent sensuality, all the while trying to convince us she knew something about virginity. Since then Madonna has reaf­ firmed my belief that she is the untalented bimbo I believed her to be then. She is a legend in her own mind, building a career on sensa­ tionalism and hype, as opposed to any solid musical or acting ability. She has pranced in her undies, mimicked Marilyn all the while displaying virtual mediocrity in several areas of performing. I’ll give her points for originality. She seems to know that a lot of impressionable young people (old­ er ones too) will ignore the fact that she possesses only minimal talent if she can prove herself to be consistently imaginative and pro­ vocative. Staying in the limelight is not always easy for performers - Joe Public can be a fickle guy - but Madonna seems to know how to play the game. She is a mega­ superstar revered by many, dislik­ ed by as many, but always in the headlines. Even those who find her name a joke bring up the punchline often. Her latest expose has, however, stepped over the bounds of fun. Madonna’s new video has been banned by MTV for its explicitness and its impressionability on teens. However, what this presents is a brilliant bit of marketing strategy and a “Catch 22’’ situation. I caught a few minutes of the video the other night on one of those gossipy-type news shows, and MTV is right in its description. However, when the video goes on the shelves of retail stores through­ out the country in the next little while, all the curiousity that has been built up by the hoopla is going to mean millions for Madonna. Maybe, without the ban people would haver accidently gotten a look at the video and been as disgusted as both my teenager and I were. It’s sad that people like Ma­ donna, who have the ability to leave indelible impressions on the youth of today don’t do it more frequently and in a positive man­ ner. As a superstar she is a role model (what a scary thought) and young people emulate and admire her. I have tried to raise my children to view sex as a natural and beautiful thing and my sons to have respect for women. In less than five minutes Madonna’s video could challenge both of those ideas in the minds of some teens. Even she must doubt her talent to create controversy to sell her music. To take advantage of these young minds purely to exploit her narcissistic whims accurately dis­ plays the type of person she is and as a representative of tomorrow’s woman kind she is a sorry example indeed. The Citizen. P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 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 $19.00/yr. [$40.00 Foreign). Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisment 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 Advertising Manager, Dave Williams I BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1990i Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968