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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-01-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUAJRY 28, 1987. Editorials 3 years is too long The current three-year term of municipal councils is barely one third over and, with the resignation of a Blyth councillor last week, four of the nine municipal councils in The Citizen’s coverage area have been forced to go through the process of replacing a councillor. It’s further evidence that the three-year council term is not a boon to democracy. Municipal councils from smaller towns, villages and rural municipalities have been trying to convince the provincial government for some time that the three-year term is just too long. The longer term was brought in by pressure in cities and regions whererunning an election campaign has become almost as expensive as running for parliament. There, expensive brochures and lawn signs and extensive, expensive mailings are important for the candidate who hopes to get elected. A three-year term means that the investment is spread over a long period of time, and that over a career in politics, the councillor doesn’t have to run so many campaigns. But in large municipalities the rewards are higher. In cities, the job of councillor or aiderman is a full-time position with pay to match. In smaller municipalities the job is pushing more toward being full-time every year, but the rewards are still small. We are asking more and more from our councillors and we’re finding it harder and harder to find people to fill the jobs. The last election, in November 1985, saw too many posts filled by acclamation. Since then there have been four vacancies on local councils, only one of which has been filled by an election by the public. In other cases, the selection has been made by established councillors, many of whom themselves got their jobs without going to the polls either. That’s not their fault, just a fact. It’s time the provincial government took a look at the realities of the situation in rural areas. If it is necessary to have one set of election rules for cities and regions and another for smaller communities, so be it. The importance here is not the rules but the effectiveness of democracy. Closing borders and minds Aside from the direct effect it has on Canada and other countries, the current isolationist mood in the United States is a sad development for a big country and a frightening thing for a world affected by this giant. While the softwood lumber incident and shakes and shingles have dominated the headlines, there have been other issues that have shown the defensiveness of the current mood in the U.S. Almost unnoticed, for instance, have been new immigration regulations that make it difficult, if not impossible, for all but superstar performers from outside the U. S. to get work permits to go into the U. S. to perform. It means that a star like Brian Adams is today would still be able to do concerts in the U. S., but the small, unknown act which might be the Brian Adams of next year, won’t get permission. Americans, as a dominant culture, only hear voices from outside when they want to. Major television networks virtually never carry television shows that aren’t produced inside the U.S., and which promote current American thinking. Even news coverage is filtered through the eyes of American reporters. Movie theatres seldom show anything but American films. American magazines smother the magazine racks. And now this regulation means that even small concerts by foreign performers won’t be allowed to give Americans a view from outside their borders. It is sad that Americans have so little chance to learn for themselves more about the outside world, and it is frightening that such a major power will have such an insular knowledge. Alternative thinking Peter Bowers is out to prove again that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Bowers, a free-lance commercial artist from Owen Sound figures if you can’t beat the railways, join them. When Canadian National Railways made application to abandon several rail lines, including the one that linked Owen Sound with other major centres in Ontario, Bowers figured if the railway doesn’t want the branch lines anymore, why don’t the people in the communities take them over? There’s a precedent in Alberta, where a small local company took over 172 kilometres of abandoned rail-line, and so far seems to be doing quite well. Whether Bowers succeeds or not, just coming up with the thought proves again that there is more than one way to skin a cat. For the last several decades too often people in our area (and indeed the whole country) have thought the only way to makesomethinghappenisthroughgovernment action or through getting some big corporation interested in investing locally. There was a time when people in rural areas looked to themselves to solve their problems. Our imagination is one of the most important assets we have. If there is a problem, we nearly always can find a solution for it if enough people put their mind to it. Sure, sometimes those solutions may fail, but some of them will succeed. At the very least, they have the benefit of getting us in action, giving us the feeling that we control our own destiny, and that we are not just pawns of fate, or of big government, or of big business. Mabel’s Grill There are people who will tell you that the important decisions in town are made down at the town hall. People in the know, however know that the real debates, the real wisdom reside down at Mabel's Grill where the greatest minds in the town [if not in the country] gatherfor morning coffee break, otherwise known as the Round Table Debating and Fili­ bustering Society. Since not just everyone can partake of these deliberations we will report the activities from time to time. MONDAY: Hank Stokes was talk­ ing this morning about the “flip” the friends of that cabinet minister down in Quebec did with that land down in Quebec to see the price of a piece of land triple from $1 million to $3 million in just eleven days. “I was always a little backward,” Hank says. “I guess I never learned to “flip” properly. I learned the backflip instead. I bought a farm 11 years ago and today it’s worth a third of what it was then.” Billie Bean says he guesses we’re doing something wrong in these parts. Not only don’t we get the new industry that brings jobs and makes things grow, but we don’t get the graft either. It’s pretty bad when you’re willing to sell your soul to get rich but nobody wants it, he says. TUESDAY: Tim O’Grady was mentioning an article he saw in the paper where the International Joint Commission is looking at ways of lowering the water levels on the Great Lakes. They figure they can’t do anything major but they’re thinking of letting more water out through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Ward Black was saying that it will sure make some people in the southern U. S. sit up and take notice of our problems. He was down in Arizona a couple of winters ago and they can’t get enough water down there. They’ve been talking about schemes to divert water from up north to give them more. Billie Bean wondered if we agreed to divert our rivers into the U.S. if they’d let us float a few log rafts down them like in the old days so we could help out the soft-wood lumber industry. Hank was saying he was reading Continued on pace 6 [Published by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. ] Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Published weekly in Brussels, Ontario P.O. Box 152 P.O. Box429, Brussels, Ont. Blyth, Ont. NOG 1 HO N0M1H0 887-9114 523-4792 Subscription price: $15.00; $35.00 foreign. Advertising and news deadline: Monday 2p.m. in Brussels; 4p.m. in Blyth Editor and Publisher: Keith Rouiston Advertising Manager: Beverley A. Brown Production and Office Manager: Jill Rouiston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968