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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-01-22, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22,1992. Editorials Great showing One slip probably cost Brussels figure skater Kevin Wheeler a trip to the Olympics but while that was one sad note to the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in Moncton, N.B. on the weekend, in all it was a remarkable competition for the local area. How many parts of the country as small as the Blyth-Brussels area could boast four residents competing at the national championships. As well as Kevin and his long-time partner Michelle Menzies, there was Grey township native Peter MacDonald and his partner Suzanne Killing in the Junior Dance competition; Peter’s former partner Kerrie Shepherd, from Bly th and her partner Jeff Cann in Senior Dance, and kerne's brother Mark and his partner Debra MacKenzie in Novice Dance. Kevin and Michelle's fourth place finish was as close as any of our skaters came to winning a medal but we should be proud of them for getting to a national championship. How many other people from the local area have reached a national championship in anything? To have four young people competing at this level is incredible. To all the athletes who have practiced for hours every day to get to this level we should offer our congratulations for a job well done and wish them a glowing future. To their parents, who have sacrificed so much to help their children develop their talents we should say thanks for allowing the rest of us to bask in the reflected glory of what these remarkable young people have accomplished. Who's he working for? Sometimes it's hard to figure out if our federal government is really working for our good, or for the good of businesses from other countries. There was another example last week when the government agreed to scrap a licencing plan that had kept drug prices down in Canada, without really gaining anything in return. Trade Minister Michael Wilson announced that patent protection for companies that develop new drugs, will be extended to 20 years from now on. At present, after 10 years of having the exclusive right to develop a drug, a company has to allow other manufacturers to produce the drug, for a fee. The competition thus created, has helped keep Canadian drug prices low, and allowed such things as Ontario's drug plan for seniors, to operate at reasonable cost. Now there is a good argument for what the government has done. Companies spend a lot of money developing drugs and deserve a good reward for their work. If they don't make a good profit, they can't afford the research to develop new drugs. Most countries in the world allow the 20 year protection. The pressure has been on Canada, through the GATT trade negotiations, to adopt the same rules. What's incomprehensible by any standard, however, is that Mr. Wilson announced the changes before the really hard bargaining begins at GATT. He could have saved the move, and grudgingly given in in order to keep something else Canada wanted to keep: like protection for marketing boards. But as in the Free Trade Negotiations with the Americans, we seem to be willing to give our opponents everything they want before we even begin negotiations. We left ourselves with everything to lose and little to gain then, and we seem bent on doing the same thing now. Already the signals have been coming thick and fast that the government seems prepared to break its policy to protect supply management in farming if it means a GATT agreement can be reached. If supply management goes, the government will no doubt seek to win the support of consumers by pointing out they will save money because of more competition but that's just the opposite result the drug patent changes will bring. If supply management goes, probably a lot of jobs will go to, slipping across the border to big American dairies and poultry producers. Giving the drug companies more protection isn't likely to win us many jobs here because most of the companies are international giants who do little research here but the testing to meet government standards. The jobs in the little, Canadian-owned, generic drug manufacturers will be reduced. Virtually everything this government does ends up costing Canadian jobs in favour of multi-national companies. One begins to wonder if the multi-nationals, not the Canadian taxpayer, should be paying Mr. Wilson's salary. ■■ Winter trail Looking Back Through the Years ONE YEAR AGO JANUARY 23,1991 Peter MacDonald of the Brussels Figure Skating Club and his new partner, Suzanne Killing of the Tavistock Figure Skating Club were the 1991 Western Ontario Junior Dance Champions. Blyth Festival's Artistic Director Peter Smith announced Cornflower Blue as one of the plays for the 1991 season. Peebles Furniture Store in Atwood closed after 55 years in business. Members of the 1970 Tricounty championship Belgrave Midgets laced on their skates again to play the Belgrave WOAA Intermediate champions. The two teams filled the Belgrave arena and raised about $700 to help build a new entrance and dressing rooms for the arena. THREE YEARS AGO JANUARY 18,1989 Trevor William John McArter of RR4, Brussels was the first baby of the New Year bom in The Citizen's readership area. Five weeks prema­ ture and weighing in at six lbs. eight oz. when he arrived at 3:07 a.m. on January 3, Trevor is the son of Kim and Gary. For the third year in a row north Huron County was represented at the Canadian National Figure Skat­ ing Championships, the result of medal-winning performances by two pairs of local champions at the Divisional level over the weekend. Junior Dance competitions Kerrie Shepherd and Peter MacDonald placed second to capture the Silver Medal in the division at the Central Canada Divisional Championships in Sault Ste. Marie, while Kevin Wheeler and Michelle Menzies placed third to take the Bronze medal in the Senior Pairs competi­ tion. Both the Maitland Valley and the Ausable-Bayfield Conservation Authorities made cash donations to the Maitland Conservation Founda­ tion in memory of Londesboro's Norman Alexander. The donations were a fitting trib­ ute to the man who was one of Ontario’s foremost advocates of soil and water conservation and whose tireless efforts in promoting land stewardship made Huron County a leader in conservation methods of farming. FIVE YEARS AGO JANUARY 21,1987 Bruce Shillinglaw of RR1, Lon- desboro and Jack McGregor of RR5, Clinton were selected as joint winners of the prestigious Norman Alexander Conservation Award. Mr. Shillinglaw was nominated in recognition of his use of conserva­ tion tillage techniques, plowdown of red clover and crop rotation practices, woodlot and waterway management and reclaimation of gravel pits. Mr. McGregor was also recog­ nized for his tillage methods, using Continued on page 17 CitizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1 HO Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.) for local; $19.16 + $1.66 for each month after March 31/92 + G.S.T. for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $60.00/year for U.S.A, and 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 © Copywright. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Sales Representatives, Sue Wilson and Jeannette McNeil Assistant Editor, Bonnie Gropp Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 {jfrQNA Serving Blyth, Brussels, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and the surrounding townships.