Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-05-13, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 13,1992. E ditorial Savings could cost jobs While municipalities in Huron County have been lukewarm to many of the recommendations in the Huron County Study, one of the areas that may tempt many is the suggestion municipalities should look at group buying of supplies to attain economies of scale. From a purely cost-cutting point of view, this may be an attractive option for councils trying to hold the line on rising cost but it may be more than the savings are worth in the long run. When group buying takes place there is one winner and a whole lot of losers. Local suppliers who have long depended on sales to local municipalities, lose a chunk of business. It's quite possible that the supplier that wins the contract, may not even be from within the county boundaries. It means that local businesses pay taxes to support a business from outside the county. At the very best, a business in one municipality will benefit while businesses in all the other municipalities will suffer. Once upon a time when each school operated as part of the local community, supplies were generally purchased in that community. Local businesses benefitted. Part of the rationale of the county school board system, however, was savings in group buying of supplies. Today, as far as the local economy is concerned, schools might as well be located on the moon. Very little money from school budgets goes into the community where the school is located, yet the cost of taxes paid by businesses (and ordinary taxpayers in the community) has continued to climb. Somebody has to shop at home if we want to have communities at all. If everybody goes bargain hunting in London or Toronto or even Goderich or Exeter, there'll be nobody left to keep communities going. Sometimes what seems practical can, in the long term, be a foolish saving.—KR Can you see the difference? There are times when one wonders whether there are any real differences between Canadians and Americans, and other times when the differences stand out like a sore thumb. The differences have become more evident than ever recently as pressure comes on U.S. politicians to do something about the mess in health care in their country. While Canadians may think the federal Progressive Conservatives, the Reform Party or the Christian Heritage party are right wing, our politicians can't hold a candle to the stubborn mind-set of U.S. leaders. There is no doubt that our medicare system in Canada has problems and our politicians are struggling to cap soaring costs without cutting services to those that need it. Our problem isn't unique, however, in that costs are soaring in the U.S. too, only it’s private insurance companies that are dealing with the situation, in some cases refusing to insure people who are potential problems— like smokers. The difference is that even with our problems, all Canadians still have access to health care at an affordable price. An estimated 30 to 40 million people in the U.S. have no private insurance and simply can't afford to get sick or they could be wiped out financially. But U.S. leaders stubbornly refuse to consider the possibility of the kind of health care system we have in Canada, or in Germany or England or anywhere else in the world. Rather than take what we've got and try to improve it, U.S. leaders simply blast the Canadian system as bad for the Americans. One wonders who the U.S. government works for: the interests of the ordinary citizen, or the interests of the well-to-do medical establishment which hates the idea of "socialized" medicine. For President George Bush and his supporters the thousands of doctors and companies operating private hospitals and insurance companies who gain by the cunent system seem to count for more than the 30-40 million people whose life and economic future is endangered by an expensive medical system that offers no lifeboat for those in an emergency. For many government officials Canada is a sign of dangerous creeping socialism almost as dangerous as the Soviet Union once was. Worse, because Americans can see Canadians aren't suffering drastically because of their sins of socialism while the Soviets, with long line ups for everything, were hardly something Americans were likely to want to want to emulate. But Canadians, sitting right next door, showing a standard of living nearly as high as the Americans, with a a longer life span and a lower infant mortality, pose a danger. It might make Americans not want to continue their "take a risk" lifestyle, especially if their life depends on the risk they take.—KR Letters THE EDITOR, A small item in your May 6 edition gets a big reaction from me; to wit, Brussels Council ... “supported a resolution from the Township of Muskoka Lakes which opposed a proposal to set up 12 French Language School school boards.” As a non-resident of Brussels, I usually place little import on the deliberations of Brussels council. I know little of the politico-posture or collective mind-sets that prevail at meetings of local government. I suspect though that this latest decision is little more than another example of small mindedness, rubber-stamp thinking that militates against anything French ... typical of the lock-step parochial behaviour prevalent in Ontario not too long ago - vis & vis - localized declarations of bilingualism in many small communities. I'm almost certain that little real discussion preceded the vote nor were factors relating to this matter really understood by the councillors. As a citizen living in this area, I have little hope of having many, if any, of my rights as a francophone made manifest in my life. Be that as it may ...! But in certain areas of this province - and there are many - francophone rights to French language schools and engo-french school boards should not be matters that are influenced and determined by small local governments like Brussels and/or Muskoka Lakes ... or even the Huron County Board of Education. My ancestors have been in this country for over 400 years. It is bizarre if nothing else, that as a non-resident of Brussels, I have contributed with some considerable effort (in the local Cub-Scout movement for the past half dozen years ...) to make Brussels a better community. Now I have a council that insults my heritage and linguistic culture by its recent action. By way of registering my displeasure with council, I should do more than write this letter. Maybe I should conduct a personal economic boycott of things “Brusselsitic”. Perhaps cancelling my subscription to this newspaper is a start. Larry Proulx RR 1, Ethel. THE EDITOR, What are Public Sidewalks? Until recently I thought that sidewalks were a safe place to walk. The dictionary says that a sidewalk is - “A path or pavement at the side of a street for the use of pedestrians.” Are dogs now classed as pedestrians? I think not. In my opinion dogs should be chained at least eight to ten feet away from public sidewalks. I go for walks accompanied by small children not ever thinking that at any moment these children or I could be attacked by a dog, that is chained too close to the sidewalk. I Continued on page 6 CitizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429,P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont.BRUSSELS, Ont.Publisher, Keith Roulston N0M1H0 NOG 1 HO Editor, Bonnie Gropp Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Sales Representatives, FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil and Merle Gunby 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; $31.03/year ($29.00 plus $2.03 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.C*CNA Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Serving Blyth, Brussels, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethed, Londesborough, Walton and the ssurrounding to1wnships.