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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-08-19, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19,1992. Free trade? Get real! The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) reached last week between negotiators for Canada, the United States and Mexico is supposed to be a victory for all those who believe in the principle of reducing barriers to free trade between countries. Ha! NAFTA proved again that what is really moving these talks about more open trade whether in North America or the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, is not some high moral principle but winning an advantage over the other guy. The Americans, who have been singing the praises of free trade, are the worst when it comes to delivering on their lofty talk. Under NAFTA, for instance, the Americans won concessions from Canada that actually put up new trade barriers. Canada, several years ago, had reduced tariffs on the import of some textiles from elsewhere in the world, a move that should be welcomed by all good free traders. The move, however, gave Canadian clothing manufacturers a huge edge on their American counterparts who either had to pay high tariffs on imported textiles, or had to use more expensive American textiles. One of the few noticeable beneficiaries of the original Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement were our clothing manufacturers, who, because of this advantage, gained huge new markets in the U.S. American clothing manufacturers cried foul. The U.S. however, instead of dropping its own tariffs on imported textiles (which would have upset U.S. textile manufacturers), insisted on putting a quota on clothing imported from Canada that used anything but North American textiles. The result is that the Canadian clothing industry, which already paid a high price under the earlier agreement, figures tens of thousands more jobs will be lost. Similarly in the auto industry, the Auto-pact of the 1960's, which had been held up to Canadians as evidence they had nothing to worry about from free trade, has now been gutted by the Americans who insisted on regulations that cars must have a 62.5 per cent North American content to move freely into the U.S. It's part of an American battle to keep Japanese automakers from locating in Canada instead of the U.S. The ridiculous situation over Honda cars that were assembled in Canada using engines made in the U.S. that the Americans said weren't American, shows how far the Americans will go to tip the scales in their direction. If we must have free trade forced on us, let's at least stop talking in hallowed tones about how righteous a concept it is. Let’s stop claiming we're talking about "fair trade" and that all those opposed to free trade are wimps who don't want to compete under fair rules. Let's admit that this is a vicious battle where the strongest will survive. —KR Voting strength a sticky issue Huron County has its own version of the Triple E Senate debate: how to give proper representation to those areas with larger populations while not leaving smaller areas without a proper say. Huron's smaller municipalities aren't as adamant that they should have equal representation as the smaller provinces are but they're also worried about being squeezed out by reforms designed to cure a growing problem. Several years ago in order to reduce the size of county council the deputy reeves of all but the largest municipalities had their county council seats taken away. Only the towns of Goderich and Exeter and the townships of Goderich, Hay, Stanley and Stephen qualified for a second representative on council with the town of Goderich's reeve having two votes for a grand total of three for the county's largest town. The problem is that the population of several other municipalities has grown to the point they will soon qualify to send their deputy reeve to council, increasing an already crowded council. But what to do? The town of Exeter has proposed that all municipalities get one vote for each 1000 electors (that's not population but people qualified to vote in a municipal election). It would mean, for instance, that Goderich would get six votes, Blyth and Brussels, one each. Brussels, with 946 electors would get one vote but McKillop, with 1069 electors, would get a second vote for 120 extra people. Bayfield has a smaller population than Blyth but because of cottagers, would get two votes. Then there's the concern that one reeve should have more than one vote, one of the reasons the province has been pushing for a reorganization of municipal boundaries, so there would be fewer municipalities, rather than have councillors have more than one vote. Huron wants no part of changing municipal boundary lines, yet wants fairer representation. A fair solution may be difficult.—KR Smooth sailing Photo by Chris Roulston Looking Back Through the Years ONE YEAR AGO August 21,1991 Brett Lee, of Walton, finished second in two classes at the U.S. National Amateur Moto-cross championship in Tennessee. About 1000 riders participated in the year­ ly event held at Loretta Lynn's dude ranch. Elmer Buchanan, Ontario's Min­ ister of Agriculture and Food was in Blyth to present a plaque hon­ ouring the Blyth Festival's contri­ bution to rural development. THREE YEARS AGO August 16,1989 Blyth firemen were called to the farm of Ray Hanna in West Wawanosh, north of Auburn to extinguish a wagonload of stTaw that an overheated bale elevator had set on fire as it was being unloaded into the bam. Grey Township council passed a by-law designating the former Knox Church in Moncrieff as a his­ torical building. The Westfield Church, which was built in 1889 on part of Lot 33, Con. 5 of East Wawanosh, cele­ brated its 100th birthday. FIVE YEARS AGO August 19,1987 Damage was heavy in an imple­ ment fire at the farm of Don Henry, of Morris Township. A John Deere combine owned by Jim Bolesworth and Henry Beyersbergen of RR 1, Ethel caught fire while being repaired with an electric welder. Damage was estimated at between $12,000 and $15,000. Ten-year-old Jerrod Button of Blyth was chosen for the role of Sandy in Another Season's Promise at the Blyth Festival and for the 10 week tour across Ontario through to Alberta. The Belgrave Women's Mission­ ary Society celebrated its 100th anniversary. HAVE AN OPINION ? The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor They must be signed and should be accompanied by a telephone number should we need to clarify any information. The Citizen reserves the right to edit or not print letters. _________ CitizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M1H0 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; $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. Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Merle Gunby Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Serving Blyth, Brussels, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and the surrounding townships.