HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-03, Page 4The Ncrth Huron Lei itizen
Publisher, Keith Roulston
Editor, Bonnie Gropp
Sales Representatives,
Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell
P.O. Box 152,
BRUSSELS, Ont.
NOG 1H0
Phone 887-9114
FAX 887-9021 PAID
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, Ustowel, 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.
Publications Mall Registration No. 6968
P.O. Box 429,
BLYTH, Ont.
NOM 1H0
Phone 523-4792
FAX 523-9140
Serving Blyth, Brussels, Auburn, Be!grave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and the surrounding townships.
Crossing paths
Letters
THE EDITOR,
This letter is in response to
Brussels council's reaction to the
request for funds from Wheels
Away (Feb. 10/93). Several studies
have targeted a need for a disability
transportation system for our area.
Wheels Away is now operational
due to the needs of local
individuals.
One of these individuals was a
Brussels' father who had his
lifestyle abruptly altered due to an
accident. His attempts to continue
his role in family and community
were severely restricted due to a
lack of transportation. With Wheels
Away there would have been an
opportunity for him to continue as
a participant in both these
activities.
My grandmother, who used
Brussels as her home town, was
another local individual with needs.
As she neared 90 she disliked being
hauled (her words) into and out of
cars. Her trips into Brussels became
fewer due to transportation, not
health, obstacles. Once she moved
to a facility with a van she was
again able to increase her activities.
The initial citizen committee
began as a result of these people
and others like them. It was not
based out of a particular
municipality. People were involved
because they knew of a need.
Wheels Away evolved from this
committee.
Wheels Away uses many
methods to pay for its operation.
Ideally it will run without the
financial assistance of the
municipalities. Until it is an
established service it will require
some extra assistance. This
assistance may come from many
areas. Each municipality has been
asked to sign an agreement with the
Photo by Bonnie Gropp
association. This agreement assists
Wheels Away in obtaining grants
from the government and sharing
the cost of a deficit. It also allows
each municipality a voice on the
board.
Wheels Away is a charitable
organization. Individuals and
service organizations are invited to
donate to help support the service.
50/50 draw tickets are available
from Directors right now and the
proceeds will help cover costs not
met by the user fee.
Everyone is welcome to attend
Wheels Away's annual general
meeting to learn more about the
service or voice their concerns. The
meeting is March 10, 1993,
7:30 p.m., at the Wingham Seniors
Day Centre (wheelchair access-
ible).
A need in Brussels put the
wheels in motion for this service. A
need obviously still remains and
that is why the requested donation
has increased.
Brenda Edgar
Past Director of Wheels Away.
PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 1993.
E ditorial
Protection vs. obstruction
There's an irony that surfaces at many meetings looking into
promoting economic development in Huron County such as the current
meetings for the Community Futures Program, an irony that isn't lost
on participants, if not on the county officials involved.
Many of the commendable efforts to stimulate economic activity are
sponsored by the Planning and Development department of the county.
But for many of the participants, the planning part of the department's a
ctivities gets in the road of the development function. Too many
restrictions on development, they feel, are hindering the potential for
economic growth and diversification.
Things have changed in the 20 years since land-use planning
became part of the agenda in Huron county. There was a time when the
protection of agricultural land was the prime area of interest for farm
groups in the county. Today, after a decade of depression on the farm,
many farmers think the controls on development of farmland for non-
farm uses that were put in place 20 years ago, are unneeded hindrances
to new jobs being created (and farmers gaining more from the sale of
their land than they could get from selling it for farm purposes).
Similarly, the need for zoning changes in urban areas to allow land
or buildings to be used for purposes other than what they have been
designated in the official plan, has some developers frustrated.
Sometimes the frustration is misplaced. Sometimes the very farmers
who want the freedom to develop rural property may be hurt by the
result. There was the case, a couple of years back, of the request to
develop a motor home park in a rural area which would have resulted
in farms in the area being restricted in future expansion of animal
housing facilities. Similarly, changing the zoning on one property in
town may lower the quality of the neighbourhood for others.
Land-use planning is a delicate balance between protecting the
existing landowners and not preventing all change forever by tying up
land in too much bureaucratic red tape. Planning must be constantly
under scrutiny to make sure it remain flexible, but proposals to loosen
up controls must also be carefully be studied to make sure that in the
name of development, we don't end up in a big mess. There is no
perfect answer, only a continual state of uneasy balancing.—KR
Mulroney left his mark
History, supporters of Brian Mulroney would have us believe, will
treat the Prime Minister more kindly than the current public opinion
has. This may be wishful thinking on the part of his friends, but there is
no doubt that Mr. Mulroney has changed the course of Canadian
history forever.
Mr. Mulroney, through his constitutional initiatives and economic
policies, has long had the desire to outdo his predecessor, Pierre
Trudeau in leaving his mark on the country. In many ways he has
succeeded. Whoever the next prime minister is (and with a bright new
face who'd better against the Tories winning the next election), the
agenda will have been set by the Mulroney years.
After three years of recession aggravated by the effects of the Free
Trade Agreement, how could a government now try to get us out of the
agreement, for instance? Not only will we be stuck, like it or not, with
the FTA, we'll also be left with the restrictions on what governments
can do here at home, because of the agreement, at least one of the
reasons the big business community was so strong in support of free
trade in the first place.
Much as we hate the GST, any new government is either going to
have to go along with it, or come up with something that raises the
same amount of money somewhere else. In the long run, will it be
worth all the pain of change just to exchange one tax for another?
And after nine years of brainwashing, no government would dare
stray from the accepted wisdom that the one great problem in the land
is the deficit? We may have 1.5 million people in the country
unemployed but we're told there's nothing we can do to change the
situation because the deficit can't be made bigger (one of the magic acts
of the Mulroney years is to convince people that the deficit is all the
problem of that spendthrift Trudeau, even though the deficit wasn't
large at all in the Trudeau years until the recession of 1982-1984).
A likeable, inspiring leader could manage to change the Mulroney
course as Bill Clinton has done in the U.S. After 12 years of Reagan
and Bush and their anti-government-intervention philosophy, President
Clinton has managed to excite people with the thought that government
has a role to make things better. That, however, requires an inspiring
leader. So far neither Jean Chretien or Audrey McLaughlin have shown
that kind of leadership. It may already be to late.—KR