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The Citizen, 1993-04-28, Page 4CCNA VERIFIED CIRCULATION PAID PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1993. ditorial What would satisfy business? Perhaps if we shot all civil servants and burned all government buildings to the ground business would be satisfied that enough had been done to curtail the role of government. That is the only impression one can get after business complaints that federal and provincial plans to throw thousands of government employees out of work weren't nearly harsh enough. Business reaction was most scathing (surprise, surprise) of the provincial NDP cutbacks which will put thousands of civil servants out of work. Representatives of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Federation of Independent Business and Canadian Manufacturers Association all said the government wasn't tough enough in its cutbacks, in particular since the NDP has also promised tax increases. Tax increase would be disastrous for a "very fragile (economic) recovery" said John Andrew of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. Business leaders weren't happy with the federal government's plans to cut costs either but at least the lack of new taxes was pleasing. Still, the promise to chop 16,500 civil service jobs in the next five years, along with other cuts was not enough in terms of cutting the debt, business leaders said. Attitudes of business leaders are contradictory. Speaking against new provincial taxes in Ontario Paul Nykanen of the Canadian Manufacturers Association said: "The government has to fix the economy, create the jobs, attract the investment and grow the revenue that way." And you do that by throwing even more people out of work? People who will need unemployment insurance and welfare once their UI payments end. People whose loss of jobs will scare their friends and neighbours into holding back spending even more, further hurting the consumer confidence that is holding back the recovery? In the past decade, with a friendly government in Ottawa, business has had nearly everything it asked for. Deficit reduction has been the number one priority of the federal government (yet the debt has tripled under the Conservatives); Free Trade has been handed to the big companies on a platter and the North American Free Trade agreement has been negotiated. So what has happened? Ontario has lost 250,000 manufacturing jobs in the past four years. To listen to big business, the only concern is government debt. All of our troubles flow from the government sucking too much out of the economy to pay for the debt. Yet the same period in which the federal government's debt was ballooning from $160 billion to $458 billion was also a time when greed and poor business decisions sent private business debt to ridiculous heights as well. Olympia and York, Campeau Corporation and the Bronfman group of companies are examples of huge companies that have endangered the economy through their reckless financial dealings, causing hardship for small borrowers as banks try to recoup their losses. There's a myth that business people know how the country should be run but 3vidence shows that many business leaders can't even run their own companies, let alone the government. The "business" government in Ottawa has led the country to more debt and fewer jobs at the same time. Perhaps it's time that we stopped letting our lives be dictated by business leaders and listened to common sense instead.—KR Sill life Are we our brothers' keepers? If you see your neighbour beating his wife, should you go to her rescue or worry about your own safety? If you see a mother beating her children, should you intervene or recognize her right to do what she wants in her own home? While most people would agree you can't sit back and watch terrible things happen in their neighbourhood, we are in effect doing the opposite in Bosnia and Croatia. The horror stories just keep getting worse as neighbours turn against neighbours in the disgusting tribal warfare between Serbs, Croats and Muslims. Last week camera crews came upon families that had been burned to death in their homes in retaliation for this or that act by people they probably never knew. Thousands of people are being killed and maimed and driven from their homes in the uncivil civil war. Yet the Western world continues to sit and watch and do little. Canadian troops are living in danger trying to bring peace without firing a shot, but they can do nothing to stop the horror around them. Still, our governments refuse to take a more active role in bringing peace. They're worried about escalating the war or getting caught in a situation that they can't control. Meanwhile people continue to die and be tortured.—KR Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and The Citizen SIX YEARS AGO April 29, 1987 Vandals killed thousands of fish at an East Wawanosh Twp. fish farm owned by Donald Elliott. Unknown culprits had turned off the water supply to a large outdoor tank which deprived the fish of oxygen. More than 3,000 market sized trout in the tank died. Mr. Elliott offered a $500 reward for the arrest and conviction of the vandals. Wayne Lowe of Brussels was presented with a plaque for being chosen the Citizen of the Year. Ken Cucksey was elected presi- dent of the Blyth Lions club. Sandra Howson was crowned Queen of the Klompen Feest, Frank Szusz, chair of the Blyth and District Community Centre Board gave up his 15-year-old beard for a good cause when it was auctioned off to raise money for the lift at the centre. A new business opened in Blyth. Station Glass Works opened on Dinsley Street and featured hand- crafted stained glass products such as custom-designed windows, win- dow hangings and gifts. Photo by Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot 24 YEARS AGO April 30, 1969 Forty years of service as drug- gists to the people of Blyth ended when Del and Ruby Philp closed their store. They continued to reside in Blyth. It was decided at a meeting of the Blyth merchant's association to change the weekly open night from Saturday to Friday evenings. Mer- chants decided to keep their stores open to 10 p.m. The Blyth Standard announced Cohoe salmon were in abundance in Lake Huron. Blyth Hydro Electric Commis- sion rates were raised to 3 cents for the first 50 KWH, 1.5 cents for the next 200 KWH and 0.8 cents for the next 500 KWH. Continued on page 5 C itizen The North Huron P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 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, 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. 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