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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-06-16, Page 4I A penthouse view Letters Reeve says thanks THE EDITOR, On behalf of the residents of Blyth I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Blyth Festival, Dale Hamilton, John Orem, the Many Hands staff, cast, crew and ,huge number of volunteers, for the untold hours spent on preparing the presentation of the Blyth and District Community Play. The days, evenings and nights taken away from regular family to join this new Many Hands family has been most rewarding. The magic I feel, hear and see every night in the laughter, applause, smiles and comments, I hope have made it all worthwhile. I know it has been for me. This once in a life time opportunity to relive the past and look to the future can only help to bind us together as an even stronger community. Thank you again. Datid E. Lee, Reeve Village of Blyth. THE EDITOR, We have a wonderful volunteer fire department in Brussels. The firefighters are ready to rush to any emergency, night or day to do their best to save lives, homes or buildings. Approximately 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 7 the usual evening routines were halted as the fire siren screamed its emergency signal to all. I saw the fire truck start out, but there was a crowd of children on bikes hampering the truck's progress. The children on their bikes raced alongside the fire truck and again intercepted the truck. I also saw it happen a third time. I am extremely concerned about those children's safety and the welfare of the emergency caller. Remember, minutes count in an emergency so let's get together to prevent this from happening again. If you hear a siren when you are outdoors you should move away from the street and make sure everyone else is off the street, too. Then stay back until all is clear. If something was left on the street and the emergency vehicle is coming down the street leave it there until all is clear. If you are in a car get over to the side of the road and let the fire truck through. Safety instructions can be successful only if you make it a point to enrich everyone's knowledge about emergency vehicles. Remember safety is your responsibility and by applying common sense rules, you will be ensured that you have done your best for your community. Marlene Richmond. THE EDITOR, Legislation was introduced on Monday, June 14 to impose $2 billion in saving in broader public sector compensation. If agreements have not been reached through negotiation by August 1 then the legislation will impose these Photo by Janice Becker mechanisms to achieve the savings targets for each sector. Almost everyone agrees that there must be reductions in the cost of government. The Social Contract was an attempt to involve those in the broader public sector to determine how it was to be done. It is not a question of, if it is to be done, but how. By working together and spreading the impact of the reductions then fewer people would be hit by dramatic drops in their income. By using some of the suggestions of the Social Contract there would be fewer additions to the list of the unemployed. Negotiations are often long and sometimes frustrating. The media wants newsworthy drama. Dicta- torial edits imposed without consultation may appear to be dramatically successful but today we must work together and share in the decisions. This is why we will continue to negotiate but if that fails then the legislation takes effect. The legislation will include: provisions for a job security plan which would assure a person who was laid off that they would have priority for another position if it becomes open. A job security fund of $300 million would top up UIC benefits to 95 percent of the take- home pay. Unpaid leaves of absence, administered in a way that protects services and accommo- dates preferences of individual workers, achieves the greatest savings. Rather than pursue the wide negotiations which the unions walked away from last week the negotiations will be done in sectors by local parties such as munici- Continued on page 5 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1993. C The North Huron itizen eNA P.O. Box 429, P.O. Bo: 152, Publisher, Keith Roulston BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, OM. Editor, Bonnie Gropp NOM 993 NOG 1H0 Phone S23-4792 Phone 887.9114 Sales Representatives, FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell 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; 931.03/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 © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Good intentions, bad idea The move by some councillors at the June meeting of Huron County Council to short-cut the site selection process for a new Huron County landfill site may have been made for the best of intentions but it was still a bad idea. Some councillors, led by Zurich Reeve Robert Fisher, supported the idea of the county asking the Minister of Environment to simply eliminate one of the criteria that led to the rejection of a Grey Township site. Except for the fact it was class 4 land instead of class 5 or 6 land, the Grey No. 5 site would have fit the bill, Reeve Fisher said. Therefore the Minister could save a bundle of money by simply relaxing that one cretierion and declaring the search for the site over. At first thought this may make sense but the reasons to reconsider are quickly evident. Despite preliminary tests that show the site was suitable there is no guarantee the site would stand up to further testing, Denis Merrall, Huron County engineer pointed out. Leona Armstrong, Grey Township reeve pointed out the number of springs on the property and doubted it was really safe. Howick Reeve Norm Fairies pointed out an even bigger flaw in the thinking. The only reason the six original candidate sites were selected was because only class 5 and 6 farmland was allowed to be considered. If you were were going to relax that restriction, dozens more sites might be eligible. The reason nearly all the sites were in the northeast corner of the county was because the lowland areas near the Maitland River valley weren't classed as top quality farmland. Because they are in such lowland areas, however, they may be the least safe from an environmental perspective. "If we can include class 1 and 2 land, 95 per cent of the land in Huron, we have a better chance of getting a good site," Reeve Fairies said. Perhaps some sites might be found in the southern part of the county — who knows, even around Zurich. But the best argument of all against the idea of taking a short-cut came from Blyth Reeve Dave Lee, chairman of the waste management committee. "We assured (the public) from the beginning they could participate in the process. What message would be sent if we change the rules now?" Politicians are in a no-win situation. If they spend a lot of money on the process of finding a landfill site, taxpayers will complain about the waste. If, however, they change the rules in midstream to save money, they are breaking the faith with the public. Taxpayers in Grey Township, for instance, are just getting some faith in the system because it has worked. They'd been angry and heartsick when their homes and farms were announced to be part of the original list of candidate sites. Many felt it was lunacy to propose building a landfill on their lowland properties. The system worked, however, and their sites were eliminated. To change the rules now would confirm the cynicism many people have about politics. People feel, with some justification, that politicans say one thing to get their support, then turn around and change their minds whenever it's convenient. People must have respect for the system of government if it is to work. Hopefully, when Reeve Fisher's motion comes off the table and is voted on in July, councillors will keep the faith with Huron residents and let the messy, expensive site selection process continue as it should. — KR Breaking the cycle Recently at a high school dance in Stoney Creek two students of Sikh heritage were beaten by a gang of white students while dozens of other students watched. About the same time a clash took place in Toronto between what witnesses say was a gang of East Indian youths and a group of either Italian or Hispanic youths. Then Saturday night, a gang calling itself anti-racist, attacked the home of a man whose voice is heard on a call-in line operated by the white supremisist Heritage Front. The group has been promoting hate against immigrants, blacks, Jews and just about any other identifiable group it can blame for all that is wrong in the country. Many young people in particular, seem open to this kind of easy hate. The current economic situation, the current lack of faith in the systems we've set up to make the country a better place, has left this a country in despair. The feeling of desperation many people seem to feel bears a frightening resemblance to the Great Depression when people sought the easy solutions of fascist fanaticism. With an election due this fall, the party that can give people hope and break this cycle of despair will be the one that will offer most to the country. It's time to accent the positive.— KR