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The Citizen, 2019-03-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2019. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/year in other foreign countries. 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: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca March 7, 1968 In the Brussels bowling league, it was Dave’s Devils who were leading the team standings with a season score of 162, which was head and shoulders above Ned’s Stedies in second with 154 points. Marlene Rutledge led in both the women’s high single and high triple categories with 269 and 676 points, respectively. Bill Stephenson joined Rutledge as a dual-division leader, atop the men’s high singles with 259 points and the men’s high triple with 619 points. March 7, 1973 Rehearsals for Mystery at Green Fingers at the Blyth Little Theatre began at Blyth Public School on March 5. While many of the parts were cast on the spot that night, in the coming weeks, the theatre staff would be looking for people to help with backstage work as well. While three major party candidates debated the issues as the Huron County Federation of Agriculture hosted an all-candidates meeting ahead of the coming by- election for the Huron riding, a fourth candidate soon threw his hat into the ring as well. Joining Liberal Jack Riddell, Progressive Conservative Don Southcott and New Democrat Paul Carroll was 44-year-old Ed Bain, a Goderich man who identified as a Socialist. Bain had also run in the provincial election the previous year before announcing his federal candidacy in 1972. The Blyth Standard reported that Bain had decided to run as an independent socialist after losing the chance to represent the New Democrats to Carroll. He was then subsequently kicked out of the party due to his “extreme views”. March 8, 1995 An 11-year-old Monkton boy was able to escape serious injuries following a snowmobile collision in Grey Township on March 5. The Wingham OPP said that while the boy was out on the public trail he approached the County Road 16 junction, at which point he lost control of his machine and slid onto the roadway, hitting two cars, sending one into a nearby ditch. The OPP said the boy sustained only minor injuries as a result of the crash. While the final budget wouldn’t be passed until the end of the month, Huron County taxpayers were told they needn’t fear a tax increase, as Huron County Council voted to hold the mill rate. The news came from Warden Bruce Machan at council’s March 2 meeting. A meeting was scheduled for April 19 to begin planning for Brussels’ 125th anniversary, which would be marked in 1997. Bailie Parrott celebrated his 100th birthday at Huronview Home for the Aged on March 5. Parrott was joined by friends and family to help him mark the occasion. Parrott had served as the reeve of Morris Township from 1954 to 1961. The Brussels Junior C Bulls suffered a 7-2 loss at the hands of Mount Forest, going down two games in the teams’ first-round playoff series. The Brussels Curling Club held its annual year-end bonspiel and welcomed over 70 curlers to the village for the event. March 12, 2009 Thirteen-year-old Jacob McGavin was presented with his Ontario Junior Citizen of the Year Award, alongside his family, at a special ceremony at Queen’s Park. McGavin, in an interview with The Citizen, said that winning the award was definitely a once-in-a- lifetime experience. Annelies Ringgenberg from the Dairy Farmers of Ontario spent the day at East Wawanosh Public School, speaking to students about milk processing, dairy industry careers, a cow’s growth, the food chain and early settlers, among other topics related to dairy farming in Ontario. With the annual World Day of Prayer on the horizon, it was the women of Papua New Guinea who prepared the 2009 service. Each year, the World Day of Prayer service is prepared by the women of a different country. Huron East Council passed a motion stating that the municipality would ready its community centres for needed improvements. Council was responding to a letter from Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb who had corresponded with all lower-tier councils within his riding regarding funding through the Canada Action Plan, which brought along with it $500 million in funding for recreational facilities across Canada. Council’s motion stated that the municipality would proceed to complete an engineering report for the expansion of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre and the Seaforth and District Community Centre for the addition of new dressing rooms as well as other improvements. On March 27, Blyth would play host to its own local Me to We event at Memorial Hall. The event would raise funds for Free the Children and feature a number of guest speakers and various musical and dance performances. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright It’s worth the extra cost Blyth taxpayers are going to pay a price for having vociferously rejected two less expensive locations for a new fire hall and public works building, but in the long run the extra cost is probably worth it. North Huron Council had originally proposed building the new facility on properties the municipality already owned. First it was a site near the sewage treatment plant on North Street. When that was rejected by neighbours, council proposed building on part of the Radford Memorial Baseball Diamond at the Blyth Campground. That proposal generated even more noisy opposition. The new location on Queen Street at the northern end of the village will cost $130,000 more, having been purchased from private land- owners. With direct access to County Road 4 and with fewer neighbours who will be adversely affected, the extra expense seems worth it. Sometimes, when councillors are willing to listen, as they did in this case, these controversies can work out for the best. –KR Politics defined by geography In Canada, how you feel about any particular controversy is probably partially shaped by where you come from. For those outside of Quebec, for instance, there is little sympathy for engineering giant SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. These Canadians totally agree with former Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould that this multi- national company should be punished harshly through criminal charges for fraud and corruption in connection with nearly $48 million in payments made to Libyan officials between 2001 and 2011. Those from within Quebec, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and others of the 11 people Wilson-Raybould claimed put undue pressure on her to use an equally-legal deferred prosecution agreement, feel the company should be punished but not so severely that workers might be laid off. Meanwhile in already-aggrieved Alberta, some people complained that the government seemed to care a lot more about possible job losses in Quebec than real jobs lost in Alberta’s oil industry. Almost since Alberta was created in 1905, Albertans have felt abused by the eastern forces. Early on complaints centred on what they felt were exorbitant freight rates by eastern-based railways. A common complaint was that Albertans got 10 per cent less for anything they sold and paid 10 per cent more for anything they bought. Alberta’s fortunes changed with the discovery of oil at Leduc in 1947 but Albertans’ sense of grievance reached a peak in 1980 when Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced the National Energy Program. Canadians east of Alberta had been suffering gasoline shortages and high prices because of boycotts by Middle Eastern oil producers. The government and eastern residents saw Alberta’s vast oil supplies as a national resource and felt it should to sold to other Canadians at less than the world price. Albertans, led by Premier Peter Lougheed, felt violently differently. This was Alberta’s oil! Today there is so much oil being produced in Alberta’s oil sands that there isn’t enough pipeline capacity to get it to export markets. Iron- ically, one of Albertans’ grievances now is that the Energy East pipeline was abandoned after eastern protesters, particularly in Quebec, convinced the pipeline company the project wasn’t worth the fight. Albertans staged a protest in Ottawa two weeks ago, blaming Ottawa for not doing enough to get oil to market. Protesters seldom mentioned that the current Canadian government spent more than $4 billion of taxpayers’ money to buy the Trans Mountain Pipeline so they could make sure it got built. Meanwhile for many British Columbians, their province’s spectacular western coastline is the symbol of their lifestyle. The fear of oil spills from tankers loading at terminals supplied by pipelines full of Albertan oil has driven them to protest any pipeline proposal and challenge it in the courts. When the Alberta government retaliated, however, with a threat of legislation to stop shipping oil to B.C. for the province’s own use, an indignant government of British Columbia went to court claiming Alberta was violating the constitution. Canadians see issues as black and white but whether they see white or they see black often depends on where they come from. –KR Too ironic for words Lawyers don’t make moral judgements about their clients, but surely the Canadian legal team must have shaken their heads a bit when they filed suit on behalf of Meng Wanzhou, Chief Financial Officer of Chinese tech company Huawei, claiming her rights were violated when she was arrested by Canadian officials. Surely the lawyers must have seen the irony that they claim the rights of Meng, who is living under house arrest in her $7 million Vancouver home, were violated while two Canadians who were arrested in China and have been held since December, have no rights at all. –KR &