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The Citizen, 2019-04-11, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 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; $180.00/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 April 11, 1968 The Brussels Lions Club held its annual ladies night at the Brussels Legion, with the Lions members treating their wives to dinner. Lion Al Johnson led a sing-song following dinner. The program included numbers by a quartet from the Atwood Lions Club and then a tap-dancing number by George Stevens of Milverton. In addition, the club’s newly- purchased projector was put to good use, as the club showed three films that night. Ian McDonald told The Brussels Post that he received potatoes from Norman Pfeifer, fresh from his garden. McDonald reported that the potatoes were “firm and good” and perfect for dinner that night. April 11, 1973 In one week, Londesborough residents would be setting their waste out on the curb for collection for the first time. Hullett Township Council had, the week previous, approved weekly garbage collection after receiving a petition from residents of the village. The petition was presented to council by resident Bud Chamney; it had been signed by the vast majority of village residents. Morris Township officially finished 1972 with a deficit of over $11,000. Council was made aware of the bad news by Rae Hatherwell and Robert Simpson of Thorne Gunn and Company. Farmers in northern Huron and southern Bruce Counties decided to put their money up in their fight against Ontario Hydro. The farmers were protesting the land prices being offered by the company along a route on which the company hoped to build a new power transmission line. At a special meeting held to discuss the issue, area farmers heard that 130 farms remained unsold. With that in mind, the farmers were hoping to raise enough money to fund a consultant’s study to determine the value of the land being sought by Ontario Hydro. April 12, 1995 Huron-Bruce MP Paul Steckle defended his decisions while he was a member of the Standing Committee for Agriculture, saying he wouldn’t have changed anything, even if he knew he’d be removed from the committee on April 6. “Even if I had known I would be removed from the committee, I would have voted the same way. I feel good about it and wouldn’t have changed a thing,” Steckle said. Steckle’s removal came after he voted against his party’s motion on the Gun Control Bill. He said he voted the way he did because it was in line with his constituents (his office received over 2,000 phone calls on the issue), in addition to the fact that he felt that the principle of gun registration wouldn’t work. “It would seem that this is a direct result from my voting against the party’s main motion on the Gun Control Bill, however, when I ran for office, I told the people of Huron-Bruce that I would be their voice in Ottawa,” Steckle said. Blyth fire calls were now set to move to a central dispatch system anchored out of the Seaforth Hospital. Under the new system, the dispatchers in Seaforth would answer calls meant for fire departments in Blyth as well as Clinton, Exeter and Seaforth. Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling said that the reasoning behind the move was that dispatch could be more efficient in an emergency situation now under the new system. Local animal control officer Bob Trick said that a recent meeting discussing raccoon rabies had “scared the hell out of him” and that something now had to be done. April 16, 2009 Wayne Snyders of Ontario Greenways presented to Huron East Council, discussing his hope that a new organic waste site could be located in the Grey Ward of Huron East. Snyders assured council that the waste he was planning for the site was not prone to leakage and would not cause the municipality any problems in the future. The material, he said, would come from a waste- water treatment plant and would consist of natural fats and oils with compounds added. The Brussels Optimist Club donated the proceeds of its annual spring dinner and auction to a number of organizations. Not only did the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada benefit from the event, but so too did Brussels and Grey Central Public Schools. The money given to Brussels would go towards the school’s music program, while the Grey money would be spent in the school’s library. Brussels residents Howard and Joan Bernard were set to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Their family had planned a special celebration for them at the Brussels Legion on April 18. The Bernards weren’t the only Brussels residents celebrating, as Emerson and Phyllis Mitchell would be marking their 60th wedding anniversary at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Their celebration would include musical performances by both the Brussels Legion Pipe Band and The Wilbees. 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 How much is enough? No doubt many conversations have been started recently by the annual release of the “Sunshine List” of local government employees making $100,000 or more The requirement to publish the names of employees making more than $100,000 first came into effect under the Mike Harris government nearly two decades ago. There has been no adjustment for inflation since then so many more people have been added to the list as their salaries have increased. In this day when people attack others on social media for the least cause, it’s easy to have sympathy for those whose incomes become public knowledge by being published on the list. On the other hand, names aside, the Sunshine List is a valuable peek inside the workings of government for the public. Even when a newspaper or radio news reporter covers a municipal council or school board, the information provided seldom gives a realistic idea of the cost of government. So it’s valuable to know that the chief administrative officer (CAO) of your municipality is earning more than $100,000 a year – how much more depends on the size or the municipality and the seniority of the particular CAO. Beyond that, it’s informative to see how jobs are valued. For instance, these days a chief building official or director of public works may be paid a salary that puts them on the Sunshine List in one municipality but not another. If we want good people working for our municipalities we must be prepared to pay competitive salaries, but sometimes there seems little justification for how much more some municipal managers make than the ordinary citizens who pay the taxes that support those salaries. The Sunshine List should be a reminder to municipal councillors to look hard at what the appropriate salary for any job is when they’re hiring. — KR It goes against logic, but . . . It’s easy to understand the unease the provincial government has with supporting safe injection sites for drug users, but in the long run the number of lives that can be saved should be the bottom line that drives decisions. On April 5, the provincial government announced the closure of six of the province’s 21 overdose-prevention (safe-injection) sites. Even keeping 15 of the sites open involved a bit of backtracking by Premier Doug Ford who had promised, while campaigning in last year’s election, that he would close them all. His feelings make perfect sense from one point of view. The drugs being used are illegal and it seems ridiculous that public funds should be paying to provide a site and staffing for addicts to shoot-up illegal drugs. On the other hand, we’re facing an epidemic of overdose deaths in Ontario as people inject drugs that are often contaminated with other drugs like fentanyl that can kill people. In 2017 more than 1,200 people died from overdoses, and the number has surged since. When people choose to inject their drugs under the supervision of staff at a safe-injection site, however, there’s someone present to quickly administer life-saving antidotes if the person shows signs of suffering an overdose. Hundreds of lives have been saved by these sites. The bottom line is that human lives are saved, people who may contribute to society and pay taxes for years to come if they get their lives turned around. It’s important that these safe injection sites also make it as easy as possible for drug users to kick their habit, but people can’t do that if they don’t survive. If we believe that human lives matter, then funding safe-injection sites is a good investment of government dollars. Despite whatever ill-ease politicians may have in seeming to cater to users of illegal drugs, governments should be supporting more of these sites, not less. — KR The lessons of Rwanda Twenty-five years ago this week, nearly 10,000 people were being hacked to death each day in Rwanda as the Hutu majority tried to exterminate the country’s Tutsi minority. Before the killing stopped 100 days after it began, about 800,000 people had been killed. Yet as the 25th anniversary of the outbreak of the killing spree was observed on Sunday, Rwanda is also a remarkable example of a country healing itself from a time of madness. It’s handy, when so much of racial hatred seems to be caused by white people these days, to remember that this genocide was perpetrated by blacks on blacks. Hatred of groups unlike ourselves is a human affliction, not the property of any one racial group. But the best lesson from Rwanda is that life can go on after such a viciously divisive time. When Tutsi Paul Kagame took power after the killing ended, he sought to heal the wounds rather than seek revenge. Some of his efforts have been more successful than others and critics see him as a repressive leader, but today Tutsis and Hutus live side by side in peace. Who could have imagined this in 1994? — KR &