Loading...
The Citizen, 2019-04-25, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 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 25, 1968 Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Wardlaw of Ethel were in Wingham Hospital after sustaining injuries when their car was struck by a dump truck on County Road 12 on April 19. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Thynne quietly celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 22, welcoming calls from friends and family members wishing them well. Manuel Shears of the Department of Health and Welfare, Pension Division, was the guest speaker at the regular meeting of the Brussels Lions Club. He addressed the club about the Canada Pension. April 25, 1973 A family fishing trip nearly turned tragic for the Greidanus family of Londesborough when 15- year-old Janet nearly drowned in Lake Huron while smelt fishing with her father Don. The pair was fishing near Port Albert when a strong current pulled Janet into the water at the mouth of Nine Mile River. In a matter of seconds, Janet was rushed more than 100 feet away, out into Lake Huron. The Blyth Standard reported that Janet was not necessarily a strong swimmer and she was having trouble staying afloat due to her heavy boots in the cold water. She was eventually pulled to safety by Ministry of Natural Resources personnel and other fishermen who were on the scene. Don tended to his other seven children while the rescue took place. William Thuell, a long-time foreman for the Public Utilities Commission and a local electrical contractor was named Blyth’s Citizen of the Year by the Blyth Board of Trade. Thuell received the award as part of an evening to celebrate his retirement. As Central Huron Secondary School prepared for a production of Oklahoma!at the school, The Blyth Standard reported that it might have shades of the Blyth Little Theatre, as numerous local young people had taken roles in the play. David Street was set to play Curly, the male lead in the play, while his sister Catherine was cast in another lead role. Kim Watson, Gary Hesselwood, David Thomson and Francis and John Battye, all from Blyth, would all be on stage, as would Jo-Anne and Rick Snell, both of Londesborough. April 26, 1995 The auditor’s report for the year showed Blyth to be in a surplus position of over $85,000. One point of concern for auditor Paul Seebach, however, was the marked increase in administration spending in 1994. Seebach said that council expenses for things like council remuneration, conventions, mileage, administration salaries, materials and services came in nearly $8,000 higher than anticipated and more than $9,300 higher than 1993. Keith Johnston was nominated to the position of Morris Township deputy-reeve at a special meeting held on April 18. The position had been vacant since a council shuffle saw Bert Elliott assume the role of reeve after Clem McLellan resigned in late March. Approximately 150 were in attendance at Memorial Hall for Women’s Day Out, a fundraiser for the Blyth United Church Women. The event featured a fashion show and a craft show. Hullett Central Public School was set to host its spring auction to raise money for new playground equipment. The school welcomed local Bob Trick as the guest auctioneer for the evening. April 30, 2009 A study of the 46 years between 1960 and 2006 showed that Blyth had warmed by 1.4°C over that period. The data also showed that annual precipitation had increased by 400 millimetres over that time as well. This news was presented in Wingham at a special conference entitled Climate Change Action: Rural Perspectives from the Maitland Valley Watershed. While the change might have seemed small to some, Dr. David Pearson of Laurentian University said that the difference in air temperature during the most recent ice age was only between five and seven degrees celsius. If temperatures were to continue increasing at that rate, he said, it would be difficult to predict just how much life on earth would change as a result. Blyth native Erin Bolger released The Happy Baker, a book comprised of recipes and personal stories about her romantic life. While Bolger had been working as a makeup artist in Toronto, she came up with the idea for the book to share both her creativity in the kitchen and her entertaining dating stories. Two members of the Blyth Lions Club, John Stewart and Gord Jenkins, were presented with the Melvin Jones Fellowship – the highest form of recognition handed out by Lions Clubs International. Over 15 years in the making, former employees of the Callander Nursing Home in Brussels held a reunion at the home of Betty Graber Watson. Over 20 former employees were in attendance that day. 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 Paying the cost While there’s much noise going on about the “tax grab” of the federal government’s attempt to limit climate change through a disincentive tax on using carbon, Canadians are already paying a higher price for climate change through their home insurance bills. The spring flooding season has already begun in eastern Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick and those whose homes are damaged will be making claims to their insurance companies (as well as governments). The only way insurance companies can afford to pay these claims is to raise premiums for all policy owners. Coming soon will be wildfire season which, if recent years are any indication, will mean many more expensive claims. A recent report from the Insurance Bureau of Canada put the insured damage for floods, windstorms, ice storms and tornadoes at $1.9 billion in 2018. Until a decade ago, the average loss per year was about $400 million. Over the last decade the cost has been up $1 billion per year on average. Ice storms, flooding and wild fires – none of these tragedies can be inarguably linked to climate change, but when similar events keep happening year after year and our insurance costs rise because of it, we are all sharing the costs for a changing climate. These aren’t the invention of environmentalists. They’re the hard costs calculated by the business people who run insurance companies. Conservative politicians and their supporters can belittle the threat posed by climate change all they want but we’re already paying the cost of climate change that goes well beyond carbon taxes. — KR Undermining Canada Alberta has a new United Conservative government after last week’s election in which Premier-elect Jason Kenney won support by undermining Canada. It wasn’t just that Kenney found a convenient straw man to beat up on in the form of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it was that he also won support by promising to stand up for Albertans against other provinces which he claimed were hurting his province. During the campaign and ever since his new party was formed two years ago, Kenney portrayed Quebec as an ungrateful and hypocritical freeloader that was happy to take Albertans’ money through the federal government’s equalization payments while at the same time thwarting Alberta’s chance of getting its oil to markets by blocking the Energy East pipeline proposal. Kenney also took on his western neighbour in promising to apply a law that makes it possible to reduce exports of gas and oil to British Columbia which has thrown roadblocks in the way of pipelines needed to get Alberta’s oil to west coast harbours. Kenney’s not the first provincial politician to court voters by promoting division but it’s a dangerous practice for Canada. Quebec Premier François Legault shot back that Quebecers didn’t want Alberta’s “dirty energy” crossing their province through a pipeline. Legault, who was once an ardent separatist, might be just as happy if Kenney did make Quebecers angry enough to want to separate from Canada. British Columbia’s Premier John Horgan was happy enough to support environmentalists, First Nations groups and other opponents of the Transmountain pipeline expansion when it made him popular. If Alberta now punishes British Columbia by restricting gas and oil flow, Horgan may gain new popularity by “standing up” for his own province. Canada, a far-flung country with strong regional differences, has enough forces of division without politicians who seek personal success at the cost of playing up emnity with other parts of the country. There are things that matter more than short-term political success. — KR TGIF for sneaky politicians Late on a Friday afternoon, workers can be excused if they utter the quiet prayer of thanks “Thank God it’s Friday” often known as TGIF. Manipulative politicians who want to be able to claim they’re open but want to sneak bad news into the public domain also like late Friday afternoons. Even better than a Friday, is a Thursday afternoon of a four- day weekend. That made last Thursday a great day for politicians. The spinmasters of Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government took advantage of the final few working hours before the long Easter holiday to release information about cuts to library funding and conservation authorities. They realized that not only were news outlets fast approaching four days of having reduced staff but that with library and conservation staff on holiday, it would be hard for reporters to reach anyone for comment. South of the border, officials in Donald Trump’s government did what they could to bury the Mueller Report by releasing it late Thursday. Simply by using such sneaky tactics governments undermine their own credibility. — KR &