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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-05-09, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MAY 9, 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 $380/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 May 9, 1968 An early morning fire levelled one barn and caused a large amount of damage to another at the home farm of Carl Hemingway on the 12th Concession of Grey Township. According to local firefighters, however, luckily no livestock were lost in the fire, though it was estimated that losses topped $7,500. Approximately 400 local students took part in the annual music competition at Blyth Public School, with a number of Brussels and Belgrave students taking top honours in the contest. Seven-year-old Laurie Haines took top individual honours with 88 points. Haines was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wilfred Haines of RR4, Wingham. May 9, 1973 Blyth Village Council took the official first step towards sewers in the village. This came after a delegation the previous month from the Ontario Water Resources Commission in Toronto, which requested a study to assess the situation in Blyth. Bowlers in Blyth ended the season of the Blyth Bowling Club at the Legion hall. The evening was complete with music, a social time, dancing and year-end awards. There would be no baseball or softball in Blyth for the coming summer. The Blyth Minor Sports Committee made the decision to not proceed with baseball in 1973 due to a lack of interest. May 10, 1995 A lifelong resident of the village was set to take over clerk-treasurer duties in Blyth. John Stewart, who had been serving as the clerk in Colborne Township, was the successful applicant of four who were interviewed for the position, chosen from 52 who had applied. “Council is really pleased to have someone like John taking over the job. He has experience and is very active in the community, which we consider a real asset. He is familiar with the people in the village,” said Blyth Reeve Mason Bailey. Stewart said that while he was looking forward to a new chapter of his life working in Blyth, he wasn’t leaving his job in Colborne without regrets. “Working in Blyth is more convenient for me, but I have enjoyed a good relationship with Colborne Council and staff since coming here in November of 1991,” Stewart said. “That it is closer to home for me was the main reason I applied for the job, and I am looking forward to working with the people in Blyth.” Premier Bob Rae and Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Elmer Buchanan were in Huron County to join Huron-Bruce MPP Paul Klopp for the official opening of his constituency office. They were on hand to help Klopp cut the ribbon to his South Street office. A mistake made by former village administration had come back to haunt the current Brussels reeve. Brussels Clerk-Treasurer Donna White explained that a street-closing bylaw for Walnut Street at the railway tracks had been passed many years ago. However, the description of the land in the bylaw was noted incorrectly and the land was never legally transferred to the man in question, Gordon Workman, now the Brussels reeve. Though the property had never been transferred, Workman had been under the impression that he had owned it for a number of years. The problem then arose when a neighbour then inquired about buying the property, which was still technically owned by the village. White said the safest way to handle the issue was to leave it the way it is, in the village’s name. May 14, 2009 A group of concerned North Huron parents heard from three past and present principals from the Stratford area on their experiences with housing Grade 7-8 students in area secondary schools after the proposal was made to do the same in Huron County. The principals all agreed with the Avon Maitland District School Board and its trustees that there was nothing to worry about with the proposed arrangement. Huron County Council officially lowered the speed limit through Belgrave at the May 6 meeting in Goderich. This came after Morris-Turnberry Council had written to the county with concern about the speed of travelling vehicles through the community. While Director of Public Works Dave Laurie said that, according to his research, most vehicles were adhering to the 60-kilometre-per- hour speed limit, there was merit to reducing it to 50 kilometres per hour. A young Blyth family was left homeless after an early morning fire took their home. According to Blyth Fire Chief Paul Josling, around 2:30 a.m., Shane Dale came home and opened the door to his house, only to be met by flames. Luckily, Shane’s wife Candace was at work and the couple’s children were all staying with their grandparents, so no one was in the house at the time. 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 Keep planting trees While the provincial government has cancelled financial incentives for landowners to plant trees through the 50 Million Tree Program, landowners should continue to look to the future by planting trees. It may have been shortsighted for the government to save a mere $4 million annually by cancelling the previous government’s 50 Million Tree Program which had seen 27 million trees planted since 2008, but it doesn’t stop landowners from doing the right thing themselves. Fortunately for Huron County landowners, as Huron County Forest Conservation Officer Dave Pullen pointed out in an interview with The Citizen this week, there are other incentives available through the Huron Clean Water Project and tree-planting programs delivered by the conservation authorities, the Huron Stewardship Council and several private companies, that help those who want to plant trees. It’s unfortunate that the province didn’t see that the money spent on tree planting will pay dividends in a healthy future but far-sighted Huron residents can make their own investments, with or without help from local sources. Not only are there economic gains to be reaped by protecting crops and through future tree harvests, but there are the rewards of attracting wildlife. This is an investment that’s worth the time and money. A win for Canada This being an election year, one political columnist chose to see the decision of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal that the federal government’s carbon tax was constitutional as a victory for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party. Perhaps it is but the real winners are Canadians and the planet. Certainly this, and hopefully future, support from the courts will help the government to justify its attempts to penalize the use of carbon-based fuels even in provinces that have chosen not to impose a carbon tax. If courts continue to side with the federal government, it will be harder for premiers like Ontario’s Doug Ford to argue Ottawa has no right imposing the tax. The justices in Saskatchewan argued that climate change is such a threat to mankind that the federal government has a right to intervene in provincial jurisdiction. Conservative politicians can continue to argue that the tax is a job- killing tax grab, but they’ll also have to deal with growing evidence that climate change threatens humans’ very existence. Just this week a United Nations report compiled by more than 450 scientists and diplomats revealed nature is being destroyed at a rate tens to hundreds of times higher than the average over the past 10 million years. Those who argue we can’t afford a carbon tax have to face the hard figures in the UN report which say that the loss of pollinators due to climate change costs $577 billion U.S. in crop losses and that climate-related degradation of land reduces productivity by 23 per cent. The carbon tax will not solve the problem even if consumers change their habits as experts predict. And with its small population, Canada’s efforts are relatively minor as critics suggest. Still, we can and must do our part to avert this crisis and the carbon tax is a start. Here’s hoping the courts continue to support this emergency measure. With friends like these ... Word surfaced this week that Canadian diplomats are taking a hard line with the United States government, demanding American officials put more pressure on China to soften its hard line with Canada. It’s about time. Canada has been increasingly targeted for retaliation by China ever since our arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on U.S. charges of fraud related to violations of U.S. sanctions against Iran. Meng was scheduled to appear in court in Vancouver again this week in an ongoing procedure that might see her extradited to the U.S. to face the charges. While Meng lives under house arrest in her $4.2 million Vancouver mansion, two Canadians are being held in prison in China on dubious charges of spying. Two other Canadians, who had been convicted of drug trafficking, have seen their sentences increased to the death penalty. More recently, China has stopped imports of Canadian canola claiming it doesn’t meet Chinese standards for cleanliness, hurting farmers. While Canadians suffer, the U.S. is busy negotiating a new trade agreement with China and there is no indication that they’re taking up Canada’s case for a mess we’re in only because we’re doing our legal duty as a neighbour. A few fine-sounding statements have been made but for the most part Canada has been left to pay the price for doing what is required by our treaties on behalf of our neighbour. Compare that to U.S. President Donald Trump’s reaction that he trusts his friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and so the missiles Kim launched last week aren’t a big deal. Or Trump’s friendly telephone chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. Maybe we’d be better off to be an enemy of the U.S. instead of a friend. &