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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1994-02-16, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16,1994. I. Citizen &The North Huron CNA P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont N0M1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont NOG 1 HO Phone 807-9114 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, 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; $31.03/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 A tale of two countries Dominated as we are by our huge neighbour to the south, Canadians seldom pay attention to other northern countries like Norway until something like the Olympics comes along. Watching coverage from Lillehammer one can't help but E ditorial r-—-......-.j be impressed by the difference in feelings toward winter between Canadians and Norwegians. There's hardly a Canadian who hasn't bemoaned the harshness of this current winter, one of the coldest on record. Even in mild winters, we head for Florida because we feel we just can't put up with the hardship any longer. In Norway, by contrast, people seem to embrace winter. While Canadian media bleat about having to stand in the cold to cover Olympic events, Norwegians have been camping out overnight to get a good position to watch skiing events. Norwegians have taken up winter sports in a big way while for a majority of Canadians, the only winter sport they want to participate in is shopping in an indoor mall with potted palms to make it seem like Beverly Hills. The results show in the medal totals at the Olympics. Norway is one of the all-time leaders in winning medals in the history of the Olympics despite the fact the entire country has only 4.5 million people, slightly larger than the city of Toronto. Already as of Tuesday morning, the Norwegians had taken five medals, two gold. Canadians are expecting their best Olympics in history with predictions of 12 medals. Yet at the last Olympics, Italy won 14 medals — Italy, a country we think of in terms of sun and heat, not snow and cold. Perhaps it's time we Canadians accepted the fact that, like Norway and Sweden, we are northern countries. If more of us stopped pretending to be Californians and just went out and enjoyed what winter has to offer, perhaps it wouldn't seem like such a hardship. We might even win more Olympic medals. — KR Winter weight A life and death matter For Parliamentarians, there is no easy way out of the issues raised by the assisted suicide of Sue Rodriguez on the weekend. The law is clear on the matter. The Supreme Court only recently upheld the law that said it was illegal for a doctor to help her in giving the victim of "Lou Gehrig's disease" a death with dignity. The doctor who assisted her death broke the law. Yet anyone who has sat by the bedside of a terminally ill person knows how horrid the experience is. Sometimes one can see it in the eyes of the dying person, even if they can't talk: a look that says, please do something. They have ceased to be the person they were, the person you knew and loved. There is no hope they will get better. If they were a dog, you would have a vet give them a shot to put them out of their misery. Yet once you give people the right to end the lives of others, what are the safeguards to prevent those in power of abusing that right Is it one step on the road toward euthanasia. We will soon have a huge portion of the population as senior citizens, putting a terrible emotional and financial burden on a smaller number of children and grandchildren. Some will slip into dementia and be unable to cope on their own. Wouldn’t it be tempting for at least a few of those people, to decide the old folks had lived a long and happy life and it was time to go? Yet it's ironic in the Rodriguez case, that the victim, while she was still able to communicate her own will, was not allowed to have control of her own body, the control to say she wanted to die with dignity instead of choking to death as she would eventually have done with her disease. Meanwhile society, in the name of giving other women control over their own bodies, has sanctioned ending the lives of tens of thousands of fetuses a year. We've got ourselves into a real dilemma on this one. — KR Photo by Bonnie Gropp Harness racing a top sport Winning by breaking the law The government's move to lower taxes on cigarettes last week proves that if you break the law flagrantly enough, the law will change. While smokers who bought smuggled cigarettes justified their actions in the name of a tax revolt, the most disturbing part of the whole affair is the roll of the cigarette companies. Between 1990 and 1993 exports of Canadian cigarettes rose from $750 million to $2.8 billion. The tobacco companies had to know what was happening. They preferred to turn a blind eye. So much for morality in business. — KR THE EDITOR, As a regular reader of your newspaper, I would like to make you aware that a large portion of your readership (valued customers) is devoted harness racing fans like myself. Your coverage of our favourite sport is quite limited and I thought it might be as a result that you are unaware of some of our everyday accomplishments and contributions. Hamess racing in Ontario is very job-creative in that it employs directly, and indirectly, in excess of 30,000 men and women. Racing has no employment barriers and the overwhelming majority of the work is of a hands-on experience. Currently, Ontario is host to 18 Standardbred (Hamess) Racetracks and over two dozen teletheatre (off­ site) wagering locations. In 1994, 6.1 million harness racing fans will attend a racing program in Ontario which includes over 4,100 combined days of exciting entertainment. Wagering revenues from those who choose to bet will contribute to the Provincial Treasury $41.4 million in gross pari-mutuel taxes. As you can see, Ontario Hamess racing generates large revenues, creates thousands of jobs and contributes substantially to the good health and fiscal stability of Ontario. Throughout the world, Ontario horsemen and women are recognized as the leaders in harness racing excellence. Annually, Ontario horses dominate the North American season ending Awards and this year voting results were no different. In 1993, the United States Trotting Association had 12 horse categories that each select a dominant horse and Ontario owned or trained horses won eight of the 12 titles. These include two-year- old winners Wesgate Crown, Freedom Friend and Armbro Monarch. Three-year-old Presidential Ball and Ellamony and Aged Trotting horse Earl, Aged Trotting mare Lifetime Dream, Aged Pacing horse Staying Together. Staying Together also won the prestigious USTA Horse of the Year honour for owner Bob MPP tells about Rae’s visit By Paul Klopp, MPP Huron The media's attention in the Huron County papers was on the premier's announcement for the grant to renovate Huronview. The other part of his visit was ignored. It was perhaps the most important part of the visit. It was the meeting at the Huron County museum with employers and employees who are in the jobsOntario Training program. The premier and I sat with about 50 people and talked about the program, its strengths and weaknesses. One of the criticisms voiced by employers was that people on UIC were excluded from the program. The Premier said that he hoped that Ontario and the Hamather of Exeter, Ontario. In Europe, Ontario horses and drivers also fare quite well and much of Europe's prize trotting stock has "Ontario Roots". In 1992 Sweden's premier race of the year the Sovalla Elitlopp was won by the trotting sensation "Billyjojimbob" owned by Mike and Lori Wade of Seagrave and expertly driven by Sunderland's, Murray Brethour. In closing, as you can see in this short letter Ontario men, women, and horses dominate the harness racing world and we receive very little recognition for our efforts. M. Watt federal government could work together to make the jobsOntario Training and UIC fit together. The premier stated that up to $7 billion is paid in UIC benefits to Ontario residents plus $6 billion annually on welfare payments. He said that this money could be used to put people to work. A note of caution was raised by a number of employers who said that the success of jobsOntario training was that it was simple and not complicated. The feeling was that the program succeeded because it was managed by local people. The premier said that other provinces have shown an interest in the program as well as the Clinton Continued on page 5