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The Citizen, 1994-07-13, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 13,1994. The North Huron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOMlHO Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 itizene p.o. Box 152, Publisher, Keith Roulston nog ihoLS’ °nt‘ Editor’Bonnie Gr°PP Phone 887-9114 Sales Representatives, fax 887-9021 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 E ditorial I . . .......... r...ZZ________ __J No easy solutions Two philosophies of how to bring about needed change clashed at Huron County Council Thursday. Both sides were right. Both sides were wrong. And no matter which side prevailed, the problem they want to solve won’t come to an end easily. Dr. Maarten Bokhout, Huron County's Medical Officer of Health, read a lecture to county councillors after the Board of Health turned down a $25,000 provincial grant which would have hired a part time public health inspector to enforce anti-smoking regulations. The board members felt the money would have been better used for education rather than enforcement. Board members are right, of course, because convincing someone to stop smoking is better than trying to force people to stop. Smoking generally begins as an act of rebellion against parents and adult society. Trying to force people to stop only promotes more desire for rebellion. But Dr. Bokhout is also right, sadly. He argues that the role of public health inspectors is 95 per cent education, five per cent enforcement. The ability to enforce the rules just makes people pay attention, he claims. Those in education, whether teachers or we in the media, would like to think that informing people will make them see the light. Show them how dangerous smoking is and they will stop. Show them seat belts can save lives and people will wear them. Show them the dangers of AIDS and they will take precautions. Yet we all know it doesn't work. You reach some of the people but a significant proportion either doesn't listen, doesn't believe you or just doesn't care. Failing to convince people through education, the temptation is to force people to do what they should do for themselves. This has some success but also adds to the size of government. When enforcement fails to change everyone, the urge is there to pass more laws and hire yet more enforcers. There arc no easy solutions. With smoking or any other problem the real solution is to have well-educated people with a sense of what's right and wrong and a respect for others. Unfortunately that can't be guaranteed either through education or enforcement policies. — KR Touching the right buttons A group of government employees who are upset with plans to move government offices outside of Toronto have come up with a sure­ fire way to get attention from the media. They've claimed the move discriminates against women and minorities. The plan to relocate provincial government departments outside Toronto began under the Liberals and has continued under the New Democrats. Moves scheduled include agriculture to Guelph, culture, tourism and recreation to Niagara Falls and others ministries to St. Catharines, Orillia and Peterborough. As might be expected, Torontonians are not pleased and the Toronto media is in complete agreement with their concerns. It's beyond comprehension that anyone could actually think of moving something out of Toronto, self-declared centre of Canada. Those complaints having fallen on deaf ears, however, this group of workers has decided to touch all the right politically correct buttons. The women employees point out that it is harder for them to transfer out of Toronto. With some justification they point out that many of them represent the second income in their families and if their husbands earn more than they do then they're unlikely to want to move. Single mothers claim they can't easily move either because they depend on their families for support. Minority groups claim that they can't move out of Toronto because they would be totally isolated. "Hardly anybody from my community lives there," one said. "There's no temples there for our religion, and no heritage programs for our kids." Moreover they claim, the goal of employment equity will suffer because there are fewer minorities in the cities outside Toronto, fewer will be hired and the level of minority groups working for the government will decline. There is no doubt there will be hardships for the individuals involved but those same hardships have been visited on people in the rest of Ontario for generations as jobs shifted to Toronto. But the complaints show exactly why it's necessary to get more of government out of Toronto. The employees seem to think civilization slops at Steeles Ave., that life outside of Toronto is a hardship. How can a government reflect the entire province if employees are ignorant of the rest of the province. A government served from smaller pockets of civil service across the province may be more realistic. — KR Photo by Bonnie Gropp Looking Back Through the Years Remembering the war years From the files of The Brussels Post, The Blyth Standard and The North Huron Citizen 52 YEARS AGO JULY 15,1942 A proclamation tabled in Com­ mons made all men between the ages of 20 and 40 years inclusive, who were either single or childless widowers, subject to compulsory military service. The ages were 21 to 35. A cigarette fund for the boys overseas was sponsored by The Brussels Fish and Game Club. The total amount donated for the fund was $50.31. The Club hopes to send the boys smokes once a month. Wartime Prices Board announced subsidy of six cents a pound on butterfat to stimulate production and avert threatened shortage of butter next winter. The Brussels branch of the Red Cross, with the help of a $13.76 donation from the Majestic Insti­ tute, sent the following items to the boys overseas: 19 quilts and turtlenecks 20 pairs heavy service socks 8 pairs of gloves 5 aero caps 9 night-gowns 4 pairs bloomers The Regent theatre in Seaforth featured Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Keep 'em Flying and Gary Cooper and Barbara Stan­ wyck starred in Ball of Fire. 18 YEARS AGO JULY 14,1976 A fundraising drive for a new Blyth arena began immediately after the old arena had been tom down. A committee was formed to begin plans for the new arena. Pre­ sent at the meeting were Doug Howson, Mac Brooks, Carman McDonald, Pete Kelly, Gord Jenk­ ins, Elliot Lapp, Murray Siertsema, Lloyd Sippel, Bill Riehl and John Stewart. Morris Township appointed Bruce Richmond as township rep­ resentative on the Blyth arena building committee. East Wawanosh taxpayers got bad news, their taxes were going up eight mills from 100 to 108 mills. The increase was caused by higher elementary and secondary school requirements. Road accounts of $4,845.98 and general accounts of $2,070.05 were also approved for payment. International visitors spent time in Blyth on a youth exchange pro­ gram, sponsored by Lions Club International. Visiting Blyth were Susan Ramsay of Toccoa and Georgia and Charlotte Hanson of Denmark. Gary Richmond of Blyth left for Minnesota and Chris­ tine McNall, Karen Richmond and Connie Westburg left Blyth for Texas. Brownie's Drive-In theatre in Clinton featured John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn in Rooster Cog­ burn and Peter Fonda and O.J. Simpson starred in Killer Force.