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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-01-18, Page 4Cool waters Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years From the files of The Blyth Stan- dard, The Brussels Post and The North Huron Citizen - 31 YEARS AGO JAN. 22,1964 In hockey action the Lions Club Bantams entertained fans with a double-header. In their first game they trounced Wingham 11-4. However, the second match-up against Seaforth proved to be more difficult with the boys battling to a 6-6 tie. Ken Daer of the Blyth team was the hero, he skated away with four quick goals. Miss Claire Taylor addressed a crowd at the Blyth Anglican Church. She discussed her work with the World Council of Church- es in Kenya, Africa. A budget was approved at the annual congregational meeting of the Blyth United Church. J. Lawrie and W. Buttell entertained the offi- cials with a duet. The community was shocked by the sudden death of Police Chief Frederick Gregory. He suffered from a stroke after his daily chore of ringing the noon bell. A bylaw was passed by the Hul- lett council which authorized a limit of $57,000 to be spent on roads and bridges. The weekly euchre was held at the Community Centre in Belgrave. Mrs. Jessie Wheeler was the high lady, while Earl Noble claimed the prize as high man. At the Lyceum Theatre in Wing- ham "Road to Hong Kong ", star- ring Bing Crosby and Joan Collins was playing. 26 YEARS AGO JAN. 22, 1969 The annual meeting of the Blyth Agricultural Society was held at the Memorial Hall. President Ray Hanna and fair board secretary Donald Young reported that the bank balance had increased from the year prior. Residents were in the midst of a January thaw. The rise in tempera- tures combined with rain caused piled snow to melt. Many citizens talked of the possibility of a flood. Etta Laidlaw, clerk of the Arcade Store on main street Blyth, retired from her post after twenty years of service. The Blyth Singer Center had a very special guest on display for local residents. A four month old lion captured the attention of every- one as it made a three day pit stop in Blyth en route to its home in Gorrie. Letter to the editor THE EDITOR, I have admired for a long time Mr. Roulston's ability to write numerous editorials on a variety of subjects but he really outdid himself in the Christmas issue when he exhorted the intelligentsia and the media in his editorial, "Don't Downgrade Christianity." He said it so well that I shall not try to add to his comments. My personal thanks, and I expect that I speak for many Christians who have had reason to feel that the time appears to be coming again when Christianity will not only be politically incorrect and not tolerated but actually persecuted. Jim Carne, Pastor Huron Chapel Missionary Church, Auburn. The North Huron itizen eNA CNA C P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont NOM 1HO NOG 1H0 Phone 523.4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Sales Representatives, Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell VERIFIED CIRCULATION PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 1995. The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $23.00/year ($21.50 plus $1.50 G.S.T.) for local; $3 3.00/year ($30.85 plus $2.15 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $62.00/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 Whims of the new gods With all the media attention focussed on the demands of big business, economists and the international money market on the need to cut the deficit, it was a shock to be reminded last week just how serious the unemployment problem still is in Canada. Those 25,000 people who lined up in the cold for hours just to get an application for a job at General Motors graphically proved the recession/depression is not over in Canada. They effectively scuttled the comfortable notion that there are jobs out there for all the people who really want to get off their backsides and go out and find them. The shocking scene was a rebuke to those who say we must cut the social net and force people to fend for themselves. Yet at the same time, currency traders were demanding more slashing of government spending or they'll take their dollars and go home. The traders, we're informed, doubt the will of the federal government to slash social programs so they sold off Canadian dollars, sending the international value of our currency plummeting. Ordinary citizens are bewildered by it all. A year ago the Canadian dollar was soaring to new highs, despite the fact that the economy had barely started to recover. Now, when things were improving enough that those 25,000 had at least the hope of work, the traders were saying the dollar was worth less. In ancient days, people were bewildered about the chaotic way the world affected them and imagined emotional, ill-tempered gods who affected the lives of ordinary people through whimsical decisions. Today we have the same things: called currency traders. Many like to say that the marketplace is coldly rational yet currency traders are subject to their own emotions of greed and fear .. . and macho courage. A year ago, when the U.S. dollar hit a similar slump, former trader Ted Fishman wrote an article for Harper's magazine in which he said traders he interviewed liked the idea of going head to head with the U.S. treasury which was trying to stop the fall of the dollar. Part of this was due to the utter disgust they had for Bill and Hillary Clinton, part from the feeling they were now bigger than the government. They were hardly acting dispassionately. The international money markets have been right on one thing. By putting 40 per cent of our government debt in the hands of foreigners, we have delivered ourselves into the hands of these "irrational gods". We've also done it, however, by encouraging foreign investment in our business sector, investment which then drains Canada of dollars to pay back the investment, which puts our dollar at the mercy of the traders. All of this does nothing to help the workers who lined up at General Motors. It's as if they don't exist to the traders and economists and business leaders. They do exist, however, and if all 25,000 were able to get a job that paid what GM does, they'd pay about $300 million in taxes a year to the government, instead of costing the government money for unemployment insurance and welfare. If the more than one million unemployed were working and paying taxes, the deficit would be a worry of the past. That is the problem the federal government faces which the money men ignore: slashing programs too drastically will only create more unemployment which will negate any savings the cuts will make. The delicate balance is to cut government spending while encouraging the recovery and getting more people back to work. Only then will the battle with the deficit really be won. Only then will the government be able to produce figures that will meet the expectations of the whimsical gods in the currency trading houses. — KR Striking the strikers It would be nice to think that now that the professional hockey season is about to begin at last, the fans would punish the players and owners for their greed by staying away from the games. Unfortunately hockey-starved fans will likely flock back to the arenas, just as players and owners expect. After all, we've taken so many insults before. It began with the first hockey expansion back in Centennial year when NHL owners completely ignored all Canadian cities in their greed for U.S. markets and the dream of a U.S. television contract. Peter Pocklington dealt a blow to the faith of fans by trading a national icon, Wayne Gretzky. The escalating demands of players have driven up the cost of hockey tickets and brought indignities such as advertising on the boards and ice, diminishing the beauty of the game. Someday fans may say enough is enough, but probably not this week. Now they just want to enjoy the game again. — KR E ditorial