HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1995-03-22, Page 4The North Huron
itizen
Publisher, Keith Roulston
Editor, Bonnie Gropp
Sales Representatives,
Jeannette McNeil and Julie Mitchell
P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152,
BLYTH, OM. BRUSSELS, Ont.
NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0
Phone 523-4792 Phone 887.9114
FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021
The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing
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Contents of The Citizen are CI Copyright.
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CIRCULATION
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Looking Back Through the Years
Boom year causes problem
From the files of the Blyth Stan-
dard; Brussels Post and the
North Huron Citizen
52 YEARS AGO
MAR. 24, 1943
The community was advised to
immunize their children for small-
pox, diptheria, scarlet fever,
whooping cough and tetanus.
The Red Cross Canvas in Brus-
sels reached $1828.
The first robins were spotted
after several days of raw weather.
Massey-Harris presented two
new motion pictures at the farm
meeting. All Out of Town portrayed
Massey-Harris' wartime activities
in field and factory and Wartime
Service of Farm Machines was an
instruction film for machine main-
tenance.
The Department of Munitions
and Supply warned Canadians that
the country could face a wood-fuel
famine next winter.
The price of a stamp was
increased from three cents to four
with the addition of a tax, imposed
by Finance Minister Ilseley.
The cost of airmail rose from six
to seven cents.
Lot 35, Conc. 3 of East
Wawanosh, consisting of 200 acres,
was for sale at an asking price of
$2,800.
Timothy seed could be bought
for $1 a bushel.
The barristers and solicitors in
Brussels were Bell and Benson.
The Regent Theatre in Seaforth
was showing Confirm or Deny
with Don Ameche and Joan Ben-
nett.
7 YEARS AGO
MARCH 23, 1988
The lead story of the day said the
booming economy in other sectors
have caused problems for farmers
trying to find labourers.
Blyth council approached Hullett
council to educate the residents to
separate the burnable and non-
burnable materials going to the
landfill site.
The number of people requiring
social assistance dropped for the
third straight year.
John Ramirez of Blyth Public
School and Diane Van Bakel of
RR1 Blyth and a student at St.
Joseph's in Clinton earned prizes in
the Huron County Farm and Home
Safety Association farm poster con-
test.
Blyth Midgets took the lead over
Honeywo6d in the All-Ontario
semi-finals.
1 YEAR AGO
MARCH 23, 1994
Residents of Brussels were con-
cerned about the Frederick Street
drain and who would be paying for
the cost of the project.
Blowing winds and snow made
driving hazardous and led to some
minor traffic mishaps.
MPP Paul Klopp announced a
Health Promotion grant for the Ark
in Brussels.
Hullett Twp. agreed to look at a
proposal from the Huron County
Board of Education regarding the
joint construction venture which
would see the municipal building
on school property.
The Brussels Bulls hoCkey fran-
chise was saved by community
support, at the twelfth hour.
Ashley Howson, Julie Ritchie
and Christina Black won medals at
the Northern Interclub Figure Skat-
ing competition.
PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 1995.
A better solution is needed
A union representing a relatively few number of employees at
Canada's two major railways goes on strike. Other rail workers refuse
to cross their picket lines and the railways virtually shut down.
Thousands of other workers
are laid off because the
materials their factories need
to operate can't be delivered.
Something is wrong here.
With the realities of the
recession we haven't had to deal with much labour unrest in recent
years. Workers were glad just to have a job for a few years there and
weren't about to stir things up with a strike. Now, as railways try to cut
costs and get their companies in shape, workers are fighting for job
security, afraid that they may be victims of streamlining. They have
turned to the only tactic they know: a strike. Other railway unions have
followed the old script, refusing to cross a picket line of their brothers.
But surely it's time to find some other way to work these things out.
Surely the problems of a few thousand workers shouldn't be able to
cripple the economy of an entire nation, throwing thousands more out
of work. Auto plants have shut down. Seaports may soon be idle.
Thousands of commuters had to drive to work in the cities causing
more traffic chaos. The entire country, its economy already battered by
years of recession, is held up for ransom.
The world is changing rapidly. Under the new rules of globalization
our government has had to give up some of its sovereignty, its ability
to improve our, lives, yet here we are still working with
labour/management tools that were invented a century ago when
companies had all the power and workers none. A new dispute-solving
mechanism must be found, one that doesn't make innocent bystanders
suffer while two parties fight something out. In a global economy, the
damage can't be contained just to our own country, but will hurt our
ability to do business internationally.
It's about time that labour and management groups got together and
put in place a modern problem.-resolution formula to deal with
disputes in the future. If the two parties won't work together, then
perhaps government should make them. We can't afford this kind of
dispute to continue. — KR
Restoring democracy
Democracy under the British parliamentary system is generally
thought to have evolved from the day, in 1215, when a group of barons
forced King John to sign the Magna Carta, protecting them from his
arbitrary actions (ordinary people had to wait hundreds of years before
they were protected from the arbitrary actions of the barons). Today, in
the global economy, a Magna Carta is needed to protect citizens from
the arbitrary actions of international business.
Governments around the world, faced with their helplessness to
protect their currencies during speculation over the last few weeks,
have come to realize that the new global marketplace is beyond
control. The lives of ordinary people can be ruined (just ask Mexicans)
by the strokes of a keyboard in currency trading offices around the
world and there is nothing governments can do to shelter them.
But as governments make noises of finding some way to put some
controls on the power of international traders, right-wing business
voices have begun a chorus of condemnation. Writing in Maclean's
magazine, columnist Deirdre McMurdy lambastes critics for wanting to
meddle with what she calls a "classically perfect" market system. Other
right wing critics agree.
And why wouldn't they? The global economy, beyond the reach of
government interference, is what right wing business people have been
aiming for through free trade pacts and the erasing of borders for
money trading. Traders delight in the fact they can overwhelm the
efforts of even once-powerful central banks of major power like the
U.S. Big business is reshaping the world the way it wants to, holding
governments hostage if they don't bring in the kinds of budgets wanted,
moving their factories to counties that will offer the cheapest labour or
the fewest environmental regulations (look at the stampede into China).
But governments didn't arise on their own. They were a response to
people looking for some shelter from the harsh realities of life, much as
people originally donned furs and lived in caves to be sheltered from
the harsh climate. We cannot be left at the mercy of people who can
ruin whole economies speculating on a currency rising or falling half a
cent.
We have opened a new era to international trade but with no
protection from its excesses. It's time to look at new world-wide forms
of government to protect people in this modern world. — KR
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