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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1996-07-31, Page 4,scpiashes 0 colour Photo by Janice Becker Letters THE EDITOR, It Happens in the Best of Regulated Families When you feel it's a tough fight to win, And you don't know just where to begin, Your machinery gets squeaks, and gets hidden leaks ... . . . Is that the position County Council is in? It seems there is something amiss That cant be fixed up with a kiss; It seems somebody's blind, and somebody's behind ... Could it be that's the cause of all this? can't decide where to oil (?), Or just how to plug up the leak (?) But we hope they're a capable crew And wisely decide what to do. And the "pen" with no name, using ink that might stain Will come up with a name or SKIDOO. Clare Vincent. THE EDITOR, The draw for the• Children's Dream Home, which is on display at Zehrs Foods Plus, Goderich, will be made at the Zurich Bean Festival, Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. Material was donated by Watson's Hardware, Gorrie, labour by Bill Heibien, Gorrie and David Dinsmore, Fordwich, and tickets by Goderich Print Shop. Tickets are for sale at the site, National Trust, Goderich, and other district locations. The H & S annual golf tournament, sponsored by the Albian Hotel, Bayfield, will be held at Sunset Golf and Country Club in September. Swim for Heart events are arranged during the summer at some of the area pools. Also Dance for Heart events are in the planning stages. The Memorial donations are an ongoing fundraiser, that supports research against Canada's No. 1 Killer. The Huron Chapter is short of a full board, due to members moving out of the area or resigning for various reasons. Therefore the chapter would like some volunteer members to round out a full board. Anyone interested please call President Ian Keuls, 524-1075 or the Heart and Stroke Office, 524- 4440 for further information. The new fall season will start in September, and the board meetings are held at the Heart and Stroke Office, 39 West Street, Goderich. Greg Williams. The news that appears now and then Comes from a somewhat mysterious "pen" Where questionable acts are reported "FAST FACTS", And suggest Who and Why, What and When. It opens a door so to speak, And shows why machinery does squeak. Council's in a turmoil(?), they Looking back thr From the files of the Blyth Stan- dard, Brussels Post and the North Huron Citizen 1 YEAR AGO AUGUST 2, 1995 Well-known Brussels man, Frank Thompson, was named Citizen of the Year. Coats stolen from Bainton's Old Mill were discovered at a home in Kitchener-Waterloo, when police Ough the years were called in due to a noisy party. With heat units ahead of the average for the time of year, Crops looked good at the end of July. Brent Wheeler discovered a mes- sage in a bottle on the beach of Bayfield. It had been sent by a Michigan youth. BJs Cafe, Blyth and Zehr's, Wingham, held their grand open- ings. C The North Huron itizen Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62.00/year In U.S.A. and $75.00/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: 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 BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1995 P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1996 A victory for reason It isn't official yet, so there has been very little media attention, but word leaking out that Canada has won a ruling on a challenge by the U.S. under the North America Free Trade Act (NAFTA) is a victory for reason. The U.S. had challenged Canada's right to replace import quotas on milk, eggs and poultry meat under our supply management system, with tariffs, as required under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Because the GATT agreement came after the NAFTA agreement, which said there would be no new tariffs, the U.S. argued that the new tariffs were illegal. The Americans can be wonderfully myopic when it suits their argument. In their argument to the dispute settlement panel, they ignored the fact that everyone knew the GATT settlement would require replacing non-tariff barriers with new tariffs so they could be negotiated down in subsequent trade negotiations. They also ignored that they applied the same kind of high tariffs on items like sugar and peanuts. This selective blindness continues as the,U.S. dairy industry is furious at having lost the decision and is threatening to make this an election issue as the country leads up to its presidential election this fall (even though the U.S., on behalf of its dairy industry, bans dairy imports itself from all but a few very small dairy producing countries). Despite the fact that the U.S. has joined these trade pacts seeking to reduce trade barriers, it does not want to live by international rules. Whenever something doesn't go the way one segment of the population wants, they seek to use internal politics to win international disputes. Surprisingly, it often works as Canada's knuckling under to American pressure on softwood lumber shows. Let's hope in this case the Canadian government has the courage to stand up for its farmers. Protecting farmers who operate under supply management has a direct impact for the Huron County economy. This county is among the largest producers of dairy and poultry products in the province. Playing by the U.S. rules would impoverish an agriculture segment that has supplied a lot of jobs in this county. Everyone needs to urge the government not to give up by responding to political pressure what it won in the trade dispute settlement process. — KR Making people fit the system As Ontario municipalities move inexorably toward amalgamation and regionalization, many people are worried about the loss of their community. Unfortunately, our provincial political leaders don't seem to share those worries. Once the political system was set up to meet the needs of people. Today the trend seems to be to force people to change to meet the needs of the system. The provincial government created a system that interfered so much in the activities of municipalities that it required thousands of bureaucrats to administer. Now, wanting to reduce the cost of the government's operations, the province is insisting there be fewer municipalities so it will require fewer bureaucrats. Few people think this will reduce the cost of local government. Past experience with regional government and county school boards proved that enlarging administrative areas only increased the local bureaucracy, driving up costs instead of reducing them. What will almost surely happen under forced amalgamation, is that we'll end up a more expensive system that is farther from the people, making them feel powerless to affect their daily lives. The alienation, the sense of helplessness, of ordinary people should be of concern to politicians who think beyond the balancing of this year's budget. When people feel helpless, it breeds anger that leads to all kinds of social problems from crime to outright revolution. There are two social structures that humans have created to help give them a sense of control over their lives: the family and the community (from the tribe to the village and town). The family, through the stress of modern living, has been disintegrating, first the extended family giving way to the nuclear family (mom, dad and kids) and now that family is often shattering. If we lose the sense of community too, people will be left feeling naked in a cruel world. We must ask the provincial government what is the sense of,having a political structure if it doesn't meet the needs of people? — KR E ditorial