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The Citizen, 1996-10-09, Page 4Walk nature-ally Photo by Bonnie Gropp Letters THE EDITOR, The incidence of head lice is once again on the rise at Brussels Public School and we, as parents, must do what is necessary to rid the school of this problem. My concern is that all of the children are not getting treatment for head lice. There are some who seem to always have the problem every time the head checks are done at the school. The parents are notified, given information on how to get rid of the lice from their children' head and from the house. They are also advised about the product that will get rid of the lice and if money is a problem they are advised that there is help available to offset the cost of this product. I got a call from the school. My child came home and we took all the necessary steps. The bedding was washed, the house was sprayed, stuffed animals were bagged and the child's hair was washed and treated. The next day my child went back to school after this intensive treatment and sat near a child who had also been identified, but who, it seemed, did not receive treatment, as the child still had lice. Unless everyone treats their children this problem won't go away. I know there is a cost involved and it is very time consuming, but these are our children we are talking about. Repeated applications of the product used to rid children of lice can not_be good for them. I am concerned that I am exposing my child to unnecessary contamination. There is only one solution — all children must be treated and be free of lice before returning to school. I strongly feel that children who were identified with lice and who are not treated should not be in school infecting others. My hope is that the school can adopt a policy of no tolerance regarding re-admis- sion of non-treated children. This ism serious problem and I would like to thank the parent volunteers who go to the school and do the head checks and make themselves available to parents who need help in ridding their children's heads and their homes of lice. I am one parent who speaks on behalf of many and I hope that we all can eradicate this problem once and for all." Received and endorsed by the Brussels Public School Advisory Council. Julie Jutzi. THE EDITOR, I am, and will always be, interested in Blyth (and its surrounding area), its people, events, etc. I could not be otherwise for my brothers, Frank and Gordon, in Blyth and I, must have considerable printer's ink in our blood, from our Dad, J.H.R. Elliott, who, for years, published The Blyth Standard. Now, after my so many years away from Blyth, there are many persons, etc. whom I miss, and many I do not know, except the descended generations, mostly by name. I enjoyed many reminiscences at Blyth's recent festival. I subscribe to a couple of city newspapers and in comparison with them, I consider your "country- style" newspaper while different, every bit as informative and interesting, as the other "Big City" editions. Keep up your good work. It is quality that is much needed in these puzzling and frustrating days. Thank you. Best of everything, Alex Elliott.. THE EDITOR, The Blyth Homecoming Committee wishes to thank all the organizations, businesses and individuals who worked diligently to make Homecoming '96 a huge success. The weekend was indeed a memorable occasion for many.. A special thank you is extended to the staff and students at the Blyth Public School. The people at the school played a significant role in the planning and preparations for Continued on page 22 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1996 C The North Huron cn itizen CNA P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1110 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil PAID 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 Beyond reach Watching the actions of the provincial government in its 17 months in office, the overwhelming impression is that it is a government that doesn't really trust democracy and is trying to put as much of the decision making as possible beyond the reach of political pressure. On the surface, this will be an attractive move for many people who have worried about the influence of "pressure groups", but if you find yourself on the outside, wanting to influence a government decision, suddenly being part of a pressure group might be a comforting thing. In the last couple of weeks, for instance, 15,000 of our neighbours to the north in Bruce and Grey Counties flocked to meetings on the future of their hospitals. They were disturbed by what seemed to point to only two full-service hospitals in the entire two-county area. (Huron and Perth counties will be going through restructuring talks between now and Jan. 31.) But who is this massive show of political concern going to influence? The people who wrote the report are a group of volunteers who are a sub-committee of the District Health Council, which is an unelected body appointed by the provincial Ministry of Health. These volunteers (and the 19-member Huron committee faces the same challenge) have been told only that they must cut a minimum of 18 per cent from the hospital budgets of the region. They have no power to recommend that this is a foolish move or that the circumstances of rural Ontario aren't the same as the cities. When these poor, beleaguered volunteers finally issue their proposal, which is bound to be controversial, it will go, not to the Minister of Health, out to the Hospitals Restructuring Commission. Jim WilsOn, Minister of Health has seen politicians like Frank Miller roasted before for proposals to close hospitals so he has created an arms-length commission beyond the reach of political pressure. To borrow a baseball phrase, you can't hit what you can't see and irate citizens are going to hard pressed to find a target. This is a familiar pattern of this government's operating procedure. The Minister of Municipal Affairs was given huge power to change political boundaries. He appointed the "Who does what" commission to look into straightening the lines of power between municipalities and the provincial government. Few citizens even know of the commission's existence, but it will change their lives. Municipal amalgamations will take government farther from the people, giving them less chance to influence the events even of their own community. Education Minister John Snobelen has mused he might disband local school boards and divide up power between his ministry and local municipal councils. And the proposal to reduce the number of provincial ridings to 103 from 130, would mean MPPs are stretched just that much thinner in trying to get out and listen to people, particularly in far-flung rural ridings. The result is that people are going to feel more and more powerless to affect the quality of their lives. If you are of the political belief of Harris' supporters, the people don't really know what is good for them, then the thinking behind the move is understandable. If, however, you believe that the collective wisdom of the people will eventually come up with the best solutions to problems, and that people must have a sense of controlling their own destiny, these moves are all in the wrong direction. — KR Where's the sense of community Faced with pressure from the provincial government to restructure, Huron County council's Strategic Planning Committee has come up with a series of "alternatives" for municipalities and county councillors to discuss. The plans would reduce the number of municipalities from 26 to six to eight. Several proposals attempt to keep municipal boundaries intact. Noticeably absent from the proposals, however, is a focus on keeping communities intact. The plans generally show a bias toward the larger towns in the county, seeing them as the centre of their surrounding areas. Ignored are the villages like Brussels and Blyth which are the "hometown" to people in the surrounding townships. Creating new, artificial boundaries will not help the long-term well-being of the county. — KR E ditorial