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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-08-27, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27,1997 C itizenTheNorthHuron 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 E-mail norhuron@huron.net 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 + S1.76 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 E ditorial Leach's credibility gone They all laughed when Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, spoke to the annual meeting of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario on Monday. The problem is, he wasn't supposed to have been giving a funny speech. The laughter came when Leach claimed, once again, that [........................................................I the provincial downloading of dozens of programs, shouldn’t increase municipal taxes — if only municipalities would pull their belts a little tighter. Municipal politicians, who will actually have to deliver the higher tax bills to local taxpayers, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at Leach’s stubborn refusal to deal with reality. In the end, most of them laughed. Al Leach has lost all credibility. Worse, the whole reform of the power sharing between municipalities and the province has lost any credibility. This all started out as a way of untangling the mixed up jurisdictions that saw municipalities responsible for highways and roads, but needing help from the province, the province responsible for social programs, but having the municipalities deliver them. The sensible thing would be, it seemed, to assign the job to one level of government, and give that level the financial resources to do the work. But along the way, disentanglement became a shell-game for the Harris government to try to cut its own deficit by loading more costs onto the province. Instead of sticking to principles like people taxes paying for people services and property taxes paying for property services, we now have an even more complicated system than before. Now municipal taxpayers have to pay part of the cost of education, but the province will take all that money and redistribute it. Municipalities and the province will still share the costs of some social services, but the municipalities will pay the biggest share — while the province sets the rules on how they can spend their own money. Now municipalities must not only pay for their own roads, but the province has lopped off much of its own road system onto the municipalities as well. It’s a mess! The amazing thing about this disaster of a policy is that the ordinary people haven’t caught on yet. A recent survey showed that 61 per cent of people say the government is on the right track when it appears to those close to the situation that the government is lost in the bush somewhere. The trick for Leach and the government, one they’re working hard to pull off, is to convince people that the inevitable property tax increase is all the fault of the municipal politicians. He's been laying the groundwork for that one, saying if the municipalities will just cut two or three per cent from their expenses they can balance their budgets without tax increases. If Leach and the government can pull this one off, they truly are magicians. — KR The right to discriminate The 20th anniversary of Bill 101, the bill that was designed to protect the role of the French language in Quebec, was marked this week with predictable claims that it had gone too far and not gone far enough. The bill is generally credited with strengthening the position of the French by requiring that French be the language of the workplace and that all immigrants to the province go to French language schools. It has become the occasional object of ridicule because enforcement officers have tried to make English speaking Quebecers stick to the letter of the law when it comes to signs in stores. The disturbing thing about the anniversary is the fact hard-liners don’t think the law has gone far enough, On TV the other night, one French commentator accused Premier Lucien Bouchard of not being tough enough to enforce the law to the letter. She said there will always be problems until the English minority slops fighting the law. It sounded like she was looking, not just to ensure the continuation of the French language, but to exact revenge on the English minority for all real and imagined slights suffered in the years when the English held the positions of power in the province. It’s an attitude that is frightening if Quebec ever does become independent. Will there be a movement that says “It’s our turn now” and sets out to avenge all the grievances of the past? It could make a “free” Quebec a very unpleasant place to live.— KR Photo by Janice Becker Letters to the editor THE EDITOR, Wow! What a reunion! Bravo to Murray Cardiff and his committees and to those who were watching over us from above, only sending the rain when it was time to cool us down. Hugs abounded! Hugs from some we hoped would give us a glance 50 years ago (and now wonder why we wished that!); hugs from others as we wondered "who is this?"; hugs from those we see often and are always happy to hug. From opening ceremonies (which was special, having Roy Cousins take part) to Murray's closing remarks at the Community Centre, we were meeting old friends, reminded of fun times, reminded of a few things we'd like to forget, reminded of those who weren't with us and we were missing. So many fond memories! Yes, Murray, we kept smiling! I haven't seen so many people happy to be back to school. Il was great to visit with Maurice and Mrs. Laycock. I'm sure God blinked when he saw the pews almost full at Melville Church. Church was special and the music so stirring, intertwining happy and sad memories creating an emotional merry-go-round with our tears taking a detour around our smiles as they rolled down our cheeks. Congratulations and thanks to Keith, Bonnie and Donna for a fine job putting together "Our Story", an excellent reference for future historians. I've been given many thanks for may small input, it was a pleasure, it was easy, the appreciation belongs to my mom, Hazel S. Matheson, for her keen interest in preserving our history. Hang in there, old buddies, until we meet again in 10 years. Maybe we'd better make it five. My brothers Murray and Ian and I had a great time. Jean Matheson Ross. THE EDITOR, Greetings to all present and former Mitchell residents! In the year 1999 the Town of Mitchell will be celebrating its Homecoming Reunion (125th Anniversary). Al the present lime, many activities and events are in the planning stages for the week of June 29 - July 4, 1999. For further inquiries contact: The Registration Committee, P.O. Box 609, Mitchell, ON NOK 1N0 or browse the internet site at: http://granite.cyg.net/~mitchell. Hope to see you then! Debra SatchelLMcCarthy Secretary Mailing and Registration Committee. THE EDITOR, The Harris Conservatives continue to rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic with yet another attempt to make downloading $1.2 billion in services on to municipal taxpayers seem like a good thing for property taxpayers throughout Ontario. Premier Mike Harris once again sent Municipal Affairs Minister Al Leach on a mission to convince Ontarians that they are better off paying for policing, road maintenance, ambulance services, long-term care for seniors, social services, social housing, daycare, and more with their property taxes. Considering Leach's inept handling of the megacity debate, being found in contempt of the Ontario Legislature by the Speaker Continued on page 6