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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-11-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26,1997. itizen The North Huron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH.Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont NOG 1 HO Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@huron.net Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil _?*1O 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 E ditorial i ...........:..zi Thanks for your efforts The terms are drawing to a close for municipal politicians who either chose not to run again or were defeated in this month’s municipal elections. We should take a moment to thank them for their efforts. Most of the time people don’t think about their village or township councillors unless they don’t feel they are doing a good job. We all think councillors should have all the answers, even if the problem is beyond their powers as municipal politicians. We all know how they should run the council, even if we only half understand the issues. We're all ready to gripe about service not being up to the level we think it should be, then gripe because taxes are too high. When these contradictions are pointed out to us, we say the simple solution is for councillors to just cut out “the waste”, as if tons of money was floating out the window. Perhaps some of the retiring councillors themselves went into office with these misconceptions. If so, they were quickly educated into the realities of what a municipal council can, and can’t, do. In most cases they learned that there are severe limitations on the ability of councillors to change their local world. But they tried their best. They kept working for what they felt was the best interests of their community. They put in the long hours, with only a relatively small reward. They took the calls of complaint, and in some cases, the insults. To all of them, those who were true leaders and those who found themselves in over their heads, we owe a vote of thanks for putting out the effort. Would that more people were willing to take the risk. — KR Inferiority complex alive In a city of losers, you’d think a winning team would be treated like royally. The relative obscurity of the Grey Cup winning Toronto Argonauts, however, shows that in Canada, our inferiority complex is still alive and well. The Argonauts just won their second Grey Cup a week ago, with a convincing win over the Saskatchewan Rough Riders. But because they play in the Canadian Football League, many people are unwilling to back these winners. Even in winning, they get less attention, both from fans and from the media, than teams that are considered “major league” even if they play terribly. There was a time when the Argos attracted 50,000 people to each and every game. But along came the Blue Jays and the Toronto Raptors, competing against U.S. franchises, and suddenly the CFL seemed so ... well, Canadian. They weren't “world class”. People didn’t take time to look at the entertainment value of the game they played, they looked instead for the comfort of seeing the stamp of approval from the American media — and it was missing. So the Toronto Blue Jays have finished at the bottom of their division for the fourth year in a row, yet still have among the best attendance figures in the league (though down from their glory days when they drew 4 million fans). The Toronto Raptors have won one game and lost 10, but still draw nearly as many fans for each of their 40 home games, as Argos do for each of their eight borne games. And the Maple Leafs ... well, let’s not discuss that one. The Americans confidently know that it doesn’t matter whether anyone else in the world is interested in their games or not. Their basketball team is “world champions” even though, until the Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies joined two years ago, there were no teams outside the U.S. playing. It’s baseball teams play the “World Series" even though teams from Japan or Korea or Cuba are never asked to contend. Americans have the simple confidence that what is best in the U.S. is all the matters. As Canada has become obsessed with globalization and world trade, however, we’ve slipped back to the kind of colonial insecurity we only began to emerge from with Canada’s Centennial Celebration and Expo ’67. For a brief period there, we began to realize that we could be good at something without having to have the stamp of approval of success in England or the U.S. We could create our own musical stars without them having to go to the U.S. to prove they were good enough for us to be bothered listening too. We could create our own theatre, even movies. We could have our own heroes. It was a healthy state of mind. Too bad we’ve slipped back to the bad old days.— KR Photo by Janice Becker Letters to the editor THE EDITOR, I saw this in The London Free Press, it makes you ponder. "When the Harris government attacked unions, I wasn't a member, so I didn't stand up. When they attacked welfare, I wasn't on welfare, so I didn't stand up. When they attacked the health care system, I wasn't deathly ill, so I didn't stand up. When they attacked education, I didn't have children, so I didn't stand up. When they attack me, no one will stand up for me. Maybe we in Ontario have the government we deserve. Janet Koehler, Brussels. THE EDITOR, It is with mixed emotions that I read about Bill 160 and the claims that our teachers/educators make about it Education reform is a must. Hopefully the government and our educators will realistically consider what needs to be done. When a power struggle is the problem, education will not be a consideration. One begins to doubt whether either side is seeking to provide quality education. Quality education does not need to cost as much as it does. My education dollar goes toward public education but my support goes toward alternate and independent schools. There are thousands of students in alternate and independent schools that are getting a quality education for half the amount that it costs in the public schools. These parents are paying their tax dollars which are in turn conveniently used by the public system. Not one of these tax dollars goes with the student In fact, in Huron County we pay tax dollars toward busing for our children and yet the Huron County Board of Education charges us for busing also. This is paying double for a service to which these children are entitled. Independent schools are expected to match the educational standards set out by the Ministry of Education and yet by the same token they are not entitled to free health services that the public and Catholic schools obtain. One example of this type of service is speech therapy. I think that if teachers and government are thinking about quality education for our children perhaps it is time that both sides consider the following: 1. Education tax dollar should follow the student. Continued on page 6