No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1997-12-10, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10,1997. C itizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phono 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@huron.net Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil _fA10 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 Mall Registration No. 6968 E ditorial i .......................~........i Do-it-yourself planet saving The Canadian government went to the Global Wanning Summit in Kyoto, Japan with an embarrassingly weak position in policy for curtailing the gases that are the root causes of the greenhouse effect. While it’s easy to blame the government for lack of leadership, a leader doesn’t do much good if he or she turns nobody will follow. That could be the fate of a government that decides on brave promises about cleaning up our air. When Brian Mulroney promised, at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janerio, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the 1990 level by the year 2000, it must have seemed like an easily-attainable goal. But Canada, despite being in a recession that reduced economic activity, has failed miserably to meet that modest target and now says it will aim at the same level by 2007 (and a reduction of three per cent by 2010). Even that has brought bitter opposition from the energy industry which claims the whole greenhouse effect is an illusion and argues that thousands of jobs are at stake in promising to clean up our environment. The industry finds support from Reform Party Leader Preston Manning, bent on maintaining support for his Alberta base. But curtailing industry emissions alone isn’t the solution. We all create greenhouse gases. One of the worst offenders is automobile exhaust We all drive too many miles we don’t have to. (Don't we just have to drive to London or Kitchener to get that perfect Christmas gift we can’t get at home?) We use electricity we don’t have to, meaning in this age when Ontario Hydro’s nuclear plants are shut down, that coal and oil-fired electrical generating stations are being used more than necessary. We heat our houses warmer than people in most of the world, putting more carbon dioxide into the air. But would we listen if the government asked us to? We know we can do it if we had to. When the Arab oil embargo hit in the early 1970s and oil and gas prices soared, we cut our consumption dramatically. We insulated our houses. We drove smaller, more fuel efficient cars. We looked at all the ways we could to save money, and in doing so we also cut pollution, including production of carbon dioxide. When the problem evaporated we forgot the lessons learned. We drove bigger cars. We built bigger houses. We wasted energy left and right and told ourselves we had the right to reward ourselves with a little luxury. We can, each one of us, contribute to the solution of this crisis, even without the government setting any huge, job-killing goals. If every Canadian cuts back on the activities that create greenhouse gases, we can help meet the goal. But without the incentive of saving money, most of us aren't willing to sacrifice. The challenge is yours. As the old TV ad said, you can pay now, or you can pay later. You can start a do-it- yourself plan for saving the planet, if you’ve got the courage. — KR Time to give planning time Huron County council recently called for the province to postpone downloading of more services for one year to give everyone a chance to properly plan a smooth transfer of power. If the provincial government is thinking at all about its own best interests, it should be listening to this and similar calls that have come from municipalities across the province. The transfer, scheduled for just three weeks away on Jan. 1, has the potential for disaster. After two years of planning, the province still cannot give the municipalities accurate figures on how much some of these services will cost. Come January, municipalities will begin paying for services like ambulances and, around Toronto, GO transit, yet they don’t know how much to budget for them . . . and they will have no administrative control. Decisions will still be made by the province. The bill will go to the municipality. (Wasn’t the Boston tea party caused by something like this?) The province also will lake over the assessment of education taxes. Nobody seems to know how that will work yet The province says it has special funds to help offset the costs of this transfer of programs like social housing, yet it hasn’t told municipalities how much they can expect, or how to get at that money. The same goes for a special fund to offset the effects of the change in the Farm Tax Rebate. Either the province has these figures and is afraid to release them or things are so .chaotic they can’t figure it out themselves. In either case this is a good reason to delay the changes for a year. — KR Letters to the editor THE EDITOR, Last Sunday at Knox Presbyterian Church, Goderich, I had the pleasure of seeing the Blyth Festival Singers in concert along with the Blyth Festival orchestra, featuring Vivaldi's Gloria. What a wonderful performance it was! This beautiful music featured such songs as I Wonder as I Wander, Such a Small King, Virga Jesse Floruit to name a few, also Christa Cameron of Blyth sang a solos Domine Deus. You don't have to travel to the city to see a performance like this. We were mesmerized by the beautiful classical Christmas music of the 45-voice choir and 17 piece orchestra which included eight violins, three violas, two cellos, one trumpet, one bass, one flute and one harp. The concert concluded with a standing ovation. A first class act! Lois van Vliet, Blyth. THE EDITOR, The page in The Citizen entitled "For Teens, By Teens" has disgusted me many times and I have often considered writing to The Citizen about my complaints. Erin Roulston's article "Commercializing Christmas" (Dec. 3), made me so angry that I finally decided I had to complain in writing. Most of the time the articles on this page are immature, insensitive and they often have no point. The page is monopolized by a select group of people who hardly represent the teen population of The Citizen's circulation. I realize that the idea behind this page is to give teens practice at journalism, since no one writes perfectly without practice. However, immature writers should not write about sensitive issues. Sensitive issues such as the Nov. 24, 1996 accident near Varna require mature journalism. The question of whether or not Jesus should be celebrated at Christmas also requires an experienced writer if the column is to be effective. I'm not sure what Roulston's point was in the Dec. 3 article. At one point she says that Jesus Christ has nothing to do with her celebration of Christmas, yet she also points out that children should hear the Christian story of Christmas. The article is contradictory and insensitive. I suggest that the page be replaced with mature writing or the teen writers practise their writing skills on less sensitive topics. Rhonda Gibbons.