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The Citizen, 1996-07-17, Page 4Chainlink fence Photo by Janice Becker Searching for the past Thanks for the memories By Bonnie Gropp I would first like to thank the people who responded so quickly to my plea for the missing Brussels centennial issue of The Post. With- in a couple of days I had numerous copies handed in at the office, a tes- timony of just how special these special sections are. I now have another request that may be a -little more difficult to accommodate. Most people are aware of the huge fire that almost levelled the downtown core of the village in 1905, We were wonder- ing if anyone had, or knew of, any pictures taken or sketches done of this tragedy. Also, I have received confirma- tion that my mysterious Dr. White was definitely a medical physician rather than a dentist. It is the con- sensus that he was in the village shortly after Dr. Bryans, around the late 1920s. If anyone knows any- more about him, where his office was located, background history or family, please call or drop in to see me at the office. And speaking of mysterious — was there really a Dr. Kalbfleisch? Letters THE EDITOR, I see in a recent issue of The Citizen how you hoped for pictures of the storm in 1947. I would be very interested in seeing any. I well remember that year. We had many fresh cows and no way of getting the milk out. We filled every container we could- find, borrowed some, gave away milk. There was no hall in Cranbrook at that time, but we didn't lack for social times. Often two card parties a week, in the homes, by cutter or sleigh. A winter of baking cakes, doing up hair, making tally cards for card games of euchre. Kids went too, hoping to stay awake until lunch time. Gathering up sleeping kids late at night, and knowing those blasted cows had to be milked early in the morning, regardless. We never got very far those days but we sure had good times. Jean Dunn. I'HE EDITOR, This is a letter that I am sending to as many newspapers across Canada as I can. I have written to politicians including the Minister of Justice Allan Rock twice and the Prime Minister. The letter speaks for itself. Last Feb. 17, 1995, our eldest son and his wife were killed in a car accident in Duncan, BC, leaving twin boys, eight years of age. The girl who killed them crossed over three lanes of traffic and smashed into them as they were heading out for a Valentine's weekend together. They were killed instantly. This has been beyond words for my family and I. The thing that would have helped me tremendously would have been Continued on page 6 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/yeaf ($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 * CNA 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 E ditorial PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 17, 1996 Where does all the money go? With Huron County about to get a gift of three provincial highways it doesn't want, and the county being expected to pick up more of the tab for all its other roads because of provincial cutbacks, a question asked by Brussels Reeve Gordon Workman deserves consideration: "Where does all the money go?" Workman was speaking about the 14.7 cent a litre provincial tax on all gasoline sold in Ontario (one local gas station sends the province $147,000 in gasoline tax a year). This tax was originally a designated tax, meant to finance the improvement of roadways in Ontario. For many years it did, and Ontario had some of the best highways in the world. For nearly two decades now, the money going to roads has been trimmed back. Much of the gas tax has been slipping into what one former cabinet minister once called "the great black hole of general revenue". What nobody is saying when Transportation Minister Al Palladini pleads hardship as a reason for cutting road grants to municipalities, is that if the gasoline tax was applied where it was intended, Ontario wouldn't be so hard up for funds for roads. Even more to the point, with the province turning three provincial highways, with rumours of all but Hwy. 21 being devolved to the county in the future, and with the province cutting back on its support to all municipal streets and roadways, what will Huron County drivers, and drivers in all of rural Ontario, get for their taxes? Since rural drivers have to drive more miles than people in the cities, they spend proportionately more on gasoline taxes. Yet under the new provincial funding, rural people will see hardly any of their money invested back in their community. It's time to asked some pointed questions of the provincial government and its plans. — KR Prosperity is relative The United Nations has just released its 1996 human development index and once again, Canada has come out on top among 174 countries as the best place in the world to live. Funny, you'd hardly know it listening to people complain. The amazing thing about human beings is how quickly they adapt to improvements in condition, accept their new standard of living as the minimum, and look for ways to feel themselves abused. A professional athlete given a $5 million a year contract will feel happy for about a week, then see someone he feels is making more for contributing less • and suddenly feel abused. There are many people in Canada who should feel abused. We have a lost generation of young people who have gone through university, as we urged them to do, have amassed a load of student loans, and have no jobs to show for it (to their credit, many are working in minimum wage jobs to pay their bills). We have hundreds of thousands of unemployed. A recent survey found many people felt natives in Canada live aswell as, or better than, other Canadians. Obviously these people haven't visited many of Canada's Indian reserves to see the quality of housing. But while we hear some complaints from these people, they don't dominate the voices of complaint. Who do we hear the loudest complaints from? The people who complain about paying too much tax. A wise woman once said she didn't mind paying income tax because it meant she had enough income to qualify. That message doesn't seem to have gotten through to the well-to-do middle class in Canada, the people who symbolize the standard of living that has made Canada the best place in the world. How is it that Canada, where people average $5,072 a year less income than the U.S., can still rank ahead in quality of life? To a large extent it is because of the very social programs that are under attack by those who want to pay less tax. Our universal health programs give us a longer life expectancy than the U.S. system which gives wonderful service to the well-off, but little for the poor. We have a high level of education, and an ability for people to move from an impoverished start in life to the middle class, because we have subsidized schools. Those with money, however, can only look at the U.S. and see the lower taxes. Now that they're comfortably in the middle class they don't