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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-10-10, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2019. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.huroncitizen.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $180.00/year in U.S.A. and $380/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: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca October 10, 1968 The Brussels Lions Club was in the midst of planning for a father- son banquet at Brussels United Church on Oct. 28. Over 1,100 cattle were auctioned off in just three-and-a-half hours at the Stocker and Feeder Sale held at the Brussels Livestock Sale Yard. Lloyd Wheeler of Grey Township had the grand champion lot, while Roger Hood of Paisley had the reserve grand champion lot. The Huron County Historical Society was set to meet in Brussels on Oct. 21 for the first time in the organization’s four-year history. In the Brussels Bowling League, it was Brian Rutledge who sat atop the single standings with a score of 295, while Murray Lowe was on top of the triple standings with a score of 688. October 10, 1973 At the September Station-Tested Boar Sale in Waterloo, it was Arnold Cook of Belgrave who had the highest-indexing boar at the sale, bringing in a bid of $710. Edith Creighton, the well-known co-owner of Grand View Lunch in the south end of Blyth, passed away in her 64th year. A resident of Blyth most of her life, Creighton was born in Hullett Township and moved to Blyth when she married her husband William. Mason Bailey, the retiring president of the Huron County Federation of Agriculture, warned members that more organization was needed if they wanted a “fair break” from various levels of government in the coming years. That night, Bailey was succeeded by Adrian Vos of Blyth with Vince Austin of Dungannon in the second vice-president position. At the same meeting, federal Agricultural Minister Eugene Whelan told the 400 farmers in attendance that the government was trying to find ways to give farmers security through price and income stablization. Speaking to the farmers at the Saltford Valley Hall near Goderich, Whelan said something needed to be done to combat the “yo-yo effect” associated with farm prices. William Riehl of the Blyth Legion told The Blyth Standard that the Legion’s annual walkathon would not happen in 1973. The event had traditionally raised funds for minor sports activities. Taking its place, however, was a new walkathon including some young people walking from Walton to Blyth to raise money for recreation improvements in Walton. Hullett Township Council refused permission for the location of a sanitary landfill site in the township. The site, which would have been located just east of Londesborough, had been the centre of much controversy, with residents signing a petition against the location of the dump. October 11, 1995 Twenty-two years after Huron County became the first county in Ontario to adopt an official plan, Huron County Council launched a plan to develop a new plan. Senior Planner Wayne Caldwell said the new study would deal with more than simply land usage, but include economic and employment issues as well. Under the Planning Act, which was adopted by the former provincial NDP government, the county had until December, 1997 to prepare a new official plan. Wingham OPP were busy investigating a number of mischief and disturbance calls in Brussels over the past month, all of which used a homemade device known as a Drano bottle bomb. Comprised of a number of ingredients, including Drano, the bottle bomb gave vandals a 30- second head start until detonation. OPP Constable Mike Alexander said the bombs could cause serious injury to anyone caught in the blast. The Brussels Junior C Bulls had a tough weekend, being outscored 13- 4 over two games. The Bulls were downed by Kincardine by a score of 7-3 and then lost to the Mount Forest Patriots by a score of 6-1. Brussels Agri-Services advertised to welcome the arrival of a new employee to its staff. Tim Prior was brought on to help with fencing products, estimates and installation. October 8, 2009 Thanks to one last blast of warm weather before the onset of fall, the local apple crop was revived according to David Griffiths of Blake’s Apple Orchard. The owner of the Brussels-area orchard said the year’s crop was very clean, indicating that the fruit wasn’t scabby and that there weren’t any insect problems. He added that the crop’s yield was great too, producing more apples than any crop in recent memory. With their success at the International Plowing Match, an open house was being planned to celebrate Brandon and Jacob McGavin at the Stanley Township Complex in Varna. Christopher Stillar, a spiritual medium, was on stage the previous weekend in Blyth for a special performance at Memorial Hall. The event was a fundraiser for the Blyth Legion Building Fund. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Fighting human nature Pity North Huron Councillors as they try to solve Blyth’s summertime parking issues. All they have to do is change human nature. Human nature predicts the majority of people will expend the least physical effort they can. If there is a parking space available near their destination, they’ll take it. Such are 21st century expectations in a small town that customers feel they’ve been inconvenienced if they can’t park directly in front of the business they want to visit. While a city shopper is thrilled to find a parking space within a block of their destination, asking a rural driver to walk four parking spaces is unreasonable. That’s the flaw in suggestions that people attending the Blyth Festival on a summer afternoon should use a parking lot several blocks away when there are empty parking spaces all along main street. Unless there’s an official on hand to tell people they can’t use the empty parking spot they see right there, a block from Blyth Memorial Hall, few are going to willingly park blocks away. Local shoppers already know those spaces are available but they won’t walk. Instead they complain that those out- of-towners are taking up the space they want in front of a shop. With a short main street, Blyth has always had a parking issue. Before the Festival even began the stores on main street were busy enough that it was hard to find a space so that shoppers didn’t have to carry groceries for a block or so. Many small communities would love to have the problems the Blyth Festival brings to Blyth. The thousands the theatre brings to Blyth each week during the summer may not patronize every business, but the prosperity they bring to the village helps support a thriving community. The parking problems for six to nine hours a week, depending on how many hours a business might be open, may be aggravating, but are a small price to pay for all the Festival adds to the community. — KR Paying the health care costs Everyone wants a good healthcare system. Nearly everyone wants to save on their taxes. Last week’s announcement that the London Health Sciences Centre plans to close 49 beds at its University and Victoria hospitals in an effort to deal with its $24 million deficit shows you can’t have both. There are few things that Canadians are more united on than our free for all healthcare system. Although the adoption of the government-paid system under Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson’s government was controversial in 1968, it wasn’t long until Canadians agreed the program is one of the fundamental privileges of being Canadian. But as Canadians embraced the system, the things that some critics feared began to plague governments. Healthcare costs kept growing, requiring an increasingly large slice of both federal and provincial budgets. Governments are constantly pressured by voters to decrease taxes so politicians are caught in the middle, supplying a popular program to voters who forget that healthcare is also a very expensive service. So the federal government tries to trim its costs by paying less to the provinces and the provinces call for “efficiencies”, providing less for hospitals and doctors. Canada spent 10 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare in 2016, compared to 16.6 per cent in the U.S. That’s $5,543 per Canadian compared to $11,126 per citizen in the U.S. So overall, our system is less expensive than our neighbours to the south. Thousands of Huron County residents have been treated at University and Victoria hospitals over the years. Reductions to service there, including closing 11 surgical beds at Victoria Hospital, will bring cuts to healthcare close to home. Remember that the next time you demand a tax cut. — KR A ‘mandate’ means little The chances are no matter which party you vote for in Oct. 21’s federal election you’ll be making a compromise. You might like the Conservative’s promise to cut taxes but wish they had a more believeable plan for fighting climate change. You might think the Liberals have a better balance but still be uncomfortable with plans to keep growing the deficit. The problem is that each party has many planks in its platform, but you have only one vote. Nevertheless, whatever party assumes office, sooner or later you’re going to hear the Prime Minister or some cabinet minister say they “have a mandate” from voters to carry out some promise that even people who voted for them probably forgot (or never realized) was part of the party’s election platform. Democracy is a blunt instrument. We must elect the party and the leader we most agree with (or least disagree with) and hope they make the wisest decisions on the many issues that will arise in the next four years. Until we modify the system to give voters an input on every decision – and look at the mess the Brexit referendum got Britain into – we’re stuck with what we’ve got. — KR &