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The Citizen, 1999-11-17, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1999. C itizenTheNorthHuron (♦ONA P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil Member Ontario Press Council P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com 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 $27.00/year (S25.24 + $1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62.00/year in U.S.A, and $100/year in other foreign coun­ tries. 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 newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Publications Mail Registration No. 09244 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 1374990 Hunger in a nation of plenty Canada is certainly a nation of variety. We have, as Christmas approaches, farmers all across the country who are worried about paying their bills, let alone having a prosperous Christmas for their families, because farm prices are too low. At the same time we have increasing lines at foodbanks because many people in our society can't afford to buy food. Both problems are real, though political leaders would like to pretend they aren’t. Meeting with western premiers, Prime Minister Jean Chretien suggested the crisis among western Canadian wheat farmers is not as bad as people think. Meanwhile leaders in our provincial government like to promote the impression that foodbanks and beggars would disappear tomorrow if lazy people just got some ambition. No matter how much we'd like these problems to go away, they won’t. And no matter how much we'd like simple solutions, there aren’t any. Those who think government can solve the problem by being more generous are being naive. Government can help even the bumps but can’t create a totally smooth economic road. On the other hand, those who think the marketplace will solve the problem are naive, or cynical. As we approach Christmas the world of Charles Dickens, revealed through the classic story A Christmas Carol, reminds us of another time when the free market held total dominance and it didn’t work. While some people in England lived in incredible wealth in mansions with staffs of servants, others lived on the streets, or went to prison because they couldn't pay their bills. So much for giving people incentive to do better. So how do you solve the problem of farmers getting too little for their products while others can’t afford to buy that cheap food? A century after Dickens we’ve made advances, but we haven't come up with a solution. We need to mobilize our government and business leaders and ordinary people to find innovative ways to bridge the gap. Instead of returning to the Dickensian days of the very rich and the very poor, or to the time when government thought it could create heaven here on earth we need to put our heads together on ways to share the bounty of this wealthy nation with all its citizens. — KR Counting up evil If there has been a more silly debate in the past year than the one about whether or not NATO should have been involved in Kosovos or not because fewer innocent civilians were being massacred than originally thought, it’s hard to imagine what it would be. Cynicism has reached a new height with the comments of some critics that public opinion was deliberately manipulated in order to get political support for the attack on Serbia that eventually brought peace to Kosovos. The cynics argue that the public may have been deliberately mislead into thinking 10,000 people had died (U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen even threw out the possibility that 100,000 could be murdered). So far, 2,108 bodies have been found. So what were Western countries to do, sit back and wait to count the bodies when the Serbs had finally driven all the Albanians out? Be caught in a situation as the United Nations was in Srebenica where peacekeepers were forced to watch as more than 7,000 people were murdered or went “missing" (only 2,000 bodies have been found there)? These proponents of not getting involved sound like the people who try to explain away the Holocaust because there aren’t nearly the six million bodies found that were reported to have died. Coming so close to Remembrance Day, these arguments seem so self-serving. Certainly we do not want to risk the lives of our sons and brothers and husbands and friends in war. Certainly there are those who are all too willing to indulge in warfare. But violence will not end as long as evil people know that others are afraid to “get involved”. That's true whether it’s violence in the streets of big cities, violence between ethnic people sharing the same geography or countries that want to exploit their superior power against weaker neighbours. This week people in Toronto were shocked when a teenage boy was beaten to death by a pack of other teenagers — over a package of cigarettes. Critics of “getting involved” should think what it would be like to have been that teenager, overwhelmed by an evil group too powerful to resist. They should put themselves in the place of innocent civilians systematically attacked by their neighbours in Kosovos. We must not let people suffer alone. We must be ready to help. — KR E ditorial Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen Nov. 14, 1979 The first shovel full of sod was turned for the new Blyth Memorial Hall addition. Taking part were Henry Pattison of the Blyth Legion, Reeve Don Noble and Helen Gowing, from the board of direc­ tors for Blyth Centre for the Arts. An invitation was extended to the Clinton Community Credit Union to open a branch office in Blyth by the Blyth Board of Trade. This was as a result of the number of people banking out of town. Local trappers conducted demon­ strations at the Ministry of Natural Resources workshop. Over 150 trappers attended to hear speakers at the Hullett Wildlife maintenance building. Bob McNeil hosted Dairy Day at his farm. The workshop was spon­ sored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Huron County Holstein Club. Melanie Scott of RR1, Belgrave received the Huron-Hereford Association trophy for her top here- ford calf. There were three fires in the Belgrave area within week. Clarence Hanna’s workshop was gutted inside. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Ted Moran had a basement fire which resulted in little damage. Considerable water and fire dam­ age was done at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Mathers. Nov. 15, 1989 Vandals caused close to $3,000 damage to the Canadian Agra Elevators on Hwy 4 in East Wawanosh. All the windows, dou­ ble pane glass in the front door glass had been smashed in the office, while three windows had been broken in the power house shed. The gas pumps also sustained damage. A cattle beast was stolen from a Blyth area farm. Someone loaded a 500-600 pound Charolais Angus cross. A $ 1,000 reward was offered. Katherine Kaszas resigned after her sixth season as Blyth Festival’s artistic director. Majestic WI marked its 50th anniversary. Blyth council asked the LCBO to set up a temporary-store to test the market in the village. The Brussels Cflisaders ended a slump with a big win over Wellesley. Grey and McKillop completed one successful year of recycling. Bodmin Farms won the premier exhibitor award at the Royal show. Dr. John Osborn was the new act­ ing district manager for the Ministry of Natural Resources Wingham District. Priscilla Galloway, a popular children’s book author, visited Brussels Public School. Four new Scouts were invested at Blyth. They were: Brad Walsh, Derick Cressman, Chris Van Loo and Jeff Josling. New Beavers were: Mark Machan, Justin Rinn, Devin Shannon, Jared Cardiff, Jeffrey Lewis, Peter Thomson. New Cubs were: Brent Sauve, Justin Sauve, Joey Airdrie, Wesley Huizinga, David Sauve, Rick MacLeod and Mathew Armstrong. Nov. 16, 1994 Rising costs drove subscription rates up for The Citizen. Incumbent Gord Workman was back at the head of Brussels coun­ cil. while Mason Bailey won the spot in Blyth. Hullett Reeve Tom Cunningham retained his seat, while Clem McLellan was acclaimed in Morris. In Grey Leona Armstrong defeated her challenger, while McKillop’s Marie Hicknell lost her seat to Ron Murray. In East Wawanosh Donald Schultz was the new reeve, while in West Wawanosh that spot was retained by Bob Hallam. Dr. Janet Zettel was on hand to serve patients in the new offices of the Brussels-Seaforth Medical Centre. The members of the B-W Trailblazers Club moved their club­ house to a location just east of Brussels on the railroad land. Winners of the Legion Remembrance Day contests were Tammy Walker, Kevin Trewartha, Graham Worsell, Beki Brandon, Krista Martin, Kristy Blair, Stephanie Oliver, Lindsay Haak, Matt Anderson, John Storey, Elizabeth Oliver. The staff of L.H. Resource in Walton completed a processor to be used in Aylmer to compost munici­ pal residential, commercial and industrial waste. The processor was capable of doing over 100 tons a day. New Belgrave Brownies were Felisha Price, Janisa Cloakey, Shauna Dawson, Jenna Stryker, Tamara Koehler, Ellen Procter, Amanda Dorsch, Camerra Yuill, Lindsay Mahliot and Leanne Elston. Director of Education for the county board of education was one of the featured guests at Brussels Public School for the Community Read-In.