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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-12-08, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1999. C itizenTheNorthHuron (Jcna 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 ($25.24 + $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 Who’s holding the gun now? ditorial A month ago some county councillors accused the Town of Wingham of holding a gun to the head of the county by insisting the county pick up the tab for the cost of shutting down the Wingham police department. Now, by refusing to pass the amalgamation plan for North Huron until the policing issue is “clarified” it seems it's the county putting the gun to the head of North Huron munici­ palities. County council last week turned down the North Huron | ] amalgamation plan, sending it back to have the clauses regard­ ing policing clarified. A complicated clause in the agreement between Blyth, East Wawanosh and Wingham tried to cover all eventual results of Wingham’s court appeal over the county’s bylaw to take over policing as a county function. It was suggested at county council the clauses were inserted to support Wingham’s position. Wingham claims that in passing the bylaw, the county has taken over all policing, that the Wingham Police Service Board is thus disbanded and therefore the county must pay the cost of disbanding the Wingham force. But one county councillor asked a question that was never answered. How, he wondered, could Wingham “clarify” the situation in such a way as to win the county’s approval for the amalgamation plan, without giv­ ing up its legal position? Another question never really answered was why the county went ahead and passed the bylaw when it had been warned by provincial offi­ cials that to do so would mean the Wingham force had to be disbanded. The solicitor general’s department told the county that under the Police Act the county could not take over policing, give the major part of the county to the OPP and delegate the policing of Wingham to the Wingham force. That, the officials said, is a hybrid force (two police forces in one jurisdiction) and it isn’t allowed. Yet the county went ahead anyway thus sealing the fate of the Wingham force at the same time it said it was working to save it. There seems to be some real political hardball being played out between the county and Wingham on this issue. Meanwhile municipali­ ties like East Wawanosh and Blyth are left in the on-deck circle wonder­ ing if they’ll ever get their chance to bat. — KR It’s not simple People on both sides of the global trade issue which came to a head at the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle last week want people to believe the issue is simple, but there’s nothing simple about the issue of globalization. On the surface, what could be better than free trade? Proponents assure us it means more wealth because efficient producers will be rewarded and the inefficient will no longer be protected by tariff barriers. With red tape swept aside, everyone can benefit, they claim. And that’s the way it should be in a normal market situation but today huge multinational corporations exist outside any national borders. Because they can shift production from countries where they don’t like the policies to those that will give them favourable rules, they can force governments to bend to their will. If Canada has environmental rules a company finds burdensome the government can be given an ultimatum: change the rules or the company will move its facilities (and its jobs) to a country that’s more agreeable. That’s the kind of situation the people in the streets of Seattle were protesting last week. They want to see protections built in that would force companies to protect the environment and pay decent wages no matter where production takes place. Sounds good, yet that’s not simple either. Poorer countries see such guarantees as protection for the rich countries. Rich countries built their economies through labour and environmental laws that were much less restrictive than today’s. If today’s developed world standards are applied to the Third World, those countries can never improve. If international companies shift their production to poor countries to get cheaper wages or be able to build cheaper factories, then the gap between the rich and poor will begin to close. Except there again it isn’t simple. Certainly if jobs are shifted from North America to Third World countries the gap will certainly close between workers here and workers there. The very rich, the people who own and run those plants, however, will just get richer and richer. There’s only one thing simple in this debate: there may be lots of losers but the very rich will win no matter what happens. — KR Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen Dec. 5,1979 The proposed Gravco subdivi­ sion for the north end of Blyth was at the top of the agenda for council. Ronald Marcy of Stratford was the new chairman for the Huron Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board. The Triple K, owned by Keith and Kay Hesselwood celebrated its new expansion. Three candidates declared inter­ est in running for county warden: Bill Morley, reeve of Usbome, Eileen Palmer, Goderich reeve and Tuckersmith Reeve Ervin Sillery. Mr. and Mrs. Ross Robinson and Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Ball received awards for outstanding service from the Department of Ontario Horticultural Societies. Don Watson was honoured at a convention of the Canadian Association of Animal Breeders for 25 years in the artificial insemina­ tion industry. The Regal Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star installed new officers: Adeline Campbell, Ruth Stewart, Cheryl Ann Grigg, Harvey Sillib, Helen Gowing, Manella McNall, Brian King, Marjorie East, Mary Ann Howson, Dora Shobbrook, Barbara Bosman, Marion Snell, Gayle King, Laura May Chamney, Mildred Ament, Harold Campbell, Gordon Chamney, Shirley Lyon. Regional directors for Huron in attendance at the Ontario Federation of Agriculture meeting in Toronto were Andre Durand, South Huron; John VanBeers, East Central Huron; Gerry Fortune, North East Huron; Merle Gunby, North West Huron and Jim McIntosh, Huron West Central. The East Central Huron delegates were John Nesbitt, Morris; John Van Beers, Hullett; Merv Smith, and Bob Robinson, both of McKillop. Dec. 6,1989 The Huron County Board of Education and its 283 secondary school teachers announced that they had ratified a new collective agreement for the following two school years. Trustees from the Huron County Board of Education selected two women for the top positions of the board at the inaugural meeting held at the education centre. Former Vice-Chair Joan Van den Broeck, trustee for Colbome and Goderich Twps. was declared chair unani­ mously. The position of vice-chair was won by Bea Dawson, trustee for Zurich and Hay ard Usbome Twps. Morris Township asked the Ministry of Transportation to include Belgrave sidewalks in its plans for the rebuilding of Highway 4. Discovering and addressing the major strengths and weaknesses of Brussels was the first plan of action for the Brussels, Morris and Grey industrial committee in its develop­ ment strategy. A questionnaire was distributed to the 12 members ask­ ing them to address what they felt were the primary strengths and weaknesses in the village. From this four or five issues would be given top priority. Brussels optimist George Langlois, who was also Lieutenant- Governor of Zone 2 Mid-Western Ontario District presented a life membership to Don Bray, a charter member and past president of the Brussels Optimists. Cheryl Campbell of RR3, Blyth received several awards at the 4-H awards night: the Club Leader’s Award, the Robin Theedom Award for the Champion 4-H horse Showman at Seaforth Fall Fair and the W-6 Quarter Horse Trophy. Dec. 7,1994 Huron MPP Paul Klopp was cho­ sen to once again represent the Huron New Democratic Party (NDP) in the upcoming provincial election. The Tobacco Control Act, pro­ claimed and discussed at a press conference held at Clinton Town Hall, disallowed smoking in public areas of retail establishments, hair­ dressing salons, barbershops, finan­ cial institutions, laundromats and video/amusement arcades and lim­ ited smoking to designated areas in hospitals, nursing homes, private vocational, post secondary institu­ tions and common areas in enclosed malls. Smoking was also prohibited in school buildings and on school property and in day nurseries. In effect since 1987 the roadside spot checks known as the RIDE program had proven to be very suc­ cessful in preventing drinking and driving.