Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-01-07, Page 4O Cn itizen The North Huron Photo by Janice Becker Looking Back Through the Years Businesses swap hands in 1989 From the files of the Blyth Stan- dard, Brussels Post and the North Huron Citizen 9 YEAR AGO JANUARY 4, 1989 A gala ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the re-opening of the Brus- sels Legion, seven months after it was almost totally destroyed by fire. After 10 weeks of troubles, the Brussels stockyard was back in business under the name Brussels Livestock Inc. and the leadership of owner Gordon Brindley. The Walton Feed Mill was pur- chased by Dauphin Feed and Sup- ply Ltd., of Dungannon. Brussels Agromart was sold by Dave Boynton to Merle Hoegy. Blyth hosted a meeting for the public to discuss a waste manage- ment study out forth by Huron County. CKNX owners bought the CHCH television station in Hamilton. Bill Kinahan was a member of the Brussels Bulls. Joyce Ducharme of RR3, Brus- sels, won a shopping spree at EMA Foods and Brussels Village Market. Cranbrook-native Paul Engel placed second in a world arm- wrestling championship. Debbie and Kim Rintoul of RR2, Lucknow captured Grand Champi- on and Reserve Champion honours in Charlois classes at the Royal Winter Fair. Willie's Blyth Supermarket offered beef stew for $1.99, canned tomatoes for $.89, 12 litres of Cheer for $9.99 and 100 ml. tube of Colgate for $1.69. 17 YEARS AGO JANUARY 7, 1981 Lois and Wayne Todd opened Todd's Bakery in Brussels. Brussels councillors give them- selves and employees a raise. The reeve's salary rose $100 to $1,200 while councillors received $1,000. The clerk's salary went to $17,200 from $16,000. The cleaning person was paid $4.25 per hour for the municipal office and $80 a month for the library. The utility man was paid $6.60 and hour, up from $6. Morris council looked into issues tags to township dogs as problem arose again in Belgrave. Reeve Bill Elston said he did not like tags and said he wouldn't put one on his own animal. Fourteen acres of workable land near Blyth sold for $30,000. PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1998. P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ore. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil E-mail norhuron@huron.net _fal0 The Citizen Is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable In advance et a rate of 827.00/year ($25.24 $1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; 862.00/year in U.S.A. and 875.00/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 A challenging year ahead Democracy requires a voting public that is informed about the issues when it enters the polling booth. In Canada, and in Ontario, voters have been too concerned about the problems in their own lives to spend much time finding out what's going on in politics. With important issues ahead in 1998 at all levels of government, it's important that ordinary citizens make it a priority to understand the issues. The coming year will perhaps be the most crucial at the municipal level. Politicians at your township, village and town level will be dealing with greater changes than Ontario municipalities have seen in 150 years. Changes in funding for schools mean local governments will get to spend more of the dollars they raise (previously more than half went to school boards). But municipal leaders have to make those dollars stretch farther, covering services the province previously paid for (such as rural policing), and paying all the costs of things like road maintenance for which there had originally been provincial support_ With these new responsibilities and limited resources, and because of continued provincial pressure, amalgamation will continue to be an issue. So far the general public has been surprisingly quiet on the issue. It is one which, in the long run, will affect people's lives. If past experience is any lesson, amalgamation may cost more, rather than save money. Your elected leaders will have to work hard to try to design new municipal units that make sense, both economically and in serving the needs of you, the public. If you don't tell them what your priorities are, they'll be acting in a vacuum and the results could saddle generations with a system that works poorly. At the provincial level, the revolution is sure to go on. The government of Premier Mike Harris is moving in so many directions at once, it has been mind-boggling for voters to try to keep abreast of it all. Only on a few issues, such as hospital closings and the teachers' strike, has the public seemed to pay any attention at all. With an election just a couple of years away, however, it's time for people to examine what the government is doing, decide whether it has been good or bad, and be prepared when the time comes to vote. Federally, the debate on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) will continue. Canadians are only starting to wake up to the power this little-known treaty will have to change our lives. It can tie the hands of governments to make the decisions Canadians feel are necessary to control their own lives. If a government passes a law or regulation that is deemed to harm a foreign company, it may be forced to compensate that company. On the other hand, it will protect Canadians investing in other countries and that includes millions of Canadians with pension and mutual fund investments. There are pluses and minuses to the agreement_ It needs to be debated so that Canadians know what their government is signing and how it will effect them. Canadians have sleep-walked through most of the 1990s. This will not be a year to continue this habit. — KR So much for promises So the Liberals, while running for election, thought the EH-101 helicopter purchase was a terrible deal and promised to cancel it. So when they gained power, they immediately kept their promise, cancelling the deal, even though it meant paying $500 million in compensation to the company. So now, years later, the government has decided that the best machine for the use of our search and rescue crews is the EH-101 under a different name, The Cormorant. Silly. Now before we get too self-righteous about the flip-flopping of the Liberals, we should remember that if there was any issue that seemed to unite Canadians against the Brian Mulroney government, it was the $5.6 billion purchase of the 50 helicopters. It seemed a perfect illustration of the delusions of grandeur of Mulroney. Why did we need these Cadillac machines, we wondered. Surely there must be something more reasonable. Apparently not. And the media, now delighting in the government's uncomfortable position — weren't they the same people who built up public resentment against the EH-101? Perhaps the lesson to be learned is we all need to know more before we make, or believe, election promises. — KR E ditorial