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The Citizen, 2001-07-04, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2001 Editorials & Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil 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 $28.00/year ($26.17 + $1.83 G.S.T.) in Canada; S62.00/year in U.S.A. and $100/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 newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are OD Copyright We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our moiling costs. Publications Mail Reg. No. 09244 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 40050141 The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1H0 Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca ocna 4,,TA Member of the Ontario Press Council MI12‘2611 Goodbye to the free lunch It took the massive government debt and the draconian service cuts required to reduce that debt to make Canadians realize there, was a price to pay for government spending: that there was no free lunch. Following testimony at the Walkerton Inquiry, it should now be evident severe government service cuts to give tax breaks also have a terrible price. Premier Mike Harris, testifying before Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor on Friday, claimed he had been given no indication that slashing the size of the Ministry of Environment (MOE) in half could put lives in danger. If so, he must indeed have had contempt for the work of civil servants, as suggested by former Medical' Office of Health for Ontario Richard Schabas when he testified earlier in the week. Did the premier really think that half the MOE staff was doing nothing all the time? Rather than being a .victim of bad advice, as he claims, the premier seems to have come to office with an agenda to cut government size, red tape and cut taxes, and not wanted to heat anyone who said it couldn't be done without risks. There were plenty of documents circulated warning of potential dangers which an open-minded administration might have considered, but the premier and two ministers of environment, Brenda Elliott and Norm Stirling, said they never read, or heard of, any of them. Yet two ministers of health did. Hmmm. The premier feels he wasn't to blame for the deaths of seven people and the illness of more than 2,000 when E. coli infected Walkerton's water supply and he's correct. Primary blame goes to Walkerton Public Utilities staff who hid their ignorance and falsified records to make the town's water look safer than it was. If they had been competent and honest, provincial cutbacks wouldn't have mattered. But the Ministry of Environment was put in place as a second line of defence to protect the innocent public from incompetent or dishonest people who were willing to put their own convenience before the safety of others. Yes it was expensive, but so is insurance. We could all save money today by not buying insurance, but we understand we might regret it later. Apparently the Harris government didn't realize that. But more than the cutbacks themselves, it was the haste with which the government acted that put the lives of Walkerton residents at risk. If the Minister of Environment Norm Stirling had insisted, as asked by Minister of Health Jim Wilson, that private water testing labs be required by law to report bad water samples to the medical office of health, lives might have been saved. But Stirling was in such a hurry to get changes made, he didn't think the law needed to be changed. It's a pattern anyone close to municipal politics has seen repeatedly as this government tried to download responsibility. A course is set, an announcement is made, then months pass before the details are worked out to make the change possible. • The testimony of the past week shows that the government's blindness in thinking it could make massive cuts without any consequences was asking for a tragedy like this to happen. It also shows that the naiveté of Ontario voters who thought they could get something for nothing, contributed to the deaths of those seven people. — KR Will we follow Norway? The United Nations has released its yearly tanking of what countries offer the best quality of life and Canada has dropped from its proud place as number one to number three, behind Norway and Australia. We can still hold up our heads knowing that we're still three places above our neighbours to the south, who are number six. Given the current government fad of "benchmarking" in which you measure your relative strengths against the best, one would think Canadian governments might be sending off commissions to Norway and Australia to see what they're doing that could make Canada better. Instead, we'll likely continue on our current course of moving toward American policie. On the weekend, the new U.S. ambassador to Canada called for mote integration of North America, more harmonizing of rules and regulations. Given our relative standings, one would think that might mean they'd want to harmonize by adopting the policies that give us a better quality of life. Wanna bet? — KR Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. Looking Back Through the Years July 5, 1950 There were more donations to the Brussels ' floodlight campaign. Contributors were: Louis Waxman, Henry Dent, Carrie Hingston, George Bridge, Stanley Rutledge, Alex Pearson, Elston Pearson, Bill Perrie, Walter Rose Poultry Farm, Chas. T. Davidson, Frank Smith, Jim Anderson, Misses Dickson, Orrie Elliott, D.A. Rann, Claire Long, Girls Softball Club, Brussels Football Club, Bob Hetherington. Donations to the Legion Memorial plaque fund came from: Frank Cardiff, Alex Barron, Bill Turnbull, Leslie Oliver, Roy Champion, Clifford Riley, H.M. Gamiss, Robert Forrest, Art Ruttan, Harry Wright, Mrs. John Snell, Mrs. J. Pitcher, Glen Snell, Wm. J. Nicholson, Oswell Simpson, Alex Shaw, Wm. Peacock, Lee Breckenridge, James Johnston, Walter Smillie, Robert McLennan, Carl Johnston, Victor Warren, Mrs. Geo. Elliott Sr., Menno Jackson, Glen Smith, Thomas Miller, Ernie Smith, Reg. Watson, Mrs. Ross Nichol, Ken Nichol, Walter Bewley, Alex Coleman, Stewart Nichol, Jim Jewell, Mrs. Louise Porter, Ken Coleman. Playing at the Capitol Theatre in Listowel was So Dear To My Heart with Bobby Driscoll and Beulah Bondi. Jack Henderson's Orchestra was playing at the Crystal Palace Ballroom in Brussels for the East Huron Agricultural Society. Oldfield's Hardware had 60-cycle 9 1/2 cubic foot refrigerators in stock. Dresses were on sale at Wood's for $9.95. July 2, 1986 Along with regular business, the Huron Bruce Federal Liberals were making plans for John Turner's visit to the riding. There was to be a lunch at the Goderich Harbour Park and the group was hoping it would be a nice day to meet the "next prime minister." Blair S. Dickson was the new manger of the Brussels Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Richard Poore was new assistant manager. Out of 21 schools in the county three local students placed in the top five of the Gauss mathematics contest. Craig Bauman and Karrie McClinchey of Blyth Public School were fourth and fifth while Brian Alexander of Grey Central was third in the Grade 8 contest. Louise Bosman was the guest of honour at a retirement tea held at East Wawanosh Public School. Bosman had been teaching for 30 years. July 3, 1991 Blyth and Brussels received the largest share of a total of $350,000 in PRIDE grants announced for Huron County municipalities. Blyth got the largest single amount of $195,000, which went to upgrading facilities on the main street as part of the Hwy. 4 rebuilding. Improved water and sewer service were included in the Blyth plans. Brussels got $61,(XX) to revitalize the commercial core by upgrading water services and the local library. PRIDE grants offered 50 per cent funding for major projects with the local municipality matching the provincial grant. Brussels kicked off its annual FunFest. The Blyth Lions Club executive was: Steve Howson, past president: Lloyd Sippel, president; Gord Jenkins, director; Al Donaldson, secretary; Barney Stewart, lion tamer, Ernie Phillips, treasurer; Todd MacDonald, director; John Stewart, director; Ken Stewart, director and Darren Richmond, assistant treasurer. Karen and Jeff Smith were the winners of a brand new Chev Cavalier at Club 284's dance. Proceeds from the draw went to St. John's Masonic Lodge No 284's community park. Barbara Chilcott starred as Hagar in the world premier of Margaret Laurence's classic novel The Stone Angel at Blyth Festival. July 3, 1996 The quality of the hay crop was so poor it couldn't even be called' hay. The very wet spring had spoiled most of the first cut, leaving farmers to rely on second and third cuts for their milk herd or beef cattle needs. With beautiful skies and warm weather residents and friends of Grey Twp. had perfect days to celebrate the township's 140th anniversary. In an effort to save money the OPP moved the administration at its Wingham detachment to Goderich. Marlene Starkey, a teacher at Grey Central retired after 34 years in education. Blyth Public School student Amanda Bearss received a T-shirt for her first place poster in the Grade 3 category. The contest was to promote the Morris Twp. 140th anniversary celebration. The Brussels United Church community and the village bid farewell to Rev. Cam and Barb McMillan. The couple, who moved to Palmerston received a framed print of the church and the manse.