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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-11-06, Page 4YOU KNOW, BERNICE,' I'M HAVING THIS WILD HUNCH THAT THE TORIES' FREE- MARKET EXPERIMENTS MA9 BACKFIRE... I.T TT Cal ' ticsioLoN Looking Back Through the Years Our own dirty secret Seven people have died from gunshot wounds in Toronto in the past two weekends and the whole country is talking about the crime-ridden city. Six people died in two days in western Ontario last week as the first snowfall of the year brought a rash of accidents and while we admit some horror, for the most part we shrug and say there's nothing that can be done. As a proportion of population, the accident toll in western Ontario is far higher than the death rate from crime in Toronto but •sornehow we see it differently, When you're dead, it doesn't really matter to your family and friends whether you died from a gunshot or from two-ton vehicles crashing together, but somehow as a society we see one death as a crime which must be stamped out and the other as an "accident" that's just part of driving. It's hard to know the exact cause of each of those life-ending crashes last week but one thing is evident to anyone who drives area roads these days: people are driving faster and taking more chances as they convince themselves that gaining a few minutes id their day is worth the risk. With people already passing going up hills or seeding around corners in front of oncoming traffic, it's not hard to suspect that given suddenly wintery conditions, people were not going to slow down as much as they should. Sadly it's not always the perpetrators of these acts of recklessness who pay the price. Innocent drivers of other vehicles or passengers in the car of the careless driver can be the victims. As you speed down the road, convinced you must drive fast to squeeze everything you must do into your busy day, you'd be insulted if someone compared you to the Toronto gunmen. After all, you don't set out to kill people. But if you make a misjudgment and kill a passenger or oncoming driver they're just as dead as if you held a gun to their heads. — KR Ernie gives, Ernie takes back Ontario residents needed more money in their pockets, the Ontario government argued, so programs must be slashed so taxes could be cut. Now, however, the average family is probably giving back their tax break and more to pay for another government policy: the deregulation of electricity prices. The political problem for the "Ernie Eves' government", as they like to call it, is that most of us didn't see the tax cuts but we see the increases on our hydro bill every month. Furious homeowners are obviously getting their anger through to the government because some Progressive Conservative members are calling for a rate freeze. The problem for the government is their plan to have private investors provide new generating facilities requires higher prices. Already some companies have backed off building generators because they don't see the possibility of long-term profits — in fact that was the government's dream, that more people would start generating power and therefore the price would come down. If the government caps prices now, new facilities aren't going to be built. But we need new facilities, particularly in light of the need to cut greenhouse gases. Wind turbines are just now, 30 years after the last energy crisis, starting to go up along the Lake Huron shoreline. The technology also exists to use Huron County's huge supply of liquid manure to fuel anaerobic digesters to create methane gas to power generators but fewer regulations and higher prices are needed to make it happen. Ironically, Ontario has been an opponent of Ottawa's plan to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gases saying business can't afford to be uncompetitive with the U.S. but those higher electricity bills are hurting competitiveness. Yet at the same time the higher prices we're now facing are one of the best ways to create the conditions for conservation Ottawa wants. It's a complicated issue that goes far beyond the amount on our monthly electricity bill — sort of like cutting programs to save taxes was. — KR Letters to the Editor PAGE 4, THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2002 Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Alan Young, Cindy Smale 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; $80.00/year in U.S.A. and S100/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 0 Copyright We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing 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 I HO NOG I HO Phone 523-4792. Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuror,0scsinternetl.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca 4011,e, ocna +M ANA .c,, Member of the Ontario Press Council mit2;611 THE EDITOR, The Walton Little School's Parent Advisory Committee is hosting a One Stop Shop and Silent Auction on Saturday. Nov. 30. This is being held in the reception room upstairs of the BM&G Community Centre in Brussels, to raise money for much needed outdoor playground equipment for our children. The event will be held in conjunction with the Brussels Santa Claus Parade and Santa Skate in Brussels. We need donated items for the silent auction. We are looking for unique items — remember the sky's the limit. Items may be dropped off to Jaquie at Huron Feeding Systems, at the school or call to arrange for pickup. Donation sheets can be found at the school. There will be a window display set up beside the Brussels country Inn to view the auction items prior to the auction day. Student volunteers are needed for this event. This will count for volunteer hours. Call Jaquie in the evenings at 887-8302 for details. The Parent Advisory Committee for Walton's Little School Jaquie Waechter, president; Tracey Swart, vice-president; Nicole Stevenson, secretary; Marie Mitchell, treasurer. Nov. 10, 1960 There was a turkey bingo at the Brussels Town Hall, sponsored by the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #218. Belgrave Cub Donald Bosman received his first star. Badges were awarded as well to Jim Robertson and Gary McSween. Satire, slapstick and science fiction were all rolled into one as Jerry Lewis and Joan Blackman appeared in Visit to a Small Planet, which was playing at The Lyceum Theatre in Wingham. Two pounds of Beehive corn syrup was selling at McCutcheon Grocery for 29 cents. Two 20-oz tins of Clark's pork and beans sold for 39 cents. Among the weekend specials at Willis's were Tip Top tomato juice, a 48-oz tin for 28 cents; two 10-oz tins of Campbell's tomato soup for 25 cents and two 11-oz bottles of Aylmer ketchup for 35 cents. The annual firemen's ball featured the music of Ken Wilbee's orchestra. Admission was 75 cents. Two pictures appeared inside this week's edition of The Post of each of the presidential nominees. Senator and Mrs. John F. Kennedy were caught on film sailing at Hyannis Port, prior to the opening ball of his White House drive. Republican nominee Vice-President Richard Nixon was on a motor jaunt with his wife and daughter around Washington before starting his election campaign. There were "big savings" on Richard Hudnut's hair care products at Smith's Rexall Drug Store. Both the I6-oz bottle of egg creme shampoo and cream rinse were selling for $1.29. Nov. 4, 1987 Ethel residents turned out in force to show Canada Post that they did not intend to take any threat to their post office lying down. Alarmed by reports that the crown corporation planned to eliminate most of Canada's rural post offices over the next 10 years by offering untenable contracts to post office operators, more than 150 angry citizen packed the community hall to hear a spokesperson try to explain the situation. A hearing into the proposed closure of the Canadian National Rail line from Listowel to Wingham through Brussels was postponed. The railway said an average of 110 carloads of freight a year used the line from 1984-1986. CNR apparently lost $904,975 during that time. John Jewitt of Hullett stated his intention to seek the position of chairman of the Huron County Board of Education. A rare event took place on the Westfield-area farm of Jim and Lorraine Hallahan when triplet calves, all heifers, were born. The mother, Gusty, produced twins in 1984 and 1985. Dianne Black of Belgrave was one of the award winners at the 4-H awards night. She received the Murray Elston Award as Champion 4-H Beef Showman at the Seaforth Fall Fair. The Rintoul girls were once again among the top winners at the presentation. Debbie and Kim of RR2, Lucknow received the Stan Jackson Awards, while Kim also won as top sheep showman and got top marks for all beef club members in the county. Stephen Dolmage, RR4, Walton also received a Stan Jackson Award. Margaret Cronyn, RR2, Blyth, was the top first year swine member in the county. Teacher Mary Huether, who retired from Brussels Public School in June after more than 30 years of teaching in the Brussels area was presented with a special gift at the Huron Women Teachers Association fall banquet in recognition of her long service. Two Blyth runners won first place at the Huron-Perth secondary schools cross-country meet, Kim Medd and Steve Souch. Nov. 8, 1989 Darren Hemingway of Grey Twp. served as page for the November session of Huron County council. It was ail action at The Park Theatre in Goderich as Patrick Swayze starred in Roadhouse and Jean Claude Van Damme appeared in Kickboxer. Nov. 5, 1997 "It is a horrible book for children to be reading." Those were the thoughts expressed by the Blyth and Hullett board of education trustee regarding the books of R.L. Stine. After consideration by the education committee and talks with the Blyth schools' advisory council, a recommendation was brought to the board to remove Hide and Shriek from all elementary schools while monitoring all other books in the Fear Street series. A small group of parents had raised concerns about the graphic violence in some of the books. Auburn's Pumpkinfest drew a large crowd. Carving winners were Courtney Robertson. Shelsie Popp, Ethan Durnin, Roman Sturzenegger, Tony Bean. Danielle Bean. Lauren Lecomte, Lisa Carter, Courtney Nearing, Steven Empey, Shana Dunbar, Meagan Reinhart. Katie Peesker, Kris Huiser. Saira Peesker, Becky Archambault. The most unusual pumpkin was grown by Erica Sturzenegger, while Jordan Rutledge had the largest pumpkin, weighing in at 187 pounds.