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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-03-22, Page 4C itizen1 he North Huron ^CNA 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 + S1.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; S62.00/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 E ditorial The good side of small towns The national media didn’t get the story it expected when it descended on the tiny Quebec community of St. Jean Baptiste de Nicolet last week following the tragic accident that killed seven pre-school children on an outing led by tlig daycare’s owner. Instead of reacting angrily and blaming the woman for negligence, people of the town rallied in her support, saying the townspeople needed to help each other. Now we all know that every single person in that small town was not likely forgiving of the woman who filled her mini-van with children even though she didn’t have enough car seats for everyone — people in small towns aren’t saints. But the people of St. Jean Baptiste de Nicolet showed the good side of small-town life, a side not often portrayed in the urban media. While writers and movie creators often portray small-tOWP. people aS petty and even vicious, we who live in such communities know that there is also a tremendous capacity for love and forgiveness in small towns. Like a family that may not always approve of all its members, we usually still accept the weaknesses of others and get on with life. Yes there are people who aren’t forgiving. Yes there are people who like to point fingers of blame or store up stories of past sins, but these are a minority in most towns. In the long run your vision of a small town depends on whether you focus on the majority of understanding, loving people or the minority of small-minded people. Ironically, the people who grew up in small towns, didn’t fit in and left harbouring ill feeling to all the people of all small towns (as many writers, artists and urban journalists have over the decades) are more like the small-minded people they detest than the magnanimous majority of small-town people. In the long run, people are people, no matter where they live. Because people in small communities have a sense of community, however, they can pro - ide a tremendous sense of support for each other when a tragedy like that in St. Jean Baptiste de Nicolet happens. We can all learn from the forgiving people in that tragic town. — K.R Looking Back Through the Years So what now Mr. Chretien? Jean Chretien made it clear on the weekend that he intends on leading his Liberal party into the next federal election when he told party faithful “the job isn’t done”. So what is the “job”, Mr. Chretien? Canadians m polls have indicated they are pleased with the job the Chretien government has done mostly because they have rid the country of its deficit but what’s next? Mr. Chretien claims he wants to push back the “Americanization” of Canada by looking out for health care and the poor, but he’s going to have to reverse the record of his government to do that. His first two terms in office have consisted of undoing many of the things that make Canada different than the U.S. The deficit had been a good excuse for the government to cut spending on programs Canadians felt were important from health care to unemployment insurance to post secondary education. With the deficit under control, Canadians had a right to feel the time for crippling our social programs was over. Yet in the budget just brought down by the Liberals there was very little for health care or post secondary education. There was, by comparison, massive amounts of money for tax cuts to well-off Canadians who see themselves as Americans who happen to live north of the 49th parallel. No one should be prime minister just because he likes the job. Prime ministers should be people with a vision they want to give to their country. Now that the deficit has been tamed, it’s time for Mr. Chretien to either set out a vision or retire so someone else with vision can take his place. It’s not good enough to be able to hold onto power because the votes of the opposition parties have been split. Please Mr. Chretien, if you’re staying show us why. Canadians believed in a certain kind of country that’s being lost because of the twin pressures of deficit fighting and tax cutting. Polls show they want our health care system to work again. And we owe it to our upcoming generation, and in the long run to the whole country, to help young people of all income levels to get a good education. Affordable health care and education are two of the cornerstones of Canadian society. They’re worthy goals for a prime minister who wants to win a third term in office. — KR From the files of the Blyth Standard, Brussels Post and North Huron Citizen March 26, 1975 The amount of damage being done by coyotes in the area covered by the Wingham Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources had not increased significantly in the previous several years. Members of the 8th Liners broomball team of Blyth won the Western Ontario Broomball Association Championship trophy. Another report on changes in the provincial Electoral Boundaries Act that put half of Huron County in Jack Riddell’s riding and the north­ ern half in Murray Gaunt’s riding was tabled in the Ontario Legislature. Members of the Blyth Atom hockey team celebrated winning the WOAA championship by chal­ lenging their parents to a match. The parents starting line was George Ives, Bill Crawford, Jack Lee, Don Plunkett, Jack Coultes, Doug Scrimgeour, Sandy Andrews, Liz Coultes, Jim Chalmers, Joan Chalmers, Elaine Scrimgeour, Dorothy Oster, Joe Hunking, Ray Hoggarth, Lillian Hallam, Joan Crawford. The Atoms were Andrew Ives, David Plunkett, Jim Oster, Keith Hallam, Brent Andrews, Bruce Hunking, Rick Scrimgeour, Kevin Coultes, Darryl Chalmers, Jerry Hoggarth, Kurtis Whitfield, Mark Crawford and Coach Gord Haggitt and Manager Bill Hull. March 21, 1990 Artists in the area had an oppor­ tunity to see their work in print with a new contest to design a logo for the Blyth Rutabaga Festival. Blyth Festival continued its tradi­ tion of promoting from within as the board of directors selected Peter Smith as the new artistic director of the Festival. Smith had appeared in many Festival productions. Representatives of the Blyth Slo­ pitch Leagues had been asked to attend the meeting of village coun­ cil to discuss the future of the George Radford Memorial ball dia­ mond reconstruction project. Blyth councillors gave their backing to the proposed Blyth Rutabaga Festival by agreeing to a $5,000 loan to help get the project started. Representatives of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association presented an ambitious plan to improve the Blyth fair­ grounds. Top priority went to the lining of the small shed with steel at a cost of $4,000. Youngsters participated in a mask-making workshop at the Brussels Public Library as part of the activities during the “Phantom of the Library” Week. Despite recycling problems that were being encountered province wide, the Walton Landfill Committee had decided to contin­ ue, at least for the time being, its recycling program which was initi­ ated in September of 1988. Patrons of the Blyth Memorial Hall would now be happily seated, due to the padded chairs just installed on*the newly refinished floor. March 22, 1995 Plans were in the works for a big party in Blyth. Members of Blyth council were informed at the regu­ lar meeting that a group of former and present residents was hoping to hold a celebration in 1996 in hon­ our of the 100th anniversary of Blyth Public and Continuation School. If something didn’t change, the future of soccer in Brussels was in jeopardy. Volunteers were needed to take the program over from the hands of Mike Thomas and Greg Wilson, who’d run it for the previ­ ous five years. Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Mike Harris was touring the North Huron area making stops in Goderich and Wingham.