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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-06-14, Page 4PAGE 4, THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE14, 2000 E ditorials & 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 $27.00/year ($25.24 + $l .76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62 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 © 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. 1374990 The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 PO. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com jpcna (*cna Member of the Ontario Press Council Wishing doesn’t make things so Human beings are so adaptable that often we quickly become wrapped up in the moment and forget how we got to the circumstances we’re in. It’s often easy, then, to see many current regulations as unnecessary because we don't remember why they were created in the first place. Such has become the situation as the Walkerton water crisis has evolved. Municipalities have always resented the intervention of provincial agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment. Often, to the practical down-to-earth municipal politicians, the concerns of ministry inspectors whether for water supplies, sewage or landfills, seemed exaggerated and unnecessarily restrictive. This way of thinking found support with the government of Mike Harris who cut red tape, reduced MOE staff by 40 percent and left municipalities on their own in regulating things like water supply. Now. of course, the E. coli outbreak in Walkerton has people wondering how such a situation could happen. Why wasn't somebody looking over the shoulder of local officials to make sure they didn’t endanger local lives? Another popular area of attack for the Harris government has been education. Voters have strongly supported the premier as he has, at the same time, set higher standards for education and cracked down on teachers for their perceived weaknesses. But as Virginia Galt, education reporter with The Globe and Mail reveals, the tough stand against teachers may make it hard to deliver the increased expectations for better student performance. Without good teachers, it will be impossible to reach the highef, standards, but more than 41,000 Ontario teachers are expected to retire by 2003, many of them taking early retirement because they're weary of the constant battling with their government. Many potential young teachers, moreover, are leaving the system because they don't want to get involved in the constant turmoil. Meanwhile the Canadian Teachers’ Federation last weekend, issued a national advisory warning members not to move to Ontario because of the unfriendly attitude toward teachers, particularly the new bill which would allow principals to assign extra­ curricular activities for evenings or weekends. On top of all that, U.S. schools are recruiting our teachers to fill their own teacher shortage. In both cases the government, supported by many, many people, felt it knew better than the people who had built the system. Municipalities could be trusted not to make bad judgements without supervision. Education could be improved simply by forcing teachers to work harder or get out. But sometimes a situation had developed for a reason. Previous governments had learned that municipal staff and authorities needed supervision and they knew that teaching is motivation and you can’t legislate motivation. Wishing doesn't make things so. A government may want to change the world but the forces of human nature don't change as easily as legislation. — KR A question of questions It sounded like a skit from Royal Canadian Air Farce, but it was the news. As several Montreal-area municipalities prepared to vote in a referendum about a government plan to force amalgamation with Montreal the Quebec government said it might not listen to the results. For one thing, the government said, the referendum was not binding, since it was the province’s right to overrule the municipalities. For another, the question on the referendum was not clear? Hmmm. Where have we heard those arguments before. Ah yes, wasn’t it over the Quebec government’s two referenda? And when the federal government said it might refuse to recognize the results of such a referendum wasn’t the provincial government’s response that it would be undemocratic not to recognize the will of the people? And when the federal government disputed the wording of the referendum question, the Quebec government said it was up to the province to decide the wording. Hopefully the voters in Quebec will recognize the hypocrisy of their leaders. Hopefully that might even head off another destructive referendum. — KR Letters to the Editor Looking Back Through the Years THE EDITOR, I was disappointed to discover that our esteemed publisher has taken up the sad and sorry, but popular, sport of bashing the new Canadian Alliance Party. He knows, surely, that the press is capable of creating whatever it wants to create by managing carefully the news. 1 heard last night on the radio that a number of prestigious American publications refused to put on their covers a picture of some melee that occurred at Easter lest it give the wrong impression of American society. That's managing the news. Many years ago I read a booklet that turned out to be propaganda for the Communist Party. I was astounded at all the documentation that seemed to prove their point. I realized, upon reflection, however, that it was that which they Continued on page 5 June 11, 1975 Morris Twp. council contributed towards the fund to help offset the damage caused by the April flood in Lower Town, Wingham. The grant was in the amount of $100. Three dozen vehicles from the Maitland Valley Region of the Historic Automobile Society of Canada rally held in Brussels caused a good deal of interest when they visited Blyth. Charles Berhardt, past president of the British Columbia Federation of Agriculture was the guest speaker at a farm meeting in Wingham. The groundwork for the complete changeover to metric had been laid in 19 schools under the Huron Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School board. Ruth Jackson, Ontario president of the Consumer Association of Canada addressed the Huron County Federation of Agriculture meeting. She came under heavy questioning on her views regarding marketing boards. Blyth United Church celebrated the 50th anniversary of the United Church of Canada. Those present who remembered the original union were William Carter, John Young, Mrs. William Carter, Mrs. Harry Sterlin. Mrs. Charlotte Bell and Miss Lillie Carr. Seven Explorer Girls graduated at a special banquet in Knox United Church, Auburn. They were Anita Hallam. Vicki Powell, Pattie McDowell. Nancy Verbeek, Debbie Cunningham, Linda Cunningham and Tracy Machan. Among the recipients of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food travelling scholarships, who toured for six weeks in the United Kingdom was Jim Phelan of RR2, Blyth. June 13, 1990 Jack Riddell retired after 17 years as MPP for Huron. Marie Hicknell, reeve of McKillop sought the warden's chair for Huron. Progressive Conservative Mike Wilson and NDP Leader Bob Rae visited the riding. Brussels Midgets were hot winning six games in a row. Team members were Neil Pipe, Scott Bremner,' Brian Alexander, Andrew McCutcheon. Greg Mulvey, Dan Beuermann, Scott Johnston, Greg Wheeler, Brent Evans, Todd Rice, Steve McCutcheon and Shawn Jacklin. Coaches were Steve Coulter and Jeff McGavin. Peter Gzowski was the guest speaker at the Festival opening. The Belgrave WI hosted a quilt show with the quilts all made by Belgrave residents. Rev. Gary Snihur and his family, wife Caron and son Dave left Londesborough and Auburn United Church to take up a new charge in Woodstock June 14, 1995 The area Torch Run netted $2,0(X). Progressive Conservative candidate Helen Johns won the provincial Huron riding seat. The Citizen's entry in the General Excellence class for tabloids with a circulation under 3(X)() was awarded a Blue Ribbon in the Canadian Community Newspapers Associat­ ions’ better newspapers competition. To achieve a Blue Ribbon designation, a newspaper must place in the tope third. The 16-foot mural on the wall of the new Brussels Firehall was complete. Blyth Union Cemetery was not owned by the village as thought. Council was told that though the lawyer has no file on the matter any longer, it seemed the new parcel purchased form Alvin Snell in 1974 was in the name of the village. The Blyth Union Burying Ground, however was registered to three trustees. Renovations were complete at Blyth Public School. The kindergarten room was retrofitted and a storage room and additional classroom were added. The library was gutted and renovated, a small meeting room was added to the resource teachers area and the Grade 8 classroom was converted to the principal’s office, health room, washroom, meeting and teachers' work room. The staff room was doubled and a new reception and secretarial area was. also improved and updated. Principal at the time was Al Harrison. April Gross departed for Finland as an exchange student through the Auburn and District Lions Club. The road hockey team of Jeff Ferguson, Brian Marks, Mike Haggitt, Chad Haggitt, Craig Somerville, Tyler Stewart and Jerry Mason won the Lucknow tournament. The staff at the BMG Pool was lifeguard/instructor Sheri Huether. senior lifeguard/instructor Jay Hahn, head lifeguard Corrinna Stephenson, assistant head lifeguard Nicki Gropp. lifeguard/instructor Heather Blake and part-timers Kim Mulvey, Stacy Hahn and Jen Machan.