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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2000-07-19, Page 4PAGE 4, THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2000 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 $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 Conodo through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs Publications Mail Reg. No. 09244 Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 1374990 The Citizen RO. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 RO. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 8B7-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com A°cna<*£NA Member of the Ontario Press Council Rigidity breeds rigidity There was a frightening photograph published in newspapers last week of a young Northern Ireland Protestant boy, about eight or nine, clenching his fist against a background of flames, the result of the latest riots in that strife-torn country. The photo was terrible because it showed another generation of youth being indoctrinated into a world of hatred between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland. This time, it was the extremists of the Orange Order battling police because they wanted to be able to march through the streets of the Catholic portion of the city to boast about a 300-year-old victory. Another time it’s IRA Catholic extremists who are sabotaging peace. Each wants no compromise. Each will accept peace only if it means complete vanquishing of the other side. Meanwhile in Israel last weekend, 100,000 hardliners marched in Tel Aviv warning Prime Minister Ehud Barak not to give an inch in peace negotiations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The same day in the West* Bank, pitched battles broke out reportedly because a Palestinian Arab boy kissed a Jewish girl. These are two of the longest-running hot spots in the world with ancient hatreds regularly being refueled with new insults and atrocities. When moderates seek compromise, hardliners always raise issues that are non-negotiable. They bring out the past as an excuse not to bend while seeking an end to the conflict. But there will never been an end without a willingness to compromise. Even total victory by one side or the other won't end the cycle of death and destruction unless the winning side is willing to exterminate the losers, as the Serbians seemed willing to do in Croatia and other former Yugoslavian provinces. As long as there remains any disgruntled survivors of the battle there will be bombings and revenge killings. Israel decisively won several wars with its Arab neighbours but the homeless Palestinians continued to fight. Northern Ireland Protestants reigned supreme in that country, yet the supremacy brought only resentment that fueled the IRA. Compare those policies with the allies’ decision at the end of World War II to help rebuild former enemies rather than grind them into the ground. Today Germany and Japan are among the strongest, and most peaceful, countries in the world. They are friends, not enemies, of the former allies. In the Bible, Jesus advises people to turn the other cheek. Whether people believe in the divinity of Jesus or not, his advice is more of a solution to hatred than revenge is.— KR Be careful, not extreme In the wake of the Walkerton E. coli water tragedy, health officials are warning about the potential danger in various parts of the province. There’s good reason for concern: some 40 per cent of the hundreds of water samples tested from rural Huron County wells since the outbreak have proven io be contaminated with bacteria. Precautions must be taken to protect the water supply both of every community, and for every family in rural areas, but here’s hoping the media frenzy over the issue doesn't push the pendulum too far in the other direction. We need to be cautious and work to correct the current problems but we shouldn't react in a time of panic to enact laws or regulations that will be harmful in the long run. — KR Growing up Photo by Janice Becker Letters to the Editor THE EDITOR, Cattle identification has been a part of Canadian cattie farming for most of the 20th century. Originally enacted to eradicate bovine brucellosis, tuberculosis, and to combat the foot and mouth disease outbreak in 1952, the program played an important role in the development and success of the cattle industry within Canada. With the successful control of these diseases and the declaration that Canada was free of brucellosis in 19X5, the need for most federal tagging seemed to be at an end. Today however, there exists pressure within Canada to establish a comprehensive cattle identification and traceback program. Proponents argue that the 1996 outbreak of BSE in the United Kingdom and the subsequent paralysis of the beef cattle industry in the UK, identities a scenario where the implementation of such a program could be advantageous to the Canadian cattle industry. Disease outbreaks, it is argued, are not an unforeseeable occurrence, and thus some measures to counter such an event should be in place. Presently in Canada there is^a proposed amendment to the Health of Animals Regulations, which would institute a national cattle identification program. The proposed amendment is now undergoing a 60-day public comment period. The program promises to strengthen the Canadian food safety system, and further the reliability of our food. In addition, it provides both industry and government the ability to rapidly respond and contain any disease outbreak. While Continued on page 5 Looking Back Through the Years July 21, 1960 The admission prices to Llashmar Drive-In Theatre of Listowel and Brownie’s Drive-In of Clinton were 65 cents per person, with children under 12 in free. July 23, 1975 Area telephone customers faced higher phone bills when Maitland Teleservices Limited finally received approval for a 10 per cent rate increase from the Ontario Telephone Service Commission, OTSC. The Ontario Bean growing industry put on a strong fight against the possibility of an Ontario Hydro generating plant being located along the shores of southern Lake Huron, between Grand Bend and Bayfield. Monty Python and the Holy Grail was playing alongside Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry at the Lyceum Theatre in W ingham. July 18. 1990 One-year-old Jacob Hitsler won the $1,000 first p'ace prize in the rubber duck race sponsered by the Brussels Lion’s Club at Brussels Funfest. Walton’s post office was scheduled to be closed Aug. 4, and was to be replaced by either a retail postal outlet or by_community mail boxes. Despite rumblings of discontent from approximately 50 East Wawanosh Twp. ratepayers who attended an information meeting at the township garage, it appeared likely thar the township council planned to proceed with the building of a new office in Belgrave. July 19, 1995 The BMG recreation board was in the final stages of approval for a permanent sales license for the community centre. For that reason, the board had just passed some house policies and procedures regarding the operation of the arena during any function in which liquor was on the premises. Four days after devastating winds knocked out power in northern Huron County, most residences had had their electricity restored. With the International Plowing Match, which Huron County was bidding on, more than four years away, a delegation of Ontario Plowmen's Association (OPA) members from acress the province, visited the four sites available for the event. Premier Mike Harris appointed Huron MPP Helen Johns Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health.