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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-02-12, Page 4Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Jamie Peters and Alicia deBoer 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 $30.00/year ($28.04 + $1.96 G.S.T.) in Canada; $80.00/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 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, 7, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. J-j-- NOM 1H0 NOG I HO Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca ocna aSTA s. ww4awi Member of the Ontario Press Council If it Ijappeneb tobap.. It's all about timing and vision, Bernie. I see golf courses and condos over there, a hydro corridor In the valley, phone towers on the hill, a zoo, roads and all kinds of parking lots... NEsPoi9A ^i< is C . . Looking Back Through the Years Feb. 12, 1959 Morris Twp. councillors approved the construction of an addition to the Wingham District High School. _ Plans were being completed for the 21st Annual Middlesex Seed Fair, Food Show and Farm Equipment Display at the Western Fair Grounds in London. Feb. 6, 1969 Dianne and Anne Machan received their Girl Guide Gold Cords. Nine cattle from Morris Twp. were found drowned in the Maitland River. The Belgrave Tykes had the greatest number of points during the Minor Hockey Tournament in Brussels, earning them the Minor Hockey Day trophy. Plans for the Farm Show had some changes from previous years including the deletion of the the seed, grain, beans, tobacco and potatoes judging competition. Feb. 9, 1972 Morris Twp. council endorsed the action taken by the Huron County Federation of Agriculture's telephone committee for a larger toll- free service and approved the installation of a two-way radio for the Wingham and District rural firetrucks. Former Huron County engineer Jim Britnell told Brussels council that the Ontario government reduced Huron's road subsidy allotment by about $100,000. James Cardiff of Brussels was appointed as the representative to the Wingham and District Hospital board. In preparation for National Dental Week, the Ontario Dental Association in co-operation with the Huron County Health Unit planned a poster contest. Feb. 12, 1986 The Royal Canadian Legion's Blyth Branch honoured Russ Wilson with a diamond anniversary commemorative medallion. Tom Thompson, Clare Vincent and Bill Riehl all received life memberships. The levy of the Blyth and district area fire board to local ..municipalities went up by over 10 pep cent. The levy jumped from $5,130 to $5,700. Kevin Wheeler and Michelle Menzies competed at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships in North Bay. A local man's purchase of a lottery ticket at Blyth Mini-Mart had a happy ending as he was the winner of $10,000. Former Chicago Blackhawks star defenceman Bill White was in Blyth to coach local youngsters under the Fundamentals In Action program. Morris Twp. council was threatened with closure of its township waste disposal site unless it complied with no-burning and proper garbage-covering rules by the Ministry of the Environment. The need for new measures to protect the right to farm in Ontario was examined by a new six-member advisory committee. After a number of years of failing to win an A championship in Industrial tournament action, the Blyth Selects came away from the Exeter second annual tourney with the main hardware and the $300 first prize. Feb. 9, 1994 Huron County warden Allan Gibson accepted a cheque for $1 million from Ontario Premier Bob Rae. The grant 'was for the Huronview Redevelopment Project in Clinton. Bob Trick became the new village animal control officer for Brussels after making a presentation to Brussels council. After considerable discussion, the trustees of the Huron County Board of Education decided to proceed with the establishment of one centralized design and technology centre at the Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton. Blyth PeeWee As captured the consolation championship at a Chesley tournament. Shelly Bray was the voice on the phone for the Ark Interlink program that began in Brussels. Interlink provided service and compan- ionship to temporarily or permanently immobile people. Blyth Public School placed first during a volleyball tournament at Central Huron Secondary School. Huron County warden Allan Gibson raised the Heart and Stroke Society flag outside the Huron County courthouse in honour of Heart and Stroke Month. Keith Johnston became the new councillor in Morris Twp. after the seat was vacated by Wayne Riley. Feb. 17, 1999 Students at East Wawanosh Public School had a full day of activities when they remembered and appreciated the advantages of living in Canada as the ,school marked Heritage Day. A new business opened on the upper floor of Chauncey's on Dinsley Street in Blyth. Lynn Depatie opened Kountry Essence, a shop with aromatic products, near Londesboro. Members of the Seaforth District High School Marching Girls Band left for Florida to perform during Magic Music Days at Disney World. Brussels. Public School music teacher Ruth Balyta accepted a cheque of $1,000 from the Brussels Optimists. Ayden By le spoke to East Wawanosh Public School students about his cross-country run to raise money for diabetes. He'raised about $200,000 along his journey. PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2004. Editorials Opinions Farm figures leave a bad taste Little noticed among the fuss over Don Cherry's foolish statements and Janet Jackson's bare breast, last week the federal government released figures that showed among all farmers in Canada in 2003, net farm income is expected to be minus $13 million. Take away government support payments and farmers collectively would have lost $5 billion last year. While the BSE crisis in cattle and sheep, the effects of a higher Canadian dollar and drought in some parts 'of the country accounted for some of this disaster, there seems to be something fundamentally wrong with the food production system. Farmers have been getting more efficient for years and the numbers of farmers have been plummeting. Between 1991 and 2001 alone, according to Statistics Canada 34,000 farms disappeared. Those farmers left keep expanding to stay viable but, as Canadian Federation of Agriculture President Bob Friesen said recently, "the fanner reaches the law of diminishing returns before he reaches the economy of scale". On the other hand, the fastest-growing health problem facing North Americans today is obesity. According ,o Eric Schlosser in the book Fast Food Nation, obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of death in the U.S. The U.S. Centres for Disease Control estimates 280,000 Americans die annually of complications from being overweight. By the late 1990s annual obesity-related health care.costs in the U.S. were $240 billion. Obviously hunger is not a big problem in North America yet our entire food system seems geared to forcing farmers to take less and less for the food they produce. Every time a sector of farming that has control over prices, such as the dairy industry, tries to recover its rising costs, processors, retailers and consumer groups cry foul. When dairy producers tried to raise milk prices to make up for lost income because BSE made cull cows worthless and halted exports of dairy heifers, pizza companies protested that the higher cost of cheese would hurt their business. The whole situation of people eating too much cheap food while farmers go broke should be a cause for national concern but our governments and media seem to have written off food production as a relic from a rural past. Farm leaders must do something to get urbanites attention. — KR Fear breeds idiocy Fear of terrorism caused by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington has led to a kind of paralysis of the thinking of bureaucratic minds that must have Osama bin Laden thrilled. Take the case of poor Richard Albert of Maine. Albert lives 30 metres from the Canadian border and for 40 years he and residents of three other homes have been crossing into Canada to shop, and visit family. But things have changed since fear of terrorists entering the U.S. from Canada has gripped American authorities. One Sunday in January Albert entered Canada to babysit his niece. He had no problem entering Canada because the U.S. residents have been given passes to enter Canada even when the Canadian border crossing station is closed. His problem came when he wanted to go home to go to church. The U.S. border station is closed all day Sunday. U.S. law forbids crossing into the U.S. when the station is closed. Albert was supposed to travel 320 km by logging road to the nearest open border station rather than 30 metres across the border at St. Pamphile. He took the common sense shortcut but was caught on a camera monitoring the border and was sent notice that he could be fined up to $10,000. There are obvious questions here. If preventing terrorism is the goal, why a fine after someone enters illegally? Does someone think a terrorist would mail in the fine? And if you have a home address to mail the notice of fine to and you know that people live right in the neighbourhood, do these people seem much of a threat? These rules seem nutty enough that Mr. Albert and his Maine neighbours might, be wise to think about moving the 30 metres across the border into Canada so they didn't have to cross back and forth. The only problem with that would be that they'd then have to deal with Canada's own idiotic bureaucracy that sets immigration rules so strict that many well-educated Canadians who have taken the test on the internet find out they couldn't immigrate here if they weren't born here.— 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.