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The Citizen, 2004-11-04, Page 4Looking Back Through the Years PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2004. Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Heather Armstrong & Capucine Onn 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. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com Canada We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. 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 norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca ocna ENA U16 Member of the Ontario Press Council We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscrlpts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are Copyright While justice minister Irwin Cottler has come under fire for his decision last week to ask the Ontario Court of Appeal to look into the convicti'o'n of Steven Truscott for the 1959 murder near Clinton of 12- year-old Lynne Harper, his decision was the only correct one. • Supporters of Mr. Truscott .have expressed disappointment that Mr. Cottler didn't order a new trial. Conducting such a trial, of course, would be an impossibility since most of the Witnesses have died and the original evidence isn't available. The crown attorney would have had to drop the case which would mean there would be no conviction against Mr. Truscott but there would be no proof of his innocence either. For most people in Canada today it's self-evident that Mr. Truscott is innocent, but it's not that simple. For more than 40 years the case of his innocence has been spoken loudly and repeated frequently but nobody has been telling the evidence that convicted him in the first place. In fact that evidence wasn't reported publicly even in the initial trial. Over the years justice in Huron County has taken a punishing beating over the Truscott case. Everyone involved has been portrayed as bumbling bumpkins, if not downright bigots, who didn't know how to administer justice. No one mentions that the chief investigator later became commissioner of the OPP and Mr. Truscott's defence lawyer became one of Ontario's top judges. What is also totally ignored in media coverage today, is that Steven Truscott already had a second trial: an unprecedented retrial before the supreme court of Canada in 1966, after mounting public pressure led the federal government to ask that court to hear the case (not just an.appeal) in 1966. The fact that the highest court in the land upheld the original conviction by an 8-1 count shows there must have been some validity to the original trial. But, the argument goes, there's new evidence of other possible perpetrators of the crime. The most publicized of these theories points to a child molester who was formerly at the Clinton air base but had moved • on some time before Lynne Harper's murder. No evidence has been given that the man was anywhere near Clinton at the time of the murder but such is the belief in Mr. Truscott's innocence that the man is practically convicted in the court of public opinion. There's a good chance the court of appeal will find reasons to overturn the conviction given the laws today compared to the laws in 1959. Police today, for instance, would never be allowed to interrogate a 14-year-old boy without his parents even being told he was in custody, as they did back then. The sad reality, however, is that Mr. Truscott can never be found either totally innocent beyond doubt or guilty beyond doubt. This won't be like the famous cases where new technology to identify DNA can prove innocence or guilt without a shadow of a doUbt. The irony is that as far as the general public is concerned, Mr. Truscott can't be more innocent than most people already think he is. - KR Imagine :f . 6 The only alternative action The provincial government last week tried to halt urban sprawl in the "golden horseshoe" surrounding Lake Ontario by creating a huge greenbelt area. In the coming days, weeks and months there will be plenty of people coming forward with reasons why this is a dumb idea and why it won't work. Wouldn't it be something, however, if urban sprawl wasn't a problem because good farmland was worth more producing food than hosting houses? It really makes sense that it should be. The three essentials to human life are air, water and food, all of which result from natural spaces, not housing developments, factories or office buildings. In our upside-down world, however, these land-use activities are valued less than a place to expand cities. Sadly, until people fear a lack of air, water and food, these essentials will never be given their proper value. - KR Letter to the editor THE EDITOR, My family came to Canada in 1832 and now it's time to move on. In order to make money in the cattle business, as well as others, you need to marry someone from the U.S.A. They enjoy a government who supports you, in all things, i.e. taxes, fair wages, compensation, wars, etc. etc. You pay less for all your resources because all other countries sell cheaper to you and you sell dearer to them. Also U.S.A. enjoys the best gun laws in the world. More guns, less crime. Sell (give away prizes - see above) everything you own in Canada. Move to U.S.A. - ASAP. Invest in a new ranch or business and be amazed that now, the first time in years you are making money on a regular basis. Then tell the rest of the world how hard up you are. Poor baby! Don't do any of the above if you enjoy having your head in the ground and your ass sticking up in the air as a target for the rest of the world to kick. Only in Canada, eh! Alex Chisholm. Nov 5, 1952 Many colourful and spooky characters gathered at the Brussels Town Hall to participate in the party for local children. The Huron County bursaries were awarded to students attending University of Western Ontairo and included Maxine Hunking from Auburn, Barbara Gaunt from Belgrave, Bernice Dilling from Kippen, Peter Walker from Goderich and James Grant Mills from Woodham. Nov. 8, 1972 The mail service was cancelled for Remembrance Day. Trophies and prizes were presented to winning contestants of the 45th annual Huron County plowing match including Barry Gordon of Seaforth who was presented with the Esso cash award for best plowed land in the utility class. Police were investigating a false fire alarm that was phoned from Brussels to Seaforth reporting that the new American Hotel in Brussels was on fire. Seaforth Fire Brigade was called out but the hoax was discovered as the firefighters began the trip. Area representatives on the Huron Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board indicated at a meeting that they would stand for re- election. Workmen removed the front of the former Barry Marshall Store in Walton preliminary to carrying out the repairs to the building. Neighbours of Wilfred Shortreed gathered at his Morris Twp. farm west of Walton and plowed 80 acres. Shortreed was recovering from injuries received in an accident south of Hensall. He was able to move around, but his arm would be in a cast until Christmas. Nov. 5, 1986 The Wingham OPP-reported that two young women were slightly Injured after a single vehicle crash in Morris Twp. There was $4,000 -worth of damage done when it swerved to avoid an animal on the road. Brussels, Morris and Grey swimming pool turned a profit of $12,587 in its first season of operation. Winners of the Halloween costume parade at Blyth Public School were Kelly Cook, Kevin Souch, Nikki Snell, Sarah Allen and Michelle Nesbit. The Belgrave Library opened. The Brussels Crusadors beat Milverton 8-5. The market at Brussels Stockyards traded actively at high prices an all classes of slaughter cattle and pigs. There were 1,193 cattle and 629 pigs on offer. Stanley council declared its township a • disaster area, after hearing an address from Ted Soudant, a spokesman for the Huron County Vegetable Growing Disaster Committee. The resolution outlined the serious damage to crops caused by the excessive rainfall in September and October of that year. A local milk producer cast his ballot in the Ontario Milk Marketing board election. Brussels. Public School students got to try their band at computers when the Huron County Board of Education travelling computers came to the school. There was a unique wedding at the Blyth United Church when Mr. and Mrs. Dave Brommer and Mr. and Mrs. Perry Brommer were wed in a double marriage ceremony. There was a lot of clowning around at the Bank of. Commerce in Blyth with the entire staff dressed for Halloween including bank manager Sharon Motycka. The annual Harvest Bonanza at the Blyth United Church ran for four days and included a used clothing sale, a silent auction, a flea market, kids fish pond as well as tea and bake sales. Nov. 9, 1994 Member of the Brussels Army Cadet Corps were out in drizzle to canvass door to door for the poppy sale. Huron County council confirmed that three potential landfill sites in Colborne Twp. were dropped from the list of candidates. After a rash of break-ins across the county from Oct. 22 to Oct. 29, three 14-year-olds were arrested. Two were from the Auburn area. The county's bridge across the Maitland River on County Road 15 was renamed Robert Edgar Bridge to honour the retirement of the man in charge of building it. The bridge was better known as the Ball's Bridge. Several area schools were beneficiaries of junior kindergarten grant allocations or capital projects approved by the Huron County Board of Education. Brussels took the first step toward getting natural gas service when the village council passed the first two readings of a bylaw to give the natural gas franchise to Union Gas. Sept. 10, 1999 Led by piper Rick Elliott, members of the Blyth Legion Branch, its Ladies Auxiliary attended the Londesborough United Church for the special service to honour their veterans. A Clinton man was taken to London Hospital after a shooting accident in Morris Twp. between Walton and Brussels. _ Ten men were hunting deer when by accident one man was shot in the chest.