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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-07-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2005. Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Heather Armstrong & Dianne Nonkes 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.) Ih Canada; $85.00/year in U S A and 5100/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 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT.Canada The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M I HO Phonfe 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuror.@scsinternet.com PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs Website www.northhuron.on.ca Jpcna 9 Member of the Ontario Press Council ■CEM We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright There can be no alternatives Advice for the modern traveller: i) lose any strange or ethnic-looking clothes; 2) avoid using a backpack; 5) leave your alarm clock and feelings of paranoia behind. Looking Back Through the Years The inevitable happened this week when city council in Guelph cleared the way for the arrival of big-box stores like Wal-Mart in their community, despite a lengthy fight organized by local residents. Guelph and Stratford had been notable holdouts in a battle that had long since been won by the giant stores in most communities. It seems only a matter of time before Stratford too capitulates to the juggernaut of the big box, multinational corporations. And even those who claim not to like the big stores should agree that if they believe in democracy the stores are probably desired by a majority of the people in those communities. After all, people vote with their dollars and if enough people refuse to shop in these big stores, they won't be in business long. Guelph politicians no doubt worried that if they didn’t allow the big stores, their city would be left behind by other cities that do embrace mega stores. That’s the kind of fear that works these days, being left out of something that everyone else seems to be embracing. It’s a kind of sad part of human nature: the sense that even if we have something good we should abandon it because everyone else is going in a different direction. In a totally different field the same kind of pressures are endangering the future of the one area of agriculture that has been consistently financially healthy for decades. The pressure continues to build on the federal government to abandon supply management in order to gain access to other markets in current World Trade Organization talks. Triggered by a report from Michael Hart of the C. D. Howe Institute that called for the dismantling of supply management, the call has been taken up by such influential voices as The Globe and Mail which barely acknowledges agriculture normally yet recently has published two edit­ orials calling for an end to farm subsidies “including marketing boards”. Canada’s supply management system in dairy and poultry has created efficient, profitable farms. Our supply-managed farmers don’t require subsidies because they get a fair price for their products. They can adapt the latest technology because they can afford to invest for their future. Yet our system is unique in the world and therefore, because nobody else does it, we must be wrong. We must give up something that works, according to The Globe and Mail and Hart, because we’re out of step. Wayne Easter, Parliamentary Secretary to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada recently released a report, Empowering Canadian Farmers in the Marketplace which had a radically different solution. Canada should promote its supply management solution to other countries in the world in the nopes they’ll adopt it, he suggested. What an interesting proposal. Instead of thinking we must be wrong because we’re they only people who use supply management, we think we’ve got something that would help others. How un-Canadian to think we could be right and everybody else is wrong. — KR A victim of terrorism Jean Charles de Menezes is a victim of terrorism, even though he wasn’t killed by an exploding bomb or an aircraft flown into an office tower. Jean Charles de Menezes was shot seven times by police in London, England last week, not by terrorists. Police thought he was acting suspiciously and that when he ran into a subway station he must be trying to detonate a bomb. That’s why they shot him in the head, so he couldn’t push the button and kill others. This is what terrorism does. Far beyond the people actually killed in bombings like those that have recently plagued London, the terrorists plant a worm of fear and doubt that eats away at our reasoning. It can stress police officers so that they shoot an innocent Brazilian immigrant because he looks suspicious and if they don’t, they fear others could die. It can create a tension that has British residents looking at their Muslim neighbours and wondering if they might be terrorists. This is the insidiousness of terrorism — the collateral damage. —KR Letter to the editor THE EDITOR, I spend almost every lunch hour at Blyth’s Greenway Trail, either walking along the creek or sitting in lhe shade, enjoying a book. It is often disheartening to see the garbage that is left along the trail from pop cans and candy wrappers io beer boxes and glass bottles actually thrown in the water. However, last Friday afternoon 1 was very impressed to see two eentlcmen take some time out of iheir day to wade through the creek removing the bottles so that broken glass would not present a danger to either wildlife or children who might venture into the stream. 1 thanked them in person for helping to keep this great area clean and noted that if everyone just picked one day to do the same what a difference we would see in the community. I also wanted our village to know that these two men made a contribution to community betterment in a very quiet way and they should be thanked. Janice Becker July 26, 1950 Lynn Moorhead was awarded a silver cup for becoming ‘1950 National Swim for Health Queen.' The contest was held in conjunction - with the 15th annual National Swim for Health week. An unidentified patient, stunned hospital officials when an x-ray of his stomach revealed the presence of spoons, bedsprings, steel, bent wire, broken light-bulbs, pins, needles, and a salt shaker with a dash of salt still inside. A soap box derby was held as the opening event of the annual Sports Day of the Brussels Branch of the Canadian Legion. Winners of the Derby, which was held on the main street of Brussels, were : (in the 12 years and under category) first, Dale McTaggart and Francis Myers: second, David Hastings and Shirley McNeil and third, Carol Lowry and Dwight Campbell. In the 12 - 14 years category, the winners were: first, Kenny Bowler and Mary Willis; second, Neil McTaggart and Gloria Clark and third - Ted Elliot and Audrey Davidson. Neil McTaggart was the owner of the overall best car. Three men were admitted to Wingham hospital after being involved in a train accident. They were thrown to the ground when a wheel of the Bat car they were riding left the track. The flat car was one of six cars in a work train. Six other men on the same car were also thrown into the ditch and another three barely escaped injury. July 26, 1972 Twenty-seven-year-old George Penfold was appointed agricultural engineer for Huron County. He suceeded Jim Arnold who had transferred to Kemptville College of Agricultural Technology. The Harriston Drive-in was showing the Academy Award­ winning film Tire. * French Connection starring Gene Hackman. Diamonds Are Forever, starring Sean Connery as James Bond 007 Was playing at Brownie’s Drive-In Theatre in Clinton. John G. Berry, an AMCT clerk­ treasurer of Huron County, was awarded the title of certified municipal clerk. This title was presented by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, formed in 1947 to serve city clerks, secretaries, and recorders. Berry was one of the first in Canada and the United States to receive the title. August 1,1973 Nearly 50 children from Blyth were treated to a performance of a play called Shortshrift, a story about a small western Canadian town trying to regain its identity. The play was performed by a youth branch of the Huron County Playhouse at Grand Bend. The event was held at the Lions Park, and was greatly, and enthusiastically enjoyed by all who attended. A proposition to build a global village in Vancouver took shape at Pedder Bay (at the South tip of Vancouver Island). The village would accommodate 200 secondary students from around the world and would be honouring former Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, and was to promote international understanding through education. The village would be rightfully named the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. The OPP were investigating two accidents involving vehicles. The first involved two women whose car went off County Road 12, and hit a hydro pole and a fence. Damages were estimated at $1000. The second involved two people whose car went off Hwy. 86 and struck some fence posts before rolling over. Damages were estimated at $1500. July 30, 1986 McGavin’s Farm Equipment Limited celebrated 50 years in business. Over 200 residents of Walton and surrounding areas, including former employees, long­ time customers, friends, and neighbours, turned out to help commemorate the joyous occasion. Actors from the Blyth Festival helped to make the dunking tank a popular spot at the Country Fair held at th Memorial Hall in Blyth. Mary Dunn, a native of Scotland, was visiting various farming counties as a part of an international exchange program for Young Farmers/Junior Farmers all over the world. She was surprised at the different sizes of the farms in Ontario, and the how up-to-date the dairy farms were compared to ones in Scotland. During her tour of Ontario, she had visited the counties of Northumberland, Frontenac, Peterborough, Dufferin, Haldimand and Huron. She was also to finish up her tour with Toronto, Guelph, and Middlesex County. July 29,1998 A young woman was still in critical condition at Victoria Hospital in London after being involved in a two-vehicle collision in East Wawanosh Twp.. Her 1989 Jeep broadsided a 1995 Chrysler when going through an intersection. The investigation continued and charges were soon to follow. The Avon Maitland District School Board appointed a new Director of Education. Lome Rachlis was named director of education, and secretary-treasurer of the board.