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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2005-09-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2005. Editorials Opinions Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Ken Warwick 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 + $ I 96 G S T.) in Canada; $85 00/year in U S A and $l00/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. 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, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9’40 PO. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1 HO Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca Member of the Ontario Press Council BC!®! We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Will we change? To listen to some people’s reaction to the recent gasoline price shocks one would think that life, as we know it, has ended. Our wasteful modem life could change if we’re impressed enough by the price hike, but will we change in the long run? Many people are used to driving 20 miles to shop weekly or 60 miles for a shopping outing in the city. Will they change their shopping patterns if it means cutting their costs? More likely they’ll convince themselves that the extra $2 or $6, so crucial when they spend it doing something they don’t like such as going to work, is money well spent because they’ll realize savings in bigger stores, or they'll get more variety or they’ll just have a fun break from the stresses of their lives. As winter approaches, the concern for high prices will switch to heating costs. How many people willTurn down the thermostat to save money? Many will insist they must keep the heat at 22 or 23 degrees to be comfortable in winter, even though they insist that’s too warm in summer and keep the air conditioning at 20. Perhaps the overnight 20-30 per cent price hike that came after Hurricane Katrina will provide the psychological shock needed to actually change our habits, but here’s betting that people will still do the things they really want to do, grumbling all the time. — KR He’s right, and wrong The publication this week of Peter C. Newman’s book The Secret Mulroney Tapes: Unguarded Confessions of a Prime Minister, reveals Brian Mulroney as a man who thought highly of his own contribution to Canada. “You cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none.” It should not come as a surprise that Mulroney thinks he’s pretty hot stuff. His arrogance, that eventually led to him being despised by a significant part of the population, oozed his love of himself. For all that, Mulroney has a point. He put his stamp on Canada in ways that will last for a long time. While Paul Martin and the Liberals slew the dragon of the annual deficit that Mulroney couldn’t in two terms in office, it was Mulroney who provided one of the important tools with GST. Free trade changed Canada, in subtle ways we still don’t appreciate. But does this amount to greatness? Great leaders inspire their citizens, something Mulroney, the deal-maker never did. It will grate Mulroney to his grave that the inspiring Pierre Trudeau, the man he loathed, will likely be regarded as a greater leader.—KR Letter to the editor Looking Back Through the Years THE EDITOR, Those of us who had mortgages and loans in the late 1970s and early 1980s do not remember them fondly. Oil prices rose dramatically in 1973. Our society runs on oil and so agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and heating all cost more. Oil price inflation gripped our economy. And the economists, in their wisdom, decided to “fight” inflation with high-interest rates. This hit the productive sectors of our economy, be they farmers, manufacturers, small business or workers, with a double whammy. If you had made a long term investment in our society, be it a farm, a business or a home you were being robbed at the fuel pumps to operate it and at the bank by the interest rates on the loan you had used to buy it. I raise this reminder from the past because we again are seeing dramatic rises in the price of oil. Hurricane Katrina provides the momentary excuse for the current price gouging. Global oil production peaking in the next couple of years will likely keep prices rising. Oil prices are going to keep rising until they reach the level that renewable energy technologies compete with oil. We need an alternative strategy for dealing with the inflation that will follow. Ihe current “increase” is price gouging, using the excuse of a real disaster to spread misery across the world and windfall gouging profits to a handful of oil companies. Could we be utilizing an energy price gouging tax and directing the revenues from it into the development and dissemination of renewable energy technologies? Could we get serious about retrofitting our economy for energy efficiency and rethinking our patterns so that we walk, or bike or carpool to work and develop public transportation that works not just in cities but for rural communities? It seems to me that instead of raising interest rates to “fight” inflation we should be lowering energy usage. It would be a far more effective way to “fight” inflation driven by energy price inflation than to rob folks at both the gas pumps and the banks. Done properly it would also help us meet our Kyoto commitments, reduce environmental degradation from petroleum extraction and use and reduce global climate change impacts. We face a current crisis every time we pull up to the gas pumps. We face a long-term crisis with the implications of peak oil. If we respond creatively we can become a sustainable society. If we don’t today’s misery at the pumps will continue and could be compounded by unbearable interest rates at the bank. Yours sincerely, Tony McQuail. Sept. 15, 1948 An unusual incident occurred when a partridge made a wild dash down main street and came to grief as it crashed against the plate glass window in the front of The Blyth Standard office. The town foreman was crossing the street just north of the post office when the bird, flying at top speed, missed him by the narrowest of margins. In a second it met its doom and died a few moments later in “the arms of our town foreman”, the paper reported. Auburn Baptist Church marked its 80th anniversary. The Lions Boys and Girls Band was playing a concert in Lucknow for a frolic sponsored by the Lucknow Clansmen. Prior to the concert the band led the parade down main street. The result of the week’s test taken by the hydro superintendent showed a trend for using more hydro instead of the emergency desired cut as requested the week before. The hydro engineer from Toronto was in town and he stated that householders in Blyth could relieve the situation by co-operating to the fullest extent. With cool days he advised using the kitchen stove instead of the electric range. Cut lights to a minimum, “ a real break for the young fellow and his gal,” The Standard stated. “Pa can’t say a word about that darkened parlour.” A Morris Twp. woman was the lucky winner of the Co-op electric washer raffled by the Blyth Agricultural Society at the fair concert. Sept 13, 1950 F. Walton Todd arrived in Brussels to assume his new duties as manager of the local branch of the Canadian Bank of Commerce. Mr. Todd replaced W. Porter who left for Whitby. The honour roll in memory of those who lost their lives in World War II was being' compiled in preparation for the new memorial plaque. On the list at this point were: Peter Baker, Russell Barnard, Monty Brothers, Fred Burchell, Lyle Evans, King Hastings,’Harold Huether, Lloyd Hood, Willis Machan, Allan McKay, Arthur McLean, Gordon Nichol, Joseph Nicholson, John Speirs, Roy Pierce, Robert Prest, Lewis Russell, Archie Wintie, Ross Whittard, Russell Wilson and Archie Young. People were being asked to notify the Legion if they knew of someone whose name was omitted. A shipment of pedigreed Rhode Island red pullets left the area for Newfoundland. At the Regent Theatre it was The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland and Ray Bolger. The Capitol Theatre was showing Top O' The Morning starring Bing Crosby, Ann Blyth and Barry Fitzgerald. East Huron Agricultural Society was hosting its annual fall fair, promising to be bigger and better than before with more exhibits, clowns, midway, better races, pony rides and “oddities galore”. There would also be a “hilarious and musical concert in the town hall followed by Old Tyme Dance” as well as “modem dancing” at the Crystal Palace. Sept. 13,1972 Ralph Pearson sold his buses after 23 years in business. Hope was expressed that the fight to gain a larger toll-free calling area for telephone subscribers in the north part of Huron County was not lost yet. Sept. 12, 1973 The 12th annual Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion attracted 9,000 spectators. Blyth water rates rose from $2.50 per month to $3 per month. Approximately 2,300 completed enumeration forms were stolen from Goderich. Even though farmers were getting 30 per cent more for pork than they did at the beginning of the year, the 100 per cent increase in feed costs was denying them the profits being alleged by food price critic said the chair of the Ontario Pork Producers Marketing Board. New Tee-Kay jeans were selling at the Needlecraft Shoppe for $7.98 a pair. Specials at Stewart’s Red & White Food Market included: White Swan paper towels for 68 cents, Glad garbage bags for $1.19, king-sized Cheer detergent for $ 1.65 and a one- pound bag of roasted coffee for 99 cents. Sept. 17,1986 An Auburn area man was listed in serious condition in University Hospital, London after being stabbed eight times with a knife in a fight outside the Bedford Hotel in Goderich. A 24-year-old from London was charged with attempted murder after turning himself in to Goderich police. With record rainfall of six to seven inches over much of Huron County, the white bean harvest was, really hurting, according to Brian Hall of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Playing at the Lyceum Theatre was One Crazy Summer, while it was Tom Hanks and Jackie Gleason in Nothing in Common at the Park Theatre. Stephen King’s “masterpiece of terror”, Maximum Overdrive was playing at the Mustang Drive-In. A Letter From Wingfield Farm was on stage for one night only at the Blyth Festival. The Brussels Lions were presenting Lowdown at a dance at the arena. Tickets were $8 advance and $9 at the door.