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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2004-12-29, Page 44 Exeter Times—Advocate Wednesday, December 29, 2004 =CNA TIMES ADVOCATE PUBLICATIONS MAIL REGISTRATION NUMBER 07511 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP), toward our mailing casts. Jim Beckett Publisher and Editor Deb Lord Production Manager &Published by Metroland Printing, rt Publishing & Distributing Ltd. Metroland 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL What will 2005 bring? While the build-up to the holiday season takes months, it seems to be over in the blink of an eye. With Christmas over, we're ready to wrap up another year and bring in a new one. What kind of year will 2005 be? On the feder- al level, it will be interesting to see how the parties co-operate in Parliament. Will the Liberal minority government survive the entire year or will it go down in flames as minority governments tend to? The feds have some tough decisions to make this year — what will the extent be of Canada's co-operation with the United States' ballistic missile defence program? It's clear our friends to the south will go forward with or without our involvement, so do we simply say yes, ride their coat tails and hope the U.S. system will protect Canada in the event of an attack? Or does Martin stick to his guns and refuse to co-oper- ate if the plan includes the weaponization of space? This could be the toughest decision he and his government face in 2005. Also on the federal scene, farmers will watch with interest how successful the Martin govern- ment is in negotiating the opening of the U.S. border in terms of beef exports. An expected announcement on the subject from President George W. Bush during his recent visit to Canada never came and suffering farmers are hoping for a solution soon. Locally, municipalities have several issues on their plate. Bluewater is dealing with a group in Hensall that wants the former village to leave the municipality. It's unclear how far those efforts will go. Bluewater also needs to decide whether or not it's going to hook onto South Huron's $12 million water pipeline project. 2004 was an expensive year for South Huron residents as ratepayers saw new water rate increases as well as new development charges. Those water rates in Exeter will increase even more once the financing for the water pipeline is figured out. Likewise, Crediton and Centralia residents will be hit in the pocketbook in light of the nearly $4 million sewer project that will go ahead in 2005. On top of this, of course, local municipalities will soon be holding budget meetings to deter- mine what your new property taxes will be. A zero per cent increase sounds nice. Editorial Opinion All the best in the new year With Christmas over and New Year's just around the corner, I thought it would be fitting to wish everyone a happy new year. I hope all of you had a great Christmas. Right off the bat, I'm going to say I don't make New Year's resolutions. To be honest, I've been through a lot of them — resolving to lose weight, eat healthier, exer- cise, volunteer more of my time to a good cause and to generally do something better with my life. Unfortunately, I never keep them. Maybe, I'm too lazy, I don't know, but January usually isn't even over before I'm back to my former habits. So, I don't make them anymore. At various points throughout the year, I'll make little adjustments to my life and overall I would say that works better. In my opinion, you can't change all the things you don't like about yourself by making a resolution on one magic day. It's something you have to commit yourself to a little every day. You see, the problem with New Year's resolu- tions is most of them are a bit too ambitious. We think about the old year, and how we wasted so many opportunities. At the begin- ning of the new year, we have the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and have a fresh begin- ning and we want to take full advantage of it. In reality, we want to keep most of the promises we make to ourselves at the chiming of the clock New Year's Eve. We feel the hope any new beginning brings. But then the party ends, we take ourselves home, our busy lives continue and many of us fall back into the same rut, feeling a sense of failure with every broken reso- lution and guilt with every broken promise to ourselves. All the promise disappears and we end up with the life we had the previous year. And so, this year, as it was last year and even the year before that, my chal- lenge to myself is not to try to change one big thing in my life in one drastic MARY SIMM ONS PENNY F THOUG OR HTSMY move, but to gradually change the little things in a way that will leave me happi- er and not feeling like a failure. Having said that, I wish the best of luck to all of you out there who have made resolutions. I hope you achieve your goal and wish you, and yours, all the best in 2005. Have a happy, prosperous, and above all, safe new year. About the Times -Advocate Address & Office Hours Times -Advocate, 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850, Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6. Our office is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Closed on Holidays. 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For example, Jim Beckett's e-mail address is <jbeck- ett@southhuron.com> Our general e-mail address is ads@southhuron.com. The Times -Advocate Team Publisher/Editor Jim Beckett ext. 109 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 REPORTERS Scott Nixon ext. 105 Pat Bolen ext. 113 Mary Simmons ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Sherrie Thomson ext. 102 COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext 114/103 Sharlene Young, Diana Hardy ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Christina Scott ext. 108 Marg Pertschy ext. 111