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Home My WebLink AboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-12-28, Page 44 Exeter Times–Advocate Wednesday, December 28, 2005 =CNA Editorial Opinion �n = *c4US eMIEM 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 Deb Lord – Production Manager Scott Nixon – Editor tirt Published by iroland Printing, Publishing Distributing& Ltd. 424 Main Street South, P.O. Box 850 Metroland Exeter, Ontario NOM 1S6 • (519) 235-1331 EDITORIAL What will 2006 bring? As we say goodbye to 2005 and wel- come in 2006, it's natural to reflect on the past year and wonder what the coming year will hold. Headlines from the past year are highlighted in this week's Times -Advocate as we review 2005. As for 2006, it holds the promise of being a year of change. But, this being Canada, it's just as like- ly changes will be few. Right off the bat, Canadians have an election to prepare for. Paul Martin's minority Liberals last- ed longer than many predicted but came to even- tual collapse. Now it's up to Canadians to decide what kind of future we want. Do we continue with Liberal rule or give Stephen Harper's Conservatives a chance? With the Christmas rush, interest in the Jan. 23 election has been low, although that should change over the next couple of weeks as all candidates meetings are held and candidates put their views before the public. Looking forward, will South Huron's doctor recruitment efforts be fruitful? Exeter is not alone in its struggles to attract family doctors. How will this play out over the next year? What will Exeter's Main Street look like a year from now? There have been a plethora of changes to Exeter's downtown core over the past several months, with some businesses closing, some mov- ing and some new stores opening. The latest flur- ry of activity sees the announced closures of Darling's, Stedmans and Four Seasons. Is this cause for alarm or merely a changing of the guard among Exeter business people? There are a number of ongoing issues in the area. How will the Huron Park situation evolve over the next year? Negotiations between indus- tries and the province are taking place to priva- tize the park. What will happen with the former Centralia College and the airport? In Hensall, a group hoping to separate that vil- lage from Bluewater hit a wall when council decided not to allow the committee to present its business plan to council. Will the group proceed with its hopes to deamalgamate? What will its next step be? On the municipal scene, elections will be held in November. Will there be new faces? This com- plaint has been made before, but it would be nice to see more women involved in municipal politics. Although, as the old joke goes, it's possible they're simply too smart to run for council. At any rate, a female voice would be welcome. In addition, we simply need more candidates to run in our municipal elections. The last election saw a number of acclamations in the area, a sure sign of apathy. In 2006, let's try to stay involved. How fortunate we are Sometimes exposure to a different way of life can put things in perspective, especially around Christmas time. For me, it was a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, something I highly recommend to anyone looking for a warm, sunny break from our ridiculous weather. Thanks to the generosity of my parents, they, my wife and my brother and his wife recently spent a week on a resort outside Puerto Plata on the Dominican's north coast. The resort mostly consisted of Canadians escaping winter, although there were many Brits, French, Germans and Spaniards, as well. Americans were in short supply. Now, staying at an all-inclusive resort having your every whim catered to isn't exactly immersing yourself in traditional Dominican culture, but we did make excursions off the resort and what we saw opened our eyes. The Dominican is an odd mixture of beauty and unsightliness — it's not odd to see a man- sion built beside a row of shacks. Some areas are pristine in their beauty, while others are trash -ridden and unsightly — I suppose that's no different than any other country, but the extremes seem more noticeable in the Dominican. A day -long jeep tour gave us a good glimpse of the Dominican. We visited a one -room school, where we were told by our guide the teacher only makes about $250 (all figures US) per month. School isn't even mandatory and supplies are extremely short, but the kids were delighted to see visitors and sang us a cou- ple of songs. What we learned is how Dominicans make so much out of so little. And while in Canada we all wish we made more money, consider this — minimum wage in the Dominican is about $150/month. That's $1,800 a year. Doctors? Well, they're the lucky ones — they make about $650/month. A guide told us the richest people in the Dominican are the politicians, which is rarely a good sign. But we didn't hear any complaining. It's the only life they've ever known and they cope well. The people we met were friendly and optimistic. Seeing how people live their daily lives there served as a reminder of how lucky we are. Sure, everyone in Canada is angry at the govern- ment and we feel we're overtaxed, but we have reliable sources of electricity and run- ning water. In the Dominican, off the resort, the power routinely goes out for hours at a time and even when it's on the power levels are unstable. As for the water, you take your life in your own hands by drinking it or using it to brush your teeth. Even the Dominicans don't drink the water — everyone uses bottled water. The trip had many laughs, which were cre- ated mostly by the women on the topless beach, who had absolutely no business being topless anywhere, especially in public. And there were the old European men in their Speedos. What are men thinking when they put these things on? "Yeah, this is a good look for me." Put some clothes on people, you look better that way. But despite the questionable attire some people chose, the trip was well worth it and I hope to go again someday, particularly if my parents are picking up the tab. SCOTT NIXON AND ANOTHER THING 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 Jim Beckett ext. 109 ADVERTISING Deborah Schillemore ext. 112 EDITOR Scott Nixon ext. 105 REPORTERS Pat Bolen ext. 113 Nina Van Lieshout ext. 107 CUSTOMER SERVICE Sue Rollings ext. 101 Kim Hern ext. 102 COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT Manager Deb Lord ext. 103/114 Heather Bilcke ext. 103 Kelly Gackstetter ext. 103 ACCOUNTING STAFF Anita McDonald ext. 104 Ruth Slaght ext. 106 Christina Scott ext. 108 MargPertschy ext. 111 Heather Clarke