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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-02-22, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2018. Editorials Opinions Paying the hidden costs President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser 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 $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $160.00/year in U.S.A. and $205/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: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. Canada MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1HO email: info@northhuron.on.ca The genius of the provincial Liberal government's minimum wage increase of more than 20 per cent was that the government gets the credit while somebody else pays the cost. Now local taxpayers are finding out they'll be picking up the tab too, either through higher taxes or reduced services. While most municipal employees are earning considerably more than even the new minimum wage, summer recreational programs and lifeguards at pools depend on students at minimum wage — programs that just got 20 per cent more expensive. Who knows how many students across Ontario will be without jobs this summer? As it struggles to balance a budget that initially projected a 14 per cent tax levy increase, North Huron Township Council is also considering closing the concession booths at the arenas in Blyth and Wingham for the next hockey season unless local groups will take on the task using volunteers. This all comes at a time when some municipalities are facing massive cuts in the funding provided by the provincial government and increased costs for provincial services like policing. Pardon local taxpayers if they get tired of seeing their taxes go up and up while the services from their local governments go down and down. It doesn't matter to the current Liberal government, of course. They've already lost all the ridings in rural Ontario so voters have no ability to punish them further. — KR Short-term gain costly? The current leadership race for Ontario's Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, beginning only four months before the provincial election in June, is creating the same sort of dilemma as the U.S. primary election system. First priority for each of the four leadership candidates is to become the party's leader. Only after they do so can they lead their party to victory. But the promises that may appeal to party members and win them the leadership might then become an albatross around their necks when they must appeal to a wider audience in the general election. In last week's debate on TVO, for instance, all four candidates blasted the $14 minimum wage brought in by the Liberal government in January and promised to cancel, or at very least phase in, the additional one dollar scheduled for next year. Certainly that will appeal to small business owners who are more likely to be PCs than Liberals or NDP. No PC leadership candidate could be seen supporting the huge hike. Come June, however, there are many times more workers who have benefited from the new minimum wage and will want to protect their raise next year than there are employers. Similarly, all but Caroline Mulroney among the candidates is in favour of reopening the debate over the sex -education curriculum which seems to have created little fuss since implemented three years ago. All the candidates have repudiated what had been the party's position of imposing a carbon tax and using the revenue to support $4 billion in tax cuts. They haven't cancelled the tax cuts, of course, just the source of the revenue to support them. Perhaps they can pull it off and convince Ontario voters to support the same sort of promises it takes to win support of the party's hardliners, but it seems like a difficult task. That's why parties prefer to let time elapse between selecting a new leader and the election, so they have time to soften policies designed to win support of their base before they must face the public that might think differently. — KR Don't hurt the innocent The charges of sexual impropriety against employees of Oxfam International following the devastating 2010 earthquake have created a dilemma for those wanting to help people in need. As in the case of other accusations of sexual misdeeds, after news broke that male aid workers who lived in a guesthouse rented by the agency had regularly hired prostitutes, former Oxfam supporters seem to be trying to distance themselves as quickly as possible from the discredited charity. British actress Minnie Driver quit as a celebrity ambassador for the agency as did South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. But when does doing the right thing become the wrong thing? Though actions of a few aid workers were disgusting and Oxfam itself may deserve blame for not preventing such behaviour, how many other workers of the charity were doing good work in Haiti at the same time? If donors punish Oxfam by withholding their financial support, how many innocent people in the world's most needy areas may suffer? Bad behaviour needs to be punished but let's not hurt the world's needy in order to penalize a charity that has done much good over many years. — KR We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. • The Citizen P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM 1H0 NOG 1 H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Member CCNA �ocna Member of the Ontario Press Council CMCA AUDITED We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright NORTH KOREAN BOBSLED. /*# Looking Back Through the Years February 26, 1958 L. Elston Cardiff of Brussels was named the Progressive Conservative candidate for Huron County for the March 31, 1958 election at the group's nomination meeting. Cardiff had 18 years of experience in the Federal House and was the only nominee. William G. Cochrane, former mayor of Exeter, was chosen to stand against Cardiff by the Huron County Liberals. The Brussels Arena hosted a colourful display with the annual skating carnival. Sharon Hemingway, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas Hemingway, was named Queen of the Carnival while Carl Hemingway was named King. The carnival featured performers of all ages under master of ceremonies Oliver Riley. February 28, 1978 Prior to its March meeting, the Huron County Board of Education was asked to consider closing the Walton Public School. Board trustee John Henderson, with the fiscal and property committee, had devised a plan that would see Walton students bused to Seaforth Public School. The move would require two Seaforth Public School Grade 8 classes to be moved to Seaforth District High School where there was room due to declining enrolment. A meeting was organized by concerned parents at the Family Paradise site to discuss the closure. Henderson, a trustee for McKillop Township, one of the areas that sent students to the school, and the rest of the committee were not considering closing any other schools and called the proposal "plain common sense." Secondary Schools in Huron County were closed on Tuesday, Feb. 14 as teachers continued a strike action seeking a better contract. Concerns over sick leave entitlement and class loads were sticking points during negotiations. February 27, 1991 Thanks to the efforts of the Belgrave Kinsmen and the general community, the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation issued a $117,666 grant to help cover the cost of a significant addition to the Belgrave Community Centre. The addition, which was projected at $270,000, included a new community hall and dressing rooms. The Township of East Wawanosh applied for the grant. At the time of the announcement, the Kinsmen Club had already raised $90,000 for the project, mostly through its calendar lottery. The Blyth Optimist Club received its banner during the new club's charter night. F.E. Madill Secondary School hosted the Snowbelt Regional debating finals, bringing teams from 11 secondary schools to Wingham. Questions for the event focused on pollution in the Great Lakes and who should be held responsible, both criminally and for the clean-up. The Madill team received the award for having the highest points. February 28, 2008 Several requests from North Huron Council for traffic safety controls along Queen Street in Blyth were met with a resounding "No" from Huron County Engineer Don Pletch. North Huron Council, in a letter to Huron County, requested a school crossing sign at the intersection of Queen and King Streets in the village, implementation of a community safety zone on Queen Street which would reduce the speed limit to 30 kilometres an hour and putting traffic control signals at the intersection of King and Queen Streets. Pletch responded to North Huron Council saying none of the changes were warranted. Reeve Neil Vincent and Deputy - Reeve Murray Scott commented that the issues were never brought before Huron County Council. Some `out-of-the-box ideas' were discussed by local stakeholders with Nova Scotia Liberal MP Scott Brison, official opposition critic for Industry, Science and Technology at a special meeting set up by then - federal Huron -Bruce Liberal Candidate Greg McClinchey. McClinchey set up the meeting with Huron East Mayor Joe Seili. Ideas discussed included blending agricultural and manufacturing, such as corn -based plastics. The meeting included 15 stakeholders in a round- table discussion and 25 gallery members. Blyth's Kerissa Van Amersfoort was named Rookie of the Year by the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association Western Region by opposing coaches for her efforts on the Niagara College Knights volleyball team. Van Amersfoort was a first-year student in the police foundations program. Lyndon John, a reggae musician from Brussels, received a Juno nomination and a Canadian Reggae Award nomination. The musician was all smiles when the news was received and he was excited to head to Calgary for the awards ceremony and to perform in a special celebration featuring Juno nominees the weekend before the event.