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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-04-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018. Editorials Opinions 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 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca How do you measure value? Figures recently released by Huron County administrators might cause many county taxpayers to question if hosting the 2017 International Plowing Match (IPM) at Walton was a good investment. Officials put the county's cost of hosting the IPM at $850,000, counting both out-of-pocket expenses and additional staff time. Certainly, if taxpayers were asked in advance if they were willing to put up $850,000 to host the huge event, quite a number would have likely been against bidding for the IPM. But as Huron County Warden Jim Ginn noted, nearly $500,000 of the total was in salaries that would have been paid to county staff anyway, though they'd be doing other work. Against this expense, there have been more than $142,000 in funds distributed to local organizations and charities, both in proceeds from the match and services these organizations provided. As well, it's estimated that $4.5 million was pumped into the local economy by visitors to the match — and this despite the match being shortened by a day because of bad weather. And on top of all this, there's the intangible benefit of mobilizing hundreds of county residents to work together for four years to make it possible to successfully hold such a huge event. For a county like Huron, holding the IPM is something like hosting the Olympics is for a larger city. Just as Calgary is doing now with the Winter Olympics, communities need to consider carefully before hosting these mega -events. In both cases, there are benefits that can't be measured in dollars. Certainly Huron County got a lot of value from holding the IPM, even if you take the county officials' cost calculations at full value. — KR It's not my problem When it comes to garbage and — worse — recycling, municipalities are left to clean up the mess and take the abuse after both manufacturers and consumers say "It's not my problem, you deal with it". Currently the City of Toronto is knocking heads with Keurig Green Mountain Inc. which insists Torontonians should be able to recycle the plastic pods from their coffee makers even while the city, which actually does the recycling, says they can't handle the pods. Keurig has a public relations problem. More and more people are rebelling about the tonnes of pods — 140 tonnes in Toronto's case — that are going into landfills. So a company spokesperson said it's easy for customers to tear off the lid, wash out the plastic container and recycle it through the company that processes Toronto's plastic waste. It's started an advertising campaign to say so. So hey, Keurig's off the hook. But Toronto recycling officials point out that it takes five steps for a consumer to clean out a coffee pod carefully enough for it to be recycleable. Many consumers will hear the message that the pods are recycleable, but not the part about how much effort they must contribute. If they leave coffee grinds in the pods, other plastics, etc. that could have been recycled may be contaminated and go to the landfill, instead. It's a problem that's repeated over and over again. Companies looking after only their own financial interests create products or packaging that cannot be recycled, but it's not their problem to deal with. Consumers buy those products, then gripe because a municipality charges them to get rid of it, or requires them to clean containers before recycling them. It's time we — manufacturers and consumers both — take responsibility for reducing waste and recycling instead of ducking the problem.— KR It's about time No doubt that as the campaign leading up to the June 7 provincial election proceeds, Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford will make many pie -in -the -sky promises just as his opponents will, but let's give him credit for one timely, far-sighted proposal. Late last week, speaking during a visit to Sarnia, Ford committed to creating 15,000 long-term care beds within five years, and 30,000 over the next 10 years. The question Ontario residents must be asking is how come it's taken so long for some political leader to make this common- sense proposal? For at least 20 years we've been hearing the same explanation of the crisis in Ontario hospitals that sees patients in beds in hallways — it's not that there aren't enough hospital beds it's that too many of those beds are occupied by people who are waiting for an opening in a long-term care facility. And yet despite the common knowledge that we have an aging population, provincial governments of various political stripes have not created enough long-term care beds. Perhaps there's some Machiavellian reasoning here. Perhaps health care costs will rise if we have more people in long-term care beds and all hospital beds are suddenly full of acute-care patients. Be that as it may, getting people out of hallways and into beds is best for healthcare and for citizens. Ford deserves credit for seeing that. — 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 HO Ph. 519-523-4792 Phone Fax 519-523-9140 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca �ocna M Member CMC AUDITED CCNA Member of the Ontario Press Council We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright The fragrance for women who will do or say anything to cling to power. Looking Back Through the Years April 30, 1958 A barn being used as a garage in the village of Brussels on land owned by Beven Elliott was destroyed by fire. Brussels volunteer firemen were credited for their quick response and efficient work in preventing the fire from claiming any buildings besides the garage. A scam hit the Brussels area when a stranger to the district solicited subscriptions to magazines while representing himself as being associated with the Legion. Reports indicate that many citizens, including veterans, may have fell victim to the scammer. The Brussels Legion Branch said any such solicitation by their members would be well advertised ahead of time. The Branch also reported that any such initiatives would not compete with local businesses. May 3, 1978 Blyth Village Council was attempting to deal with a problem with the right of way behind a block of commercial buildings on the east side of Queen Street at the behest of realtor Mason Bailey. Unfortunately, the survey, last updated eight years prior, was difficult to decipher, leading council to turn the issue over to engineer Burns Ross, who had produced the document. Council felt the right of way was important to the community, but didn't want to become involved in a private land dispute. Morris Township was dealing with a deficit of $20,422 in its 1977 spending thanks to financing the Belgrave subdivision and the purchase of a new grader. The Blyth Figure Skating Club hired professional skater Debbie Jeffries of Goderich to teach classes on Tuesday evenings. Jeffries had received a gold medal in dance in February. She was also hired to teach in Brussels, Clinton and Lucknow in the fall of 1978. May 1, 1991 A proposal to relocate tennis courts from Elizabeth Street in Brussels to the Brussels Public School was rejected by Brussels, Morris and Grey council members at a special joint meeting in the village. The tennis courts, which were proposed to be relocated to the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre were suggested to be moved to the public school by the Brussels Leo Club with hopes that the school could then make it part of the curriculum. The proposal didn't find support at the meeting, however, with Brussels Reeve Gord Workman saying it could be problematic if the school board couldn't maintain the courts and had to close them to the public. Blyth's Rutabaga Festival had lined up seven bands to lead the events parade at its 1991 iteration. The lineup was unveiled during a committee meeting for the event. Morris Township Council was eyeing a 5.6 per cent tax hike for ratepayers who supported the public school system. The township's share of that increase was 4.17 per cent. The final budget was set to be presented in early May. Blyth was celebrating an OPP Extended Services Officer holding regular hours in the village with an open house at the office which he would work out of that was attached to Memorial Hall. May 1, 2008 The community of Blyth proved its ability to help out its own once again by supporting a fundraiser for Mikayla Ansley and her family. Mikayla, daughter of Mike and Katie, was less than a year old when she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare childhood cancer that affects 25 children every year across Canada. The community raised $30,000 through the event, which included an auction, to help offset the costs associated with Mikayla's treatments in Toronto and the fact that her mother had left her job and her father had lessened his work hours to stay with Mikayla. Two medals for Blyth -area soldiers, alongside supporting documentation, were brought home to the village after being purchased through an online auction. The medals, belonging to Private Frederick Crawford, who was born on Nov. 23, 1884 in Hullett, and his son Private Jack Bertram Crawford, who was born April 14, 1920 and was killed in action on Jan. 17, 1944, were purchased by Dave Thomson of St. George. Thomson has made it his life's work to make sure these medals don't end up in the hands of private collectors. North Huron Councillor Greg McClinchey took it upon himself to fund the purchase of the two medals and documents, which sold for $675.84. The Wingham and District Hospital was closed for approximately a week due to an outbreak of a gastro-intestinal flu virus. The first symptoms of the disease were noticed in a patient on Friday, April 25 and closed the hospital until May 3. Several patients were suffering from the disease, which also sidelined several staff members.