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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 2015-01-14, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, January 14, 2015 www.clintonnewsrecord.com Clinton News Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company MARIE DAVID Sun Media Group Publisher - Grey Bruce Huron Division 519-364-2001 or 519-372-4301 NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca MAX BICKFORD Advertising Manager max.bickford@sunmedia.ca TARA OSTNER Reporter clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative clinton.ads@sunmedia.ca TERESA SMITH Front Office clinton.classifieds@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2 YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GS1) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a Typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Rem together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods or services ata wrong price, goods or services may not be sold.Ad- vertising is merely an offerto sell, and may be withdrawn at anytime. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No.40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519)482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada Aocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association editorial It's time we gave Sir John A. his due QMI Agency Lt'staken too long to 've Sir John A. Macdonald recognition he deserves on his birth date, but at least some acknowledgementwas made this past Sunday. It was the 200th anniver- sary of the birth of Mac- donald, Canada's first prime minister and the most important public figure in 19th -century Canada. Last month, it was announced Macdonald's profile would be placed on the toonie in a special issue. But what's needed is an annual day of recognition. Not onlywas Macdon- ald Canada's fast prime minister, he was a Father of Confederation. Can- ada would look very dif- ferent without his efforts. Macdonald worked against regional dispari- ties and jealousies, yet managed to bring about a practical confederation. That took work and sacrifice on his part Macdonald's involve- ment in the first several decades of Canada's nationhood was so intense there was little his influence didn't touch. Not onlywas he prime minister, he was also a cabinet minister for 33 years. Indeed, between 1867 and his death in 1891, there were only five years when he was not prime minister. Macdonald's National Policy, an economic blueprint of independ- ence for the young Can- ada, helped establish an identity apart from the United States. He was among those who recognized benefits inherent to a Canada that embraced width of the continent. In assur- ing B.C. it would benefit from Confederation, Macdonald risked his political skin promising a railway for a continental link to the Pacific. It was aridiculousyet necessarypromise. No railway in the world was that long. Estimated cost was a staggering $100 million. Yetwhenfinallybuilt, the Canadian Pacific Railwaywas an engi- neering marvel. The CPR not only assured B.C:s membership in Confed- eration but also allowed Canada to begin an orderly settlement of the Prairies. Macdonald assumed enormous political liabil- ity on the railway vow. Construction consumed so much moneyitthreat- ened to bury private investors and the government He lost the election in 1873 because of the Pacific Scandal of the railway, butwas returned to office in 1878, and continued as PM until his death 13 years later Without Macdonald's vision, Canada would look much different today. f column Free speech ensures, not impedes, our safety Tara Ostner The Clinton News Record 0 n December 17 Sony Pictures cancelled the release of The Interview, a movie about a CIA plot to kill the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong -un, due to threats made by indi- viduals linked to North Korea. If Sony released the movie, the individu- als threatened, serious attacks would be made on theaters across North America. Since then numerous events have unfolded. On December 24 the movie became available in Canada for rent or purchase online. On December 25 Sony released the movie to around 200 U.S. theatres. On December 29 Sony released the movie to selected Canadian thea- tres. And, finally, just last Wednesday Netflix announced that it wants the film for its 53 million subscribers. I applaud Netflix and I applaud Sony. Sony shouldn't have can- celled the movie's release in the first place but at least they eventu- ally came to their senses and reversed their deci- sion. Receiving a threat such as the one they did was admittedly unprec- edented and, sure, they were concerned for peo- ple's safety. But once the initial shock wore off they likely realized how backwards their response was and all of the horrible things the cancellation symbolized. Cineplex Entertain- ment, on the other hand, doesn't deserve such praise as, unfortu- nately, they have still not come to their senses. Below is what Cine- plex had to say regard- ing their decision to not release the movie: "Cineplex takes seri- ously its commitment to the freedom of artis- tic expression but we want to reassure our guests and staff that their safety and secu- rity is our number one priority." Implicit to this state- ment is Cineplex's assumption that free- dom of artistic expres- sion - or, more funda- mentally, freedom of speech - is something different than an indi- vidual's safety and security. However, the problem with this is that these are not different things. Or, more specifically, I should say that the latter cannot exist without the former. Far from being safe and secure, without freedom of speech and expression we would be unsafe and vulnerable and likely at the mercy of the tiny fraction of the population who did have a voice. While sus- pending freedom of speech may, at first, seem like the only option, giving in to that temptation is short- sighted and imprudent. But this is not novel information. We learned about the inherent value of free speech from the famous British philoso- pher John Stuart Mill back in the mid -1800s. It is true that this same great thinker, at the same time, also said that an ongoing struggle exists between the com- peting demands of authority and liberty and I don't take issue with this. I admit that without some level of (minimal) authority it might not be possible for free speech to be effec- tively exercised. But of course North Korea is explicitly not the kind of authority Mil had in mind. By author- ity Mill meant a liberal and rights respecting government and one that is dialectically opposed to everything that North Korea stands for. A country such as North Korea will never have authority over a free land such as ours and the release of The Interview proves it. And, hey, even Dennis Rodman says The Inter- view was "cool" with him. That's got to be worth something. 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