No preview available
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-05-18, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, May 18, 2016 Clinton News Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com POSTMEDIA CURTIS ARMSTRONG Group Director of 519-376-2250 ext 510364-2001eat Media Sales 514301 or 531024 if _ ) NEIL CLIFFORD Advertising Director NClifford@postmedia.com JUSTINE ALKEMA Journalist JAlkema@postmedia.com 6 DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative DJohnston@postmedia.com TERESA SMITH Front Office TSmith@postmedia.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) 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 item 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 at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Ad- vertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. 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 1 LO (519)482-3443 Clinton News Record is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information or to file a complaint go to www.mediacouncil.ca or call toll free 1-844-877-1163. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada �a Member of the Canadian Community OCIT1jINewspaper Association and the Ontario /� Community Newspapers Association www.clintonnewsrecord.com Electoral reform not an easy path Single transferable vote. Prefer- reform. The committee must ential ballot. Mixed member pro- report by year-end; the Liberals portional representation. First past want reforms in place for the 2019 the post. Have we lost you yet? We election. hope not because you're going to A staggering amount of work lies hear an awful lot of this sort of talk ahead. Many details are not yet in the next 18 months. known. That's one of the problems with What is the problem with our electoral reform: There are many current voting system that the gov- ways to cast a ballot in a democ- ernment needs to solve? Reform - racy, and each method has its pros ers answer that Canada's "first - and cons. The perfect voting sys- past -the -post" democracy (start tem has not yet been devised, that learning these terms, voters!) val- we know of. ues some votes more than others, But the federal Liberal govern- because governments routinely ment wants to make things closer win a majority of seats without a to perfect, and so Minister of Dem- majority of votes. Small parties that ocratic Institutions Maryam Mon- may have been supported by thou- sef on Wednesday announced the sands can end up with no seats at creation of an all -party parliamen- all. "It's part of why too many tary committee to study electoral Canadians don't engage in or care about politics;' Monsef said. "The current system has been criticized for the tendency to distort the will of the electorate, to lead to strate- gic voting, for example:' But getting public buy -in for any proposal must be about more than a well-meaning committee. The minister wants all 338 MPs to hold town hall meetings in their ridings. She says she will conduct "signifi- cant public outreach" to comple- ment the work of the committee -- reaching the young, people in remote areas, lower-income folk, the disabled, new Canadians, indigenous communities. How? "Digital outreach will be a key component," is all Monsef would say. Will she consider citizens' assemblies, which were used in both British Columbia and Ontario to educate regular citizens, explore potential changes to the electoral systems, and make recommenda- tions free from partisanship? We don't know yet. Will she hold a referendum on whatever the government recom- mends? We don't know this yet either. The opposition will hammer the government for months to come over the details of its exercise in changing Canada's electoral sys- tem. And it should. The world is full of fragile democracies. We need to ensure good intentions don't accidentally weaken our own. - Postmedia Network PoV: It's waiting game for Fort Mac evacuees If the nearly 90,000 Fort McMurray -area residents dis- persed as guests in homes, hotels and temporary evacuation shelters feel antsy as they enter the second week of their city's evacuation, it is entirely understandable. They've seen the pictures of largely burned out neighbour- hoods such as Beacon Hill and Abasand. But they also saw Mon- day the beautiful sight of a down- town still standing, as is 85 per cent of the city and all of its critical infrastructure. "It is going to be made safe. It is a home that you will return to," Premier Rachel Not- ley said Monday. Those words feel like a starter's pistol to those who love the place. This is no city of slackers. McMurrayites are ready to get to work today — rebuilding if they need to, helping their neighbours if their own home or business escaped catastrophe. But it will be an estimated two weeks before residents receive a detailed timeline for a massive re- entry that will have to be as co- ordinated as the evacuation was chaotic. "Wait" is hard to hear when you belong to a community that is used to being busy, even if logically the waiting makes sense. There are still large areas with- out power, water and gas. Hot spots continue to flare. Key struc- tures, such as the hospital and water treatment plant, have to be inspected and receive a clean bill of health before residents who will count on those services can return. Plus, a big, manic wildfire is still burning in the forests around the city. The major disasters of the last five years such as the 2011 Slave Lake fire and the 2013 southern Alberta flood taught this province many lessons. Among them: Once the immediate crisis has passed, detailed information needs to flow as quickly as possible to residents waiting beyond the barricades for news on exactly which 2,400 struc- tures are gone. Images from Monday's media tour provided answers to some, but those who call the city home will want, and deserve, specifics as soon as emergency officials can safely gather that information. Alberta's leaders, politicians and emergency officials alike, have done an admirable job providing critical information in the thick of the wildfire. Fort McMurray residents will want to know exactly why it still isn't safe for them to get in their vehicles and drive north. They will want assurances that the tens of thousands of homes still standing are safe from damage and mischief. Canadians can be impressed by the calm that has come from evac- uees in the heat of the crisis. It is Alberta's job now to keep the lines of communication open. - Postmedia Network FROM THE ARCHIVES 15 years ago... • The Bayfield Lion's Club Walk for Dog Guides earned a distinguished seventh place finish in the top 10 walks across Canada for the year 2000. The local walk raised $6,600 for the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides Program. • The Bayfield Lion's Club booked solid their third annual Home and Garden Show. • Lake Huron's water levels were well below average and there was a chance they would get lower. The waters were at the lowest level since 1964. 25 years ago... • Bayfield got street signs for the first time ever. One instigator of this was that the ambulance, which was dispatched from Seaforth, had experienced a number of mix-ups and delays. "When people are excited they don't give directions well," said Bayfield Reeve Patricia Carrier. • Some roads in Huron County are intro- duced to a new, higher speed limit of 90 kilometres per hour. Before that, the high- est was 80 kilometers per hour. "Almost nobody is obeying the speed limit," said Huron County Engineer Dennis Merrall. Merrall also noted that most traffic acci- dents occur in urban areas and not on country roads. 35 years ago... • The national Canadian census was being advertised; census representatives were dropping off questionnaires at homes. In larger urban areas, the completed question- naires will be returned in a postage -paid envelope which is provided. In small centres and rural areas, complete censuses will be picked up by census representatives. Approx- imately 70% were mailed and approximately 30% were collected. • The Bayfield Recreation Committee passed the approval for work to begin on a new ball diamond at the south end of the Agricultural Park. • Blyth may be forced to go elsewhere for their favourite pastime, rollerskating. The Blyth District Community Centre Board was looking for someone to operate the rink, but no one showed interest. The job involved tak- ing admission, looking after skate rentals, care of the skates and maintaining order at the rink. They had a help wanted sign adver- tised, but no one applied. CLINTON NEWS RECORD - HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY: 9:00-5:00 • TUESDAY: CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: 9:00-5:00 • THURSDAY: 9:00-5:00 • FRIDAY: 9:00-5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: CLOSED ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY 2:00 P.M. ADVERTISING BOOKING DEADLINE: FRIDAY 1:30 P.M. www.clintonnewsrecord.com