Huron Expositor, 2016-04-06, Page 5Wednesday, April 6, 2016 • Huron Expositor 5
opinion
www.seaforthhuronexpositor.com
IN THE YEARS AGONE
Oldest woman in Western Ontario, who
came to Canada from Ireland in 1842
and was married three times, buried
in Clinton after dying at age 107
April 13,1888
• The time is drawing near when
the electors of this county will
be called upon to say by their
votes whether they will sustain
the act commonly known as the
Scott Act, or whether they will
repeal the act as far as they are
concerned and go back and try
a licence system again.
• Judging from reports that come
from all quarters the people are
beginning to get thoroughly
roused up about the vote, and
some who were at first indiffer-
ent are now actively engaged in
the work. The Temperance
workers are stirring up the peo-
ple by public meeting as well as
by personal appeals, while the
opposing party are equally
industrious but are working on
the quiet. They have no public
meetings but are pursuing a
vigorous personal canvass.
• The fourth anniversary of the
introduction of the Salvation
Army into Seaforth was cele-
brated by special services on
Saturday, Sunday and Monday
last. Staff Captain Burchett and
Captain Gage had charge and
led the several meetings. There
was a very large attendance
throughout and on Sunday
evening the barracks was
crammed full.
■ Staff Sergeant A. Wilson, of this
town, has accepted
a position on the Wimbleton
team, and will accompany the
Canadian marksmen to the Old
Country this season.
April 11, 1913
• The eccentricities of the Good
Friday storm were many.
Among others it is related that a
window was blown out of the
silo of Mr. Perry Plumsteel, on
the London Road, south of
Clinton, and carried to the
ground and placed up against
the barn without even breaking
or cracking a pane of glass.
• Probably the oldest woman in
Western Ontario was buried in
Clinton on Saturday. Mrs.
James Cottle came to Canada in
1842 from Ireland. Mrs. Cottle
was married three times and
each time to a James. Her last
husband died about seven
years ago. She had no children.
She was 107 years of age.
• William Landerki, alias Mur-
phy, arrested at Windsor
recently in connection with
robberies at Brussels, Seaforth
and Harriston, was sentenced
to 12 years in the Kingston pen-
itentiary by Judge Holt. Murphy
was regarded by police as the
leader of the gang, which early
in the winter perpetrated a
number of daring burglaries in
this district, notably at the store
of Mr. Strachan in Brussels and
the residences of Mrs. D.W.
Johnson and Mr. L.L. McFaul in
Seaforth.
April 15,1838
• There are few students who at
matriculation roll up the record
of James Gillespie, newly -
appointed assistant principal at
Centre Technical School, Toronto
says the Daily Star recently. It was
in 1914 that he matriculated from
Seaforth Collegiate, taking the fi
rst Edward Blake scholarship in
mathematics and science and
qualifying for nine other scholar-
ships. He ranked third in the
province in general profi ciency.
• The Department of Highways will
assume costs of maintenance of
the connecting link within the
municipality on No. 8 highway,
council learned at its meeting on
Monday, when the Department
submitted an agreement to be
signed by the town.
• The Seaforth Amateur Athletic
Association amateur contest on
Friday evening featured some
splendid talent, resulting in the
best program yet presented at
the shows.
• In the senior awards a Hawaiian
quartette composed of Keith
Sharpe, Clem Thiel, Arthur Fin-
layson and Frank Kenny won fi
rst prize; second, Louis Morgiate,
St. Marys; third, Hill Billies,
Egmondville; fourth, Terry Gor-
don, of Clinton.
April 11, 1963
• Huron voters, like others in West-
ern Ontario ridings, resisted the
national trend and returned
Elston Cardiff, Conservative can-
didate, to his eighThelection vic-
tory at the polls here Monday. It
was the fi fth consecutive time
since the new riding of Huron
was created in 1952 that he had
won for the Conservatives.
• Employees at the Topnotch
Feeds Limited have set the pace
for the employees' payroll deduc-
tion plan of the Seaforth Com-
munity Hospital Building Fund,
according to John A. Cardno,
who heads the employees' pay-
roll division of the campaign.
Donations of the company and
the employees total $10,000.
• Seaforth stores will remain open
Thursday evening preceeding
the Good Friday holiday. In fol-
lowing weeks the stores will
remain open each Friday even-
ing until 10 o'clock, according to
M.I. Nott, Chairman of the Mer-
chants' Committee.
April13, 1988
• It was a beautiful day for a walk in
the park - or a paddle up river.
Some 32 boaters took advantage
of the weather Sunday to partici-
pate in the Optimist Club's 17th
Annual Canoe Race.
• Seaforth's Denise Morey, a stu-
dent at St. Lawrence College in
Kingston, recently captured the
female athlete of the year award
for her excellence in two varsity
sports. The 20- yearold led the
Vikings to the Ontario Colleges
Athletic Association soccer
championship, scoring seven of
the team's eight goals in tourna-
ment play. In basketball, Denise,
playing point guard, was the
team's leading scorer with a 15.7
points -per -game average. She
was named an OCAA second -
team all-star.
seaforthhuronexpositor.com
McKeough's honesty, Grit teaching moment
0 ne of the reasons the
Wynne government is
regarded so poorly by
so many Ontarians is the
perception its leadership
refuses to take responsibility
for poor decisions that have
not only cost taxpayers bil-
lions, but the government a
certain amount of public
confidence.
The provincial Liberals
enjoyed a resounding election
victory in June 2014. For Pre-
mier Kathleen Wynne, it was a
personal triumph, as it was
her first general election since
winning the party's leadership
in 2013.
But public approval for
Wynne and her government
has suffered. Today, just 27%
of Ontarians say she's doing
a good job.
Every government stum-
bles occasionally, but Cana-
dians can be extraordinarily
forgiving if a government
and its leader acknowledge
mistakes and promise to do
better. Rarely has that hap-
pened with the provincial
Liberals. Rarely have they
acknowledged mistakes. Not
once has a Cabinet minister
in this government stepped
down because of crisis in his
or her ministry.
Early in its mandate, mem-
bers of the Wynne Cabinet fre-
quently invoked a claim of
surprise, even astonishment,
when confronted with a public
incongruity. But claims of "we
didn't know" became hollow.
It wasn't always that way.
Former Ontario Treasurer
Darcy McKeough, who
served as a Progressive Con-
servative MPP from 1963
until 1978, provides an
example of honour and
integrity in a biography pub-
lished this month.
In 1972, McKeough was
named in a minor scandal
when it was reported that as
municipal affairs minister he
had approved a Chatham
subdivision in which he had
an interest. He was an inves-
tor with his family in a com-
pany that was part owner of
the development. The devel-
opment was among approxi-
mately 2,000 approvals McK-
eough had rubber-stamped
as minister in one year. And
although he said he wasn't
aware of his connection, he
chose to resign.
McKeough, in a recent
interview, said he didn't want
the premier, his party or the
government sullied by even
the perception of impropriety.
He still believes his decision
44 years ago was correct, espe-
cially in light of much larger
scandals that have bedevilled
subsequent governments. "Oh
God, yes," he told a reporter.
"It was the right thing to do
morally. It was also, I guess,
the right thing to do
politically."
McKeough received high
praise for his decision, and
less than a year later was
restored to Cabinet where he
subsequently provided excel-
lent leadership as treasurer.
Many modern governments
are loath to admit to imperfec-
tion and they suffer for it.
- Peter Epp
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