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The Citizen, 2016-04-07, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2016. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Brenda Nyveld 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 $36.00/year ($34.29 + $1.71 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. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca 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 Canada ..ocna CCNA Member of the Ontario Press Council We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or Department of Canadian Heritage. photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright CMCA AUDITED The squeeze is on It's the time of the year when municipal councillors across our area must wonder why they wanted the job. As budgets are set they're in a position where they can please no one. Even as they deal with issues beyond their control such as higher OPP costs and reduced provincial transfers, they also have local residents and organizations coming forward asking for support for praiseworthy projects. How can you be seen to be against playground equipment for a school, or support for an important local hospital? At the same time, though many of us may, because of our community ties, want councillors to support such local projects, we get upset when our taxes go up. Many people will pay no attention to the realities facing councillors until they get their tax bill, and then they'll be furious at the extra money they're going to have to pay. As a taxpayer, be aware of what the spending issues are. Speak your piece when you're given the opportunity at public budget meetings. If you paid no attention until you get your tax bill, bite your tongue. Councillors will, from time to time, make mistakes, but often they're faced with impossible choices. — KR Money shouldn't buy influence The good news from a recent study of candidate spending in last year's federal election is that spending money doesn't necessarily buy success at the polls. The bad news is that parties continue to think it does. The analysis by Canadian Press that was released this week shows that 57 of the candidates who were among the top 100 spenders didn't win their seat in October's election. Of those, 12 lost to people who had also been among the top 100 spenders. If the failure of money to help buy success is encouraging, the actions of parties trying to build their campaign war chests is depressing. Ontario's Premier Kathleen Wynne has raked in bundles of money by holding dinners at which the well-heeled spend up to $6,000 to have a chance to meet with her. Allegations of conflict of interest have been made against British Columbia's Liberal Premier Christy Clark for holding similar dinners. Criticism of Wynne's fundraising dinners finally shamed her last week, into promising new fundraising rules to limit the amount of money corporations and unions can donate to election campaigns. To be fair and honest, it also needs to limit the amount outside interest groups can spend. In recent Ontario campaigns the Liberals have benefited from attacks against the Progressive Conservatives by the Working Families Coalition in saturation advertising campaigns. Despite the encouraging news from the Canadian Press analysis of last year's federal campaign, money still does help get governments elected. If big businesses buy expensive seats at dinners hosted by a premier, it's likely they see it as an investment in getting what they want from government, not a philanthropic support to democracy. — KR There's no good answer The European Union's agreement with Turkey that kicked in this week under which European countries will send refugees who have arrived without permission back to Turkey in exchange for refugees that have proper paperwork is a bad deal, but understandable. Even the most progressive European leaders, like Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel are facing backlash against the seemingly endless waves of refugees from the war in Syria. While Canadians (well some, anyway) are proud of accepting more than 25,000 Syrian refugees, that many arrive every week on Europe's shores as desperate people try to escape the war and return to a normal, safe, life. It's bound to raise resentments from people who feel their country is being overrun. Yet the problem won't go away just because Europeans want it to. As long as the war in Syria continues, people will continue to flee for their lives. It's not as if they want to go to Europe. They'd prefer to live in peace, in Syria. The world must help these desperate people. While it might not seem fair that other countries must provide safe haven, it's a lot less fair that people are denied safety in the face of war. — KR Letters Policy The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and should include a daytime telephone number for the purpose of verification only. Letters that are not signed will not be printed. Submissions may be edited for length, clarity and content, using fair comment as our guideline. The Citizen reserves the right to refuse any letter on the basis of unfair bias, prejudice or inaccurate information. As well, letters can only be printed as space allows. Please keep your letters brief and concise. WELCOME TO THE 2016 NHL. PLAYOFFS ! Looking Back Through the Years April 8, 1959 The Canadian Cancer Society was hard at work in Blyth for its annual spring campaign and set a fundraising goal of $500 for the Blyth community. Branch President Harold Vodden announced the fundraising goal at the organization's April meeting. The figure represented a portion of the $13,000 target set for the Huron chapter of the society the previous year, a year in which nearly $12,000 was raised by the Huron chapter alone. The Huron County Courthouse was the setting for what was called an "impressive" ceremony as 60 new Canadians officially received their citizenship papers from Judge Charlton from Kitchener, who had made the trip for the ceremony. The Blyth Library received a shipment of 30 new books, said to be ready in the coming days. April 9, 1970 Brussels Village Council voted to support a petition from Goderich Council for a four -lane highway that would run from Huron County south to the 401, which runs through London. The petition urged the provincial government to explore the feasibility of such a highway. The Brussels Curling Club held its annual meeting and installed a new executive for its upcoming season. Don Fraser would serve as the club's president for the coming year, while Elmer Young would be its first vice-president. As part of the meeting, the club's year-end awards were also handed out. D.A. Rann was in attendance to hand out the award named after him to Danny Pearson and his team, the overall winner for the season. In addition, Frank Carter, a veteran member of the club, was presented with a lifetime membership in recognition of all he had done for the club over the years. April 2, 1986 Huron County Council voted to save Auburn's historic Ball's Bridge for at least 10 years more, keeping the bridge open to traffic, but only if a handful of conditions were to be met. One of the conditions was that the bridge would be replaced in the event of excessive damage or if it was affected by a natural disaster and another was that at the end of the 10 -year period, the bridge would be re-evaluated as to whether its life should be extended once again, or if it should be closed to traffic once and for all. A maintenance estimate for the bridge suggested that the bridge would cost the county, in its existing condition, $6,000 a year for the 10 - year period. Huron County Engineer Bob Dempsey said he wasn't surprised to hear that estimate. Huron County's top dairy herds were honoured at the Huron County Milk Recording Committee's annual gala, which was held in Brussels. The audience of nearly 200 people witnessed Allan Martin being honoured for having the highest herd average in the county. Bob Vodden of Hol -den Farms was runner-up. Belmore farmer Jim McKague was also honoured in a number of categories that night, including breeding efficiency and highest plus production cow. A piece of the historic Brussels Queens Hotel would now live forever, as its storefront was to be transported to the Huron County Museum in Goderich for safe- keeping. April 10, 2002 A court challenge against the Avon Maitland District School Board's decision to close Seaforth District High School was in the midst of going forward, calling into question, among other things, the recent and not -so -recent actions of Board Chair Colleen Schenk. Four Seaforth citizens were behind the court challenge, which would have its day in court on April 18 to determine if there were grounds to proceed further. One argument suggested that the applicants were not given the opportunity to influence the board's decision. The Brussels Optimist Club held its annual spring auction and dinner at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre, this time raising money for the Brussels and Grey Fire Departments. The night was a success by any measure, as it raised $24,000 for the two volunteer fire departments. This was not a surprise as dinner tickets had sold out over three weeks in advance of the event. After much thought and deliberation, North Huron Council approved the installation of new seats at Blyth Memorial Hall. Among council's considerations were letters from both the Blyth Legion and the Legion Ladies Auxiliary protesting the removal of the hall's original seats. In a letter from Legion President Crystal Taylor, the Legion cited heritage and authenticity in the Legion's position, saying that replacing the original seats would go against the goal of preserving the building's natural heritage. The new seats were obtained by the Blyth Festival from the Shaw Festival.