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The Citizen, 2016-09-29, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2016. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld & Nicole Gillespie 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 It's hard to be informed After Huron County Councillors refused, last week, to reopen a decision to discontinue the Advanced Care Paramedic (ACP) service, there are probably many county residents who are questioning the wisdom of their representatives. Since council's July decision to end the higher-level service, councillors have been deluged with criticism, sometimes from their own municipal councillors, who feel it's their duty to bring issues to the lower -tier council and let local councillors decide how their representatives on county council should vote on such issues. Some members of the public also blasted councillors, based on their own understanding of the issue from selective information supplied by representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, representing paramedics who wish to maintain the ACP program and primary care paramedics who hoped to attain the higher qualification. Did councillors make the right decision in eliminating the ACP program and refusing to reconsider? Lower -tier politicians and members of the public can't know. As Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn and Huron County Warden Paul Gowing said last week, councillors have waded through vast amounts of information in making their decision. They are privy to information only revealed at in -camera meetings because of the delicacy of discussing employer/employee matters. Whether they made a right or wrong decision, county councillors based their votes on access to more information than anyone else had in this debate. This is why we have representative democracy. — KR All they could do is boo When Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne attended the opening of the International Plowing Match at Harriston last week, she was serenaded by a chorus of boos from frustrated farmers. Having already wiped out all representation from her Liberal Party in the province's rural ridings, booing is about the only form of protest farmers have left. There are many issues that have gained the Liberal government its unpopularity but none is probably more visible than the march of wind turbines across the province's farm fields. Many people, even those without a huge turbine on a nearby farm, are not enamoured with the whole wind farm issue. It's easy to connect turbines to the soaring cost of electricity with many people blaming the higher prices on higher payments for electricity from wind and solar generation. In this the public is probably unfair to Premier Wynne and her government since much of the money from higher electricity rates has gone rebuilding the province's aging electrical grid. But few people will be willing to credit the government for grid improvements as long as they continue to see new wind farms going up at a time when the expensive power from many of the wind turbines is often surplus to provincial needs, and being exported to neighbouring jurisdictions at less than cost. Building more wind farms at this point makes no sense, but the fact they continue to go up seems to indicate the government is trying to entice the gigantic corporations of the green energy industry to keep spending and creating jobs. Wind power should be a good thing, but the Ontario government has managed to make it another example of the little guy thinking he's paying more so big guys can get richer. This is why people boo. — KR We must do better The federal New Democratic Party has done the country a service by digging out data that show the terrible failure of our federal government to fix the problem of substandard housing in First Nation communities. Despite promising to do better, the current Liberal government has promised to build only 300 new homes this year. It's been estimated we need to build 20,000 homes to give these communities decent housing. That seems like a huge expense but the cost of not solving the problem is even higher, both economically and socially. Overcrowding and substandard housing has been identified as one of the primary causes of youth suicide in remote First Nations communities. The sad situation gives Canada a black eye internationally but the waste of human talent is even more regretful. We must do better. — 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. Looking Back Through the Years October 1, 1970 A twister swept in from Lake Huron, attacking the Bayfield area and leaving behind a trail of havoc and damage. Rooves were torn from homes and barns were destroyed as a result of the weather event. While Brussels largely avoided serious issue, some trees were uprooted throughout the community and chimneys were damaged. The village also lost power for a time as a result of the twister. A barn on the property of Murray Cardiff was totally destroyed, killing one animal and injuring another. In addition, 35 feet of Cardiff's 80 -foot silo was torn off and a number of pieces of farm machinery were overturned or blown around. District Governor Lion Frank Barnes of Arthur paid his official visit to the Brussels Lions Club at a meeting presided over by president Jim Armstrong. There was a record number of stockers on offer at the Brussels Stockyards: 1,350 head. The first prize lot of stockers was won by Lloyd Wheeler and Son of Brussels. Second prize went to George Woelfe of Paisley. Judges for the competition were Don Pullen, Huron County Agriculture Representative, and Harold McCue of Canada Packers. October 1, 1986 Friends, neighbours and officials from across Huron County were in Brussels on Sept. 26 to honour Huron County Warden Leona Armstrong. The appreciation night was sponsored by Grey Township, a community of which she was reeve. MP Murray Cardiff and MPP Jack Riddell were both in attendance for the event. With only between 10 and 15 per cent of the white bean harvest in, hopes of saving the rest of the $15 million local crop were dwindling every time it rained. Just a few weeks earlier, farmers were calling the crop "fantastic" and "phenomenal" but much changed in the next few weeks with downpour after downpour. Morris Township Council decided to donate $1,500 towards the cost of repairs slated for the Belgrave Community Centre. Council also further decided to loan the arena committee a further $3,000 to help towards the final cost of the project. Tim Chapman was named the new general manager of the Blyth Festival. A Northern Ontario native, Chapman was said to have considerable experience in the Toronto theatre scene and he planned to move to Blyth in November. October 2, 2002 Thanks to his years of hard work and dedication to both the church and youth communities, Dr. Lavern Clark was named the 2002 Citizen of the Year for Blyth and its surrounding communities. Clark was called a "quiet volunteer" in one nomination, while another cited his ongoing work with local scouting groups as validation for his nomination. In that same issue of The Citizen, a story told the tale of Clark and his family returning from a 75 - kilometre hike along the West Coast Trail in Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island. The family spent six days on the west coast as part of the excursion. Residents of Blyth and parts of the Hullett Ward of Central Huron were without power on Sept. 28 when a hydro pole at the corner of Walton Road and Elevator Line caught fire. Blyth firefighters were called to the scene just after 5 p.m. and when they arrived, the pole was in flames and had fallen onto the power lines below, which remained live at the time. Hydro was eventually restored to the communities over seven hours later, just after midnight, said Blyth Fire Department Lieutenant David Sparling. October 1, 2015 After 150 years of history, Duff's United Church in Walton closed its doors with one final service that attracted residents and former residents from all over the country. Lucas Townsend of Blyth earned the top spot in the Class 2 Group 1 group at the 2015 International Plowing Match. Townsend had been competing for a number of years, so the IPM victory, for him, was the culmination of years of hard work and determination. On Sept. 28, Canadians would be going to the polls and the ballot in Huron -Bruce was set with just four representatives running in the riding, representing the four major parties in Canada. Ben Lobb, the incumbent from the Conservative Party, was joined by Allan Thompson of the Liberal Party, Gerard Creces of the NDP and Jutta Splettstoesser of the Green Party. Nathan LaFlamme of Blyth was hard at work preparing for his next BMX competition after finishing first in the province in his age division. LaFlamme said that in all of his races, spread out over three different events, he never finished lower than second place. As for the $150 prize LaFlamme received for his big win, he said he spent it on Star Wars toys.