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The Citizen, 2016-12-15, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2016. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: 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, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 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 Be generous this Christmas It's a strange contradiction of this time that we live in that while many people wrack their brains to come up with Christmas gift ideas for people who don't really need anything more, there's also a growing number of people who don't have enough money to celebrate Christmas. Charities such as the Huron County Christmas Bureau, the Salvation Army and local food banks are all taking up the challenge of trying to make Christmas better for those in need, particularly for the children. Beyond that, various international aid agencies are asking us to get in the Christmas spirit by helping people in countries far less fortunate that Canada. Our expectations of what we think we need to give our loved ones can make Christmas an expensive time of the year. Even so, others need our help badly. Be generous this Christmas. — KR All the news we want to believe Consumers have come to believe that it's their right to get what they want, and unfortunately for a growing number of people that seems to include the news. Unhappy with the news they get from respected professional news organizations, these people are turning to alternative sources, some of which are just plain untrustworthy, even dangerous. Take the case of Edgar Madison Welch who walked into a famous Washington pizza shop with a military -style rifle on Dec. 4 and fired off several shots. Welch thought he was rescuing children being kept in the restaurant as sex slaves by the man who had been Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, his concern based on a false news story widely distributed over the internet. Luckily no one was injured but people who work in the restaurant have also been threatened on-line, as have entertainers who performed there and even owners and employees of nearby stores which, according to the fake news story, contained tunnels to secretly move the abused children in and out of the restaurant. One would think that at least the malicious, false story would be discredited by this case but not in the alternative news world. Instead for followers of these sites, this is another example of the corrupt main- stream media staging an incident in an attempt to discredit the truth - tellers. They point to the fact Welch once made a short film to suggest he's an actor hired for the occasion. (Many of the same people believe the grieving parents of the children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting were actors and that the whole incident was staged to try to bring about tougher gun control). One thing became evident during the U.S. Presidential Election campaign: many people don't and won't believe the newspapers and radio and television stations that employ professional journalists to seek out and verify facts. A spokesperson for Donald Trump, defending many things he'd said that had been proven to be exaggerations or downright untruths, suggested on a television interview: "There's no such thing, unfortunately, anymore as facts." For some topics, truths may be a matter of perception but ultimately there are facts that are facts. Believing you can choose the news you want to believe is a little like deciding you'll seek out a weather forecast that will promise you 25 degrees and sunshine in January — there's wishing and there's reality.— KR Will we pay the price? It seemed like good news last week when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and eight of the 10 provincial premiers agreed to put a price on carbon as part of a Canadian strategy to combat climate change, but will Canadians pay the price? Yes, a majority of Canadians want to do something to fight climate change, but when they're actually confronted with paying more for things they buy because of a carbon tax or a cap and trade program, many people may turn against the politicians who came up with the agreement. Alberta Premier Rachel Notley imposed a carbon tax program that was called visionary even by some people in the oil industry, but 63 per cent of people in the province oppose it. One estimate puts the cost at $433 per household in the first year. At a recent rally protesters chanted "lock her up". Ontario's cap and trade system, due to be implemented in the new year will cost a typical household an estimated $156 a year. How is that going to go over with people already furious about the increased cost of electricity in recent years? Already opposition politicians in provinces across the country and federally see a chance to gain popularity by opposing the plans. The coming months and years will test Canadians. Will we act responsibly and willingly pay the price required to help undo the harm we've caused to the environment so the planet can be more livable in the future? If we don't, political leaders may pay a short-term price, but it's our children and grandchildren who will pay the ultimate cost. — KR Looking Back Through the Years December 16, 1959 For the first time ever, Blyth hockey fans would have the chance to watch an Intermediate team play in the Western Ontario Athletic Association. The local Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion had decided to sponsor the team. Blyth Woollen Mills was the scene of the biggest theft in recent Blyth history when a daring robbery netted thieves merchandise worth an estimated $2,000. The business's night watchman left the premises at midnight and it was Robert Bell who first learned about the robbery at the mill when he arrived the next morning. The thieves took sheepskin rugs, wool blankets, leather gloves and woollen socks totalling over $2,000. December 17, 1970 The Brussels Post put a call out to all snowmobile enthusiasts asking that they get involved in the formation of a new snowmobile club for the village. The spirit behind the formation of the group was to curtail what the newspaper called bad behaviour on the part of area snowmobilers. "At present, some snowmobile operators are not exhibiting much consideration of others. They race through the village at all hours of the night disturbing the sick and elderly. They cut across private property damaging lawns and shrubs. They endanger their own and the lives of others racing along the streets at all hours," the Brussels Post said. "These antics are well on the way to causing stringent curtailment of the operation of these vehicles within the village limits unless there is considerable improvement in the behaviour of the operators." Martin Baan of RR3, Walton was elected president of the United Dairy Producers Co-operative in Guelph. Baan had been a director with the organization since 1961 and had worked with several other farm organizations, including serving as president of the Ontario Co- operative Development Association and as a member of the Huron County Milk Committee. The Brussels Lions Club held its annual Christmas party, the highlight of which was a holiday skit performed by Lions Ross McCall, George Langlois, James Prior, Albert Ten Pas, Max Watts and D.A. Rann. Mrs. Jan van Vliet directed the skit with the help of Mrs. Jack Bryans on the piano. December 17, 1986 For the eighth year in a row, the Blyth Festival ended a season in the black. A record attendance and an "extremely successful" fundraising campaign helped the theatre to post a surplus of over $5,000 for the financial year of 1985/1986. The Festival brought in nearly $45,000 more than it had the previous year, which included a longer tour of Garrison's Garage compared to the current year's tour of Cakewalk, although expenses for the year were also significantly higher. In her report, Marian Doucette, president of the Festival's board of directors, said that more people than ever had attended the Festival in the previous season, with an attendance topping 36,000. Brian McBurney, reeve of Turnberry Township, was acclaimed to the position of warden of Huron County, making him the youngest - ever warden at just 35 years old. McBurney had already served as a Huron County councillor for six years, beginning his time when he was in his late 20s. Robert Bell, reeve of Tuckersmith Township, had also been nominated for the position, but declined to accept the nomination. The Huron County Board of Education brought Christmas to area teachers and principals early in the form of a four per cent raise for the coming school year. December 18, 2002 The Brussels Bulls Junior Hockey Club was set to take a walk down Memory Lane with a special reunion game and social time on Dec. 21 at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. The game would pit the 1983/1984 Junior D Bulls against the Junior D Bulls from the 1988/1989 season. Keith Mulvey, a member of the organizing committee, said the evening was shaping up to be a good one and that the response from ex - Bulls players had been tremendous. After accumulating a deficit of more than $125,000 after the 2000/2001 season, the Blyth Festival had managed to cut its deficit by more than $60,000 thanks to many sold -out performances of The Outdoor Donnellys as well as Bamboozled: He Won't Come In From The Barn Part II. "This is a great result for 2001/2002," said John Shaw, Festival General Manager. "Our goal for 2002/2003 is to reduce the deficit even further." Brussels Public School presented a production of Slapshot Santa as its annual Christmas play and it was Matthew Cardiff who got the honour of playing Santa in a picture featured in The Citizen. Students from Brussels Public School made a big impact in the lives of many when they gathered over 700 items and over $200 for the Huron County Food Bank and Christmas Bureau.