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The Citizen, 2015-02-26, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2015. Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Lori Patterson & Amanda Bergsma The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.northhuron.on.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council 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 N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca February 21, 1979 Brussels Village Council was informed that the village currently sat in a surplus position at the end of the year of nearly $15,000. How the surplus would be allocated, however, was a decision for another day, as councillors decided to discuss a potential tax increase and the 1979 budget at a later meeting. The Brussels Lions Club was busy once again holding its Polar Daze skating races at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Prizes were handed out for many races and contests, including the event’s youngest skater, an award for which there was a tie between Sherri Huether and Timmy Machan. February 21, 1990 After a motion brought forward by Blyth Councillor Dave Lee, Blyth Village Council would now have two monthly meetings to deal with the large amount of business council faces on a monthly basis. Lee asked for the change after he felt that council was having to hold too many special meetings. He felt the public wasn’t being adequately notified of the meetings and didn’t feel that was right. Councillor Steven Sparling said he felt there had been some extenuating circumstances surrounding the meetings and the previous year’s business, but said he would ultimately be in favour of a second meeting. With the large amount of development happening in the Belgrave area, East Wawanosh Township was seeing a boom in building permits being issued to the tune of over $7,000 in revenue. Residential properties being added in Belgrave, The Citizen reported, were valued at nearly $1.4 million. Rehearsals were scheduled to begin for the tour of The Mail Order Bride, which premiered at the Blyth Festival. The extensive tour would see the play make its way through Alberta and British Columbia, while preparations were in the midst of being completed in Blyth. February 21, 2001 Residents of southwestern Ontario were being assured by the Ontario Provincial Police that their interests were being looked after with the creation of the Western Region OPP Rural and Agricultural Crime Teams. The initiative came about after a number of roving groups had been busy committing agricultural and rural crimes throughout Ontario. The team, said OPP Senior Constable Don Shropshall, would focus on rural break and enter crimes, as well as agricultural and forestry crime. As part of the new project, one officer was to be assigned to cover such crimes in Huron, Perth and Bruce Counties. The reviews were in and the latest audio art creation by Brussels native Janet Cardiff, the daughter of Audrey and Jack Cardiff, was a hit. Cardiff’s creation, Forty-Part Motet, was currently on display at the National Gallery of Canada’s Rideau Chapel. The piece involved Cardiff recording the individual voices of England’s 60-member Salisbury Cathedral Choir, then producing 40 separate tracks of the performance being played by 40 different speakers. February 17, 2011 North Huron Councillor Bernie Bailey announced that he’d like to authorize one police force to cover all of North Huron. He said he felt the municipality should approach its policing the same way it does fire protection. Bailey cited the fact that he and fellow Wingham Ward Councillor Alma Conn had been outvoted on issues pertaining to the Wingham Police Force as a reason why a township-wide approach was necessary, as Wingham-area councillors were being outvoted on issues by councillors who weren’t affected by the decisions being made. “We make decisions here for the Wingham Police Board and five of the seven people voting aren’t affected by the decision,” Bailey said. “It doesn’t make sense that Wingham Ward representatives could be outvoted on an issue that only affects that ward.” Council referred Bailey to a 10- year-old study on the potential of a county-wide police force. He said he would address the issue once again after he’d had a chance to read the report. Lyndon John X, a Brussels-based reggae musician, had recently been nominated for a Juno for best reggae album. It was John X’s second Juno nomination. The musician called the nomination for Brighter Days a “really nice surprise” adding that it was nice to be recognized for his hard work. Central Huron Council decided that it would enlist the services of the YMCA for its newly-constructed community centre in Clinton. Debate had been ongoing as to whether the municipality would maintain its services or not, but after a successful pitch, council decided to go with the YMCA. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright A big job, well done Whenever a fire tragedy happens in a rural area such as the L'Isle- Verte, Quebec nursing home fire that took the lives of 32 seniors last year and which was the subject of a recent inquiry report, large urban media outlets often question the competence of volunteer firefighters. A report on the 2014 activities of the Fire Department of North Huron gives an idea of just how much we need to thank volunteer firefighters. Familiar as they are with full-time fire crews in cities, urban media can’t imagine that volunteers can really do the job. Those closer to the scene know just how dedicated and well trained these firefighters are. Often they have to deal with emergencies even more complicated than those faced by city departments. In North Huron Chief David Sparling’s report, for instance, fire fighters from North Huron’s two stations had to deal with two cases of methane build-ups in hog barns, six cases of carbon monoxide in buildings, 35 calls to accidents, several of which required extricating injured people, a gas-line fire, medical emergencies, even assisting in a birth. In all, the firefighters from the two stations answered 194 calls – all while they held down full-time jobs. There’s no doubt that with our own Emergency Services Training Centre close at hand, Huron County’s volunteer firefighters have an opportunity to be better trained than some rural fire services, but nobody should ever belittle the work volunteers do anywhere. They provide an excellent service that’s affordable in rural areas. We all owe a debt of gratitude to these skilled, dedicated neighbours. –KR How soon we forget The fact that a measles outbreak that has seen about 20 cases in Ontario has dominated headlines and newscasts for weeks is a sign of how far we’ve come. Older readers will remember when there might be 20 children in just one school sick with this highly infectious disease. Yet the very fact that measles is fairly rare these days, tends to make some parents, who grew up in an era when the disease is seldom seen, let down their guard. A significant number of parents, often well-educated and affluent, are more worried about the minimal potential for side-effects from the vaccination than they are from the effects of the disease. Older people can remember when people died or were affected for life because measles. It’s a sad reality of human nature that when we’re delivered from a plague for long enough, we forget how bad it can be. West Wawanosh native Dr. Victor Johnson recalled those terrible days when life was often short and miserable because of disease in his 1960s memoir Before the Age of Miracles. Vaccinations nearly rid us of death-dealing diseases like small pox, polio and measles. When we don’t see the reality of those diseases before us, however, we may forget how bad they can be. Before anyone is ready to risk the health of their children on their confident knowledge they know better than doctors and public health officials, they owe it to themselves and their children to go back and find out just how bad the diseases we’re vaccinating for are. –KR Who tells our stories? The stories of two heroic British men, Stephen Hawking and Alan Turing were front and centre when the Academy Awards were presented Sunday night. There was controversy when a movie featuring an American hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, didn’t get more nominations. A Canadian watching might wonder: are there any Canadian heroes? The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game and Selma tell the stories of these three great men to the fellow citizens of their home countries and people around the world. Such is the dearth of Canadian movies and television that many Canadians probably don’t even know we have had our own people of heroic stature. A nation that thinks heroes only come from other countries because it has no ability to celebrate its own great people is not a healthy country. We need movies, TV, plays and books to give us a healthy perspective on our own country. –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.