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The Citizen, 2015-04-02, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 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 March 29, 1962 Members of the Brussels Lions Club were welcomed as the guests of the Lucknow Lions Club during a meeting at which Zone Chairman Jack McDonald would be speaking. The Brussels Post reported that established ice above the Brussels Dam had finally broken up and floated downstream at 3:30 a.m. in the morning the previous Wednesday. Good news though, as there was still no ice jam in the river as a result of the ice break-up. There had also been no flooding, which had been a common spring tradition before the construction of the new bridge. March 28, 1979 Over 200 people were in Brussels for the annual Family Carnival, which in the end, raised over $350 for the Brussels Skating Club. Several people were awarded at the carnival for a number of different accomplishments. The youngest female skater that day was 22- month-old Jennifer Machan, the daughter of Sandra and Carman Machan, while the youngest male skater was Trevor Machan, the 21- month-old son of Jane and Gordon Machan. Those awards were handed out in contrast to the two awards for the event’s oldest skaters, which went to Dorothy Steffler on the women’s side and Norman Hoover on the men’s side. With the federal election looming, locals were into campaign mode. The two people who had officially announced their candidacy were the incumbent, Conservative Huron- Bruce MP Robert McKinley and his challenger, representing the Liberal Party, Graeme Craig, a Walton-area farmer. Craig, 31, had been nominated as the riding’s Liberal representative at a meeting the previous spring. He boasted numerous achievements, including being president of the Brussels Agricultural Society, a director with the Huron Cattlemen’s Association and the assistant secretary treasurer of the Huron Plowmen’s Association. The Brussels Post also reported that Craig held a private pilot’s licence and was a 4-H Club leader. March 28, 1990 Support for the newly-established Blyth Rutabaga Festival was starting to build, planners heard at their first official meeting. The Blyth Legion Ladies Auxiliary and the Blyth Lions Club had already committed to sponsoring aspects of the festival and there were still more to come. Festival Chair John Elliott said that he had already spoken to a number of people who were willing to sponsor trophies for the event, whether it be for the parade or for other aspects of the celebration. The Blyth Novice A hockey team was a busy bunch, winning the Western Ontario Athletic Association’s E championship with a win over Clifford in the final game of the season. The locals bested Clifford by a score of 5-2. The team’s captain Jeff Cowan accepted the championship trophy on behalf of his team. The Blyth Festival Singers were in the right mood as they were in the midst of preparing to present their annual Spring Jubilee at Memorial Hall. March 28, 2001 The Brussels Optimist Club was in the final stages of preparing for its spring dinner and auction and in 2001 it was decided that it would benefit the Sick Children’s Hospital. The dinner would help benefit the district-wide initiative to aid in the building of a new Sick Children’s Hospital in southwestern Ontario. In 2000, the Optimists held the dinner and auction for the first time and made wishes come true for four local children, starting a strong tradition that the club hoped would continue for decades in the spring of every year. The Brussels Optimist Club, for their part of the project, had committed $30,000 to the cause over the course of the next five years, starting in 2001. Members of the Blyth Cubs were being kept busy as they took part in a camping excursion at the Wawanosh Nature Centre just as the community was treated to another fresh blast of cold air and winter weather. With a hike of more than 50 per cent in home heating costs for some, many local residents were feeling the pinch in the midst of a long, cold winter that didn’t seem to want to end. The Citizen reported that some residents who had recently switched their home heating to natural gas were experiencing a rise in costs as high as 60 per cent over bills from the previous year. The Brussels and Walton Trailblazers snowmobile club were in the midst of capping off their season with their annual spring dance. The dance was scheduled to be held at the Brodhagen Community Centre. Veteran and Brussels Legion member Ross Bennett was honoured by the Legion for his 55 years of volunteer service with the Branch. District Commander Steve McGuire was on hand to make the presentation marking the tremendous commitment. 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 History and usefulness Congratulations to the Brussels Logan’s Mill Committee in its efforts to breathe new life into the century-old Brussels landmark. The committee, made up of representatives of the Brussels Lions Club and Huron East Heritage Committee along with the mill’s owner, the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority, faces challenges in trying to come up with a new use for the mill by September in order to get funding but it’s commendable that committee members are taking a stab at repurposing the building, which will also be 100 years old this fall. Heritage buildings are both a precious asset and a problem. We need to preserve such visible evidence of our past as Logan’s Mill if we are to understand our place in history, yet if they aren’t useful, they can become an economic back hole, sucking up money just to keep them standing. North Americans have a conflicted relationship with historic structures. On one hand, millions of us pay big money to travel to Europe or Asia to see buildings – sometimes even just the ruins of buildings – that are hundreds of years old. On the other hand we have a culture of usefulness on this side of the Atlantic that will see few buildings ever become ancient because if they’re not useful anymore, they’re demolished. Logan’s Mill has already stood empty for many years. Here’s hoping the new committee can find a use that will retain this important reminder of the village’s origins. –KR Play today, pay tomorrow In this age of consumerism, people can often have unrealistic ideas of what government should do for them. Anger over provincial budgets in Quebec and Alberta last week shows that both the left wing and the right can have foolish something-for-nothing dreams. New Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard brought in a balanced budget but to do so, had to cut expenses in areas like education and health. But before the budget was even presented, 40,000 students from Quebec’s universities and junior colleges went on strike and took to the streets to protest rumours of cuts. Perhaps they are trying to relive the glory days of 2012 when similar protests fended off a previous Liberal government’s attempts to help balance the budget by increasing university tuition fees to closer to what students in other provinces paid. Ironically, Premier Couillard is trying to reduce the provincial debt that the students of today will be burdened with paying off in the future. In their case it really is a matter of paying now through cuts or later with higher taxes to pay off the debt. Albertans, too, aren’t happy with a flood of new taxes: everything from higher wedding licence fees to additional fuel taxes. Because of sagging oil revenues, the province is facing a big deficit. The one thing it can’t turn to, however, is a provincial sales tax. Albertans are too proud of being the only province without a sales tax to accept that. But Albertans have also been living for today at the expense of tomorrow. They’ve been selling off their capital, in the form of non- renewable gas and oil, to pay for today’s government services, without having to pay through things like sales taxes. Countries like Norway have paid their day-to-day bills through taxes while investing oil revenue to make up for the day the oil will run out. Both Albertans and Quebeckers (and Ontarians for that matter) need to realize they’re spending tomorrow’s money by not paying today. –KR What’s wrong with oversight? Nobody’s going to tell Prime Minister Stephen Harper what to do, including six former Prime Ministers, the Canadian Bar Association and numerous other experts on Canadians’ civil rights. Last week the federal government softened some elements of Bill C- 51, its anti-terrorism bill, but refused to accept the call from all the above-mentioned and many others, that there needs to be oversight of security agencies to make sure they don’t abuse these new powers (and Canadians’ civil rights). The favourite retort by Conservative MPs to worries by those appearing before the committee debating Bill C-51 has been that if you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear. Shouldn’t the same argument apply to security officials? –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.