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The Citizen, 2012-04-05, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 5, 2012.Editorials Opinions Publisher: Keith Roulston Acting Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny ScottAdvertising Sales: Ken Warwick & Lori Patterson The CitizenP.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 887-9114 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com 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; $115.00/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: Monday, 2 p.m. - Brussels; Monday, 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 April 15, 1965 The Brussels Lions Club held its annual ladies night on the same night the club’s annual public speaking competition was to take place. Organizers said the event was the largest ladies night in recent years. The ladies were honoured by their husbands that night, each with a corsage upon their arrival. Over 175 interested parents and friends flooded Brussels Public School with their questions and curiosity on April 12 for the school’s open night. Visitors were welcomed to the school and guided through the various classrooms by Grade 7 and 8 students. The District Vice-President for the area Women’s Institutes was in Brussels for the installation of the Majestic Women’s Institute’s officers for 1965. Mrs. J. Lowe was installed as president, while Mrs. James Smith was installed as first vice-president and Mrs. William Evans was made second vice- president. April 8, 1987 Ontario Premier David Peterson was set to make a visit to Huron County on April 9 where he would tour several local businesses and have lunch. Peterson was scheduled to tour Champion Road Machinery in Goderich where he would meet with several local mayors and county officials in Clinton. After the meeting, Peterson was scheduled to speak at a luncheon hosted by the Seaforth Business Improvement Association. Wayne Lowe was named Citizen of the Year for Brussels and area. Lowe was recognized by his fellow community members for his active participation in the Brussels Agricultural Society and recreation programs held throughout the Village of Brussels. Lowe was chosen from 10 nominations made by readers. Lowe was the second-ever recipient of the award. The first-ever was Cal Krauter. Brussels Village Council was set to celebrate Local Government Week by holding a ratepayers meeting on April 15 where residents could have their say about how the village was being run. Brussels councillors would be at the meeting to answer any questions the residents may have about what they had been doing in the year and a half since the last municipal election. With the recent announcement of the federal budget for 1987, farmers were concerned about how a proposed business transfer tax might affect them. The matter was discussed at a large public meeting in Belgrave where Brigid Pyke, president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, made the presentation during the annual meeting of the East Wawanosh Federation of Agriculture. April 6, 1994 The Blyth Festival named a new general manager. Susan Moffatt would take on her new duties on April 25. Over the past 15 years, Moffatt had held several different positions in Canadian theatre, including being the general manager of the Northern Lights Theatre in Edmonton. She also served six seasons as assistant to Stratford producer Colleen Blake. The 1994 Huron County budget was passed without a single question being asked by any of the councillors. The budget included a zero per cent tax increase, which could have accounted for the lack of councillors’ questions. The Huron County Board of Education said there would be a small increase to their education tax level, if there was even an increase at all. The budget projection was presented at the board’s April 4 meeting. April 5, 2007 Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitch- ell had reason to celebrate as she came into the area with a $242,000 cheque from the province’s Rural Infrastructure Investment Initiative for the Friends of Ball’s Bridge. The cheque was presented to Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh and was to be used for the reconstruction of the bridge. After two failed attempts at balancing the budget, Huron East Council scheduled a separate budget meeting night where a 13 per cent tax increase was to be considered. At the last meeting where the budget was being considered, over $250,000 was left to be cut, leading councillors to schedule the special meeting. Members of the Grey Fire Department met to familiarize themselves with their new defibrillator before it was placed on their truck permanently. Justin Trudeau, son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was set to speak to Avon Maitland District School Board students in Mitchell at an upcoming celebration to cultivate character. The Hitmen, a juvenile broomball team out of Seaforth brought home a gold medal from the B-Division of the Canadian Championships in Saskatchewan. The team included players from as far away as Windsor and from as close as Blyth and Brussels. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Done, and gone With the awarding of tenders last week for the construction of the new Maitland River Elementary School, all hope has been extinguished that Belgrave, Blyth and Brussels might somehow save their schools. With the precarious financial position of the provincial government there was always the hope the new school would be cancelled, but closing of schools at less than full capacity was a priority of the government so funding went ahead. Likely more people locally would have preferred the government continue with plans to fund improvements at the Wingham and District Hospital instead of build a new school but that’s not the way the government thought. Years from now people won’t even know what all the angst was about. Future generations won’t remember what it was like to have a school in their own community, just as today’s young people can’t imagine what life was like in a one-room schoolhouse. Indeed, other than the fact they’ll have to ride a bus many more hours every year, that it will be harder to take part in after-school activities and that the connection between the school and the community will be broken, the experience of students won’t likely change that much. But years from now, we also will not know how the loss of these schools will have affected the growth of our communities. It will be impossible to separate this factor from others that will determine whether our communities flag or prosper. It certainly can’t be helpful. Once upon a time a school was the expression of the community. In today’s world of specialized silos, the future of the community has no place in the thinking of education professionals. The chapter of community schools is part of history.— KR Why bother? Nobody seems to know the details yet, but mention in the provincial budget last week about merging school boards may be one of the stupidest, least useful items in the document if it means even greater distancing of school boards from the communities they serve. Can anybody really demonstrate, for instance, that the forced amalgamation of the former Huron and Perth county school boards has saved money? If the Avon Maitland District School Board that replaced it was to be merged with, say, the Bluewater District School Board in Grey and Bruce, it seems hard to figure how it would save money unless there are people working for those boards who aren’t fully employed now? Generally, when public institutions get larger in the name of efficiency, they also get more expensive because people are paid more because they have more responsibility. What we do know is that the sense of ownership of the school system by the public will be further diminished. How many people can name their local school trustee today, let alone the school board chair? How many trustees are really familiar with the schools they’re in charge of serving (or closing)? If boards are going to keep getting bigger and bigger, why not get rid of them and just make the decisions at the Ministry of Education? Oh yes, that would mean the government would have to take responsibility for school closings instead of having school boards shield them. — KR Budgets should be budgets Both the federal and provincial governments introduced budgets last week, and both used the opportunity to announce changes in environmental legislation. Aren’t budgets supposed to be about money? The federal government announced changes to speed up the approval of projects like oil pipelines by reducing the amount of environmental hearings. The province plans to relieve industrial projects from having to deal with species at risk once other approvals have been granted. Sneaking non-financial items into budgets has been a growing trend. For minority governments, it dares the opposition to force an election if they don’t agree with something. Otherwise it can cut debate short. Budgets should be budgets, not ways to sneak legislation through legislatures. — 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.