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The Citizen, 1990-02-28, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2«, 1990. Editorial There’s a bright side to The country got to see the old Michael Wilson shuffle last week as the federal minister of finance managed to shuffle off part of his deficit to the provinces. No doubt later this spring we’ll also get to see the Robert Nixon soft shoe as he dances his way out of deficits by handing more programs off to the municipalities to pay for. While both the maneuvres may be dishonest, making spending appear to go away when it’s still there, we may gain by this chickening out by senior levels of government. Look over the rate of increase of taxes in the last couple of decades and you probably won’t find a smaller increase than that of the municipal level of government. Much of the increase there has been, has been because of programs where the province dictated the terms and told the local municipality it had to meet the government standard. The reasons is simple: the local municipality has to face the wrath of taxpayers every day. It’s a lot harder to increase taxes when you have to walk down the street, or sit in the restaurant, or go to church and face the people who have to foot the bills for the latest tax hike. It’s a lot easier to live in the relative anonymity of Toronto or Ottawa and make decisions that will increase taxes. A big part of the tax increases that have come at the municipal level have been in areas where the local council has no control. Tax increases for education have outstripped municipal expenses by a wide margin. County expenses have soared the buck-passing recently much of it due to provincially-imposed expenses such as the new Huronview. Faced with hefty increases handed down by the board of education and the county, local councils have often put off plans of their own in order to keep taxes down. Unlike other levels of government, municipal councillors most often see that the taxpayer can only afford so much. The closer politicians are to the people, the more responsive they seem to be. But the danger is that politicians at the municipal level will get further from the people because of the urging of the province. The province seems determined to force amalgamation of conservation authorities even though the authorities and municipalities have been fighting the change. The province seems determined to push ahead with reform of county government even though some counties like Huron feel the system basically workswell now. The changes would mean there wouldn’t be any municipalities under 4,000 poulation, meaning fewer councils, fewer municipal offices, and safer distance between the politician and the taxpayer who pays the bills for the programs the politician finds so dear. If the federal and provincial governments want to push more spending to the municipal level they may be doing us a favour. What we must fight, however, is the tendency of the province to make the municipality pay the bill while the province sets the rules and the policy of the province to continue to centralize and increase the size of local governments. Brave victor in Nicaragua The victory of the National Opposition Union under Violeta Chamorro in Sunday’s first election in Nicaragua is a Stirling example once again of the bravery of many of those in other parts of the world who fight for democracy. Mrs. Chamorro’s unexpected victory is another of those stirring stories of personal cour­ age. Her husband Pedro Joaquin Chomorro was publisher of La Prensa, a stubbornly indepen­ dent newspaper in Nicaragua. When they couldn’t control him the former government of dicta­ tor Anastasio Somoza had him killed by the National Guard in 1978. Mrs. Chamorro took up the fight, continuing to publish the newspaper. After the corrupt Somoza regime was thrown out, she initially joined the govern­ ment of Daniel Ortega but was disillusioned when he started to move towards Marxism. Her newspaper became a voice of opposition until the government managed to close down the paper. After international pres­ sure it was allowed to reopen. Having seen what can happen with her husband murdered, it’s hard to imagine how someone like Mrs. Chomorro can find the courage to continue to take fearless stances. Now she inher­ its the difficult job of trying to lead a country back to democracy after years of dictatorship. Those who support democracy can only admire her courage and wish her the luck she will surely need. Break-up Letter from the editor/ The little things count BY KEITH ROULSTON It’s funny that when you look back in your life it’s often the little things that you remember best. While larger, more expensive Christmas gifts fade from memory, it’s the little gift that you spend hours playing with that you remem­ ber. I remember, for instance, the series of surprises my sister and her friends planned for me one winter when I had to spend several weeks in bed with rheumatic fever. My sister, who was off at school in the city, took a few dollars and she and her friends set out to buy me a whole series of small gifts, one to be opened each day while I was sick. Many of the gifts only cost a few cents but they were as wonder­ ful for me as if they had been worth hundreds of dollars. I played with some of them until they just wore out from over use. That kind of precious simple thing struck me the other night when I stopped in to take pictures at the Belgrave arena for the community skating carnival. Every­ body seemed to be having a good time in a big, chaotic, make-your- own fun kind of a way. It reminded me of some of the community events I remember from my own days of growing up. We had our big events back then, our fall fair being * among them, but I tend to remem­ ber things like skating parties or the neighbourhood wiener roast one neighbour held one year when he cleared out an old orchard and had some apple trees to burn. I’ll bet more than a few of those kids at Belgrave will remember these skat­ ing parties after they have grown. Nowadays when we’re trying to tap tourist dollars to add some diversity into our local ‘economies we often look for great big events that will draw in people from far and wide. While these events are great to have in a community, they may miss something the smaller Continued on page 34 P.O Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont NOG 1H0 Phone &87-9114 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19.OO/yr. ($40.00 Foreign). 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. We are not responsible for unsolicited newscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright. Serving Brussels. Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Production Manager, Jill Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968