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The Citizen, 1990-10-31, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1990. Editorials A sense of mission To listen to Canada’s External Affairs Minister Joe Clark, Canadians may soon find themselves at war for the first time in 40 years. If war happens, Canadians may finally have cause to pull together. Too bad it couldn’t happen in peace time. War has traditionally been a time when citizens find a common cause and set aside their personal desires and pet peeves and work together for the good of their country. It’s tragic that war, the worst aspect of humanity, can bring out the best, the ability of people to sacrifice themselves for the common good. Canada needs that kind of selflessness about now, given the troubles we face even without a war. What we need is someone to show the kind of leadership that can galvanize Canadians into action without us having to go to war. The tragedy of the government of Brian Mulroney is that it has one noble cause behind much of its economic fumbling: reduction of the deficit. The federal government’s deficit poses a much greater dangertoCanada than Saddam Hussein. Mobilizing people to fight a deficit, however, is much harder than getting people behind a war effort. S till, this government has done a horrible job of trying to get people on the bandwagon. For one thing, nobody trusts this government. There has been a sense that this government has a hidden agenda, that it says one thing in order to accomplish something else that people wouldn’ t ordinarily agree to. Sowhen Michael Wilson or some other leader talks about the need to cut the costs of social programs which are driving up the deficit, people wonder if this is really part of the plan of business leaders to cut social programs they want to be able to get rid ofto compete with U.S. rivals. If, however, Canadians could be inspired to deal with deficit reduction as a short-term emergency, they might be willing to take the short term pain for long term gain, to give back old age pensions and family allowances to all but the most needy if there was, say, a five-year limit on the special emergency measures. Before that could happen, however, Canadians would have to have faith in their government and to feel the government is doing everything possible to cut its own costs. Until government leaders create a sense of emergency by their own actions, the rest of us aren’t likely to become concerned. IfM.P.s and senators and John Crowe of the Bank ofCanadatook voluntary pay cuts they might make us believe their cries that the rest of us have to reduce our demands. As long as they keep filling their own pockets at the taxpayers’ expense, however, we’re not likely to take them seriously. Because what Mr. Crowe and Mr. Wilson and all the other politicians of all stripes are saying is that there is a problem but it’s up to other people to solve it. That’s what is coming through to Canadians and that’s why there is no united move to defeat either the deficit or inflation. It’s every person for himself or herself, the politicians seem to be telling us, and Canadians are acting that way. If we are going to turn this country around we must discover a sense of purpose. Unfortunately that kind of purpose only comes from strong leadership, leadership by example. It’s the kind of leadership that’s sorely missing in Canada today. Sticking by the rules Whiletheremaybemanypeoplewhowould like to see more development in Huron county, the majority of citizens must be pleased that, uni ike some counties, we have rule sin place that protect the rural, agricultrual nature of the county. And we stick by them. Huron residents need only look north to Grey County to see what could be happening if Huron didn’t have strong planning bylaws and the will to enforce them. The Ontario Municipal Board (0MB) recently ruled against a subdivision planned for an environmentally fragile piece of property in Grey. The subdivision had been approved by county council and county planners even though, the 0MB found, it violated many of the county’s own rules. Even worse, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Municipal Affairs hadn’t been prepared to enforce their own rules to protect the interests of ordinary citizens. In the end it was the willingness of one man to fight the issue, investing thousands of dollars of his own money to pay legal fees, that brought about the 0MB hearing that eventually killed the development. It isn’t the first time development conflicts have been played out in Grey as pro-development politicians try to circumvent their own official plan to promote growth. They see growth providing jobs and taxes so it can only be good. No doubt many in Huron would support the same objectives. But growth must be balanced by economic and environmental sense. Luckily in Huron we’ve got the politicians and planners willing to make the tough choices and protect what we’ve already got, not just worry about what we might get. The short of it Sharing memories with old friends BY BONNIE GROPP “Though I know I’ll never lose affection, For people and things that went before. I know I’ll often stop and think about them In my life, I love you more.” When I listen to the lyrics of this Beatles tune, I often stop and think about them, finding it interesting that a young man in his mid-20’s could have had enough of a past to have written words so accurate and profound. They are such simple words, but through time their impact on me increases. It’s true that as our lives move on, the people we meet along the way don’t alway remain a constant, despite having played an important part for a time. Yet someone, we’ve known only briefly may soon be­ come our principal focus. Such is life and growing up. Acquiring spouses and families of our own, we begin to centre our affections on people who haven’t known us long, but who know us well, while those who went before become another pleasant memory. I have begun to think a lot about my old friends. Perhaps it’s be­ cause I have been seeing the top of the hill approaching quickly and it would be fun to talk to people who stood near the bottom with me. Perhaps I’m curious: Who are they now? What have they done with their lives? Most importantly, are they still skinny? Fundamentally, I think it is because I don’t under­ stand why or when we lost touch. During my years at Listowel District Secondary School there were six of us that “hung out’’ -together. We were the best of friends, seeing each other through the usual teen traumas: boys, parents and zjts. We now live within a 60 mile radius of each other, yet some I haven’t seen in over a decade. I missed them at my high school reunion in 1980, be­ cause I was getting married that day and I’d like to think that more people there would have missed me if I hadn’t shown up. Anyway, over the last couple of years I have tried to touch base with a couple of the girls, then recently came up with the idea of a reunion of our own. The first HUT (it’s a long story) reunion was this past weekend at my house and we had a ball. We laughed over the past, shared details on the present and discussed the future. Our families, some of whom were meeting for the first time, got along well and got caught up in the spirit of things. My teenagers were particularly interested in any dirt mv friends had on Mom and the friends were only too happy to shovel. The husbands had a good time quipping, at our expense, about the turnover - sad to say we’ve managed to collect a total of 12 hubbies among us). They re­ marked that they might have to hold their own reunion. We talked a lot about being young and little about having gotten older, though we did mention that we noticed everyone else was. When the day came to an end, we had already made plans to meet next year and promised to keep in touch. I don’t imagine any of us expect to be as close as we were in high school, our lives have taken too many twists and turns, not to mention travelled the proverbial bumpy road for that. But there is still an attachment I realized, albeit one based more on who we were as opposed to who we are. We all know we can’t go back (who the heck would want to) but for a while it was fun looking that direction and having someone to remember with. One of my friends said that when she had told a colleague what her weekend plans were he replied with a smug, “I live in the present.’’ Me too, and mine is so great I look forward to sharing it with old friends. The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $19.00/yr. ($40.00 Foreign). Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, only that portion of the advertisment 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. (*C>4A BLUE RIBBON AWARD Phone 887-9114 Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams 1990 Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968