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The Citizen, 1989-02-01, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1989. Opinion A piece of the action As we look around the booming growth of southern Ontario and wonder how we can get a piece of the action here in Huron county to create the jobs to give our young people the option of coming home to stay, we often overlook our most important resource. Wetendtofeelalittlehard-usedlocally.Wedon’thavethe population to attract many of the growing service industries. We are a little too far off the beaten path for many industries trying to serve the Toronto-Montreal corridor or the U.S. market. We don’t have oil or copper or iron.ore to make the world beat a path to our door. We do have some of the best farm land in Canada but with farming the way it’s been that often seemstobe as much of a problem as it is a blessing. Yet we overlook the one resource that can make a difference: our imaginations. Rick Airey of the Ministry of Trade and Tourism spoke of the importance of using the imagination the other night when he addressed planners, politicians and economic development committee members from across the county. Speaking on the Opportunity Tour of British investors who visited the county last September he said we now know that while the investors were offered specificbusinesses to buy,manyappear to be open to ideas for opportunitiestostartfromscratch, notjust buy abusiness. He urged people to take a look at their communities in a new light, to look for potential for new businesses that might excite the interest of the investors. Later he talked about taking a new tack to lure old established businesses out of Toronto. He suggested communities should target businesses in the cities that could sell off their high-priced real estate and move to smaller communities, turning a handsome profit in the move. And he said, senior citizens could be targetted in the same way, freeing up the equity they had built in their city homes. He was promoting really, using the imagination to make things happen, not waiting (and hoping) that someone will make it happen for us. We have in our communities plenty of imaginative ideas. We have others with money who could make those ideas work if given a chance. We must find ways to put the imagination and the ideas to work to build our own bright future. The real resource In two short weeks in Canada $9.3 billion dollars have changed hands between huge companies creating absolutely nothing except controversy and proving once and for all that the 1960’s slogan “small is beautiful’’ is dead and once again bigger is better. Fed by a favourable government climate and a globalization of multi-national companies, the big are getting even bigger and the few, fewer. Many economic experts say this is fine, that if Canadian companies are to compete on a world-wide basis, they must be bigger and stronger. But Friday night speaking to the annual awards banquet of the Soil and Crop Improvement Association in Seaforth, the small voice of Elbert van Donkersgoed fed a nagging doubt about the bigger-is-better philosophy. The research director of the Christian Farmers Federation spoke of his organization’s belief that the family farm musi be kept strong because in order to have political democracy , we must have economic democracy. Centuries of experience, he points out, have shown that those who own their own land feel they have a greater stake in the community. That experience shows that democracy works best when people feel part of the system. Look around the world at where democracy has failed. In nearly all cases people have been turned from owners to tenants. Whether it be in South American right-wing dictatorships where a few families own all the land and peasants are left to seek out a living working for the landlord, or in communist countries where communal ownership of land has killed individual initiative, the lack of a sense of proprietorship has led to a sickness, not only economically but politically. We are turning Canada into a nation of employees and tenants. Where once a majority ofthe population was self-employed, either as farmers or small business owners, today the self-employed numbers are dwindling to the point where it’s hard to measure. Where once nearly everyone owned his own house, today soaring housing prices are turning home ownership into an impossible dream for many people. Lack of having a piece of the action turns Canadians into a cynical lot, full of the sense of helplessness to be able to change things. When people feel left out, democracy is in trouble. The price of international competitiveness may be a high one. Winter recedes Letter from the editor Romantic memories BY KEITH ROULSTON Since passenger service on rail­ way trains has long since ceased and the express offices have clos­ ed, to be replaced by trucks, the loss of the area’s railways will have little direct effect on most rural people. Still, for most adults, there will be a real sense of loss when the wail of a diesel horn is no longer heard echoing across the fields. The railway, for me, is part of my earliest memories. We had a railway track running through the middle of the farm I grew up on. Four times a day the blast of the steam whistle would make you pause at whatever you were doing to take a look at the train going through. For kids on long summer days it was often an invitation to high-tail it to the fence along the railway and watch the train and wave to the men in the cab and the men in the caboose. Those were the days of the mixed train so there would sometimes be passengers to wave at to as well. It will be hard to explain to children and grandchildren the The Citizen The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario, by North Huron Publishing Company Inc Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $17 OO/yr ($38 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 complex mix of feelings trains brought. There was a sense of mystery and adventure that per­ haps only an ocean-going ship can duplicate. There was a sense of awe at the powers of technology and yet a sense of fear of that power. One of our games was to put pennies or nails on the track and watch as the train flattened them down. The memories of how squished that metal was would come back, however, when we’d daringly walk the tracks, all the time with the nagging worry that huge monsters might somehow sneak up on us. Everytime I see the Continued on page 5 n P.O. Box 429, BL> TH, Ont NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 Serving Brussels, Blyth, Auburn, Belgrave, Ethel, Londesborough, Walton and surrounding townships. Editor& Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, DaveWilliams Production Manager, Jill Roulston . Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968