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The Citizen, 1991-02-06, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1991. Opinion. Sad future for Canada For those Canadians who have worked for nearly 30 years now to try to build a Canada where people of French and English languages could live peacefully together, last week’s Quebec Liberal party demands for a restructured Canada are a bitter defeat. The report showed that the 30 years of struggle haven’t been about helping French Canadians protect their language and culture but about gaining more power for Quebec politicians. If the majority of Quebecois support the demands there is no future for the Canada we know today. We can give Quebec what it wants and delay the destruction of the country or we can stick to what we feel is really necessary for the whole country and wave goodbye, sadly, to Quebec. The Quebec plan would leave little power to the central government except defence, equalization payments to the provinces and the national debt. It would abolish the Senate, make sure the Supreme Court couldn’t declare any more Quebec language laws unconstitutional by not allowing it to deal with Quebec laws, take over more federal taxation, give Quebec shared authority over foreign affairs and give Quebec full authority over agriculture, unemployment insurance, communications, regional development, energy, the environment, industry and commerce, language, research and development, public security and income security. Now aside from communications and language, how many of these powers are essential for the preservation of the French language and culture? Rejection of this new set of demands, which amounts to sovereignty association by another name, will once again be looked on as a rejection of Quebec, a final rejection which would lead to a government-sponsored referendum on complete sovereignty. There won’t be strong voices like Pierre Trudeau and Claude Ryan speaking up for Canada from positions of power next time and the referendum seems likely to pass. No doubt some officials from other provinces may like the Quebec ideas. Provincial governments elsewhere have been as greedy for power as the Quebec government has. But the fact remains, a fact the premiers seem to have overlooked in their petulence in recent years, that Canada was brought together 113 years ago by leaders of the various colonies who realized without a strong union between their little islands of British influence, they would eventually be sucked into union with the United States. Today the U.S. is even more powerful and the borders, with Free Trade, even more invisible. Undoubtedly some people will use this as an argument as to why Quebec’s demands should be met; that a Canada without Quebec will be weaker and unable to stand on its own. But the Canada that met Quebec’s new demands would be so weak as to not exist at all except on paper. If Quebec must leave, as increasingly seems inevitable, then let’s at least keep a strong, united Canada for what’s left of the country. Let’s give ourselves a fighting chance to keep at least part of this magnificent dream alive.Digging in Forgotten roots Without the fur trade and the Hudson’s Bay Company there would be no Canada today so when the company announced last week it was getting out of the fur business after 321 years a huge piece of our history died. Animal rights activists were thrilled. “It’s clearly an indication that public opinion has spoken out loudly and clearly’’ said Liz White of the Toronto-based Animal Alliance. People like Ms. White have lost touch with the realities of this country. In their insulated urban environment they live in a world where they can imagine pain and suffering banished. Once they finish with the trapping industry they’ll turn their attention to animal farming. In their smugness, however, they ignore the fact they are responsible for deaths and misery for animals at a far greater rate than trappers. Mining to provide the steel for their urban towers, petroleum developments to heat their homes and power their cars and buses, and the cities themselves have destroyed the habitat for millions of animals and birds. Millions more are hit by cars on the roads, die horrible deaths from toxic wastes or oil pollution. The very urban lifestyle that lets these people look on trappers and farmers as savages is responsible for terrible destruction of the balance of nature. If these people are serious about their cause let them leave the cities and live in harmony with nature. Looking backward PREPARED BY TRACY FISHER ONE YEAR AGO . FEBRUARY 7,1990 Klaus Henschel, former owner of Brussels Stockyards was sentenced to 18 months in jail with recom­ mendation for a temporary absence permit when Mr. Henschel be­ comes eligible. The elaborate scheme almost let Mr. Henschel escape to Germany with $790,000. A huge crane lifted trusses to the top of the Blyth Festival’s admini­ stration building at the corner of Queen and Dinsley Streets. The building got a new look to it as part of the million dollar renovation of Blyth Memorial Hall. 54 Radford Group employees and their families flew from Detroit to Las Vegas where they enjoyed themselves on tours of the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, chocolate factory, cactus garden and Liberace museums. They shopped, enjoyed the sites and took part in a bit of gambling. THREE YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 3,1988 Following a head-on-collision just west of Listowel Brian J. Armstrong, of RR 2, Bluevale was listed in critical condition at Vic­ toria Hospital in London. Danny A. Stacey of Listowel, and formerly of Wingham, was listed in critical condition in St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener. The two drivers met head-on, one mile west of Listowel on Highway 86, at about 10:30 p.m. on January 29. Mr. Stacey and Mr. Armstrong along with five passengers in the Armstrong vehicle were taken to Listowel Memorial Hospital by ambulance, while the two men were transferred to city hospitals immediately. Mrs. Armstrong (Elaine) was listed in satisfactory condition and the family’s four children, David, 10; Christopher, 8; Richard, 6; and Laura, seven months were all released. The Supreme Court’s decision to make abortion legal was unleashed nationally last Thursday. In a telephone survey, The Citizen found that the heads of several organizations likely to be affected by the ruling such as the Wingham chapter of Voice for Life, were calm. Adrian Keet of White­ church, a candidate for the new Family Coalition Party, and former president of the local Voice for Life organization believed for the most part that there would be little change in Huron County as a result of the law being no longer enforce­ able. Huron-Bruce Progressive Con­ servative MP Murray Cardiff, said that personally he was very disap- Continued on page 6 The Citizen P.O. Bex 429, BLYTH, On! N0M 1H0 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 $20.50/year ($19.16 plus $1.34 G.S.T.] ($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. Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 Editor & Publisher, Keith Roulston Advertising Manager, Dave Williams Production Manager, Jill Roulston Second Class Mail Registration No. 6968