Loading...
The Citizen, 1995-12-20, Page 4BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1995 PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1995. C The North Huron itizen P.O. Box 152, Publisher, Keith Roulston BRUSSELS, Ont. Editor, Bonnie Gropp NOG 1H0 Phone 887.9114 Advertising Manager, FAX 887-9021 Jeannette McNeil P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523.9140 The Citizen is published weekly In Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $25.00/year ($21.37, $2.00 postage, $1.63 G.S.T.) for local; $33.00/year ($21.50, 9.35 postage, $2 15 G.S.T.) for local letter carrier in Goderich, Hanover, Listowel, etc. and out-of-area (40 miles from Brussels); $62.00/year for U.S.A. and 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. Publications Mail Registration No. 6968 Wanted: a gift of hope Call it a gift for a nation that has everything, but what Canadians need most of all this Christmas is hope. It seems strange in a country chosen by the United Nations as the country that gave its citizens the best quality of life in the world, but Canadians have lost hope in the future. A poll conducted for CBC and Maclean's magazine this week confirmed what you can feel in the streets: people have a sense of doom that the country will not hold together and that their future will be less prosperous than their past. The poll showed one third of Canadians (rising to 50 per cent in Quebec) feel the country as we know it will not exist in the year 2000. Many feel the lifestyle of senior citizens will decline because pensions will be cut. It isn't much wonder that people are feeling beaten down. Canadians have been faced with a continuing constitutional crisis over Quebec's growing nationalism for 30 years and things just seem to keep getting worse no matter what attempts are made at compromise. Federal governments have been preaching the need to cut back government spending for nearly a decade, with hard cuts coming in the past few years. Provincial governments, most recently in Ontario, have been slashing spending. Even if economists say the economy has been growing, ordinary people know we've been in a recession since late 1989. Between the recession stalling pay increases and government cuts to services along with higher taxes, Canadians know they don't have as much in their own pockets as they did, six years ago. The challenge for Canadian leaders now is to sow some seeds of hope for the Canadian people. They have preached gloom and doom too long. Such prophesies become self-fulfilling if people lose hope. Government deficits, for instance, only grow larger if people aren't spending, thereby reducing government revenues. If Canadians have no hope for the country holding together then the different regions will start fighting over the scraps of the carcass. The challenge for Jean Chrdtien, Mike Harris and all the other provincial premiers is to restore a sense of hope in the land. Without it, balancing the budget will be a hollow victory.—KR Bad results of a silly policy Anyone who still wonders why Mike Harris's campaign promise of a "Common Sense Revolution" struck a welcome chord with Ontario voters need only look at the predicament of the Huron County Library over pay equity. Along with funding cuts from the current government, the library still faces a retroactive pay equity settlement of more than $100,000. As a result, some library branches may have to be closed, perhaps even in the larger villages and towns. Some library staff will lose jobs because pay equity says that others were underpaid. Few question the ideal behind pay equity: that women should get paid the same as men for doing the same job. But pay equity went beyond that. Men and women working for the library were paid the same. Pay equity's philosophy is, however, that if the job is female dominated, as the library is, the pay rate must automatically be discriminatory. The search then begins for some job outside the library system that can be judged to be of "equal value" to which level the library workers can be increased. A good idea, taken to the ridiculous extreme with the result the public gets less service: if you have any doubt why voters chose a party with a polar-opposite philosophy, there's your answer.—KR Festival's success recognized Two years ago the future of the Blyth Festival was in doubt. This week with the awarding of the first-ever Lieutenant Governor's Award, the importance of the Festival to the arts in Ontario was recognized. After a plunge into a deep deficit, the Festival has bounced back with two financially successful and popular seasons. With the help of the comi.oinity and friends throughout the prlovince and with the stellar work of Janet Amos, the Festival is strong again. The Lieutenant Governor's Award celebrates the success of all involved.—KR E ditorial Frosted windowpanes Photo by Bonnie Gropp Letter to the editor THE EDITOR, As I reflect back on the 1995 local Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) project, it is evident that this community is very generous toward providing food to ribedy countries around the world. The 1995 local project has had a very successful year. The dollar value has exceeded last year's total by $4,000. This year's total dollar value is $19,500. With the four to one match by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) it brings our contribution to $97,500. This year the wheat and corn were sent overseas to countries requiring aid while the crops from the test plots were sold. With the CIDA match our local project would provide approximately 900 tonne of foodgrains, which in turn, if used for payment for work, would provide 1.5 years of work for 1,000 people. An example of a food for work project is the building of a 50 foot wall, 10 feet high on a hill or mountain side. This wall would act foort 523-4202. Plans arc already underway for the 1996 project. Farmers can donate grain at your local elevators at anytime by forwarding it to the Foodgrains Bank. Beneficiaries: Our food security orientation includes the view that as a dam to hold back water from a natural spring. The reservoir would supply water for irrigation and livestock. A project such as this would provide work for 10 people for one year and would cost just nine tonne of foodgrain for payment. The 12 partners who make up the CFGR are working hard at preserving agricultural land and by making more land available for agricultural use by terracing, preventing soil erosion, and supplying water. These types of projects bring long term solutions to combatting poverty. Thanks to God's blessings on our local project and the hard work and donations of many people in our community, we consider' 1995 a great success. If you have any questions or require information please contact Herb VanAmcrs- hungry people are not objects of our charity, rather fellow human beings who, like us, prefer to grow and buy their own food. This requires a responsible and collaborative approach to planning our food shipments. It means we are open and committed to using food aid in ways that go beyond the needs of the day, ways that have a positive long-term effect in the countries in which we work. Because the causes of hunger vary, we must be creative and clear about when food should be distributed free of charge, when to use it as a wage good, and when to transform it into cash and support food-related development projects. We work together with local people/organization to determine which approach will best benefit the region at any one time. If all 1994/95 Foodgrains Bank shipments had been distributed on the basis of emergency ration, Canadian donors, including CIDA, would have provided food assistance to 1.47 million people for three months! . Herb VanAmersfoort.