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The Citizen, 1997-09-17, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17,199/. C itizenTheNorthHuron P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhuron@huron.net Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising Manager, Jeannette McNeil The Citizen is published weekly in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $27.00/year ($25.24 + SI.76 G.S.T.) in Canada; $62.00/year in U.S.A, and $75.00/year in other foreign countries. 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 E ditorial i □ Show us the money The warnings from the Huron County treasurer's office that there could be big property tax increases on the way (up to 81 per cent in Grey Twp.) could be misleading — then again they might not be. It all depends on the mysterious pots of money the province is supposedly setting aside to help even out the effects of the downloading of provincial services to the municipalities. The province has said it has a pool of $500 million to compensate municipalities for the costs of downloading and another $176 million for rural municipalities so they won't be hurt by the new farm land tax rate that will see only 25 per cent of the normal lax rate paid (previously farmers paid the whole rale to the municipality, then got a 75 per cent rebate from the province). The provincial government could go a long way to reducing the speculation, and the worry, by simply spelling out the rules of how municipalities can get at this money. But with three months to go before financial responsibility for all these new services is dropped in the laps of municipalities, they still have no idea how much money they’ll get, or even how to go about trying to gel it. Huron County councillors spent a considerable amount of time at their September meeting debating whether they should go after the farm tax rebate money, even though no process has been announced yet. Councillors were worried if they attempt to get at the money too soon, and used inaccurate figures as basis of the appeal, they could end up short changed. On the other hand, they worried if they wait too long, all the money could be gone. The delay in informing municipal leaders on how the money will be divided and who will get what, may simply be a result of the chaos that seems to have gripped the government in the face of such huge changes. Il’s only recently, for instance, that the province gave figures on the cost of services to be downloaded, and even then provincial officials warned there might be changes. But worrying municipal leaders is the suspicion that the government has a hidden agenda, that it is going to use the pots of money to reward municipalities that go along with things l'ke restructuring and punish those that don’t. Instead of the old system of government grants that clearly spelled out the rules and made all municipalities equal, the government now has a pot of money from which municipalities may be treated differently. This suspicion may be based more on paranoia than on fact The problem is that until clear rules for accessing the special provincial funds are spelled out, the suspicions will continue to grow. There’s a simple solution to stop the speculation and do wonders for the stature of the provincial government: bring down clear, concise rules for the special funds and bring them down immediately. — KR Strange way to run a country After the meeting of provincial premiers in Calgary on the weekend, the fight for national unity seems to have new energy. The premiers renewed hope by ditching the "Distinct Society" phrase in favour of talk about Qu6bec being unique. Distinct Society had become a phrase that meant something different for just about everyone who used it, everything from virtual independence for Qu6bec nationalists to a simple recognition of the obvious distinctive character of the province by others. There was the suspicion on the part of many Canadians that recognizing Quebec as a distinct society was a way of giving the province more power than other provinces. Maybe the change of phrasing will work and begin a healthier debate, maybe it won’t, but the weekend’s activities certainly demonstrated the strange nature of Canada. One would think that an important initiative on national unity would come from a country’s capital but not in Canada. Here the provincial premiers take the lead and the prime minister has the choice to tag along or not. He is powerless to lead because the premiers can scuttle any plan he might come up with to reshape the country. They can hold him to ransom, demanding more power for themselves before they allow him to make necessary constitutional changes. But on the other hand Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard is also strangely powerless. The premiers are going over his head, trying to influence enough Quebecers that their uniqueness is recognized and protected that Bouchard loses the next referendum. He can argue all he wants but in the end the people will decide. — KR Photo by Jeannette McNeil Little pig, let me come in? Letters THE EDITOR, The Blyth Rutabaga Festival was an event that was enjoyed by young and old alike. A lot of people in its five-year run worked very hard to keep this event going, dedicating a lol of time and energy but also having a lot of fun along the way. Like any event it needed new committee members to continue its growth and survival. That did not happen and the fifth and last Rutabaga Festival weekend was organized and run by only six committee members. The chairpersons for its five years were: 1990 - John Elliott, 1191 - Bruce Papple, 1992 - Judy Brown, 1993 - Ray Salverda, and 1994 - co-chairs -Brenda Burkholder and Michelle Richmond. With remaining funds a trophy case has been built and placed in Memorial Hall to hold the 17 trophies, which were donated by numerous local businesses and individuals for the festival. Another part of Blyth's unique history has been preserved. Although the Rutabaga Festival did not continue perhaps if we hear laughter or tall tales being told we will find these people reminiscing in front of the Rutabaga trophy case. After all what Blyth resident will ever forget, "Root, root, root, for rutabaga..."? Brenda J. Burkholder. THE EDITOR, We have enjoyed, for the past two years, a pair of artificial Canada geese that our children and grandchildren gave to us. They have been enjoyed by us and others. Now someone has taken it upon themselves to remove them from our property without our permission. To the people who took them, if you are really not in need of them, please return them to us because they mean a lot to our family and others. Gordon and Helen Blake. THE EDITOR, I got a wind chime as a wedding present from a close friend of mine. I thought it would be nice to hang it outside so I could enjoy the sound of it on windy days. Well I hung it up, but within a week it was stolen from my own backyard, which means someone had to have come onto my property and stole it. I find it very sad that in a small community like Brussels, you can't even have something in your own backyard without taking the chance of it being stolen. I would just like to tell the person who stole my wind chime that if you are done playing with it could you please return it. It was a wedding present, and wedding presents can't be replaced. Donna Peachey (Gordon). THE EDITOR, The Minister of Education and Training, John Snobelen, early in his mandate promised "to create a crisis in Ontario's public education system." He has provoked this "crisis" by initiating unprecedented changes and at a pace well beyond the normal capacity for change. Teachers and students returned to school to a climate of uncertainty and fear, not knowing what the future holds for them this autumn. On June 13, 1997, at the culmination of the school year, the Ministry of Education introduced a "new curriculum" for language and math to be implemented at the start of this school year. Teachers certainly recognize that a one-day training session in the summer, with attendance restricted by the Continued on page 7