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The Citizen, 2019-10-03, Page 4PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2019. Editorials Opinions President: Keith Roulston • Publisher: Deb Sholdice Editor: Shawn Loughlin • Reporter: Denny Scott Advertising Sales: Brenda Nyveld • Heather Fraser The Citizen P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. N0M 1H0 Ph. 519-523-4792 Fax 519-523-9140 P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. N0G 1H0 Phone 519-887-9114 E-mail info@northhuron.on.ca Website www.huroncitizen.ca Looking Back Through the Years CCNA Member Member of the Ontario Press Council The Citizen is published 50 times a year in Brussels, Ontario by North Huron Publishing Company Inc. Subscriptions are payable in advance at a rate of $38.00/year ($36.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $180.00/year in U.S.A. and $380/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: Mon. 2 p.m. - Brussels; Mon. 4 p.m. - Blyth. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON N0G 1H0 email: info@northhuron.on.ca October 3, 1968 The Brussels Area Men’s Dart League arranged its teams for the coming season after holding its final warm-up session of the fall. Jack McWhirter would captain the Archers, while Ernie Black was at the head of the Greys. Ross Nicholson was named the captain of the Jamestown team, while Gordon Engel was named the captain of the Cranbrook team and Ron Huether would captain the Legion Aristocrats. Despite cold weather that included wind and rain, the Brussels Fall Fair was deemed a success, with over 500 children taking part in the festivities. The year’s parade was led by Jim Garniss riding a palamino horse, followed by numerous dignitaries. Floats were designed with the fair’s theme of “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow”. October 3, 1973 Three of the five candidates for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party leadership visited the Huron- Bruce riding the previous week. Many of the visits came in under the radar. Eddie Sargent, Robert Nixon and Ted Culp all visited the riding, attending the annual meeting of the Huron-Bruce Liberal Association held at the Wingham Town Hall. The three men had not given advance notice of their visit, but many in the Liberal circle were able to identify them in the crowd. John Elliott, chair of the Blyth Minor Hockey Association, said that while registration numbers for local hockey were good, they had declined from those of the previous year. Blyth moved one step closer to senior citizen apartments in the village after Blyth Village Council passed a bylaw asking that a survey be conducted to determine the need for local senior citizens housing. The bylaw would enable the Ontario Housing Commission to conduct the survey in Blyth, though no date had been specified. At the fall rally of Huron County Women’s Institutes, 170 members supported a petition to keep regional government out of the county. October 4, 1995 Brussels Village Councillors were concerned about the persistent vandalism that had gripped the village in recent months. Dave Grummett of the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority wrote to council asking for help after the outhouse at the village’s park had been torched for the second time in less than three years. Grummett said the organization didn’t have the money to keep replacing it and was looking for help from council and local service groups, lest it not be replaced. In other news on that case, Wingham OPP had arrested a 20- year-old Brussels man and charged him with arson and breach of probation in connection with the fire being set in the outhouse Directed by Blyth’s Duncan McGregor, Let’s Do Munsch was due to return to Memorial Hall later that month, capitalizing on the momentum of Peter and the Wolf, which the team produced in Blyth the previous year. The show was aimed at students up to Grade 6 and would bring together six of Munsch’s most loved stories on the stage. October 1, 2009 Huron County was well represented at the International Plowing Match in New Liskeard with Brandon and Jacob McGavin both winning their respective divisions. Brandon’s triumph in the 16-21 division earned him a trip to New Brunswick for the Canadian championships, while Jacob winning the 10-16 division meant a new trophy for his mantle, but no further competition in that age range. Jacob won the Sidney Sisler Memorial Trophy for having the highest point total across both divisions. A tour of the home farm of Wilma and Murray Scott served as a showcase for the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority and its numerous initiatives aimed at controlling water runoff and improving fisheries and wildlife habitat. Locals knew about the good going on at the Scotts’ farm, but it was all new to representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ducks Unlimited, who were special guests for the tour of the farm. Buffy Sainte-Marie, one of the most influential musicians in Canadian history, was due to make a stop at Blyth’s Memorial Hall later in the week. She was supporting Running for the Drum, her latest album, which was honoured with a Juno Award for best Aboriginal album. It was her first such award in over 15 years. Erlene and Jessica Caldwell were able to help a small kitten in distress while on a walk through Blyth the previous Sunday night. Erlene and her 11-year-old granddaughter sprung into action when they came upon the kitten with a plastic bag tied over its head. Erlene said the string was so tight they had trouble getting it off of the animal. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright Your local MP matters When Huron County voters go to the polls on Oct. 21, are they electing the best local representative to government or the representative of the party with which they most agree? Most people these days in our top-down society, seem to think a local Member of Parliament matters only as a representative of the national political party. It’s the reason those preaching for electoral reform think national parties should be rewarded by the proportion of the national vote they receive. If the Green Party gets 10 per cent of the vote, they should get 10 per cent of the seats in parliament, or 34 of the 338 seats. But originally our system was a bottom-up design. Voters in each riding elected the best local candidate, who most reflected their concerns. The party that elected the most MPs represented the will of the people in the majority of ridings and thus earned the right to government. There’s no doubt the status of MPs has been reduced these days. Unless she or he has become a party star by being named to the cabinet or the opposition parties’ shadow cabinets, MPs are treated by the national media as non-entities, if not almost the butt of jokes. But electing the wisest and most informed MP should still matter. The House of Commons should be filled with the most worthy representative from each riding, not just anyone who happens to represent the party in that riding. When making your choice on Oct. 21, remember among your considerations to factor in the quality of the representative Huron-Bruce riding will send to Ottawa. — KR A national disgrace When teen climate activist Greta Thunberg spoke to the United Nations last week, she made Sweden, her native country, proud. Canadians should be proud of our own teen activist Autumn Peltier who also spoke to the UN last week, but we should be embarrassed at the message she gave about Canada The 15-year-old Peltier, from Wiikwemkoong First Nation on Manitoulin Island, has been engaged in the issue of safe water for First Nations communities since she first came across a boil-water advisory in a nearby Anishinaabe community when she was eight. Today, there are 56 First Nations communities across Canada under long-term boil-water advisories, the longest of which have lasted nearly 25 years. Worse, some types of contaminations are resistant to being boiled. Others don’t even need to be consumed to be toxic, such as trihalomethanes (THMs), which in July forced the Northern Ontario First Nations community of Attawapiskat to declare a state of emergency. THMs are linked to an elevated risk of cancer. They can be absorbed through the skin, making showering and even washing your hands a danger To give the current Liberal government credit, it has whittled the number of communities under water emergencies down from 105 since 2015, and vow to get that down to zero by 2021. Still, that data on water issues doesn’t include B.C. or any of the territories. The reasons why water on First Nations isn’t potable vary, impacted by everything from the water’s origin to the pipes through which it flows to how remote the community is. It’s not an easy problem to solve. Each situation is unique. Canadian governments have spent many years and billions of dollars trying to make clean water flow from the taps on First Nations. Still, if these water issues were in southern communities, no expense would be too much to clean up the water. Remember Walkerton? The water problems of First Nations communities are a blot on Canada’s image as an enlightened, progressive country. Fixing the problem should be a high priority for whatever party forms the government after Oct. 21. — KR It’s Christmas in October Listen to the leaders of the parties contesting the Oct. 21 election, and it sounds like a marvellous world in which we can have a whole lot of goodies without it costing us a dime. In fact, they’ll probably even cut our taxes. On Sunday, Justin Trudeau promised his Liberals, if re-elected, would add $9.3 billion in new programs in 2020-2021, rising to $17 billion in the fourth year of their mandate. This costing doesn’t include the pharmacare program the party is promising. Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives have promised $6 billion in tax cuts. He hasn’t admitted to planned cuts to programs and yet promises to balance the budget so something’s got to give. The Green Party and NDP both propose expensive new programs such as pharmacare and free post-secondary education but you won’t have to pay for them unless you’re a rich guy or a big corporation. We’re being bought with our own (or somebody else’s) money. There is a cost to pay, unless you want to stick your head in the sand and run up a $27.4 billion deficit as the Liberals propose – and even that debt must be paid eventually. — KR &