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The Citizen, 2004-04-08, Page 4Pop Quiz: Who's really trying to save Air Canada from bankruptcy? (a) The unions who have made concessions totalling nearly 1 Billion dollars... (h) Executives Robert Milton and C. Rovinescu who are asking for bonuses totalling 42 Million dollars... PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2004. Editorials Opinio S Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Jamie Peters and Alicia deBoer 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 $30.00/year ($28.04 + $1.96 G.S.T.) in Canada; $80.00/year in U.S.A. and $100/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. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40050141 PUBLICATIONS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: norhuron@scslnternet.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. We are not responsible for unsolicited newsscrIpts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are © Copyright ocna +TA Member of the Ontario Press Council wiff;1411M P.O. Box 429, P.O. Box 152, BLYTH, Ont. BRUSSELS, Ont. NOM I HO NOG I HO Phone 523-4792 Phone 887-9114 FAX 523-9140 FAX 887-9021 E-mail norhurongscsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca The Citizen Unfinished balancing act As municipalities struggle to balance their budgets for 2004 one thing has become clear: they got the worst of a swap of services with the provincial government which was supposed to have been an even trade. Under the downloading of land ambulance services to municipalities, for instance, the province was supposed to pay half the costs of the ambulance service. Huron County officials claim the province is actually paying' 31 per cent. There was supposed to be a tradeoff of social services with the province paying a larger share of the Ontario Works welfare program while the county picked up part of the costs of the disability program, including drug plan costs. Because Ontario Works costs were reduced by a large amount, the county has found itself with a $729,000 bill from the province. Few municipal politicians who have been around since the downloading days of the Harris government are probably surprised. The switch of services and costs was so massive, it would have been amazing if there weren't some miscalculations. The government of the time plastered over the cracks in the system with interim payments that made it look like things balanced but as these disappeared, the gaping holes became evident. When the concept of rethinking who paid for what first came up it was called "disentanglement" and it seemed to make sense. Over decades provincial governments had dipped into local affairs to both help cover the growing costs and to push local governments into programs they wanted done at the local level. The power of the provincial chequebook gradually changed the role of municipalities from simple providers of roads, water and lights to a much more active part of local life. But interaction between the provincial and local governments became ever more entangled. So to a new premier looking to cut red tape the idea of disentanglement must have seemed inviting to Mike Harris. The problem was when the province actually started to try to rearrange services they found it hard to make the trades work. The province wanted more control of education so offered to take half the cost of education off the local tax base. Then couldn't balance the scales with what it would give back to the municipalities and so weird trades were made like handing over ambulance service to counties, regions and cities. In the end the situation was just about as muddled as it started out. Except, of course, that any errors in calculation seemed to benefit the province. Local taxpayers are now paying the price as high-single-digit tax increases seem to be the norm, even when, as Huron County did, cash reserves are depleted. Meanwhile the Harris and Eves governments got to proudly announce tax cuts at the same time as they bragged they were giving more money for health care. Now, of course, the provincial government also faces a huge deficit at a time when it should be reworking the downloading agreements to help municipalities. The situation proves again that there are no free tax breaks. Somebody always pays.— KR When humans are horrid At first glance the photo on the front page of many newspapers one day last week, looked pleasant. In the foreground was a mass of celebrating people, looking as happy as if they'd won a lottery prize. It was only in the background when you saw, hanging from a bridge, the charred remains of some American workers who had been trying to help rebuild Iraq that the horror of the photo kicked in. Coming near the 10th anniversary of the hacking to death by machetes of 800,000 Rawandans by their neighbours, the actions of the mob in Iraq again demonstrates the dark side of human nature. For Canadians, it's hard to imagine what hate can drive people to do such things, and then a small inkling comes with the growing number of anti-Semitic incidents here. We must be ever vigilant to keep the human dark side at bay. — KR Letter to the editor Looking Back Through the Years THE EDITOR, The boundaries of the federal electoral districts changed on. April 1 to prepare for the next general election. The town of Walkerton, the Twps. of Brant and Carrick and the village of Mildmay have been added to the district of Huron-Bruce. The village of Paisley is now part of the district of Grey Bruce Owen Sound. When the boundary or the name of an electoral district changes the returning officer must be reappointed or replaced. Consequently I will not be the returning officer for the next federal election. I acknowledge the DROs, poll clerks and other election officers for federal elections for the past 24 years. During an election the work is challenging, the pace is brutal and I am very thankful that I was able to assemble a great office staff for each event. Much has changed since I was appointed in Dec. 1979. Huron Bruce is now twice as big as it was then, both in terms of physical size and the number of electors. For the first election I needed a staff of four; for the 2000 election I needed 10 on a quiet day and 30 on a busy day. Yours sincerely, Art Bolton. April 9, 1952 Compete oven meal demonstrations were sponsored by the Majestic Women's Institute in Brussels. - William Forbes, son of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Forbes formerly of Brussels, won a $900 scholarship delivered by the National Research Council in Ottawa. Forbes was studying at the University of Toronto towards a doctorate degree, in chemistry. April 10, 1969 Local Brussels merchants decided to keep their businesses open Friday nights. The Brussels Figure Skating Club competed in Listowel for the Canadian Figure Skating tests. Skaters from Brussels included Lori McCutcheon, Joan Huether, Dianne Willis, Anne Stratychuk, Wendy Prior and Michael Kernaghan. The first Miss Teenage Canada was held live at Queen Elizabeth Theatre at the Canadian National Exhibition Grounds. April 12, 1972 Dr. Brian Hanlon, arrived from Ireland and established his practiCe with Dr. J.K. McGregor in Brussels and Wingham. The Brussels Lions held their annual Father and Child night at the United Church. After dinner the guests were shown a film on the Great Lakes. Brussels Curling Club wound up a successful season when trophies were presented at a dinner-dance in the Legion Hall. An announcement of the first industry to locate at the former CFB Clinton and to receive Ontario government assistance was made by Huron MPP Chas. MacNaughton. Cattle Diseases Consultant was established as the new position in the Veterinary Services branch of the Department of Agriculture. It took sharp pencils and two nights of concentrated effort, but the Huron County Board of Education managed to chop about $350,000 from the 1972 budget. Ross Vietch, Madeline Steiss and Isobetl Rathwell, former members of one of the winning rinks in curling, received prizes at the Curlers Annual Banquet. The Silver Strings Orchestra from the Walton area were among the top four winners for the talent contest held recently in the Wingham Town Hall sponsored by the Wingham Lions Club Talent Hunt. April 9, 1989 The walls came tumbling down at the final clean=up of the once-huge Queen's Hotel in Brussels. took place. Material salvaged from the building by Total Demolition lay piled in outside the old building. The site was completely levelled and preparations were underway to make -the site ready for the new supermarket to be built on the lot. Open burning of household waste at the East Wawanosh waste disposal site would not be acceptable, Philip Bye of the Ministry of Environment told township council. According to Bye, the burning of household wastes sent many toxic fumes into the air and does not reduce harmful leaching of toxic wastes into the soil. Therefore _the government's position is that no burning of household waste be allowed at any dump site. Blyth Public School held its science fair with a wide display of experiments. Winning entries were Rick Howson, Tammi Medd, Kim Medd and Sarah Allan. Seven projects of the Blyth science fair continued on to the county science fair. Representing the school were Kim Medd, Jennifer Allan, Jennifer Roulston, Rick Howson, Arthur Bos and Scott Cronin. Sharron Dobson of Ethel was the winner of a trip to Expo after entering a draw at the McDonald's restaurant in Hanover. April 6, 1994 Adam Blair and Shane Hesch of the Blyth Scouts did their part for the recycling effort initiated by Blyth council. About a dozen Scouts and fathers delivered the blue boxes to the houses and apartments in town on a damp and snowy March day. The Blyth Festival board of directors appointed Susan Moffat as general manager. Marlene Richmond of St. John Ambulance, was demonstrating first aid techniques, including the proper way to put someone's arm in a sling during a First Aid course at the Brussels Fire Hall. The Blyth Novice team won the B championship title of the Blyth Lions' tournament. Farmers interested in working with draft horses took part in a day- long workshop at Tony and Fran McQuail's West Wawanosh property. April 14, 1999 The emergency bus evacuation practice drills, conducted by the Avon Maitland District School Board and the OPP were making the rounds of local elementary schools. The Blyth Brownies began their cookie sale blitz. Margaret Webster, Harry Lear, Sheila Richards and Sitel-on Stadelmann, volunteers at Blyth Festival, were honoured for their years of service. Things were hopping at Walton Public School as staff and students took part in the second annual hop- a-thon. The event was held to -raise money for muscular dystrophy.