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The Citizen, 2006-11-23, Page 4CANCELLED !? JUST WHEN I WAS READY TO PECLAIM MY... QEPUTATION ! PAGE 4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2006. Publisher, Keith Roulston Editor, Bonnie Gropp Advertising, Ken Warwick & Kelly Quesenberry The Citizen Editorials Opinions 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 $32.00/year ($30.19 + $1.81 G.S.T.) in Canada; $92.00/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 PAP REGISTRATION NO. 09244 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO CIRCULATION DEPT. PO BOX 152 BRUSSELS ON NOG 1H0 email: norhuron@scsinternet.com We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Publications Assistance Program (PAP) toward our mailing costs. Canada zkOCna. Ko° 401A tiV Member of the Ontario Press Council Em0;LINI We ore not responsible for unsolicited newsscripts or photographs. Contents of The Citizen are Ci Copyright P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone 523-4792 FAX 523-9140 E-mail norhuron@scsinternet.com Website www.northhuron.on.ca P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, Ont. NOG 1H0 Phone 887-9114 FAX 887-9021 As November draws to an end, so do the terms of many municipal politicians who chose not to seek another term or who lost in the municipal election. We owe them all a vote of thanks. Municipal politics is one of the most thankless of public services. The responsibilities are large, and the financial reward is relatively small. Unlike provincial and federal politicians who get a good salary and a great pension, municipal councillors get a small remuneration. Certainly they do not have the workload of senior-level politicians but they don't have the staff either. Like their federal and provincial colleagues, they're also expected to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week whenever a constituent has a complaint. Perhaps there was a time when there was a respect for those who served at all levels of government, but today it seems the general public often sees their representatives as designated whipping boys: someone to blame,whenever something goes wrong: someone whose motives are doubted in regard to nearly any issue. We seldom thank them for their efforts on our behalf. But in a time when more and more people seem to want to stay home and watch TV and not get involved in the community, we need to praise and thank those people who are offering their services — both those who have served in the past and those who ran unsuccessfully in the past election. They carry out an essential part of our democracy. — KR Thanks for serving They say money talks, and apparently for Canada's business community it speaks louder than concerns over civil rights. Prime Minister Steven Harper came in for criticism from Canada's business leaders when he insisted in raising the issue of civil rights while talking to Chinese leaders at a conference in Asia last week. He said he wouldn't sacrifice human rights on the altar of "the almighty dollar". But that is exactly what business leaders apparently want. Thomas d'Aquino, president of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives warned the erosion of relations might result would "place huge handicaps on the aspirations of business people and the work force in Canada that see vital opportunities in the Canada-China economic relationship." As the world has marvelled at the dynamic growth of China's economy and as business people have rushed to make money from it, even at the cost of jobs in their home countries, the elephant in the room that no one talks about is the fact that it remains a tightly controlled communist dictatorship — the kind of-place that business leaders have traditionally been critical of whether in Soviet Russia or Cuba. But there's money to be made, so therefore the rights of the Chinese people to free speech, to freedom of religion, etc. are secondary to business needs. Let's face it, the government's control over labour even makes it more profitable for businesses to operate in ,China without the fear of effective unions to represent workers. Business leaders who criticize the Prime Minister for daring to issue concerns over human rights only confirm the sense they care nothing about people, only about dollars.— KR Unwilling to pay a price Letter to the editor Looking Back Through the Years THE EDITOR, Like a horror movie from the 1950s an "Orange Blob" has invaded Ontario. The work- of the Ontario Power Authority, the Blob is an ambiguously defined area where they are limiting the ability of renewable energy projects to connect to the electrical power grid. It just happens to cover the best wind resource areas in Ontar- io. At the moment when local farmers and communities were set to develop wind power, methane and municipal cogeneration projects of up to 10 megawatts, OPA changes the rules and says it will only consider projects 1,000 times smaller at 10 kilowatts. This is how to strangle the beginnings of Ontario's renewable energy development while choking Ontarians with continuing coal use and billing us each month for the last nuclear spending spree. (see the "debt retirement charge" on your monthly hydro bill) Back in the 1970s they went ahead with building thousands of megawatts of nuclear generation before arranging for the transmission lines to deliver it. Now when the farmers and small communities they forced those lines through, are ready to start being power generators and contributing to their own local loads, OPA says no. Give me a break. Go talk to the Danes, go talk to the Germans and discover how dispersed, modest scale, local electrical generation projects can help meet local demand -and help buffer and stabilize the transmission system. And get on with upgrading our rural transmission network now so 'that it is more reliable than it has been in the last five years and can support our transition to renewable energy in Ontario. • Tony McQuail,' Farmer and past Chairman of the Foodland Hydro Committee. Nov. 26, 1959 Legendary film actor Victor McLaglen passed away at his California home at the age of 72. He-- became well known for his acting skill after winning an Academy Award in 1935 for his performance in The Informer. A permanent reproduction of the historic fort `t1-e Alamo' was built not only for tourist and historical purposes. The lifesize reenactment of the fort was the main stagepi'tce for the old western style film of the same name. The much anticipated film The Alamo was being shot on site, with big names such as John Wayne and Laurence Harvey. The structure was to stay intact even after filming, to serve as a museum that could be viewed by tourists and locals alike. American Secretary of Labour James P. Mitchell proved that he Was a man of his word. Mr. Mitchell had made a pledge several months before that he would indeed "eat my hat" if unemployment rates in the U.S. reached three million. The study released later showed unem- ployment rates at a staggering 3,270,000. True to his pledge, Mr. Mitchell indulged in a cake shaped and iced like a fedora hat on the steps of the Labour Department building in Washington. Nov. 23, 1969 The general opinion of traffic situations in Canada had slowly been decreasing. In an effort to better prepare the next generations of drivers, high school students were being given much more in depth drivers' training before getting behind th'e wheel. Preparing even earlier than that was an elementary school that had created Safety Town, a section of the asphalt playground with painted lines simulating roads and pedestrian crossings. Thd program was designed to encourage safe driVing -at a very early age in hopes that the children would grow up with a. sense of safety and respect for other drivers, the road, as well as pedestrians. Playing at the Park Theatre in Goderich was the Alfred Hitchcock thriller masterpiece Psycho. The U.S. government was dealing with the continuing conflict over their Cuban naval 'base at Guantanamo Bay. The government was preparing for the likelihood of a demand by the Fidel Castro government for the abandonment of the base. A photo was shown of US marines searching civilians leaving the base. The civilians were employees at the base, leaving after a day's work for home. Nov. 21, 1973 The director of the successful play "The Farm Show" was back at the Blyth Theatre bringing with him a new performance. Director Paul Thompson was touring with his talented cast of his new play "Them Donnellys", a story of the infamous Donnelly family of Lucan Ontario. The play brought back some favourites from "The Farm Show", the cast including such faces as David Fox, Paul Johns, Janet Amos, and Miles Potter. The play would be touring through Blyth, then continuing on for performances in Listowel, Clinton, and the Festival Theatre in Stratford as well. Donald M. Young of Auburn was named as attendance counsellor for the Huron County Board of Education. Nov. 25, 1987 The Blyth Festival officials and volunteers unveiled their big plans for the improvement of the Memorial Hall. These improvement plans included the addition of a box office building, to be placed in an old bank building next to the Theatre, more additions to the Festival's "garage" storage space at the rear of the building, more backstage space, a new art gallery, improved washrooms, and facilities for the handicapped. The total costs of these big plans was estimated at over $1.6 million. A promise made to the Brussels, Morris, and Grey Twp. ratepayers was dutifully and skillfully kept, the results even surpassing the original expectations of the pledge. The Brussels, Morris and Grey industrial commitee unveiled its stellar promotional video that was created as a promise to the residents of the area. The 11-minute tape had its first public viewing at a gala dinner for the committee, and attendees were surprised, and pleased with the amazing quality of the piece, which was the product of six months of hard work by volunteers. The video was regarded as a big step in the promotion of the growing area. • Nov. 21, 1990 The Huron County Board of Education decided on a much needed raise for county teachers. The board agreed on a 6.1 per cent salary increase for the 420 elementary school teachers represented by the Huron Women Teachers' Association and the Ontario Public School Teachers' Federation. The raise would be put in place at least for the 1990/91 and 1991/92 school years. The Melville Presbyterian Church of Brussels was organizing a creative Christmas season food drive. The church hoped to organize a group of enthusiastic carollers to go- to local areas of Brussels, Belgrave, Bluevale and Walton, collecting food items in exchange for some heartfelt carolling.