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Goderich Signal Star, 2017-02-22, Page 66 Signal Star • Wednesday, February 22, 2017 opinhim S• Goderich Signal -Star VOL. 26 – ISSUE 10 PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 Signal Star Publishing 120 Huckins St. Goderich ON N7A 3X8 519-524-2614 www.goderichsignalstar.com POSTMEDIA JOHN BAUMAN Group Manager, Media Sales jbauman@postmedia.com ext. 232 JANET SHRIER Office Manager jashrier@postmedia.com ext. 220 SUSAN MCINTOSH Sales gss.ads@sunmedia.ca ext. 228 TARA CORRAN Sales goderich.ads@sunmedia.ca STACEY SCOTT Inside Sales focus.ads@sunmedia.ca ext. 229 RHONDA BUTT Accounting rhbutt@postmedia.com MARY JOHNSTON Accounts Receivable majohnston@postmedia.com • CURTIS ARMSTRONG Group Director of Media Sales 519 376-2250 ext. 514301 or 510 364-2001 ext. 531024 Editorial Deadline- Friday 2 p.m. Advertising booking deadline - Friday 1:30 p.m. SUBSCRIPTION RATES ADVANCE: Regular $50.00 includes GST (12 months) Seniors $50.00 includes GST (14 months) US 5249.00 plus GST Foreign 5416.40 phis GST Single Copy S1.50 includes GST Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 120 Huckins St, Goderich ON N7A 3X8 For any non -deliveries or delivery concerns: 519-524-2614 Goderich Signal Star is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent ethical organization established to deal with editorial concerns. For more information or to file a complaint go to www.mediacouncil.ca or call toll free 1-844-877-1163. The Goderich Signal Star shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad for typographical errors in publication except to the extent of the cost of that portion of the ad in which the error occurred. The Goderich Signal -Star reserves the right to reject or edit any advertisement. The Goderich Signal -Star is a proud member of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association (CCNA) and The Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA). Member of the Ontario Community Newspaper Association and the Canadian Community Newspaper Association. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada. Canada Politics is rough but shouldn't be unsafe ow naive were we ever to believe the adage "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"? That child- hood retort for verbal bullying rings a particularly anachro- nistic tone in the age of Inter- net trolling, fissured politics, ebbing social decorum and mounting antagonism for oth- ers whose views don't echo ours. Victims of online torment, social -media mobs and in - your -face shouting know too well that words cut grievous wounds too. So an Edmonton Journal investigation that confirms a disturbing escalation in threats of harm to Premier Rachel Not- ley is troubling to anyone'who cares for political debate and democracy itself. 'lhe statistics, gleaned after a lengthy access to information request, show that from 2003 to 2015, sheriffs recorded 55 secu- rity incidents involving six pre- miers. Nineteen of those came in the last half of 2015 -- Not- ley's first months in office. At least three required police intervention. Things got worse in 2016, when the protection services unit started to keep a closer watch on social media. That year, an astonishing 412 inci- dents were reported involving Notley -- 26 deemed potentially menacing enough to be for- warded to police. The authorities now taking online abuse of our leaders seriously should encourage all of us to take more responsibil- ity for what we tap out on our keyboards. Notley may be the most pop- ular target, perhaps because of social media's exploding growth and increasingly polar- ized politics, but she is not the only premier who received threats. In 2003, then -premier Ralph Klein was hit in the face with a cream pie. Some observers laughed it off, but Klein recalled the shock and alarm he felt that moment. Under Ed Stelmach, incidents spiked in 2008, then quieted down until 2012 under then - premier Alison Redford. Alberta's first female pre- mier grew so concerned about security that the prov- ince paid the Calgary police nearly $640,000 over a 16 -month period to provide added protection for her and her family when she was in that city. That two female premiers are, and have been, subject to higher levels of abuse than many of their male peers is particularly alarming. Democ- racy is beggared if threats of violence keep half the popula- tion from serving in public office. Politics are a rough-and-tum- ble pursuit and its practitioners are supposed to sport thick skins, but fear for personal safety shouldn't be part of the job. - Postmedia Network PM's visit restores touch of normality 0 ne of the reasons why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit with the American president on Monday went so well was because the exchange was so ordinary. Indeed, although there were plenty of political theatrics elsewhere in the Trump admin- istration that day (national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned after reportedly lying to then -incoming vice- president Mike Pence about the discussion of Russian sanctions with a Russian diplomat in the days before the administration was sworn in), the president's meeting with Trudeau repre- sented perhaps the calmest moment Donald Trump and the American people have experienced since Trump was sworn into office only 25 days earlier. Trudeau has been receiving high praise for his perfor- mance, but it's not like he used extraordinary skills with Trump. Trudeau was polite and diplomatic. He smiled a lot. He was gracious. He wasn't offensive. In other words, the Canadian prime minister exhibited all of the characteristics that most Western leaders have tradition- ally used when dealing with each other -- at least up until Trump's unconventional cam- paign and unexpected ascent to the White House. The exchange between Trudeau and Trump provided the American people with an unusual moment of normal- ity, plopped within a swirling sea of abnormalities and absurdities. The Canadian prime minister's very pres- ence in Washington helped to illustrate the kind of stability that appears to be lacking within the Trump camp. - That's good. The relation- ship between the two nations is too close, too precious, too important to be compromised by the kind of curious bluster Trump and his people have been feeding on. Trudeau played the meeting beautifully by exhibiting the best qualities of Canadian statesmanship. That's not to say. Trump and the Republicans won't try to take advantage of Canada's economic assets to boost American business. From the day in 2015 when he announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination, Trump made it clear he wanted to restore what he sees as America's lost greatness, and at the core of his message was the restoration of manufacturing and the jobs that accompany that activity. Mexico was an easy target for Trump, but the trade between Canada and the U.S. dwarfs the exchange between the U.S. and Mexico. And while Mexico has much to lose if Trump bluster becomes Trump policy, the stakes are significantly higher for Canada. Trudeau's calm conduct on Monday helped deflate any bluster and restore normalcy to • what could have been a difficult encounter. - Postmedia Network letter to the editor Blowing Snow from the west across highway 21 Dear editor, Could not a program (govern- ments love programs) be set up to encourage landowners to plant trees on the west side of 21, where there are no trees, to buffer the blowing winds of snow? One row of any kind of cedar tree would probably work wonders, be cheap and proba- bly would easily be agreeable to the landowners. The cost of the trees and the planting covered by Prime Minister Wynne or a half price deal should be explored. These trees would reduce white outs, cars in the ditch, police activity and a host of other unwanted situations including better travel for ambulances. The police could easily raise money from catch- ing vehicles speeding over the limit. Sincerely, John Parker Bayfield, ON LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Signal Star welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include the writer's full name, address, daytime phone number and signature (for verifica- tion). Anonymous letters will not be published. We reserve the right to edit all editorial submissions including letters for clarification, style and length. Let- ters must be signed and be in good taste and follow the laws of libel and slander.