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The Citizen, 2018-03-08, Page 7Other Views Be a citizen, not just a resident On a recent TVO show, The Life -Sized City, about Medellin, Columbia, an activist in that city made an interesting observation. "Residents," he said, "have rights. Citizens have rights and responsibilities." The man who spoke the words was definitely a citizen, not just a resident. He was one of a large group of volunteers who took up the cause of fighting poverty and Medellin's terrible reputation as a South American drug capital. Some organized to win election to run their city. Others took on smaller projects. Medellin, for instance, is a divided city with prosperous areas in the valley and the poor left to spread up the mountainside with few city services. There aren't even any streetlights so at night the streets are dangerous. So citizens organized a program to install solar -powered streetlights, adding one light at a time as they could afford it. The project had an unintended consequence — as the lights went on the prosperous residents of the valley were reminded 24 hours a day of the presence of the poor in their community. There were larger projects as well. One of problems for the poor people on the mountainside was that it took them too long to be able to travel to jobs in the valley because they had no public transit. While on a vacation in Switzerland, one of the citizen leaders noticed the gondolas used as ski resorts and wondered if a gondola system could help get mountainside dwellers down the hill faster. The system was built and now makes new job opportunities available to the poor mountain - dwellers. But it's that definition of a citizen being someone with rights and responsibilities that keeps sticking in my mind. In a way, it's like a resident is just a tenant while citizens see Keith Roulston From the cluttered desk themselves as owning shares in their community. They realize that they benefit when the whole community benefits. Rural areas and small towns traditionally have a large proportion of citizens. People had to take responsibility or communities would have little to offer. Those who realized they had responsibilities to their communities didn't necessarily need to take bold steps like running for municipal council or the school board. They made their communities better by leading the Boy Scouts, becoming a volunteer firefighter, being active in the Lions Club or Women's Institute or coaching baseball or hockey. It's easier to be a resident in a large city. You don't need to take ownership in your community to be fully served. Between private businesses and government you can expect to have most of your needs taken care of. Thankfully there are still people who take responsibility for leading Girl Guides or coaching soccer, but these citizens make up a smaller proportion of the population. Changes in society have seen this mindset creeping into rural communities. The replacement of small, personally -run stores by large, corporate mega -stores disconnects the sense that the well-being of people you know depends on the dollars you spend with them. The growth of government services also gives THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018. PAGE 5. the impression that we can relax and let somebody else pick up the slack. But the perception that we can sit back and somebody else will take responsibility is flawed in rural communities. There's a richness that's lost, not only because we'll lose services we've had when we used to provide them through volunteer labour, but because getting involved with others in the community is rewarding. I still remember the simple pleasure of washing dishes with a neighbour after a community supper many years ago, having a conversation we'd never have had if not being brought together by that shared task. Taking ownership in your community pays off in big and small ways. Back in 1985, citizens in the Brussels and Blyth areas who missed having a local newspaper, invested in The Citizen. Their faith gave them a community -owned newspaper that's still going strong nearly 33 years later (and has paid them a good financial return as well). Meanwhile, larger communities' newspapers went through several ownership changes, each owner more remote from understanding of the needs and opportunities of the communities they served. Now it seems only a matter of time before those communities won't have a newspaper at all. We need more people who realize their community is not just a place they reside but is a place in which they own a share. Yes, it takes more effort than just sitting back and connecting through Facebook or being entertained by Netflix. But taking ownership, playing an active part in your community, is rewarding in so many ways that big business and big government can't deliver. If you're not already a citizen, dive in. It offers so much more than just being a resident. Court is in session, except for the NHL You only have to briefly search online for NHL linesman Don Henderson and Calgary defenseman Dennis Wideman to see one of the most vicious hits in modern hockey. Years ago the hit would've likely book - ended one of Don Cherry's Rock 'Em Sock 'Em hockey videos if Wideman had been hitting another player. No, Wideman hit a member of the officiating crew and, taking my experience as a referee and a hockey player into account, I'm comfortable saying it certainly does look like Wideman hit the linesman intentionally. Wideman suffered a hit while playing against the Nashville Predators. It might not have been the cleanest hit but Henderson, arguably the closest referee, was busy trying not to fall into the Predator's bench and likely didn't see it. In retaliation,Wideman hit Henderson. Not only did he hit him, he cross-checked him from behind. That could be a career -ending hit for a fully -equipped player, and apparently was a career -ending hit for the comparatively less -equipped Henderson. In the end, Henderson sought damages to the tune of $10.25 million: $10 million for lost wages and potential earning and $250,000 in general and special damages. The hit took place during a Jan. 27, 2016 match and was shifted from a civil court to the NHL's arbitration organization. The organization, however, doesn't inspire a lot of confidence from Henderson who points out that Wideman has previously dealt with it and the league as well. So why does this matter? Well it matters because, as I've written before, this kind of disrespect drives referees away from the game. Wideman received a 10 game suspension while he potentially ended the career of an official and, like I said, from the angles I saw Denny Scott Denny's Den and the events that played out, you would be hard-pressed to convince me Wideman didn't completely intend to injure Henderson. Unfortunately for Henderson, there is a layer of protection that isn't quite as visible on the ice: protection from litigation. Henderson has every right to seek financial compensation from the man who potentially ended his career. It was not a part of the game, it was not accidental. It was, and again, this comes from my years of experience being on both sides of these hits, contact made with the intent of causing injury. Wideman faced a 10 -game suspension, which covers less than a month of playing time. If anyone else had used a solid object to assault someone from behind (anyone else who isn't protected by an organization like the NHL) they could face 18 months in prison or, if indictable, up to 10 years. But, because he is an athlete, we turn a blind eye to the crimes he commits. And don't for a second think this wasn't a crime. Even if I'm completely off the mark and misread the entire situation and Wideman was just sleeping on his way back to the bench, by not stopping or even trying to avoid him and instead, bringing his stick up to strike Henderson, Wideman is guilty of reckless endangerment. Heck, players have sought legal reparations from other players, so I'm not sure why this is so different. Take, for example, Vancouver Canuck Todd Bertuzzi and his career -ending sucker punch against Steve Moore. Moore had three broken vertebrae as a result of the punch and the ensuing fracas and settled out-of-court for an undisclosed amount for the injury that ended his career. The NHL, however, thought that 20 games was enough a punishment for someone assaulting another player and ending their career. Marty McSorley was found guilty of assault with a weapon after slashing Donald Brashear in the head in 2000. Somewhere, we need to draw a line and say, this isn't hockey, this is assault. This may seem to fly in the face of a lot of things I've written about hockey in the past. I know that I've said that hitting is an important part of the game and, while I may have never written this, watching players drop the gloves is a national pastime in Canada. The difference, however, is in the intent. Bertuzzi was seeking revenge for a hit Moore threw against another Canuck. McSorley was sore he had lost a bout with Brashear. Those are also different scenarios in that those are players. While assault is never allowed, being on the end of a bad hit is something they do need to expect. Officials, however, shouldn't have to worry about that. In this instance in particular, for example, it almost appears as if Wideman was taking revenge for a missed call. Be it soccer, hockey, baseball or anything in between, the officials are supposed to be sacrosanct. You do not assault them, you don't invade their personal space and you pay them an amount of respect due to someone who puts themselves in such a controversial position. Wideman, if you happen to somehow read this, take Red Green's advice, keep your stick on the ice. Shawn Loughlin Shawn's Sense Shattered memories I ast week I was closing my dishwasher (feel free to stop right there — I'm not Jsure many action -packed movies or Pulitzer -Prize winning books have started with this scenario, I get it) and I heard the dreaded breaking of glass. I was pushing in the upper shelf and I, somehow, broke one of my old beer glasses. At first I was annoyed with myself. I usually know better than to try and put glasses in the dishwasher and often ask Jess to wash them (my hands are too big to clean those things). When I saw which glass I broke, I suddenly, and without warning, got very sad. I had broken my Guinness pub glass. To anyone who drank out of it over the years, it was just a regular old Guinness pub glass. But to me, it was a souvenir from the first act of Huron County courtesy extended my way. When I first moved to Huron County, not only had I never lived on my own, but I had never lived outside of the Greater Toronto Area. This whole experience was alien to me. I arrived in Goderich in October, right when the Major League Baseball playoffs began. I had a roommate and she didn't have cable or internet, so, to fill my nights, I would go out to a local pub on my own to watch the baseball playoffs and have a beer — usually a Guinness, very often my beer of choice. After one game and a few beers, my bartender returned with a freshly -washed Guinness glass and told me to keep it. He knew what it was like to start over in a new town where you know no one, he said, so it was his gift to me. Nothing special. Just a pub -style Guinness glass, but I thought it was such a nice thing for him to do, especially since he didn't know me from a hole in the ground. I always cherished that glass. And then, to compound its importance, that bartender died a few years later. It made me sad to think that one of the first county residents to go out of his way to be nice to me no longer walked among us. And now, that glass is garbage. Broken like so many beer glasses before it. I was lucky last year. Jess, in a very similar situation to the one I just described, broke a glass gifted to me by former Huron East Mayor Joe Seili in 2010 when his mayoral run ended. At Joe's last council meeting (although he would decide to run again in the coming election as a councillor), he gave every councillor and staff member two beer glasses commemorating his time as mayor. He even spared four for the media — two for me and two for a reporter from the Huron Expositor. So, while I was upset when Jess accidentally broke the glass, I had another to fall back on. Not only that, but when I told Chief Administrative Officer Brad Knight about the tragedy, he dug up a replacement and it was sitting there waiting for me at the next meeting. A glass like the one I got in Goderich that October night in 2006 is irreplaceable. Not only did it remind me of the kindness of a stranger, but it really laid the foundation for what would become my life here in Huron County for the next 12 years (and counting) and help shape me as a person. When that bartender gave me that glass, he was telling me that even though the community was unfamiliar to me and I didn't know many people, it was going to be alright. Whether it be through my own kindness and willingness to meet new people, or people reaching out to me, things would be alright. The glass may be gone, but I'll keep the message it sent with me forever.