Editorials - Oct. 7, 2022

The first draft of history 

This week we are marking National Newspaper Week (Oct. 3-8), a time when those in the newspaper business advocate for our industry. In an increasing digital world, our media (a physical paper) may be becoming anachronistic, but the role of the newspaper remains an important chronicle of life in our communities.
   

One of the most-used resources in the area is the digitized newspapers website hosted by the Huron County Museum. Researchers, genealogists, historians and families have found them to be an invaluable resource. In their pages are the lives of the men, women and children of our community over generations. Births, deaths, marriages and other milestones are preserved for posterity. Stories about local politics and businesses are searchable back to the beginning of colonization and settlement in our area. Local crimes and mysteries are kept alive as long as both the physical copies and the digitized versions are maintained in the archives. The key to all of these stories is that there was a publisher, editor and reporter, along with production staff, to create an accurate and thoughtful account of the day. As our community newspapers are gradually replaced with social media, we are losing the accuracy and thoughtfulness of a trained and paid journalist and a watchful editor. 
   

If Facebook and Instagram should survive into the next century, how much of the content can be trusted? Will it become the history that future generations study? Even now, much of the most reliable content is created by news outlets and then shared. As those news outlets (especially local and community-based media) dwindle when they can no longer generate enough revenue to pay staff to research and write the stories, what will our records look like for future generations of researchers and historians? – DS

Much ado about nothing

Late last month, the provincial government’s cases against former MP Derek Sloan, former MPP Randy Hillier and controversial pastor Henry Hildebrandt were resolved, for better or worse, when the government declined to pursue charges any further against the three men, who had been accused of violating public health orders last year.
The charges are technically stayed, meaning the case is dropped, though the Crown can bring those charges back within a year.
   

The men were charged with violating public health orders in June of 2021. This came as a result of them all attending indoor church services at Hildebrandt’s Church of God in Aylmer that violated capacity limits and limits on indoor gatherings. Oddly, Kristen Nagle, a former nurse in London, was fined $10,000 for similar offences. She attended the same gatherings as the other men, who had their charges dropped.
   

While opinions clearly diverge on government measures intended to limit the spread of COVID-19 last year, from a justice perspective, dropping charges against some of the highest-profile people defying public health measures in the midst of a pandemic could have dire repercussions down the road. If the provincial government has no interest in pursuing charges against ringleaders like Sloan, Hildebrandt and Hillier, there is no reason for anyone else to fear consequences down the road when we face the next public health crisis.
   

The Reopening Ontario Act didn’t have many fans, but most people begrudgingly did their part to limit the spread of a potentially deadly virus. Those who didn’t, while so many others sacrificed, did nothing to help Ontarians and seeing them walk away from valid charges is sure to leave a bad taste in the mouths of many. – SL 

Get informed, get voting 

The time to vote in the 2022 municipal election is nearly upon us and residents need to be prepared to decide who they want representing them in local politics. While some may feel that local politics pale in comparison to the more theatrical and dramatic provincial and federal elections, the truth is that municipal councils impact individuals in their communities as much, if not more, than our members of parliament.            

 

Despite that, many people will cast their vote with little knowledge of the people for whom they are voting. Whether it’s their local councillors or their school board representatives, some people will undoubtedly pick the names they know and guess on the rest because they didn’t ask the right questions ahead of time. While it’s easy in a federal or provincial election to pick the representative for the party you support (which isn’t a great practice), in municipal elections and school board elections, we are voting for the people we trust to spend our tax dollars and represent our wards and/or municipalities. 
   

So, as the election approaches, take every chance you get, including the pages of this and future issues of The Citizen, to get to know the people who currently represent you, the people who want to represent you and, most importantly, the people you want representing you. Don’t just vote - become informed and then vote. Four years can be a very long time with the wrong people in power – JDS