Huron Expositor, 2014-03-26, Page 1010 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Township taking their petition to the Queen
Gerard Creces
QMI Agency
The battle for Goderich
Township is going all the way
to the Queen.
On Thursday, March 20,
Gary HcHale from Canadians
Advocates for Charter Equal-
ity (CANACE), was in Holm-
esville to discuss taking the
de -amalgamation effort past
Queen's Park and all the way
to the Queen's representative
- the Lieutenant Governor.
The vehicle for doing so is a
petition of right. The centuries
old practice allows citizens
the right to appeal directly to
the Monarchy when their fun-
damental rights are called into
question.
In the case of Goderich
Township, that includes the
right to self -governance.
But, with a system of gov-
ernment that only gives peo-
ple one choice to make every
four years, finding sympa-
thetic ears in Queen's Park is
an uphill battle, McHale said.
"Elected officials do what
they want. They infringe on
our rights as much as they
want," he said Thursday. "We
have four years dictatorship
and two months of
democracy."
That's why CANACE is get-
ting involved. As an organiza-
tion, McHale said they try to
stand up for rights of individ-
ual citizens, making sure fun-
damental rights are not being
denied.
Using the example of Que-
bec, McHale said the Supreme
Court has allowed citizens to
hold a referendum to decide
the province's fate. That right
to dictate their own destiny
applies to all communities in
Canada, he added.
Cindy Moyer, President of
the Huron -Perth Landowners'
Association, said the Petition
of Right is the first part of a
two-pronged approach. Once
Goderich Township residents
have their right to choose self -
governance accepted, the next
step is to formalize a vote for
citizens to self -govern.
If the number of people
signing the survey is any indi-
cation, the latter will be a
landslide decision. Thus far,
about 75 per cent of Goderich
Township residents have
signed a petition to de -amal-
gamate. While much of the
lakeshore area is made up of
seasonal residents the number
is still above a two-thirds
majority.
"We are greatly passed that
golden two-thirds threshold,"
she said. "It is clearly evident
Goderich Township landown-
ers want to separate from
Central Huron.
The petition should be com-
pleted within the next month
and delivered soon after.
In addition to local media,
the de -amalgamation effort
also caught the eye of Press for
Truth - a Canadian documen-
tary group covering national
and international issues
involving citizens' rights.
Barnim and Moyer will be part
of a podcast that will be aired
later in the week.
Redmond Weissenberger of Press for Truth conducts an interview with Cindy Moyer of the Huron Perth Landowners Association and
Central Huron Councilor Brian Barnim about their efforts to de -amalgamate Goderich Township Thursday, March 20.
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