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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-06-16, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: SPORTS - Pg. 8 Londesborough seniors' team headed for nationals CYCLING - Pg. 10 Blyth Fire Riders raise thousands for cancer centre FESTIVAL - Pg. 19 `Birds and the Bees' to premiere at Festival Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 C1t1Z Volume 32 No. 24 n WELCOME TO BINT H $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, June 16, 2016 With a splash! The seasonal opening of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Pool was held on Saturday. The event included a special Paint the Pail event where young artists decorated garbage cans for recreation sites in the village, a barbecue and Brussels Recreation Committee members Nicole Noble, left, and Abi Corbett officially opening the pool by putting on their bravest faces and jumping into the pool. (Denny Scott photo) Anniversary group changes event name By Denny Scott The Citizen The moniker of the 150th anniversary of East Wawanosh Township and accompanying reunion will be rebranded following some concern regarding its original name. Last year, the committee decided to call the event a "Pow Wow", the same name that had been used for the 125th anniversary in 1992. Recent correspondence, however, had the committee look at different options. "We're changing the name of the event to make sure no one is upset," Committee Chair Jamie McCallum said. "We're working on a new name now that will be decided on during the committee's July meeting." The change came about, according to McCallum, because of concerns brought forward by individuals to committee members. North Huron Councillor Brock Vodden, who wrote a Letter to the Editor in last week's issue of The Citizen, also addressed the issue during council's June 6 meeting. Vodden informed council that the term pow wow is a known quantity for First Nations communities and the event described for East Wawanosh was a disservice to the intent of that kind of celebration. "It was an unfortunate choice of name," he said. "A pow wow honours indigenous people. It's a religious, sacred event that takes place on a basis of a very important coming together of people of First Nations background." Vodden said the fact that alcohol will be served at the reunion made the name pow wow inappropriate. "No liquour is allowed at a pow wow," he said. "People have been coming to talk to me about it." Vodden went on to say the title was "an affront" to First Nations people and that council should urge the committee to remove the name. Reeve Neil Vincent, whose family is involved with the committee, said that the group had gleaned a definition from a dictionary and that it meant "a meeting for discussion and conversation." Vodden said that was not the definition used by the First Nations peoples and said he had been involved in several pow wows during his lifetime. "There are things that happen there and things that don't," he said. "It's absolutely wrong for us to appropriate that. It's a direct assault on their culture." Councillor Trevor Seip wondered why council was weighing in on the issue at all and said it wasn't council's place to tell the committee to change the name or not. He said council had `bigger fish to fry' as far as issues are concerned, however, he was told by Chief Administrative Officer Sharon Chambers that the issue does affect council. "The reunion committee is a committee of council," she said. "All I would say is it is connected to the municipality so if there is going to be a concern brought forward, it will eventually come to this council table because of the status of that group as a committee of council. There will probably be more discussion about this at the committee level and I believe the person who approached Councillor Vodden has talked to committee members." Vodden explained, in a later interview with The Citizen, that part of the reason he brought the issue to council was because he was told the committee was aware of the concerns in the community but Continued on page 14 Huron East rec. planning to begin this fall By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Vicki Lass from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), has been brought on to assist Huron East in the strategic planning process for its recreation centres. Lass, who is OMAFRA's agriculture and rural economic development advisor, is no stranger to facilitating economic development and strategic planning processes in Huron County. She was integral in the county's recent "train the trainer" program for economic development throughout the region and has made herself available to the county and its lower -tier municipalities for planning and strategic planning initiatives. Speaking to Huron East Council at its June 7 meeting, Lass outlined the process as she saw it, which she felt should begin with a lot of research with stakeholders and community members before a public meeting process takes place. In her presentation to council, Lass commended council on taking the initiative to engage staff and members of the public in a process that will encourage fiscal responsibility. She also commended council for its hard work leading up to reaching out to Lass. She said Huron East is doing "pretty well" with its recreation centres compared to its neighbours and other municipalities in the county. The process will begin with Lass conducting research, she told councillors. She's going to speak to councillors, staff, members of the municipality's three recreation boards, user groups and service clubs. Lass told councillors that it has always been her practice to conduct a lot of research well before the public meeting process begins. She likes to have a good idea of direction even before bringing the public in. This research will be followed by town hall meetings, she said — at least one per recreation centre, although she could easily see the need for two per community. It is important, Lass said, for each community — and in turn, each community centre — have its own public meeting. She said that the needs of each community and each centre are so specific that the meetings can't be generic — they have to be focused on their particular centre and community. At those public meetings, Lass says she hopes to engage members of the recreation committees, user groups, service clubs and many members of the public. The message that needs to be communicated, she said, is that the public needs to be engaged, because if there is no interest, there is no community centre. She said that people need to "show up" to these meetings to demonstrate they "don't want to lose" their community centres. Mayor Bernie MacLellan reiterated that council is not looking to close community centres, but that some of the costs for hydro and running the centres were getting "hard to deal with" for council. Lass said that she hopes to begin the process in the fall and that it could take several months to complete. She also assured councillors that while the research and public meetings stages will take into account comments from various corners of the municipality, council still has the final decision- making power, despite what the strategic planning process may turn up. Councillors thanked Lass for her presentation. The municipality's recreation strategic planning process will begin this fall.