HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-06-30, Page 18PAGE 18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016.
Charter's lack of end goal frustrates councillor
Continued from page 18
direction as to what impact we can
establish to this. I look at it as — give
me some clear guidelines as to what
the measurables are to see what
success is. If they can provide some
of that then maybe I might be able to
support it."
Councillor Yolanda Ritsema-
Teeninga, however, felt the
document was less a goal and more a
step in the right direction.
"I think, in principle, this is a good
idea and they are asking us to
support whatever ideas and
suggestions they come up with," she
said. "Obviously this is going to
require partnership with a bunch of
organizations in the county to make
it feasible. Perhaps it is a little
utopian in its ideas and natures but
that doesn't mean we can't support
the initiative that this is to help get
better local foods on the table of our
families."
She said she didn't feel it was a
huge issue for council to lend its
support as the group worked towards
a clear plan.
Vincent said that the World Trade
Order is one of the biggest impedi-
ments to following the document.
"We have international deals that
dictate the lowest prices for
commodities," he said. "Whoever
can produce commodities for the
cheapest is the market. It doesn't
matter if it's local. The World Trade
Order goes against having local stuff
because [it] demands that whoever
can do it the cheapest gets to do it."
Seip said he didn't disagree with
Ritsema-Teeninga, but said he has
witnessed council dealing with many
of these documents, but he can't
remember any of them coming back
and stating whether a goal was being
achieved.
"It's not that I don't want to
support them," he said. "We need to
get some hard facts and hard
measurables in order... That's my
biggest concern — not with the
charter itself but how they are going
to measure [success]."
Vodden said there were three
options for the document: ignore it
and not adopt it, approve it at face
value or try and set up a discussion
with the group to move forward with
it.
"My suggestion is we answer this
group and say they have to tell us
more," he said.
Chief Administrative Officer
Sharon Chambers said the document
was more of a broad policy
statement and there were no
actionable items associated with it,
however she cautioned against
rubber stamping it.
"We have identified agriculture as
one of our top employment sectors
in North Huron when we did our
strategic plan so we do have to drill
down and see what kind of strategies
we have to support agriculture," she
said. "You could choose to support
this if you agree with the broad
concept that was put forward but if
you are wanting to see something
that's going to mean something to
your community and be actionable,
you could also initiate that
discussion and figure out how we
can incorporate some of that into our
community."
Knott explained that he is
currently a business development
manager for a large agricultural
employer that farms 3,000 acres of
field crops and runs a 22 -acre
greenhouse.
He said the company doesn't do
much of its business locally and has
to employ off -shore workers to fill
their staffing needs because people
in the area are either not eligible for
the positions or would rather work in
other industries.
"Seventy per cent of everything
we produce is [shipped] outside of
this country," he said. "All of this
emphasis, spending time and money
on local this and local that is not
going to solve this problem. It is far
broader than that and it goes back to
some of the trade agreements we
have to deal with on a day-to-day
basis. That's what we should be
talking about."
Knott said that local farmers'
markets should be supported, but the
document goes far beyond that.
"At this point in time there's
nothing this council or Huron
County can do unless we want to
waive taxes on all our farmland," he
said. "This document, it's nice, but
that's all it is."
After some discussion, Seip
moved to have the document pushed
back to the Huron Food Action
Network with a strong emphasis on
benchmarking and measurables and
some direction as to discussions with
the provincial and federal
governments.
The motion was carried.
The family of
Brock & Janis (Morritt) Vodden
invite you to a celebration of the
60th Anniversary
of their parents
and the 80th birthday
of their mother, Janis.
Come and Go Tea
at the Royal Canadian Legion
Hall, Blyth Branch 420,
Dinsley Street, Blyth
Sunday, July 10
from 2:00 to 5:00 pm
No gifts, please
Pulling ahead
There was fun for everyone at the 160th Grey Township reunion over the weekend including
parades, slo-pitch and musical interludes. Shown playing at the Grey Hospitality tent is the
band Just Fun which consists of, from left: Gary Pietrek, Don Chesher, Dale Chesher, Gary
Clark and Ron Howatt. (Vicky Bremner photo)
M -T schedules special meeting
Morris-Turnberry Council will
meet on July 12 to discuss several
planning matters that staff felt would
be too taxing to be dealt with during
the July 21 planning meeting for
council.
On the agenda will be discussions
regarding official plan amendments,
a report on small lots throughout the
county and discussion on Lower
Town properties including interested
stakeholders.
***
Morris-Turnberry Council
approved the replacement of the C -
Line Road Culvert (Structure T080)
after approval for the project was
received by the Maitland Valley
Conservation Authority.
The culvert will be replaced by
Reeves Construction Limited of
Mount Forest for $187,885.21.
Morris-Turnberry received its
audit report from Vodden, Bender
and Seebach for the 2015 year.
The municipality, due to some
reduced drain and taxation income,
saw a defecit of over $1.5 million in
its revenue. However, due to
expenditures being $300,000 less
than anticipated, the 2015 actual
revenue of $5,459,707 was higher
than the actual expenditures of
$5,097,566.
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only one was ever convicted of "assult with intent to kill and murder"; only
one returned to the charred foundations on the infamous Roman Line
to rebuild from the ashes: Robert Donnelly The rise and fall of a defiant
young man who stood in the face of history and dared to burn it all down
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tluCanack
Ashton Quesenberry
is excited to announce
the marriage of her parents
Cory Scott Quesenberry
- &
Bethany Lynn Kresky
on
July 16, 2016
Wedding to take place
at Brussels United Church
at 3 pm
followed by dinner at Brussels
Community Centre
at 5 pm
Open reception after 8 pm
Atwood Lions
59th Annual
CANADA DAY CELEBRATION
Friday, July 1
PORK BARBECUE
Completely Homemade Meal
4:00 to 7:00 pm
at Elma Community Centre
Adults $18. for 2 chops; $14 for 1 chop
Child 12 & under $5.
SPORTS EVENTS & GAMES
Baseball Tournament - Kids' Games - Bingo
Rides and Bouncers - Balloon Art
Clowns - Face Painting
Free Public Swimming
GIANT PARADE
Starts at 12:30 pm -- Call 519-356-2867
ENTERTAINMENT
Bavarian Gardens following parade
BX93 Open Air VIDEO DANCE
Thursday, June 30 — 10 pm start
$10. in advance $15. at the door
NON-SMOKING EVENTS
CaII for more information
519-356-2488 519-492-0360 519-356-2392