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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, October 22, 2015
Volume 31 No. 41
MUNRO - Pg. 26
Labour Market Study
produces lengthy report
CAR CARE - Pg. 11
‘The Citizen’ presents its
annual fall car care guide
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
A tough night
While incumbent Huron-Bruce MP Ben Lobb, left, retained his Member of Parliament status,
many of his Conservative Party mates did not as a wave of Liberal support washed over
Canada and party leader Justin Trudeau became this country’s 23rd Prime Minister. Lobb
credited his local success on hard work and attention to the people of the Huron-Bruce
community, while he said he couldn’t hide his disappointment over the situation at a national
level. Lobb is seen here receiving congratulations from former MP Bob McKinley, who served
the riding from 1965 to 1980. In his Monday night speech, Lobb called McKinley an inspiration
behind his campaign. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Core groups eager to implement says Lass
Lobb retains Huron-Bruce as Liberals take Canada
Vicki Lass, Agricultural and Rural
Economic Development Advisor for
the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture,
Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA),
says Huron’s county-wide economic
development strategy is off to a great
start.
Lass is Huron County’s liaison to
OMAFRA, which has taken the lead
on the new “train the trainer”
approach to economic development.
Core teams have been assembled in
each of the county’s nine lower-tier
municipalities and are now engaged
in the creation of a county-wide
economic development strategic
plan that will then funnel down to
the municipalities themselves.
Lass spoke to council at its Oct. 14
committee of the whole meeting,
just as the process reached the end of
its third stage, the most important
from council’s point of view.
The process began on Aug. 26
with the Vision and Environmental
Scan, followed by the Collect and
Analyze Information stage,
beginning on Sept. 16.
The third stage is CED 101 for
Municipal Councillors, one of the
most important stages in the process
and certainly the most important for
councillors, she said.
Lass said there were concerns
from some of the core group
members regarding the support of
council. The groups, which are
largely composed of local business
owners and community champions,
wanted to make sure that council
was behind the process and would
continue to support it to its end.
Lass said she did her best to assure
those involved in the process that
Huron County Council is supporting
the initiative 100 per cent, adding
that if the county wasn’t behind the
process, it wouldn’t have dedicated
the funds in the first place.
Another problem Lass has
encountered with the process is one
that she says she loves to have when
administering a new program: the
participants are too eager for the
structure of the process.
Many of the core group members,
Lass said, have been enthusiastic
about the early stages of the process
and want to jump forward to
implementation, which is the final
stage of the process.
Lass says that it’s her job to ensure
that all groups and participants
respect the process and go through
all of the steps, saying that the
procedure is designed the way it is
for a reason.
“They don’t want to wait,” Lass
The County of Huron and the
Huron County Museum are pleased
to announce the winners of the 2015
Huron County Art Show.
First prize was awarded to “Old
Faithful” by Scott Ramsay, Blyth,
while second prize went to “Field of
Promises” by Julie-Anne Lizewski,
Goderich. Honourable mentions
were: “Morning Magic” by Mary
Smith, Seaforth; “Renewal” by
Elizabeth VandenBroeck, Goderich;
“A Lament for the Ash Trees” by
Anne Laviolette, Bayfield’ “Evoking
Change” by Irene Hartwick,
Goderich; “Together” by William
Creighton, Goderich; “Untitled” by
George Wilson, Exeter.
The Viewer’s Choice winner was
“Happy Farm” by Lynn Haygarth,
Dashwood.
The top two winning artworks will
become part of the Huron County
Art Bank. These paintings are
purchased by the County of Huron.
Paintings in the Art Bank remain on
display in various county buildings.
To view winning paintings from past
years and discover where they are
hanging now you can check out the
Huron County Art Bank at
http://www.huroncounty.ca/
museum/artbank.php
This year’s show features 36
artworks by 36 artists from across
Huron County. The 2015 Huron
County Art Show and Sale is on
display until Dec. 20 at the Huron
County Museum in Goderich.
Visitors are invited to vote on a piece
of artwork for the 2017 International
Plowing Match and Rural Expo
poster; a special prize category for
2015.
The special exhibit is open to the
public during Museum hours
(Tuesday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. and Sunday 1 - 4:30 p.m.) with
extended hours on Thursday (open
until 8 p.m.). Huron County regular
admission rates apply.
A small group of family and
friends celebrated with incumbent
MP Ben Lobb Monday night in
Goderich, all set against a backdrop
of Lobb winning the Huron-Bruce
battle as his Conservative Party lost
the war.
Lobb was not caught up in the
Liberal sweep that saw Justin
Trudeau take the Prime Minister’s
office with 184 seats and a majority
government – a huge turnaround
from a 2011 election that saw the
Liberals win just 34 seats, its lowest
ever total.
The Conservatives won 99 seats
across Canada, many of them in
western Canada and Ontario and
Lobb was elected a third time in
Huron-Bruce after first winning the
seat in 2008.
When polls began reporting
shortly after 9:30 p.m., it looked as
though Huron-Bruce too would turn
red like much of the country, as
Liberal Allan Thompson led by 174
after the first poll reported.
His lead grew to just under 200
votes after the first five polls
reported, but Lobb took the lead
2,683 votes to Thompson’s 2,633
once the seventh poll results came in
and Lobb didn’t look back.
Lobb arrived at the Candlelight
Restaurant in Goderich just before
10 p.m., at the time unsure if he had
conquered Huron-Bruce again or
not.
Shortly after Huron-Bruce’s 100th
poll had reported, just after 10:30
p.m., Lobb was being called the
winner by various news outlets
including CBC and CTV. At that
time, he had received 11,280 votes,
compared to Thompson’s 8,939.
Gerard Creces of the NDP had 3,015
votes of support, while the Green
Party’s Jutta Splettstoesser had
received 599.
Once all 246 of the Huron-Bruce
polls had reported, 25,803 people
had voted for Lobb (44.6 per cent of
the vote), followed by Thompson
with 23,126, Creces with 7,558 and
Splettstoesser with 1,401.
Lobb’s win was met with applause
from the small group of supporters,
which included sitting Conservative
MPP Lisa Thompson and past MP
Bob McKinley, who was elected five
times for the Progressive-
Conservatives between 1965 and
1980.
Speaking to reporters, Lobb said
he was happy to have the support of
Huron-Bruce voters, but was
certainly disappointed with the
result nationally.
“People wanted change and they
got it this election,” Lobb said,
adding that he felt former Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, who
stepped down as the Conservative
Party’s leader after election night,
had worked hard for the country and
that the history books would be kind
to him.
In Lobb’s two previous terms, he
had served under Harper, so his role
in the official opposition will be a
new one for him.
Lobb said that when he was out in
the riding knocking on doors, he met
a lot of young families who found
value in the Conservatives’ tax cuts,
so he is eager to see how Trudeau
will stack up. He also expressed
concern over the country’s budget,
which he said the Conservatives had
balanced and the Liberals planned to
plunge into deficit.
While Lobb had not planned on
addressing the crowd, he was
prompted to do so by those in
The Citizen
Celebrating 30 Years
1985~2015
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 28
Blyth man takes art show gold
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 23