The Citizen, 2012-02-09, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012. PAGE 13. Hudak, Thompson opens office in Blyth
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responded to several questions
regarding the party’s stance on hot
topics including wind turbines and
being such a strong official
opposition.
Many of the issues came back tothe fact that Hudak thinks decisionsaren’t being made that reflect the realities faced by the entire
province.
“Agriculture is the backbone of
ridings like this and Ontario,” Hudak
said. “I’m worried that the
current government is to Toronto-
focused.”
Hudak stated that whether talking
about support management or
turbines that decisions need to be
made or influenced by people who
face the consequences of those
decisions and not by people who
have little to no agricultural
experience.
“[Ontario Premier and provincial
Liberal Party Leader Dalton]
McGuinty’s Ontario is so Toronto-
focused that it’s lost touch with what
is happening in rural Ontario and
small communities,” he said. “The
job of the official opposition isn’t
just to complain about decisions
made by the government but it is an
important part. We have to point out
what is wrong and show the
Conservative alternative.
“We have the right answers to
move the province forward and the
answers are coming from ridings
like this,” Hudak said.
As for how Thompson came to
power and how Huron-Bruce flipped
from federal and provincial red to
federal and provincial blue, Hudak
believes that Thompson played as
much a part in that as the desire for
change.
“Unfortunately there’s no quiz to
show why people voted the way they
did,” he said. “We have a hell of a
candidate in Lisa though.
“Lisa showed a lot of guts in
taking on a long-time MPP and a
cabinet minister but she did and she
won.”
Hudak said that Huron-Bruce is aperfect representation of peoplevoting for the qualities they want tosee in the government.
“Lisa is a product of Huron-Bruce
and knows what is important
here,” he said. “They’ve seen a
Liberal government that ignores
small towns, they’ve seen jobs leave
and I think they were looking for
change.”
Thompson said that people felt
change was necessary.
“People were tired of the
arrogance of the Liberal
government,” she said. “They were
tired of not being listened to and
they wanted old-fashioned trust in
their leaders.”
Thompson also introduced her
staff during the opening including,
locally, Sarah Ross and Janet
Haines.Thompson’s parents, Sydney andWinona Thompson, formerly ofBelgrave and now living just
outside of Wingham, were at the
ribbon-cutting ceremony and
are very proud to have
Thompson represent the area and
were happy to see the office opening
in Blyth.
“We are very proud of the path
Lisa has taken and her success in
becoming the MPP for Huron-
Bruce,” Winona said. “We know that
the respect and support of her
family and the community will
motivate Lisa to work hard for
constituents.”
The couple also appreciated
seeing municipal representatives
among the supporters at the office
opening in Blyth.
The Majestic Women’s Institute
met on Jan. 11 at 1:30 p.m. at the
Brussels Library.
After the opening ode and Mary
Stewart Collect, minutes were read
and there was a discussion about the
celebration of the 115th anniversary
of the Ontario Federation Women’s
Institute.
On Feb. 8 we wil be celebrating
with games and cake, please feel free
to share in the celebration. It was
also decided to hold a St. Patrick’s
dinner of ham, scalloped potatoes,
dessert and cards to follow at a cost
of $10 per person on March 7 at 7
p.m. in the basement of the Brussels
Library with proceeds to community
betterment .
After the meeting members
worked together on Institute
scrapbooks and enjoyed snacks and
coffee.
The UFO (Unfinished Object
group) meet on Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. at
the Brussels Library. The next
meeting will be Feb. 14 at Brussels
Library at 10 a.m. All are welcome.
Coffee and snacks will be
provided.
Continued from page 1
any of these numbers?”
Van Diepenbeek said he wasn’t
comfortable with the turn the
process had taken and that he
wouldn’t be confident in passing the
budget until he went through it line
by line with the rest of council to
know what the county would be
scaling back on.
“There is a lot of information in
that budget that we might not see if
we’re not going through it line by
line,” Van Diepenbeek said.
MacLellan, however, responded
by saying that he hasn’t “cut”
anything and that all he did was
scale back the future planning of
each department in order to provide
a true representation of their annual
budget. He said he has asked each
department to bring forward a
budget without the “padding”.
Councillor Paul Klopp said that he
felt what MacLellan was doing was
good for the county, but agreed with
the several other councillors who
felt they were being left in the dark
throughout the process.
“I commend what you’re doing,’
Klopp said. “The process is
important too and whether council
feels that they’re part of it or not,
just keep that in mind.”
Bluewater’s Bill Dowson echoed
the sentiments of the many
councillors before him, saying that
council has to be kept informed
throughout the process.
“I think we need to see more of
what’s happening with the budget,”
Dowson said. “I think as county
councillors, we need to be involved
with this budget.”
Chief Administrative Officer
Larry Adams said that MacLellan
and the staff involved in the budget
process have made every effort to be
open and transparent throughout the
process. He said council will have
every opportunity to go through the
budget line by line and that no one
involved with the budget had any
intention of simply presented a one-
page budget to council with hopes of
it being passed that same day, as
other councillors had suggested.
“No way will you be handed a
one-page document,” Adams said.
“It’s not accountable and it’s not
transparent.”
Many councillors were also at a
loss for words when Treasurer
David Carey and MacLellan told
council that an additional $1.7
million would be introduced into
this year’s budget as funds that had
been previously earmarked for the
Health Unit.
Carey explained that when the
province scaled back its healthcare
funding several years ago, Huron
County didn’t do the same, which
resulted in a surplus of funds being
allocated to a Health Unit account
for several years, which up to 2012,
had reached $1.7 million.
MacLellan argued that he and
Carey hadn’t simply “found” the
money, just that it was an allocation
issue. The money had not been
unaccounted for, it was just
dedicated money that needed to be
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Blue ribbon to end red tape
One of the themes discussed at the opening of Huron-
Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson’s constituency office by both
Thompson and Conservative Party leader Tim Hudak was
the need to do away with red tape and put the control for
decisions back in the hands of local councils. The duo,
shown here, opened Thompson’s new office in Blyth on
Feb. 1. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Majestic WI looks
ahead to OFWI’s
115th anniversary
Budget delays
concern councillors
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