HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-03-01, Page 32In a decision handed down by
Judges Weiler, Sharpe and Blair in a
Toronto appeal court on Feb. 21,
Huron County Council will remain
at its current size of 16 members.
The size of council was reduced
late last year after Superior Court
Justice Kelly-Ann Gorman found
the interpretation of bylaw 28 of
1999 to mean that North Huron,
Central Huron, Huron East and
South Huron lost one representative
each from the Huron County
Council table.
Judges Weiler, Sharpe and Blair
upheld that decision in the Ontario
Court of Appeal.
“The members of council who lost
their places as a result of the
judgement under appeal may be well
disappointed,” the official decision
reads. “However, I am not persuaded
that the council’s change of position
from that reflected in the striking
bylaw has produced a situation that
would justify departing from the
basic principle of representation by
population.”
The decision also states that the
judges could not accept the
submission that an increase in the
size of council would be determined
by population, but not a decrease.
“The appellants argue that once a
township has gained an added
representative, that representation
cannot be decreased, even where the
township’s population declines
below the threshold of an additional
4,000 electors,” the written decision
states. “I am unable to accept that
submission. In my view, bylaw 28
must mean that when the number of
electors drops below that required
increment of 4,000, the
added representation is no longer
justified and must therefore be
reduced.
“In other words, any additional
representation on council is
contingent on the township
having, at the time of the election,
the number of electors specified.”
In an interview after the decision
was made, Huron County Warden
and Huron East Mayor Bernie
MacLellan said that the politicians
and residents of Huron County now
have their answer.
“It is what it is,” he told The
Citizen. “We said whatever the
answer was, we would accept it and
move on.”
MacLellan said he was frustrated
with the Ministry of Municipal
Affairs and Housing when he went
to them on the issue, hoping for a
resolution that didn’t involve
litigation.
MacLellan said after consulting
someone from the Ministry, he was
told that he and the rest of Huron
County Council did the right thing
taking the issue to the courts, but
MacLellan sees it as being an
unnecessarily expensive way of
doing things.
“It did really surprise me,”
MacLellan said. “The province
makes the rules but then they can’t
explain how to enforce them.”
MacLellan did say that he felt
council would be able to move on
with the decision, despite the fact
that some councillors may still be
disappointed in the ruling.
“I think we can move on,” he said.
“I’m confident now that we’ve had a
decision, it’s been upheld up appeal
court and there’s really no question
at this point.”
PAGE 32. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2012.
Breaking bridges
Students in Mrs. Decker’s Grade 4/5 class at Blyth Public School got to design, build and
stress test bridges as part of their current unit. Monday was the final day for the bridges when
Mrs. Dekker would, using a hanging bucket, test the strength of the bridge. Shown here, from
left, are Emma Raynard, Mandi Keir, Kyle Josling and Bailey Bos watching intently while Mrs.
Dekker tests their bridge. (Denny Scott photo)
Economic development in Huron
East came under fire at the Feb. 21
council meeting, as some
councillors felt the municipality
wasn’t getting its money’s worth
from the department.
Councillor Larry McGrath said
that budget deliberations were on
the horizon for the municipality and
he was curious what Huron East has
gotten out of its $1 million
investment in economic
development over the last 10 years.
“The budget seems to keep going
up and up and up,” McGrath said,
“and I’m not sure what we’re
getting out of it.”
McGrath said that the economic
development department originally
began as a three-year study and he
was wondering where it had gone
from there. Economic Development
Officer Jan Hawley, who is a full-
time employee with the
municipality, was originally hired
on contract, which McGrath thought
she still was.
“I’m trying to wrap my head
around this,” McGrath said about
the economic development budget,
“but I just don’t think we’re getting
the bang for our buck. That’s just
my personal opinion and I think it’s
something that we seriously need to
look at.”
Mayor Bernie MacLellan,
however, came to the defense of the
department, saying that he knows
that economic development in
Huron East is working.
“I know we’ve spent a lot of
money and it can be hard to quantify
economic development,” said
MacLellan. “I’m not sure how you
measure it, but I’ve seen a lot of
good in the community.”
MacLellan said that one of the
factors in Hawley’s budget is its
breakdown, which can tie her hands
substantially.
“The majority of Jan’s budget
goes to wages, which makes it hard
for her to do anything substantial,”
MacLellan said. “But it’s a fair
comment, because it’s so hard to
quantify.”
Brussels Councillor David Blaney
also came to Hawley’s defence,
saying that if he looked, he was sure
he could find $1 million of
economic development throughout
the municipality that would have
been a direct result of work that
Hawley and her department have
completed over the years.
Blaney also said that for what
Huron East pays Hawley, they get
plenty of “bang for their buck” with
the hours that she puts into the
position. He said Hawley will
typically work a 20-hour day simply
because she thinks that’s how much
time it takes to get the job done.
MacLellan went back to the
Huron East Health Centre, which
was the brainchild of former
economic development officer
Ralph Laviolette, saying that would
have never happened, had it not
been for the economic development
department.
Department comesunder fire in HE
Appeal fails, council
size remains at 16
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen