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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, February 17, 2011
Volume 27 No. 7SPORTS- Pg. 8Brussels Atoms proceedto OMHA ‘E’ Finals BETRAYAL - Pg. 18 Auburn residents feel‘betrayed’ by councillorFITNESS- Pg. 6Central Huron enlistsYMCA for new centrePublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Family Day is here
Brussels musician nominated
for Best Reggae Album Juno
Can you dig it?
Just wait until Blyth’s Greg McDonald grows up, he’ll want no part of shovelling snow, but right
now, it’s all about fun and games. McDonald and some of his friends built a snow fort, starting,
of course, with a bit of a tunnell system. This wasn’t a problem on Sunday as temperatures
warmed and all of the area’s snow melted just enough to become nice and malleable. (Jim Brown
photo)
Councillor wants
one police force
for North Huron
Since 2007, Canadians have been
given the wonderful gift of a day
away from work to spend more time
with their families.
This day, of course, is Family Day
and it falls on the third Monday of
February.
The Citizen office will be closed in
order for staff members to spend
some quality time with the people
they love, do some relaxing, or see
the London Knights play the
Windsor Spitfires at the John Labatt
Centre.
Due to the holiday, regular
deadlines will be moved up slightly.
The deadline for the Feb. 24 issue of
The Citizen will be Friday, Feb. 18 at
2 p.m. at the Brussels office and the
same day at 4 p.m. at the Blyth
office.
Best wishes for a happy holiday
Monday from the staff at The
Citizen.
Lyndon John X (LJX) is now two
for two, having just received his
second Juno nominee for his
sophomore record, Brighter Days.
The Brussels reggae artist said that
his second nomination felt good, and
that it was pleasant news to get.
“It was a really nice surprise,” he
said. “We worked hard to get a clear
sound on this album, so it’s nice for
that to be recognized.”
Brighter Days, the follow up to
LJX’s first record Two Chord
Skankin’, which garnered him his
first Juno nomination for Best
Reggae Recording of the Year and
the award for Best Male Newcomer
at the Canadian Reggae Music
Awards in 2008.
Production of Brighter Days was
different from Two Chord Skankin’,
according to LJX, because of his
experiences with the latter.
“I had a lot more experience for
this album,” he said. “And [Shane
Forest], the engineer and I had more
of a clearer image for the final
product.”
The album’s creation process was
also unique, according to LJX, as the
entire thing was produced in Forest’s
living room.
“We didn’t use [microphones] for
the instruments,” he said. “It was all
digital, and all connected.”
Brighter Days features a
“stronger, tougher” brand of reggae
than his previous work according to
LJX.
“The musicianship was really
brought out in the recording
process,” he said. “Everyone played
well, and we really brought
everything together, and tweaked the
instruments until we got the song we
wanted.”
LJX, while living in Brussels now,
got his start in Toronto. Then
Lyndon John, he answered an
advertisement seeking reggae
guitarists, and through that met
Sunray Grennan.
“[Grennan] introduced me to
people who could help me through
the recording process,” he said.
Through Slam Productions, he
begin working in 2004 on Two
Chord Skankin’, which was then
released in 2007.
The inspirations for Brighter
Days are varied, according to LJX,
but are personal.
“I”m always looking at the news,
and at television, and I wanted to
write about what I felt,” he said. “I
wanted to vocalize certain things,
and this is my means of expressing
myself.”
He wanted to continue performing
reggae as well, to “get the word out”
about the style of music.
Family and friends also played a
large part in process.
“I always get inspiration from my
If one North Huron councillor has
his way, Wingham’s Police Services
will be covering all of North Huron
in the future.
Wingham Ward Councillor Bernie
Bailey believes that council needs to
approach police coverage with the
same process that they are
approaching fire coverage.
At the heart of Bailey’s request is
the fact that he and councillor Alma
Conn, also of Wingham Ward, can
be out-voted on issues, like the
recently purchased cruisers,
involving Wingham Police Services
by people not affected by the
decision.
“We make decisions here for the
Wingham Police Board, and five of
the seven people voting aren’t
affected by the decision,” he said. “It
doesn’t make sense that Wingham
Ward representatives could be out-
voted on an issue that only affects
that ward.
“When seven people make a
decision that can only affect my
ratepayers, I have a problem with
that,” he said.
Conn agreed, stating that she
understood his concerns with seven
people making a decision that
affects only one ward.
Bailey stated that he would like to
see funds no longer going to the
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP),
who currently cover the East
Wawanosh and Blyth Wards in
North Huron, and see more police
officers hired through Wingham
Police Services.
Reeve Neil Vincent explained that
comparing the fire services to the
police services in North Huron was a
difficult task.
“We’re talking about apples and
oranges comparing fire and police,”
he said. “We had a consultant report
three years ago, and it turned out
that providing the same service of
policing to the entire township that
is in Wingham would cost twice
what the OPP charge.”
Bailey then stated that not all of
the township would need the same
service as Wingham, just the same
service they receive from the OPP,
however Deputy-Clerk Kathy
Adams explained that another study
had been done and that equipping
the police department to cover such
an area would be cost-prohibitive.
Adams also explained that
ratepayers pay for the service they
receive, and Wingham residents pay
for the police service there while
East Wawanosh and Blyth pay for
the OPP service they receive.
Some other members of council
were offended by the insinuation
Bailey had made by stating that five
people were voting for their own
constituents, instead of worrying
about the problems of all wards.
“Your ratepayers are mine too,”
Deputy-Reeve David Riach stated.
“I represent the entire community,
no matter what ward I’m from.”
Riach stated that he wanted to
retain the OPP and keep the status
quo because it costs less, but has
remained effective.
“Historically, other municipalities
that have had municipal police
covering areas withdraw from the
municipal service because the OPP
is more effective and less
expensive.”
Vincent stated that council has
never had any problems following
the suggestions put forward by the
Police Services Board that sets the
budget and practices for Wingham
Police Services and that Bailey
wouldn’t need to worry about those
decisions adversely affecting
Wingham residents.
Vincent also explained that
following an attempt to implement a
Huron County-wide policing
initiative more than 10 years ago,
Wingham’s police force became
protected, and scaling back their
operations to allow the OPP to take
over would be impossible.
Bailey dropped the issue until he
can read the consultant’s report
about a municipality-wide policing
system.
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 23