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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, July 28, 2011
Volume 27 No. 30
NORMOSKA - Pg. 11Antique car event comes to Blyth FESTIVAL - Pg. 23 Two new plays round outBlyth Festival seasonSPORTS- Pg. 8Kitchener takes 40thBrussels Tigers tourneyPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
80 units collected
Split incites legal action
By-election called
for Brussels Ward
Jump ball
It’s summer, which means beach volleyball, drinks and good times. All were in full effect last
weekend in Brussels during the annual Brussels FunFest. While the activities were slightly
toned down this year in comparison to previous years, for the active people, there was plenty
to do. The Brussels Tigers held their 40th annual tournament and beach volleyball was also
popular with games starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday and running until it was too dark to see the
ball. In this game, the ‘Dirty Beach’ team, right, took the contest and earned themselves a rest
in the shade until their next game. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Canadian Blood Services will be
returning to Blyth as long as the
numbers from last week’s blood
donor clinic held at the Blyth
Community Centre continue to show
up according to Organizer John
Elliott.
He said that, with nearly 100
participants generating 80 units of
blood, the event was a success.
“We’re very pleased with the turn
out,” he said.
Elliott, who was worried about
numbers due to low attendance two
Huron East Council, along with
three other Huron County
municipalities, must defend itself in
a Superior Court of Justice
challenge that is splitting the county
down the middle.
A lawyer representing Ashfield-
Colborne-Wawanosh (ACW),
Bluewater, Goderich, Howick and
Morris-Turnberry is taking the
decision to keep Huron County
Council at its current size to the
Superior Court of Justice where a
judge will review the situation and
make a determination on the
composition of Huron County
Council.
Since Huron East, North Huron,
Central Huron and South Huron
have all been named as respondents,
along with the County of Huron,
Huron East is forced to “defend
itself” against any claims of
wrongdoing.
A letter from Huron County
solicitor Greg Stewart informed
Huron East Council of this
development at its July 19 meeting.
The municipalities pushing to
reduce the size of Huron County
Council are being represented by
Richard Ottewell, who says he has
been instructed by those
municipalities to bring the issue to
the Superior Court of Justice level.
Huron East Councillors wondered
why they were even named in this
incident and why they needed to
involve the municipality’s lawyer.
However, as Mayor Bernie
MacLellan said, the municipality
has been named, rightly or wrongly,
so now Huron East has to defend
itself.
Councillor Bill Siemon said if this
was the way it had to be, going in
with Huron County’s solicitor
would be the cheapest way to
proceed.
“We’re listed as a respondent. I
think we have to hire a lawyer and
respond,” Siemon said. “We can’t
just do nothing and hope it goes
A by-election will be held in
Brussels on October 3 to determine
who the next Brussels representative
will be.
After officially accepting the
resignation of former councillor Joe
Seili at the July 19 meeting, Huron
East Council declared Seili’s seat
vacant and decided to proceed with a
by-election.
Council was presented with
several options by Clerk-
Administrator Brad Knight at his
first meeting at his new position. In
addition to a by-election, options
included appointing a new Brussels
Ward councillor and requesting that
members of the community step
forward.
There were some councillors,
however, who felt that Frank
Stretton, who was the only person to
run for the position other than
winners Seili and David Blaney,
should be offered the position. With
the amount of time left in the term
(just over three years at the time of
the election) several other
councillors felt it would only be fair
to let the public have its say once
again.
“I think the position should be
offered to Frank Stretton,” said
Councillor Bill Siemon. “He was the
only other person who put his name
forward and if he accepts I think
we’ll have someone very capable of
doing the job.”
Mayor Bernie MacLellan said that
he would not debate Stretton’s
competency with Siemon, saying
Stretton was clearly able to do the
job, however, he felt that with three
years remaining, which used to be a
full council term, it was only fair to
let members of the public have their
say once again.
Councillor Larry McGrath agreed
with Siemon, saying he felt the
position should be offered to
Stretton, who has extensive
experience in municipal politics as a
Brussels representative.
Blaney said he had been
approached by two different
residents of Brussels who were
interested in running for the vacant
seat. Whether they would actually
run or not, he said, he didn’t know,
but there was interest in the village
after Seili’s resignation, he said.
“Hopefully this isn’t something
we end up having to do again,” said
MacLellan.
Council had 60 days to make an
official decision after accepting
Seili’s written resignation that
night.
Nominations were opened
immediately after the bylaw was
passed that night and will close on
August 19 at 2 p.m. An advance poll
will be held on Saturday, October 1,
while election day will be Monday,
October 3.
The Election Act states that voting
day must take place 45 days after the
day nominations close.
Knight said it would be prudent to
take care of the by-election before
this fall’s provincial election, which
is slated for October 6.
He also reported to council that
costs associated with the by-election
would be minimal, estimating that it
would cost between $700 and
$1,000 for advertising and election
staff.
In an e-mail sent to MacLellan just
before the July 19 meeting, Seili
requested that he be allowed to
continue to serve on the Brussels
Community Trust. MacLellan said
he wasn’t sure about the legalities of
it, but that it would be appropriate
that Seili continue to serve until a
new councillor for the Brussels Ward
was elected.
Both Brussels councillors are
supposed to sit on that board, so
until there is another Brussels
representative, council will not be in
compliance, MacLellan said.
“No matter what we do, it’s not
going to be right between now and
the election,” he said.
Blaney, who also sits on the
Community Trust, said he wouldn’t
have a problem with Seili
continuing, but that was just his
personal opinion on the matter.
Blaney suggested someone get in
touch with Ralph Watson, who is the
chair of the Trust, to ensure
proceeding in this manner would be
alright with him.
MacLellan said a bylaw may have
to be passed in the meantime to
allow council to proceed this way,
which would simply require being
passed by council.
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 2
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 19