HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-01-28, Page 1A Scottish tradition
The Burns supper and ceilidh, presented by Melville Presbyterian Church at the Brussels
Legion on Saturday, began with the traditional piping in the haggis. Kasey King did the
honours, while Joan Perrie was among the pipe band members leading the way. The event
is held to celebrate Scottish poet, Robbie Burns, born Jan. 25, 1759 (Vicky Bremner photo)
If the appeal to the Farm Products
Appeal Tribunal is lost (the result of
the November appeal hearing is
expected in late January) new
agriculture minister Carol Mitchell
can expect to get a direct appeal to
retain Ontario Pork’s single desk
marketing of pork in Ontario.
At the Jan. 20 annual meeting of
the Huron County Pork Producers’
Association (HCPPA), president
Grant Love said that if the appeal,
initiated by Huron producers, is
unsuccessful, then Huron will
support a Perth County appeal
directly to the minister to overturn
the original decision of the Ontario
Farm Products Marketing
Commission which required Ontario
Pork to relinquish its sole right to
sell hogs. Under that scenario, the
marketing board would set up a
voluntary sales arm that could sell
pigs for producers, for a fee, but
those producers dealing directly
with packers would not have to pay a
marketing fee.
The HCPPA financial statement
tabled at the meeting in Seaforth,
showed the group had spent $21,784
in legal fees for the appeal.
Ontario Pork chair Wilma Jeffrey
said she hoped the tribunal decision
would bring certainty to the situation
so the board could go confidently
forward in designing a new plan.
“No matter the outcome, Ontario
Pork will be offering marketing
services of some kind,” she said.
Later she suggested that the
difference between Huron’s position
and the board’s 2008 strategic plan
was a matter of degrees. That plan
recognized reality that some
producers were already selling
directly to packers despite the
requirement under Regulation 419
meant that all settlement go through
Ontario Pork.
“The proposal would formalize
what was already happening,” she
said. In effect the board’s new
separate sales arm would sell the
pigs that are now going through the
pool and pool-plus programs.
The Ontario Pork position is that it
would maintain authority but give a
blanket exemption allowing people
to sell directly. Huron’s position
was, as she understood it, people
would have to apply for the right to
sell outside the board’s marketing
system.
She foresees Regulation 419 being
rewritten to allow Ontario Pork to
license producers of weaner pigs, for
the first time bringing them under
the board’s umbrella.
In her report, Amy Cronin, Huron
County’s director on the Ontario
Pork producers vow
to keep fight going
The North Perth- Huron East
Accommodation Review Committee
was left without a clear direction on
how to proceed following their recent
meeting in Wallace.
Concerned parents and residents
packed the Wallace Public School
gymnasium for the third official ARC
meeting Wednesday night, Jan. 20.
Committee chair and Avon
Maitland District School Board
superintendent Mike Ash opened the
meeting with a report back on the
date extension by the trustees to
March 3, which Ash said is the latest
possible date to complete the review
process.
Josh Alexander was part of a
presentation to highlight what
Wallace Public School offers to the
community of North Perth.
Alexander pointed out that Wallace
has one of the lowest operating costs
of all the schools being reviewed,
with increased kindergarten
enrollment projected for next year,
and Education Quality and
Accountability Office standards for
Wallace are in most cases better than
the board in all categories.
The group of presenters included
other Wallace parents like Melissa
Craig, who said that the school
shares a special relationship with the
rest of the community, and the area is
attracting a number of young
families who want to see their
children attend Wallace Public
School.
“I feel very strong that this quality
of education and community services
could not be duplicated anywhere
else,” Craig said.
The presentation was wrapped up
by Pastor Kurt Reinhart, who likened
the rise of big box stores to big box
schools as smaller community
schools face closure. With each
school fighting to stay open, Reinhart
said it’s tearing the community apart
in competition.
“What little insight I have had into
this whole ARC process has
distressed me to no end,” he said. “It
saddens me to see one community
pitted against another in a survival of
the fittest mentality.”
Although speaking in support of
Wallace, Reinhart said that he was
not in favour of any other schools
closing due to their great value to
each of the communities affected.
“Perhaps, what we all need to do is
the next time that we are in that big
box store reaching out for that great
deal on the shelf, we need to think
about this issue and ask ourselves if it
really is such a great deal after all,”
he said to applause from the crowd.
North Perth councillor Paul Horn
compared the community to a table
with four legs, saying that by
removing one of those legs and
closing a school, the rest falls.
Options for the ARC’s
consideration were brought forward
from the committee, including North
Perth councillor Jeff Bannerman.
Bannerman stated that his is a two-
fold option that would maintain
Brussels Public School and close
Grey Central, sending additional
students to Brussels and Elma Public
School. By putting Elma over
capacity, Bannerman said the balance
of the students could be sent to
Wallace Public.
“There’s no sense in adding
students to Listowel when there’s
enough capacity here in Wallace,” he
said.
Bannerman’s suggestion would
also review the borders between
Listowel District Secondary School
and F.E. Madill in Wingham to
alleviate the full classes at Listowel’s
high school.
Grey community representative
Armand Roth objected to the idea of
closing Grey, suggesting that moving
Grade 7 and 8 from Brussels to Grey
would not only free up space for all-
day kindergarten at Brussels, but
bring Grey to capacity.
“I think that would achieve
something for Brussels and
something for Grey,” he said.
Brussels representative Jim Prior
said he was opposed to any option
that would involve Grade 7 and 8
students moving from Brussels, and
Charlie Hoy, also of Brussels, noted
that each community is going to put
forth ideas to save their school.
“For us to come to a compromise
on something is, I think, unrealistic,”
Hoy said.
Grey representative Pam McLellan
said that Huron East has already lost
four schools in the last 10 years and
it was time to look at other options,
leading into an option from Prior.
Prior recommended closing Wallace
school and dividing the students
among the other schools under
review, as well as Howick.
Wallace committee member
Bernice Weber-Passchier responded
that there’s not enough room in the
community to take all of the students
from Wallace, and that it will likely
leave them in the same situation.
“All of us will be going through the
review process again in the next two
to three years, and I won’t be on that
committee after this,” she said.
Bannerman also commented that
extending the borders to Teviotdale
would mean students riding the bus
longer than the hour or less mandate
of the school board to get to the
nearest school.
Weber-Passchier’s proposed option
from Wallace was to not close any
schools, and instead change the
borders between Listowel and
Wallace. With room for over 330
students at Wallace, Weber-Passchier
said the school could handle the
overflow of students from Listowel’s
schools.
When asked if the option was
realistic, Ash said it would still be up
to the trustees to make a decision.
“If the committee comes forward
with a status quo option, it would fall
on the trustees and the board to rely
on the information they’ve heard at
these meetings,” Ash said.
McLellan brought forward several
options that she had received from
residents, two of which involved
closing Wallace Public School and
another closing Brussels school.
McLellan commented that Wallace
remains a candidate for closure due
to its low enrollment and it would
eliminate the most number of vacant
seats.
The next meeting for the ARC will
be held at Eastdale Public School on
Feb. 3 at 7 p.m.
CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010
Volume 26 No. 4NEWS- Pg. 6M-T gets communityfire safety officer RECOGNITION - Pg. 10 Award for BrusselsAgricultural SocietyGOODWORKS- Pg. 3Fundraiser for Haitianorphanage plannedPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 PAP Registration No. 09244 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
No direction for ARC after Wallace meeting
By Andrew Smith
Listowel Banner
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
Continued on page 11