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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2010-04-01, Page 6PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 1, 2010.Blyth man honoured to be a pallbearer for PhamWhile the murder of OPPConstable Vu Pham broughtthousands of officers, friends and family members to Wingham earlier this month, it was his colleagues who were at the heart of it all, carrying their fallen brother to his final resting place. Pham’s funeral was a spectacular example of camaraderie among police officers and love for a man who chose to serve his community for a living. Blyth’s Russell Nesbitt was one of Pham’s pallbearers on March 12. All of the pallbearers were hand-picked by Heather Pham, Vu’s wife. “I felt honoured, I suppose,” Nesbitt said. “It was just something you don’t say no to. When someone asks you to do that, you step up to the plate and you do the best you can for him.” Nesbitt said he had worked with Pham ever since he cameto the Huron OPP, which wasapproximately eight yearsago. And since Pham’s death,Nesbitt has been deeplytouched by the amount of sympathy and respect that Huron police officers have been shown. “I’ve had people stopping me on the street whom I’ve never met, people stopping into the detachment offering their condolences, it’s incredible,” he said. “We’ve been getting e-mails at the detachment from all over the country.” Nesbitt said that he knew Pham’s funeral would be a large affair and that it would be attended by legions of police officers, but that he had no idea just how many. “It was amazing to see how everyone came together, the camaraderie of it all and all of their support,” he said. “I knew it was going to be big, but numbers are always hard to predict.” He said that once he and theother pallbearers wereselected, among them Blyth’sBrenda Carey and Wingham’sLincoln Dinning, there was alot of work put into the procedure to make sure that on the day of Pham’s funeral, everything went the way it was supposed to. “It was very well- understood. We rehearsed and practised what we had to do. We wanted it to be perfect,” he said. “From start to finish we needed to know what we had to do and where we needed to be out of respect for Vu.” While Nesbitt has felt the loss of a colleague and a friend, he says he knows he isn’t alone with his feelings, saying that everyone feels a loss when someone like Pham is lost. “The support has just been wonderful,” he said. “It’s been so overwhelming. Everyone feels a loss like this, whether you knew him or not.” THE POWER SAVINGS EVENT IS HERE! THE POWER SAVINGS EVENT IS HERE! April 1st - May 2ndApril 1st - May 2nd Hurry in to participating retailers before the deals are gone. Look for the Power Savings symbol on energy saving products like ceiling fans, clotheslines, and power bars. For details visit everykilowattcounts.ca today. OM Official Mark of the Ontario Power Authority. Coin image © 2010 Royal Canadian Mint, All Rights Reserved. L O O K F O R T H I S SYMBO L T O S A V ELOOKFORTHISSYSMBO L T O S A V A A E By Shawn LoughlinThe Citizen Caring community Grey Central Public School donated $100 in trust from the students and faculty to the Pham family. Here, students Tracy Zoet, Ethan Barret, and Andon Piper present the cheque to secretary Jennifer Cochrane to be donated. (Denny Scott photo) While the 2010 provincial budget has faced its fair share of criticism, especially from the healthcare and education sectors, Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell thinks the budget is a “fair and balanced approach” to the provincial economy. While areas like northern Ontario have seen a jump in their funding due to economic depression, province-wide areas like healthcare see minimal increases in the coming years. Two critical points in last week’s budget announcement were the gradually declining increase to the province-wide healthcare budget, going from a six per cent increase in 2010 to a 3.1 increase in 2012 and the claim that the record deficit facing the province right now can be cut in half in five years. These are both points that Mitchell thinks are reasonable. “I think this is the budget that will lead us out of recession,” she said. “I think we can all see the economy turning around. Sure, it’s tender right now, but as the minister of finance said, there are green shoots coming up through the soil.” Mitchell said that while she doesn’t think the healthcare crisis in Canada, and specifically Ontario, can be fixed with just funds, she thinks a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work, so the funds allocated to healthcare aren’t a point of concern for her. “In some areas, there aren’t enough nurses and in some areas, there aren’t enough doctors,” she said. “In this budget, however, we’ve made further investments in post- secondary education that will help medical education. We’ve also helped to fast-track international doctors. I really think we’re continuing onward and upward.” As there have been in past budgets when the economy has hit the general public hard, there has been a freeze in the public sector, keeping many politicians’ salaries at the same level for at least one more year. In terms of agriculture, while there aren’t many specific programs outlined in the budget, Mitchell says the new Open Ontario initiative will help to open markets and encourage economic growth, which will include the agricultural sector. Mitchell says the Open Ontario initiative will be tied into the Green Energy Act very closely and that is where many of the province’s new jobs will come from. “Open Ontario is going to help agriculture as well. It’s going to help open international markets and increase the footprint locally,” Mitchell said. “We’ve increased the funding to OMAFRA and I’m very pleased with the increase.” Mitchell says there are a lot of opportunities for the agricultural sector to take advantage of in this year’s budget. She says that Ontario products are beginning to get the recognition they deserve and the markets should follow that kind of demand. “We’re getting recognition on the world stage,” she said. “International markets want our products and the Ontario Foodland brand is accepted by many people. We just need to get the brand into our local markets and help our processors to flourish in Ontario.” Mitchell used the example of the recent expansion of a processing plant in Listowel. She said that expansion was made possible by the open exporting markets in China and India and with the help of rural economic development funding. “We could be doing more of that here,” she said. “We can strengthen our processing and I do think that needs more attention. If we do that, then it’s good for jobs, which in turn helps rural Ontario. It’s win- win-win.” By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Mitchell says provincial budget “fair and balanced” North Huron councillors set a new policy for flags being lowered to half-mast in honour of fallen individuals. As no policy existed before, this will give the township a set standard for lowering the flags. All township flags will now be lowered to half mast out of respect for the loss of an on-duty member of the Canadian Forces from North Huron, an on-duty police officer (both North Huron Officers and OPP living in the municipality), North Huron firefighters, sitting members of council, former heads of council, current members of staff, and, on Remembrance Day, the loss of life suffered by all Canadian military branches. Council also has the right to order flags to half-mast for “extraordinary circumstances.” Flags will remain at half-mast from the notification of the death until sunset on the day of the funeral or memorial service. North Huron council sets flag policy for fallen individuals By Denny Scott The Citizen