HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1988-02-10, Page 1VOL. 4 NO. 6 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1988.45 CENTS
When you’re a prize winner, there’s something to smile about as the
happy winners of awards at the achievement night for figure and
power skaters in Blyth showed Friday night. Winning trophies were
[front, left to right] Erin Bolger, most improved senior skater,
Kimberley Ferguson, most improved intermediate skater; [back]
April Bromley, most improved power skater and Lori Bailey, most
improved junior skater.
Councillors lecture women's group
A plea from the Huron county
women’s advocacy group Women
Today for a grant from Huron
County Council met with harsh
words from some councillors
Thursday.
It'll be no picnic for councillors in '88
It will be no picnic being a Huron
Cou nty Councillor this year and
there’ll be no picnic either for
spouses and families.
In the lengthiest debate of the
February starts with
a crash in Blyth
Wiarton Willie may have predic
ted that spring won’t be long in
coming, butthe month of February
did not start off well for the town of
Blyth.
A rear end collision between two
vehicles on the village’s main
street early Tuesday afternoon
(Feb. 2) left two drivers shaken but
unhurt, while their vehicles suffer
ed varying degrees of damage. It
wasthethirdcar crash in down
town Blyth in less than 24 hours,
with two other accidents occuring
on Monday, February 1.
In the Tuesday accident, a van
driven by Irene Thalen of Blyth
collided with the rear end of a car
Beth Fulton, President of Wo
men Today, Sharon Dietz, in
charge of public relations and
Valerie Bolton, Co-ordinator of the
women being well project, told the
councillors that since 1981 the
February session of county council
Thursday, council voted by a
one-vote margin to discontinue the
county picnic for councillors, their
spouses and children and past
councillors.
driven by Muriel Neilson of Gorrie,
as Mrs. Neilson was attempting to
turn left on to Westmoreland
Street, according to a spokesman
for the Wingham OPP.
Police estimated the damage to
the Thalen vehicle as moderate and
to the Neilson vehicle as severe.
Mrs. Thalen has been charged with
following too closely.
On February 1, Blyth firemen
had to be called to free George and
June J acklin of Brussels from their
vehicle in front of Blyth Memorial
Hall after it was struck by a car
driven by Bonnie Pletch of Bel
grave. There were no major
industries in the mishap.
150-member group had received
$268,000 in grants from the federal
government, and $75,000 from the
provincial government but no
support at all from local govern
ments.
The recommendation came from
the executive committee of council
that the county continue with the
annualgolfdayandexpand itto
include spouses and companions
and drop the picnic which had been
poorly attended in recent years.
Leona Armstrong, Grey town
ship Reeve voiced her objection to
the loss of the picnic, saying those
who didn’t attend had missed out
on something and saying she
hoped that if the picnic was lost for
one year it could perhaps be
brought back another. Tom Cunn
ingham, another past warden and
reeve of Hullett said he thought
dropping the picnic was a mistake,
pointing out that not everyone likes
golf and that the picnic also
included the families who sacri
ficed a lot because of the work of the
councillors and should have some
thing to look forward to.
Clarence Rau, Reeve of Stanley
admittedhe’dnevermadeittoa
picnic yet but said he’d like to and
asked for a show of hands on how
The work of the group, from
establishing a resource library on
women and health issues to
running workshops for women and
helping establish self-help groups
Continued on page 39
many people wanted to retain the
picnic. William Bennett, Reeve of
Seaforth, said he thought that with
the expanded role of the golf
tournament, it would end up being
like a picnic anyway.
Jim Robinson, Reeve of Hensall
said he didn’t know much about
golf, in fact didn’t know a divot
from a hole in the ground so he was
in favour of the picnic.
But Exeter Deputy-reeve Lossy
Fuller suggested that a lot of
money was spent on the picnic
whereas the golf tournament had
traditionally been an event where
councillors paid their own way.
Russel Kernighan, reeve of
Colborne wondered if there would
beagolfclubaroundcapableof
hostinganeventthatcombined the
golf tournament and picnic in one
event. It was suggested the two
would have to be held in separate
locations.
Finally a vote was taken on the
subject with the motion to drop the
picnic being approved 14 votes to
13.
Fire
destroys
Morris barn
For the second time in less than
two months fire, driven by gale-
force winds, has destroyed a barn
in Morris Township.
Firemen from both the Brussels
department and the Wingham
Area Fire Department responded
to a call Saturday night at the farm
of Michael Ryan of RR 4, Brussels,
butby the time they arrived, within
minutes, the barn was too farm
gone to save.
Wingham Fire Chief Harley
Gaunt said that it was assumed the
fire was started by a heat lamp
igniting fresh st-aw around a
newborn iambintheb ar non Lot
13, Concession 6 of Morris Town
ship. Fifty-four sheep and lambs
died in the fire. A quantity of hay
and straw was also lost.
The two-storey older barn and an
attached lean-to were totally de
stroyed. Mr. Gaunt said that the
loss, partially covered by insur
ance, was estimated at $30,000.
When firemen were called at
about 10:15 p.m., roads were
heavily drifted and visibility poor
tonilastheresultofaweekend-
long blizzard. A barn belonging to
Ross Nichol on Concession 7,
Morris Twp, was destroyed by fire
in a similar storm December 15,
after being hit by freak winter
lightning.
Free Trade
won't alter
standards,
Cardiff says
Canadian standards ensuring
only healthy animals are imported
into the country will not be lowered
in an effort to standardize stand
ards under a free trade agreement
with the United States, Murray
Cardiff, M.P. for Huron-Bruce told
farmers assembled for the annual
Members of Parliament dinner of
the Huron County Federation of
Agriculture in Clinton Saturday.
Mr. Cardiff jousted momentari
ly with Ontario Agriculture Mini
sterjack Riddell when Mr. Riddell
worried aloud that Canadian stan
dards may be reduced in a move to
appease American farmers under
the deal.
Mr. Riddell said that in a visit to
the U.S. last year to tell American
farmers about the Canadian supply
management system he was in
formed that one of the greatest
irritants American breeders have
is the 30-day quarantine program
Canada has in place for imported
stock. They want it taken out, he
said.
He worried the re will be pres
sure from the Americans to have
the health standards harmonized
and since the Americans couldn’t
live with Canada’s high standards,
they would want Canadians to
lower theirs. Any harmonization,
he said, should be to the highest
standards. He recited a list of
animal diseases which have been
irradicated in Ontario and which
might be reintroduced if the
standards are lowered.
It was at that point Mr. Cardiff
jumped in to say it was right that
the Americans couldn’t live with
our standards but Canada would
not relax its standards.
It was the lone direct conflict
between the two politicians on the
opposite side of the Free Trade
debate during the long afternoon
meeting which saw presentations
of briefs by various commodity
groups. Each man had slipped in
comments supporting his side of
the debate during the discussion,
however.
In his opening remarks Mr.
Continued on page 31
V
►