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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1987-04-22, Page 1Nico Peters named PC VOL. 3. NO. 16 vuivniy Dimatna, Diyui, huuuiii, ouiyrdve, cuiei, Londes borough, Walton and surrounding townships. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1987.40 CENTS Thursday was a very special day for Jim and Janet Lawrie when they attended a luncheon in Seaforth where Premier David Peterson spoke. Jim, who was celebrating his 75th birthday that day was given a special introduction at the event and Janet, who recently injured her leg, had the Premier sign her cast. The Lawries are long-time Liberal party workers. Blyth continues battle to recover fee candidate Nico Peters of RR 4, Seaforth, a farmer and former ordained mini­ ster was acclaimed as the provin­ cial Progressive Conservative can­ didate for the new riding of Huron at an enthusiastic gathering of county supporters in Clinton on April 14. Elmer Bell of Exeter, in second­ ing Dr. Tom Jasper’s nomination of the political newcomer, said that “Nico has youth, ambition, drive and an academic background that will enable him to grasp problems beyond the reach... of some of us.’’ The 36-year-old candidate re­ ceived several ovations from the crowd of nearly 400 supporters during his acceptance speech, in which he attributed Ontario’s current economic boom to indivi­ dual entrepreneurial initiative “fostered by many years of good, responsible government.’’ In deference to the rural nature of the riding, Mr. Peters made several references to the problems facing farmers today, telling them that long-term assistance is neces­ sary for those of them in need. “The Conservative way is to deal with (farm problems), so that when it is all over, those farms and those families will still be here,” he said. “If you back me (in the next election), I’ll see to it that all the communities and all sectors of this riding will prosper ... I’ll work unfailingly towards this.” The guest speaker for the evening wasthe Honorable Phil Andrewes, Minister of Agriculture in the short-lived Miller cabinet and MPP for the riding of Lincoln. In his opening remarks, Mr. Andrewes said that he was glad to be in Huron to help Mr. Peters “make the minister of agriculture (Jack Riddell) into the former minister of agriculture,” but said that Tories must remain alert and Blyth village council will con­ tinue to fight to recover a $500 severance fee charged by the county Land Division Committee for its purchase of land for the town park, a fee which councillors feel should have been paid. Councillors, at their April meeting April 14. decided to ask the Planning and Development Good crowd shows up for Brussels ratepayers meeting Brussels is alive and well and home to a large number of well- informed citizens, if the size and enthusiasm of the ratepayers meet­ ing held last Tuesday in recognition of national Local Government Week is any indication. Nearly 40 people were on hand at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre to meet We made it... barely The Citizen may not have quite the same consistent look this week and may not include all the news we would like to have brought readers because of technical pro­ blems. Not only was this a holiday- shortened week for preparing the paper but midway through Monday morning the computer which sets the news copy broke down. Despite telephone calls to the manufacturer for advice and hours of poking, prodding and adjusting, we were unable to get the machine working office for copies of any corres­ pondence from the Blyth village office which would have led the county office to believe this was anything but a normal severance of land to the village. Municipalities do not require severances either to buy or sell land. Council was reacting to a letter from Cynthia Fisher of the the members of the village’s coun­ cil, Public Utilities Commission, committees of council and appoin­ tees to the various area boards and committees. Representatives of each spoke briefly of their function and recent activity, as did the members of council present, then Continued on page 24 Riding to the rescue came Doug and Loma Whitmore of Blyth Printing who graciously of­ fered the use of their computer to set copy. It was, however a dif­ ferent branch which meant we could not match typefaces with our regular type. In times of emergency,'how­ ever, we’re not proud we’re just glad to get the paper out. Thanks to the Whitmore’s and our hard­ working typesetter Dianne Josling who put in extra hours on a strange computer to get the paper out. planning office who stated the severance was received by the Land Division secretary and cir­ culated in the same manner as all severances. “The ‘necessity’ of a severance is considered to be pre­ viously determined when an ap- licant applies: in other words, the Secretary does not question the necessity of a severance - the Secretary processes the applica­ tions with payment, per guidelines. The application is not processed until accompanied by payment. “She’s telling me that we didn’t do our homework and it’s not up to them to do our homework for us,” Helen Grubb, clerk-treasurer told council. The severance in question was made before Mrs. Grubb became clerk-treasurer. The explanation didn’t sit well with Councillor William Manning, however. “Are they working for us, for the betterment of the munici­ palities or are they just being bureaucrats,” he asked. In explaining that the county was not sure the severance was a municipal one, Mr. Fisher’s letter 'Lift' drive climbing to top With the focal point of the fundraising drive for renovation to install a handicapped lift at the Blyth and District Community Centre scheduled for Saturday night, the fund is already nearly two-thirds of the way to its goal of $30,000. Several large donations in the past while have pushed the total to $19,090 with the Dinner Auction and Jamboree scheduled for Satur­ day night at the Centre. noted one of the diagrams included in the severance application indi­ cated the land was being purchased by the village and the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby Association Inc. Since it was not the village alone involved, Ms. Fisher said, the severance was necessary. The property was purchased by the village to add to its parkland. The Thresher Association gave a sizeable donation and will use the property for parking at its annual Thresher Reunion but the land is in the village’s name. But Councillor Manning noted that the County’s letter was headed: “Re: Severance-Village of Blyth/Siertsema. In the end council moved to ask the planning office to present the documents that led them to believe that this was not a municipal severance. If they can show us a photo copy of any documents from the Blyth office that would lead them to that belief, councillor Manning said, then there might be some reason for their decision. Saturday’s event will begin with a social hour at 5 p.m. followed by dinner at 6. The auction will follow with Burt Lobb of Richard Lobb Auctions selling the items. Items to be auctioned range from Blue Jay ball tickets to Blyth Recreation chairman Frank Szusz’ beard. The auction will then be followed by an old-fashioned jubilee featur­ ing local musicians. Donations to be included in the auction are still being accepted by ready to go, predicting that a provincial election will be called before the end of June. Although he steered clear of too much open criticism of present Huron-Middlesex Jack Riddell, Mr. Andrewes spent nearly half an hour running down the Liberal government in Ontario without making any specific promises of what might be in store for voters in the event of a Conservative victory in the next election. Mr. Peters expressed optimism about his chances of success in the next election, saying that he feels if 400 of his supporters will work in hiscampaign, “we’ll do it rightthe first time.” Born and brought up near Brussels, Mr. Peters is active in the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, theChristian Farmers’ Federa­ tion, and the Huron Heart and Stroke Foundation. Married with three young children, he ran as school trustee for Clinton-Tucker- smith in the 1985 municipal election, but was defeated by Sally Rathwell of RR 5, Clinton. Kay Hesselwood, auction chair­ man by calling her at 523-9623. Recent donations include: John Hesselwood, $100; Gene and Nan Gore, $50; Auburn Lions Club, $300; Lloyd Tasker, $50; Blyth Figure Skating Club, $250; Blyth Minor Sports and Ringette, $500; LondesboroLions Club, $1,500 and from chocolate bar sales, $1,000. The fund not only will see the lift installed but will see renovations to the entranceway of the Centre.