The Citizen, 1996-10-16, Page 1Vol. 12 No. 41 Wednesday, Oct 16, 1996
70o + 50GST750
The North Huron
itizen
Lib. candidates speak in Huron
Brussels mourns
community leader
The community of Brussels lost
one of its most prominent citizens
this week, when Jack Bryans passed
away.
Bryans, a lifelong resident, died at
his residence on Saturday, Oct. 12.
He was 76.
Bryans was born and raised in
Morris Twp. just west of Walton.
With Hugh Pearson he founded the
Brussels Livestock Arena, now
Brussels Stockyards, which under
their management, then successive
ownerships has become one of the
largest businesses in the community.
His expertise in this area was
recognized world-wide. He travelled
to Africa on behalf of the
government and Veterinary College
Services to help set up better
systems for breeding and keeping
breeding records for cattle and livestock.
His work for community was tireless and selfless. He was among those
involved in the building of the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community
Centre in the late 1970s. He, along with Malcolm Jacobs and Sam
Workman donated land for the building. He volunteered time on the
cemetery board and was involved with the program to enlarge and beautify
the property.
Bryans was the first investor in The Citizen when it was formed in 1985.
Most recently he had been helping to research the history book being
published for the upcoming 125th anniversary of the village.
Bryans' contributions to the community were recognized in 1987 when he
was named as the Citizen of the Year for Brussels.
He was the beloved husband of Mary Davison and the loving father of
Bob and Linda Houston of Kitchener, Barbara Bryans and Tony Cooper of
Toronto, Bob and Debi Bryans of Clinton and the late Helen Bryans. He
was the loved grandfather of_Sara, Beth, Justin and Kyla and the dear
brother of Harvey Bryans of London and Stuart Bryans of Mitchell.
In celebration of his life, a memorial service was held on Tuesday at
Brussels United Church. Family tributes were gi ven by Tony Cooper and
Beth and. Phil Comtois. Doug Sholdice and Clerk-Treasurer Donna White
spoke on Bryans' life. Rev. Chris Johnson officiated.
Honorary pallbearers were Herb Travis, Ron Bennett, Ken McDonald,
Gary Dauphin, Rick Sallows, Jim Cardiff.
As remembrance donations may be made to the Brussels United Church
or the Brussels Cemetery.
Invitation
It may seem a little way off, but the plans are progressing full steam ahead for the Brussels
Homecoming 1997. The signs announcing the 125th Brussels anniversary celebration for
1997 were erected last week at the village's four entrances. The material was donated by
Huron Feeding Systems. The art work was done by Kendra Cardiff, with painting by Michelle
McNeil. Wearing Homecoming T-shirts and hats are Members of the committee Debbie
Seili, Merle Hoegy and chairman Murray Cardiff. The items will be on display at George's
Hairstyling in Brussels.
Special
`Citizen' offers
ideas for fall home
improvements
See page 9
Sports
Brussels
Crusaders get
season underway
See page 16
Feature
Cranbrook artist
donates to raise
funds for hall
See page 20
Education
Local students
honoured at Madill
commencement
See page 28
County begins
work fare, Nov.
By John Greig
The person who wants to
dethrone Mike Harris as premier of
Ontario spoke in Huron County
Thursday evening.
But it's yet unsure which of the
seven people running for the
Ontario Liberal Party leadership
will succeed present leader Lyn
McLeod.
The seven candidates spoke at
the Clinton Legion Hall to some 70
local Liberals about trying to
revitalize the party and stopping the
Conservative steam roller which
retains substantial public support.
The candidates, none of whom
are political veterans or have held
cabinet positions, are touring the
province to raise their images. In
fact, only Joe Cordiano, a T,oro,nto
MPP with 11 years experienCe in
the legislature,: has been elected for
more than one term.
They said Harris needs to be
called to task for his lack of
consultation- and conscience in his
policies and the Liberal party needs
to define itself as a party in-line
with neither the Conservatives or
the NDP.
"We can't be just off the back of
the Tory truck and just to the centre
of the NDP left; we can't be afraid
of being the Liberal party with a
liberal outlook," said Gerard
Kennedy, who was recently elected
to the legislature in a by-election by
winning former NDP Premier Bob
Rae's riding.
Kennedy, 36, has a unique blend
of qualifications. He ran the
Toronto Daily Food Bread Bank
for 10 years without government
funding, while being given
honorary mention as chief
executive officer of the year in
1995 by the Financial Post.
Second to speak was Dwight
Duncan of Windsor. He appealed to
the farmers of the area.
"It's bad public policy when you
virtually eliminate the ministry of
agriculture and create Agri Corps.,
which results in more user fees for
farmers," he said.
Agri Corps. is a new provincial
crown corporation which will
administer various services to
farmers including crop insurance.
Most candidates paid tribute to
Jack Riddell, the former Huron
MPP and agriculture minister, who
was master of ceremonies.
"It's a pleasure to share the stage
with one of the finest agriculture
ministers Ontario ever had," said
Duncan.
Later, Riddell suggested that with
all the accolades, he should maybe
be running for the leadership
himself, which drew applause from
the audience.
In his speech, Cordiano said the
future of the province is being
dismantled and used the example of
support for university students as a
way to build for the future.
John Gerretsen, a rookie MPP
who won his Kingston-area seat for
the Liberals for the first time in 50
years, came to Canada from
Holland as a child with his parents.
"We came for the opportunity
and that is being dismantled."
He said government can, have a
positive effect on people's lives.
Anna Marie Castrilli, the only
woman running for the leadership,
said restoring competitive advant-
age for small and medium-sized
businesses is important, "including
Continued on page 7
When Huron County's Ontario
Works program gets into gear Nov.
1, welfare workers will get a new
job description: as counsellors
designed to get clients off welfare
as quickly as possible.
Dave Overboe of the Huron
County Social Services department
explained the new program to
Huron County councillors at their
Oct. 3 meeting. Under the new sys-
tem someone requiring welfare
will be screened and Social Ser-
vices workers will design an action
plan for each client "that says how
am I going to get off welfare the
fastest possible way in a way that's
good for society," Overboe said.
The Huron plan is one of a num-
ber of pilot projects for the so-
called "workfare" plan of the
provincial government which
requires some welfare recipients to
either work or take training or they
will lose their welfare benefits.
Overboe suggested 10-15 per cent
of Huron's welfare recipients would
qualify for the program.
The Social Service Department's
business plan for the program says
that as of June, 415 clients would
be considered as potential partici-
pants in the mandatory portions of
the program. Of theses, 149 cases,
or 36 per cent are aged 18-25; 115
cases, or 37.5, are 26-35; 75 cases,
or 18 per cent, are 36-45 and the
rest , eight per cent, were born prior
to 1950. The average formal educa-
tion level of this group is 10.5
years and most have unskilled or
semi-skilled work experience.
Because of the low skill level, the
department's personnel will be able
to refer clients for training and edu-
cation to increase their employabil-
ity and will be able to fund
short-term training.
Those applying for welfare will
be allowed to draw payments for
three months. In the fourth month
single, employable recipients will
be required to participate in a group
Continued on page 7