HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2019-10-31, Page 1 CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, October 31, 2019
Volume 35 No. 41
MOTOCROSS - Pg. 16
Walton Raceway wins
Track of the Year Award
DANCE - Pg. 20
Brussels’ Cole McLean
earns dancing silver
SPORTS - Pg. 9
Flyers downed by Hawks in
special Blyth ‘heritage’ game
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0
INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
Rural Talks explores climate change
Bishop,
Maaskant
awarded
To volunteer is to connect
with people and learn from each
other, believes Jacquie Bishop,
who was awarded the Huron
County Federation of Agriculture’s
Outstanding Contribution to
Agriculture Award at the
federation’s annual meeting held
Oct. 25 in Holmesville.
“I learn as much from each and
every one of you as you learn from
me,” said Bishop after accepting the
award from HCFA Vice-President
Mike Colclough.
Colclough read off a long list of
Bishop’s activities which include
serving as the first female chair of
the International Plowing Match
when it was held in Walton in 2017.
Bishop has just finished a busy
season as a Field Liaison Manager
with Elections Canada. In the past
she has taught pesticide courses, led
agricultural tours, led 4-H groups
and is an active member of the
Huron County Plowmen’s
Association.
Bishop also received the Warden’s
Award last year at the Huron County
Cultural Awards, being honoured
again this year when the awards
reflected back on winners from the
previous 10 years.
“I am a product of Huron
County,” said Bishop. “It is
humbling to receive this award and I
am honoured to accept it.”
John Maaskant of Holmesville-
area accepted a plaque for being
named to the Huron County
Agricultural Hall of Fame. He was
named to the Ontario Agricultural
Hall of Fame back in February of
this year. Maaskant accepted the
plaque from Marinus Bakker.
Maaskant was praised for his
strategic leadership and consensus
building skills while serving as chair
of Chicken Farmers of Ontario and
the Ontario Farm Animal Council.
Educational leadership was the
A joint event hosted by the
Canadian Centre for Rural
Creativity, Huron County and
Sustainable Huron brought world-
class speakers on a number of timely
and relevant topics to Blyth
Memorial Hall last week.
While the RuralTalks event was
focused on climate change in Huron
County, speakers and panelists
explored a wide array of topics,
including clean energy, data
standardization and municipal
environmental plans.
Huron County Warden Jim Ginn
opened the event, followed by the
keynote address from author Bruce
Nagy.
Nagy, who penned The Clean
Energy Age: A guide to Beating
Climate Change, gave the assembled
municipal and county stakeholders
and local high school students
tips on how to address climate
change.
Nagy explained that climate
change isn’t just about carbon
initiatives, pointing to events like
potential recreations of the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
in North America, where many
similar reactors are located on
coastlines.
Nagy encouraged the group to
change the world, saying that
controlling climate change is a
grassroots initiative: people,
corporations and non-government
organizations (NGOs) have to take
the lead and the municipal,
provincial and federal governments
will follow.
Nagy did paint some dismal
images of the future, but also
highlighted progress being made in
places some people may consider
unlikely.
He pointed to cities and states
south of the border that are focusing
on green energy despite federal
policies not following the same
practices.
Indiana, for example, is focusing
on renewable energy while Illinois is
planning to scrap nuclear power
generation in the near future.
Texas, normally associated with
oil fields, is leading the country in
wind energy, he said. Hawaii is a big
solar producer with 10 per cent of
houses having panels.
New York is focusing on
geothermal projects instead of
funneling money into non-renewal
utilities.
He also said electric vehicles are
becoming much more prominent and
he estimates that the three million
electric vehicles on the road, will
increase tenfold by 2030.
Nagy said 75 per cent of carbon
production is connected to power
plants, building construction and
transportation and more passive
projects can help to reduce those
numbers.
Nagy pointed out that, with a
decent thermal envelope in a house,
furnaces and air conditioners aren’t
needed anymore, just an air
exchange unit that maintains indoor
temperature while bringing fresh air
into the home, pointing to passive
houses as examples.
He said passive houses are
becoming more visible in North
America, with 2,000 in existence, up
from five several years ago.
Passive houses are also becoming
less expensive to produce, he said.
While, several years ago, a premium
of up to 30 per cent was the reality,
now passive houses can cost
between the same and nine per cent
A little traffic
It was a big weekend for the ice pads in Huron County as
hockey and broomball action are now in full swing. The
Blyth Brussels Minor Hockey Association held games in
both Blyth and Brussels over the weekend, while numerous
Huron Heat teams played in Brussels, Clinton and Hensall.
There was even time for a few broomball games in Blyth on
Saturday and a special “heritage” game between the Goderich
Flyers and Mitchell Hawks in Blyth on Sunday night. Above, the
Atom Huron Heat took on the Kitchener Lady Rangers on Sunday
at the Central Huron Community Complex, winning by a score of
3-1. Later, the Bantam BB Heat would take on the Southport Stars
twice, notching a win and a draw. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
Daylight
Saving Time
Ends
Clocks go back
one hour
Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 a.m.
By Lisa B. Pot
The Rural Voice
Continued on page 17Continued on page 2
By Denny Scott
The Citizen