HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1998-11-11, Page 1Optimists kick
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tournament
.... And Perhaps a Play
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`Complete Works'
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Vol. 14 No 44
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998
700+ 50 GST 750
Geese
fatalities
raise
questions
By Bonnie Gropp
Citizen staff
Ministry of Natural Resources
conservation officers are currently
investigating a high incident of
unexplained mortality with
Canada geese.
Area Supervisor Ron Bennett
said that there have been no
reports of this occurring anywhere
else, stressing that the situation is
localized to the Blyth area .
The concern was brought to the
attention of MNR last week after
employees at Sparling's Propane
discovered a number of dead or
dying geese at the pond, located
just south of the business.
By Friday of last week close to
25 of the migratory birds had
been buried.
Though at first there was
speculation among those who
discovered the birds that they and
been shot. However, Bennett said
the deaths do not appear to be
hunting related. He also said he
suspects that whatever the
problem is, they were suffering
from it, when they came to the
pond.
Samples have been sent to the
University of Guelph for analysis.
Though he did not want to
speculate until the investigation
was complete, Bennett suspects
they are looking at either
poisoned bait, lead poisoning as a
result of low water levels or
algaeic bloom toxicity, which has
been a problem in the west.
Should the investigation reveal
any further information it will be
released to the • media
immediately, Bennett said.
Something amiss
The discovery of over 20 dead Canada Geese at
Sparling's pond last week is under investigation by the
Ministry of Natural Resources. Deputy Conservation
Officer Rick Williams discovers an ailing bird in the
grasses by the pond's edge.
Grey reeve says
county has role
in amalgamation itizen
Response to the amalgamation
survey printed in The Citizen the
weeks of Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 has
been encouraging.
Obviously residents consider this
While municipal restructuring
has been turned back to local
municipalities, Huron County still
has a role to play in helping the
process take place, Grey Twp.
Reeve Robin Dunbar told county
council, Nov. 5.
"There has to be a co-ordinating
role (for the county)," said Dunbar
as he urged municipalities to get on
with the process. Dunbar also sug-
gested the county should set a tar-
get date to try to have restructuring
take place.
"The time to talk is over. The
time to act is now," he said. To get
the ball rolling in northern Huron
his township and the Village of
Brussels had agreed to start plan-
ning toward amalgamation, he told
council.
Doug Grant, reeve of Bayfield,
agreed with Dunbar's call to action
but warned against the county set-
ting a deadline. It can propose a
deadline but if it sets one, the only
way to enforce it is to call in a
provincial restructuring commis-
sion, he said, and that was some-
thing nobody wants to see.
Mason Bailey, reeve of Blyth,
The executive of the Huron-
Bruce Provincial NDP is planning
an evening when members and the
general public can meet the
candidates for the local NDP
nomination. To date Tony
McQuail, a Lucknow area farmer,
is the only declared candidate but
there are indications that former
Huron MPP, Paul Klopp and 1997
Federal Candidate, Jan Jonstone are
considering throwing their hats in
the ring.
At their Wednesday night
meeting the executive decided to
hold a meeting on Friday, Nov. 20
in the upstairs of the Lucknow
Town Hall. At that time any
declared and decided candidates
will be asked to make a short
speech to give those in attendance
an opportunity to get to know their
positions on the issues affecting all
people in Ontario.
The executive has scheduled the
actual nomination meeting for
Friday, Feb. 5 with a snow date of
Feb. 19 in Goderich at the MacKay
Hall.
Riding President, Lynda Rotteau
said the meeting will start with a
On Nov. 6, a break-in was
discovered at Blyth Veterinary
Services on Queen Street. The
owner. arriving at work around 8
also supported Dunbar saying his
council was working on a plan.
While Dunbar didn't put his sen-
timents into a motion, he said a let-
ter from his council would be going
to the county's strategic planning
committee with the hope they
would take action. But Warden
Jack Coleman said a motion passed
at the Oct. 1 meeting of council
indicated the restructuring discus-
sions were to be turned over to the
local municipalities and that left the
county out of the process.
Jim Love, reeve of Hay Twp. felt
that Brussels and Grey could go
ahead with its proposal without the
entire county being involved. Once
their arrangement was worked out
it could come to county council for
approval, he said.
But Dunbar argued that the coun-
ty could work as a facilitator to let
people in one part of the county
know what people elsewhere were
doing. "The role of the county is
basically a passive role," he said.
He urged other councils to act
without delay. "The longer we put
this off, the more inevitable it is
that a commission will come on the
scene," he said.
potluck supper followed by a brief
annual general meeting including
election of officers. It will then
move into speeches by the
candidates about 7:45 p.m. The
speeches will be followed by
questions from the floor. The
meeting will conclude with a
discussion of election readiness and
local organizing plans.
Rotteau said "A potluck meal
reflects our values. We each have
something to bring to the table and
by sharing with each other our meal
and our lives are richer."
This meeting will be 'an
opportunity for NDP members and
the general public to see the local
hopefuls in action before the
nomination meeting in February.
Rotteau said "The threatened
school closings, the hospital
cutbacks and the downloading to
the municipalities are all ways that
ordinary people and local
communities are paying for the
Tory tax breaks for the rich."
"The heart is being cut out of our
communities and I hope people will
come to the meeting Nov. 20 to
learn how they could help win
Ontario back."
a.m., found that the rear door had
been pried open gaining entry.
Once inside a safe was pried open
and a small amount of cash was
stolen.
an important issue and for that rea-
son we want to provide ample
opportunity for anyone interested in
participating in the survey. We will
accept submissions until this Fri-
day. Anyone who doesn't have a
survey but would like to have their
say can drop in to the office of The
Citizen to fill one out.
The results will be published in
an upcoming issue.
NDP candidates meeting
to be held in Lucknow
Break-in at Blyth vet's Deadline for survey this Friday