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Cancer Awareness
page
Teen pursues
music dream
Latin dancers win
nationally
OPP
warn
of scams
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ruin the communities of Blyth-and Brussels and northern Huron County,fik, 1111111111111=
Volume 18 No. 14
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
Inside this week
P8'
Broomball Hitmen
8' " win B gold
Midget Dogs win
Pg. 7 bronze in Montreal
The Huron OPP are warning, local
residents of two scams which have
hit Huron recently. One involves
door-to-door canvassing and the
other targets internet users.
Sr. Const. Don Shropshall said
there had been reports of a well-
dressed man, probably in his late
30's, going door-to-door in the
Zurich-Exeter area. This individual
claims to be canvassing for Child
Find.
Child Find reports that it has no
one canvassing in Huron County and
that the individual has no connection
with their organization. Shropshall
said it is possible the individual
involved may be working his way
north and asks householders to be on
the alert.
He suggests that home owners ask
canvassers for identification.
Contact police or the organization
directly if you are not satisfied with a
canvasser's legitimacy.
The internet scam has shown up in
several parts of Canada as well as
Huron County. The scammers send
out e-mails claiming to need help in
removing large sums of money from
various African countries.
The senders claim to be influential
people who have come into large
sums of money but need help to
transfer it out of the country of
origin. The appeals are often worded
to suggest that the money may have
been obtained illegally or as the
result of political upheaval.
One of the latest to show up claims
to be from the wife of an important
figure who '—was assassinated.
Another suggests that the money is
from an individual who skimmed
money from government contracts.
These scams all suggest that the
recipient is a reputable individual
and will receive a substantial
payment for setting up Canadian
bank accounts for the money. The
catch comes when the recipient is
asked to deposit money in the
account to show their good faith.
This money is then withdrawn by the
fraud artist and never replaced.
The OPP wants to remind
everyone, if a deal seems too good to
be true, it probably is.
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Not surprisingly, the events which
led to the Avon Maitland District
School Board's Feb. 27 decision to
close Seaforth District High School
(SDHS) are brought into question in
the official documentation
supporting a court challenge of- the
6-3 trustee vote. Potentially more
surprising is the fact the actions of
board chair Colleen Schenk — from
both the recent and not-so-recent
past — also are highlighted.
Brought forward by four Seaforth
citizens, as well as the Municipality
of Huron East, the judicial
application seeks "an interim order .
. prohibiting the Avon Maitland
District School Board from closing
SDHS," as well as orders "quashing
the decision" and "declaring the
(board's) School Closure Policy . . .
to be void as not conforming with
the guidelines of the Ministry of
Education." Legal costs are also
sought.
A hearing to determine if there are
grounds to proceed with the
application, for which the
documentation can be viewed at the
Stratford courthouse, is scheduled
for Thursday, April 18.
In a list entitled "grounds for the
application," the documentation first
suggests the board's school closure
policy "does not conform to the
requirement of the Education Act,"
and charges that "trustees defeated a
motion brought by a trustee to bring
the policy into conformity." These
arguments refer to an attempt in late
2001 by Seaforth-area trustee
Charles Smith — a vocal proponent
of keeping SDHS open — to have
the board's policy altered.
Similar arguments formed part of
the case against closure the last time
the board attempted to close SDHS,
in 1999-2000. That time, Hamilton-
based lawyer Fred Leitch — a
Seaforth resident who is again
representing supporters of the high
school — convinced a three-judge
panel of Ontario's Divisional Court
to quash the decision. Referral to
Divisional Court is again one
possible outcome of the April 18
hearing.
Another portion of Leitch's 2000
submission was that Seaforth
citizens- were not afforded the same
chance to provide public input into
the debate as were residents of other
communities facing potential
closure. This time, his application
for review calls into question a staff
recommendation to close SDHS and
leave Seaforth Public School in its
present kindergarten-to-Grade-8
format.
Until shortly before trustees were
set to vote, that option had not been
seriously discussed in public;
instead, there was widespread public
understanding that the preferred
option was to move all secondary
school students to Central Huron
Secondary School (CHSS) in
Clinton, but relocate all elementary
school students into the vacated
SDHS building.
"The applicants were not given a
fair opportunity to influence the
decision of the trustees," Leitch's
current application argues. "Board
staff made a fundamental change to
its recommendation . . . which only
became known to the applicants two
working days before the decision."
Affidavits filed by the applicants
— and included with the
documentation — make reference to
this issue.
"No one had ever been given an
opportunity to present on the basis
that (closing SDHS) could occur
without (relocating the Seaforth
Public School students)," states a
lengthy affidavit signed by Dick
Burgess, a former SDHS teacher and
current member of Huron East
council.
Lisa Campbell. meanwhile,
outlines what are referred to as
"problems" with the Seaforth Public
School building, including the need
for what the hoard itself estimates
Continued on page 18
County
meets
with
lawyer
By Keith Roulston
Citizen publisher
Much of Thursday's session of
Huron County council was closed to
the public after council went into
committee of the whole to discuss
legal and personnel issues with its
lawyer.
The closed session came after
approval of a motion proposed by
Goderich Councillor Deb Shewielt
who said council needed to discuss
issues arising from the report of
consultant Hugh Thomas on the
county's administration.
He was supported in his motion by
Bluewater Councillor Bill Dowson
who said the public is "beginning to
get the feeling we're trying to sweep
(the report) under the rug." Dowson
said he was concerned over possible
liable issues.
The Thomas report was critical of
county clerk Lynn Murray in
particular over communications
issues. Comments from employees
contained within the report.
however, were harsher, calling for
the dismissal of the clerk.
Council met for more than two
hours in closed session and had no
comment when it returned to regular
business after a lunch break
3 hurt in crash
An East Wawanosh Twp. woman
and her daughter were taken to
hospital following a three- vehicle
accident on Hwy 4 near Exeter on
April 3.
Accouling to' police, a pickup
truck driven by Lynne Magee was
hit by a car driven by Roxanne
Brideau of Zurich. Magee was
accompanied by her daughter, Erin
Magee-Watson.
Police say Brideau's car, which
was traveling north, had slowed to
make a left-turn into a local
business. The vehicle was hit from
the rear when a tractor-trailer driven
by . Hendrik Van Roekel of Mount
Elgin pushed into the path of
Magee's pickup.
The South Huron Volunteer Fire
Department attended at the scene
and aided in removing the victims
from the vehicles. Magee-Watson
and Brideau were taken to South
Huron Hospital by ambulance.
Magee was air-lifted to Victoria
south street campus trauma unit in
London.
Magee-Watson was treated for
minor injuries and released. Her
mother, police said was listed in
serious but stable condition at press
time.
Brideau was transferred to
Stratford General Hospital v here
she was listed in serious but st,ble
condition. The truck driver was to
injured.
At press time the accident was still
under investigation by members of
the OPP technical traffic collision
section.
Fun-raising
Kevin Deitner was all smiles as he helped out auctioneer Kevin McArter at the Jaws of Life
dinner-auction, sponsored by the Brussels Optimists. And well, he should have been smiling
as the event raised an impressive $24,000 for the Brussels and Grey Fire Departments. The
community's overwhelming response had the dinher sold out three weeks in advance. As a
result the door was opened after dinner for interested individuals to have an opportunity to view
the equipment and attend the auction to help support the firefighters. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Challenge notes Schenk's actions