HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2002-05-22, Page 1WELC OtAt 10
EsTA 'islet) 1877 f e Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and-Brussels and northern Huron County
Wednesday, May 22, 2002 Volume 18 No. 20
Inside this week
Pg. 6 Funding good
news for board
Pg. 9
Belgrave Sparks,
Brownies move up
Young golfers hit Pg. 10 links in tournament
Huron East WI
Pg. 21 marks 100 years
Living with Multiple Pg. 22 Sclerosis
OAFE
unveils
new
ed kits
By David Blaney
Citizen staff
Ontario Agri-Food Education
Inc.(OAFE) unveiled its new
teaching resource at the Seaforth
Agriplex on Friday, May 17. The
organization is a non-profit group
which acts as a bridge between the
agri-food industry and the
educational community.
The document is designed to meet
the requirements of the new
compulsory half-credit career
education course in Grade 10 and the
career components of business
education courses offered in Grades
11 and 12. The kit consists of a
teacher's guide, career profiles and a
16-minute video.
On hand for the announcement by
the OAFE chair Pamela Stanley were
individuals from agri-business,
education and government.
Ontario's new Minister of
Agriculture and Food , Helen Johns
said that what she has learned in-her
first three weeks on the job is just
how big a business agriculture is in
Ontario. "It is very important to
educate students and consumers
when we start to talk about food
labeling and genetic modification."
Ron Ritchie, the driving force
behind the 'Bridges to Agriculture'
program in both the public and
Catholic secondary systems, spoke
about the success of the co-operative
approach to teaching and promoting
agricultural education.
He said the program has had about
120 student participants in its first
three years. Currently it has
partnerships with 160 farms, farm
organizations and farm-related
businesses.
One of the students from the
program was on hand to provide a
first-hand report on his experiences.
-Joel Gardiner, currently enrolled at
the University of Guelph, said, "The
program allowed me to see the
business side of farming. "Bridges to
Agriculture opens students' eyes
Continued on page 7
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A courthouse at Toronto's Osgoode
Hall will be the site of a Thursday,
May 23 hearing into the fate of
Seaforth District High School
(SDHS).
At that time, a three-judge panel of
Ontario's Superior Court will hear a
community and municipal
government-based challenge of the
Avon Maitland District School
Board's Feb. 26 decision to close the
facility.
Legal teams for both sides have
been submitting information to the
court prior to the hearing, outlining'
the case. Lawyers have also had the
chance to ask questions of key
participants in the "Student
Accommodation Review" process
which led to the SDHS closure
decision.
Avon Maitland Education
Superintendent Bill Gerth, who
coordinated the process, says he was
"examined" by Fred Leitch, the
Hamilton-based lawyer representing
five Seaforth residents and the
Municipality of Huron East, all
seeking to have the closure decision
quashed. Leitch is a Seaforth
resident.
Gerth also worked with the Avon
Maitland legal team to compile a
300-page document for submission to
the Superior Court. He says most of
the document comprises a series of
staff reports, which are already part
of the public record through their
inclusion in information packages for
public board meetings.
But he also included a personal
affidavit approximately 20 pages in
length, essentially setting out his
version of the decision.
"The basic concept is that both
sides are supposed to have sent in
their essential arguments prior to the
.'bearing, so the judges have a chance
to prepare before hearing what the
lawyers have to say," Gerth
explained.
As a result of a April 18 hearing
before Divisional Court in Stratford,
Avon Maitland trustee Charles Smith
will not be allowed to appear as a
witness for the Seaforth group. A
judge in the April 18 case ruled
Smith, who spearheaded a successful
legal challenge of a similar SDHS
closure vote in 1999 before becoming
a trustee, could not participate as both
a member of the board and as a
witness for those challenging the
board.
Smith's lengthy affidavit, filed
prior to the April 18 hearing, was
therefore also deemed inadmissible.
In the case of the 1999 closure
vote, a Superior Court panel ruled the
Seaforth community had not been
afforded the same level of input as
other communities affected by
potential school closures.
Hearing the case in a London
courthouse in early 2000, the panel
spent just a couple of hours
deliberating before ruling SDHS
must stay open.
There's no guarantee, however,
that the judges in this case will return
a decision within the day. In addition,
the case will be listed along with
several others amongst the court's
business of the day, and there's a
chance other cases could take extra
time and the Seaforth matter could be
postponed until another day.
75 Cents (70c + 5c GST)
Huron E.
hires
EDC
By David Blaney
Citizen staff
After more than a year of
discussion and a $10,000 budget cut
the Municipality of Huron East has
an economic development co-
ordinator.
At .its May 14 meeting council
approved the hiring of Bonnie
Lafontaine on a one-year contract.
The hiring was formally announced
on Friday, May 17 at a news
conference held at the town hall.
Lafontaine comes to her new
position with a wide range of
experience. She has been the
executive director of the Huron
United Way, a councillor for the
former municipality of Colborne
Twp., a small business owner and
previously served as the chair of the
Gode,tich ad hoc tourism/marketing
comniittee and as a member of that
town's economic development
committee. She is currently the chair
of the operations committee of the
Ontario Parent Council.
Lafontaine was recruited after an
extensive search. The position was
posted with the economic
development faculties of the
University of Western Ontario,
Guelph and Waterloo, all five Huron
employment resource centres and
associations such as the
Municipalities of Ontario and the
Economic Development Council of
Ontario. Eight applications were
considered with three finalists being
interviewed by the full economic
development committee.
Lafontaine has an office at the
Huron Business Development
Centre and will be starting her new
position immediately. She said, "I
can't state specific goals
immediately but intend to start by
studying what has been done so far
by the Huron East business
development committee."
She did say that one of the first
orders of business was to get the new
Huron East website up and running.
Jim Prior, who is developing the
new site, said that he hopes to have it
available for viewing by the end of
June. He said it would feature a
separate section for each ward and
would be interactive, allowing for
companies to post job information
over the internet.
Lafontaine also identified signage
as a priority. She indicated it was
important to get signage developed
as quickly as possible that would
identify the municipality and its
wards.
Lafontaine acknowledged the
.difficulty of developing a plan for as
div.erse a municipality as Huron
East. However, she praised the work
that has been done by the economic
development committees in
Brussels, Seaforth and Vanastra.
She said, "I would like to father
everyone together to try to become
informed about what they have dune
and hope to accomplish."
This process of information
Continued on page 13
Lost
Blyth firefighters were called to a blaze on Winthrop Road in Hullett Twp. at 12:53 p.m. May
16. A contractor arriving at the home of Paul Buttar found a barn and shed completely engulfed
in flames, said Fire Chief Paul Josling. Firefighters were at the scene for three hours. The
cause of the fire is unknown and the estimate of damage is $50,000. The buildings housed
machinery and equipment. (Keith Roulston photo)
SDHS hearing May 23