HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-10-04, Page 1In brief
Huron
East
candidates
file papers
Candidates who have
declared their intentions
during the past week to
rum in this fall's municipal
election have left only one
empty seat so far on the
new Huron East council.
But, except for the race
between Seaforth Reeve
Lin Steffler and Grey
Township Reeve Robin
Dunbar for Huron East
mayor, all positions are so
far filled by acclamation.
. "There's only one empty
position for councillor in
Grey Township. But, I
suspect more will come in
during the next week,"
says administrator Jack
McLachlin.
The final day to ,file
papers to run in the
upcoming municipal
election is Oct. 13.
Tuckersmith Township
Reeve Bob Broadfoot is
seeking the position of
deputy -reeve of Huron
East. .
Running for the two
seats in the Seaforth ward
so far are Seaforth
Deputy -Reeve William
Teall and Dick Burgess,
who serves on the police
services, planning and
museum boards of
Seaforth.
In Tuckersmith
Township, former
Tuckersmith Deputy-
Reeve,Larry McGrath and
Councillor Paul Spittal are.
seeking office.
In McKillop Township,
McKillop Councillors
Ferg Kelly and Sharon
McClure are running for
the two available seats.
In Brussels, Brussels
Reeve Ralph Watson and
Brussels Councillor Greg
,Wilson are running for
office.
In Grey Township, Grey
Councillor Greg Wilson is
tuning for one of the two
available positions.
Voters in this fall's
election will be voting for
two candidates in their
ward as well as for the
mayor and deputy -mayor
of the newly -amalgamated
municipality.
An advance poll will be
held on Nov. 4 in Seaforth
and Brussels, most likely
at the municipal offices.
Election day is Nov. 13.
McLachlin says no dates
have yet been set for all -
candidates meetings that
will be held before the
election.
Inside...
Rabies clink
held..
PIPS
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SCHS2000
Cammencernent
Pegs le
October 4, 2000
Si
(includes GST)
Local weather
Wednesday --Rain
developing. low 10.
Thursday --Cloudy and
cooler. High 14. Low 8.
Friday --Mainly cloudy.
windy and cool. High 12.
Low 3.
Saturday --Mainly
cloudy. Scattered
showers. High 10. Low 3,
From Environment Canada
Shortage of rural women doctors cited
as health concern for local women
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
A typical visit to the
grocery store or walk
downtown for either of
Seaforth's two women
doctors brings the inevitable
plea from a potential woman
patient for an appointment.
"I've had numerous
requests, five or six in the
past two months, from
women I've met in. the
grocery store who want me
to see them just for their pap
smears," says Dr. Heather
Percival, who has a full
practice and is not accepting
any new patients.
Dr. Carotin Shepherd, who
has a more than two year
waiting list in her practice,
says she gets daily inquiries
at the office asking to join
the list.
The lack of women .doctors
and the high demand for
them was an issue raised at a,
recent community forum at
Seaforth. Community
Hospital.
Staff at the Seaforth
Medical Clinic expressed
concern at the meeting that
women were putting off
important medical exams,
holding out in hopes another
female doctor will locate in
town.
While Seaforth needs at
least two more doctors to
serve the local population,
Dr. Shepherd says it would
be nice if one of the two
were a woman.
"1 hesitate to say the
community isn't being served
and it's hard to tell if women
aareaf
4411.1.0 ks-
Susan Hundertmark photo
Dr. Carolin Shepherd, at right, chats with patient Debbie Stright, who come to Seaforth from
Goderich for a woman doctor when Shepherd moved to town almost a decade ago.
aren't going to the doctor
(because a woman doctor
isn't available) but it's very
hard for a woman in this
community to get to a
'woman doctor. We both have
very full practices," says Dr.
Shepherd.
She adds that while the
male doctors in town are
"really good and sensitive to
women's needs," she and Dr.
Percival are often asked to
squeeze in patients with
particularly female concerns,
such as unwanted
pregnancies, sexually -
transmitted diseases or
religious beliefs that prohibit
women from being treated by
male doctors.
"We have to be sensitive to
these things and we will see
people who are not out
patients when they do," she
says. 1 1 urge people who feel
that way to approach me and
make their concerns known
to Dr. Percival or me."
Dr. Percival says that while
she doesn't believe women .
are not getting medical care
because of the local shortage
of women doctors, she
believes that women are not
making appointments for
tests such as pap smears as
often as they would with a
woman doctor. She also
knows of women who seek
medical care wherever they
can find a woman doctor.
"It's a, big deal for a lot of
women. It's not an
Fronk Phillips photo
Prime Minister Pierre Trudeou pocked the intersection of Main Street and Highway 8 with dose
to 2,000 people during Ns 1968 visit to Seaforth while campaigning for an election.
emergency issue but it's still
very much an issue for
women," she says.
Dr. Percival says women in
Seaforth watch her practice
so closely that if one of her
patients. dies, she'll receive a
request from a woman asking
to take that person's place as
her patient.
When she arrived in
Seaforth seven years ago, her
practice was full in two and a
half months. And, during
both of her two maternity
leaves, she was asked
continually by patients when
she would be back to work.
Both doctors say the
barriers to attracting women
doctors in a rural practice are
great. Single women doctors
are lonely because the
smaller population provides
fewer opportunities for a
social life.
And because married
women doctors are often L.
paired up with 'other
professionals, it can be
difficult for their husbands to
find jobs in small towns.
"When you're married to
an engineer, he usually has to
find a job in the city and you
have to either commute or
stay in the city." says Dr.
Percival.
Dr. Shepherd adds that
because rural medicine is
more demanding, with fewer
specialists to refer patients to,
it's more difficult to find time
for family life as a rural
doctor.
She says the most likely
women doctors to take up a
rural practice are married to
other doctors.
"We're really trying to get
other women doctors to come
to town. I give the women
medical students the spiel
everytime I see them," says
Dr. Percival.
While there are barriers to
women doctors in rural
practice, Dr. Shepherd says
there are also many rewards
in a rural practice.
"You have to have a
certain amount of gutsiness
because you're on your own
at emerg (the emergency
department), which is an
added stress level. But, the
excitement of it is what I
love about it. 1 love working
at emerg," she says.
See LOCAL, Page 2
Trudeau's death
recalls memories
of his 1968 tour
through Seaforth
By Susan Hundertmark
Ex-00ot Staff 4
Among the pictures Seaforth photographer Frank Phillips
was selling recently at Ciderfest was a shot he took of former
prime minister Pierre Trudeau during a visit to Seaforth
during the late 1960s.
"I was looking at it and I would have bought it if I'd had
enough money in my pocket. Three days later, Trudeau was
dead," says Seaforth Mayor Dave Scott.
Thousands of Canadians attended the 15th prime
minister's funeral in Montreal yesterday.
Though Scott would have been three or four years old
during Trudeau's visit td Seaforth, he says Trudeau's death is
the "loss of a Canadian icon, a major influence on Canadian
politics."
Phillips took the picture while freelancing for The Huron
Expositor and remembers standing alongside photographers
from newspapers in Stratford and Wingham.
"At that time, it wasn't a big deal. I wasn't into politics
then and I'm still not. I was just trying to get a picture," he
says, adding that he remembers meeting Trudeau as he took
his picture coming down the steps of a platform.
Susan White, former editor of The Huron Expositor and
daughter of the late A.Y. McLean, says she remembers
spending the day on the press bus during the spring of 1968
as the Trudeau campaign rolled throw, h Seaforth on a tour of
Huron and Perth Counties, gathering support for the June 25
election.
"Trudeaumania was sweeping the country at that time and
it was so neat to be part of it. Crowds were everywhere, even
out along Highway 8," she says.
In a story in the May 23, 1968 edition of The Expositor, a
front page story entitled, "Enthusiastic Welcome When
Prime Minister Visits Area," says about 2,000 people
jammed the intersection at Main Street and Highway 8 when
Trudeau came to Seaforth.
Soo STICKLE, Page 2
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