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The Citizen, 2018-05-17, Page 1INSIDE THIS WEEK: BIKE TOURS - Pg. 8 Local youth creates bike tour business in Blyth DONATION - Pg. 10 Former fire chief honoured with defibrillator donation PACT - Pg. 19 Blyth Festival members return from conference Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON NOG 1H0 .Citiz Volume 34 No. 20 WELCOME TO B L.YT H ESTABLISHED 1877 of $1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, May 17, 2018 Challenging the stigma The Run for Mental Health Awareness was held in Seaforth on Saturday with dozens making their way through the town, all in the name of raising money and awareness for mental health initiatives. Money raised that day went towards the Canadian Mental Health Association, the Huron -Perth Centre for Children and Youth and the Tanner Steffler Foundation, which is based in Seaforth. The run was sponsored by McGavin Farm Equipment in Walton. (Quinn Talbot photo) Police could curtail budget By Denny Scott The Citizen The North Huron Police Services Board may be presenting a budget 17 per cent lower than the $1.6 million document that caused North Huron to defer its budget earlier this month. Last Thursday, the Police Services Board met at the Wingham Town Hall and Wingham Police Chief Tim Poole said there could be changes made to reduce the budget to $1.352 million. Poole explained that, by trying to hire less experienced officers by taking recruits fresh from the Ontario Police College, the 2018 Wingham Police Services budget could be dropped by 17 per cent and have three new officers as part of the squad as early as late December. Those numbers would be only $100,000 more than the budget originally proposed by Poole last year. More experienced, or First Class Constables, would cost the municipality $100,000 each, plus 30 per cent in benefits per year each, while the recruits, which were later identified as Fourth Class Constables, would only cost $56,000 per year, plus benefits. Poole explained that the officers could begin training as early as September, however they needed to be on payroll before they could join classes at the college. Pairing the lower wage with the fact that officers would technically start in September instead of June resulted in the bulk of the savings. The board decided to direct Poole to enact those cuts. At North Huron Council Member and Police Services Board Chair Trevor Seip's suggestion, committee members voted to also have Poole prepare budgets for 2019 and 2020 to show council the result of staying with the Wingham Police Service over the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). In Seip's opinion, a new budget would just move costs from one calender to the next. Other members of the board seemed to have mixed emotions about council's decision and its need to change the budget. The decision to go with raw recruits was questioned by board vice -chair Joan van der Meer, who requested Poole outline any problems that may cause. "It's tough to say," Poole said. "We would put the recruits with an experienced officer. They are going Continued on page 17 Five registered to vie for MPP spot By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen As of Tuesday morning, five candidates had put their names forward in hopes of becoming Huron -Bruce's next Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP). The nomination deadline is set for today (May 17), so a final list of candidates will be available in next week's issue of The Citizen. Huron -Bruce MPP Lisa Thompson of the PC Party of Ontario is running for re-election, seeking a third term in the position. Thompson was first elected in 2011, beating out incumbent Liberal MPP Carol Mitchell. Thompson would be re-elected in 2014. Thompson, who grew up in East Wawanosh, currently serves as Caucus Chair, as well as the PC Critic for International Trade and the Critic for Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Challenging Thompson in the election will be Don Matheson of the Liberal Party of Ontario. The Southampton native is a Saugeen Shores Councillor and has served as a member of the Southampton 150 committee, chair of the local recreation and active transportation committee and as a member of the local chamber of commerce and the Southampton Business Improvement Area. Matheson also volunteers as a minor hockey coach and is the general manager of the Saugeen Shores Winterhawks Senior AA hockey team. Kincardine's Jan Johnstone will represent the NDP in the upcoming election. This comes after Johnstone represented the NDP in the 1997 federal election and in the 2014 provincial election. Johnstone is the vice -chair of the Bluewater District School Board, representing the Municipality of Kincardine and the Township of Huron -Kinloss. She has also been elected as a director to the Ontario Public School Boards Association where she chairs the Program Work Committee. Nicholas Wendler is the riding's candidate for the Green Party. Wendler has previously run for the Green Party in Kitchener Centre after working on data entry for the party during the Kitchener -Waterloo byelection. Wendler is a Goderich native who moved out of the community to study at the University of Waterloo, then Wilfrid Laurier University. In 2015, when running for the Green Party in Kitchener, Wendler told The Waterloo Region Record that he was born with a physical disability, which has given him a "unique view of life". He also told the newspaper that while he enjoyed the conveniences of city living while in Kitchener, he enjoyed the small-town atmosphere of where he grew up, which he called a "tight -knit community". Gerrie Huenemoerder put her name forward as the local representative of the Alliance Party of Ontario. Huenemoerder was the winner of the 2016 Win This Space competition for her custom jewelry store in Vanastra, which has since moved to Seaforth. The Alliance Party was founded last year by PC members who disagreed with stances held by then - Leader Patrick Brown, described as a "social conservative" and "right- wing populist" party. The 42nd Ontario general election is set for Thursday, June 7. Premier Kathleen Wynne is leading the Liberal Party, while Doug Ford is the leader of the PC Party, Andrea Horwath is the NDP leader, the Green Party leader is Mike Schreiner and Jay Tysick is the leader of the Alliance Party. Locally, the Huron County Federation of Agriculture will be hosting an all -candidates meeting on Tuesday, May 22 at 8 p.m. at the Holmesville Community Centre. 1 RE-ELECT LISA THOMPSON PC CANDIDATE HURON -BRUCE r NTARIOPC A Trusted Voice for Huron -Bruce! Campaign office: 164 Josephine St. Wingham ON P.O. Box 128, Wingham, ON NOG 2W0 Tel: 519-357-3500 Toll Free: 1-833-621-3500 Email: lisathompsonpc@gmail.com Web: huronbrucepc.nationbuilder.com Authorized by the CFO for the Lisa Thompson Campaign.