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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2016-01-20, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, January 20, 2016 i www.clintonnewsrecord.com NowsCl Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. 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We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. zkO Canada Member of the Canadian Community Cn1Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association A Message from the Mayor Valerie Gillies Clinton News Record As a new calendar year begins to unfold, Township of Central Huron's Mayor, Jim Ginn, reflects on the year past, the beginning of the current year and his involvements in ongoing initiatives. 2015 was an eventful year for Central Huron with many projects being completed and new appointments being made. It was the most suc- cessful year for the facade grant program with $261,000 in projects being completed. The Communities in Bloom committee achieved 4 blooms. A new rescue van was acquired for the fire department, as well as an ambulance being stationed at the fire station. This is the first year for solar panels and they performed above the projec- tions. Mrs. Jardine donated the beautiful new cemetery gates. With the aid of a Tril- lium grant, new lights were installed at the hardball diamonds. There were strides made in processes. An new emer- gency plan was adopted. The process began to develop a County -wide eco- nomic development strategic plan with each of the municipalities develop- ing their own individual plans to be integrated into the overall plan. A new pro- cess in planning was suc- cessful for addressing issues in developing Windmill Lake Wake & Eco Park. A full time firechief who was shared with Bluewater was appointed. Steve Doherty was appointed as acting Chief Andministrative Officer of Central Huron. Going into 2016 there will be a community improve- ment and revitalization plan for downtown Clinton and the hamlets in Central Huron. The current mid - Huron landfill site will be closed requiring the devel- opment of a transfer station. The new Huron County Eco- nomic Development Plan will be implemented. Mayor Ginn is involved in the ongoing initiative known as the Integrated Assessment of Great Lakes Water Levels. Ginn states, "I am working with a University of Toronto research team studying the social, environmental and economic impacts of the fluc- tuations of Great Lakes water levels." The team is working with the Huron County Water Protection Steering Commit- tee to study Huron County's shoreline. The study is to be completed in November. Ginn chairs the Steering Committee on behalf of the county. He adds, "I also sit on a subcommittee which will work closely with the team to develop the report." Ginn explains that low water levels impact shipping, marinas and tourism while high water lev- els are more concerning due to the erosion of the lake banks and the potential for losses of cottages and homes and the danger to lives. The Avon Maitland District School Board has a gifted stu- dent program. Ginn states, "I have made a presentation to the students explaining policy development and, in particu- lar, the development of the "Rural Lens" and will con- tinue working with the kids into 2016:' Ginn has been involved in the development of the Rural Lens since 2013. When mak- ing aking presentations on the Rural Lens he generally begins by asking people if they have heard things such as, "those people sitting in their ivory towers in Toronto have no idea what goes on in rural Ontario!' Ginn reveals, "I was raised to not always com- plain, but instead to offer solutions. So, when someone sent me information about the use of a Rural Lens in sev- eral everal countries in Europe, I decided to take the idea to County Council" The Council supported the idea and a committee of approximately twelve was formed. They developed the "Healthy Rural Lens" for Huron County. Ginn went further in also present- ing his idea to the Rural Ontario Municipal Associa- tion (ROMA) directors, asking them to develop a lens to be utilized by provincial minis- tries. This has been completed. The Huron County Healthy Rural Lens is made up of ten topics or themes that were taken from the county's "Sustainable Huron" projects. These themes, such as down- towns, agriculture, popula- tions, natural environment and other topics, are used as a checklist of what is important to rural Ontario. Ginn explains that when a new policy is proposed, it is evaluated against these themes to determine if they would have a positive, neu- tral or negative influence Voters should decide on electoral Postmedia Network Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seems deter- mined to carry through on his election promise to scrap Canada's first -past - the -post voting system. The most obvious ques- tion might be: What will replace it? The more important one, however, is: Who gets to decide? On this latter point, the response so far from the Liberal government has not been at all satisfactory. It seems sensible that Canadian voters should have the final say on something as fundamental to their democracy as the manner in which they elect their political representa- tives. And yet, in recent days, Trudeau and Liberal House Leader Dominic LeBlanc have rejected mounting calls for a refer- endum on any future changes to the electoral process. Instead, the government continues to insist electoral reform can be treated like any other piece of legisla- tion and passed by a majority vote in Parlia- ment. Whether that would stand up to a legal chal- lenge on constitutional grounds would be for the courts to decide. But it's hard to see how a government would have the moral authority to use its majority in the House to change the rules, especially if those changes are viewed as increasing its chances of being re-elected. Granted, the Liberals have promised a "national engagement process" before recommending any changes. They have not spelled out what that means, and Trudeau and LeBlanc made it clear in year-end interviews that a national referendum is not part of the plan. The Liberals have also pledged to set up an all - party parliamentary com- mittee to study different electoral systems. After that, they say they would introduce legislation within 18 months to imple- ment a new system. The panel is meant to lend a sense of impartiality to the process, but it, too, is prob- lematic. How would repre- sentation be weighted in the committee? Besides, it's easy to see how different members of the committee would push for electoral systems that would benefit their own parties. For example, Township of Central Huron Township of Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn. on rural Ontario. He states, "If it is negative, there is another set of questions which, when answered, could reduce or eliminate the unintended negative consequences." Funds have been granted by the Rural Ontario Insti- tute (ROI) to roll out the Rural Lens to expand the program to be developed in other municipalities and organizations. Once this expansion has taken place, the program will be evalu- ated as to its effectiveness as a decision-making tool. Ginn will sit on a subcom- mittee to make this process of presentation, expansion and evaluation of the pro- gram happen, which is scheduled to take place over the next eighteen months. system under proportional repre- sentation -- which the NDP favours -- the Liberals would have formed only a minority government in the October election. The first -past -the -post system is generally considered to benefit the Conservatives. Of course, no electoral system is perfect, and there are arguments to be made for and against the status quo and the various alternatives. Ultimately, however, it is the voting public, not the politicians, who should have the final say on how their representatives are chosen. CLINTON NEWS RECORD — HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY: 9:00 - 5:00 • TUESDAY: - CLOSED • WEDNESDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • THURSDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • FRIDAY: - 9:00 - 5:00 • SATURDAY & SUNDAY: - CLOSED ADVERTISING DEADLINE: FRIDAY AT 2:00 • PHONE 519-482-3443 • FAX: 519-482-7341 www.clintonnewsrecord.com