The Citizen, 2012-08-02, Page 1CitizenTh
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$1.25 GST included Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, August 2, 2012
Volume 28 No. 31
FALL FAIR - Pg. 12Three girls vie forAmbassador crown OMB - Pg. 20 Morris-Turnberry hearsOMB appeal is withdrawnHOMECOMING- Pg. 10Brussels’ 140thanniversary in picturesPublications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 152, BRUSSELS, ON N0G 1H0INSIDE THIS WEEK:
Brussels Homecoming a successful weekend
Nesbitt inquest results in 14 recommendations
The grim determination of youth
The Ryan family was intent on bringing salutations and good tides to the people of Brussels during the 140th Brussels
Homecoming Parade on the weekend and, if the young man who was driving the family’s lawn tractor was any indication, that
intent was backed up by some serious determination. The parade was just one of the more than 20 events that saw the village
of Brussels celebrating their history from the crack of dawn until the last party-goer called it a night on Friday, Saturday and
Sunday of the past weekend. For a full picture gallery, visit The Citizen’s website at www.northhuron.on.ca (Denny Scott photo)
As a result of a days-long
coroner’s inquest in Goderich last
week, a jury made 14
recommendations to improve
workplace safety in the wake of
Murray Nesbitt’s 2009 death.
In August of 2009, Murray was
working at the Sifto Salt Mine in
Goderich when he fell into a chute
that sent salt to a trench conveyor
system. Nesbitt was later transferred
to the Alexandra Marine and General
Hospital in Goderich, where he was
pronounced dead. He was 57.
Murray’s son Jeff said it was a
difficult process for him and his
family to go through, but in the end,
it was for a good cause and he’s
happy he could help.
“This is obviously the first time
I’ve gone through anything like this,
but I think it went well,” Jeff said in
an interview with The Citizen.
“These are some great
recommendations for Sifto and
really across the entire mining
industry.”
Testimony for the inquest lasted
for two days where jurors heard
from 10 different witnesses and
experts. Nine of the accepted
recommendations were made
directly by the Nesbitt family, while
five additional recommendations
were made by the five-person jury
after deliberation ended on July 26.
Jeff said the process went as well
as it could have. He said it wasn’t
about assessing blame or pointing
the finger, it was about how
tragedies like Murray’s 2009 death
can be avoided in the future.
“This was the whole goal, the
whole purpose. Everyone was
working towards a common goal to
make sure this never happens again
and I think it went well,” Jeff said.
While Jeff says he’s pleased with
the outcome of the inquest and the
recommendations that result from it,
he said the week-long process was a
tough one for family members.
“This was really rough on the
family and all the witnesses,” Jeff
said. “This is now three years after
the accident and we’re bringing
everything back, a lot of sadness.”
At his funeral service at Trinity
Anglican Church three years ago,
Murray’s brother Maurice said
Murray was a man who prided
himself on being an average man
who never lost touch with his peers.
Maurice, however, begged to differ,
saying that Murray was anything but
average, elevating himself through
countless volunteer efforts
throughout his community.
Murray was a Blyth Village
councillor, then a North Huron
councillor after amalgamation. He
was also a member of the Blyth
Lions Club and the Blyth Masons.
The recommendations made as a
With meetings being held between
staff from North Huron and Morris-
Turnberry in regards to area fire
coverage, Central Huron Council is
making sure it’s not being left out of
the discussion.
Councillor Alison Lobb said she
was tired of waiting for North Huron
to get back to Central Huron and felt
Central Huron should be proactive
and set a meeting date and invite
North Huron, rather than waiting for
North Huron to set a date.
Lobb said that if North Huron
Council isn’t ready for the meeting
and doesn’t attend that council could
“still have a meaningful discussion”
at the meeting.
Central Huron Fire Chief Steve
Cooke, however, said that while he
understood council not wanting to
leave the discussion too late, there
are some pieces that need to be in
place before a discussion can
happen.
“Until we get a draft [fire
Last weekend’s Brussels
Homecoming could not have run
better and was a big success
according to Committee Co-Chair
Bob Richmond.
“I really don’t know how else to
describe it other than saying it was
fantastic,” he said. “I’m thinking we
had around 400 people register, but
that’s no indication of the amount of
people we had in. The population of
Brussels went up substantially on
the weekend.”
The celebration was held from
Friday night to Sunday morning and
everything just seemed to work well
according to Richmond.
“Everything went well,” he said.
“It was all top story and
phenomenal.”
The feedback Richmond received
both from attendants and from the
volunteers making the event happen
was positive and he said it would
definitely be an event that should be
duplicated in five years.
“All the chair people said that it
was great and I didn’t hear any
complaints,” he said. “This kind of
celebration will definitely happen in
five years provided someone steps
up to the plate to organize it.”
Organizing the event wasn’t quick
or simple by any means, but
Richmond said that the planning and
implementation of the homecoming
weekend was “easy”.
“All it takes is a group of people
forming a committee, it’s so easy to
step up and take on the
responsibility when you have people
willing to help,” he said. “As soon as
we decided to do the celebration, I
just started contacting everyone I
could think of in Brussels and most
of them sent a representative to be
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 16
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Central Huron wants fire meeting
Continued on page 16
Continued on page 19
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen