The Citizen, 1989-11-01, Page 1Callander to close
45 jobs lost to Brussels as home moves to Wingham
BY USA BOONSTOPPEL
Months of struggle to keep
Callander Nursing Home in Brus
sels in operation came to a halt last
Friday when the home's owner,
Mac MacGowan revealed his inten
VOL. 5 NO. 44 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1989.50 CENTS
Sharing the fun
The joy of reading is shared by Pauline Blok with her mother Hill ie Students at the school got a chance to show their parents their work
during theopen house held at Blyth Public School Thursday night. and show off new skills. Pauline is a student in grade two.
35 charges laid in Huron drug sweep
A large quantity of marijuana,
hashish, hashish oil, and magic
mushrooms was seized last Friday
morning as part of an on-going
four-month undercover investiga
tion by the Ontario Provincial
Police, Number Six District, Crimi
nal Investigation Unit, and the
tions to amalgamate Callander with
his nursing home in Wingham.
Brussels will lose Callander,
which holds about 34 residents and
employs approximately 45 people,
in about two years said Mr.
London Drug Enforcement Section.
Eleven adults and one young
offender have been arrested after
36 police officers from the OPP,
London Drug Enforcement, Mount
Forest Crime Unit, Goderich, Kin
cardine, Exeter, Listowel, and Se-
bringville detachments, and the
MacGowan who plans to build a
brand new nursing home on pro
perty he already owns in Wingham.
But the decision is a disappoint
ing one for Brussels residents who
had been battling this loss for
Goderich and Clinton Police de
partments executed search war
rants centering their activities
around the municipalities of Goder
ich, Clinton, Hensall and Huron
Park. The approximate street value
of the drugs seized was 56,500.
Thirty-five drug charges were laid,
months. Last May, Mr. MacGowan
rallied the Brussels community for
support at a community meeting.
The meeting produced a steering
committee headed by Bruce McCall
that intended to pressure the
and four criminal code charges
including two for breach of probat
tion, Six warrants are still out
standing.
At a press conference following
the arrests Inspector Jim Gordon of
the Mount Forest detachment stat-
Continued on page 10
government into releasing 16 beds
to Mr. MacGowan so he could
make remodelling or rebuilding the
nursing home financially feasible.
The rebuilding was required by the
government who had imposed new
regulations on Nursing homes -
regulations that the existing Nurs
ing home couldn’t meet.
The committee presented a peti
tion to Jack Riddell who was the
Ontario Agricultural Minister, that
had been signed by 583 local
protestors. Then, a few members of
the committee travelled to Toronto
to meet with Eleanor Caplin, the
Minister of Health on September
27. “We knew that day that she
wouldn’t release any beds to Huron
County,’’ said Mary Stretton, a
member of the committee who
pleaded for beds.
Then, Mr. MacGowan asked the
government permission to amalga
mate the two homes in Wingham.
He received approval on the re
quest last Friday and called an
emergency meeting of the Callan
der staff that same afternoon to
inform them of the decision. The
decision was not met with good
response by the workers at Callan
der.
-“I think we all knew that it was
coming,’’ said Betty Graber, a
registered nurse at Callander, “but
it’s not right that the older resi
dents are going to have to leave
their homes.” Ms. Stretton who
also works at Callander added that
many of the residents at the home
have lived in Brussels all their lives
and it’s where they want to stay.
As well, many of the employees
are hesitant about entering the
unionized staff at the Wingham
home once Brussels has closed.
“I’d rather not work in a union”
said Diane Somers, a nurses aid at
Callander. Others are dreading the
extra travel that employment in
Wingham will require. Doris Fis
cher, a cook at Callander says she’d
like to work for a couple more years
but she doesn’t want to have to
drive to Wingham. For Barb Al
bert, a part-time housekeeping aid,
a part-time position in Wingham
wouldn’t make the driving feasible.
There are also some employees
who may not make the move to
Wingham because they don’t want
to leave Brussels. “I’m not going
out of town to work,” said Debbie
Trollope, a health care aid and
Continued on page 2
Wheeler, Menzies
win Skate Canada
bronze medal
Skating duo Kevin Wheeler and
Michelle Menzies have again carv
ed a name for themselves as
impressive Canadian skaters re
ceiving a bronze medal this past
weekend at the SunLife Skate
Canada International competition
in Cornwall. Mr. Wheeler who is a
member of the Brussels Figure
Skating Club and his partner
skated in the Senior Pairs Free
Skate division at the competition
against nine other couples. They
have been together for four years
and train under coach Kerry Leitch
of the Preston Figure Skating Club
in Cambridge.
Mr. Wheeler’s mother, Shirley,
who travelled with the pair to
Continued on page 15