The Citizen, 2006-03-02, Page 1Surprise dinner guests
Melville Presbyterian Church has come up with a fun way to raise money and break the tedium
of winter with their annual Guess Who's Coming to Dinner held on Saturday night. A sign-up
sheet allows the people the opportunity to offer to host a dinner, or buy a ticket to dine. These
are then matched with the host having no idea who will be showing up. This year's event had
seven hosting about 35 guests. Among those dining with Janna Dodds, right, were Rick and
Margaret Mclnroy. (Vicky Bremner photo)
NORTH HURON PUBLISHING COMPANY INC.
Inside this week
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Firefighters
honoured for service
Grey, Brussels
students speak off
Blyth teams WOAA
champs
Locals return from
Qtiebec tourney
Area skaters
demonstrate skills
HE may
withdraw
hospital
grant
e Citizen
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Volume 22 No. 9
Thursday, March 2, 2006
$1 (93c + 7c GST)
A grant in the amount of $2,000
may not be given to the Seaforth
hospital foundation this year, as a
message to the McGuinty
government, Huron East 'council
decided at the Feb. 27 council
meeting.
Members of council expressed
disapproval of the new Local Health
Integration Networks (LHINs)
which, if passed could mean local
hospitals losing services, councillors
said. "It scares the hell out of me,"
Joe Steffler said at the meeting."
Tuckersmith councillor Larry
McGrath who first brought up the
concern about locally raised money
going to serve another community
due to LHINs said he is not sure the
provincial government has the rural
communities best concern at heart.
"We could end up with a piece of
junk equipment and the good piece
of equipment goes to Stratford...we
may as well send the cheque right to
Perth."
grey ward councillor Mark Beaven
said he wanted council to be aware of
what a powerful statement this was.
"I'm worried about penalizing the
local foundation because of
McGuinty's dictatorship basically,"
he said.
Council decided' to withdraw the
$2,000 from the. grant allocations in
the budget and have a meeting with
the foundation to discuss the money.
"I'm scared about locally raised
money going somewhere else
[because. someone in the provincial
government thinks] it would be
better spent in Windsor," Mayor Joe
Seili said. "We are holding back
because of (Minister of Health and
Long-Term Care, George)
Smitherman's actions."
By Heather Crawford
Citizen staff
A debate about whether or not to
increase taxes again this year took
Huron East council late into the
night at their Feb. 27 meeting.
Budget talks continued as
councillors tried to get some major
issues resolved. Mayor Joe Seili said
earlier in the night he was hoping to
pass the budget at the meeting but a
difficulty in getting everyone to
agree on where to cut prevented this
from happening.
"We have $400,000 more to work
with [this year compared to last
year]. If we can't balance this budget
without raising taxes then we're not
doing our job and we should resign,"
Seili said.
Tuckersmith councillor Bill
DeJong said, "Each year we keep
raising wages and then there is the
road budget every year and one day
it's going to catch up to us."
Grey ward councillor Mark
Beaven agreed with Seili that raising
taxes was not the answer. "We have
increased taxes 9.5 per cent or so in
the last few years. We are in an
income crisis, not just with our
farmers but as [Seili] said, when the
farmers -are having an income crisis
so are the local- businesses. We need
to do whatever it takes to not have an
increase in taxes."
"It's irresponsible to raise taxes
when you have a surplus," he _said.
The one issue Seili was adamant
about getting paid this year was the
historical gates in Vanastra. "We
promised to pay for those gates three
years ago," he said. "Unless we want
to be painted as the province or the
federal people, we are going ,to fix
those gates this year."
Seaforth councillor Joe Steffler
said he was concerned about the
shape of the roads in the
municipality and was against giving
away money when it should be used
in the municipality, referring to a 43
per cent levy increase going towards
the Maitland Valley Conservation
Authority.
Beaven, who is also the chair of
the MVCA was against dropping the
levy.
He offered to sit down with
members of council to discuss the
budget.
Tuckersmith councillor Larry
McGrath said he was against giving
the money to the MVCA because the
provincial government would never
give money again. "The minute
people pay out of their own pockets
the government stops paying. I am
sick and tired of paying for the
government's shortfalls," he said.
By Heaiher Crawford
Citizen staff
Trails in Blyth, Goderich,
Colborne, Clinton, St. Helen's,
Lucknow, Wingham and Seaforth
were closed Monday afternoon due
to "landowner issues,." according to
the Ontario Federation of
Snowmobilers Club - (OFSC)
website.
A representative of the
snowmobile club said he was not
able to comment on the situation,
including the agreements signed by
the farmers with the OFSC for use of
Seili said everyone is going to
have to work to come to an
agreement on the budget. "MVCA
has to trim their budget, Ausable
Bayfield has to trim theirs. I set [the
budget] where I want to be and
, everybody else has to step up to the
plate," he said.
Steffler made a motion
recommending the MVCA review
their budgets with a 10 per cent
municipal levy increase. He did not
request the same for the Ausable
Bayfield Conservation Authority.
Beaven asked if this was a
personal attack because he is the
chair of the board for the MVCA.
"This is not a personal attack,
Steffler said. "I cannot accept giving
away money when we need it
ourselves."
Beaven said he thought the motion
was too premature.
After some debate Seili decided to
table the motion and discuss it again
at the next council meeting.
their land, until he had further notice
from other members of the OFSC.
A grassroots group of farmers
were reportedly organizing a protest
supported by the Ontario Federation
of Agriculture, the National
Farmers' Union and the Christian
Farmers Federation of Ontario that
may leave snowmobilers out in the
cold.
Recreational actiyities such as
snowmobiling, hunting and hiking
will not be allowed on farmer-owned
property unless the government
agrees to offer financial help, a
Continued on page 24
Tory
to drop
the puck
in Blyth
John Tory, leader of Ontario's
Progressive Conservative Party, will
be in Blyth on Saturday, March 4 to
drop the ceremonial puck at a 9
a.m. hockey game at the Blyth &
District Community Centre. He will
then attend a Country Breakfast in
the Community Hall upstairs.
Breakfast is hosted by the Huron-
Bruce PC Association, and people
who would like the opportunity to
meet John Tory, and to discuss
matters that are important for the
Huron-Bruce riding are invited to
attend.
The family breakfast will be held
from 9:10 to 10:30 a.m. -
Following breakfast, Tory will
tour the recently expanded Blyth &
District Community Centre, the
largest public-private development
ever undertaken in the Blyth
community. He will then meet
privately with local business and
political leaders for a candid
conversation about the need for the
province to develop an effective
rural economic strategy to help rural
communities remain viable and
relevant in the 21st century.
Deadline
nears to
name
`Citizen'
The deadline is nearing for
nominations for the 2005 Citizen of
the Year.
There are many ways in which
a person can be a good
citizen, whether it's care and
concern for others, selfless
dedication of time for worthy
causes, being a positive influence
to those around you and someone
admired by many for the way
they conduct themselves.
This is an opportunity to recognize
those individuals who go along day
to day making the community better
in some small way. Many deserve it,
so make sure you get your
nominations in on time.
Don't assume someone else will
do it.
If you have submitted a name in
previous years it won't be
considered unless you- re-submit.
You don't, however, have to
complete the entire questionairre
again, just the individual's name and
the fact that you have nominated
them previously. The earlier
submissions will then be included in
the judges' packages.
By
Citizen staff
Hether Crawford Council wrangles over budget
Fanners take drastic step