The Citizen, 2018-01-18, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
FARM - Pg. 2
Beef Producers hold
their annual meeting
ZONING - Pg. 7
Cowbell outdoor event
application deferred
DEVELOPMENT - Pg. 19
Blyth native helps to create
'Way of the Passive Fist'
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Citizen
Volume 34 No. 3
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, January 18, 2018
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It was hockey night in Clinton on Saturday night, as the Clinton Radars hosted a special night
for the community ahead of hosting the Huron East Centenaires at the Central Huron
Community Complex. Hundreds were in attendance for the game, which saw the Radars beat
their neighbours to the east by a score of 5-2. Local ice surfaces were busy all weekend, as
the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre played host to a number of Blyth Brussels
minor hockey games and the Blyth and District Community Centre welcomed a number of
broomball teams to the community for a tournament. (Hannan Dickie photo)
Bill 148 begins to
impact businesses
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
For a lot of local business owners,
belts have had to be tightened over
in recent weeks as Bill 148 saw the
price of doing business increase.
Bill 148, called the Fair
Workplaces, Better Jobs Act,
increased the minimum wage from
$11.60, set in 2017, to $14 on Jan. 1.
Another increase to $15 is set for
Jan. 1, 2019.
Aside from the drastic minimum
wage increase, the bill also includes
provisions for sick days and
guaranteed holidays for employees
which will increase costs for
employers.
Locally, businesses planned ahead
for the increases, however that
doesn't mean the change won't have
an impact.
Kamran Zafar, owner of JR's
Family Restaurant and Gas Bar, said
that while he has heard the
government did its due diligence
before making the change, he
wonders if communities like
Brussels were overlooked.
He said that bigger communities
with more people may see an
increase in a spending, however a
village like Brussels that's home to a
large retirement community
wouldn't experience the same thing.
"Retired people aren't going to see
an increase in what they have," he
said. "They have the same money
today that they had last year."
He said he has already seen an
impact at his business after
increasing his prices between three
and four per cent. Customers who
normally would order a coffee and a
side choose between the two. Others
are taking water with their breakfast
instead of coffee.
"It's been a big change," he said,
adding that he has an increase of
$3,000 in expenses from the
minimum wage increase alone over
the next year. He said he isn't sure
how he's going to cover that change.
"I don't know who is benefitting
from it," he said. "I'm not, and my
employees aren't. The increased
costs mean I have to work more
hours to make ends meet and I may
have to change my hours to address
the costs"
The Queens Bakery in Blyth
posted a sign at the beginning of the
year explaining that, due to the
minimum wage increase alone, they
were raising prices 15 per cent.
"It certainly is going to affect our
business," co-owner Anne Elliott
said. "We've raised prices to
accommodate the increase."
Elliott says their staff are worth
the increase, but to facilitate that
increase prices needed to go up.
She said there could be a second
increase in prices in the coming
months when the business starts
seeing the full impact of Bill 148 in
the cost of its supplies.
"We will have to reassess then and
Continued on page 6
Olympic spot `opportunity of a lfetime'for Peters
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Justin Peters, a Blyth native and
alumni of the Blyth Minor Hockey
system, is one of three goaltenders
named to the Canadian men's
hockey team destined for next
month's Olympics in South Korea.
The announcement was made by
Hockey Canada last week. Peters
joins former Toronto Maple Leafs
and Los Angeles Kings goaltender
Ben Scrivens and Kevin Poulin of
the Austrian Hockey League.
This will be the first Olympic
games in a number of years that will
not feature current National Hockey
League (NHL) players. The decision
was made last year that the league
would pull out of the games, citing
disruption of the season among other
factors in the decision.
This won't be the first time Peters
has represented his country. He
donned the red and white in 2014,
playing in the International Ice
Hockey Federation (IIHF) World
Championships in Belarus. He has
also represented Ontario at national
youth competitions. However, being
part of the Olympic games will be
the most special, Peters said.
"I would say it is the proudest
moment of my hockey career,"
Peters said, e -mailing from Germany
where he now plays for Kolner Haie.
"To represent Canada as a hockey
player in the Olympics is every kid's
dream. I've dreamt about it since I
was a kid. My brothers and I have
acted it out countless times in front
of our house on King Street. For it to
become a reality: Wow."
The Olympics, he said, represents
a whole different level of pride in
representing your country when
compared to other international
competition.
"It's the pinnacle," he said. "It's
the Olympics. I know what the
Olympics mean to everyone in
Canada. It's the opportunity of a
lifetime."
According to Justin's father, Jeff,
the process began in July, when
Justin received a call from former
Canadian Olympic goaltender and
long-time NHL player Sean Burke
telling him that he was on Hockey
Canada's radar. From there, the
anticipation built and culminated in
another phone call from Burke
telling him he'd been chosen to be
part of the team.
"I was so excited and honoured.
Sean Burke called me on a
conference call with the rest of the
Hockey Canada brass," Justin said.
"I didn't know what to say other
than `thank you' and 'what an
honour!"'
Justin's parents Jeff and Janice say
they've been inundated with calls
and e-mails from those who have
been involved with Justin's career
over the years congratulating the
family. The support has been
overwhelming, Jeff said.
While decisions still have to be
made and logistics have to be
worked out, Jeff said that he hopes
that he or Janice will be able to make
the trip to South Korea to watch their
son play. Justin's wife Kelly, at
home with newly -born twins, also
hopes to make her way east to see
her husband play, although nothing
has been decided yet.
With the birth of twins Logan and
Nora late last year, Justin says it has
been a thrilling period of his life, but
that it hasn't been without its
challenges and sacrifices.
"When I signed in Europe, I knew
the situation with the NHL players
not participating in the Olympics.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity," Justin said. "It was a
difficult decision, obviously. I
missed the birth of my kids. I have
pretty much missed the first four and
a half months of their lives. My wife
Kelly has been doing an amazing job
taking care of our son Logan and
daughter Nora. I can't say enough
Continued on page 20
HCFA seeks tax rate adjustment
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
The Huron County Federation of
Agriculture (HCFA) is asking Huron
County Council to adjust its tax rate
in an effort to make farming more
viable as farm property becomes
more valuable and, as a result,
taxation continues to rise.
Federation Executive member
Rob Vanden Hengel spoke to
council at its Jan. 10 committee of
the whole meeting, saying the farm
tax burden throughout the province
has skyrocketed in recent years and
will continue to increase in the next
two years.
In a graph presented to council
that day, Vanden Hengel showed the
farm tax burden over the last 20
years. He demonstrated that it
fluctuated very little between 2000,
when it was 11.75 per cent, and in
2012 when it was 10.54 per cent.
The Ontario Federation of
Agriculture (OFA) now forecasts
that it will rise to 21.6 per cent in
2020 and it shows no signs of
slowing down after farmland
contributed 14.2 per cent of the taxes
generated within Huron County in
2016.
Ben LeFort, a farm policy
researcher with the OFA, also spoke
Continued on page 12