The Citizen, 2018-6-14, Page 1INSIDE
THIS WEEK:
STUDENT VOTE - Pg. 12
Local students go to the
polls to elect next MPP
GOWING - Pg. 13
Morris-Turnberry Mayor
won't run in fall election
GALLERY - Pg. 19
Blyth Festival Art Gallery
opens professional season
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Citiz
Volume 34 No. 24
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ESTABLISHED 1877
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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, June 14, 2018
An annual tradition
The Blyth Legion held its annual decoration service at Blyth
Union Cemetery on Sunday. Members of the local Branch
paraded the colours into the cemetery on the sunny, windy
day and then the service was conducted by Ernest Dow of
Huron Chapel in Auburn and formerly of Living Water Christian
Fellowship. The service serves an annual reminder to those with
loved ones in the cemetery to honour their memory and an
invitation to spend time at the location. (Quinn Talbot photo)
Council moves towards OPP in Wingham
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
North Huron Council has taken
the first step towards replacing the
Wingham Police Service with the
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) by
looking to determine and fund the
disbandment of the former.
Council approved a motion
accepting a proposal from the OPP
during a special council meeting on
Monday night that will result in
significant savings for the ward over
the recently unveiled Wingham
Police Service budget.
Earlier this year, a comparison
between the Wingham Police
Service and the OPP showed a small
savings through utilizing OPP
coverage. However, as a result of
changes to the Wingham Police
Service and its budget, the hiring of
including five new officers for the
Wingham service, the OPP proposal
will now produce significantly larger
savings.
At the meeting, council reviewed
the costing of the two services and
Chief Administrative Officer
Dwayne Evans, alongside OPP
representatives, explained the OPP
proposal and costing.
With the exception of first-year
costs, which include approximately
$500,000 associated with closing the
Wingham Police Service, the OPP,
whether under contract or under the
generic billing model used for the
rest of North Huron, is able to
provide significantly less-expensive
policing of the Wingham Ward.
In 2019, the OPP would begin a
three-year contract at $1,482,037 —
over $100,000 less than the
estimated Wingham Police Service
costs of $1,591,892 for the same
year. With the addition of the one-
time exit costs, the OPP would be
approximately $400,000 more than
the Wingham Police Service.
In 2020, according to an
approximate increase of two per cent
and savings over the first year due to
one-time sign-up costs, the proposal
states the OPP would cost
$1,314,642, over $450,000 less than
the Wingham Police Service's
$1,774,110. A savings of more than
$470,000 would be realized in year
three according to staff estimates.
At that point, Wingham would
enter the OPP billing model based
on a provincial average plus the
number of calls to the ward.
North Huron staff, using online
OPP resources, estimate that by
2022, Wingham ratepayers would
incur $801,972 in OPP costs,
Continued on page 11
Thompson
re-elected
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Lisa Thompson of the PC Party
will now serve her third consecutive
term as Huron -Bruce's Member of
Provincial Parliament after a clear
victory in the June 7 election.
With voter turnout at nearly a 20 -
year high, Thompson was declared
the winner of her riding just 15
minutes after the polls closed thanks
to electronic ballot -reading
technology. This came after party
leader Doug Ford had already been
declared the next Premier of Ontario
with a predicted majority.
Thompson received 27,646 votes,
over 52 per cent of the riding's
votes, followed by Jan Johnstone of
the NDP with 15,326, Don
Matheson of the Liberals with
7,356, Nicholas Wendler of the
Green Party with 1,804 votes, Ron
Stephens of the Libertarian Party
with 399 votes and Gerrie
Huenemoerder of the Alliance Party
of Ontario with 271 votes.
Voter turnout in Huron -Bruce
came in at just over 65 per cent,
which was higher than the
provincial average.
"What a night!" Thompson
proclaimed when she took to the
podium less than an hour after the
polls closed. This will be the first
time Thompson has held a seat as a
member of the party in power.
Thompson told her dozens of
supporters gathered at the Wingham
Golf and Curling Club the night of
the election that she felt comfortable
in every community she visited
during her campaign.
"People were rooting for us. When
I say us I mean they were rooting for
the PC family to get back into
government so we can make life
more affordable once again and
that's what we're going to be
focused on over the next four years
with a major majority," she said.
Thompson said that the needs and
concerns of Huron -Bruce residents
were no different from those across
the province and they needed to be
addressed by way of a change.
"The priorities here in Huron -
Bruce are the same as in every other
community in this province; we
need affordability, we need
affordable housing for our young
people, we need housing for our
seniors, we need housing, period,
Continued on page 20
Municipal election taking shape
Since nominations opened just
over a month ago, several locals
have thrown their hats into the ring
ahead of this fall's municipal
election.
Current Deputy -Mayor Joe
Steffler is running to be a Seaforth
councillor. Huron East Council
recently eliminated the at -large
deputy -mayor position and decided
to, after the election, promote one of
the councillors to the position.
Current Brussels Councillor John
Lowe has opted to run for his
position once again. This is in
addition to Curtis McKinnon, who
has filed to run as a councillor in the
Grey Ward.
In Morris-Turnberry, current
Councillor Jamie Heffer has put his
Continued on page 8