2 • Pride Festival 9 • History 10 • Fun in the Sun 13 • Agriculture
The
THIS WEEK
Citizen
Huron County’s most trusted independent news source Volume 39 No. 23
Friday, June 9, 2023
$1.50 GST included
Publications Mail Agreement No. 40050141 Return Undeliverable Items to North Huron Publishing Company Inc., P.O. Box 429, BLYTH, ON N0M 1H0
‘Waltz’ won’t be staged this year By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen
Video review? This was one of the closest calls of the day as Brussels Ball Day took over the village on Saturday, with over 12 hours of games featuring players from T-ball age up to adults with a Huron County Fastball League game between the Brussels Bangers and the Wroxeter
Rippers closing out the night. Above, the U13 Boys Brussels Tigers took on their rivals from the south, Seaforth and, despite the outcome of the above safe/out call, the home team came away with a 15-7 win on what turned out to be a successful day for Brussels teams. (John Stephenson photo)
For the second time in two years, The Waltz will not proceed as part of the Blyth Festival season, despite being announced as part of the 2023 slate of plays last December. Last year’s cancellation was attributed to illness throughout the cast and crew of the show, limiting preparation and rehearsal time, while this year’s cancellation is being chalked up to “unforeseen circumstances”. The show is written by playwright Marie Beath Badian and directed by Nina Lee Aquino, starring Anthony Perpuse and Ericka Leobrera. It is the second in a planned trilogy of shows by Badian following the successful 2013 premiere of Prairie Nurse at the Blyth Festival and followed by The Cottage Guest, which Badian is in the late stages of writing. After being cancelled as part of last year’s outdoor season at the Harvest Stage at the Blyth Festival, The Waltz went on to premiere at Toronto’s Factory Theatre, which co-produced the show, to much acclaim. It was named a Critic’s Pick and one of the top 10 Toronto Continued on page 7
Wescast not to close say owners; Unifor unsure By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Wescast Industries Inc. has pushed back on claims that it plans to close Wescast Castings, Wingham from Unifor, the union representing the employees of the storied local business. On Monday, the union issued another press release, citing a memo from the company’s leadership and calling the claims made within it “dubious”. “The company is reaching out following the news articles, published May 29, 2023, regarding the closure of Wescast Castings, Wingham. “The plan for the future of [Wescast Castings, Wingham] is not simply to permanently close the plant as of July 2023 as the published article claims. Rather, the plan do [stet] an extensive evaluation on the facility to determine what would be necessary to bring the Wescast Castings
facilities in Wingham (both WCN and WCW) back to being world class facilities. When this evaluation is complete, the information will be presented to the ownership group with the expectation that they will approve the significant investments that will be necessary to allow WCN or WCW to be profitable again well into the future. “It is true that it [stet] this will require that WCN not open at this time, and WCW remain closed for a lengthy, but temporary period, while the assessments, planning, and requests for new investments can be made. This is expected to be six to eight months in length. “Wescast Machining, Wingham is not being affected by this decision.” The memo, shared by Unifor in its press release, is attributed to Wescast’s North American Business Unit, dated May 30, 2023. In the press release, Unifor National President Lana Payne, however, cast doubt on the contents
of the memo and the intentions of the ownership group. “The record of Wescast management and its owner is one of broken promises, repeated violations of the collective agreement and disrespect towards workers,” she said in the union’s press release. “Our union is not going to take the company’s claims on faith. At this time, Wescast’s words are not worth the paper they’re printed on.” In the press release, Unifor claims that the company has made “unclear statements” about the future that “fail to address the union members’ concerns about plans to close the facility.” “Wescast workers’ livelihoods are at stake. They deserve more than a few words scrawled on a page. They deserve respect,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Naureen Rizvi in the release. “If Wescast truly appreciates the blood, sweat and tears Unifor members have put into this plant for generations, then
they will provide full disclosure about their intentions.” The release also states that members of Unifor Local 4207, the company’s local branch of the union, met over the weekend to “discuss frustrations with the situation and ways to engage the public to support workers and the foundry.” “The reality is that our collective agreement is being violated every day that this company continues to supply products our members are guaranteed to manufacture under our collective agreement,” said
Unifor Local 4207 Plant Chair at Wescast Joel Sutton in the Unifor release. “It’s clear the company has already moved our work overseas and the odds of overseas work coming back is always low. If [Sichuan Bohong Industry Co. Ltd., the Chinese-based ownership group] wants our trust, they have to earn it first.” The union’s release also notes that the collective agreement between Unifor and Wescast is set to expire on June 30, with both parties set to enter contract discussions later this month.
Blyth parking discussed By Scott Stephenson The Citizen The Blyth Business Improvement Area (BIA) requested that council make an adjustment to Blyth’s parking bylaw on Queen Street from Monday to Saturday between
9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The BIA would like to have the time limit extended from two hours to four hours. Deputy-Reeve Kevin Falconer pointed out that many Blyth Festival plays will be staged in the afternoons this season, which Continued on page 7