SERVING MAPLETON AND MINTO
THE
COMMUNITY NEWS VOLUME 52 ISSUE 05
1 Year GIC - 3.00% 3 Year GIC - 3.27% 5 Year GIC - 3.60% Daily Interest 1.50%
638-3328
THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2019
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Mapleton passes 2019 budget with zero tax rate increase By Aryn Strickland
Skating stars shine - The Drayton Skating Club hosted the 2019 SuperSTAR Freekskate Showcase at the PMD arena on Jan. 25. Over 15 skaters, including Molly Frook, left, and Paige Hills, above, performed routines. Photos by Patrick Raftis
DRAYTON - Council has approved the township’s 2019 budget with a zero per cent tax rate increase. Transportation services is listed as the largest total expenditure in the budget, at just under $4 million. That includes sidewalks, roads and bridges. Among the more costly projects budgeted for this year are road reconstructions such as Sideroad 15 to Kumpfville for $962,500 and a replacement grader for $480,000. Environmental services is the next largest total capital expenditure at just over $1 million; the most expensive environmental item was sludge removal at $700,000. However, most of coun-
cil’s discussion prior to passing the budget surrounded economic development items totalling $315,812. Councillor Michael Martin noted there were a couple items listed in the budget - a program and position - that were not going ahead. Economic development officer Trish Wake confirmed the youth resiliency worker position is now vacant. “Unfortunately the youth resiliency worker has handed in her resignation and no longer will be representing northern Wellington,” said Wake. “Having said that, we are working diligently to come up with a contingency plan.” The youth resiliency worker, shared with Minto SEE BUDGET » 2
Minto votes in favour of allowing retail cannabis sales By Patrick Raftis MINTO – Council here has passed a resolution to allow the retail sale of cannabis in the municipality. The decision came in a 4-3 recorded vote at the Jan. 22 council meeting. Mayor George Bridge, deputy mayor Dave Turton and councillors Ron Elliott and Geoff Gunson voted in favour of allowing cannabis sales, while Jean Anderson, Judy Dirksen and Mark MacKenzie were opposed. vote, recorded The requested by Turton, was called by Bridge following presentation of a staff report
by clerk’s assistant Quinn Foerter. In her report, Foerter noted Minto won’t be getting a cannabis store anytime soon regardless of council’s decision, as the province is initially issuing just 25 licenses for retail stores, which must be located in municipalities with populations over 50,000. The report also indicated 205 local residents weighed in on the issue in an online survey through the town’s Bang the Table civic engagement platform, with 136 (66.3%) in favor, 67 (32.7%) opposed and two (1%) undecided. A petition opposing local
cannabis sales was received at the municipal office on Jan. 16. It contained 143 signatures, but 13 were from non residents of Minto. “Petitions like this one are difficult to quantify statistically, because there is no direct relationship between the signatures contained on the page, and the number of people who were approached to sign it,” the report notes. “It is also possible that a number of people who signed the petition had already voted online, which would also skew the results.” The report also summarized comments from a Jan. 8 public meeting in Harriston
on the issue, at which council heard from presenters on both sides of the argument. Of municipalities sharing borders with Minto, only Mapleton elected to opt out, Foerter noted in her report. The report pointed out a decision to opt out would impact the ability of the municipality to access provincial allocations of cannabis revenue “to offset the costs related to recreational cannabis retail sales,” including the increased cost of bylaw enforcement. “At this point, it is not known what the cost increase to municipalities related to the legalization of cannabis
and possible share of recreational cannabis’ federal excise will be,” the report states. Turton noted a great deal of discussion has been generated on the issue. “I’ve been a councillor for 15 years and I don’t believe I’ve ever talked to as many people on one particular issue as I have on the cannabis issue,” he said, noting the public meeting also provided a great deal of information and input. “This is one of the ones that I’ve really done my homework on and I’m convinced that I’m going to vote the right way,” he stated.
Councillor Jean Anderson said the issue has been a compelling one, with a lot of viewpoints expressed. “I certainly have thought more about this one than practically anything I’ve come across in four years of council. It far surpasses the chicken coops and the sale of water,” she said, referencing debates on allowing chicken coops in urban areas and regulation of bulk water sales from municipal systems. “I am somewhat conflicted. There’s pros and cons.” Anderson added, “I think some people are misunderstanding what we’re doing SEE CANNABIS » 3
Minto Mental Health initiative launched on Jan. 30 Community-driven program aims to provide training, education, awareness MINTO – Town council received an update on the Minto Mental Health initiative at the Jan. 22 meeting. The initiative was set to officially launch during Bell Let’s Talk day on Jan. 30. Aimed at bringing mental health training and awareness opportunities to residents of Minto, the community-driven program has been under development since last June, when the town and Minto Fire hosted
an event at Norwell District Secondary School dubbed a Community Conversation on Suicide. The event was held in response to a proliferation of suicides in Minto and northern Wellington County in the preceding months. Minto assistant fire chief Callise Loos told council an organizational committee has been working with the Canadian Mental Health Association “and other stakeholders across the county” over the past six months.
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Loos and children’s program coordinator Jessica Dettman said the program launch would include visits to locations throughout Minto to hand out material and talk to the community about the new program. Awareness events were scheduled for Gramma Jo’s restaurant in Clifford, Foodland in Palmerston and Harry Stones Social House in Harriston on launch day. A Minto Mental Health website and Twitter are also up and running.
Mintomentalhealth.ca is designed as a hub to connect Minto residents with available services in the surrounding area. “Right now, we have on paper close to 500 resources to go on our website,” Loos noted. Dettman said the hub will provide easy access to situation-specific crisis resources. “If you’re in crisis, you don’t want to have to go through a list of numbers and it’s like ‘I don’t know which one to call.’ So there’s
WEEKLY WAG
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By Patrick Raftis
“Everything is changing. People are taking the comedians seriously and the politicians as a joke.” - Will Rogers
a crisis section there,” she explained. Other events planned included screenings of the film Beautiful Boy at the Norgan Theatre on Feb. 18 and 19 and a self-care tea blending workshop on March 27. Beautiful Boy features Steve Carrell as the father of a teenager hooked on crystal meth trying to understand what has happened to his apparently perfect, happy-golucky son. “It’s a film about a family that’s dealing with addiction
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… and it aligns quite well with what we are doing,” said Dettman, adding a community screening will be offered on Family Day, and the committee is also planning to involve Norwell District Secondary School in a film presentation. Current activities include ongoing efforts to add resources to the website, selection of a logo from the results of a recent contest, meetings with service providers on “care pathways” SEE MENTAL HEALTH » 2
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