THE
SERVING THE MAPLETON COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY NEWS Volume 49 Issue 27
Drayton, Ontario
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638-3328
Friday, July 8, 2016
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Mapleton council says no to Sunday gun hunt in township
Proud Canadian - Hudson Bray-Dunning found out from a neighbour about Mapleton’s Canada Day bicycle parade shortly before it was about to begin on July 1. With help from his mom he took items from his Canada-themed bedroom, decorated himself and his bike, and make it to the starting line just in time. More photos on page 8. photo by Caroline Sealey
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - There will be no Sunday gun hunting in this township, council has decided. In a 4-1 recorded vote at the June 27 meeting, Mapleton councillors defeated a resolution that would have allowed hunting with firearms on Sundays during the various hunting seasons throughout the year. The resolution, presented in a staff report from CAO Brad McRoberts, called for the township to ask the Ministry of Natural Resources to add the township to the list of Ontario municipalities allowing Sunday gun hunting. On April 12 council heard delegations from three proponents of Sunday gun hunting, including Brian McRae, marketing and club membership manager for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters. McRae told council that since 2005, 173 municipalities have voted to allow Sunday hunting, including just recently neighbouring Wellington North. About 25 people attended a special meeting held by council at the PMD arena on May 3. The majority of speakers at the meeting favoured Sunday gun hunting, while a call for written submissions generated 37 responses, with 29 in favor and eight opposed. In his report, McRoberts pointed out that from 2011 to 2015 Wellington OPP dealt with 24 hunting complaints in Mapleton, 18 from former
Maryborough Township, with most of the calls occurring on weekends during the fall and winter. McRoberts said OPP Inspector Scott Lawson advised him hunting complaint calls are very labour intensive for police, because “they’re not going to show up with one officer in a car� as protocols require a response from two cruisers, with four officers, plus backup. The staff report notes attempts to gather “citable statistics� on hunting safety were unsuccessful. McRoberts explained statistics provided by McRae at the April 12 meeting “were assembled by Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters and were not independently verifiable.� The report pointed out that “Mapleton specific nuances� of Sunday gun hunting, such as “only for Mapleton residents� or “only with written permission from land owner,� would not be enforced by the OPP or MNR and any enforcement would have to be handled by a municipal bylaw officer. “This enforcement will be problematic, create need for additional resources and training and potentially place illequipped staff in a potentially dangerous situation. Staff do not recommend council includes any Mapleton-specific conditions to the authorization of Sunday gun hunting,� McRoberts stated. Councillor Michael Martin, who cast the only vote in favour of the proposal, said arguments
about the safety of hunting and other elements presented by the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters “didn’t really resonate with me.â€? Although recognizing the need to “accommodate all our different religious groups,â€? Martin said, “the part about all of this that really makes a difference to me ‌ it still comes down to being the private landowner’s decision on whether hunting is conducted on Sunday or any other day for that matter.â€? However Mayor Neil Driscoll said “my biggest fear is giving permission to some hunter from out of town and he comes in and shoots every gun that he has and shoots up everything in the bush.â€? Councillor Lori Woodham said nearly 30 per cent of Mapleton’s population is Mennonite. One member of the group told her that Sunday is their travel day to church and approving the proposal would mean one more day when the sound of gunfire could startle their horses. However, Woodham likened the issue to the Sunday shopping debate, noting that many people were initially aghast at the idea, “but how many of us can say we don’t shop on Sundays? “It’s really difficult. My hand will go up and yes my vote will be yes, but when that gun hunter comes and asks me if they can deer hunt on our property my husband and I will continue to say no,â€? stated Continued on page 3
by Patrick Raftis MAPLETON - Drayton’s long-awaited skate park should be in place by late summer. Township council finalized the location and authorized the purchase of equipment for the facility at the June 28 meeting. Council approved purchase of modular skate park equipment from the Canadian Ramp Company for $38,942 plus applicable taxes. Council also approved placing the facility adjacent to the John Street parking lot at the Drayton Kinsmen Park. Staff were also authorized to proceed with procurement of services for placement of a concrete pad and award the job to the lowest bidder conditional upon the cost being below $50,000.
Public works director Jamie Morgan reported the Drayton Skatepark Committee and agricultural society fair committee are in agreement with the location. Morgan notes the adjacent soccer field will need to be shifted to the east to accommodate the skate park, but stated this can be easily accomplished for the 2017 season. The facility is expected to cost around $100,000. Morgan noted the committee has raised nearly $53,000. The township will fund the remaining portion of the project through a combination of budgeted funds carried over from 2015 and a grant from the township’s 2016 50/50 fund. The skate park project has been under consideration
for nearly six years now, and Morgan noted the Canadian Ramp Company is honouring a 2010 price quotation for the equipment. R.J. Burnside (RJB) engineers are working on a grading plan for the new concrete pad for the skate park as part of an in-kind contribution to the project. Morgan said he anticipates delivery of the equipment within 45 days of placing the order and expects to have the facility in place soon after the Drayton Fair, which takes place from Aug. 5 to 7. “We’re pretty well ready to go forward with the project. The money is there ... we will have to work with some of the other events that are happening there,� Morgan stated.
Longtime local councillor Jim Curry spent Skate park equipment purchase approved final months working to boost ALS awareness Location within Kinsmen Park finalized
by Caroline Sealey DRAYTON - Longtime local council member Jim Curry passed away on July 3, less than 18 months after being diagnosed with ALS. Curry, 63, described as community-minded and a man of few words by his family, was active locally as a municipal councillor for 21 years. He was also a Rotary Club member and served on various committees at the Drayton Reformed Church, including mission work in Haiti. His favourite pastimes included hunting, fishing and golfing. In December of 2014, Curry received the life changing medical diagnosis that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Better known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, the con-
dition is a neurodegenerative disease in which nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control muscle movement die, leading to a loss of mobility and speech, eventually impacting the patient’s ability to breathe and swallow. There is no cure or treatment for ALS, making it a terminal condition. Curry and his family took on raising awareness of ALS as a goal, beginning with a fundraising walk in June. The Walk for ALS is the largest volunteer-led fundraiser for ALS across the country. Local communities come together to raise funds and celebrate hope for a future without ALS. Money received supports Canadians living with ALS and research aimed at making
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ALS a treatable disease. “I participated in the Ice Bucket challenge, a fundraiser for ALS in the summer of 2014,� said Curry’s daughter, Karina Cranston during a recent interview with the Community News. “Little did I know that when I had that bucket of ice dumped over my head ... that I would be sitting with my dad ... four months later listening to a doctor diagnose him with ALS.� During the interview, it was clear ALS had taken its toll on Curry. He was no longer able to speak, was being tube fed and used a walker for mobility. He communicated through a computer-synthesized voice that repeated what he typed. Curry’s wife Annette said, Continued on page 5
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