INSIDE THIS WEEK:
MILESTONE - Pg. 6
CANCER - Pg. 10
4-H - Pg. 13
Huronlea resident turns 100 despite COVID-19 shutdown
‘The Citizen’ marks April as Cancer Awareness Month
Auburn-area woman named provincial 4-H Ambassador
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Volume 36 No. 14
Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County
Thursday, April 2, 2020
COVID-19 cases now in Huron By Denny Scott The Citizen
Devastating An afternoon blaze at a quadruplex in the east end of Blyth last Tuesday kept members of the Fire Department of North Huron busy and put three families on the street. Thankfully, local families, churches and organizations have stepped up
to help the families in need by giving them a place to stay and reaching out to help them with anything they need. For more information on the fire and how the community stepped up to help one of the families, see page 3. (Denny Scott photo)
Huron Perth Medical Officer of Health Dr. Miriam Klassen says all communities in the area are likely to have COVID-19 transmitting through them after the area’s case total rose to nine over the weekend. On Monday, Klassen announced that seven new cases have been identified in Huron and Perth Counties, bringing the total to nine. She would not elaborate as to where the cases are located, instead recommending everyone act as if it is already in their communities. “We recommend that whatever community you live in, it could be and likely is transmitting there,” she said during a teleconference with local media on Monday. Klassen also announced that one fatality had been linked to COVID19 – a man in his 60s with a confirmed case of the virus had passed away in Stratford hospital over the weekend. He was the first confirmed case in Huron and Perth Counties. The conference came just two days after confirming Huron County’s first case on Saturday, a male in his 60s from South Huron who presented at South Huron Hospital. He was then transferred to the London Health Sciences Continued on page 3
Hundreds locally on 2019 Ontario ‘Sunshine List’ By Denny Scott The Citizen The Public Sector Salary Disclosure document for 2019, also known as the province’s “Sunshine List”, detailing all public sector employees making more than $100,000 in 2019, was released late last week, including hundreds of local employees. The Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance has 64 individuals on the list, two fewer than the 2018 list, but still representing a significant increase over the past several years. The 2017 list had 44 entries while the 2016 had only 36. The top earners for the organization included Associate Pathologists Sharyn Smith and Barry Sawka at $315,032.94 each and President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew Williams at $309,601. Alexandra Marine and General Hospital had 12 people on the list, the same number as 2019, and just one more than several consecutive years before that.
Topping the list was CEO and President Bruce Quigley at $181,322, followed by Chief Nursing Executive/Vice President of Clinical Services Samantha Marsh at $126,613.71 and Chief Information Officer/Vice President Corporate Services Jimmy Trieu at $121,797. The Wingham and District Hospital had seven individuals on the list, down from 11 in the 2018 disclosure. Vice-President of Patient Services
Shannon Maier was the top earner at $131,370.74. Registered Nurse Deborah Ritchie followed closely with $131,057.21. Rounding out the top three was Chief Financial Officer Barb Major-McEwan, who earned $121,155.79. The Listowel Memorial Hospital had 13 entries on the list, the same as in 2018. Karl Ellis, the CEO for the Listowel-Wingham Hospital Alliance topped the list for the
hospital at $200,114.37. He was followed by Chief Human Resources Officer Cherie Dolmage at $133,537.96 and Executive Director Family Health Team Mary Atkinson at $128,057.97. The Clinton Family Health Team has three individuals on the list, up from two in 2018 and 2017. Nurse Practitioner Jennifer Blackhall is the highest paid individual in the organization at $131,906.88, followed by Nurse Practitioner
Pamela Van Dyke at $120,306.90 and Executive Director Kimberly Van Wyk at $102,517.49. The Township of ColborneWawanosh held steady at one person on the list: Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)/Clerk-Treasurer Mark Becker, who earned $120,608.19 in 2019. The Township of North Huron has four individuals on the list, down from 2019’s nine entries, many of Continued on page 16
OPP complement ‘ample’ during pandemic By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Policing in Huron County has remained challenging during the COVID-19 outbreak says OPP Const. Jamie Stanley, but there is an “ample” complement of officers out in the community. In an interview with The Citizen, Stanley says enforcing the law during the pandemic has certainly changed the way the OPP is
conducting its business, but that service levels remain strong in the wake of the worldwide outbreak. Stanley says that in the past few weeks, they have lost some officers to self-isolation for various reasons, mainly travel, but that other officers in the organization have stepped up. That means, he said, some officers who had been focusing on office or administrative work are on the street during the pandemic. However, he said, the number of
officers on the street has not decreased. If anything, he said, they are more vigilant in the face of the potential for higher rates of breakand-enters, thefts and other property crime during the quarantine. And while the OPP has seen a marked increase in the driving under the influence incidents in the last few weeks, Stanley says it’s too early to tell if they correlate with the outbreak or not. During this time, Stanley
encourages residents to call 9-1-1 if they experience an emergency or are in danger. However, if a minor, nonemergent crime has been committed, Stanley is telling residents to use the OPP’s online reporting tool or to call the department’s non-emergent line at 1-888-310-1122. “If you need the police, we’re still here,” Stanley said. “The public needs us out there.” As for interactions with the public Continued on page 20