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2018 Year in Review – August

January 7, 2019   ·   0 Comments

August 2

• An Orangeville council candidate has been left to pick up the pieces of her campaign after being devastated by numerous racial attacks over the past few weeks.

After being approached by the Citizen to comment on rumours she had been the target of racial abuse following her decision to run for a position on Orangeville council, Simran Bhamu reluctantly opened up to the paper’s editor, Mike Baker. She recounting dozens of racially motivated attacks she has been on the receiving end of, both online through social media and in person while campaigning, since filing her nomination papers on May 1.

“It all started with a few messages on social media, coming in from fake or anonymous accounts saying I shouldn’t be running, or I don’t know what the issues are in town,” Ms. Bhamu told the Citizen. “Then it sort of evolved and started to get nasty until, eventually, they focused on the colour of my skin and my cultural background.”

Ms. Bhamu is a Canadian citizen, receiving her certificate in 2014. She has lived in Canada for eight years after emigrating, with her husband, from India. The couple has lived in their home in Rolling Hills for four years.

• The nomination deadline has come and gone for those in Dufferin County with political aspirations at the municipal level of government.

A total of 74 individuals in Dufferin’s eight local municipalities have put their name forward ahead of the October 22 election. With plenty of candidates to choose from, voters in all but one of the communities can spend the next  months deliberating over who they feel would best represent them.

The exception is in East Garafraxa, where Mayor Guy Gardhouse and all the other council members have been returned by acclamation.

In Orangeville, there will be 17 names on the ballot, with three vying for the mayor’s seat, two candidates competing for deputy mayor and 12 individuals for the remaining five seats on council.

• Dufferin County recently released its homelessness enumeration report, which indicated that nearly 50 per cent of its respondents are youth.

Over a two-day period in May, 37 volunteers and staff conducted the count throughout the County. 

A total of 44 participants were surveyed, of which 21 were youth, defined as between the ages of 16 and 24. 

Four individuals indicated they were completely unsheltered, staying in parks, on the streets, in coffee shops, or in other public spaces, while 19 individuals reported staying at emergency shelters, nine at someone else’s place, another nine at a transitional shelter, and three were staying at a motel.

In addition, 45 per cent of those surveyed had been homeless for six months or more. 

Half of the respondents were male, 45 per cent were female, while two respondents identified as being gender non-conforming. The average age of males and females were 25.4 and 38.6, respectively. 

The survey found that more than half, or 64 per cent of the respondents, reported they had first experienced homelessness as a child under the age of 18, with the most common age being 16 years old.

• If you like your martini shaken, not stirred, and enjoy a splash of whiskey in your coffee from time to time, you would have received an earful of shame from the temperance ladies at the opening of the Temperance and Temptation Tour at the Museum of Dufferin last Saturday, July 28.

The exhibit is the first new showing at the Museum as it gets ready to once again open its doors to the public after being closed several months for renovations.

It features the Alexandra House hotel, a rather notorious drinking establishment located on Broadway in Orangeville at a time when the main street had four hotels – all with a tavern. The hotel was demolished in 1989 when it fell into disrepair.

August 9

• The Canadian Lacrosse League has announced the Team Canada final roster for the 2018 World Junior Lacrosse Championship and two Northmen from the local Junior B Club are in the line-up.

Northmen Tanner Buck and Liam McGrath were named to the team after a summer evaluation period.

• The newly re-named Museum of Dufferin (MoD) opened its doors to the public on Sunday after being closed for renovations for several months.

• The Brampton Junior A Excelsiors have claimed the 2018 Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League championship with a 13-6 win over the Orangeville Northmen in game five of their best-of-seven final series on Tuesday (Aug. 7) in Brampton.

August 16

• Two of Dufferin County’s top politicians found themselves in hot water this week after chiming in on the debate surrounding the future of a statue of  Sir John A. Macdonald that until this week was in front of the Victoria, B.C., city hall.

Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones noted that “history matters” during question period at Queen’s Park on Monday (Aug. 13), stating that the important role the country’s first prime minister played in Canadian history should continue to be acknowledged. Although Queen’s Park already has a large statue of Macdonald, Ms. Jones noted she’d be happy to see the Victoria statue put up somewhere in Ontario, a sentiment shared by Premier Doug Ford. 

Following in her footsteps, Orangeville Mayor Jeremy Williams took to social media suggesting he’d be happy to see the statue relocated to Orangeville. (As of press time, it would appear that post has been removed.) 

Victoria City Council voted to remove the statue from its city hall location  and put into storage as a gesture of reconciliation for his role in establishing the residential school system in the late 1800s, which took more than 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children away from their communities and families.

• Orangeville Council has finally decided on a location for its long-touted new transit transfer hub, although it will need county approval before construction can begin.

Council spent approximately an hour on Aug. 13 deliberating over two options presented by the Orangeville Transit Committee, each of which would see the hub located on Centre Street in front of the county-owned Edelbrock Centre. In the end, Council went with the second option, which calls for an island to be installed on the street, alongside layby lanes. This design would allow for two-way bus traffic on Church, while the other option, which didn’t include an island, would have allowed only one-way traffic.

The Town needs to seek the County’s approval since this option would involve encroaching on County land.

• That’s another one in the books for Orangeville’s Dairy Queen location, which once again expects to raise more than $60,000 following the success of its 16th annual Miracle Treat Day.

Speaking to the Citizen following last Thursday’s ice cream bonanza, franchisee John Lockyer said the atmosphere at the store, at 540 Riddell Road, was infectious as staff, volunteers and customers alike came together to make this year’s Miracle Treat Day especially memorable.

Orangeville’s DQ sold more than 6,000 Blizzards on Aug. 9, while bringing in even more money from pre-orders placed by Orangeville area businesses. A special touch too, saw employees at the local chill and grill volunteer just under $1,400 in labour – money Mr. Lockyer puts directly toward the final fundraising total. Following this year’s success, the Orangeville DQ has raised more than $580,000 for the Children’s Miracle Network since joining the initiative in 2003.

• Mono resident Elaine Kehoe successfully raised $5,000 by climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, providing much-needed support for the Orange-ville Food Bank and Dufferin County’s breakfast program.

A realtor with Slavens and Associates, Ms. Kehoe was part of a group of 12 from the Greater Toronto Area and throughout Canada that climbed Kilimanjaro in July for eight days. The mountain is located in Tanzania in Eastern Africa, and is the highest in the continent, standing at about 16,100 feet, from its base, with its peak 19,341 feet above sea level.

August 23

• After a recent provincial review indicated three former patients at Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC) likely did not receive a full dose of prescribed chemotherapy medications, hospital officials have moved quickly to dispel any fears that this was an ongoing concern at the local facility.

Details regarding the incidents, which hospital staff say occurred between June 2014 and June 2016, were first identified in June of this year. Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), the provincial agency that monitors the standard and quality of cancer care, became aware of an issue relating to the administration of three systemic chemotherapy treatment drugs – Pembrolizumab, Nivolumab and Panitumumab – with more than the expected amounts of medications remaining in IV tubing following treatment. 

The three patients affected at HHCC have all since died. Peter Varga, the hospital’s Vice-President of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Officer, says a medical oncologist and internal medicine specialist has reviewed the potential clinical implications of each case, concluding it was “unlikely” that a small variation in dosing was a factor in the deaths.

On June 26, CCO issued a safety bulletin to all 74 Ontario hospitals that deliver systemic chemotherapy treatment. It asked hospitals to complete a thorough review of all policies and procedures relating to chemotherapy treatment to ensure patients received their full, intended dosage of medication. In total, 28 of those 74 hospitals across Ontario were affected.

• A St. Thomas man has been honoured by the Orangeville Police Service (OPS)  for the role he played in saving a local resident’s life back in April.

Bradley Payne, a 26-year-old hydro worker, was presented with the Chief’s Award Certificate in a special ceremony held at an Orangeville Police Services Board meeting on Aug. 9, recognizing his efforts during a “distressing incident” at a downtown restaurant in the spring. 

Back on April 16, OPS was called to a local restaurant to assist EMS with 47-year-old Bill Ferguson, who had been rendered unconscious after choking on food he was eating. Officers arrived to find Mr. Payne performing CPR on Mr. Ferguson.

Paramedics soon arrived on scene. They continued CPR, while also administering a defibrillator shock. Mr. Ferguson began breathing on his own and was transported to hospital for further treatment. 

Mr. Payne, who was in the Orangeville area assisting with the restoration of power lines after a recent ice storm, is credited with saving Mr. Ferguson’s life.

August 30

• Eight years on and Ontario Provincial Police investigators are still working on tracking down the individual responsible for Sonia Varaschin’s 2010 death. 

With today marking another haunting anniversary of the Orangeville nurse’s murder, Detective Inspector Shawn Glassford of the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch is keen to ensure this case remains in the public eye. After spending the past five years chasing leads and following up on tips, Mr. Glassford is eager to track down the missing link that will connect investigators to Ms. Varaschin’s murderer.

A $50,000 reward has been offered by the Ontario government in hopes of enticing anyone with information that could potentially lead to an arrest to step forward. That reward remains unclaimed. 

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