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2018 Year in Review – October

January 7, 2019   ·   0 Comments

October 4

• Dufferin-Caledon is guaranteed to have a new representative in Ottawa following next year’s federal election after long-time incumbent David Tilson announced on Monday that he would not be seeking nomination for a sixth successive term.

Mr. Tilson’s political career spans almost four decades, having included roles as a school board trustee, municipal councillor and MPP prior to his 15-year run as a Member of Parliament in Ottawa.

• The Town of Orangeville scored big this past weekend, placing first overall in its population category in the national Communities in Bloom (CiB) contest.

It was quite the feat for a community taking part in only its second national competition and Ted Zarudny, a long-time enthusiast of CiB, spoke of his pride at seeing Orangeville beat out two other municipalities for the top prize in the general excellence award for those with populations between 10,001 and 30,000. The Town achieved an impressive Five-Bloom Silver rating at this year’s awards.

Judges Susan Ellis and Tina Liu run the rule over Orangeville this summer, evaluating the community in six key areas – tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape and floral displays. Following their tour, the duo reserved special praise for the Friendship Gardens, installed at Headwaters Health Care Centre. The brainchild of Friends of Headwaters, the gardens have been in place since 1997.

In total, eight Canadian communities were honoured for their efforts in preserving their community, while the towns of Lewes, Deleware (USA) and Usk in Bloom in Wales (UK) were recognized as winners in the international challenge category. A further 15 communities were presented with outstanding achievement awards. 

October 11

• SNAP your fingers and they will come – or at least that’s what the Town of Orangeville is hoping for as it seeks public input for a new community initiative it hopes to launch in the new year.

After securing funding through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Green Municipal Fund, the Town is creating a Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP) to promote environmental awareness within the community. 

According to the Town’s website, the plan will outline the future of Orangeville and how people and businesses, with leadership from the municipality, can take an important step towards building a greener, healthier and better place in which to live, work and play.

October 18

• The mother of three-year-old toddler Kaden Young has been charged by Dufferin OPP in relation to her son’s death eight months after he was pulled from her arms into the icy depths of the Grand River.

In a release to media last Thursday (Oct. 11), OPP confirmed it had charged 35-year-old Michelle Hanson with impaired driving causing death, dangerous driving causing death and criminal negligence causing death. She is to appear in court on Nov. 6.

Police officials chose not to comment on specific details of the allegations, with Cst. Paul Nancekivell, media officer with Dufferin OPP, refusing to confirm the nature of the impaired driving charge.

• He was a founding member of the group the helped build the Orangeville Northmen organization into the lacrosse powerhouse it is today. Phil Sanderson passed away on October 10, after an illness of several weeks.

Along with brothers Shane, Lindsay, and Terry, and several other well known local players, Phil was considered a pioneer in Orangeville lacrosse. He was a member of the Dufferin Northmen Senior B team that won three titles back in the 80’s. He also served as an assistant coach on both the local Junior A and Junior B teams.

News of his passing sent a wave of sadness through Orangeville’s lacrosse community. Many people knew him through the sport as a player and as a coach. Tributes were immediately posted on social media when news of his passing was announced.

October 25

• Three months after hiring eight new full-time firefighters, the Orange-ville Fire Department is stronger than ever and now meets industry standards for night-time response times, says Fire Chief Ron Morden.

• There was a sense of shock, intrigue and, finally, excitement in the air on Monday evening as Orangeville residents who took to the polls delivered an emphatic message by voting in an entirely new municipal council for what is believed to be the first time. 

As results started to roll in shortly before 9 p.m. it quickly became apparent that voters wanted to see a change at Town Hall, and that was exactly what they got. At the top of the card, local real estate agent Sandy Brown led the way in the mayoral race, securing 3,413 votes. Darrin Davidson finished in second place with 2,914 votes, while incumbent Jeremy Williams finished far behind in third with 1,477 votes. 

Former fire chief Andy Macintosh secured the deputy mayor’s seat in a landslide over veteran politician Nick Garisto, receiving 5,685 votes to Mr. Garisto’s 2,014. 

There was a complete change at councillor level, too. In what has been described as one of the strongest candidate pools in decades, Todd Taylor (4,913 votes), Grant Peters (4,204), Debbie Sherwood (3,742), Joe Andrews (3,588) and Lisa Post (3,528) were the five individuals elected to round out Orangeville’s next council. 

• While Monday’s municipal election may now be in the books, the Orangeville Police Service are continuing to investigate allegations of targeted sign tampering the night before the vote. 

Speaking to the Citizen earlier in the week, OPS Chief Wayne Kalinski confirmed at least three complaints had been submitted to police by candidates concerned that some of their signs had been stolen ahead of Monday’s election. The Citizen has since confirmed those complaints were lodged by Sandy Brown, Todd Taylor and Lisa Post, all of whom wound up winners.

Chief Kalinski confirmed OPS was investigating the claims and noted charges would be laid if someone is found to have tampered with signs.

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