Name issue finally settled once and for all... maybe
Municipal Building vandalized at meeting
By Chris Fell - Express Staff

While a wild windy winter snow storm raged outside the former St. Vincent township municipal offices an anti-Meaford swirl of controversy was erupting inside as the by-law to officially change the name from the Town of Georgian Highlands to the Municipality of Meaford was brought forward to council for first second and third reading.

Several members of council and residents present at the meeting spoke out against the name change that has evolved into the most contentious issue the new council has dealt with since its inception.

While the pro-Meaford faction of council and the public remained silent on Monday night - councillors in favour of the name change let their voting speak for them - the by-law was passed all three readings by 4-3 recorded votes. The passage came despite several efforts by Deputy-Mayor Robert Reid to have the motions tabled until another time.

St. Vincent township resident Don Haddow first addressed council to oppose the by-law.

"People are territorial and suspicious by nature. This name change is divisive. Most people find Georgian Highlands quite acceptable. Meaford will still be there 20 years from now," said Haddow, pointing out that having many roads in this area known by different names was more confusing than the name Georgian Highlands.

The next person to speak was another St. Vincent resident Dennis Smith who said he did not favour either Georgian Highlands or Meaford.

"If you want to soar like eagles you can't run with the turkeys. You can't go backwards, you have to go forward. You need to select a new name by referendum where it will chosen by the people," said Smith, who also brought up some obscure by-law once on the books in Meaford that said non-whites had to sleep outside of town as reason that the name Meaford shouldn't be used.

A resident of Annan, Rudy Myer, attacked the name change decision next.

"We didn't want to go to Meaford in the first place, this is like rubbing salt in the wound," said Myer in opposition to the change.

When it came time later in the meeting for the name change by-law to be read Deputy Mayor Robert Reid lead the charge against it.

Reid said council was in contravention of the Sydenham township procedural by-law. Reid said the original resolution to change the name was introduced without notice and therefore was invalid.

"This by-law should not be before us tonight," said Reid.

However in classic point/counter-point style Mayor Gerald Shortt immediately pulled the St. Vincent township procedural by-law from his desk drawer and said the St. Vincent by-law allowed a member of council to bring forth a resolution either written or oral without requiring notice be given. In addition to Meaford procedural by-law also allows resolutions without notice as well. However that didn't matter to Reid.

"If you follow that by-law we'd be on contradiction of this one. I don't think it's a good idea to advise council to be on contravention of the law," said Reid, who then brought forward a resolution - without notice - to have the name change by-law table indefinitely until the municipality could consult with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for clarification. Reid's motion was defeated 4-3 in a recorded vote.

The by-law then passed first reading 4-3 in another recorded vote. At second reading debate over the by-law begun around the council table.

Reid once again lead the charge and defended the choice of Georgian Highlands.

"At this point no one had defended Georgian Highlands. Georgian needs to be included. We have more shoreline on Georgian Bay than maybe any other municipality in Grey. We also have more of the NEC in our borders than any other in Grey and therefore Highlands. Highlands also pays homage to our Celtic heritage," said Reid. "To use Meaford is a big mistake. It only represents a small part of the municipality. Amalgamation has happened, the sooner we get our heads around that the better. It's time we started acting as one community rather than three separate municipalities. I think this is a bad decision and I will be contacting the Ministry of Municipal Affairs," said Reid.

Next up to slam the name Meaford was councillor Diane Hurlburt who held up a map showing where Meaford was and how small a territory it actually represented in the municipality.

"We have a new municipality and we should have a new name. I ask the people in Meaford to respect those people in the larger area and be magnanimous about this," said Hurlburt.

Councillor Harley Greenfield was next and he explained that last November he was elected to represent the whole municipality and he also took an oath to represent the whole municipality.

"To vote in favour of renaming the municipality Meaford would be in contradiction of those two facts," said Greenfield who suggested a referendum at the end of May as a method to choose the name. He said he was willing to donate his June honourarium to cover the cost of a referendum and challenged his fellow councillors to do that same.

Each councillor who opposed the name change received a loud round of applause from the assembled public in the gallery. However despite the opposition the second reading of the by-law passed 4-3 in a recorded vote. As the motion for third reading was brought forward Deputy Mayor Reid moved - without notice - that it be tabled until April 5. That resolution was defeated and third reading of the by-law passed 4-3.

CAO Chris Webb explained after the meeting ended that the by-law would be sent to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to register the name change and likely would become official once Ministry confirmation had been received. Webb estimated that process would take a couple of weeks to complete.

Following the meeting it was discovered the men's washroom at the municipal building had been vandalized by someone who was in opposition to the name Meaford. Scratched into the washroom's dry wall were the words: "Sydenham Pride."