President Len opened the meeting by welcoming everyone.  

 

A toast was made to the King, Canada, and Rotary.  Rotary grace was read.

 

Guests: Guest Speaker Detective Sergeant Craig Frasier; Visiting Rotarian Nick Paroschy; New Member Liz Behrans; Potential New Member Ann Warden; Partners in Service Nina Semper Ross, Fran Mitchell, Lynne Strickland

 

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Auction - Bill Pritchard:  The auction website is now live online.  Advertising will be on Doppler, live interview with Len on local radio, and radio ads. Posters available for businesses of donors and for supporters of Rotary.   There is a PDF file of all items for sale.  Five lake associations will be asked to distribute information on the auction.  . Email will be sent out to all past donors: all Rotary members are encouraged to forward that email to their full contact lists.  Go to biddingowl.com. Previous account information will still be there

 

Ring the Bell at LCBO:  Gord Mitchell announced that the list will soon be sent out for members to sign up for the hours on December 16^th and 23^rd they wish to assist in getting donations for the Salvation Army.

 

Youth Exchange – Jennifer Simpson: Mary Rashleigh heads up this program, which this club has supported for 49 years.  Applications will soon be due to determine next year’s outbound student.  There is an issue with regard to obtaining host families for the inbound students and support for the students when they are here.  Jennifer asked the members to support this program, either as a host home, help with experiences, or to provide names to the committee of people who might be willing to participate.  Host families will need to get a police check, and a stipend is provided to help with expenses.  Len noted that this program is a cornerstone of this club.

 

Dockfest – Len Ross: The board is looking to bring back Dockfest next summer, and Jan Nyquist is interested in partnering with the club.

 

Guest Speaker Detective Sergeant Craig Frasier:  He was born and raised in North-East Ontario and obtained a law degree, after which he joined the OPP.  His expertise and passion is in impaired driving. Here in Huntsville, he now heads up the Muskoka Crime Unit.  There are more calls now than in 2006, and more mental health calls. They are now better at understanding mental health issues and they can identify a mental health component and provide support. 

His unit uses a victim-centred approach.  Their end goal is – what is best for the victim?  The OPP is stats driven. 

 

Questions and Answers:

Size of his district?  Huntsville is separate to Bracebridge.  The Huntsville unit covers Stephenson 1 to Rousseau, to West gate of Algonquin Park, and up to Dorset.  Bigger population to deal with in the summer.

 

Presence of OPP in schools?  On every shift, an officer is assigned to a school, and needs to have good knowledge of the school in case of an incident. The school officer program was dropped from Huntsville High School.

 

Number of Officers?  The staffing model is from 1982, they are very short-staffed, but should be getting a few more soon.

 

Quota?  The police do not have a quota for handing out tickets, but they concentrate more on engagement.  They may give a warning if they stop a car, but not a ticket.  Huntsville averages 95-105 impaired drivers per year. 

 

Electric Vehicle Acceleration classified as a mistake?  Officers have discretion on anything except domestic violence.

 

Why are there more mental health issues?  Society is better at understanding mental health; increase in drug use coincides with increased mental health issues. 

 

Firearms Charges?  Not so many firearms charges as a weapon, more likely for not having licence renewed.

 

President Len thanked our speaker and gave him a Rotary coin.

 

Ron Strickland gave $ 5.00 for his three Rotary experiences on their recent trip, including seeing Barb White at Vancouver airport.

Nick Paroschy gave $ 2.00 – he was looking for support for the Santa Claus parade next week.  Also he is going to Cuba November 29

Bill Sibeon thanked everyone for their cards and support.  Celebration of Life for Fayelenore will be this Saturday at the Legion. 

 

Nina Semper Ross had the winning ticket, but she did not draw the joker.

 

  

 

There being no other business for the good of Rotary, President Len adjourned the meeting.