Goderich's Leah Noel seeks cost comparison after county dismissals

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

After vociferously opposing the cutting of 13 non-union positions at the county level, which were later discovered to affect the county’s climate and cultural departments, Goderich Deputy-Mayor Leah Noel wants the county to be open and transparent about the true cost of those cuts.

 

At Huron County Council’s April 8 meeting, Noel asked for a report from staff that detailed the savings realized from the cuts, as well as the costs to the county as a result. She told councillors that she understood there would be legal implications and that she’s not looking for per-person costs that would violate confidentiality rules, but rather two numbers: what it cost the county to make these cuts and what was saved.

 

She has asked that a number of factors be taken into consideration when calculating the costs to the county as a result of making the decision that council did earlier this year. She has asked that those costs include statutory and common-law notice, any earned compensation pay-outs (vacation pay or banked overtime), costs of benefits continuation, legal and human resources consultation, settlement amounts or additional obligations, transition-related costs including temporary or replacement staffing, the cost of recruiting, hiring, onboarding of new staff or training existing staff, pay and benefits for new replacement staff and more.

 

Noel asked that the report be provided by staff at the end of the 2026 fiscal year, saying that while the county must honour privacy and legal requirements, it should also be as open and transparent about its decision as possible. 

 

Bluewater Mayor Paul Klopp asked if the county did that already and was told that a specific report in that vein would not be produced normally, but that staff could undertake it. Chief Administrative Officer Meighan Wark said that any report along these lines should be vetted by the county’s lawyers before being released to the public.

 

Noel agreed, saying she wasn’t looking for specific details on individual former employees, but that the county should be transparent in communicating what was saved and what was spent as a result of council’s highly-controversial decision. 
Central Huron Mayor Jim Ginn agreed, saying it’s important for council to be transparent with ratepayers on what was a challenging, far-from-unanimous decision. Furthermore, he said that information would be valuable to councillors, in addition to members of the public, if council happens to find itself in a similar situation during difficult budget deliberations in 2027.

 

Council passed Noel’s motion, so a report can be expected once the year’s finances have been settled.