Track record
It has happened before. Big, course-shifting changes have altered the trajectory of Shire Hall in the recent past. It can happen again. For a decade after amalgamation, the County’s finances were a mess. Budgeting was a fiction never reconciled with reality. At least not out in the open where one could see it. Department and […]
Focus
There is only one issue in Prince Edward County. And until we fix it, all others are secondary. This may seem a bit stark. But perhaps a better way to state it is that everything we want the County to be, or aspire to become depends on getting one thing fixed. And we have to […]
Competitor
Thirteen days ago, Hunter Gunski, a long, rangy defenceman with the Wellington Dukes, fell to the ice after being hit in the face by the puck. His jaw shattered. Hunter spent the night in the hospital. His team went home with a win. Hunter was discharged from hospital and travelled home to Goffstown, New Hampshire […]
A good life
Bill Wightman understood the innate decency of his fellow humans, particularly as individuals. His life spanned an era of human history that had surely tested that faith. Yet in his language, discourse, impeccable manners and ever-present humour, Bill exemplified decency. He engaged in all aspects of life—from negotiations with the trade emissary sitting across the […]
Questions
Are we asking the wrong questions about school closures in our community? The ARC (Accommodation Review Committee) process has been well-crafted and proven effective in delivering its desired result. It has been used to devastating effects all across the province— giving desperate parents the illusory sense their voice matters—that a well-crafted set of arguments might […]
Into the muck
More than 100 people filled the lunchroom at CML Snider Elementary School in Wellington in late March 2010—nearly seven years ago now. Over the following three hours they answered questions, posed suggestions and offered their ideas and opinions about the village. What was it? Literally and figuratively. Good points and bad. What did they value […]
Time to act
Thurso is an unattractive mill town on the Ottawa River, 50 kilometres east of the nation’s capital. For much of its recent history, the town has been dying—slowly, but most assuredly, along with its chief employer an aging paper mill. Until recently, like its bestknown export, hockey great Guy Lafleur, the town’s best days were […]
Whose land is it, anyway?
The Draft Lear Study Map can be found here. Land Review Issue Papers can be found here. Vast tracts of land in this municipality are targeted for change in designation from rural to prime agricultural. The implications go far beyond the landowner who will see their options greatly diminished by the stroke of a pen—but […]
Welcome to Canada
He made us proud. In the hours after the new American president signed an order severely restricting immigration from seven Muslim countries, suspending all refugee admission for 120 days, and barring all Syrian refugees indefinitely, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to Twitter in defiance of the new US president. To those fleeing persecution, terror & […]
Well served
It must be said, without condition or reservation, that Prince Edward County residents, particularly those living in Picton and Bloomfield, have been well served by their municipal officials over the past couple of weeks. These folks responded with calm, clear and direct action to ward off a threat to the town and village’s water supply. […]