Forgetfulness
The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. – The Second Coming, William Butler Yeats The population was bitterly divided. The centre of politics had retreated to rhetorical and ideological extremes. Folks were struggling under economic hardship. A pair of elections the year before had produced only a political stalemate. […]
500 days
It is a good thing. The developer in Wellington has paid his bill. Beyond this, little has changed. Are we closer to new homes, new apartments? Yes, we are. Incrementally. Still, there is no guarantee that any new homes will be built in the village. It may yet be decades away still. If at all. […]
Claims rush
Residential developers have various paths to create wealth. When markets are cooking, they sell homes. When markets cool, they find other ways to make money for their shareholders. Among the more lucrative methods is to convert farm fields and vacant land to subdivision plans. Like squirrels gathering nuts, developers scour the countryside searching for future […]
In the dark
Construction happens. Disruption follows. Daily patterns get altered. Delays. Closures. Detours. These are the costs of progress. Of improvement. Most folks understand it. (Although most are not at all clear about who, precisely, is being served by the installation of trunk lines across the village.) Most folks can come to accept most of it. Harder […]
News
These are the in-between times. The shadowlands, as C.S. Lewis put it. Neither here nor there. A moment in which we seem to be collectively holding our breath. Will America choose Donald Trump again, or can we stop worrying about the fever gripping our powerful neighbour? For a time, anyway? We are in the lull […]
Bad luck
It reads like a cry for help. It may look like a proposal to rebuild waterworks infrastructure in the Wellington/Bloomfield/Picton corridor, but it comes across more as the rantings of a struggling friend with a gambling addiction— desperate to change their luck. “Please, please lend me $300 million, just this one last time. I promise […]
Less is more
Is it possible, and please hear me out on this one, that we ask Shire Hall to do too much? We complain about capacity. We complain about competency. We grumble about the bits that go wrong. We gripe about poor communication. We harp on about management. About trucks. Then, we criticize rapidly escalating costs. And […]
Shameless
Well, that was quick. It seems just a month ago that Todd Smith represented us at Queen’s Park. Indeed, it was 36 days ago (as of my writing these words). Then he quit. Five days later, the writ was issued, and we were thrust into an election. Twenty-nine days after that, voting day came and […]
A chorus and a shovel
Council has found itself in a deep, dark hole. It should stop digging. I imagine one day it will figure out the only way out is up, but not yet. Sadly, when that day arrives, and Council finally emerges into the sunlight, there will be no celebration, no exultant crowds, and no parade. Council may […]
Pencils down
Councillor Bill Roberts brought the data. “Prince Edward County is losing its working-age population,” said Roberts glumly, citing a report prepared by the Ontario East Economic Commission (OEEC). “Overall, Prince Edward County has the slowest growth in eastern Ontario, the weakest development and the weakest economic diversity of all municipalities in eastern Ontario.” “We also […]