Making do
Beware of arguments that aren’t bolted down. Arguments that get tossed to the curb when circumstances or time render them silly. Only to be replaced by equally wobbly notions. It is an omen that we have entered the religious phase of the waterworks debate. We are required to summon faith rather than apply reason. When […]
Empty words
Six hundred residents filled the hall at the Wellington community centre in August 2024. Most had come out to urge Council to pause plans to vastly expand waterworks infrastructure in the village and beyond to Picton. “Population growth was vastly overstated,” they said. “The municipality had no experience managing a project to this scale.” “All […]
Misplaced priorities
It’s an odd look when politicians appear unaware they are in the business of politics. County council—made up entirely of elected politicians—spent time last week, eyes wide and unblinking, trying to award themselves a 38 per cent pay hike. A few days later, they listened to a consultant explain that Shire Hall can’t afford what […]
The incident
Picton doesn’t get Wellington. It’s part rivalry. Think Sparta and Athens. It’s part sibling indifference. You look after you, and I’ll take care of mine. Some of it is in the setup. Radiating circles of relevance/concern/interdependence tend to drop off quickly as you move away from the decision-making centre. It’s human nature. (Sorry, South Bay […]
See SPOT run
One of the more notable strengths of the County’s current senior leadership team is its demonstrated capacity to learn and adapt. These aren’t empty words offered lightly or to curry favour. This column regularly casts its lens upon the smouldering and festering bits of the County’s business. It is useful, therefore, for readers to know […]
Red flags
What some folks appear to be missing from the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation (Housing Corp) story is that failing to properly create and manage affordable housing threatens to jeopardize progress for a long, long time. Done badly—and managed badly—an eight-unit apartment block will become a massive and expensive headache this municipality can ill […]
A parable
In the primary coloured cartoons of my youth, the theme of unsated appetite often took the form of a roasted chicken. Henery Hawk, for example, was singularly obsessed with dreams of eating chicken. So much so, the chickenhawk couldn’t distinguish between either Foghorn Leghorn or Barnyard Dawg, which was the chicken, and which was a […]
Broken shells
Are Canada’s municipal councils grappling with a new climate of hostility, from within and without? Such was the claim made in a weekend story in the Globe and Mail. It wasn’t posed as a question— but rather as a reported fact. The evidence presented is a mix of anecdotal— Whitby, Sarnia, St. Stephen, NB and […]
We need you!
How will you know if things can get better? If you don’t participate in decisionmaking? If you ever wish things were better—or different—don’t you have to do something about it? Don’t we all have a role to play? In 2022, fewer than half of eligible voters cast ballots in our municipal election. It is a […]
Preferred water source
Is Picton Bay water safe? Those promoting a regional water plan (drawing water from Lake Ontario in Wellington and pumping it 20 kilometres to Picton) point to the vulnerability of the pipes that stretch 91 and 305 metres into Picton Bay, pulling water into the treatment plant. The water is too shallow, the Bay too […]