Less is more
Our species has an extraordinary capacity for self-delusion. The category or severity may vary between individuals, but we are all vulnerable. I see a sweater in a catalogue. I imagine myself as the rugged, chiselled, well-sweatered young adventurer atop the mountain ridge with my trusty Labrador at my side, pointing into the middle distance. A […]
Too many trees
Watching County Council deliberate budgets is like sitting in the back of a cab in Singapore. Both the driver and Council are working hard and seemingly with good intent, but invariably it dawns on you, 20 minutes or so into the journey, that neither has a clue about how to get to the destination and […]
The unwelcome
So…um…never mind. A committee of Council rejected the prickliest change proposed to its procedural bylaw last week. It will not, after all, limit who and how many folks can speak to Council and committees. After weeks of pushback and criticism, this strange attempt to muzzle the public voice failed. Good. But the episode leaves behind […]
Resolve
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” Bombs rained down upon London for 56 days and nights in September and October of 1940. Mostly nights. Unrelenting horror. By intent. Several times a day, sirens ushered folks underground for shelter. Thousands died every single day. Many more were maimed and wounded. Night after night. For […]
Hard cash
The County has had a peculiar relationship with development charges. Not in the quirky or oddly amusing sense of the term, rather more in the every-steplands- in-another-bucket meaning. Development fees are new-ish to the County. The general idea is that development charges (DCs) are assessed by the municipality and paid by developers to expand things […]
Dimming accountability
Maybe it doesn’t matter. Perhaps it isn’t vital to our daily lives that local government hear our worries. Our concerns. Our fears. Maybe the problem with public business is the public. Perhaps accountability is overrated. I think it’s crucial. More important now than ever. Further, I believe unaccountable institutions and governments are a threat— both […]
Boxed out
What is to be done with the rabble? The ratepayers who disagree? Residents, who challenge decisions? The general public who resists the arbitrary judgement of government institutions? What of the poor and marginalized who must go about their day with more urgent challenges in front of them? Or those who merely question the collective wisdom […]
Joyful
It was so easy. The only challenging bit was navigating the provincial Covid vaccination site and booking the booster shot (even that wasn’t so hard). Once I arrived at the Picton community centre, I was processed promptly and humanely. With kindness and patience. Then I was out the door. Twenty minutes. So easy. It was […]
Missing signals
As of Monday, there were 256 active cases of COVID-19 in the Hastings Prince Edward Public Health Unit (HPEPHU) catchment area, including Prince Edward County. It’s a big number—the biggest we’ve seen in this region. Ten of the current cases were in hospital on Monday and four were in ICU. About 47 per cent, approaching […]
Municipal world
A municipal sand storage shed blew apart in a November storm in 2020— the victim of the powerful winds that occasionally whip up off of Lake Ontario and lash Prince Edward County. Situated on the sweeping bend of Belleville Road as it veers away from Ameliasburgh and toward Mountain View, the wood-frame structure had protected […]