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 […]
Bravery
From an imagined conversation between Premier Doug Ford and Mayor Steve Ferguson this past Monday. “Thanks for the money, Doug Ford. Every little bit helps. And I really can’t imagine anything littler. This cheque is so puny that it won’t even cover the sales tax we’ll eventually have to pay on the infrastructure we have […]
Turning point?
A commitment has been made. A commitment to rigour and discipline. A commitment that County residents won’t pay another dime toward the developers’ infrastructure—not without a guarantee of payback in an acceptable time frame. It is a good outcome. We are in a better place. The County’s manager, Marcia Wallace, stood up for residents and […]
Imminent
The vote will be done by the time this column is printed. The next chapter of the waterworks saga will have begun. So, let’s tidy up a couple of things. First, let us all be clear about what was on the table: We—waterworks customers—are lending millions of dollars to developers from our own pockets. We […]
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 […]