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 & […]
Too soon
Grant Howes passed away suddenly on Saturday. Without notice. At 60, he was far too young. He had too much yet to do. To know Grant at all, was to understand he was driven to build, to struggle, to fight. It makes this loss so much harder to bear. Apples have been grown and cultivated […]
The centre cannot hold
If you are an Ontario government bureaucrat who travels to work each day on the subway or GO train, it is inevitable, I suspect, to see those around you as widgets, object to be processed and organized into cohesive pathways. Further, I would suggest that if you are one of those folks rising and shuffling […]
Just play
Like moths to a flame, kids manage to find ice upon which to play. Perhaps it is related to the sense that migrating animals rely upon to return to the place of their birth. It is encouraging to know this instinct has not been extinguished. It is a cliché: The snow-covered pond amid the farm […]
Mind the steaming mound
Across Ontario, farmland prices are rising— up about 16 per cent on average last year and about 65 per cent since 2012. Despite generally lower commodity prices and a killing drought in some regions across the province, farmland values are higher than they were four years ago. In some cases, much higher. Closer to home, […]
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 […]