Good old days
All-candidates meetings ought to be clarifying events—opportunities, rare as they are, to learn about how government works, how its services are delivered and ultimately, who might do the best job of governing the County. Sadly, some of these meetings are falling well short of this mark. Some folks attending the all-candidates meeting at the Rec […]
Proposal
About 100 chairs had been set out in tidy rows. An aisleway and microphone neatly dividing a right and left bank. Only about 60 chairs were needed. There are roughly 3,400 eligible voters in Picton. Maybe two per cent of those came out on Monday night to hear the candidates who wish to represent them […]
Distracted
It should not have come as a surprise. The fact the County has more roads, bridges and waterworks than it can afford to keep up, has been apparent for years. Thursday’s presentation by the director of finance was merely the tabulation of a sad-but longevident- truth. Yet council’s capacity for denial seems boundless—more powerful than […]
Legion’s presence
Has the Royal Canadian Legion outlived its purpose? Is it still relevant to the broader community beyond a few days in November? Formed in 1925 as a means to unify more than two dozen veteran’s groups after the first world war, the Legion became a vitally important and deeply integrated part of the fabric of […]
Power sharing
What does age have to do with it? I am well ensconced in middle age. I know this to be true. Yet when I look out at the world through these eyes, it doesn’t look or feel any different than when I was 20, 30 or 40. It is only when I am reminded by […]
Pity
Pity the municipalities and rural communities that must follow the twists and contortions of the province and its renewable energy policies. No matter one’s position on energy and how it is generated, it is plain enough, after a decade of floundering, of spilling billions of dollars into investors’ and foreign conglomerates’ pockets and of changing […]
Proportionate response
Six, maybe seven, police vehicles raced through the village—witnesses said it happened so fast they couldn’t say for sure how many. A motorcycle, an SUV, at least three marked cars, perhaps more. Followed by two ambulances. A good portion of the County’s emergency services assets rolled through Wellington on Friday afternoon— at high speed. Sirens […]
Water works
It was dirty, grubby work. Down a dark, narrow hole, three metres under the street. Breaking hard rock and concrete. Bit by bit. Hour after hour. It began as a simple leak in a water pipe running under Main Street in Wellington. But a number of factors turned a routine repair into an overnight marathon […]
Confusion of roles
I am not concerned about what your concerns are.” With this loud declaration, Councillor Jamie Forrester rather neatly encapsulated his single term on council. Full of bluster and short on articulation, Forrester eagerly wanted to put his hands on $40,000 contributed by a developer on East Lake a few years ago to assuage some residents […]
Listen
I voted against reducing the size of council in 2010. Or more precisely I voted no to the question: Are you in favour of council commencing a public consultation process to review the size of council for the County of Prince Edward? The potential benefits, it seemed to me, didn’t outweigh the turmoil that would […]