A lost year
There was a day, not too long ago, when council, and the public, heard regular updates about the County’s waterworks, nursing home and roads issue—and not just when there were big problems or expenditures to be approved. Council heard, a couple times each year or more, about the challenges of Picton’s leaky underground water pipes, […]
Still divided
There is jubilation across the land. Stephen Harper is gone. And Justin Trudeau is leading a majority government promising real change. A nation celebrates the end of a regime that came across as small and petty—out of touch with the way Canadians think and view their country. Ushering in a new way of looking at […]
A sunny disposition
I understand the appeal of Justin Trudeau. I saw it in the Maclean’s debate—the selfassuredness, the optimism and the vitality— and in every debate since. For those hoping for more from our nation’s leader, Trudeau cuts a dashing and hopeful figure against his dour and worried opponents. We want to be hopeful and optimistic. We […]
Us and them
Your voice matters. Politics matter. It is all that stands between your hospital and an empty building. It is all we have. Yet it may not be enough. Bit by bit, our hospitals in Picton and Trenton are being dismembered to shore up the finances for the hospital in Belleville. Even the most spirited and […]
A good day
Homs was a working town. Tough and self-reliant. Its people had endured centuries of the ebb and flow of rule ranging from Christian Byzantines to Muslim Ottomans. It had abided the whims and cruel heel of distant kings, emperors and dictators. But by 2011, the people of Homs had had enough. Enough of the corruption […]
On the beach
Social media lit up. Suddenly, if you were anywhere near Ostitional Beach in Costa Rica earlier this month, you had to get down to the shoreline to observe an amazing natural phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of olive ridley turtles were crawling out of the ocean to lay their eggs in the sand. Soon, vacationers and […]
Harm, harrass or kill
Bill Mauro stood before a hastily assembled group of reporters and nature groups in May 2009. The MPP representing Thunder Bay–Atikokan was back home with money from Queen’s Park— $107,000 for the protection of species at risk in the area. “People in our communities are concerned about the protection of species at risk and the […]
Unravelling
The revelations in Demorestville on Friday were as shocking as they were predictable. Many folks harbour a degree of cynicism about their government’s action and intentions. Sadly last week, for many, their worst suspicions were confirmed. To fully grasp the significance of Joe Crowley’s explosive testimony on Friday at the reconstituted Environmental Review Tribunal (Tribunal) […]
Irreversible
As we embark on yet another leg of the journey to spare Prince Edward County’s rugged south shore from the scourge of industrial wind turbines; as we prepare for the final legal battle that will weigh the destruction of an endangered species against the hunger for profit by a well-financed developer and the political avarice […]
Little by little
It is all still a blur. Strange new faces. A strange new land. A new language. It is a lot to absorb. The family of fourteen have travelled a long way. Their former lives destroyed by civil war. They are weary—bone weary, according to Carlyn Moulton. But they are safe. They are eager to encounter […]