Risk and reward
This is the second of a three-part comment on the Citizens’ Assembly that concludes this weekend. The Prince Edward County Citizens’ Assembly is expected to render its recommendation this weekend. The group will submit its consensus view on the size of council and how we elect our local government. But does it make sense for […]
Getting here
It is a fascinating experiment. Whatever else may be said or written about the Prince Edward County Citizens’ Assembly, it cannot be denied that what is taking place above the fire station in the old town hall in Picton is a novel and potentially compelling way around a problem that has vexed municipal council for […]
Tone deaf
The decision last week by the Ministry of Environment to challenge the ruling of its own review process in a courtroom defies comprehension. It defies logic. Defies reason. The optics were bad from the outset, a publicly funded provincial ministry whose sole mission it is to safeguard the environment, battling fiercely on behalf of a […]
Ripples
Africa remains a distant place. While many parts of the world appear to be moving closer and more connected—propelled by the internet, telecommunications and daily flights to just about every corner of this planet—Africa remains in our conciousness a largely dark, undefined and foreboding place. In South Sudan, so far, an estimated 2 million people […]
Roles and responsibilities
Last week in a planning meeting, members of council heard the story of Bloomfield-area resident who, when faced with financial and personal challenges elected to create a pair of apartments in what were once farm-related buildings. She didn’t have permission when she built, and rented out these apartments on her rural property. She appeared before […]
P.O.O.C.H. needs your help
The dog needs more friends. It was movement born of frustration and anger. And the belief that the average person still has a say over how government and its institutions spend our money. A flickering optimism, naïve perhaps, that the community should have some input on the way health care is provided here. For when […]
Natural exit
Somewhere in Don Mills, I expect Premier Kathleen Wynne is quietly giving thanks to an old turtle. And, she is surely secretly praying that more Blanding’s turtles raise their bright yellow chins elsewhere in the province, in clear view of an environmental review tribunal. For Kathleen Wynne would surely love to back out of the […]
Birthday bash
What a party! Strolling through the streets of Wellington in the wee hours of Tuesday morning—there was scant evidence of the festivities, celebration and activities that had lit up the village over the past four days. The sidewalks were scrubbed, the park returned to lush verdancy, and the trash had long been bagged up and […]
A good place
You can’t make communities. You can put homes together, arrayed neatly around a park, add in a few a few stores, libraries and churches, but it isn’t yet a community. It may be a place and it may have a name but it remains merely a collection of buildings—as isolated from each other as the […]
A clear message
The Citizens’ Assembly has delivered its recommendation. In the view of its 23 members, selected more or less at random, the right size of our next council ought to be 11 members—10 councillors and one mayor. Wards are to be revamped to more evenly distribute population and to generally reflect the urban and rural mix […]