Daylight
They are surely the most vulnerable people who exist in a community like Prince Edward County. Traumatized, and perhaps already abused, children are taken from their homes, their families—their whole world—and put in another home with strangers. To be safe. They are young. Damaged. Often neglected. They’ve seen very little stability in their lives—now they […]
Entirely inadequate
Where are the answers? Despite occasional protestations that it is committed to transparency and accountability, the Children’s Aid Society of Prince Edward remains steadfastly silent about how and why it put nine and 10-yearold children in the home of a man it had reason to believe was a sexual predator. Now the local CAS says […]
The best stories
They were among the very best—if only for a moment or a day. Their stories inspire us to want to do better—to strive for just such a moment of greatness. Doug Thompson behind the wheel of the fastest boat among hundreds one afternoon on a lake in DePue, Illinois—soaring on a knife’s edge between victory […]
Hard of hearing
Does the County really need another debate about the size of council? Will reducing the number of folks who sit around the horseshoe at Shire Hall make one bit of difference in your life? Or as Ralph Margetson asks this week, does anyone truly believe that a smaller council will mean lower costs or taxes? […]
Not gone yet
Arrogant to the finish, Dalton McGuinty has decided to pick up his ball and go home. He is quitting his job as Premier and taking the opposition’s ability to question and probe his government with him. For he didn’t simply promise to quit on Monday; he also asked the Lieutenant Governor to prorogue the legislature—which […]
What’s wrong with debt
Is debt important? Does it really matter how much we owe and whether or not we can pay it back? Some readers have suggested recently, and they aren’t alone, that a preoccupation on debt and deficits is a rightwing distraction—that we have obligations to spend money today—whether or not we have that money. Even if […]
Soft ground
Council has certainly found itself in a fine pickle this time. Though not entirely of its own making, Council might have sidestepped the provincially engineered trap a bit more elegantly. Instead its next few meetings are likely to be dominated by residents and developers on a quest for the County’s two points. How it chooses […]
Wizard of Ontario
It was crass and ugly political theatre. It could not have been more bald. Two days before the leaders’ debate in advance of the last Ontario election, three Liberal MPPs—Laurel Broten, Charles Sousa and Donna Cansfield—stood on a stage, their arms raised in triumph. All three were running in ridings around Mississauga amidst a debate […]
Pawns in a larger game
Seventeen of 22 kids in my daughter’s Grade 4 class had signed up to participate in the County cross-country running event next week. She learned Monday the event won’t happen this year—maybe never again. Teachers have withdrawn their participation in the event as part of their union’s dispute with the province. Hundreds of kids across […]
Sharing experiences
Can there be a more caring, giving and generous place than Prince Edward County? Each week we could fill our pages with the images and stories of ordinary and extraordinary folks—working, sharing and helping to make their community a better place. In this job I am fortunate to see a great deal of this selfless […]