Change is hard
It is a sleepy time on council these days. There are few meetings in the summer and the corridors of Shire Hall do not hum. It remains a bit of an anachronism that the machinery of local government gears down during July and August. There is seemingly plenty to do and, come October or February, […]
Rich bounty
Prince Edward County is truly a special place. While true all the time, it is particularly so this time of year. The tomatoes are ripening, the cucumbers plentiful and even the corn, despite a long dry patch, is proving its resilience in every tasty, sweet kernel. But summer in the County is also when some […]
Unanswered questions
First, an apology to our readers. I wrote in my comment on July 11 that a then- 11 year old girl had been returned to the foster home in which she had complained she had been sexually violated. This was inaccurate. The 11 year ld didn’t make an official complaint until years later. A more […]
Economic development 2.0
Ahandful of withering milkweeds poke through the gravel base amid the concrete footings of a proposed solar panel manufacturing plant in the industrial park in Picton. Not much else is growing there. By now, between 30 and 40 new, highpaying- green jobs were to be cranking out hundreds of thousands of photo voltaic solar panels […]
The tide turns
Is the ground shifting below Ontario’s wind turbines? Last week an Ontario judge ruled that Dr. Arlene King, the province’s chief medical officer of health, will have to testify about the known noise and health risks of industrial wind turbines. It was a small but potentially game-changing decision. The province fought hard to prevent this […]
Breakthrough
Barbara Ashbee hadn’t thought much about wind turbines until 22 of them suddenly sprouted around her Amaranth home in 2007—six kilometres from Shelburne. One was planted a mere 750 metres from her front window—another just 457 meters behind her home. When she first saw the wind factory site plans and complained about how close they […]
Demand answers
The accusations against a man now convicted of sexually abusing two children in his care were made to police and the Children’s Aid Society in 2005— seven years ago. A then-11 year old told police and her Children’s Aid Society caseworkers that the man being paid to care for her was having sex with her […]
Duty
Children are our future. It is a tired cliché, but one we continue to drag out because it reminds us that, as our strength and usefulness fade, someone younger who looks a bit like us will soon take our place. It brings comfort—that the things our generation built and cultivated may endure. It also conjures […]
On edge
This week I boldly skip right over the County’s shoreline, over the Atlantic to Europe where the ongoing meltdown of financial and commodity markets is threatening to push the world into the abyss. A short recap of the past seven decades. Europe emerges from a brutal and devastating war—aided by western nations but mostly driven […]
At the Rubicon
Bad policy gives off a foul odour. The longer it is allowed to fester and decay, the worse it smells. The putrid stench lures vultures and scavengers—those who would profit from the misfortune of others. Nearly a decade after he was first elected as Premier Dalton McGuinty is increasingly being boxed in by bad financial […]