Managing risk
Can anyone have predicted the popularity of the walking/ running track at the Wellington and District Community Centre? Since the facility opened last December there has scarcely been an hour when the building was open and the track wasn’t in use. In fact it is rare to wander into the arena and not spot someone, […]
Well served
It is a good start. Council had been clear. It wanted to spend no more taxpayers’ money in 2011 than it did last year. So when the first draft landed on their desks with nearly a 10 per cent increase—ostensibly to maintain services and infrastructure at current levels—the direction was simple: go back and try […]
A new story
Over the past few weeks council, reporters and others have listened as municipal staff, fire, police, ambulance and nursing home administrators have made their pitch for more funding. Most, if not all, present very good stories. Rich, authentic, compelling stories. They tell stories of efficiency, of safety, of improved asset utilization—if only they had more […]
Why not?
The Lakeshore running track at CML Snider is the only facility of its kind in Prince Edward County. It’s more than 30 years old and it is beginning to disintegrate—crumbling at the edges and potholes forming in the running lanes. Thousands of County kids and athletes from the region use the facility several times each […]
A principled man
The County has lost a thoughtful and caring man. Lyle McBurney passed away last week after a short illness. Lyle was likely many things in his life but he was best known to me as a defender of principle, and eager to contribute to his adopted community. He was one of the original founders of […]
Heroes stand up
Win or lose, Ian Hanna and Dr. Robert McMurtry are heroes. They deserve our thanks and enduring appreciation for standing up to the McGuinty government this week. Neither of these men was looking for a fight—especially not one with an entity as powerful as a provincial government. Both had reached a point in their lives, […]
Induced confusion
Is it working? Are you confused about wind energy yet? Confusion was the remedy offered by Sussex Strategy Group last fall in a pitch to the Ontario Government. Seeing that the McGuinty Liberals were facing tough headwinds from voters on its energy policies—the Toronto based public relations firm offered to help. Confuse the public was […]
A thousand cuts
It’s happening again. Belleville General Hospital (BGH) is being squeezed. Too many patients, too few beds and no money to add more. So, just like every other time that BGH has run into trouble, it is the Picton hospital that has to pay. Resources are being taken away from Prince Edward County Memorial to shore […]
Cut smartly
The Queen gets it. Or at least her representative in Canada, the Governor General, gets it. Food is important. Where its grown, how it is prepared and what the consumption of food does to our planet. This is why the Governor General chose to honour Hillier’s own Jamie Kennedy twice last year—in June bestowing upon […]
Losing their way
Why is it, that the older a government gets the more it is likely to get balled up in its own cleverness? Why do governments growing long in the tooth abandon their own principles and values for the sake of political expediency? And so easily? We are seeing evidence of this sickness at both senior […]