The tipping point
On the surface it was yet another gathering of folks increasingly anxious about industrial wind factories being erected in their midst. There were those sounding the alarm about the hazard wind turbines pose to migrating birds, bats and other animals. Those offended by the disregard shown for the variety of species and sheer quantity of […]
Senseless
It is a story of neighbours who didn’t like each other. One afternoon in May, tensions boiled to confrontation. One brought words to the fight—the other brought a 4,500 lb truck. Moments later Jeff Vader lay dying on Kelly Road. Now Eric Menard faces up to 14 years in jail charged with dangerous driving causing […]
Cowboys
Council ought to have taken the offer. It is about to grapple with some very hard choices about what this municipality does and what it can afford to do (see story page 3). Yet a majority of council has opted to ignore its senior manager’s advice to engage residents in the decision making. Instead these […]
Our daily bread
Did you know that if you live on a couple acres on Gilead, Royal or Doxsee Roads you can’t raise a chicken? Or a pig? Or a goat? You may not want to do any of these things—but does it make sense to bar folks from growing food in rural Prince Edward County? Growing up […]
Wrong way around
Over the Christmas holidays wind power generators in the United Kingdom were paid more than $1.5 million to unplug their turbines from the electricity grid. It seems a steady, stiff breeze blew off the North Sea for much of the time producing lots of power—but power it couldn’t use. The British, it turns out, haven’t […]
May we help you
It should be easier. Most folks have little reason to deal with local government in their daily lives—except of course to pay taxes. We may grumble about snow clearing, sidewalk conditions or garbage pick up schedules. We may even pick up the phone and unload our grievances upon our local councillor. But that is usually […]
New days
While campaigning last year, mayoral candidate Monica Alyea used a pumpkin when talking about the County’s finances. The pumpkin was held aloft in a couple of pieces. The large portion— roughly three-quarters of the total— was meant to illustrate the size of the municipality’s mandated funding: expenses over which the local government pays the bill […]
Council does not know best
Rules matter. So does process. These are not social niceties. These are the things that separate us from more primitive groupings of mammals. And when these mechanisms don’t satisfy our personal needs or short-term desires we aren’t allowed simply to toss them aside. Yet a majority of council seems prepared to do just that. For […]
A dangerous mind
It is hard to know what will slow down Dalton’s McGuinty’s green energy ambitions. Zealots don’t typically let facts or public opinion get in their way. It likely won’t be the scathing report by the province’s Auditor General released this week. In it the AG finds McGuinty’s green energy strategies to be ill-considered, needlessly expensive […]
Festering problem
How long will council tolerate the incompetence of the leadership of its Recreation, Parks and Culture department? How bad must things become before council concludes that enough is enough? Councillor Diane O’Brien and others suggest the County must look at selling the brand new Wellington and District Community Centre to spare ratepayers the outrageous amount […]