And then?
And then? Well, and then it isn’t someone else’s problem when it’s my problem. I’m probably like a lot of you in that I pay lip service to issues that don’t affect me personally. I don’t have a serious, life threatening disease, but I can sympathize with those who do. I’ve never really been poor, […]
Protecting local
I don’t often visit the Quinte Mall, but it seems every time I do, I run into someone I know from the County. Each time the same thing happens; we smile sheepishly at each other, say hello and find a good excuse for being in Belleville, to say nothing of shopping in the city. I […]
The end of an era
I spent last Saturday roaming the hills north of Belleville at the Trillium Wood Golf Club. They were in the midst of the 30th Annual Rick Meagher-Medigas Celebrity Golf Tournament, helping raise funds for less fortunate individuals. When the tournament wrapped up, the event had raised more than three million dollars. The tournament was the […]
Addicted—to a long life
Make that a triple espresso, if you would—with a capuccino on the side. Oh, and I’ll take a large double double to go as well. Can you blame me? Just as we think the world is supersaturated with coffee, news comes that two more scientific studies have concluded coffee consumption is associated with a longer […]
All penned up with nowhere to go
Since it’s only half past July, it would be difficult to pick an event highlight of my summer. On the other hand, it’s half past July! How the H E double digit temperatures did that happen? Whatever. Last week LOML and I did go to Kingston for the Penitentiary Tour with some of our kids. […]
The maple leaf and poutine
Four years ago, a fire levelled a cheese co-op in Eastern Ontario, which launched a panic throughout the foodery world. The St-Albert Cheese Co-op, in the small village of St Albert, Ontario near the Quebec border, was not only one of the oldest cheese co-ops in the country, starting in 1898, it had grown to […]
The right kind of stuff
Some would claim this column has been obsessed with Royalty over the past few weeks, and I guess they might have a point. So let’s move on to the sub-royal department and look at the appointment of a new Governor General. Prime Minister Trudeau visited the Queen at her official Scottish residence last week, amid […]
Investments
It’s easy for municipal politicians to look upon the corporations they’ve been elected to manage as businesses for which they are sitting on an executive board. Municipalities have assets; infrastructure, physical properties and a brand. They have income in the form of taxes and fees. They have expenses. They have stakeholders; residents and businesses they […]
Where’s the beach?
Yep, it’s still summer. I’m hoping that summer lasts well into November, just to make up for the lack of spring weather. In the meantime, it’s here. Tourist season has arrived, big time. If there were to be a Top Ten Tourist Questions list, I’d have to say the number one question would be a […]
Inappropriate
The conversation is everywhere and yes, I’m late to the party, mainly because I have hesitated to step into a conversation that is so full of protectionism and defensiveness and guilt with a long and complicated history of colonialism and power imbalance. Late, because it’s important that a conversation happen, and because I want to […]