As published in The Erin Advocate
The pains were familiar and to be expected. Your tendons feel too short, your hips need a shot of axle grease and your lungs seem too small to keep up with your heart.
I would not want to discourage anyone from coming out to Sunday afternoon community basketball at the Erin high school gym. Most people who might consider playing are either in better shape than me, or smart enough to take it easy on their first time out.
No need to buy a membership or commit to a team, just drop in with your running shoes, contribute $3 to the pot, warm up for a few minutes and take turns in the pickup game. It was just what I needed last week, feeling cooped-up and tired of winter.
"We have good sportsmanship, with a wide range of ages and skills," said Patrick Suessmuth of Erin Hoops. "Everybody blends in and everybody has fun."
I have known Pat since the mid-1990s, when I got involved with Erin Hoops as a coach, shortly after the group was started by Brian Bissell, Carolyn White, Brian Smith and Peter Olsen. I was also a referee and club registrar for a couple of years, and though I gained an appreciation of the game, I never got very good at it.
Now, after not playing at all for at least five years, my skills are minimal. Still, players much better than I were willing to pass me the ball, and I did manage four baskets in two hours. Of course, Pat was more than glad to provide advice. "Phil, you need more arc on your shots – about six feet more."
Community basketball has been going about ten years now, open to men and women. The age range on Sunday was from young teen to senior.
Pat and his team of helpers always have a lot on the go, mainly at The Main Place in the old Erin Public School at 185 Main Street. Erin Hoops gets a great deal on the space thanks to Gary Langen, who owns the building. Kids can drop in for recreational activities any day after school. Check out the programs, or learn about becoming a volunteer, at www.erinhoops.ca.
There is the March Break Basketball Camp, March 16-20, and a wide choice of affordable Summer Camps including basketball, arts & crafts, dance, badminton, baseball, tennis and floor hockey.
There are monthly Classic Movie Nights. There are monthly Bingo Nights – no need for a gaming license, since people play for Freecycle prizes. Freecycle is a worldwide movement to keep good stuff out of landfills by offering it for free to other people.
Pat got the Erin chapter started and it now has 319 members. There are another 11,500 members in the Rockwood, Acton, Georgetown, Caledon, Milton, Guelph and Brampton groups. Go to www.freecycle.org, or Google: Erin Freecycle.
As for me and my middle-aged bones, the pains have subsided, so it must be time to push myself a bit more. I will play some basketball, but soon, the ice will be gone. I will get out the bicycle and the tennis racquet. And I can hardly wait to take Lilly for a nice, long hike without worrying about the wind chill factor.
March 11, 2009
March 04, 2009
New park could be a boost for downtown
As published in The Erin Advocate
The Town Centre Park proposed for 109 Main Street will be an excellent addition to the atmosphere of downtown Erin, but it will need a strong commitment from the Town if it is going to happen this year.
A committee of councillors and community representatives has put a lot of work into the project. A design was published in The Advocate last month, and an optimistic goal of completion by July 1 was set.
How much weight will this project carry in the Town budget deliberations that are now in progress? The park could be a real jewel – an attractive and practical gathering place. I hope it ranks high on the list of new projects that Council is considering.
On one hand, Erin is running a small deficit and there are many needs in the community, from road paving to new dressing rooms at the Erin arena. The capital budget was $3.8 million in 2008, with 90 per cent of it allocated to Roads, Water and Fire Services.
On the other hand, we did get a provincial influx of $622,000 last year for new infrastructure, and it is about time we spent it. Apart from sports fields, we do not have much parkland, so a modest expenditure to create this new park could certainly be justified.
There has already been a lot of input from non-elected people, which is a sign of a healthy community, but there could still be a public meeting or at least a formal request for taxpayer feedback on the design. The estimated cost of this project should be made public.
Committee member Paul Rivers, who got involved through the Business Improvement Area, said the park will provide seniors and others a comfortable place to sit outdoors. "There are community events that are not being done because they need a venue," he said.
As Optimist Wilson Belford pointed out, the empty lot that was once the site of the village offices has become an "eyesore" for the area. The Optimists have pledged to construct the gazebo, which will be the focal point of the park.
The Town last year purchased $7,300 worth of steel for the structure, which the committee expects will be used as a stage for various musical and theatrical events. It will be surrounded by grass in the summer and a natural ice rink in the winter.
The Erin Garden Club has purchased $1,000 worth of stone for the rock garden that will provide an attractive entrance to the site, and plans to maintain the garden. A large spruce Christmas "Tree of Light" has also been donated.
More donations of building/landscape materials and cash are being requested, to help reduce the public cost. If you or your business are so inclined, call the Town office at 519-855-4407.
In the current plan, the gazebo has a central position, leaving almost equal "audience" areas on opposite sides of the performing stage. Since most performers will face mainly in one direction, it would be better to move the pavilion further from the road. This would allow a larger, primary audience area, perhaps with more stone seating.
Initially, the gazebo surface was to be 18 inches high, but now it is planned at ground level, to avoid the need for a ramp for the disabled. If you have 20 people sitting and watching a show, ground level is fine. But if you have 200 people, many of them standing or walking around, a raised stage would be much better, even if it is more trouble to build.
A winding, well-lit cobblestone-type path will extend to the parking lot at the back. That path could be part of a larger trail route, from the park, past Daniel Street and down to the West Credit River, where a foot bridge is being considered. It would link downtown to the Woolen Mills Conservation Area and nearby homes.
The Town Centre Park proposed for 109 Main Street will be an excellent addition to the atmosphere of downtown Erin, but it will need a strong commitment from the Town if it is going to happen this year.
A committee of councillors and community representatives has put a lot of work into the project. A design was published in The Advocate last month, and an optimistic goal of completion by July 1 was set.
How much weight will this project carry in the Town budget deliberations that are now in progress? The park could be a real jewel – an attractive and practical gathering place. I hope it ranks high on the list of new projects that Council is considering.
On one hand, Erin is running a small deficit and there are many needs in the community, from road paving to new dressing rooms at the Erin arena. The capital budget was $3.8 million in 2008, with 90 per cent of it allocated to Roads, Water and Fire Services.
On the other hand, we did get a provincial influx of $622,000 last year for new infrastructure, and it is about time we spent it. Apart from sports fields, we do not have much parkland, so a modest expenditure to create this new park could certainly be justified.
There has already been a lot of input from non-elected people, which is a sign of a healthy community, but there could still be a public meeting or at least a formal request for taxpayer feedback on the design. The estimated cost of this project should be made public.
Committee member Paul Rivers, who got involved through the Business Improvement Area, said the park will provide seniors and others a comfortable place to sit outdoors. "There are community events that are not being done because they need a venue," he said.
As Optimist Wilson Belford pointed out, the empty lot that was once the site of the village offices has become an "eyesore" for the area. The Optimists have pledged to construct the gazebo, which will be the focal point of the park.
The Town last year purchased $7,300 worth of steel for the structure, which the committee expects will be used as a stage for various musical and theatrical events. It will be surrounded by grass in the summer and a natural ice rink in the winter.
The Erin Garden Club has purchased $1,000 worth of stone for the rock garden that will provide an attractive entrance to the site, and plans to maintain the garden. A large spruce Christmas "Tree of Light" has also been donated.
More donations of building/landscape materials and cash are being requested, to help reduce the public cost. If you or your business are so inclined, call the Town office at 519-855-4407.
In the current plan, the gazebo has a central position, leaving almost equal "audience" areas on opposite sides of the performing stage. Since most performers will face mainly in one direction, it would be better to move the pavilion further from the road. This would allow a larger, primary audience area, perhaps with more stone seating.
Initially, the gazebo surface was to be 18 inches high, but now it is planned at ground level, to avoid the need for a ramp for the disabled. If you have 20 people sitting and watching a show, ground level is fine. But if you have 200 people, many of them standing or walking around, a raised stage would be much better, even if it is more trouble to build.
A winding, well-lit cobblestone-type path will extend to the parking lot at the back. That path could be part of a larger trail route, from the park, past Daniel Street and down to the West Credit River, where a foot bridge is being considered. It would link downtown to the Woolen Mills Conservation Area and nearby homes.
February 25, 2009
Bill Smiley was a welcome guest
As published in The Erin Advocate
Bill Smiley was a newspaper columnist who barged his way into the lives of millions of Canadians by the sheer force of his personality.
I have been reading old issues of The Erin Advocate at the library (back to 1974) and they draw a fascinating sketch of this area, even for someone who did not grow up here. Bill did not write about Erin, but he was our guest almost every week for some 22 years.
Known as Sugar and Spice, the column appeared in weeklies across Canada. It was in 18 papers when Erin picked it up in 1957, and the customer list grew to more than 130 with syndication by The Toronto Telegram, as editors and readers learned to love his small-town wit and wisdom.
He was honored as most outstanding columnist in 1974 by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association (CCNA). According to the CCNA website, he became Canada's most-read columnist and continued writing until two years before his death in 1987, at the age of 67.
Bill's column was very personal. He spoke of his father's depression and his mother's frantic work to support five kids in the 1930s. "There was no way we were going on relief. It was shameful. Somehow we staggered through." He predicted another economic depression, though it has been slow to arrive.
He often talked of being shot down during the Second World War and his time in a prison camp. He did not care for the annual gatherings of POWs who wanted to relive the experience after the war.
For 11 years, he was the editor and publisher of The Wiarton Echo. Later, he worked on "the assembly line at the pupil-factory," as head of English at the high school in Midland, and did not mince words about the quality of some of the finished product. "Some of the rottenest people, physically, morally and emotionally, whom I have ever met, have been honour students. With no sense of honour."
His grandson, however, was a great source of joy. "The existence of so much delight and charm and laughter and love, all wrapped up in one perfectly formed nine-month old creation, restores my faith, which at times becomes a little tattered around the edges, in God."
His wife Sue became well-known, though I doubt she appreciated the attention. He was calling her "old trouble and strife" in 1957. Their fighting and making-up continued as column topics for decades. In 1974, he described his feelings when she went away for a weekend: "When I put the old battleaxe on the bus, or see the car drive off, I try to look mournful. Then I give a great sigh of relief, and feel like a fellow who has just walked out the jailhouse gates."
It appears that The Advocate stopped carrying the column when the paper was sold to a new owner in 1979. A new column appeared, called The Way I See It, by James Burnett.
For all his crankiness, Bill Smiley had a wonderful way with words: "There's a certain sadness in the knowledge that summer is over, but it only lasts a day or so. Any red-blooded Canadian knows deep in his boots that summer is merely an unreal state of mind that has no more substance, no more staying power, than a pleasant dream."
I wish I had written that. Maybe I will write that, or something like it. After all, there are no new ideas waiting to be discovered – just old ones that need to be polished up.
Bill Smiley was a newspaper columnist who barged his way into the lives of millions of Canadians by the sheer force of his personality.
I have been reading old issues of The Erin Advocate at the library (back to 1974) and they draw a fascinating sketch of this area, even for someone who did not grow up here. Bill did not write about Erin, but he was our guest almost every week for some 22 years.
Known as Sugar and Spice, the column appeared in weeklies across Canada. It was in 18 papers when Erin picked it up in 1957, and the customer list grew to more than 130 with syndication by The Toronto Telegram, as editors and readers learned to love his small-town wit and wisdom.
He was honored as most outstanding columnist in 1974 by the Canadian Community Newspaper Association (CCNA). According to the CCNA website, he became Canada's most-read columnist and continued writing until two years before his death in 1987, at the age of 67.
Bill's column was very personal. He spoke of his father's depression and his mother's frantic work to support five kids in the 1930s. "There was no way we were going on relief. It was shameful. Somehow we staggered through." He predicted another economic depression, though it has been slow to arrive.
He often talked of being shot down during the Second World War and his time in a prison camp. He did not care for the annual gatherings of POWs who wanted to relive the experience after the war.
For 11 years, he was the editor and publisher of The Wiarton Echo. Later, he worked on "the assembly line at the pupil-factory," as head of English at the high school in Midland, and did not mince words about the quality of some of the finished product. "Some of the rottenest people, physically, morally and emotionally, whom I have ever met, have been honour students. With no sense of honour."
His grandson, however, was a great source of joy. "The existence of so much delight and charm and laughter and love, all wrapped up in one perfectly formed nine-month old creation, restores my faith, which at times becomes a little tattered around the edges, in God."
His wife Sue became well-known, though I doubt she appreciated the attention. He was calling her "old trouble and strife" in 1957. Their fighting and making-up continued as column topics for decades. In 1974, he described his feelings when she went away for a weekend: "When I put the old battleaxe on the bus, or see the car drive off, I try to look mournful. Then I give a great sigh of relief, and feel like a fellow who has just walked out the jailhouse gates."
It appears that The Advocate stopped carrying the column when the paper was sold to a new owner in 1979. A new column appeared, called The Way I See It, by James Burnett.
For all his crankiness, Bill Smiley had a wonderful way with words: "There's a certain sadness in the knowledge that summer is over, but it only lasts a day or so. Any red-blooded Canadian knows deep in his boots that summer is merely an unreal state of mind that has no more substance, no more staying power, than a pleasant dream."
I wish I had written that. Maybe I will write that, or something like it. After all, there are no new ideas waiting to be discovered – just old ones that need to be polished up.
February 18, 2009
Exploring Erin's maze of trails
As published in The Erin Advocate
It was a warm, sunny winter morning, so I decided to take a little hike along the rail trail at the north end of Erin village. The scenery is always better when you get out of your car.
It is the Elora Cataract Trailway, where the tracks put Hillsburgh and Erin on the map back in 1879. It is also a segment of the Trans-Canada Trail, a 21,500-kilometre recreational trail system (the world's longest).
When it is complete, we'll be able to hike, or bike, or ride a horse to Mount Pearl on the eastern tip of Newfoundland, to Victoria on Vancouver Island, or up to the Arctic Ocean.
The Trans-Canada Trail (www.tctrail.ca) is not a spectacular tourist attraction, but it is a feature of national interest. Currently there is only a small sign along the road to tell people it is there – we should do more to promote it.
Setting out westward on the trail from Main Street towards Hillsburgh, the view is anything but scenic at first. There's the idle Guardian Fiberglass plant. I know it is tough for the guys at the gate, now in their second winter of picket duty, and I hope the conflict can be resolved. But in the meantime, no one is missing the foul odour that comes from that place when it is operating.
After you get past the mountains of mulch and topsoil, and the graveyard of recyclable old trucks, the terrain is much greener. The trail is still very flat and straight, though, so I naturally looked for a side route, to make a loop. (Whenever there is an opportunity to go off on a tangent, I will usually take it.)
I cut to the left on the first snowmobile trail I saw, through a dense cedar grove. The great thing about winter hiking is that swampland is frozen solid and mosquitoes are fast asleep. I cut left again at the first opportunity and slid my way across a narrow section of the West Credit River, where the snowmobiles had packed down a nice, thick ice bridge.
I thought by then I was headed back east and would soon arrive at Stanley Park, close to my car. That never did happen, so it is a good thing that I had not set out late in the day. I was into an intricate maze of snowmobile trails, through open fields and wooded areas.
I cannot quite think of the right word to describe my situation – unable to figure out exactly where I was, or where I would end up. I wasn't going in circles, and I knew that civilization would be encountered if I just kept walking.
It is very quiet out there, except for the birds in the trees, and a pheasant I scared up on the ground. I encountered Everett and his hound, and we spent 20 minutes talking about bird dog training, so it became an educational outing as well.
By then, I was well south of my destination. A bit to the west were the fairways of Erin Heights Golf Club, or so I discovered when I got home and checked the Google Maps satellite view. My mistake was crossing the river, which winds north and then south as it gets closer to the village.
I emerged from the woods near the corner of Erin Heights Drive and Dundas Street, and faced a good long walk back to Main and up to the trailway parking lot at Ross and Daniel. It was a much longer loop than planned, but one of the most enjoyable excursions I have had this winter.
It was a warm, sunny winter morning, so I decided to take a little hike along the rail trail at the north end of Erin village. The scenery is always better when you get out of your car.
It is the Elora Cataract Trailway, where the tracks put Hillsburgh and Erin on the map back in 1879. It is also a segment of the Trans-Canada Trail, a 21,500-kilometre recreational trail system (the world's longest).
When it is complete, we'll be able to hike, or bike, or ride a horse to Mount Pearl on the eastern tip of Newfoundland, to Victoria on Vancouver Island, or up to the Arctic Ocean.
The Trans-Canada Trail (www.tctrail.ca) is not a spectacular tourist attraction, but it is a feature of national interest. Currently there is only a small sign along the road to tell people it is there – we should do more to promote it.
Setting out westward on the trail from Main Street towards Hillsburgh, the view is anything but scenic at first. There's the idle Guardian Fiberglass plant. I know it is tough for the guys at the gate, now in their second winter of picket duty, and I hope the conflict can be resolved. But in the meantime, no one is missing the foul odour that comes from that place when it is operating.
After you get past the mountains of mulch and topsoil, and the graveyard of recyclable old trucks, the terrain is much greener. The trail is still very flat and straight, though, so I naturally looked for a side route, to make a loop. (Whenever there is an opportunity to go off on a tangent, I will usually take it.)
I cut to the left on the first snowmobile trail I saw, through a dense cedar grove. The great thing about winter hiking is that swampland is frozen solid and mosquitoes are fast asleep. I cut left again at the first opportunity and slid my way across a narrow section of the West Credit River, where the snowmobiles had packed down a nice, thick ice bridge.
I thought by then I was headed back east and would soon arrive at Stanley Park, close to my car. That never did happen, so it is a good thing that I had not set out late in the day. I was into an intricate maze of snowmobile trails, through open fields and wooded areas.
I cannot quite think of the right word to describe my situation – unable to figure out exactly where I was, or where I would end up. I wasn't going in circles, and I knew that civilization would be encountered if I just kept walking.
It is very quiet out there, except for the birds in the trees, and a pheasant I scared up on the ground. I encountered Everett and his hound, and we spent 20 minutes talking about bird dog training, so it became an educational outing as well.
By then, I was well south of my destination. A bit to the west were the fairways of Erin Heights Golf Club, or so I discovered when I got home and checked the Google Maps satellite view. My mistake was crossing the river, which winds north and then south as it gets closer to the village.
I emerged from the woods near the corner of Erin Heights Drive and Dundas Street, and faced a good long walk back to Main and up to the trailway parking lot at Ross and Daniel. It was a much longer loop than planned, but one of the most enjoyable excursions I have had this winter.
February 11, 2009
Erin needs more affordable housing
As published in The Erin Advocate
When I am ready to retire, I would like to have the option of buying a smaller home in Erin. Is it too much to expect? Should we be able to stay close to our community when we have no need of a larger home?
It is a sad reality that many people have faced this issue and have decided to move away. It seems to be the price of living close to the Greater Toronto Area, and of living in a town with no sanitary sewer system.
The housing market in Erin has gone soft in recent months, along with the rest of Canada, but a quick scan of real estate listings shows plenty of houses selling for over $350,000, and a limited selection below that amount. New subdivisions in recent years have featured large lots and relatively expensive homes.
The main reason, says Erin Mayor Rod Finnie, is that large lots are required for individual septic systems. To justify the cost of large lots, large homes are built.
"When we do get sewage, I expect that development would include smaller homes," he said. In 2007, Erin decided to freeze new housing development while it works on its Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP).
The plan will guide development for decades, and public input will soon be requested. It involves not only sewage systems for the urban areas of Hillsburgh and Erin village, but a vision of the type of community we want. Current projections show the town's rural population declining slightly to 58 per cent by 2031, assuming a sewage solution is found.
The SSMP process will take until the end of 2010 – a long time for housing development to be tied up, said Councillor Josie Wintersinger. "I had hoped to be able to do more for seniors, so they wouldn't have to move to Guelph or Orangeville where they don't know anybody," she said. The mayor said the SSMP process "is taking a lot longer than I had hoped for".
Current homeowners should not be overly concerned about the slightly lower value of their properties during this recession, according to John Cook, of McEnery Real Estate in Erin.
"Our market seems to hold its value – it is a very desirable area," he said. "Some people are sitting on their hands, to see if they have a job next month, but the market has not fallen through the floor. It is still a safe place to invest."
Of course, smaller homes do come on the market, but there does not seem to be enough choice to meet the needs of buyers. For some, a home in Stanley Park is an attractive option. But others would prefer a townhouse to a mobile home, and or would like to own their own land.
Cook said a balanced approach, with a mix of different levels of housing, would be a benefit to the community. "We need more entry and exit type properties," he said, referring to younger and older home buyers.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that the average price of Multiple Listing Service homes in Canada in December was down 11 per cent compared to December, 2007. Sales as a percentage of new listings in the fourth quarter of 2008 fell to the lowest level since the mid-1990s.
The Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey predicts a price decline across Canada of 3.0 per cent this year, to an average of $295,000, though there are major variations by local market. Toronto is expected to be down 4.0 per cent. Regions dependent on manufacturing jobs will have sharper price declines. Prices will still be higher than three years ago, due to a surge in 2007.
Strong growth in the first half of 2008 was reversed by bad economic news in the second half, creating a buyer's market, according to recent analysis by RE/MAX.
"The situation is not expected to be remedied until consumer confidence is restored," said RE/MAX VP Michael Polzler. "We could see a bounce back as early as spring – if inventory levels remain stable, pent-up demand kicks into gear, and lower interest rates stimulate home-buying activity."
When I am ready to retire, I would like to have the option of buying a smaller home in Erin. Is it too much to expect? Should we be able to stay close to our community when we have no need of a larger home?
It is a sad reality that many people have faced this issue and have decided to move away. It seems to be the price of living close to the Greater Toronto Area, and of living in a town with no sanitary sewer system.
The housing market in Erin has gone soft in recent months, along with the rest of Canada, but a quick scan of real estate listings shows plenty of houses selling for over $350,000, and a limited selection below that amount. New subdivisions in recent years have featured large lots and relatively expensive homes.
The main reason, says Erin Mayor Rod Finnie, is that large lots are required for individual septic systems. To justify the cost of large lots, large homes are built.
"When we do get sewage, I expect that development would include smaller homes," he said. In 2007, Erin decided to freeze new housing development while it works on its Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP).
The plan will guide development for decades, and public input will soon be requested. It involves not only sewage systems for the urban areas of Hillsburgh and Erin village, but a vision of the type of community we want. Current projections show the town's rural population declining slightly to 58 per cent by 2031, assuming a sewage solution is found.
The SSMP process will take until the end of 2010 – a long time for housing development to be tied up, said Councillor Josie Wintersinger. "I had hoped to be able to do more for seniors, so they wouldn't have to move to Guelph or Orangeville where they don't know anybody," she said. The mayor said the SSMP process "is taking a lot longer than I had hoped for".
Current homeowners should not be overly concerned about the slightly lower value of their properties during this recession, according to John Cook, of McEnery Real Estate in Erin.
"Our market seems to hold its value – it is a very desirable area," he said. "Some people are sitting on their hands, to see if they have a job next month, but the market has not fallen through the floor. It is still a safe place to invest."
Of course, smaller homes do come on the market, but there does not seem to be enough choice to meet the needs of buyers. For some, a home in Stanley Park is an attractive option. But others would prefer a townhouse to a mobile home, and or would like to own their own land.
Cook said a balanced approach, with a mix of different levels of housing, would be a benefit to the community. "We need more entry and exit type properties," he said, referring to younger and older home buyers.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that the average price of Multiple Listing Service homes in Canada in December was down 11 per cent compared to December, 2007. Sales as a percentage of new listings in the fourth quarter of 2008 fell to the lowest level since the mid-1990s.
The Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey predicts a price decline across Canada of 3.0 per cent this year, to an average of $295,000, though there are major variations by local market. Toronto is expected to be down 4.0 per cent. Regions dependent on manufacturing jobs will have sharper price declines. Prices will still be higher than three years ago, due to a surge in 2007.
Strong growth in the first half of 2008 was reversed by bad economic news in the second half, creating a buyer's market, according to recent analysis by RE/MAX.
"The situation is not expected to be remedied until consumer confidence is restored," said RE/MAX VP Michael Polzler. "We could see a bounce back as early as spring – if inventory levels remain stable, pent-up demand kicks into gear, and lower interest rates stimulate home-buying activity."
February 04, 2009
White canes help blind live more independently
As published in The Erin Advocate
A white cane has helped give Doreen Cormier the confidence to go out walking in Erin village – but she has been surprised to discover that many people do not know what the cane signifies.
Only able to see shapes, she must often rely on others for help, especially when shopping.
“If I ask someone the price of something, they may say, ‘The price is right up there’. They don’t recognize me as being blind,” she said. “People are very helpful once you tell them you are blind.”
The first week of February is White Cane Week, a time not only to increase awareness of the cane, but also to celebrate the capabilities and talents of the blind and vision-impaired. The Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB), started by blind war veterans, has promoted White Cane Week since 1946. This year’s theme is: “Help promote accessibility…measure me by my capabilities, not my disabilities.”
There are three main types of white canes. Identification canes are lightweight and often can be folded up to fit in a purse or knapsack. They alert others to a person’s blindness and help them with depth perception, and finding things like curbs and stairs. Some people prefer to use longer “probe” canes, especially if they are traveling in an unfamiliar area.
The support cane is thicker and looks more like a regular cane used by non-blind people to help them walk – except that it is white. That is the type that Cormier uses. She says the meaning of the white colour should be taught in school.
The white cane as a symbol of blindness started in England in 1921, and was introduced and promoted in North America by Lions Clubs International, starting in 1931. One of the goals was to make the cane visible to motorists, improving safety for blind pedestrians.
The other major promoter of White Cane Week is the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), which provides many services, including mobility training to help people learn how to use the cane effectively. About 90 per cent of CNIB clients have partial vision.
Cormier benefits from the CNIB Talking Books service. She also has a magnifier so she can read The Advocate and other important documents.
The crosswalk at the corner of Church and Main in Erin village is equipped with speakers that emit a loud “cuckoo” sound when the walk signal is active for crossing the busy road. This was done particularly for the benefit of Cormier – and others with limited vision.
Now she does not have to wait for someone to come along to help her cross the road, though she is always appreciative when someone offers to help.
More than 600,000 Canadians are blind or vision-impaired. As seniors account for an increasing share of the population, issues of vision loss are likely to get more attention. Each year, 78,000 Canadians are diagnosed with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, which attacks a person’s central field of vision, leaving only peripheral vision. That number is expected to triple within the next 25 years, according to the CCB.
The blind community has lower income compared with other groups of disabled persons; 75 per cent are unemployed, compared with 49 per cent for other disabled groups, the CCB reports.
The CCB raises funds to help provide computers and computer training for the blind, along with workplace training, a legal assistance program and social support to help deal with the emotional impact of blindness.
A white cane has helped give Doreen Cormier the confidence to go out walking in Erin village – but she has been surprised to discover that many people do not know what the cane signifies.
Only able to see shapes, she must often rely on others for help, especially when shopping.
“If I ask someone the price of something, they may say, ‘The price is right up there’. They don’t recognize me as being blind,” she said. “People are very helpful once you tell them you are blind.”
The first week of February is White Cane Week, a time not only to increase awareness of the cane, but also to celebrate the capabilities and talents of the blind and vision-impaired. The Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB), started by blind war veterans, has promoted White Cane Week since 1946. This year’s theme is: “Help promote accessibility…measure me by my capabilities, not my disabilities.”
There are three main types of white canes. Identification canes are lightweight and often can be folded up to fit in a purse or knapsack. They alert others to a person’s blindness and help them with depth perception, and finding things like curbs and stairs. Some people prefer to use longer “probe” canes, especially if they are traveling in an unfamiliar area.
The support cane is thicker and looks more like a regular cane used by non-blind people to help them walk – except that it is white. That is the type that Cormier uses. She says the meaning of the white colour should be taught in school.
The white cane as a symbol of blindness started in England in 1921, and was introduced and promoted in North America by Lions Clubs International, starting in 1931. One of the goals was to make the cane visible to motorists, improving safety for blind pedestrians.
The other major promoter of White Cane Week is the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), which provides many services, including mobility training to help people learn how to use the cane effectively. About 90 per cent of CNIB clients have partial vision.
Cormier benefits from the CNIB Talking Books service. She also has a magnifier so she can read The Advocate and other important documents.
The crosswalk at the corner of Church and Main in Erin village is equipped with speakers that emit a loud “cuckoo” sound when the walk signal is active for crossing the busy road. This was done particularly for the benefit of Cormier – and others with limited vision.
Now she does not have to wait for someone to come along to help her cross the road, though she is always appreciative when someone offers to help.
More than 600,000 Canadians are blind or vision-impaired. As seniors account for an increasing share of the population, issues of vision loss are likely to get more attention. Each year, 78,000 Canadians are diagnosed with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, which attacks a person’s central field of vision, leaving only peripheral vision. That number is expected to triple within the next 25 years, according to the CCB.
The blind community has lower income compared with other groups of disabled persons; 75 per cent are unemployed, compared with 49 per cent for other disabled groups, the CCB reports.
The CCB raises funds to help provide computers and computer training for the blind, along with workplace training, a legal assistance program and social support to help deal with the emotional impact of blindness.
January 28, 2009
Reading skills essential for well-rounded citizens
As published in The Erin Advocate
Is it not wonderful that children these days are text messaging their friends and using the Internet to learn about the world? Will this modern digital literacy mould new generations of responsible cyber-citizens? If it comes at the expense of traditional reading skills, the answer is probably no.
The ability to do web research may be useful, but perhaps it is too easy. When what you think you need is served up to you, less thinking is needed. Reading a good novel, allowing yourself to be guided and entertained by a skilled author, is more likely to expand the mind.
With a little web surfing, I found this quote from Sunil Iyengar, a researcher at the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts: “We can no longer take the presence of books in the home for granted. Reading on one’s own – not in a required sense, but doing it because you want to read – that skill has to be cultivated at an early age.”
The NEA found that regular readers are more likely to vote, join community organizations, support the arts and be employed. Family Literacy Day (January 27 annually) reminds us that developing a love of reading, writing, and math at home is crucial for our economy and culture.
The Erin library is running a Family Literacy Bingo game. Children can fill in squares on a bingo card by completing literacy activities such as: writing a letter to the editor, making up a joke, Googling their name, designing a birthday card, following a recipe or reading a book. Pick up a card at the library and return it by January 31 to win a small prize.
The ability to read well, and enjoy it, does not always come easily, despite the efforts of teachers and parents. About half of Canadian adults have literacy skills that are poor, or barely adequate for their jobs.
The Wellington County Learning Centre offers help to children and adults who want to improve their reading and other basic skills. It is free and confidential. Some of the teaching is done at their facility in Arthur, but a network of about 80 volunteer tutors does much of the work at local centres such as the library, or students’ homes.
Consider becoming a tutor. I did it many years ago (not for WCLC) and it was a great experience for both the student and me. The WCLC provides training, and needs people who can commit three hours per week. Get more information on becoming a student or tutor by calling – 1-888-368-7889, emailing – literacy@thewclc.ca or visiting their website – www.thewclc.ca. They also refer people to similar agencies in Guelph and Acton when needed.
The WCLC website has a newsletter section with very specific advice for tutors and parents. There are techniques to improve spelling, pronunciation, story writing, comprehension, vocabulary and reading aloud with expression, plus information on different learning styles.
Funding from the Guelph-Wellington United Way supports a program for children, and teens up to 18 who are still in school, providing one-to-one teaching to upgrade basic skills. This benefits up to 60 students per year.
Adult programs for literacy, numeracy, resume development, basic computer use and workplace communication are funded by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
“We have funding for 68 adult students, but we serviced 148 last year, so we’re feeling the crunch,” said Executive Director Elizabeth Debergh.
“The main reasons people join are for independence and helping their children learn to read, for further education and for employment needs.”
Relatively new is a college preparation program at the Centre, in partnership with Conestoga College, allowing people to earn prerequisite college admission credits they did not get in high school. There is also a General Education Development program that is recognized by colleges, apprenticeship programs and employers as equivalent to an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
For programs in Arthur, there is a transportation subsidy available. Publications on sale through the WCLC include a Skills Level Checklist, a Budget Workbook for money management and The Road Ahead, an easy to read driver’s handbook.
Is it not wonderful that children these days are text messaging their friends and using the Internet to learn about the world? Will this modern digital literacy mould new generations of responsible cyber-citizens? If it comes at the expense of traditional reading skills, the answer is probably no.
The ability to do web research may be useful, but perhaps it is too easy. When what you think you need is served up to you, less thinking is needed. Reading a good novel, allowing yourself to be guided and entertained by a skilled author, is more likely to expand the mind.
With a little web surfing, I found this quote from Sunil Iyengar, a researcher at the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts: “We can no longer take the presence of books in the home for granted. Reading on one’s own – not in a required sense, but doing it because you want to read – that skill has to be cultivated at an early age.”
The NEA found that regular readers are more likely to vote, join community organizations, support the arts and be employed. Family Literacy Day (January 27 annually) reminds us that developing a love of reading, writing, and math at home is crucial for our economy and culture.
The Erin library is running a Family Literacy Bingo game. Children can fill in squares on a bingo card by completing literacy activities such as: writing a letter to the editor, making up a joke, Googling their name, designing a birthday card, following a recipe or reading a book. Pick up a card at the library and return it by January 31 to win a small prize.
The ability to read well, and enjoy it, does not always come easily, despite the efforts of teachers and parents. About half of Canadian adults have literacy skills that are poor, or barely adequate for their jobs.
The Wellington County Learning Centre offers help to children and adults who want to improve their reading and other basic skills. It is free and confidential. Some of the teaching is done at their facility in Arthur, but a network of about 80 volunteer tutors does much of the work at local centres such as the library, or students’ homes.
Consider becoming a tutor. I did it many years ago (not for WCLC) and it was a great experience for both the student and me. The WCLC provides training, and needs people who can commit three hours per week. Get more information on becoming a student or tutor by calling – 1-888-368-7889, emailing – literacy@thewclc.ca or visiting their website – www.thewclc.ca. They also refer people to similar agencies in Guelph and Acton when needed.
The WCLC website has a newsletter section with very specific advice for tutors and parents. There are techniques to improve spelling, pronunciation, story writing, comprehension, vocabulary and reading aloud with expression, plus information on different learning styles.
Funding from the Guelph-Wellington United Way supports a program for children, and teens up to 18 who are still in school, providing one-to-one teaching to upgrade basic skills. This benefits up to 60 students per year.
Adult programs for literacy, numeracy, resume development, basic computer use and workplace communication are funded by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities.
“We have funding for 68 adult students, but we serviced 148 last year, so we’re feeling the crunch,” said Executive Director Elizabeth Debergh.
“The main reasons people join are for independence and helping their children learn to read, for further education and for employment needs.”
Relatively new is a college preparation program at the Centre, in partnership with Conestoga College, allowing people to earn prerequisite college admission credits they did not get in high school. There is also a General Education Development program that is recognized by colleges, apprenticeship programs and employers as equivalent to an Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
For programs in Arthur, there is a transportation subsidy available. Publications on sale through the WCLC include a Skills Level Checklist, a Budget Workbook for money management and The Road Ahead, an easy to read driver’s handbook.
January 21, 2009
Make sure that your tax assessment is fair
As published by The Erin Advocate
A sharp rise in Erin property values from 2005 to 2008 has pushed up tax assessments by about 26 per cent, but that does not mean property taxes will increase by a similar amount.
Property owners in Erin received assessment notices late last year advising that the average assessment increase will be 6.53 percent for 2009 – the first of four major annual increases.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) calculates the assessed value of almost 4.7 million properties in Ontario. With that volume, mistakes and inaccuracies do occur.
Is your assessment level fair? MPAC has a website that lets you check the accuracy of information upon which your assessment is based, and that it is consistent with similar properties in your area.
If your property was assessed at $300,000 on January 1, 2005, the average increase for Erin puts it at about $378,000 as of January 1, 2008. Under Ontario’s new assessment system, instead of increasing the assessment by the full amount right away, the 26 per cent increase will be phased in from 2009 to 2012.
Unfortunately, tax assessment will always be a bit confusing, since the fluctuating values of real estate are not directly linked to the rate of inflation or the costs of running a municipality.
To cut through the confusion, it is important to understand that your assessment is only one factor in calculating your actual tax bill. Once the Town and County determine how much money they need to raise from property owners, your assessment simply determines what your share of the total cost will be. People with more valuable properties must pay a proportionately larger share than those with less valuable properties.
Look at your assessment notice. It will state your 2009 assessment increase as a percent figure. If it is higher than the average of 6.53 percent, it means your property value increased more than most others in Erin, and so you will pay a slightly higher share of the total tax burden. If it is less than average, your share will be slightly lower.
Of course, everyone is likely to pay more overall, since the total costs of public services tend to rise. Tax increases are primarily driven by the budgets of the Town and County and the Province’s education tax rate.
When you get your tax bill, there is a simple formula: assessed value multiplied by the tax rate equals the amount you pay.
Sharon Marshall, Erin’s Finance Director, said that when assessment levels rise, the town may set its “tax rate” lower, so the end result is a reasonable tax increase. The budget process assesses how much extra revenue is needed just to maintain existing services; council then decides where to make improvements or cutbacks.
About 21.4 percent of your total tax dollar goes to the Town of Erin, 58.3 percent to Wellington County and 20.3 percent to the Ministry of Education. Assessment in Erin is rising faster than in most parts of Wellington, so our share of County expenses is increasing.
New assessment value in the system (from new homes, businesses and property improvements) does spread the tax burden more widely, but growth also results in extra costs for municipalities. Marshall said the Erin residential tax base has expanded by about one percent in 2008, and the commercial/industrial base by about two percent.
For details on how your property was evaluated, enter the User ID and password from your assessment notice on a section of the MPAC website, www.mpac.ca, called AboutMyProperty. You will see all the relevant details that are crucial to assessment, like sale price, location, lot size, frontage, total building area, living area, age of home and additions, finished basement area, garages, pools, fireplaces, number of bathrooms and bedrooms, and the type of heating. Make sure they are accurate.
Once you have your profile, you can get all the same information on up to 24 other properties in Erin – just enter the addresses. It is all public information, and it appears as a chart with your property details in the first column. Just read across to compare assessed values and features.
You may not care whether your neighbour has two and a half bathrooms, or maybe you do. The main thing is to decide whether you think your assessment is fair.
If you want MPAC to review and change your assessment (at no cost), you must submit a Request for Reconsideration by March 31. If you wait until you get your final tax bill in July, it will be too late to challenge the assessment.
If you disagree with the review, you can then file an appeal to the Assessment Review Board, where the onus is on MPAC to prove the accuracy of their assessment.
The key factor, according MPAC: “Ask yourself if you could have reasonably expected to sell your property for its assessed value on January 1, 2008.”
The fact that property values have dropped, and your house is now worth less than its assessed value, does not affect the fairness of the system, says MPAC. They point out that even if the date could be changed, it would affect everyone equally: “If all properties were reduced proportionally, the share of the tax burden allocated to each property would not change.”
A sharp rise in Erin property values from 2005 to 2008 has pushed up tax assessments by about 26 per cent, but that does not mean property taxes will increase by a similar amount.
Property owners in Erin received assessment notices late last year advising that the average assessment increase will be 6.53 percent for 2009 – the first of four major annual increases.
The Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC) calculates the assessed value of almost 4.7 million properties in Ontario. With that volume, mistakes and inaccuracies do occur.
Is your assessment level fair? MPAC has a website that lets you check the accuracy of information upon which your assessment is based, and that it is consistent with similar properties in your area.
If your property was assessed at $300,000 on January 1, 2005, the average increase for Erin puts it at about $378,000 as of January 1, 2008. Under Ontario’s new assessment system, instead of increasing the assessment by the full amount right away, the 26 per cent increase will be phased in from 2009 to 2012.
Unfortunately, tax assessment will always be a bit confusing, since the fluctuating values of real estate are not directly linked to the rate of inflation or the costs of running a municipality.
To cut through the confusion, it is important to understand that your assessment is only one factor in calculating your actual tax bill. Once the Town and County determine how much money they need to raise from property owners, your assessment simply determines what your share of the total cost will be. People with more valuable properties must pay a proportionately larger share than those with less valuable properties.
Look at your assessment notice. It will state your 2009 assessment increase as a percent figure. If it is higher than the average of 6.53 percent, it means your property value increased more than most others in Erin, and so you will pay a slightly higher share of the total tax burden. If it is less than average, your share will be slightly lower.
Of course, everyone is likely to pay more overall, since the total costs of public services tend to rise. Tax increases are primarily driven by the budgets of the Town and County and the Province’s education tax rate.
When you get your tax bill, there is a simple formula: assessed value multiplied by the tax rate equals the amount you pay.
Sharon Marshall, Erin’s Finance Director, said that when assessment levels rise, the town may set its “tax rate” lower, so the end result is a reasonable tax increase. The budget process assesses how much extra revenue is needed just to maintain existing services; council then decides where to make improvements or cutbacks.
About 21.4 percent of your total tax dollar goes to the Town of Erin, 58.3 percent to Wellington County and 20.3 percent to the Ministry of Education. Assessment in Erin is rising faster than in most parts of Wellington, so our share of County expenses is increasing.
New assessment value in the system (from new homes, businesses and property improvements) does spread the tax burden more widely, but growth also results in extra costs for municipalities. Marshall said the Erin residential tax base has expanded by about one percent in 2008, and the commercial/industrial base by about two percent.
For details on how your property was evaluated, enter the User ID and password from your assessment notice on a section of the MPAC website, www.mpac.ca, called AboutMyProperty. You will see all the relevant details that are crucial to assessment, like sale price, location, lot size, frontage, total building area, living area, age of home and additions, finished basement area, garages, pools, fireplaces, number of bathrooms and bedrooms, and the type of heating. Make sure they are accurate.
Once you have your profile, you can get all the same information on up to 24 other properties in Erin – just enter the addresses. It is all public information, and it appears as a chart with your property details in the first column. Just read across to compare assessed values and features.
You may not care whether your neighbour has two and a half bathrooms, or maybe you do. The main thing is to decide whether you think your assessment is fair.
If you want MPAC to review and change your assessment (at no cost), you must submit a Request for Reconsideration by March 31. If you wait until you get your final tax bill in July, it will be too late to challenge the assessment.
If you disagree with the review, you can then file an appeal to the Assessment Review Board, where the onus is on MPAC to prove the accuracy of their assessment.
The key factor, according MPAC: “Ask yourself if you could have reasonably expected to sell your property for its assessed value on January 1, 2008.”
The fact that property values have dropped, and your house is now worth less than its assessed value, does not affect the fairness of the system, says MPAC. They point out that even if the date could be changed, it would affect everyone equally: “If all properties were reduced proportionally, the share of the tax burden allocated to each property would not change.”
January 14, 2009
Ads from yesteryear strike familiar chords
As published in The Erin Advocate
The ad seemed somehow familiar, promising to mail out a sample box that would make me a lot of money. “Live at home and work in spare time, or all the time. Capital not required. We will start you. Immense pay sure for those who start at once.”
Tempted though I was, it was too late to respond, since I was reading the front page of an 1885 Erin Advocate. The offer sounded just like various modern email spam messages, except that the price was 10 cents in postage stamps.
On the same page was another ad that reminded me of email scams: “Lecture to Young Men on the Loss of Manhood…the radical and permanent cure of Nervous Disability, Medical and Physical Incapacity, Impediments to Marriage, etc., resulting from excesses. Price, in a sealed envelope, only 6 cents, or two postage stamps.”
Looking down the page, there were ads for “medicines” like Burdock Blood Bitters, Hagyard’s Yellow Oil, Freeman’s Worm Powders and Dr. Chase’s Mandrake Dandelion Liver Cure. Catchy names, but what was inside? Fortunately, there have been major advances both in medicine and advertising standards. Perhaps certain types of ads are inevitable when a medium has few regulations.
According to a book called Friendly Persuasion – Canadian Advertising of Yesteryear, by Nick and Helma Mika, early ads were called “notices”, set in ordinary type to make them look like “news”.
“In those days, the very fact that the cures were advertised was sufficient for many to believe in their value; the printed word was the gospel for many persons, usually of limited education,” they said. The suspicious ads usually had American addresses.
Canada’s first newspaper ads appeared in 1752 in the Halifax Gazette, an official government publication. Those first ads were for legal services, private teachers and “Choice Butter, by the Firkin” (a firkin being a nine-gallon cask, one quarter of a barrel).
Like most local ads both now and then, they were for legitimate goods and services that people need. Claims of high quality were of course crucial to their success. The Erin drug store run in 1885 by R. & J. Wood, for example, sold eye glasses made in England that have “given in every instance unbounded satisfaction – they are the best in the world.”
Now that we live in an age of highly sophisticated advertising, it is fascinating to look back on older styles, in an era when people in small villages like Erin were relatively isolated.
Ads also reveal the nature of a village economy. In the 1877 historical atlas of Wellington, printed ads show Erin as a small-scale industrial centre. John S. Walker operated an iron foundry, making ploughs, harrows, cultivators and iron and brass castings to order, with repairs “at short notice”. At Main and Church, the Rott Brothers ran the Ontario Foundry & Carriage Works, making buggies, lumber wagons and sleighs.
William Cornock, who represented Erin Township on Wellington County council in 1868, owned a mill that paid cash for any type of grain from local farmers.
W.R. Chisholm was the proprietor of the Globe Hotel on Main Street, advertising stagecoach transportation to Guelph three times per week. That is better public transit than the town has today.
Everything from parlour stoves to Swiss watches could be bought on Main Street, long before Erin village was incorporated in 1879. Thomas Carberry, who sold groceries next to the Queen’s Hotel, made a little extra income as an issuer of marriage licenses.
It is just a small glimpse of a community that was growing very rapidly, with hard-working farmers, skilled trades people and ambitious merchants. By December of 1880, they finally had a weekly newspaper in which to advertise – the one you are reading now.
The ad seemed somehow familiar, promising to mail out a sample box that would make me a lot of money. “Live at home and work in spare time, or all the time. Capital not required. We will start you. Immense pay sure for those who start at once.”
Tempted though I was, it was too late to respond, since I was reading the front page of an 1885 Erin Advocate. The offer sounded just like various modern email spam messages, except that the price was 10 cents in postage stamps.
On the same page was another ad that reminded me of email scams: “Lecture to Young Men on the Loss of Manhood…the radical and permanent cure of Nervous Disability, Medical and Physical Incapacity, Impediments to Marriage, etc., resulting from excesses. Price, in a sealed envelope, only 6 cents, or two postage stamps.”
Looking down the page, there were ads for “medicines” like Burdock Blood Bitters, Hagyard’s Yellow Oil, Freeman’s Worm Powders and Dr. Chase’s Mandrake Dandelion Liver Cure. Catchy names, but what was inside? Fortunately, there have been major advances both in medicine and advertising standards. Perhaps certain types of ads are inevitable when a medium has few regulations.
According to a book called Friendly Persuasion – Canadian Advertising of Yesteryear, by Nick and Helma Mika, early ads were called “notices”, set in ordinary type to make them look like “news”.
“In those days, the very fact that the cures were advertised was sufficient for many to believe in their value; the printed word was the gospel for many persons, usually of limited education,” they said. The suspicious ads usually had American addresses.
Canada’s first newspaper ads appeared in 1752 in the Halifax Gazette, an official government publication. Those first ads were for legal services, private teachers and “Choice Butter, by the Firkin” (a firkin being a nine-gallon cask, one quarter of a barrel).
Like most local ads both now and then, they were for legitimate goods and services that people need. Claims of high quality were of course crucial to their success. The Erin drug store run in 1885 by R. & J. Wood, for example, sold eye glasses made in England that have “given in every instance unbounded satisfaction – they are the best in the world.”
Now that we live in an age of highly sophisticated advertising, it is fascinating to look back on older styles, in an era when people in small villages like Erin were relatively isolated.
Ads also reveal the nature of a village economy. In the 1877 historical atlas of Wellington, printed ads show Erin as a small-scale industrial centre. John S. Walker operated an iron foundry, making ploughs, harrows, cultivators and iron and brass castings to order, with repairs “at short notice”. At Main and Church, the Rott Brothers ran the Ontario Foundry & Carriage Works, making buggies, lumber wagons and sleighs.
William Cornock, who represented Erin Township on Wellington County council in 1868, owned a mill that paid cash for any type of grain from local farmers.
W.R. Chisholm was the proprietor of the Globe Hotel on Main Street, advertising stagecoach transportation to Guelph three times per week. That is better public transit than the town has today.
Everything from parlour stoves to Swiss watches could be bought on Main Street, long before Erin village was incorporated in 1879. Thomas Carberry, who sold groceries next to the Queen’s Hotel, made a little extra income as an issuer of marriage licenses.
It is just a small glimpse of a community that was growing very rapidly, with hard-working farmers, skilled trades people and ambitious merchants. By December of 1880, they finally had a weekly newspaper in which to advertise – the one you are reading now.
January 07, 2009
Historical atlases sketch progress of Erin pioneers
As published in The Erin Advocate
Back in high school, I cared little for history. We were told that those who forget their past are destined to repeat it. I did not believe the race could improve itself by studying the past. Technology may advance and wealth may grow, but human nature remains the same.
Over the years, however, I have developed a fascination for some of the details of history, perhaps because they give our current reality a little twist. How would we have managed in an environment so different from the present?
In the Erin library last week, I noticed on display the Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, published in 1906, and a similar one from 1877. I was hooked for an hour.
In its brief historical sketch, the 1906 atlas reminds us that Wellington was once part of Quebec, in the 18th century. Under English rule in the early 19th century, immigrants from the British Isles began pushing out into areas like Erin.
The township was surveyed in 1819 and the first European settlers, George and Nathaniel Roszel, arrived in 1820. By 1924, there would be 29 households and a population of 116, according to census data.
William How and his brother arrived in 1821. He later told the Mercury newspaper that they had to cut 10 miles of road at their own expense and labour, to access their property at lots 22-23 in the 7th concession. His wife was six months in the woods without seeing another woman.
Henry Trout arrived in 1822 and Daniel McMillan in 1824, both of whom would build mills on the West Credit River. The first township meeting was held at the house of Abraham Buck in 1824, with Henry Trout, Sr. appointed Clerk.
By 1830, there were 75 households and 1,154 acres of land cultivated. The town of Guelph was the county capital, but there was no road to Guelph until 1844. And if you think modern rural roads are poor, consider that the road to Guelph was not graveled until 23 years later.
Smith’s History of Canada described the road as “villainous” in 1851: “After crossing the seventh line in Erin, the road, which is new, becomes very bad, consisting of almost impassible hills, and long pieces of corduroy crossing several cedar swamps varying in size and two or three extensive tamarack swamps.”
Corduroy is the ancient technique of laying logs together across a roadway to provide a stable, yet bumpy base for vehicles in mushy terrain.
The Smith’s account notes that some of the homesteads are “enlivened with flower gardens, which give them a cheerful and pleasant appearance, particularly in so rough a country.”
The 1877 atlas lists J.W. Burt and Charles McMillan as the Erin representatives on Wellington Council. By then there were 915 families in the township, with a population of 5,326 -– 24 percent born in the British Isles and almost all the rest in Canada. There was one American and 18 people from other nations. At that time, Erin land was assessed for taxes at $20 per acre.
The 1906 atlas notes that Hillsburgh (linked to Erin village by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1879) had three churches, two hotels, a flour mill and a tannery. “It is surrounded by a fine farming country and is an important shipping point. It has always been famous as a resort for trout fishermen, and near the place are the hatcheries of the Caledon Mountain Trout Club.”
Both books have fascinating maps, especially for anyone with ancestors in Wellington. Every farm is inscribed with the family name. I see that my own property was part of a larger tract owned by the Hannah family, and that the McLean farm just to the north at Ninth Line and 5 Sideroad was owned by a D. McLean in 1877.
The earlier book has no map of Erin Village, since it was not incorporated at the time, but there is a 1906 map at a scale of 1 inch = 10 chains. (A surveyor’s chain is 66 feet, and 10 square chains is one acre.)
Along with every housing lot (all within two blocks of Main Street), the map shows interesting details like the Erin Grist Mill raceway and a Village Park behind Main Street properties, between the Agricultural Society lands and Centre Street.
Woolen Mill Lane was called Factory Lane (off Mill Street) and Wheelock Street ran from Church to what is now Dundas, through the grounds of the current elementary school.
Back in high school, I cared little for history. We were told that those who forget their past are destined to repeat it. I did not believe the race could improve itself by studying the past. Technology may advance and wealth may grow, but human nature remains the same.
Over the years, however, I have developed a fascination for some of the details of history, perhaps because they give our current reality a little twist. How would we have managed in an environment so different from the present?
In the Erin library last week, I noticed on display the Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, published in 1906, and a similar one from 1877. I was hooked for an hour.
In its brief historical sketch, the 1906 atlas reminds us that Wellington was once part of Quebec, in the 18th century. Under English rule in the early 19th century, immigrants from the British Isles began pushing out into areas like Erin.
The township was surveyed in 1819 and the first European settlers, George and Nathaniel Roszel, arrived in 1820. By 1924, there would be 29 households and a population of 116, according to census data.
William How and his brother arrived in 1821. He later told the Mercury newspaper that they had to cut 10 miles of road at their own expense and labour, to access their property at lots 22-23 in the 7th concession. His wife was six months in the woods without seeing another woman.
Henry Trout arrived in 1822 and Daniel McMillan in 1824, both of whom would build mills on the West Credit River. The first township meeting was held at the house of Abraham Buck in 1824, with Henry Trout, Sr. appointed Clerk.
By 1830, there were 75 households and 1,154 acres of land cultivated. The town of Guelph was the county capital, but there was no road to Guelph until 1844. And if you think modern rural roads are poor, consider that the road to Guelph was not graveled until 23 years later.
Smith’s History of Canada described the road as “villainous” in 1851: “After crossing the seventh line in Erin, the road, which is new, becomes very bad, consisting of almost impassible hills, and long pieces of corduroy crossing several cedar swamps varying in size and two or three extensive tamarack swamps.”
Corduroy is the ancient technique of laying logs together across a roadway to provide a stable, yet bumpy base for vehicles in mushy terrain.
The Smith’s account notes that some of the homesteads are “enlivened with flower gardens, which give them a cheerful and pleasant appearance, particularly in so rough a country.”
The 1877 atlas lists J.W. Burt and Charles McMillan as the Erin representatives on Wellington Council. By then there were 915 families in the township, with a population of 5,326 -– 24 percent born in the British Isles and almost all the rest in Canada. There was one American and 18 people from other nations. At that time, Erin land was assessed for taxes at $20 per acre.
The 1906 atlas notes that Hillsburgh (linked to Erin village by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1879) had three churches, two hotels, a flour mill and a tannery. “It is surrounded by a fine farming country and is an important shipping point. It has always been famous as a resort for trout fishermen, and near the place are the hatcheries of the Caledon Mountain Trout Club.”
Both books have fascinating maps, especially for anyone with ancestors in Wellington. Every farm is inscribed with the family name. I see that my own property was part of a larger tract owned by the Hannah family, and that the McLean farm just to the north at Ninth Line and 5 Sideroad was owned by a D. McLean in 1877.
The earlier book has no map of Erin Village, since it was not incorporated at the time, but there is a 1906 map at a scale of 1 inch = 10 chains. (A surveyor’s chain is 66 feet, and 10 square chains is one acre.)
Along with every housing lot (all within two blocks of Main Street), the map shows interesting details like the Erin Grist Mill raceway and a Village Park behind Main Street properties, between the Agricultural Society lands and Centre Street.
Woolen Mill Lane was called Factory Lane (off Mill Street) and Wheelock Street ran from Church to what is now Dundas, through the grounds of the current elementary school.
December 31, 2008
Making Parliament more relevant to Canadians
As published in The Erin Advocate
After my recent musings on the possibility of a coalition government in Ottawa, I received an email from an irate reader. He said if I thought we need a government created by the Bloc and the Liberals, then I was not from Erin.
It is true that I was not born and raised here, and maybe I would be more Conservative in my politics if I had been. Still, there is some value in expressing views that may only be shared by a minority of readers.
To be clear about the coalition, I am a federalist and have no sympathy for the Bloc Québécois. But I do not fear and loathe them, since they operate peacefully, within the law. I have faith in democracy, no matter what it brings us.
Actually, political parties have very little impact on our daily lives. I would be glad to see the current government work successfully, but if a coalition took power by legal means, I say let them have a crack at it. They would probably be no worse than the governments to which we have become accustomed, in which good intentions have been undermined by arrogance, instability, incompetence, wastefulness et cetera.
Politicians often try to whip up public fear of their opponents, but we are wise to take it with a grain of salt. After all, neither Mike Harris nor Bob Rae was able to destroy the province of Ontario, despite the claims of their foes. We have become impervious to our politicians, and they have become irrelevant to us.
As I pondered the irrelevance of Parliament, what should arrive in my mailbox but the Christmas newsletter from MP Michael Chong?
Naturally, the page one message is on the economy, praising the government’s recent Economic Statement. (He does not mention that parts of the statement were so offensive to the majority of MPs that the government almost collapsed.) People may argue about the best strategy, but at least the protection of Canadian jobs and confidence in the financial sector is on the front burner.
More interesting in Chong’s newsletter is an excerpt from a speech he gave this year, calling for reforms to make Parliament more relevant. He has some excellent suggestions, reinforcing his image as an MP willing to express his own views.
He blasts the current Question Period, calling for civilized, reasoned debate instead of yelling and screaming. “It is a place that more resembles a Roman coliseum where gladiators spill blood and fight for the crowd’s emotions,” he said.
He suggests the maximum time for asking or answering a question be increased from 35 seconds to one or two minutes, to allow for more intelligent content. He questions the predictable behaviour of many MPs. “Virtually all questions and answers are followed by clapping and standing ovations,” he said.
He also proposes a rotational schedule for government ministers to be present at Question Period. Currently, the duties surrounding Question Period can knock three hours out of a minister’s day, time that could be spent more productively.
I would not want to see the prime minister appearing only once a week – that would seem a bit too aloof. But two or three times a week would be plenty for all ministers, unless there was a particular crisis that concerned them.
Chong also criticizes the custom of having debate speeches written in leaders’ or ministers’ offices, then read into the record by MPs who have no input into the content. There is a long tradition of frustration among backbenchers, who run for office to make a difference, and then find themselves treated as mindless bolts in a big machine.
Unfortunately, the zeal for reform tends to fade among those who make it into powerful positions. Still, the democratization of Parliament remains a noble pursuit.
“If members know how they are voting before debate begins, then there is no real reason to listen or to participate in debate,” said Chong. “There should be greater latitude for non-cabinet ministers to freely express their views and to vote as they wish on many more issues.”
I think MPs should have sufficient useful information to hold the government accountable for its plans, be involved in initiating research through parliamentary committees and have longer tenures with committees to build up expertise. Influencing public policy is best done before the formal partisan battle lines are drawn.
Chong warns that Parliament is not indestructible: “We must be careful not to ignore it and its problems, for one day the dam of irrelevance and frustration that Canadians feel about this institution may burst. At that juncture one can only guess what the outcome will be.”
After my recent musings on the possibility of a coalition government in Ottawa, I received an email from an irate reader. He said if I thought we need a government created by the Bloc and the Liberals, then I was not from Erin.
It is true that I was not born and raised here, and maybe I would be more Conservative in my politics if I had been. Still, there is some value in expressing views that may only be shared by a minority of readers.
To be clear about the coalition, I am a federalist and have no sympathy for the Bloc Québécois. But I do not fear and loathe them, since they operate peacefully, within the law. I have faith in democracy, no matter what it brings us.
Actually, political parties have very little impact on our daily lives. I would be glad to see the current government work successfully, but if a coalition took power by legal means, I say let them have a crack at it. They would probably be no worse than the governments to which we have become accustomed, in which good intentions have been undermined by arrogance, instability, incompetence, wastefulness et cetera.
Politicians often try to whip up public fear of their opponents, but we are wise to take it with a grain of salt. After all, neither Mike Harris nor Bob Rae was able to destroy the province of Ontario, despite the claims of their foes. We have become impervious to our politicians, and they have become irrelevant to us.
As I pondered the irrelevance of Parliament, what should arrive in my mailbox but the Christmas newsletter from MP Michael Chong?
Naturally, the page one message is on the economy, praising the government’s recent Economic Statement. (He does not mention that parts of the statement were so offensive to the majority of MPs that the government almost collapsed.) People may argue about the best strategy, but at least the protection of Canadian jobs and confidence in the financial sector is on the front burner.
More interesting in Chong’s newsletter is an excerpt from a speech he gave this year, calling for reforms to make Parliament more relevant. He has some excellent suggestions, reinforcing his image as an MP willing to express his own views.
He blasts the current Question Period, calling for civilized, reasoned debate instead of yelling and screaming. “It is a place that more resembles a Roman coliseum where gladiators spill blood and fight for the crowd’s emotions,” he said.
He suggests the maximum time for asking or answering a question be increased from 35 seconds to one or two minutes, to allow for more intelligent content. He questions the predictable behaviour of many MPs. “Virtually all questions and answers are followed by clapping and standing ovations,” he said.
He also proposes a rotational schedule for government ministers to be present at Question Period. Currently, the duties surrounding Question Period can knock three hours out of a minister’s day, time that could be spent more productively.
I would not want to see the prime minister appearing only once a week – that would seem a bit too aloof. But two or three times a week would be plenty for all ministers, unless there was a particular crisis that concerned them.
Chong also criticizes the custom of having debate speeches written in leaders’ or ministers’ offices, then read into the record by MPs who have no input into the content. There is a long tradition of frustration among backbenchers, who run for office to make a difference, and then find themselves treated as mindless bolts in a big machine.
Unfortunately, the zeal for reform tends to fade among those who make it into powerful positions. Still, the democratization of Parliament remains a noble pursuit.
“If members know how they are voting before debate begins, then there is no real reason to listen or to participate in debate,” said Chong. “There should be greater latitude for non-cabinet ministers to freely express their views and to vote as they wish on many more issues.”
I think MPs should have sufficient useful information to hold the government accountable for its plans, be involved in initiating research through parliamentary committees and have longer tenures with committees to build up expertise. Influencing public policy is best done before the formal partisan battle lines are drawn.
Chong warns that Parliament is not indestructible: “We must be careful not to ignore it and its problems, for one day the dam of irrelevance and frustration that Canadians feel about this institution may burst. At that juncture one can only guess what the outcome will be.”
December 24, 2008
Let’s increase support for EWAG Food Share
As published in The Erin Advocate
In many ways, our lives are defined by the things we do out of habit. It struck me recently that it has been some time since I donated to the EWAG Food Share program. I used to give on a fairly regular basis, but with various distractions and changes in schedule, I got out of the habit.
Right now, more local people need support. I have started picking a few extra items when I am in the grocery store, and dropping them in the donation bin behind the checkout. I know that many people are already doing a lot for the community, but still more can get involved.
Donations of money are certainly valuable and welcome, but actually buying food and giving it forms a special bond, since the need for food is something we all have in common.
The cost of food is going up much faster than the rate of inflation. The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit reported in September that the weekly cost of providing healthy meals to a family of four had risen 11.5% in one year, to $149 per week.
"Making healthy food choices is essential for normal growth and development, and to prevent disease,” said WDG Public Health Dietitian, Jane Bellman. “The survey results reinforce the need to assess the adequacy of social assistance in the province as well as increase the support of local initiatives to assist individuals and groups with limited incomes."
Illness or family break-up can put people in need of help. Families where both parents work at low-paying jobs are also vulnerable to financial emergencies, especially if they have to maintain a vehicle. A report to the Canadian senate this fall on rural poverty identified lack of public transportation as huge problem, with no easy solutions.
With the current turmoil in the economy, even more people are in distress. During one week recently, EWAG took on three new clients due to layoffs, said Food Share Coordinator Kelly Stockdale.
“The community has been very generous,” she said. Most of the food is donated through schools, churches, service clubs and businesses. Foodland in Hillsburgh and ValuMart in Erin village provide help, including bins for individual donations. You can also drop non-perishable food off at the EWAG offices: Erin - 45 Main Street, or Rockwood - 106 Church Street.
The major food collections are at Thanksgiving and Christmas, creating a stock that has to last through much of next year. Regular donations will help replenish the supply, to help it go further. Overall, in 2007, EWAG provided 3,928 bags of groceries to 291 families.
Erin Firefighters recently held a barbecue, gathering donations of food, money and toys. That has helped EWAG provide Christmas packages to about 55 families.
Deciding to seek help from a food bank can be very difficult, and people often put it off until their situation becomes serious, said Kelly.
“We treat everyone with respect, and provide confidentiality,” she said. If you are in need of food, call Kelly at 519-833-9696, ext. 222.
People need to apply, showing evidence of their current income and expenses. Once approved, they can get some groceries once a month, with a private appointment at the food distribution site.
If you are in a position to donate bulk supplies, call Kelly to find out what is particularly needed, and what they can handle.
Sometimes, it seems that there are so many charities out there and so many needs that it can be overwhelming. Perhaps the best strategy is to pick a few positive, concrete actions, then actually do them.
Send your comments to me: erininsight@gmail.com, or send a Letter to the Editor: editorial@erinadvocate.com.
In many ways, our lives are defined by the things we do out of habit. It struck me recently that it has been some time since I donated to the EWAG Food Share program. I used to give on a fairly regular basis, but with various distractions and changes in schedule, I got out of the habit.
Right now, more local people need support. I have started picking a few extra items when I am in the grocery store, and dropping them in the donation bin behind the checkout. I know that many people are already doing a lot for the community, but still more can get involved.
Donations of money are certainly valuable and welcome, but actually buying food and giving it forms a special bond, since the need for food is something we all have in common.
The cost of food is going up much faster than the rate of inflation. The Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit reported in September that the weekly cost of providing healthy meals to a family of four had risen 11.5% in one year, to $149 per week.
"Making healthy food choices is essential for normal growth and development, and to prevent disease,” said WDG Public Health Dietitian, Jane Bellman. “The survey results reinforce the need to assess the adequacy of social assistance in the province as well as increase the support of local initiatives to assist individuals and groups with limited incomes."
Illness or family break-up can put people in need of help. Families where both parents work at low-paying jobs are also vulnerable to financial emergencies, especially if they have to maintain a vehicle. A report to the Canadian senate this fall on rural poverty identified lack of public transportation as huge problem, with no easy solutions.
With the current turmoil in the economy, even more people are in distress. During one week recently, EWAG took on three new clients due to layoffs, said Food Share Coordinator Kelly Stockdale.
“The community has been very generous,” she said. Most of the food is donated through schools, churches, service clubs and businesses. Foodland in Hillsburgh and ValuMart in Erin village provide help, including bins for individual donations. You can also drop non-perishable food off at the EWAG offices: Erin - 45 Main Street, or Rockwood - 106 Church Street.
The major food collections are at Thanksgiving and Christmas, creating a stock that has to last through much of next year. Regular donations will help replenish the supply, to help it go further. Overall, in 2007, EWAG provided 3,928 bags of groceries to 291 families.
Erin Firefighters recently held a barbecue, gathering donations of food, money and toys. That has helped EWAG provide Christmas packages to about 55 families.
Deciding to seek help from a food bank can be very difficult, and people often put it off until their situation becomes serious, said Kelly.
“We treat everyone with respect, and provide confidentiality,” she said. If you are in need of food, call Kelly at 519-833-9696, ext. 222.
People need to apply, showing evidence of their current income and expenses. Once approved, they can get some groceries once a month, with a private appointment at the food distribution site.
If you are in a position to donate bulk supplies, call Kelly to find out what is particularly needed, and what they can handle.
Sometimes, it seems that there are so many charities out there and so many needs that it can be overwhelming. Perhaps the best strategy is to pick a few positive, concrete actions, then actually do them.
Send your comments to me: erininsight@gmail.com, or send a Letter to the Editor: editorial@erinadvocate.com.
December 17, 2008
New push for rural garbage collection
As published in The Erin Advocate
I am tired of driving to the dump.
Of course, I know it is not really a dump, just a transfer station on top of a old dump, where I dump my trash into dumpsters, so big trucks can take it to Guelph and dump it into a modern sanitary landfill site.
The Hillsburgh Transfer Station really is a bit of a dump – crowded, inefficient and often very muddy. Wellington County quite properly treats it as a temporary location, since it sits atop an old landfill site that must eventually be properly capped and sealed off. But surely we could afford a layer of crushed stone, so people would not have to slide around in the muck.
I have made the 30-kilometre round trip every almost every Saturday for the last 23 years, and though now it is down to once every two weeks, I have still wasted a lot of gas and time. I would be willing to pay slightly more in taxes or fees to have my garbage picked up at the end of my driveway.
County Councillor Lou Maieron, who hosted a public meeting in Erin last week on waste issues, says I should not have to pay any more in taxes. He argues it would be possible to provide roadside collection of household waste and recyclables every two weeks to rural residents and maintain weekly collection for urban residents, by cutting back the functions of transfer stations.
They could be converted to recycling centres, open only one day a week, with a lot less staff. Regular trash would go direct to the landfill, while the local centres would accept bulky items, household hazardous waste and useable goods that could be re-sold at low cost.
“If you make it convenient, people will produce less garbage,” said Maieron. “Space in our landfills is precious – we can’t just fill them up.”
Several years ago, the County bought up the land surrounding the old Hillsburgh Landfill Site because of pollutants seeping underground. Recently, it sold the southern 41 acres of that land to the Town of Erin for $300,000, so the Barbour recreational complex can be expanded.
Maieron says the County-owned lands just to the north of the existing transfer station would be perfect for a new recycling centre or transfer station, since that type of land use is already accepted in the area.
He seems to have support in Erin, but the majority of county councillors do not agree with him on the cost-effectiveness rural pick-up. The County had hoped to serve both Erin and Guelph-Eramosa with a large transfer station near Ospringe, but opposition in Erin has put that plan on hold.
Alan McGeary of Erin, who last year organized a 1,400-name petition to keep the Hillsburgh Transfer Station open for now, applauded Maieron’s efforts to promote curbside collection and improve recycling.
“It is time for the county council to listen to the people who pay their salaries,” he said, earning a round of applause at the meeting.
I like Maieron’s plan, both for the convenience and the environmental benefits, but I think some rural people may object to only getting pickup only every two weeks, and may actually prefer to drive to the transfer station.
“Maybe municipalities should have a choice of service levels,” he said. “Living in the higher-assessed areas, we’re paying the ticket.”
The recently-ended rural collection pilot project found most residents in Minto were not interested in pick-up, since they have an excellent transfer station nearby, while those in Guelph-Eramosa appreciated the service, and will continue to get it, since they have no transfer station.
“The ice is cracked, with Guelph-Eramosa getting collection,” he said.
About 20 people attended the meeting, which was broadcast live on Erin Radio, and many said the waste service in Wellington County is very poor compared to neighboring regions. Some were skeptical that universal pick-up could be provided without an increase in taxes, especially since Maieron said he has been trying for years, without success, to find out the exact costs of running transfer stations.
Erin homeowners already pay an average of $4.50 per week through their property taxes for county waste services. Rural residents then pay $1 per bag at the transfer station (no charge for recyclables). Urban residents can pay $1.75 per bag for curbside pickup, but each week, hundreds of them opt to drive to the transfer station, saving 75 cents per bag.
You can let Maieron and other county officials know your opinion on current waste services, and what you hope to see in the future, by filling out a survey. Have it sent to you by contacting him at fish@silvercreekponds.com, or check the Town website, www.erin.ca, where Mayor Rod Finnie hopes to have it available soon.
I am tired of driving to the dump.
Of course, I know it is not really a dump, just a transfer station on top of a old dump, where I dump my trash into dumpsters, so big trucks can take it to Guelph and dump it into a modern sanitary landfill site.
The Hillsburgh Transfer Station really is a bit of a dump – crowded, inefficient and often very muddy. Wellington County quite properly treats it as a temporary location, since it sits atop an old landfill site that must eventually be properly capped and sealed off. But surely we could afford a layer of crushed stone, so people would not have to slide around in the muck.
I have made the 30-kilometre round trip every almost every Saturday for the last 23 years, and though now it is down to once every two weeks, I have still wasted a lot of gas and time. I would be willing to pay slightly more in taxes or fees to have my garbage picked up at the end of my driveway.
County Councillor Lou Maieron, who hosted a public meeting in Erin last week on waste issues, says I should not have to pay any more in taxes. He argues it would be possible to provide roadside collection of household waste and recyclables every two weeks to rural residents and maintain weekly collection for urban residents, by cutting back the functions of transfer stations.
They could be converted to recycling centres, open only one day a week, with a lot less staff. Regular trash would go direct to the landfill, while the local centres would accept bulky items, household hazardous waste and useable goods that could be re-sold at low cost.
“If you make it convenient, people will produce less garbage,” said Maieron. “Space in our landfills is precious – we can’t just fill them up.”
Several years ago, the County bought up the land surrounding the old Hillsburgh Landfill Site because of pollutants seeping underground. Recently, it sold the southern 41 acres of that land to the Town of Erin for $300,000, so the Barbour recreational complex can be expanded.
Maieron says the County-owned lands just to the north of the existing transfer station would be perfect for a new recycling centre or transfer station, since that type of land use is already accepted in the area.
He seems to have support in Erin, but the majority of county councillors do not agree with him on the cost-effectiveness rural pick-up. The County had hoped to serve both Erin and Guelph-Eramosa with a large transfer station near Ospringe, but opposition in Erin has put that plan on hold.
Alan McGeary of Erin, who last year organized a 1,400-name petition to keep the Hillsburgh Transfer Station open for now, applauded Maieron’s efforts to promote curbside collection and improve recycling.
“It is time for the county council to listen to the people who pay their salaries,” he said, earning a round of applause at the meeting.
I like Maieron’s plan, both for the convenience and the environmental benefits, but I think some rural people may object to only getting pickup only every two weeks, and may actually prefer to drive to the transfer station.
“Maybe municipalities should have a choice of service levels,” he said. “Living in the higher-assessed areas, we’re paying the ticket.”
The recently-ended rural collection pilot project found most residents in Minto were not interested in pick-up, since they have an excellent transfer station nearby, while those in Guelph-Eramosa appreciated the service, and will continue to get it, since they have no transfer station.
“The ice is cracked, with Guelph-Eramosa getting collection,” he said.
About 20 people attended the meeting, which was broadcast live on Erin Radio, and many said the waste service in Wellington County is very poor compared to neighboring regions. Some were skeptical that universal pick-up could be provided without an increase in taxes, especially since Maieron said he has been trying for years, without success, to find out the exact costs of running transfer stations.
Erin homeowners already pay an average of $4.50 per week through their property taxes for county waste services. Rural residents then pay $1 per bag at the transfer station (no charge for recyclables). Urban residents can pay $1.75 per bag for curbside pickup, but each week, hundreds of them opt to drive to the transfer station, saving 75 cents per bag.
You can let Maieron and other county officials know your opinion on current waste services, and what you hope to see in the future, by filling out a survey. Have it sent to you by contacting him at fish@silvercreekponds.com, or check the Town website, www.erin.ca, where Mayor Rod Finnie hopes to have it available soon.
December 10, 2008
Are we too cautious to accept a coalition?
As published in The Erin Advocate
The upheaval on Parliament Hill last week has launched a furious debate about the type of government Canadians are willing to accept. The debate is long overdue, but it occurs at a time when politicians should be taking action to preserve our quality of life.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has convinced the Governor General to suspend parliament, delaying a non-confidence motion that would remove his minority government from office. The Liberals and New Democrats, with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, may still form an unprecedented coalition government after parliament resumes next month.
The delay of government business during an economic crisis is alarming, but it will give Canadians a chance to consider their options. Could a coalition provide stability, broad representation and effective action? In an interview last week, Wellington-Halton Hills Conservative MP Michael Chong said the coalition would not be good for Canada.
“It is time to set aside the political games, and focus on the real concerns of Canadians, like jobs, and people’s savings,” he said. “I am appalled that the Liberals would enter into an agreement with the separatists.”
The Bloc Québécois would not be a coalition member, but has promised not to defeat it for 18 months. Chong said while a coalition would be legal, it would put the Bloc too close to the executive powers of cabinet. He urged the opposition to “step back from the brink” since they have already forced the government to retract parts of its economic statement. “We were wise to remove the partisan elements,” he said.
Too bad the wisdom did not kick in a little sooner, because now it looks like sheer panic. With the backing of only 37 per cent of voters and minority of seats, Stephen Harper had an obligation to forge enough of an alliance with at least one other party to keep parliament working.
He not only failed to consult, but took provocative action to damage the opposition. Then, in a desperate effort to save his job, he has offended the nation by trying to whip up false fears about Quebec separation. He was always glad to have Bloc Quebecois support when they voted with him, and he even plotted with them, hoping to replace a Liberal minority government.
Harper is also wrong when he labels the coalition “undemocratic”, considering that the MPs who have agreed to cooperate represent a majority of Canadian voters. It is true that Canadians did not vote specifically for a coalition, and have every right to be skeptical of such a break with tradition. But since we live in a fractured society, we should learn more about coalitions. They are recognized throughout the world as valid democratic forms of government. The situation may be risky and unstable, but it is not undemocratic.
As for the Liberals, perhaps they were in power for so long that they forgot one of the primary responsibilities of the opposition: to have a leader in place who is competent to take over as prime minister if the need arises. Instead of choosing one of their top contenders, they compromised on Stéphane Dion, a man incapable of communicating effectively with the public. The Liberals need a leadership convention in January, not in May.
I would be willing to give the coalition an opportunity to govern, but I do not think it will happen. The Conservatives will launch a massive public relations campaign, and alter their economic plan to include most of the opposition demands. The Liberals are likely to splinter under the pressure and the coalition will fall apart, to be remembered as an experiment that Canadians were too cautious to even attempt. The next election will be soon.
The crisis also shines a spotlight on a serious flaw in Canada’s constitution – our attachment to the British monarchy. Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, represents Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s head of state.
Of course, elected politicians handle almost every aspect of government. But when there is a crisis, we must turn to the Governor General, who is suddenly faced with serious decisions. Jean will be guided by law, tradition and concern for the interests of Canadians. She was not, however, chosen by Canadians, only appointed by a prime minister. Governors General can never earn the authority that they hold.
The time has come to cut the final colonial cord and set our own course as a grown-up nation. Canadian politics should be none of Britain’s business – as the British themselves would agree. We have our own constitution and the power to amend it. We should do so, and take full control of our affairs.
The upheaval on Parliament Hill last week has launched a furious debate about the type of government Canadians are willing to accept. The debate is long overdue, but it occurs at a time when politicians should be taking action to preserve our quality of life.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has convinced the Governor General to suspend parliament, delaying a non-confidence motion that would remove his minority government from office. The Liberals and New Democrats, with the backing of the Bloc Québécois, may still form an unprecedented coalition government after parliament resumes next month.
The delay of government business during an economic crisis is alarming, but it will give Canadians a chance to consider their options. Could a coalition provide stability, broad representation and effective action? In an interview last week, Wellington-Halton Hills Conservative MP Michael Chong said the coalition would not be good for Canada.
“It is time to set aside the political games, and focus on the real concerns of Canadians, like jobs, and people’s savings,” he said. “I am appalled that the Liberals would enter into an agreement with the separatists.”
The Bloc Québécois would not be a coalition member, but has promised not to defeat it for 18 months. Chong said while a coalition would be legal, it would put the Bloc too close to the executive powers of cabinet. He urged the opposition to “step back from the brink” since they have already forced the government to retract parts of its economic statement. “We were wise to remove the partisan elements,” he said.
Too bad the wisdom did not kick in a little sooner, because now it looks like sheer panic. With the backing of only 37 per cent of voters and minority of seats, Stephen Harper had an obligation to forge enough of an alliance with at least one other party to keep parliament working.
He not only failed to consult, but took provocative action to damage the opposition. Then, in a desperate effort to save his job, he has offended the nation by trying to whip up false fears about Quebec separation. He was always glad to have Bloc Quebecois support when they voted with him, and he even plotted with them, hoping to replace a Liberal minority government.
Harper is also wrong when he labels the coalition “undemocratic”, considering that the MPs who have agreed to cooperate represent a majority of Canadian voters. It is true that Canadians did not vote specifically for a coalition, and have every right to be skeptical of such a break with tradition. But since we live in a fractured society, we should learn more about coalitions. They are recognized throughout the world as valid democratic forms of government. The situation may be risky and unstable, but it is not undemocratic.
As for the Liberals, perhaps they were in power for so long that they forgot one of the primary responsibilities of the opposition: to have a leader in place who is competent to take over as prime minister if the need arises. Instead of choosing one of their top contenders, they compromised on Stéphane Dion, a man incapable of communicating effectively with the public. The Liberals need a leadership convention in January, not in May.
I would be willing to give the coalition an opportunity to govern, but I do not think it will happen. The Conservatives will launch a massive public relations campaign, and alter their economic plan to include most of the opposition demands. The Liberals are likely to splinter under the pressure and the coalition will fall apart, to be remembered as an experiment that Canadians were too cautious to even attempt. The next election will be soon.
The crisis also shines a spotlight on a serious flaw in Canada’s constitution – our attachment to the British monarchy. Her Excellency, the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, represents Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Canada’s head of state.
Of course, elected politicians handle almost every aspect of government. But when there is a crisis, we must turn to the Governor General, who is suddenly faced with serious decisions. Jean will be guided by law, tradition and concern for the interests of Canadians. She was not, however, chosen by Canadians, only appointed by a prime minister. Governors General can never earn the authority that they hold.
The time has come to cut the final colonial cord and set our own course as a grown-up nation. Canadian politics should be none of Britain’s business – as the British themselves would agree. We have our own constitution and the power to amend it. We should do so, and take full control of our affairs.
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