Hillsburgh sax player recalls his adventures

As published in The Erin Advocate

James Kelso is going on 97 this year and is still going strong, thanks in part to the lively music that has been woven through his life.

He lives at the Hillsburgh Rest Home on Trafalgar Road, worships just across the road at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and is supported by many friends and good memories.

He was raised by his grandparents, on a farm outside Guelph at the time, near today's Bullfrog Plaza. He remembers doing lots of chores, taking care of his pet horse Dan, and going to school in the basement of the British Methodist Episcopalian Church on Essex Street.

His grandfather James was both a thundering preacher and a bootlegger – the latter resulting in the family moving away from Guelph. They ended up on a farm outside Montreal.

While Kelso was in school, grandpa always insisted on A's, and grandma got him started playing the piano. He played the clarinet in school, but the saxophone became his main instrument. Learning French threw him for a bit of a loop, but he adapted well to the environment.

"In high school, it was like a big honour to be the only black person," he said. "I was treated with respect."

Kelso worked his way through McGill University in the 1930s, becoming the first black to graduate from the music program there. That's an achievement worth noting during Black History Month, which has been celebrated each February in Ontario for the past 20 years.

He went on to earn a Masters degree, and a place in the lively music scene that flourished in Montreal during the 1940s. It was the city that launched Oscar Peterson to stardom, and a favourite spot for musicians like Louis Armstrong and Frank Sinatra.

Kelso played in different bands at famous hotspots such as Rockhead's Paradise (the first black-owned club in Canada), the Esquire Showbar and Chez Paree.

"I had a whole lot of fun," he said. "People came just to see me."

Montreal had become a North American entertainment capital, with big names like Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker jamming with the locals. Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Jimmy Dorsey brought their dance bands to Montreal clubs. Various forms of jazz, blues, swing and bebop flourished, along with burlesque nightclubs and vaudeville shows.

Kelso was not just a jazz musician, but adapted to whatever style was popular with audiences. He often encountered people, however, who assumed that his talent was linked to his race.

"They'd say, 'All you people can do music' – they were brainwashed to think that," he said. In his career he did encounter discrimination, discovering that he couldn't make the same money as a white musician.

"They wanted you to play, but they didn't want to pay," he said, though he did do a bit better touring in New York State. He taught others to play, was involved in recording projects, and also toured in England. He returned to Ontario, and worked as a cook at a hotel and the University of Guelph.

"I had many jobs," said Kelso. "You had to go with the flow. But I was involved with music all my life."

Sewers would bring new growth, new costs

As published in The Erin Advocate

A sewer system for Erin village and Hillsburgh could cost about $60 million, creating a long-term surcharge on the tax bills of urban homeowners, according to the consultant running the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP) study.

Matt Pearson of B.M. Ross hosted a special workshop last week, to discuss servicing issues with Erin councillors and staff in advance of a public meeting planned for February 21.

He has no mandate to provide detailed estimates, and insufficient information to do so, since the exact nature of a system would be studied in a future environmental assessment. He was willing to give rough estimates in response to councillors' questions.

He said the maximum combined population of Hillsburgh and Erin village could be set in the 9,000 to 12,000 range, based on the capacity of the Credit River to handle sewage treatment effluent.

The users of a sewer system would have to share the capital and borrowing costs (spread over 10-20 years on the tax bill), plus pay a hook-up fee and an ongoing usage charge.

Pearson said each urban property owner could be faced with a cost of $35,000 to $40,000, once a sewer line is available on their street. This could be reduced by a federal/provincial grant. If a grant covered 50% of the cost of the system, for example, the individual debts would be cut in half.

"We have to have an active strategy in place to go after a grant," said Councillor Barb Tocher.

New housing and business development would also help fund such a system. Pearson said without a grant, the system will be beyond the Town's borrowing capacity.

"You need a grant, and I think you'll get one, because you have a septic problem and economic development opportunities," he said.

The urban population within the Town of Erin, according to the 2011 census, was 3,739, including 2,674 in Erin village and 1,065 in Hillsburgh. (There is uncertainty about the accuracy of the census count, and B.M. Ross is using an estimate of 4,280 as the current urban total.) The population of Erin's rural area (including hamlets) is about 7,000.

If the Solmar subdivision is built as currently proposed, it alone could boost the urban total to about 7,200 over more than 20 years.

The land within the existing urban boundaries could theoretically house a total of up to 23,000 people, based on provincial density targets, but that is not considered realistic.

The maximum possible population will be determined by the maximum waste that the Credit River can safely absorb (assuming the sewage is not pumped to another municipality).

The final SSMP report (expected this spring) will include an Assimilative Capacity Study that will estimate how many people the river could handle, based on Ministry of the Environment standards for various pollutants, and regular sewage treatment technology.

More expensive treatment could increase the quality of the effluent, creating capacity for more population.

The final figures are not public yet, but last week's workshop included projections, showing how urban population totals of 6,480, 10,000 or 13,500 would affect the health of the river.

For criteria such as Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Dissolved Oxygen and Total Suspended Solids, even the highest population would be well within provincial limits. For e. coli bacteria, the levels today are already spiking slightly above the limits, and new development would not change the situation.

For nitrates and phosphorous, the low-end projection is within the limits, and the high end is at or above them, depending on treatment options.

More detailed information will eventually be released, after Credit Valley Conservation and the MOE review the draft report, but Pearson predicted the population limit could end up in the 9,000 to 12,000 range.

"The [development] capacity will have to be meted out, in some way that you will have to figure out," Pearson told councillors.

He will present his draft report to council on February 19, but does not plan to provide copies for the public, either of the draft, or of the Assimilative Capacity Study, which is intended to be released as background to the final report.

Councillor John Brennan said council would have to consider whether to release the draft material now, depending on whether it contains sensitive information that could, for example, affect property values.

There will be a public meeting on February 21, 7 pm, at Centre 2000, where Pearson will make a presentation on the draft report.

The meeting is intended to "present alternative community planning and servicing strategies and preferred solutions" according to the SSMP flow chart, and to get "public input on evaluation and implementation".

Pearson said the report will outline the consequences of not proceeding with sewers for existing homes, which he said include a "devaluation of properties" in existing urban areas.

He said it would not be good to have a "two-tier system", in which new homes have sewers and old ones do not, with the old areas being shut out of any housing or business redevelopment.

He noted that some homeowners are delaying replacement of septic systems, in case a sewer system is built.

"People are holding off, but they can't wait forever," he said, pointing out that a homeowner's share of the cost of a sewer system is roughly comparable to the cost of replacing a septic system. Many urban lots in Hillsburgh and Erin village are too small under current regulations for a standard septic system, and would require a more expensive level of treatment.

Homeowners with relatively new septic systems could be allowed to delay hooking up to the sewers for a set number of years, he said. Once the sewer went down their street, they would still have to pay a share of the construction costs through a surcharge on their tax bill. But they could defer the hook-up charge and the on-going regular sewage bill (similar to a water bill).

Solmar has said it is prepared to build an expandable sewage treatment plant to service its own subdivision, and later turn it over to the Town.

"You don't want that," said Pearson, saying that the Town should be in control of the project to ensure everything is designed for its needs.

He noted that a treatment plant would be an advantage to rural residents, since it would provide a convenient location for dumping of septage, the material from septic tanks. This would not create a huge impact on the plant, since only two truckloads of the highly concentrated material would be fed into the system each day.

Public must demand benefits from growth

As published in The Erin Advocate

With the Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP) wrapping up in the next two months, Erin residents should finally get an estimate of the cost of a sewer system.

That will be a major issue, but the question to consider first is: Do people really accept the need for sewers in the existing urban areas? If the answer is yes, then we need to know: How much development and sewage effluent can our branch of the Credit River handle?

Once we have those answers, we could turn our attention to: How might we build it and pay for it?

The process has been very long, but for those who are trying to keep track, there is a workshop meeting tonight (Wednesday), at 7 pm at the Town office, where SSMP consultant Matt Pearson will discuss aspects of his coming report with councillors and staff.

The public is welcome to attend, but not to participate at this stage. The draft report will be formally presented to council at their Feb. 19 meeting. Residents will get a presentation and a chance to speak, at a public meeting on February 21, 7 pm, at Centre 2000.

It is still just a "draft" report. It will then be reviewed by the Liaison Committee, the Core Management Committee and Council, then submitted as a "final" report. Council will have to decide whether or not to approve the report's recommendations.

Running at the same time as this is the Solmar plan for a large subdivision in the north end of Erin village, which is likely to move ahead regardless of what council decides on the SSMP.

One of the key links is the SSMP background report on the assimilative capacity of the river. Based on provincial guidelines, it will indicate the limit on how much discharge from a sewage treatment plant could go into the river without harming it. The limit will vary based on the intensity of the treatment.

I have no idea what that capacity will be, but what if it is fairly low? Could we end up in a situation where the Solmar subdivision uses up most of the available capacity, leaving not enough to allow sewers in existing neighbourhoods, or for other proposed developments that have been on hold for many years?

The restrictions may not be that severe, but the capacity of the river will effectively limit future growth, perhaps at a level that is less than the population targets for Erin now being considered by Wellington County.

Many other aspects of the Solmar plan must be scrutinized. Solmar submitted a series of reports with its development application, but not all of them have been available on the Town website, partly due to the large size of the files. The Transition Erin group has obtained lower-resolution versions of some key ones, such as the subdivision sewer and storm water plans, and have posted them at www.aanimad.com/transition.

The Town should also be thinking creatively about how this development might proceed with the greatest benefit for the public.

For example, Solmar has ambitious plans to bring in 900 jobs, with new commercial and industrial development on their "employment lands". They have shown (in Bolton, for example) that they can do this sort of thing.

But what if approval for construction of residential units was tied to new business development. The residential component could be split into smaller phases. The developer could have incentive targets: bring in a certain dollar value of new commercial/industrial assessment, to get approval to proceed with a certain number of new homes. Bring in more assessment, build more homes.

The province is demanding denser housing in urban areas, and Erin may have to take its share. But the province also wants "complete" communities, with more local jobs.

Many things are open to negotiation between a developer and a municipality, so Erin may be able to exercise some leverage in this area without triggering an expensive fight at the Ontario Municipal Board.

CVC chief fears erosion of political support

As published in The Erin Advocate

Erosion of political support for environmental protection could have disastrous consequences, according to Rae Horst, Chief Administrative Officer at Credit Valley Conservation (CVC).

Those who care about the environment must keep up the pressure on politicians at all levels, not just on local issues, but for the preservation of the Green Belt and the survival of conservation authorities (CAs), she said.

"Conservation authories are under serious threat," said Horst, who will be retiring in May. "All could be lost, if decisive action is not taken by all environmentalists in the province – the crisis is coming."

She was speaking to members of the Credit River Alliance, a coalition of environmental groups, who met last week in Brampton to renew their commitment to the watershed, and to refocus on new environmental threats.

They are also mourning the death in December of one of their founders, Peter Orphanos, former Chair of Sierra Club for Peel Region, who dedicated more than 30 years to the protection and restoration of the Credit River.

When Horst worked for the province in the 90s she said the Ministries of Natural Resources and the Environment were well-funded.

"They have been decimated and are skeletons of their former selves, incapable of protecting the natural environment locally," she said. "The inability of the province, and the unwillingness of the federal government to protect the natural environment could not happen at a worse time. We're at an all-time weak position in Canada."

She said one major threat is extinctions – locally there are 42 rare, threatened or endangered species. The other is climate change, already too late to stop. Much of the burden for promoting protection and adaptation (ie stronger infrastructure) is falling on conservation authorities.

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has said that he wants to dissolve conservation authorities or strip them of their powers. The CAs long ago lost their strong provincial funding, but municipalities such as Peel Region have stepped up with major support. From 2001 to 2013 the CVC budget went from $3.5 million to $25 million, and staff increased from 35 to 175. CVC spent $1 million in the successful fight to stop the Rockfort quarry.

"CVC is a force to be reckoned with environmentally in this watershed. This happened largely because of the Credit River Alliance. The CA has the clout if it wants to use it, and the Alliance can make the CA use it and keep the municipalities honest."

Many would like to see Ontario's Greenbelt expanded, but Horst said it could be a struggle just to hold on to what we have. The Greenbelt, the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan and the Niagara Escarpment Plan are all to be reviewed in 2015.

Horst said the creation of the Alliance in 2004, representing over 20,000 people, helped ensure that the CVC's mandate to protect the watershed was taken seriously by local politicians.

"The challenge of unbridled development was starting to tell on the watershed –  Mississauga was already experiencing flooding and erosion," said Lorraine Symmes, who is stepping down as coordinator. "More ominously, Brampton was beginning a huge era of expansion that would seriously threaten the health of the river. The Credit is the most diverse cold water fishery in the province."

They formed a coalition of community groups to raise awareness with local governments about their concerns, at a time when the Walkerton report emphasized the importance of looking entire ecosystems. The Credit runs through 10 municipalities.

"Only the conservation authority has the big picture of the watershed and the ability  to do the science which is really key to understanding and supporting the river's overall health," said Symmes.

They came up with seven guiding principles, pushing for: better storm water management and sediment control, funding for land acquisition of sensitive sites, a prohibition on stream course alteration, limits on water-taking permits, funding for tree planting in stream corridors and incentives to increase wetlands and forest cover in the watershed.

They were able to speak out on behalf of their 31 member groups, which include environmental activists, fishing advocates, quarry opponents, local land stewardship organizations, naturalists, organic farmers and neighbourhood associations. They've made many presentations on municipal issues, attended and addressed meetings of the CVC board, and generally promoted low-impact development. More information is available at www.creditriveralliance.ca.

"We have spoken up for the river," said Symmes. "It's better than it would have been without us."

Getting the inside story on Great Lakes novel

As published in The Erin Advocate

It is interesting how personal connections from the past will spark the interest of people, especially when it comes to the myriad of subcultures that thrive outside the mainstream of Canadian society.

Erin publisher Tim Inkster received a manuscript in 2005 for a semi-autobiographical novel called Sailor Girl, by Sheree-Lee Olson, about the adventures of a young woman working in the kitchen of a Great Lakes freighter.

He did not publish it until 2008, but he initially gave it a serious look because he knew about that culture – his father and grandfather had worked on the boats. He is proud of his grandfather, Captain Walter Inkster of Collingwood, who became a friend of Scott Misener while travelling across the Atlantic to deliver a boat to Montreal in 1903. Misener went on to operate a shipping fleet, and that same boat was later named after Inkster.

Shelley Austin, Sheree-Lee Olson and Tim Inkster

Shelley Austin, a member of a book club called the Joyous Erin Wine & Literary Society (JEWLS) was recently looking for ideas for a book event. Elke Inkster of Porcupine's Quill suggested Sailor Girl, and she took an immediate interest because her grandfather had been an engineer for Misener Steamships from 1925 to 1950.

She planned an evening that brought together about 30 women from four local book clubs last Friday at Tintagels Tea Room on Main Street, to meet Sheree-Lee Olson. The event was sponsored by Jim and Audrey Devonshire, owners of Tintagels and the Devonshire Guest House, and by Tim and Elke Inkster of Porcupine's Quill, who also run a small bookstore, located in comfortable surroundings at the back of the Renaissance store in downtown Erin.

When Shelley asked me about covering the event, I was interested not only because of the local aspects, but because my uncle had been a Great Lakes freighter captain. I grew up within earshot of the boats on the Welland Canal, and as a kid found it strange that my uncle Bernard had a job that only allowed him to be home with his wife and children during the winter.

Conditions could be harsh on that edge of society, as Olson discovered over seven summers, working her way through university. She went on to be the Style Editor at The Globe and Mail, and is currently a copy editor for Globe Life.

"I was so thrilled to finally get this book published, after spending twenty years writing it," she said. After many false starts in her 20s, she finally found an opportunity to work all week at her job, and every weekend for four years on the book.

Finishing it in her 40s made it "much more informed by my own experiences in the working world, and by feminist issues, and just trying to honour people whose lives are pretty much invisible...They are an outlier society."

While she had personal experience on the lakes, she found it was necessary to do a lot of research to recapture details about the lifestyle. Some characters were based on real people, others were composites, and others, like Calvin, were inventions. "I made him up because I wished I had Calvin, instead of the other jerks," she said.

She promotes Sailor Girl as having "salty dialogue and gripping description", as a "uniquely Canadian story, one that distills a vanishing part of our heritage", and as a love story in which "a middle class girl finds a deep connection with the unruly young men and toughminded women of the lakes."

The book has had critical acclaim and won a bronze in the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards, but sales have been modest, and she describes marketing a book as something of a "crapshoot".
Sailor Girl got a boost with the placing of a "Bookmark" in Port Colborne, at Lock 8 on the Welland Canal, in 2011. Project Bookmark Canada installs plaques bearing selections from notable Canadian works, in the exact locations where scenes are set.

There is also a movie version of Sailor Girl in the works, with Markham Street Films (MSF) planning to start shooting this year. Naturally, Inkster is hoping that goes well, since there's nothing like a successful movie to propel book sales.

MSF describes it as a coming of age story, in which "19-year-old art student rebel Kate McLeod signs on to a Great Lakes freighter and sails off into an unexpected world of stormy, sexy and dangerous adventures."

Olson said that to distill the story, screen writer Johanna Schneller had to "really collapse the book – a whole new treatment that was very visual and very visceral, and really cut out all the boring stuff – it was great."

For more about the author, go to www.sheree-leeolson.com, and for a taste of that Great Lakes shipping culture, go to www.boatnerd.com.

Time to get hopping mad on climate change

As published in The Erin Advocate

Don't try this at home, but if you were of a mind to boil live frogs in an open pot, the secret is supposedly to increase the temperature slowly. The frogs would adjust to the new "normal" environment, not suspect imminent danger, and die.

Now if the frogs in the pot realized they were causing the boiling, they might get hopping mad and demand relief. If they were part of a democracy, maybe they could figure out a way to turn the heat down.

And maybe the whole frog metaphor has its limitations, especially since real frogs hop out of heated pots, and we do not have the option of hopping out of ours. But it still makes for a good film title to kick off Erin's fourth annual Fast Forward Environmental Film Festival.

It starts tonight (Wednesday) at the Legion hall, 7 pm, with the documentary How to Boil a Frog, by Canadian Jon Cooksley. He uses zany visual effects to teach about "overshoot" – too many people, using up too much of the planet, way too fast.

"Global warming isn't the problem, it's a symptom of a much bigger problem," he says. "This is called overshoot. It turns out that you can go past what nature can give you, the same way you can keep buying things you can't afford."

The trailer says the film is a "change the world by learning how screwed we are and what we can do create a sustainable future while peeing you pants laughing so hard kind of a movie." Check the website, www.howtoboilafrog.com.

The evening is sponsored by Transition Erin and Harmony Acres, and will include the usual mix of environmental news, healthy snacks and information displays, which go well with the sub-title of the movie: "make friends / make fun / make trouble".

It is part of a movement that does not pretend we can simply do away with our industrial, consumption-driven economy. It is possible, however, to build a culture that recognizes the need to live more conservatively, and to encourage the growth and diversity of our natural environment.

These environment conversations often come back to the importance of trees, those organisms that actually sustain our atmosphere by capturing carbon and pumping out oxygen. At a recent stewardship conference hosted by Credit Valley Conservation, I saw a presentation by Azadeh Chobak of the group Trees Ontario (www.treesontario.ca).

"We need to create natural playgrounds," she said. "If there is high quality greenspace available, people are more encouraged to go out there and get their physical activity. Physical activity itself has been linked with positive impacts on physical and mental health. It also reduces the risk and severity of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and osteoporosis."

She said even a view of trees has been shown to reduce the amount of medications needed in hospitals. Greenspace has also been linked to lower heart rates and blood pressure, with improved rehabilitation and recovery rates for hospital patients, and less severe symptoms in attention deficit disorders.

She said a minimum of 30% forest cover is needed for a healthy, sustainable ecosystem (Wellington County has about 17% now, and growing). Lack of sufficient forest is impacting our resistance to climate change, she said.

"With forestry, it is a huge infrastructure and we really need to invest in that. It's not just about planting the trees. It's to collect the right seeds, to have the nurseries, to be able to develop those seedlings and educate our foresters.

"It's about education and culture change at the individual and societal level. We really need to educate the younger generation. They need to be aware that our health is impacted by the health of our natural environment – it's a two-way relationship."

Bill Kilburn of the Royal Botanical Gardens also spoke at the conference. He manages the Back to Nature Network (www.back2nature.ca), a consortium of groups funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

He said that kids are suffering from "nature deficit disorder" and that they are immersed in technology even before they are born.

"They learn that the essence of being human is using technology," he said. "What is the cause of this disconnection between ourselves and nature? I think it can be encompassed in decreased access to natural spaces."

He said convenient natural areas are becoming fewer, people have less time to go to them, they often cost money, and parents are afraid to let kids go there unsupervised.
The Network's mandate says a connection to the natural world is fundamental to all aspects of child development and is essential for a sustainable society:

"Research shows that when we foster a child’s connection with nature, the child flourishes: child obesity decreases, bullying rates decrease, child injury rates decrease, while academic achievement rises, physical activity rates increase, attention spans improve, physical and cultural barriers melt away and environmental stewards of the future emerge."

Growth will increase pressure for bypass

As published in The Erin Advocate

If you think traffic in downtown Erin is heavy now, imagine what it will be like with a few thousand more residents and a new industrial zone in the north end of the village. There will have to be an alternative route for heavy trucks and other vehicles that are travelling through.

As a result of increasing local and regional traffic by 2032, intersections at the north and south of the village are expected to exceed their capacity at the afternoon peak time, resulting in noticeable delays, according to a traffic study completed for Solmar Development Corp.

The study, which is available on the Town website (www.erin.ca), also recommends new traffic lights at County Road 124 & Winston Churchill Boulevard, at County Road 124 and Tenth Line (on the north side of the Solmar subdivision) and at County Road 124 and Erinville Drive (south of Tim Hortons).

Over the next 20 years, traffic volumes are expected to increase by 1% per year on Winston Churchill, County Road 124 and County Road 52 (Bush Street). An increase of 2% per year is expected on Dundas Street and Shamrock Road.

Wellington County has no current plans for major improvements to its arterial roads in the Erin village area, but its 2012 Development Charge Background Study reports that traffic projections show a need to eventually widen or add more passing lanes on County Road 124 between Erin and Guelph.

Within Erin village, the County study says projected traffic growth "would require widening to a four-lane cross-section by the 2031 horizon", but says this may not be feasible "due to potential impacts to existing development" (ie. downtown businesses).

"An alternative solution might be to provide a truck by-pass road along a new alignment around Erin. The viability of this solution could only be properly validated/confirmed through the completion of an Environmental Assessment."

A bypass to the north of the village has been studied, but never acted upon. Bypasses to the south would also be possible, involving Wellington, Peel Region and Halton Region.

Drivers coming west towards Erin village on County Road 124 could be directed to turn south on an upgraded Winston Churchill Boulevard. They could then use County Road 52 to reconnect with 124, though intersection improvements would be needed at the south end of the village.

If drivers instead continued south on Winston Churchill to the Erin-Halton Hills Townline (Sideroad 32/County Road 42), then west to Ballinafad, they could turn south or north on Trafalgar Road. Or they could continue all the way to Crewson's Corners, joining Highway 7 on the far side of Acton.

The Niagara Escarpment Commission expects that proposing a haul route on 32 Sideroad will generate "a lot of push-back" from residents, and that the intersection at Ballinafad would need major improvements.

In this context, it is interesting (and instructive) to read about the efforts of Halton Region to find a solution for similar (but more severe) truck problems in Acton. An update to their Transportation Master Plan in 2011 proposes a solution for Acton that could assist Erin.

"Regional Road 25 and Highway 7 through downtown Acton will be over capacity by 2031 requiring one additional lane in each direction," the report said. "Heavy truck traffic is part of the problem in this area and has also resulted in safety concerns in the downtown area. "

They considered a southern bypass, a northern bypass and the prospect of widening to four lanes through downtown Acton. The recommendation is to build a new northern four- lane alternate route starting at Highway 7, going north along the Fourth Line. It would turn west along 32 Sideroad (the Erin-Halton Hills boundary), around the north side of Acton, and reconnect with Highway 7 at Dublin Line or Crewson's Corners.

The Erin and Acton bypasses could have a common section on 32 Sideroad, with the potential for cost sharing.

"While this alternative will have greater effects on the agricultural community and natural environment, the socio economic effects of a widened Highway 7/Regional Road 25 through downtown Acton and the capital costs to do so are so great that they outweigh the negative effects of the northern alternate route," the report said.

The Town of Halton Hills wants Halton Region to take over responsibility for Winston Churchill, south of 32 Sideroad, since it carries "a significant amount of long-distance traffic that is not locally generated or destined." They also want Halton to take over 32 Sideroad if it is to become a major arterial route.

Ted Drewlo, Manager of Engineering Services for Halton Hills, said his staff found that "traffic volumes are forecast to increase and could triple by 2031" on 32 Sideroad.

Peel Region is already planning to reconstruct the unpaved section of Winston Churchill from Olde Baseline Road to Terra Cotta. They are also undertaking a study to "confirm and identify priority routes within Peel, having regard for connectivity with key external routes". Peel Engineer Gary Kocialek said they "will be looking at the potential upgrades that Halton is considering for Ballinafad Road".

New Homechild production recalls a shameful era

As published in The Erin Advocate

Erin playwright and composer Barb Perkins continues to have success in her quest to both entertain and educate Canadians with her story about British Home Children – a part of our history that needs to be better known.

"I'm just thrilled that the word is getting out," said Perkins, who is helping Orangeville Music Theatre with a new production of Homechild – The Musical, which premiered in Erin in 2005.

Back in 1984, she learned that her grandmother and three of her eight siblings had arrived in Canada from Wales in 1907 as "home children", and she later travelled to Wales to meet relatives and research the child emigration movement. She used her talents as a music teacher and songwriter to create a show that would capture more than just the historical story of a separated family.
"The music really brings out the emotion," she said.

The play had an extensive workshop at the Charlottetown Festival in 1999, but really came to life in Erin in 2005 with the help of Brett Girvin, Steve Sherry and Erin Community Theatre. There was broad community support to mount the first full production at Centre 2000.

Since then it has been produced at West End Studio Theatre in Oakville in 2009. Awareness of the history has grown, with Canada Post creating a special stamp to mark the Year of the British Home Child in 2010.

The play was produced again at Goya Theatre in Ottawa in 2011, and Ontario declared September 28 as the annual British Home Child Day. Now, Orangeville Music Theatre has taken it up close to home, with performances this month at the Town Hall Opera House on Broadway.

The show dates are January 12, 18, 19, 25 and 26 at 8:00 pm, and on Sunday afternoons, January 13 and 20 at 2:00 pm. Regular tickets are $20, with children 12 and under $15 (plus a box office fee). The box office can be reached at 519-942-3423, with on-line tickets available at www.orangevillemusictheatre.com. There is more information at www.homechildmusical.com.

The new production is directed by Raeburn Ferguson, with musical direction by Pam Claridge and choreography by Mariah Abbott, and will include some Erin talent, including Dick Murray, who acted in the 2005 show.

Starting January 9, Orangeville Library will be presenting a display of Homechild memorabilia including trunks and memorial quilts, as well as available books on the subject.

The stories of home children are particularly tragic because many were not orphans, but simply from poor families who thought they were doing the right thing by sending them to a land of opportunity – an escape from the social upheavals of the industrial revolution.

The agencies that set up the Child Migration schemes had good intentions, assuming that poor or orphaned children would have a better life in a new land that needed workers. The emigration undoubtedly saved some lives, and some children were fortunate to be taken in by kind families, but for many it was a life of unremitting hardship and abuse. Siblings were separated and any contact with the parents was strongly discouraged.

The practice gained popularity in the era of child poverty and workhouses made famous by Charles Dickens in novels such as Oliver Twist, and even though slavery had been abolished in England by then, the parallels with that particular evil are inescapable.

Some home children did commit crimes here, but many were falsely accused of criminal behaviour, denied access to basic education, and denounced by doctors, politicians, union leaders and newspaper writers as degenerates and carriers of disease.

Many were forced to work under terrible conditions. Some were severely beaten and systematically starved, while others were sexually abused. Some died as a result of their treatment, and others took their own lives.

Most survived and made lives for themselves in Canada. About 118,000 came here between 1833 and 1939, and it is now estimated that 12% of our population has a home child in their ancestry.

Like the abuse of aboriginal children in residential schools, the story of the home children is a shameful element of Canadian history that needs to be understood by future generations. Perkins said efforts are being made to include it in the Canadian History curriculum. To learn more go to www.britishhomechildren.org or www.canadianbritishhomechildren.weebly.com.

Famed psychiatrist Dr. C.K. Clarke (after whom Toronto's Clark Institute was named) campaigned relentlessly from the late 1800s until his death in 1924 against allowing "defective and insane" immigrants into Canada. Like many others, he believed home children were part of Great Britain's plan to ship sub-normal people out to the colonies.

The belief that "feeble-mindedness" was a hereditary problem was the basis of the eugenics movement that swept the world, and took particular hold in Alberta, where thousands of people were unjustly confined, stigmatized and sterilized between 1929 and 1972.

Is our modern society now morally superior to those earlier times when terrible injustices took place, or are we simply so affluent that we are not tempted into desperate measures?

If Canada were plunged into real poverty and chaos, would we have learned anything from our history? Or would we be as cruel and lacking in human decency as our ancestors?

Change is inevitable, but resistance is not futile

As published in The Erin Advocate

To simply say that change is unacceptable will not be a useful argument in the upcoming debate about population growth and sewers in Erin. Changes to our environment are clearly inevitable, so people have to decide if they have the energy and interest to have some influence on what happens.

It can start with a nostalgic feeling that this is a good place to live, with many things worth preserving. But it needs to step up to some practical strategies about what can be done to make the changes as acceptable as possible.

"Let's do nothing and see what happens" will only slow things down for so long, and if we remain passive, we may be very unhappy with the results. It's relatively easy to say what should not be done, but much harder to decide what should actually be done.

If there is to be an effective resistance, it has to be a constructive one.

Like it or not, we live in a high-growth region. With towns all around us taking their share of new population, have we somehow earned the right to stay the same?

Population growth appears to be Plan A for the federal, provincial and county governments, all democratically elected, and Erin's Servicing and Settlement Master Plan (SSMP) report in February will conform to those policies.

If we disagree with Plan A, we need to come up with Plan B, C or D. Sensing political danger perhaps, town councillors have said virtually nothing in public about where they stand on these issues. Soon they will have to vote on the SSMP report, and I hope they will each offer some words of explanation for their positions.

We should first decide what we really want, among the realistic options, and not allow other governments to dictate everything and take the blame. Once we have a long-term plan, we can pursue the funding to make it happen.

In the 20 years from 1961 to 1981, Erin village more than doubled its population, going from 1,000 residents to 2,300 residents. It wasn't done particularly well, but was the charm of the village destroyed? Some might say yes, but I think most would say no.

Many people didn't like the development of large-lot subdivisions in recent decades, but this is still a great place to live. I think the Town is a better place to live now, than when I moved here in 1985.

Now we have the prospect of doubling again over 20-30 years through the Solmar proposal, not to mention other serious developers. I don't think such growth is bad in and of itself, but it makes a big difference how it is done.

This could be a chance to do it much better than we have in the past. Erin could still be a jewel, but with some additional carats. The proposed growth is still moderate by Southern Ontario standards.

There is no chance that we will ever look like Brampton, or even experience growth like that of Georgetown.

I went to a recent meeting of the SSMP Liaison Committee for an educational session called Wastewater Treatment 101. It seemed strange to be discussing the pros and cons of various sewage treatment methods, when we haven't even decided whether to go this route. We still have no idea how many millions of dollars a system would cost, and how much the relatively small portion of Town residents on the system would have to pay for hook-up and ongoing sewage bills.

"Wastewater has to be paid for by the people who use it," said Mayor Lou Maieron.

Regarding the effluent from a sewage plant that would have to flow into the West Credit River, the SSMP will include an Assimilative Capacity Study. This determines the level of treatment needed to meet the water quality standards set by the Ministry of the Environment (MoE). Advanced levels of treatment would be more expensive and allow more homes to be built, but there will be a maximum.

"The extent to which we have to treat the sewage ultimately is established by the MoE," B.M. Ross Engineer Dale Erb. "The West Credit has a quality that is better than the objectives established by the province. The current criteria that we're working with is fairly stringent. It's going to require a well thought out treatment process, but it is attainable. Of course, in the end, it just means dollars."

Project Manager Matt Pearson said that the SSMP will recommend a tried and true processing system, instead of a relatively unproven alternative method.

"It's nice to be cutting edge, but you have to be right," he said. "This is too big of an investment to make a mistake."

Councillor wants raise for staff reconsidered

As published in The Erin Advocate

Councillor Jose Wintersinger has given notice that she will ask council to reconsider the 3% raise recently approved for Town staff and councillors.

The issue will be discussed at the January 8 meeting, amid some confusion about the impact of the 2013 pay increase, which is being given in two stages.

After last Tuesday's council meeting, Wintersinger said that the total raise should be no more than the current annual increase in the Statistics Canada Consumer Price Index, which is about 1.2%.

She voted against the 3% raise when it was approved, without a recorded vote, at the December 4 council meeting. Council's procedure bylaw says that a motion of reconsideration cannot be introduced, unless it is moved and seconded by members who originally voted in favor of a motion.

The bylaw, however, does not restrict a member from giving notice of their intent to introduce a motion of reconsideration.

At last week's meeting, Mayor Lou Maieron said he did not fully understand the mathematics involved in the current raise plan, and had not been able to confidently answer taxpayers' questions about it.

As it stands, staff and council will get a 1.5% raise on January 1. They will get an additional 1.5% raise on July 1. Simply added together, that means employees would eventually receive 3% more pay. (If the second raise had been compounded with the first one, the total increase would be 3.02%.)

The original motion for a 3% raise was made by Councillor Barb Tocher, seconded by Councillor Deb Callaghan, and supported by Councillor John Brennan. Wintersinger and Maieron voted against it.

The raise was reported as having a 2.25% impact (totalling $66,460) on the 2013 budget. That is because the money for the second 1.5% raise would only be paid out during the second six months of the year, making it the equivalent of .75% for the whole year. So the first raise costing 1.5%, plus the second raise costing .75%, equals a cost for the full year of 2.25%.

So, while some money was saved by delaying part of the raise, employees will still be getting 3% more as of July 1.

Cedar Valley bridge top priority for grant

As published in The Erin Advocate

Town council has voted to put the bridge just east of Cedar Valley at the top of its priority list for a new provincial grant program, overturning a staff plan to seek funding for Hillsburgh's Station Street bridge and dam.

The Town had recently been turned down in an application to a federal infrastructure funding program, to cover $1 million of the Hillsburgh project, which has a total estimated cost of $2.6 million.

But a new provincial funding opportunity arose last month through the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative (MIII), with 90% funding of projects, and a maximum of $2 million. About $90 million will be available across Ontario over the next two years. Council had to pick its top priority immediately, since initial applications are needed in early January.

The Cedar Valley bridge project, at a cost of $663,671, was initially the second priority for Town staff, with a potential grant of $597,303. The current bridge is seriously deteriorated and has a load restriction. It is on Station Street (Sideroad 24), the same road as the Hillsburgh project (known as the Station Street Dam).

Council decided that issues concerning the Hillsburgh dam, including preservation of the mill pond, will be discussed at a public meeting on January 29, 7:30 p.m., at the Hillsburgh Community Centre.

The staff report on the Hillsburgh project noted that the MIII program will give consideration to projects that address a "health and/or safety problem". The Ministry of Natural Resources wants the dam upgraded to be capable of withstanding a Regional Storm Event.

"The main objective is to address the most critical roads, bridges, water and wastewater projects," said Town Financial Analyst Larry Wheeler.

"The safety of property and residents downstream is of course in jeopardy and this project  remedies both the potential liability and safety concerns," the report said.

The Cedar Valley project also has a safety component, since it is 2 km west of the new fire hall and ambulance bay.

"In the event this bridge deteriorated to the point that it was deemed to be impassible, particularly by heavy emergency vehicles, then the health and safety of rural residents and residents of the hamlet of Cedar Valley would be in jeopardy."

Mayor Lou Maieron was reluctant to seek funding for a project that had recently been turned down for a grant.

"Maybe it would make more sense to go for the medium priced project, with a better shot of achieving it," he said. "Unfortunately, it's a bit like gambling."

He also speculated that the chances of getting the $2 million grant were low because the project is the subject of local controversy, and because the Liberal provincial government may want to spread the available funding among a large number of municipalities. He noted that Erin tends to support the Progressive Conservatives.

"Without sounding too political, we are in a chronically blue municipality, and it's not a blue government," he said.

Councillor Barb Tocher argued that the Hillsburgh project fits the grant criteria "perfectly", and she was supported by Councillor Deb Callaghan in opposing a motion to give the Cedar Valley bridge top priority. In a recorded vote, the motion was passed, with Councillors Jose Wintersinger and John Brennan and Mayor Maieron in favour.

The mayor also noted that while council approved temporary work to make the Hillsburgh dam safe for traffic, it has not decided what to do as a permanent solution. The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), in allowing the temporary work, ordered the town to upgrade the dam within two years.

"The opportunity for funding is putting the cart before the horse," he said.

Councillor Wintersinger was not optimistic about getting the $2 million grant, though she also believes the Town cannot afford to do the project itself.

"I know what the MNR said, but you can't get blood out of a stone," she said. "I would ride along and see what happens."

The smaller Cedar Valley project is still larger than the entire section of the town's 2012 capital budget that is funded by local taxes. If funded independently by the Town of Erin, it "would result in many critical capital projects being delayed for years," the report says.

The cost of the Hillsburgh project "would be almost five times as large as our entire 2012 tax funded capital budget, which of course is overwhelming."

While Cedar Valley requires a simple bridge replacement, the Hillsburgh project could include not only a new bridge, but reconstruction of the road eight metres wide, with curbs, gutters and storm sewers. The earthen dam would be upgraded to current engineering standards, and a sidewalk could be installed from Trafalgar Road to the Elora Cataract Trailway.

There could also be a water main and sanitary sewer pipe to serve future residential development.

Residents not impressed with Town budget process

As published in The Erin Advocate

Town officials were roasted by ratepayers last Wednesday at a meeting designed to get public input on Erin's 2013 budget. Those in attendance were unimpressed with a tentative tax hike of 17% in Budget Draft #2, even though it was down considerably from the 32% increase in Draft #1.

There were angry questions about cost overruns in the construction of the new fire hall, increases in administration costs, and the "embarrassing" condition of Erin's rural roads. Some were outraged that council agreed to give staff a 3% raise (phased in for a 2.25% impact in 2013).

"A 17.5 per cent increase for administration – that, to me, is just plain unacceptable," said resident Ford Ralph. "We can't afford these kinds of increases. We're all ratepayers. A bunch of us are retired, on fixed incomes, and we're not getting a 17.5 per cent increase in pensions to pay for the tax increases. If you're still working, most companies, if you're lucky, will give you two or three per cent."

He said it might be reasonable for Draft #3 to come in with a 3-4% overall increase, to allow some important initiatives to proceed.

The current plan is to maintain service levels, but the latest draft includes a hiring freeze and a 25% reduction of overtime, in all departments. New initiatives, and some capital costs, have been cut or deferred. Grants to community groups will be reduced 25% overall, though the amounts have not been decided, and the Erin Cinema program is to be cancelled, for a saving of $16,687.

CAO Frank Miele said was important to set aside money in the Administration budget for economic development initiatives ($35,000), since this could help boost the boost the commercial-industrial tax base and reduce the burden on residential taxpayers. Increased salary and benefit costs for the new CAO position also mean an additional $55,255 for Administration.

Treasurer Sharon Marshall explained that some new costs in the budget cannot be avoided, including $65,400 in reduced provincial funding, an extra $6,126 in conservation authority levies, plus an extra $136,971 in debt servicing and $190,000 in unexpected costs related to the fire hall. Combined with the lack of a surplus in 2012, these "non-discretionary" costs alone would bump up the tax rate by 14 per cent.

An average property assessed at $383,000 had a Town tax bill of $995 in 2012. The Town portion represents only 20% of the whole bill, with the County at 55% and Education at 25%. Draft #1 would have increased the Town portion by $323, while Draft #2 increases it by $170.

Some at the meeting promoted the concept of zero-based budgeting, justifying every expenditure instead of adding percentages to the previous budget.

Bruce Hood urged the Town to make better progress on improving the condition of gravel road, some of which are impassable in the spring.

"The status quo is not very good," he said. "I am embarrassed at the condition of our roads."

Matthew Sammut got a round of applause when he said, "It's as expensive as heck to live in this town, but  sometimes I ask, 'Can I stay in this town?' We live in very difficult times. We can't afford the bills we're getting, let alone the increases. You've got to slash, painful as it is.

"Clearly, numbers are getting out of control. It's a slippery slope – once you get on these paths, it can get worse year after year. As much as we have to fight hard to ensure that next year we have some fiscal responsibility, we have to ensure that the future for this town continues to show fiscal responsibility."

From Draft #1 to Draft #2, about $711,000 has been cut from operational costs. Some departments are below 2012 levels, but capital spending for the roads department was increased from $6 million to $7 million. That will be offset by $4 million in revenues, but the overall roads increase to be covered by taxes is still up by about $500,000.

 "You are the shareholders of the corporation," Mayor Lou Maieron told the crowd about 50 at Centre 2000. "We are trying our best to come in with a reasonable budget. I'm a believer in saving for what we want to do. We need money for roads and infrastructure."

Councillor Barb Tocher was in attendance, but Councillors Josie Wintersinger, John Brennan and Deb Callaghan were absent due to other commitments. The proceedings were recorded so they could hear the taxpayers' concerns.

There were complaints about the meeting format. Draft #2 was not available on the Town website prior to the meeting, so people prepared their comments based on Draft #1. Also, some of the figures on the screen were too small to read, and there was difficulty in hearing the staff presentations, since there were no microphones.

The full presentation from last week's meeting can be downloaded from the Town website, www.erin.ca. Members of the public can continue to provide input by contacting council members or CAO Frank Miele. Staff will be providing council with additional recommended changes. The next public deliberation of the budget will be the January 8 council meeting, at which time it could be approved.

County Councillor Ken Chapman used the occasion to launch an all-out assault on the town's Planning Department, saying it should be abolished. He echoed public comments made by Mayor Maieron in the past year, arguing that Erin could have all of its planning needs provided by the Wellington County Planning & Land Division Department, to which the Town already contributes about $200,000 a year.

"All told we are paying $345,000 annually for planning, of which $145,000 is not necessary," he said.
Planner Sally Stull was not at the meeting, but had included a warning in her section of the draft budget that Erin will need to allocate more planning staff and resources "to proactively manage and address upcoming development pressures".

Chapman asked if this was "the beginning of the empire being built". He asked whether a proposed $50,000 roads deficiency capacity study (not approved) was a "make work project for the planning department". He also was of the opinion that the department had caused "unnecessary delays" in the construction of the Medical Centre and Tim Horton's buildings.

Erin's Bookends store now serves the world

As published in The Erin Advocate

The Book Ends store in Erin has thrown its doors open to readers throughout the world with the launch of its Online Bookstore.

People can still drop in and browse through the regular collections at 45 Main Street, but now there is a special section, with 1,200 books set aside for internet sales.

"It's been a wonderful experience – the world has opened up to Book Ends," said Coordinator Eleanor Kennedy at the launch event last week, praising the volunteers who have worked on the project for East Wellington Community Services (EWCS) over the last two and a half years.

The Erin store is now part of a network of independent booksellers through the website www.abebooks.com, which can be accessed directly or through a link at www.eastwellingtoncommunityservices.com. Based in Victoria, BC, abebooks.com provides access to thousands of booksellers and 140 million books.

The Erin section of the site has been active since March, but they did not hold their grand opening until they worked out some technical challenges and built up a collection of unique, out-of-print and collectable publications. There's now an inventory valued at $20,000, and the most expensive item ($300) is an early leather bound edition of Charles Darwin's The Descent of Man.

Most of the online books are in the $10 - $30 range. Shipping can add $9 or more to that, but local residents can save by going in to pick up their purchases. People can also browse in person by reading through the catalogue binder and make purchases at the store from either the regular shelves, or the glassed cabinets of online books.

"The world's a book, and it's open to you," said Kennedy. The volunteers received congratulations from Town Councillor John Brennan and Board President Allan Alls at Friday's reception.

The project was originally started by Enid Acton, with the help of Zina Darling. Gerry Wright later took up the major task of researching potential books for the online collection, and pricing them based on their condition and the existing market value at other on-line stores.

About 300 books have been sold so far, generating $2,500 in profit for the EWCS Food Bank, Seniors Programs and Children's Programs. They have made sales throughout North America and Europe, and even to Australia and Taiwan.

The abebooks.com site enables shoppers to browse the EWCS Book Ends collection by Author, Title, Keyword or ISBN Number. Each book has a detailed description, and they may eventually all have a photo of the cover.

The categories include Fiction, Travel, Cooking, Children's, Gardening, Coffee Table Books, Sports, Crafts, Poetry, Music, Humour, History, Health and Photography.

You can place an order at any time, but volunteers will only be at the store to process and ship them on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 1-4 p.m.

1912 Advocate delivered lively slice of modern life

As published in The Erin Advocate

In 1912, Erin readers could rely on The Advocate not only for local news, but for national and international affairs, on-going excerpts from novels, and a relentless stream of advice from the unscrupulous makers of patent medicines.

There were just 511 residents in the village, a total that would not be surpassed until the 1940s, but it was a busy hub for the district, and proud to take its place in the modern century.

As Christmas approached, there was news that the Canadian government had allocated the astronomical sum of $35 million to the Royal Navy, to build three Dreadnought battleships, part of Britain's naval arms race with Germany. There were also weekly reports about the first of two Balkan wars, with Serbia, Greece, Montenegro and Bulgaria overpowering the Ottoman Turks, helping set the stage for World War I.

To liven up the Christmas season, the Young Ladies of Erin held a Ball at the Town Hall, which The Advocate reported was "nicely decorated for the occasion, making a very pretty appearance by Electric Light".

Some things never change, such as the newspaper promoting local business. Publisher Wellington Hull wrote, "Shop Early. Only 2 weeks to Xmas. Our merchants are making attractive Xmas displays."

Hull also reminded taxpayers to pay up any amounts owing, or face extra costs. In addition to also being the local printer, auctioneer, money lender and issuer of marriage licenses, he was on salary with the village as Tax Assessor and Collector.

Erin village had a bylaw that allowed businesses to open in the evening only on Mondays Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Township was being urged to pass a bylaw limiting Hillsburgh evening shopping to Tuesdays and Thursdays.

You could buy fur coats or groceries at the Ritchie & Ramesbottom store. Steel & Foster had Motor Hoods for ladies and Natty Mufflers for men. Whole wheat Triscuits were advertised as the "Toast of the Town". The serial romance novel at that time was entitled The Invitation; Or The Bird That Pecked at the Window.

There was a report of Fergus working on a water works system, with half of the debentures taken up by local residents. Erin wouldn't have such a system for another 50 years.

On Christmas Day, 1912, there was an essay on Page 1 from "Luckenuf, Belfountain". It was penned by Charles W. Mack, the eccentric philanthropist who had invented the cushion backed rubber stamp, and owned the land that is now Belfountain Conservation Area. In the gate post of the stone wall in front of his summer retreat there, he cemented the word Luckenuf.

He questioned whether Christmas customs were losing their hold on the popular mind, "since the marvels of science began to usurp the seat of authority".

"Are the parents doing their duty to-day? The answer is, no, a thousand times, no. Far too many are leaving their children to shape their own destiny, to grow up as they may. How many parents make themselves companions to their children to find out their thoughts and acts and treat them with gentleness and consideration, giving them thoughts of rich character building, instead of being afraid of this and that subject?

"The complicated apparatus for alleviating the woes of the community has sprung into being, piece by piece, out of an overpowering sense of social necessity. Efforts to deepen the sympathies of young people and to lighten the lot of the sick and afflicted, or to brighten days that are apt to be dull, amid the general jollity, has not grown stale or out of date.

"There is no better time to attempt kindly acts than while the atmosphere is charged with good feeling and the sense of brotherhood now in the hearts of the true and real."

Ads for dubious remedies revealed not only the limitations of medicine in 1912, but a condescension toward women that was common in the media. Dr. R.V. Pierce of Buffalo, America's most famous patent medicine man, promoted his Pleasant Pellets for "the weaknesses and disorders peculiar to women", at the top of Page 1:

"Woman's most glorious endowment is the power to awaken and hold the pure and honest love of a worthy man. The woman who suffers from weakness and derangement of her system soon loses her personal magnetism, good looks, amiability and womanly charm. Dr. Pierce has devised a successful remedy to regulate and purify the stomach, liver and bowels. It makes weak women strong, sick women well."

Meanwhile, from England, there was news of militant suffragettes seeking volunteers to bomb the House of Commons. Full voting rights for women (not just for those owning property) were not granted in Canada until 1918, and in England, not until 1928.