Letters: October 7

Re: South Frontenac endorses Sunday gun hunting, Brad Mulville

Re: South Frontenac Garbage Issue, Wolfe Erlichman

Re: Vandalism At Seniors' Housing  Project, Rick Greenstreet

North Frontenac candidates and uranium, Helen Forsey

Re: South Frontenac Garbage Issue, Karen Babcock

Accountability for Councillor Fillion? David Hahn

Re: South Frontenac endorses Sunday gun hunting

In response to Mr. Thorne’s letter (Frontenac News, Letters, Sept 30/10), I have a few comments. First, I am not going to argue about the statistics of hunting accidents in Canada, as that is another issue that has nothing to do with what day of the week it is. I will however, note that hunter numbers are on the rise, and have increased every year for the last seven years, as noted by the OFAH. Currently there are over 430 000 hunters in Ontario, with 17 410 new hunters passing the hunter safety course in 2009.

Second, Sunday hunting is not a deer hunting issue. There is only one Sunday of the year that is affected by this, which is between the first and second weeks of the deer rifle season. There are 51 other Sundays that concern me more than this one. I am now afforded five extra days for spring turkey hunting, 52 more days for coyote and varmint hunting, 15 more days for hunting ducks and geese, and 12 extra days of grouse hunting.

These extra days are a great bonus for hunters that work Monday to Friday all year, as it has just doubled their hunting opportunities, and offered them extra time to take their kids in the field to experience our hunting heritage.

Third, it is not illegal to dispose of animal carcasses, as long as all edible flesh is removed. The rest can go to the many scavengers in our woods, although the MNR requests that they be disposed away from roadways and trails. Why any one would dump remains in garbage bags on the highway, is beyond me.

I also see no reason to fear walking your dog any day during the deer rifle season; however, if you are walking it on private land that others have hunting rights on, you may wish to wear blaze orange, as hunters are required to. If some individuals are being reckless with firearms or shooting in the dark, that is a criminal offence and the authorities should be contacted. The hundreds of thousands of law abiding, safety conscious, hunters in Ontario should not be judged by the actions of a few “idiots”.

I applaud South Frontenac Council for finally acknowledging that its residents want the extra hunting opportunities that not only rural municipalities, but even the cities of Ottawa and Kingston have agreed to. To date there are only two municipalities in Eastern Ontario that have not agreed to Sunday hunting. Very few local issues have ever brought as many people out to council meetings as this issue has, which indicates to council how passionate we are about it. As I have stated since these debates began, there is no reason not to have Sunday hunting. It’s just another day on the calendar.

Brad Mulville

 Re: South Frontenac Garbage Issue

(Letter to the editor, Sept. 30)

I am concerned about mayoral candidate Mr. Fillion's style of politics. For example, while his election advertising promotes tax cuts, his attempts to have municipal garbage collection along one particular private lane could lead to the residents in hundreds of private lanes demanding their own municipal garbage collection and this could cost South Frontenac Township a fortune. Taxes would go sky high.

Another example of possible problems with Mr. Fillion's governing style is found in his campaign advertising. One advertisement states that "Council will make decisions, not management". To be effective, politicians have to work together with each other and with staff. You don't get good government by attacking and alienating staff who keep the township services working. The township cannot be run effectively without their valued research and professional expertise.

Mr. Fillion does not seem to realize that running a private business is not the same as running a public government where openness and clear policies are needed to deal with complicated and contentious issues.

As a taxpayer, I am concerned that Mr. Fillion seems to act without thinking through the implications of his actions. I am also concerned about his 30% absentee rate at council meetings. Mr. Fillion's track record as a councilor and reactionary methods suggests that we trust a candidate who marginalizes staff and works outside the parameters of municipal policies and council responsibilities. This is not accountability. Our township will be in a better position without Mr. Fillion as mayor.

Wolfe Erlichman

Re: Vandalism At Seniors' Housing Project

I note your front-page article and picture about the "vandalism" done to the Non-Profit Housing construction site. This claim is a fraud!

The building code requires that each course of the ICF blocks be reinforced with 3/8 inch steel bar, including around the corners. There is no way to properly install this rebar once the next course of block is installed. So where are the three courses of rebar for these three courses of ICF block? With the rebar in, there is no way that wind or people could push over the walls as is depicted in the picture.

This is part of the continuing effort to keep people and their cameras away from the site so no one can document that they are flouting our environmental bylaws by building within the 30 metre "no touch" zone around the wetland high water mark. I, as well as some neighbours, have letters ordering us not to trespass for the same reason.

It is a crying shame that our tax dollars are being squandered to support this shady operation. Hopefully we won't be supporting the politician who shoved this project through in the upcoming election.

Rick Greenstreet

North Frontenac candidates and uranium

At the Monday night all-candidates meeting in Ompah, all the candidates were asked their position on the controversial issue of uranium exploration in our local area. The responses were revealing indeed.

Robin Riddell and Bob Olmstead, the two council candidates who live closest to the site of the 2007-8 blockade, both perched on the fence, apparently reluctant to state either support or opposition to the uranium venture which rocked the community a few short years ago. Riddell, a health professional, spoke of the "benefits" of uranium in some medical diagnostics but did not mention the cancers and other horrendous problems caused by exposure to this dangerous element. Bob Olmstead, who was on council at the time of the blockade, avoided taking a position by maintaining that no mine will ever materialize in the area; he did not mention the drilling and other questionable exploration activity which has gone on.

Astonishingly, both Riddell and Olmstead claimed that they "didn't know much" about the dangers of such things as mine tailings which would poison our forests and waterways for hundreds of centuries. Riddell and Olmstead have had more than three years to find out the facts they claim not to have. They could start now by talking to some of the very knowledgeable local opponents of the uranium venture, and checking websites such as www.ccamu.ca and www.ccnr.org. Better late than never.

John Inglis pointed out that we all use electricity, much of which currently comes from nuclear generation. (That, of course, is not what is at issue here.) However, he quite rightly mistrusts the structures and regulations around uranium development, and would vote against it.
Betty Hunter was right on with her response. She pointed to the extremely serious health and safety problems around uranium, and courageously went further, saying we all need to use less electricity.

Unlike Hunter, mayoralty candidate Bud Clayton did not show leadership on this issue. He appeared to join Riddell and Olmstead on the fence, saying he would do whatever “the majority” wanted. It was unclear how that majority would be defined or their wishes determined.

Jim Beam, who was deputy mayor when council voted for a moratorium on uranium development, stated clearly that he would not support a local uranium mine, although he did not specifically address the related issue of exploration. He noted that uranium is naturally occurring in this area, but again, that is irrelevant to the discussion.

The discussion on uranium, like the rest of the meeting, was very valuable in assessing the various candidates, and I greatly appreciate all the hard work done by The Frontenac News in every election to provide voters with these opportunities.

Helen Forsey

Re: South Frontenac Garbage Pickup Issue

I’m responding to both Marilyn Crawford’s (Letter to the editor, Sept. 23, 2010) & Lola Brandon’s (Letter to the editor, Sept. 30) letters. I didn’t take Ms. Crawford’s tone as hostile but accurate. She was stating a fact! In the beginning of the year didn’t council vote that they would NOT extend any more garbage pickup door-to-door to save tax dollars? So when you vote on that isn’t that a written policy? So if these councilors decided to go against the policy and not even inform anyone at council or the township, I would call this a problem…not a solution. No one was hurt you say? If this lane did get door-to-door pickup and the garbage or recycling truck got stuck in their lane what’s next – snow removal – road repair? Once you start this, it will be done all the time. Then I feel that my lane should receive the same treatment. There are fourteen homes down my lane. And all those in the Bedford area should receive this too. But on that note that would bring our taxes up even more…more services right? I call that irresponsible on Fillion and York’s part.

Mr. Fillion says that he will use the township’s reserve, and have no tax increase for the next four years? As anyone knows you always need a reserve, no one can predict what is going to happen next year. Ice Storms, large snow falls and road repair for an example. If we use up the reserve what would happen – bankrupt the township? Increase our tax dollars 50%? Think about it.

I would also like to comment on the 4/5 vote. If you have you ever gone to a meeting you will notice that Bill Robinson, Jim Hicks and Larry York always look to see how John Fillion votes, and then they cast their vote the same way. The only time they don’t is when Mr. Fillion is on his three-month holidays from January to March, and then they seem lost.

Which brings me to another one of Mr. Fillion’s statements “accountability”… you go away for three months in the winter, plus during the summer council only meets one day per month!

I have to admit that I voted for Mr. Hicks and Mr. Robinson and I won’t be doing that again. I have watched Gary Davison very closely. I like what he is and has done for all of the township. He actually thinks about what is good for the whole township not what he can gain from it. 

Karen Babcock

Accountability for Councillor Fillion?

Councillor Fillion quite rightly promotes Councillor accountability in his election campaign to be Mayor of South Frontenac. Most of a Councillor’s work is done at Council meetings. A Councillor’s attendance record is a basic measure of whether a Councillor is doing his job.

Perhaps the public might like to see the Township record of absences for Council meetings of all the Councillors for 2010. Robinson and Hicks missed no meetings from Jan to September of 2010. Vandewal, McPhail and York missed one meeting each. Davison and Stowe missed 2 meetings and Hahn missed 3. Fillion missed 8. Out of 27 Council meetings that’s approximately 30%.

One of Council’s most important responsibilities is making sure taxpayers money is spent wisely by carefully setting budget priorities. It takes months to construct the budget. Councillor Fillion missed all of the meeting in January, February and early March. This is the period when budget deliberations began and the budget began to take shape.

Politicians are supposed to be working for the taxpayers. Election time is the only opportunity for the voters to hold incumbent politicians accountable for their performance during the last Council term. But we need the facts to be able to judge fairly.

David Hahn,