Letters: Novermber 4

Halloween Theft, Charlene and Peter Dowsett

Something about Dalton

Here is what our premier has done for Ontario in the past seven years. Remember...he had a “no tax increase” election message / campaign.

He has increased all the licensing fees from your car to your boat including fishing and hunting. He introduced the health care premium (not called a tax); some couples pay as much as $1,500 a year. He has put an ECO tax on many containers such as paint cans and window washer fluid. He put a disposal tax on all electronics. He put the disposal tax back on tires. And now he has passed the HST tax - the largest tax on the province ever, even though 76% of the people in Ontario were against it.
We have our S.M.A.R.T. meters on which we will pay perpetual rent and will end up doing our laundry in the middle of the night. We are also going to pay big time for air conditioning because when we need it the most it will be in the prime time of usage.

Let us not forget the E-health scandal with $1.2 billion wasted and paid out to friends and relatives. What was Mr. McGuinty's answer to this? “Well, if the people of Ontario don't like it, they can show it in the next election.” This after he fired the CEO, giving her a severance package of $300,000 for robbing the province. Why award a $7 billion windmill power plant contract to Korea? One would think there was some place in Canada or North America that could have built these.

Closing the emergency rooms in Port Colburne and Fort Erie (not enough money?) has caused two deaths to date because the distance to St. Catharine's was too far.
However at the same time a hospital in Toronto got $3 million to help insure proper by-election results for George Smitherman’s replacement!

This fool still has a year and a half to go, but over the past six & one half years has increased the budget deficit from $5.6 billion to $27 billion.
Certainly it should not be forgotten that McGuinty gave a $40,000 pay increase to himself, and the MPPs got a 14% increase. Adding further insult, post personnel enrichment, out comes a new budget freezing all provincial employees’ wages for two years.

He increased the hydro tax by 10% in April of 2010. The same happened to the tax on liquor and wine in May of 2010. The landscape continues to be blighted with ridiculously expensive, unsightly wind turbines: another environmental fad. Mr. McGuinty has lied continuously and profusely since he came to office!

Also, not one Liberal MPP had enough guts to vote against any of the above, as usual the main concern is their party standing and income thus derived. Unfortunately, there is no other political party that has or will be any better - all are from the same mould with different brand labelling-all are most unsavoury.

All pensioners got no raise at all over the past 18 months!!

Paul M. Wicher

Re: Sunday Gun Hunting

Now that the hoopla surrounding Sunday gun hunting in South Frontenac is no longer in the shadows of the municipal election (very unlikely that the issue was brought before council for a vote just before the election by coincidence), what is needed is a good long look at what is really at issue. Many people in South Frontenac are concerned about the use of high-powered rifles in close proximity to residential dwellings during the two-week deer hunting season. I count myself among them.

Let’s be clear – hunting accidents rarely involve hunters and non-hunters who are shot while on their property or walking on the public roads. Tragically, hunters do shoot other hunters by accident. However, there are cases of non-hunters being accidentally injured or killed on their own property by errant gunfire during hunting season.

Let’s also be clear - people have a right to walk freely, without fear of being shot, any day of the week, during hunting season or anytime. Allowing hunting so close to residential areas in the township ratchets up the risk of accidental shooting and it usually takes a tragedy to wake everyone up to the danger and start a real discussion about ways to prevent it from happening again.

South Frontenac Township has undergone quite a bit of residential development over the past couple of decades - the natural beauty of the area and the opportunity to enjoy all kinds of outdoor activity, including hunting, attracts all sorts of people. This change may mean it is now time to start a conversation about how to balance the opportunities for hunting with people’s concerns about the safety of their families during hunting season.

Hunting offers a lot of benefits to people in the township – it’s a great activity for those who enjoy the sport and also brings economic benefits. Hunting helps to keep wildlife populations in check now that people have so distorted the natural order of things over centuries of populating this land of ours. Residential growth also brings many benefits to the township both short and longer-term. Rather than ramming through a motion to allow gun hunting on Sunday for selfish political or other reasons, why don’t we start to look seriously at ways we can protect the rights of homeowners to be safe on their properties and protect hunting for future generations who want to hunt.

Maybe the new council can provide leadership and take a more balanced approach on this issue in the best interests of all township residents? It’s on the political radar and it’s not going away. The population will continue to grow as more people call South Frontenac home because it is such a great place to live.

And just so we’re all clear for the 2010 hunting season, while council approved Sunday gun hunting, the province has not yet approved the township by-law. So take a walk on Sunday during the deer hunting season and enjoy the fresh air.

Steven Reynolds

Halloween Theft

My husband Peter and I put candy out this Halloween with a note to help yourself. This is our first Halloween in Verona and we were told to expect lots of children. We have large, exuberant dogs and did not want to be opening the door too often so we put a bowl of candy out with a sign to “Help Yourself”. We did watch the children from the windows and loved seeing their costumes. Most kids who were accompanied by adults just took a fair share. About 7:30 pm, we lost all of our candy and the bowl was taken as well. I liked that bowl. It was old and plastic but we've had it for a very long time and we didn't think twice about using it this evening.

Yours, not going to trust in Verona again

Charlene and Peter Dowsett