A Bureaucratic Gallop, Not a Creep
There is a concept called “bureaucratic creep”, which describes the tendency of organizations to develop more and more levels of bureaucracy over time. The number of people doing the actual work of the organization, be they factory workers, front-line social workers or road crews, stays the same or goes down,… READ MORE
South Frontenac Council is deep in the weeds
Municipal councils set policy; they set budgets; and they provide oversight to ensure that everything is running well. It is not their job to run the township; that is the job of township staff. There is indeed a grey area in all this. Councilors are elected, and the people who… READ MORE
A little lesson in economic development
As someone who owns a business that provides a service to other businesses, I have an interest in economic development in Frontenac County. What I've learned over the years is that business success is more about individual passion and drive than anything else. In recent months I have been working… READ MORE
Land claim elector criteria coming under scrutiny as vote nears
Seven thousand and seven hundred Algonquin electors are eligible for a ratification vote on the Algonquin Land Claim Agreement in Principle between February 29 and March 7. Voting will take place in nine off-reserve communities, including Sharbot Lake, as well as at Pikwàkanagàn First Nation. The claim has been 25… READ MORE
Liberals are wary of a referendum on electoral reform - but should hold one anyway
The new Liberal government finds itself dealing with harsh realities even before they deliver their first budget, as promises that looked good when sketched out as headlines in campaign literature documents get bogged down in the endless details of being turned into viable long-term policies and programs. The bold promise… READ MORE
Is the Denbigh ambulance service doomed this time around?
In 2008, politicians in Lennox and Addington (L&A) County were faced with the option of closing the Denbigh Ambulance Service and re-allocating resources to the south end of the county to satisfy an ever-increasing demand. At that time they resisted. In 2012 the same issue was before Council and that… READ MORE
In for a penny...
It is disconcerting that Central Frontenac Council purchased Sharbot Lake Public School on November 24 for $110,000, and five weeks later had to hold an emergency meeting just four days before Christmas to decide to tear down the building. The emergency meeting was needed because after a site visit the… READ MORE
A Year to Celebrate Frontenac County and Reveal its Weakness
This year in the paper, we looked backwards many times, running a year-long series of articles to mark the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County. Many of the articles, which will continue into 2016, were based on interviews with people from our communities who made their lives in this part of… READ MORE
The 2% Budget
This week South Frontenac passed their 2016 budget with a 2.00% increase in taxes. That sounds pretty reasonable. But when you look at the budget summary you see some other numbers. The first number that I look at with these budgets is the “levy to ratepayers”. That is the total… READ MORE
On Pine Meadow funding
Two weeks ago, after years of fruitless requests, there was a chance that Frontenac County would approve a $105,750 grant, over 10 years, to support a capital project at Pine Meadow Nursing Home. The home is not located in Frontenac County. It is owned by a not-for-profit corporation and run… READ MORE
Of Power Failures and Saying Goodbye
It has been a strange week here at the News. A Tuesday power failure certainly put a kink in the works. Seven hours sitting around waiting for the power to come back so we could put the paper together was not exactly part of our plan. We attempted to fire… READ MORE
Winners and losers in the 2015 election
It is not exactly news now that the biggest winner in the 2015 election was the Liberal Party and Justin Trudeau, who have been given the right to push through their agendas without consulting any other party, even though they received less than 40% of the popular vote. Does that… READ MORE
This time seems different, for what it is worth
It would be a mistake to take the pulse of an election campaign, particularly one in a geographically diverse riding such as the new Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston riding, based on the tenor of a single meeting held in one of its corners. The riding is actually even larger, in a sense, than… READ MORE
Time to focus on the election
It's a stretch to say that election fever is about to grip the new Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston riding, but after going door to door for two months and appearing at dozens of events, the candidates are certainly campaign hardened. The rest of us have been enjoying some pretty good late summer weather,… READ MORE
Do we have an election race in Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston?
With three parties locked in the national polls, the outcome of next month’s election is clearly in doubt. Will the Conservatives pull out of their August slump and foment enough doubt in voters’ minds about the alternatives to return them to power? Will one of the other two parties pull… READ MORE
Federal election: Angst in August
Thinking about an October 19 vote in early August is like worrying about your wood supply on the hottest day of the summer. You know winter will come and you know you didn't get enough wood cut last spring, but it would be crazy to fire up the chain saw… READ MORE