Photo: Eccelstone and Eccelstone associate Dawn Quelch

Dawn Quelch, an associate of Eccelstone and Eccelstone LLP law firm of Kingston, had a full day seeing clients in Sharbot Lake on Nov.25, proving that there is indeed a need for increased law services in rural areas.

The Kingston firm was approached by Anne-Marie Langan, of Langan Family Law in Sharbot Lake, after Langan identified a need for additional law services for her clients and other potentials clients, especially, but not exclusively, in the area of criminal representation.

Langan, who had studied law with the firm’s junior partner Chris Eccelstone, met him by chance at the Family Court in Kingston and the two began discussing some of the issues surrounding access to justice issues, and the affordability of counsel. She expressed a need for additional services in this area and is now helping to fill that need by offering her offices to the firm as a location to serve clients in the area.

Eccelstone associate Dawn Quelch is offering clients a free half-hour consultation every Friday in areas of criminal law, real estate, wills, powers of attorney and other areas. This past Friday she discussed various issues including criminal law, estates, solicitor drafting work and more with a number of potential clients.

Quelch grew up in Atikokan, a small town in western Ontario, near Thunder Bay. She received an undergraduate degree at York University and worked in publishing at General and Stoddart in Toronto before studying Law at Queen’s University, where she graduated in 2006.

While at Queen’s she was a member of the Clinical Correctional Law Program and represented incarcerated inmates at various prisons, helping them with both street charges and disciplinary court. She articled with the Crown Attorney in Kenora, Ontario and worked at a number of fly-in reserves in the area, dealing primarily with Aboriginal issues.

Married and with a young daughter, she now resides in Kingston and is thrilled to be back in eastern Ontario, where she finds it’s “a nice balance between urban and rural living.” Her goal is to provide counsel to those in need and she is encouraged by the number of clients she saw on her first day.

“I want clients to get a feel for me and to make sure that I am somebody that they have faith and confidence in. It’s also a chance for me to find out the reasons they are coming to see me and to give them a preliminary outline of what they might be facing and what happens next. It’s a chance to talk about the business of hiring a lawyer, whether they will be seeking legal aid or establishing a private retainer. We really try to work with the clients as much as we can to make sure that when they are in need of representation, they are able to get it. There aren’t enough lawyers accessible to the public in rural Ontario - the Law Society has identified this as a problem.”

Quelch’s advice for those who have been charged with a criminal offence and who think they might be eligible for legal aid, is to make an appointment, but also to get their application in for legal aid as soon as possible. They can do without having decided who is to be their legal representative.

Other advice for those coming for a consultation is to: Bring photo ID to confirm identity, which is a requirement of the Law Society. 2) Bring any court papers or other documentation pertaining to the matter, and 3) bring the date of their first court appearance

For wills, she advises clients to pick up a wills information package at the Sharbot lake office and to fill it out prior to the consultation. Quelch says this can save a lot of time.

To make an appointment call the Kingston branch of Eccelstone and Eccelstone at 613-384-0735 and be sure to specify whether you would like your consultation to take place at the Kingston or Sharbot Lake branch at 1012B Elizabeth Street.

South Frontenac Council convened with coffee and doughnuts last Saturday morning, to work through their 2012 draft budget.

CAO Wayne Orr opened proceedings with a brief review of the factors that contribute to determining the final tax rate. The township’s tax base has increased 8.2%, due largely to development and phased-in assessment increases.

The clerk’s report addressed several items that Council had directed should be included in the preliminary budget for consideration. None of these directions were to be construed as a financial commitment. They were:

Inflation, which affects wages, benefits, insurance, fuel, heat and hydro.Roads construction: an increase of $250,000 in planned construction (total roads budget $6,165,653.)Introduction of a 1% Asset Investment Reserve ($114,149).Creation of new position to manage solid waste and township facilities, as recommended by the Corporate Services Committee. Police Services Board: $5,000 to publish a community report.Grant of $3,000 to Southern Frontenac Community Services to support their increased program costs. (Council cannot legally waive property taxes on Grace Centre.)

These additional items total $613,847. However, savings were achieved in other areas of the budget. The overall budget for general government - the treasury and clerk’s office - is down from last year by $159,290, helping offset increased expenses in other areas. In summary, the draft budget showed an increase over last year’s budget of $606,316, or 5.55%.

Also, in order to develop the budget, staff made assumptions in the following three areas:

Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund: the township’s share will be determined by the province in the new year, but based on patterns to date, staff have predicted police funding will be reduced by $63,900.OPP Budget: although there will be no salary increase this year, the staff sergeant has confirmed that the new contract will include a change in the formula for policing costs that will likely result in a 10-15% increase. $75,000 was added as a reserve to the police budget to help toward this jump.County Gas Tax Funds: in 2011, the township received $293,869 from the county, and staff has assumed this level of funding will continue in 2012.

Council then reviewed the budget page by page. Some of the details:

In discussion of the County gas tax funds, Councilor Vandewal suggested it might be prudent to project a lower amount, perhaps $100,000. Councilors Stowe, Naish and McPhail agreed.

The $5,000 for the police board’s publication was taken from reserves.

A review of the building department’s budget underlined the need to hire a third building inspector as soon as possible, in order to be more prompt with inspections and occupancy permits.

Councilor Robinson said that the Colebrooke Road in Harrowsmith needed a sidewalk for the safety of children walking to school. This raised discussion of the three-year roads plan, and concerns about ‘micromanaging’.

Mayor Davison suggested this issue be carried over to Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole, when the public works manager could be present.

The township presently has a set $100 waste management fee on the tax bill for all properties, regardless of assessment. CAO Wayne Orr recommended this be moved into the overall tax bill, pointing out that a fixed charge is regressive, for it is proportionally higher for those with lower taxes. As well, it does not accurately reflect the actual cost of waste management.

Council rejected this suggestion, discussing instead whether the charge should be raised by $10.

When Council asked why income from user charges was so low in the recreation budget, it was noted that fees for various facilities were inconsistent across the township, and one facility (the football field) was used by a private program that paid no user fees.

Deputy Mayor Tinlin asked why Bedford was budgeted so much less than the other districts for Canada Day. Mayor Davison replied that that was the amount requested by the Bedford Recreation Committee.

Last year’s budget put $275,000 into asset/infrastructure reserves: the 2012 proposed budget does not. Councilor Vandewal expressed concern that Council was drawing a lot more from reserves than they were aware of.

“Infrastructure needs are huge,” he said, pointing out that community halls and fire halls are deteriorating.

By the end of the morning, after making some cuts to the budget, and basing their estimates on the assumption that county gas tax contribution will drop to $60,00 this year and that $275,000 will be added to reserve funds, the local tax increase would come to 2.2%.

Some on council felt that an increase as high as 3% would be acceptable.

Council members then went to Visionsoup for lunch, before returning to make the following decisions:

They would meet Tuesday night to further review the road budget with Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth. (This was done, with Segsworth giving details as to how roadwork priorities were established. He agreed that safety improvements along Colebrooke Road could be done next year.)

They passed a motion to receive the preliminary 2012 budget for information.

Next week at their regular meeting, Council will receive a full report on the state of the township reserves from the Corporate Services Committee, along with the committee’s recommendations for managing the reserves, before finalizing the budget.

Passing the overall budget will have to wait until the township learns how much South Frontenac ratepayers will have to pay in Education and Frontenac County taxes, but this will be the first time in the history of South Frontenac Township that council will have completed their budget work before the start of the year they are budgeting for.

In 1965 Gwen Leroux started working in the administration office at North Addington High School. She was still there when the school was renovated and opened up as North Addington Education Centre. A couple of years later she had a child and quit her job.

“I thought that was the end of my working life at North Addington,” she recalls.

But after a year went by she came back to work on a part-time basis, and eventually went back full-time. She’s still working at North Addington, and for a long time she has been the secretary in the Student Services Office, which is located exactly where the administration office was located when she first came to the school.

After 46 years, she is one of the longest serving employees in the Limestone, or any other school board in Ontario.

Last spring her colleagues at NAEC decided to nominate her for a Barry O’Connor Support Staff award and in June she found out that she was the winner for 2011.

She was celebrated at the NAEC commencement services in June, and this week she formally received her award at a meeting of the Limestone Board of Trustees in Kingston on Wednesday night, November 9.

In describing Gwen’s work at NAEC, Principal Angela Salmond wrote the following: “Gwen is known for her humble, gentle manner and her belief that her incomparable contributions are merely ‘part of her job’.  The ‘job’ that Gwen Leroux has performed for the last forty-six years with dignity and grace has allowed and promoted student, teacher andadministrator success and it is with great pride that we congratulate her on this achievement.”

The day after receiving the award Gwen was likely back at her office, carrying out her duties. She said that she has no plans to retire.

County Discusses Planning Updates

Joe Galllivan, planner for the County of Frontenac, reported that his department was interested in working more closely with the Townships, by contracting out the County’s planning services on a cost-recovery, non-profit basis. Recognizing that South Frontenac already has its own planner, Lindsay Mills, on staff, Gallivan said they would be available to consult with Mills if needed.

He said that the upcoming County budget discussions will include consideration of developing an official plan for the County. He introduced Mike Elms, local planning representative for the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, who explained that such a plan would in no way replace the Townships’ plans, but would deal with broader issues relating, for example, to economic development, environmental issues and cultural heritage. One perceived advantage would be that if approval of Official Plan amendments and updates were to be done by the County, rather than the Ministry, processing time could be greatly reduced without affecting day-to-day planning issues and local decisions. By removing the Ministry from the lower-level decision-making process, “The three-legged stool becomes a two-legged stool.” No one commented on this somewhat wobbly metaphor.

Southern Frontenac Community Services

David Townsend and Joan Cameron reported on the progress of the development of Grace Centre and the programs their agency provides to the community. Currently there are fifteen different programs for seniors: this year alone,they expect to help almost 1,000 different seniors in South Frontenac. In the area of Family Services, SFCS has served 100 individuals and families with housing assistance, food bank services and counseling. They asked for whatever support Council could provide,either in kind, or financial, and referred to the fact that Grace Centre would be subject to property taxes for the first time. Councillor Vandewal summed up the sentiments expressed by several others by saying, “If we can find a solution that works without opening the floodgates, we want to do it.” Councillor Stowe offered to talk further with SFCS staff to get more information about what help might be needed, before budget planning day (Nov 19).

Potentially Hazardous Ditch

In regard to recent ditching across the unopened road allowance south of Rutledge Road at the foot of Boundary Road, Council directed that the ditch should be filled, and a checkerboard sign erected to prevent traffic.

When is a Dog Like a Car?

In August, Councillor Naish had raised the question of whether it was appropriate to continue having the bylaw officers going door-to-door in Loughborough and Storrington in search of unlicensed dogs. In September, the issue was referred to the Corporate Services Committee, which considered it in the light of how a driver’s license works: late renewals still have to pay a full year, as well as a penalty. The committee felt that not enforcing the dog licensing by-law near the end of the year would only encourage dog owners to try to get away without paying. Councillor Naish said he didn’t think it was fair to compare licensing a dog to licensing a car, but agreed that it seemed the wish of Council to continue seeking unlicensed dogs. CAO Orr’s report noted that the door-to door review was being conducted in order to create a database of current dog owners: a similar review will be conducted in the other two districts next year. The program is structured to be self financing: there is no cost to the township.

New Staff Position Proposed

Council received the recommendation of the Corporate Services Committee, to include a permanent full time position in the 2012 operating budget to fulfill the responsibilities of facility and solid waste management.

Photo: A Spooktacular Halloween party at RKY

A great kids’ Halloween party took place at the RKY camp in Parham on Oct. 29. Put on by the District 4 Hinchinbrooke Recreation Committee with the help of staff at RKY camp and student volunteers, the campgrounds were completely transformed into a ghoulishy spooky haunted playground that had the 60 costumed attendees screaming in frightful glee. The arts and crafts building was transformed into a haunted house with strobe-lit cobwebs with every kind of terrifying Halloween bauble hanging from the rafters. It housed a live coffined ghoul, a hook-handed pirate, and a hidden grim reaper who clawed at unsuspecting visitors’ legs as they passed by. Those who dared enter shrieked in delight and many even returned for a second scare. The party included a guided haunted walk through the surrounding forest. Inside the main dining hall snacks and beverages were served and party goers enjoyed various activities including a coloring contest, pumpkin and cup cake decorating and multiple costume contests with prizes for the winners. For a final treat the costumed mob made their into the dark night to five of the camper cabins each inhabited by costumed staff who offered treats to all who came knocking. Bob Teal, who chairs the committee, said the rec. committee and the RKY staff put in numerous hours to treat local kids to a memorable party. Rhonda Vincent, the food services manager at the camp, said the idea of holding a Halloween party at the camp came to her one fall when she was working at the camp all alone and was completely spooked out. “I thought it would be a great place for the rec committee to have their annual Halloween party and they got on board last year when it was held here for the first time.”

Camp Director Christina Bonner, who is new to the camp this year, said she is pleased to offer up the camp for free to the community for this kind of special event. “Local kids often don't have an opportunity to come to the camp, so putting on events like this gives them a chance to come out and enjoy it.” She said the camp would also be hosting events for the upcoming Frontenac Heritage Festival, so those who missed the opportunity to visit this Halloween will be invited back in February. Hats off to all of the volunteers and staff who helped make this Halloween a memorable one for many local youngsters.

Anne Prichard, the executive director of the Frontenac Community Development Corporation (FCFDC), has been walking on egg shells all summer. While the corporation has continued to offer its core services this year, including providing advice and help with business plans as well as financing for business ventures in Frontenac County, it has been waiting for the next phase of the Eastern Ontario Development Program (EODP) to come through to enable the FCFDC to have a direct impact on the Frontenac County business community.

While funding for the $10 million program, which is divvied up between the 15 Community Futures Corporations in Eastern Ontario, has been guaranteed on a multi-year basis, the 2011 allotment has been waiting while Industry Canada worked to re-design the criteria for the program.

As it turns out, Prichard was on vacation in Thailand when the EODP funding announcement came through early this week, but she is back now and her agency is raring to go to bring funding for community innovation, collaborative, and business development projects.

A series of meetings are scheduled throughout the county next week (Monday on Wolfe Island, Wednesday in Sharbot Lake, Plevna and Sydenham, and Thursday in Arden) for businesses, not-for-profit corporations and municipalities to learn the details of the program. (see ad on page 5)

The first application deadline for proposals will follow only a few days later, on Monday, Nov. 14, but there will be application deadlines in December and the following months as well.

Information has been released at frontenaccfdc.com under the Services banner about the first round of applications, which will include the Community Innovation and Business Development Programs.

Not-for-Profit corporations are eligible for up to 100% grants, totaling a maximum of $100,000 and private businesses are eligible for 50% of costs, also up to a total of $100,000. Under the Community Innovation program, funding is available for community-based economic development projects, research projects, marketing and promotional activities, tourism events, export and trade initiatives, facilitation or hosting of seminars/workshops and small scale construction or projects/physical works.

Under the Business Development Program, funding is available for business plans/expansion plans, marketing strategies, feasibility studies, strategic plans, research and development initiatives, internship/job placement (12 months max), trade show attendance, incremental on the job training, business and trade opportunity development, marketing projects, innovation projects, knowledge-based economy studies and plans, innovative web enhancements, creation of new websites, e-commerce, e-learning platforms, GIS applications, customized software, telecommunications improvements, broadband and internet access.

Application criteria will be released next Monday, Nov. 7.

For further information, contact the FCFDC at 613-372-1414.

In 1996, as he still is today, Mike Procter was running the Adult Protective Services Program for Northern Frontenac Community Services (NFCS).

A number of the people he was working with at the time were facing the loss of ARC Industries, which provided many people with intellectual disabilities a job and a place to go every day for programming.

“The Community Drop-In was set up to give people a place to go, something to do once a week,” recalled Procter last Wednesday morning as he pulled a large pot of potatoes off the stove at the Anglican Church Hall.

With a bit of money from both NFCS and Community Living - North Frontenac, and the foundation of a partnership with the Anglican Church in place, the Community Drop-In, a weekly community lunch on offer to anyone with $2 in their pocket and an empty belly, got its start.

Fifteen years later it costs $4 for a meal, but for that price the Drop-In volunteers prepare a fresh, hot meal. Last week it was meatloaf, mashed potatoes and carrots, coffee and juice, followed by cake.

“There is no one in charge here,” said Mike Procter, “we all help out, and are able to feed everyone who shows up, if it is 15, 25 or 30.”

A number of people from all walks of life in Sharbot Lake come out for a meal on occasion, along with some of the people that Mike Procter works with on a daily basis, as well as Community Living clients and staff.

In addition to the weekly meals, the Drop-In has organized trips, and has been able to help the Anglican Church keep the kitchen going in their hall with the purchase of new stock pots, a stove and a vacuum cleaner.

The Drop-In has also donated to local causes on occasion, including a $150 donation to the Sharbot Lake Legion to help pay for their new septic system.

The Community Drop-In operates without funding support, based entirely on the efforts of the people who come out every week. The price may have to go up again in the coming months or years as food prices rise, but the Community Drop-In will still be the cheapest, and friendliest, lunch in town every Wednesday.

Strategic Plan for South Frontenac

In the summer, council worked with a facilitator to develop a strategic plan for the Township. Council reviewed the summary document, which contains Mission, Vision and Strategic Directions, and agreed it should be brought to the next meeting to be adopted, so timelines could be set, and further direction for implementation be given to staff. In summary, the five strategic directions were: 1)Develop a policy framework for managing growth, the planning process and the demand for services, 2) Develop a plan for managing assets included a consolidated capital plan, 3)Develop and implement a communications plan, 4) Develop along-term plan to manage human resources, 5)Improve governance and processes. Once adopted, the full document will doubtless be posted on the website (see #3 above).

2012 Budget

When approving the last budget,Council directed staff to bring the 2012 budget forward in time for approval in 2011. In spite of the need to orientate a new treasurer, and the fact that some information will not yet be available from other agencies (eg. Ministry and County funding and Conservation and OPP costing), Council agreed that it should still be possible to complete the 2012 budget before the new year. They have suggested a full-day Saturday meeting may be necessary. Mayor Davison reminded Council that when deciding what would constitute a reasonable amount of growth, it was essential to remember that the percentage of increase in the budget was not the same amount as the property tax increase.

Other Items

Deputy Mayor Tinlin, who chairs the Police Services Board, distributed a sample of an eight-page information flyer published by another detachment. The PSB has recommended this would be an excellent means of communicating information about police services to the public. Council agreed to include supporting a portion of the cost of a one-time publication in their budget discussions.

A letter from the Verona Community Association expressing ‘concern about the current condition of the Verona cemetery’ led to a more general discussion of township cemeteries, which are all South Frontenac services. Mayor Davison noted that as such, their regulations and fees should be consistent across the township. In response to the suggestion that perhaps the cemetery boards should be amalgamated, Councillor Vandewal noted “It’ll go as smooth as SF recreation, but worse.”

In response to a request from the Nature Conservancy of Canada, which has purchased the former Hewlett-Packard property in Loughborough/Storrington areas, Council reaffirmed their long-standing policy to not close and sell unopened road allowances leading to waterfronts.

Green, Nancy Matte

Liberal, Bill MacDonald

New Democratic Party,  Dave Parkhill

Progressive Conservative, Randy Hillier

Green

Nancy Matte – In it for the long run

Nancy Matte says that bad policies last for a long time, so politicians need to look at the big picture before making decisions.

“I'll give you an example,” she said. “The school boards decided to ban junk food from school cafeterias, which sounded like a good idea, but you know what happened? It created a black market for junk food. Students are bringing cases of pop to school and selling it from their lockers, which is pretty clever of them, but this isn't the outcome that the school boards were looking for,” she said.

The solution she proposes is to work towards providing healthy, local food choices in schools at better prices by expanding programs like the Good Food Box, which provides a selection of vegetables and fruits for a good price.

“The students are telling me that they can't afford the healthy choices in the schools, so we need to get the farmers involved. Everything needs to be looked at together, not in isolation.”

Matte says that the Green Party is very much committed to making changes by reallocating resources, not by increasing budgets in major service areas such as education and healthcare.

“Education savings can be found by eliminating the standardized testing agency, the EQAO (Education Quality Assurance Organization) and its $30 million annual budget, as well as related agencies that have sprung up along with it for a total savings of $100 million.”

Similarly, the Local Health Health Integration Networks (LHINS) that oversee much of the heath care in the province, are something she says is “a good theoretical concept that somehow lost its way.”

For Nancy Matte, the current election campaign has been a learning experience par excellence.

“Every day, at every meeting, at every door, I've learned more and more,” she said.

This is Matte's first political experience and she said she considers herself a long-term candidate, and is casting her eye towards future elections.

She graduated from the University of Ottawa in the early '90s, with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology with a focus on public policy and public administration. The mother of three daughters, she has been a stay at home mom for 14 years, and she has also worked with her husband on a small, home-based business since 2001. With her youngest child entering full-time schooling this fall, she began casting around for a job opportunity this past summer, and when politics and the Green Party came calling she answered.

“I have lots of experience behind me, with three long-time party members running my campaign” she said, “I have never done any public speaking before, but people have been very encouraging Some of the divisiveness at all-candidates’ meetings has thrown me off a bit, but what I say is that I don't want to keep fighting about what went wrong in the past; I want to talk instead about what can be done in the future.”

It is the message of the Green Party, as captured in the five-point plan that the party is promoting with the “It's Time” publication, that Nancy Matte turns to at every opportunity.

“Whenever I see someone pick up the brochure I feel that one other person is being brought to our message, and that in itself is encouraging,” she said.

The five-point Green Party Plan includes: Creating jobs for a 21st century economy; harnessing safe, affordable energy to power communities; feeding communities by championing stronger local farms; providing access to quality, sustainable healthcare close to home; and developing government that works for people.

This all must be done, according to Nancy Matte, without increasing department budgets.

“It is not sustainable to increase budgets and raise taxes or go further into debt. We must spend smarter and not make decisions about one department or one service in isolation. Government needs to take a holistic approach.”

Liberal

Bill MacDonald – Better representation

Bill MacDonald is no stranger to multi-tasking. He spent 18 years in municipal politics, including three terms as mayor of Central Frontenac Township and two one-year stints as warden of Frontenac County. During all those years he continued to run his logging business and an educational supply business as well.

When he was not re-elected in the 2006 municipal election in Central Frontenac he barely missed a beat. He jumped into the Liberal riding association in LFL&A and sought the nomination five months later, a contest he narrowly lost to Ian Wilson.

That was in December of last year, and MacDonald has been on the campaign trail ever since, knocking on doors across the riding throughout the summer and into the writ period.

“The issues that people have been talking to me about at their doors have still been pretty local, but one big difference between provincial and municipal politics is the number of groups and organizations that have a stake in provincial politics,” he said.

One of the themes that he has returned to often during this campaign has been his contention that for the last four years there has been a lack representation at Queen's Park from Mr. Hillier, specifically as far as bringing provincial money to projects in the riding is concerned.

“To me, this election is all about representation,” he said. “I think that, particularly in Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Counties, that has been sorely lacking. We haven't had a voice speaking to the provincial table. The Liberal government has been spending money on infrastructure, and we need an MPP who is willing to go to bat for projects in the riding. We have the worst section of Highway 7 in the entire province running through our riding, and we need an MPP who is going to work hard on that.”

He also sees opportunities for the riding that could come from the Green Energy Act, should the Liberal Party be returned to power on October 6.

“I've seen solar panels everywhere as I drive around he riding, that is economic activity in our riding that would not have happened if it weren't for the Green Energy Act. And there are more opportunities. But someone would have to sit down with the Minister of Energy, Brad Duguid, to talk about the capacity in Smiths Falls and Napanee to put in manufacturing plants for solar inverters or other industrial possibilities related to Green Energy. Instead of working to create jobs in the riding, Randy Hillier voted against every job creation initiative for the entire four years he has been the LFLA MPP,” he said.

MacDonald also believes that provincial policies can and should be applied differently in different parts of the province, which is something he pushed in his municipal career, both as part of the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus and through direct contact with provincial politicians.

“I remember sitting down with Leona Dombrowsky at an AMO [Association of Municipalities of Ontario] meeting when she was Minister of the Environment. She asked me about the Clean Water Act and rural Ontario, and I told her we need different rules for different parts of the province, and the legislation was altered.”

Bill MacDonald stands by the Liberal Party record in rural Ontario and in the changes that have been made to the education system.

“When the Liberals came to power in 2003, education was a mess. Now, high school graduation is up to 80%, and we are ranked in the top ten in the entire world,” he said. “I want to be the MPP for this riding to continue making that kind of progress” he said.

New Democratic Party

Dave Parkhill – Committed to social services

Dave Parkhill comes to the LFL&A election with pretty good credentials for an NDP candidate. He is the chief steward in the union local of the Frontenac County Paramedics; is a vice chair of the regional OPSEU labour council; and has worked with the Canadian Labour Congress on their pension campaign. As the father of two children with autism spectrum disorder he became involved with health, education and social services in Kingston, first as a parent seeking services for his children, and later as an advocate for others. He also became involved as a volunteer board member at a number of agencies, including Pathways for Children and Youth, Community Living Kingston, and Extend -a-Family.

In his professional life as a full time paramedic, he has a detailed insider’s view of how at least one segment of health services operates.

When the idea of running for the NDP in LFL&A was presented to him, he was ready and willing to give it shot.

“Since I was in my mid-20s it's always been in the back of my mind that I'd like to run. I got a call on a Saturday asking if I would consider running, and the next day I met with some people from the association. It was an easy decision for me. One thing I would say, however, is that it would be better in the future to have more lead time before an election,” he said.

That being said, Dave Parkhill said he is having a great time travelling the riding and meeting people during the campaign.

“I'm really surprised at the folks who are feeling left behind in one way or another, and I'm happy to bring their issues to the campaign,” he said.

One of the aspects of the NDP platform that he feels strongly about is the commitment to cut out the Local Health Integration Network, a policy that is shared by the Progressive Conservative Party.

“But our rationale is a bit different. My problem with the LHINs in particular is that they are basically a buffer level of bureaucracy for the government between the Ministry of Health and local providers. We can cut out layers of red tape and make government directly accountable for the services they are funding. The regional offices of the Ministry of Health are still there.”

He also feels that the downloading of provincial services to municipalities, which he witnessed first hand in his professional life as a paramedic based at Parham and Ompah for 21 years, is a particular hardship for Eastern Ontario.

“Eastern Ontario was really hit when the downloading of roads and other services took place under the Conservatives. It's one thing for a road with hundreds of houses per kilometre to be downloaded, and a whole other story for one with five houses per kilometre to be downloaded. The cost per person is much, much higher, and that pushes property taxes up and service levels down,” he said. “And when it comes to ambulance, you end up with situations like the one in Denbigh, where county budgets take precedence over provincially mandated services.”

Ultimately, issues, such as those addressed at a round table meeting with social service providers in Carleton Place as part of the election campaign, are the kind that motivate Dave Parkhill most directly.

“It is stuff that I care about so deeply,” he said. “There were people there who are working to alleviate violence against women; there were addiction services, poverty action groups, and many others. That was exactly what I want to be doing; that's why I got into politics. We have poverty in this riding, I've seen it for years as a paramedic and it is time we talked about as part of the political process.”

Progressive Conservative

Randy Hillier – Getting government off our back

While other candidates talk a lot about what their party would do for you if elected, Randy Hillier has been pushing his own party to do less. One of the biggest promises that he makes is that a Conservative government will take a good hard look at the work of boards and agencies under its control, and at the regulations those boards and agencies enforce.

“Those that work for Ontarians, we will keep,” he said, “those that need fixing, we will fix, and those that are no good, not in the interest of Ontarians, we will eliminate.”

Another commitment that he makes is to continue fighting for property rights.

“If the government hinders you in the use of your land, for environmental reasons, or to save a shrike or some other endangered species, there should be full compensation paid.”

These kinds of policies are ones that Randy Hillier was expounding as a political activist with the Lanark Landowners Association before he entered provincial politics in 2006, and he has been able to inject a number of them into the Conservative Party platform for this election.

If the party strays too far from policies that Hillier considers are in the interest of the residents of LFL&A, he said he would side with his constituents.

“I represents the citizens of Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington to the government, not the other way around. If there is a conflict, I will side with the citizens, every time,” he said.

That being said, Hillier also said he is “very confident and supportive of Tim Hudak's leadership of the party.”

He does not have much confidence in the Liberal government, however, and was ejected from the house three times over the last four years for defying parliamentary protocol, once for 10 days when he staged a sit-in to protest the adoption of the harmonized sales tax.

He is particularly critical of the current regime’s policies in regards to rural Ontario.

“The Liberal government has done an exceptionally poor job of recognizing the problems of rural Ontario, and has done a poor job with our economy. All of the provinces faced the recession but only Ontario slipped into the status of a have-not province, needing compensation from places like Newfoundland and Saskatchewan,” he said.

Referring to the “Anatomy of Risk”, a study published in 2003 that foresaw a rapid decline in rural Ontario communities, particularly those located 100 kilometres or more from major urban centres, Hillier says that Liberal government initiatives such as the Smart Growth Act, the Provincial Policy statement and the Clean Water Act “have the fingerprints of the report all over them; they seek to turn rural Ontario into a park.”

“The Anatomy of Risk is based on a false premise,” he added. “Where are all the resources that we harvest to bring in wealth? They are not in the cities, but in rural Ontario.”

According to Randy Hillier, a combination of high-energy prices and unnecessary regulations have killed productive sectors of the rural economy, with a case in point being the forestry industry.

“Two things that have hindered that industry most have been electricity costs and the uncertainty of timber allocations, and both of those can be fixed,” he said.

“Our energy policy should be an economic policy, instead of a social experiment policy, as it is now. Businesses are closing or not expanding because of energy costs, particularly electricity costs that rose as the result of the misguided Green Energy Act.”

In terms of his work in the local riding, Hillier said that his office has been able to represent a number of local business owners who have faced hurdles coming from the province.

“That's a major part of a MPP’s job,” he said.

In terms of government investments in the riding for things like road projects, hospitals and schools, he said, “I do my best but I don’t have the decision-making authority to decide what projects get funded. Our biggest obstacle is the ingrained view that there are more votes in urban Ontario than rural Ontario. My experience tells me that this government is only motivated by money or embarrassment.”

Photo: Pony rides were a favorite activity this year, l-r, Valerie, Nathan, Jacob, Mema and Kailey

Northern Frontenac Community Services treated hundreds in the community to an afternoon of fun at Oso beach on August 18. It was their second annual Fun Day and attendees enjoyed a wide range of activities, live musical entertainment and a free BBQ lunch. All of the staff at NFCS were on hand volunteering their services.

Executive director NFCS Don Amos took a break from flipping burgers and told me that the event is an opportunity to thank all of the community who both support the organization and also use their services. “This year is our 36th year as a social services agency and we would not exist without those in the community who use our services - so this is our thank you to them.”