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Feature Article - May 10, 2007Tory nominee brings LFL&A province-wide attention
by Jeff Green
On June 10, at the Lions Hall in Verona, the LFL&A Ontario Liberal riding association will choose either Ian Wilson and Bill MacDonald as their candidate in the provincial election that is slated for October 10th.
The selection will not likely be the subject of editorial comment in the Toronto dailies, as was the selection of their main opponent by the LFL&A Conservative party this past Saturday in Perth, Randy Hillier.
Randy Hillier defeated Brent Cameron and Jay Brennan on the first ballot to win the nomination. In his nomination speech he took dead aim against the Liberal Party, saying the government’s present path is “leading to the Liberal destruction of rural Ontario.”
An advocate of what he termed the “rural revolution” in his days as leader of the Ontario Landowners’ Association, Hillier has come to the attention of the urban media for a presumed bias against urban Ontario.
He denies this bias, telling the News in an interview this week, “they say I am against urban and everything that is good and liberal. I’m not against urban people. I just don’t think they should tell rural people how to carry on their business.”
Hillier does not only advocate for smaller government, he advocates for less government regulation, regulations that he says have had a major impact in rural Ontario. Although his opposition to the Clean Water Act, marketing boards, the Species at Risk Act, and land trusts are well known, Hillier’s disdain for government regulations extends further.
A case in point, he says, is the Hershey’s plant in Smiths Falls, which is closing down later this year, throwing 500 people out of work in a town of 9,000.
“It wasn’t just one thing that made Hershey’s decide to leave, but remember what happened last year when they found contaminated lecithin had been delivered to the plant. Hershey’s found it, they closed the plant, they cleaned it up, but then they had to wait another four weeks, with government inspectors running through the plant, before they could open. That cost them $14 million. Add that to Occupational Health and Safety costs, WSIB costs, and you go on and on.
“Hershey’s never asked to negotiate before leaving. They could see nothing that government could do to make them stay. So they left.”
When asked how he will handle the compromises that will be necessary as a member of a party that has been in government and is responsible for some of the regulations he says are choking rural Ontario, Randy Hillier said “I don’t like the word compromise, it is used as an excuse to stop seeking solutions to problems. I have this complete faith that sensible and reasonable people will find solutions.”
In the past few months, he has been travelling around the riding, learning about some issues that he says he never heard about living in Lanark County. One of those is the Pine Lake development in North Frontenac, an issue that is familiar to readers of the News.
While he does not want to wade directly into the issue, Randy Hillier did say, “There should be one justice system for all. The more you look at these things, it comes down to realising that when you create privileges you create problems, even if in this case it is to deal with a previous wrong. It shouldn’t have taken generations to restore a previous wrong, but creating special privileges will solve nothing.”
He favours dealing with Algonquin rights through a land transfer. “If they want their own community, their own land base, they should have it, and they should be allowed to do with their land what they wish.
Another matter of interest to people in North Frontenac, and much of the riding as well, is mining rights. Hillier said “the Crown ought to make subsurface rights available to surface rights owners at a reasonable market value, to put thing to rights.”
While this position has been taken by mining action groups throughout the riding, they have had little luck convincing either Liberal or Conservative governments to take any action in this direction.
Here again, Hillier says it is simply a matter of finding solutions based on “sense and reason. Politicians are fearful of controversy; they have become puppets of the bureaucracy, spending their time helping people get birth certificates or health cards. This will have to change.”
What Hillier would not do, is speculate as to his potential role in a conservative government. He did say that he has talked to some of the other rural candidates, and has found sympathy for his views, although as far as he knows he is the only member of the Ontario Landowners’ Association who will be running.
Randy Hillier will be holding public meetings throughout the riding this summer.
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Feature Article - May 3, 2007Letters to the Editor
Global warming works for me
Having celebrated yet another birthday recently, I couldn't help but compare the weather with that of past birthdays. When I was a little girl, my birthday parties always got rained on. We were forced inside by cold rain and chilling winds, most unkind to little bare legs. I used to wish for warm sunny days on my birthday, but never got one single sunny birthday for over 40 years, no matter where I was, Ontario or elsewhere. So you can blame me for global warming ’cause now my wish has come true. For the past two years, in fact, I have had lovely warm sunny days to celebrate the milestone of another year on Planet Earth.
But seriously, with all the talk, do we really know what is causing global warming or climate change? The arguments have raged for years but only now are in the limelight, a frequent topic in the news or talk shows after the recent release of the UN International Panel on Climate Change report.
There seem to be two main camps in the debate: one side says it is yet another cycle in the many cycles of Mother Nature; others say it is a man-made phenomenon, caused by our careless, extravagant consumption of fossil fuels and other toxic substances. Some people say it is some combination of both which may or may not involve divine retribution for our ways. A fourth point of view, seldom considered, is that at least some of this unusual weather is man-made, not accidentally but deliberately in order to control the weather and use it as a weapon. Search terms such as "weather modification" and "weather warfare" on the Internet and you will find ample articles and compelling evidence.
It is beyond the scope of this letter to even begin to get into the physics and politics of such a concept. It is so repugnant and far-fetched to most people that just the suggestion that such a thing is real is too much.
If you know how to use Google and other search engines, the Internet can be a very useful library. Here are a few more terms to get you started: HAARP; ionospheric heaters; Professor Gordon J. F. MacDonald; Thomas Bearden.
Jennifer Tsun
Re: “Frontenac County to buy K&P Trail in Central Frontenac” April 26 2007.
Members of Central Frontenac council need to be reminded they are elected to represent all the constituents of this township and not a select few. I find it ridiculous to accept the statement that a surprise phone call was placed to Central Frontenac Township with the offer of funding from grant monies, to proceed with the purchase of the lands from Bell Canada from Piccadilly to Tichborne. Was the mayor of this township asleep at the county meetings when this particular line of strategy was being formulated or does she simply suffer from lapses of memory? Now it appears the strings are pulled a different way, in that the county will now purchase. At any rate, considering the motion put forth by council and duly approved, I suggest the mayor and council now tender their resignations as they are not fulfilling their duties as representatives of the entire township.
The saga of the purchase of this corridor has taken as many turns as the route of the line itself. Mr. Knapp and company had it all signed, sealed and delivered a number of years ago after making so called well-documented presentations to the Interministerial Committee (IMC) of the Ontario Government. After the IMC became aware of the problems existing on this corridor and acting on the advice given by their researchers, the entire project was dropped. The Cataraqui Conservation Authority was an eager participant in the previous attempt. It appears they are jumping in with both feet again. I assume the Cataraqui Trail is still in debt and I further ask the question “Who actually owns the Cataraqui Trail (Trans Canada Trail)?" The Trans Canada Trail has relinquished all titles to the corridors they so earnestly coveted in the Prairie Provinces, the reason being they were too expensive to maintain.
However, this is not the bone of my contention at this point in time. Council only heard one presentation and therefore one side of the story. I strongly object to a mayor and council who did not have the courage, the courtesy nor the decency to give the people of this township the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to voice their concerns before accepting in principle something that could prove detrimental to many.
- Frances Thurlow, secretary, Frontenac Landowners
Re: Frontenac County to buy K&P Trail in Central Frontenac, April 26, 2007
Here we go again. It seems that the dirt-bike and ATV lobby found a friendly ear somewhere else. After their unworkable plan came off the rails in Central Frontenac, they have obviously hoped to do an end-run through the County. As landowners adjacent to the former K&P, our family had hoped to enjoy the coming summer like all other citizens. It looks like we’ve got work ahead.
Let’s be clear on the issue. Plans to run a year-round, around the clock, motorized gravel strip within yards of our homes, past our farms, livestock, and cottages is completely unacceptable to adjacent landowners. This is not about a “multi-use” trail. Snowmobilers already have access to hundreds of kilometres of negotiated trail in the area. Hikers have two provincial parks and three conservation areas. Bicyclists have endless back-country roads and cross-country skiers cannot ski on a snowmobile track. Who really wants this? A handful of dirt-bike and ATV riders.
Some elected officials seem to have fallen prey to absurd, and unsubstantiated, claims of economic spin-off arising from a motorized track. Even if this was true and it is not it would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. How does devaluating millions of dollars of property, ruining people’s homes, cottages and farms, and subjecting citizens to endless trespass, noise and environmental pollution lead to economic development? It’s worse in this scenario. Peter loses his shirt, Paul gets the bill.
I hope Frontenac County did their homework. Pushing ahead with a motorized track means that they will become caught in challenges to an illegal transfer of un-surveyed land, be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in fencing costs, face environmental assessments to remediate creosote-soaked lands, pay enormous liability and insurance bills, be subject to lawsuits for property loss-of-use, face zoning challenges at the Ontario Municipal Board and be called to account for inappropriate use of infrastructure funding.
A $289,000 grant was received to improve infrastructure. Are there not roads, bridges, waste management systems, community centres and parks that could use the money? Hope you enjoy your summer. We simply cannot, too much is at stake.
Bill Murnighan
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Feature Article - May 3, 2007My War
by Ina Turner
Outside my window the clouds are dark gray and full of snow. It reminds me of the day that I lost my mother for a time.
The year was 1943 in Amsterdam, Holland and there was no more food in the city. Reluctantly, my mother was forced to send me away to the countryside where farmers were being paid to take care of the starving children.
I was her last child to be sent away, my brothers and sisters having gone before me. We stand there silently waiting for the truck that will pick us up, surrounded by German soldiers with rifles on their shoulders. Why they are guarding us is a mystery to me, as we are just a few children with mothers too beaten down to put up any kind of a fight. Finally, the truck arrives and we are loaded in like cattle, our meagre belongings in bags or small suitcases. My mother, who until that time has been almost stoic in her demeanor, starts to cry. Not the loud sobs that one associates with crying, but large tears slowly running like rivulets down her face. At that time it hits me that I may never see my mother again and I jump off the truck to throw my arms around her one last time. "Mammy, mammy," I yell. "Please let me stay, I'll be good, I promise. I won't eat much."
Now we both cry in earnest, until a soldier comes over to gently separate us. He lifts me into the truck to take my allotted seat again beside my suitcase. The last glimpse I have of my mother as they close the truck doors is an old looking woman in a brown threadbare coat, crying as the heavy snowflakes start to fall, like frozen tears from heaven.
In May 1945 the war was over and we kids who were refugees were returned to our families. Some of us were damaged beyond repair. Abuse takes many forms and it is amazing how many people will abuse just because they can.
It was a beautiful sunny day when I arrived at my home. All the long months of homesickness were finally over and I would see my beloved Mom again.
The first thing that hit me was how devastated our city was. After the nice clean country the city looked positively dirty. The bus driver had to make sure that we were delivered to the right addresses so as I banged on the door, he stood alongside me with my suitcase in hand. Finally the door opened and there was a completely strange woman who I did not recognize. She bore a faint resemblance to the mother I had left behind, a relative perhaps?
But when this strange woman threw her arms around me and kissed me and hugged me, I realized that she was indeed my mother. For one awful moment I wanted to turn around and run, because I could not visualize having to live with this person. Her face was heavily lined and wrinkled and it was clear that she too had suffered a great deal. After the door closed behind me, I realized that this was going to be a new stranger who was going to look after me. At least I had the assurance that this one would be kind.
It is always there, resting just beneath my subconscious. Is it real? Or is it something I make up? I know that I lived through the war and I remember seeing a man getting out of a taxi near the Kalverstraat with the top of his head shot off. I remember my father coming home in the middle of the night, only to leave again the following night under the cover of darkness. But is it real, or did I dream it?
I remember how I used to feel about my mother and how differently I felt after the war was over. My one time protector had been unable to protect me and it gave me a feeling of disassociation as well as a sense of freedom. I no longer was duty-bound to love her and now was free to either love or reject.
I remember the sirens going off at any time to warn of approaching planes, potentially carrying bombs. I also remember the Jews being rounded up. We lived in a Jewish neighbourhood and were witnesses to a lot of the atrocities. I remember the Nazis humiliating people in the Vondel Park, the soldier ripping the Star of David off the man's coat and then slapping him with his open palm. Did I actually see a German soldier grab a baby out of his mother's arms and dash it against the side of the house or did I dream that? In the annals of time, this will eventually be forgotten. Other wars and other atrocities will take over and I have heard it said that whoever wins gets to write history.
Once all the survivors of the Second World War are gone, the story might read differently. But I was there and even I am no longer sure of what was real and what are nightmares.
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Feature Article - May 3, 2007Relay for Life
byMike Procter
On April 12, 1980, Terry Fox dipped his leg into the Atlantic Ocean at St. John’s, Newfoundland as he began his world famous Marathon of Hope. His plan to run across Canada was cut short 143 days later, after completing about half of the distance, when he was forced to abandon his quest. In a recent public opinion poll, Terry was voted the most famous Canadian of the 20th century and was voted number 2 on The Greatest Canadian list. Today Terry Fox is an inspiration to people around the world who annually celebrate his courage and determination to overcome cancer.
On June 1, hundreds of people from North and Central Frontenac and summer visitors from all over will spend a night in Parham to continue that same spirit of determination and hope that Terry began. Relay For Life raises money to aid in research, client services and education to help people live with cancer and eventually to find a cure. The non-competitive relay begins at 7pm with the Victory Lap - cancer survivors of all ages make the first lap of the track while being cheered on by their friends and neighbours. The Relay goes on rain or shine. At one recent Relay For Life a survivor walked the Victory Lap through the rain undaunted, saying, “Rain??? I’ve been through chemo - this is nothing.”
Throughout the night, team members take turns walking the track. At dusk, the luminaries, candles placed in special bags that are inscribed with a name or message to a loved one, are placed around the track and lit. They burn throughout the night, lighting the way for the walkers and providing inspiration to everyone. During laps, walkers often pause at the luminary of a loved one to remember, to pray and to cheer. Throughout the night there is continuous entertainment; singing, dancing, karaoke - after all, this is a celebration. Complimentary food is provided through the evening and a sunrise breakfast will be provided. Survivors who may feel they are too emotional to take part in the Victory Lap can simply come and watch or show up to see the lighting of the luminaries.
When organizers first considered having a Relay For Life in the area, they anticipated 15 teams would participate - to date, 31 teams are set to attend. This will truly be an event that Terry Fox would be proud of.
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Feature Article - June 14, 2007Wilson wins Provincial Liberal nominationby Jeff Green
Ian Wilson of Amherstview will carry the Liberal banner into this fall’s provincial election in the riding of Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (LFL&A). His main rival will be Perth’s Randy Hillier, the candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party.Wilson won a narrow victory at last Sunday’s nomination meeting at the Verona Lions Hall over Bill MacDonald of Sharbot Lake, in a 382-362 vote.
The two men conducted vigorous campaigns, each singing up 
over 500 members in the run up to the meeting.
Lanark Frontenac Lennox and Addington (LFL&A) is a new provincial riding, encompassing part of the Hastings Frontenac Lennox and Addington riding that is currently held by Liberal cabinet minister Leona Dombrowsky, and part of Lanark-Carleton, currently held by former Conservative cabinet minister Norm Sterling. With Dombrowski running in the new riding of Prince Edward Hastings, and Sterling in Carleton-Mississippi Mills, the riding of LFL&A is wide open.
“The nomination process was quite interesting,” Ian Wilson told the News when contacted on Monday morning after the selection meeting. “There were a lot of kitchen table conversations, a chance to connect or re-connect with a lot of people. I was very pleased with the outcome. It could have gone either way.”
Bill MacDonald, who is well known to Frontenac News’ readers as a councilor and deputy reeve in the former Oso township and as the mayor of Central Frontenac from 1998 until last December, said that while he had hoped for a different result, he was happy with the support that he did receive.
“Coming into this from a dead standstill position, with no experience at this level of promotion, and not having any infrastructure in place, I thought we did pretty darned well,” he said.
The association as a whole seems to have benefited from the contested race. At the outset, there were 49 members in the new Liberal riding association, and now there are 1079. According to riding association President Marlene Patton, the 744 people who took the trouble to truck out to Verona from as far away as Carleton Place represents the highest percentage turnout for any liberal association in the province thus far.
“These people will be a great resource in the coming election campaign,” said MacDonald.
Ian Wilson was a fixture at St. Lawrence College, where he was employed for 36 years, rising to the position of Dean of the School of Business. He was also involved in municipal government for many years, eventually serving as deputy reeve and reeve in Ernestown Tonwship (now part of Loyalist Township), and he served as warden of Lennox and Addington County before dropping out of municipal politics in 1994.
He has taken on major volunteer roles in the Kingston area over the years, including serving as Chair of the Board of Kingston General Hospital (KGH), founding Board Chair of the Kingston Area Recycling Corporation (KARC) and President of the Cataraqui Conservation Foundation.
His involvement as a civic leader in Kingston will be useful in the campaign, he believes, because of the role played by the institutions he has been involved with throughout the riding and because many of the larger communities in the riding are oriented to Kingston.
He cites KGH as an example. “KGH is the tertiary care facility for the Smiths Falls and Perth hospitals, and I became familiar with them through my involvement with KGH.” He also said that his work and volunteer experience has given him insight into the education and medical systems, as well as environmental issues. “These are three of the major provincial areas of responsibility, and I am comfortable addressing them.
Looking forward to the campaign, Wilson acknowledges that his main opponent, Randy Hillier, “has made himself a provincial presence through his work with the Lanark and then the Ontario Landowne’’s Association.” He also recognises that Hillier has drawn the attention of some senior Liberals, such as Health Minister George Smitherman, who seems intent on using Hillier as a wedge to draw urban votes away from the Conservative party. which could hurt the liberals in rural ridings.
Wilson does not think this will hurt his own chances in LFL&A. “There are a lot of people who have carried conservative cards that are not comfortable with Mr. Hillier’s positions. He has angered many farmers with his views on supply management for example. I can talk to those people and convince them that he is not the best thing for this riding.
“But I haven’t looked at any of the details of his positions. At this point I’ve only been reading the media coverage. I’m sure he has some positive things to say, and I look forward to hearing them.”
Before the election campaign begins in earnest in September, Wilson is looking forward to travelling the riding this summer. “It is important to hear what people are concerned about. I want to work for the people in this riding, and if there are some policies that don’t fit I need to know about them.” Other Stories this Week View RSS feedCemetery
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Feature Article - 31, 2007Vandalism in Sydenham Cemetery
by Wilma Kenny
When I visited the Sydenahm cemetery after Friday night’s destruction, I saw that it stretches on and on, apparently random throughout.
No casual prank this, the scattered broken stones reflect malice, deliberation and intensity. I briefly wondered what combination of stupidity, drunkenness and alienation would bring people to this.
Then I came upon my great-great grandfather’s stone split and shattered, for it had been cut from the local, brittle limestone, and I no longer cared why.
Village reaction has been quick and strong. Although technically the stones are the property of the families that erected them, there is a powerful sense of community ownership, community violation that must be righted. Percy Snider, the cemetery’s caretaker, reports that people immediately began offering money for a reward.
The Loughborough District Firemen’s Association have agreed to join the mayor, a retired stonemason, to form a Saturday work party. They are also offering money toward the cost of the repair work.
Mayor Davison has announced a "substantial" award to anyone providing information leading to the arrest of the vandals. The Township number is: 613 376-3027, or the OPP can be contacted at 613 372-1932.
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Feature Article - June 28, 2007Letters to the Editor
It's right in my backyardGeorge White is misinformed on two main things: the legitimacy and position of local Native people AND the harmful effects of uranium mining. He appears to live in his own little world though he is quick to point out Randy Cota's conflict of interest as an OPP officer. He tells us he has sought legal advice but there's one big problem here that overrides this specific situation and the whole picture of Native land claims. Let me put it metaphorically. Suppose someone steals some goods and sells them to you.Then the rightful owner comes forward to claim the goods.Who gets the goods? What's more, who gets to decide who gets the goods?Is it the person who sold the stolen goods, the person who bought the stolen goods or the person who rightfully and originally owned the goods?
George White is not telling the truth about his deal with the “Sharbot Lake group”, as he calls them, and Doreen Davis, at least not according to Bob Lovelace, Harold Perry, Frank Morrison and others who were at the council meeting on Sunday.There the two Algonquin factions agreed to work together to oppose the uranium mine, period. George even has the nerve to say that he is working with the Algonquins to protect sacred burial grounds and to provide employment for local Natives.Which is all such total rubbish as to be unworthy of response.Yet he got to say so on national CBC radio! The only thing I agree with George on is the part about Randy Cota's conflict of interest as chief of AAFNA and OPP officer.I don't think it's right and I don't understand why Bob and Harold go along with this. An OPP should not be a Native chief in the first place, plain and simple.The OPP takes an oath to the Crown just like the lawyer does and therefore cannot serve two masters. Bob Lovelace is a very knowledgeable Algonquin historian. He was able to tell me that the uranium seam which runs from Kaladar to Snow Road does affect the watershed that flows into Tyendinaga territory. As far as I am concerned this matter does also concern the Mohawk people as well. George White is also in dreamland when he talks about the 50's.Is he not aware of the great struggle in northern Saskatchewan over uranium mining, the devastation to the people and the land and the recent flooding of the Cigar Lake Mine, October 2006? This mine was the largest single, most concentrated deposit of uranium in the world which Cameco (and shareholders, Cogema Resources Inc (37%)[fr], Idemitsu Uranium Exploration Canada Ltd. (8%)andTEPCO Resources Inc.) saw fit to mine with expensive robots since they know how very toxic radiation is. Scott Gemmill of Gemmill Sand and Gravel, says only 20 people oppose the mine but he doesn't know how many are for it in this community.I wish he'd pay for a good survey; he'd be in for a surprise. I'll bet I can name 20 off the top of my forgetful head who oppose uranium mining. I don't think we have time to wait for people who doubt the effects of radiation to get the picture.Don't we all have enough folks dying of cancer? Neither do we have time to wait for the resolution of Native land claims.The Ontario Algonquin land claim is a recently filed claim so it would be near the end of the line of over 800 claims before the Canadian courts, who of course have no real authority to settle these disputes in the first place.Meanwhile the ravaging of the land goes on and the media are as complicit as ever.That includes CBC, the best of the bad but still not good. Jenn TsunMore on Uranium
I am writing in response to an article in your paper on June 21 entitled “Frontenac Ventures Corporation Outlines Exploration Plans”. Statements attributed to George White, founder of FVC, in your article and some of those he made in a CBC radio interview on the morning of June 25 have given rise to some confusion in my mind.
In his radio interview he stated, to the best of my recollection, that seepage had leached uranium out of Precambrian rock (the type we have here) to a depth of 6 feet (2 metres) over the past 10,000 years. This presumably contributes to normal background radiation and is deemed “natural”. He is planning to dig up, crush and expose this rock. Information I have suggests that the average lifespan of a uranium mine is 12-15 years, lets be generous and say 20. He will do in 20 years to a 200-400 metre layer of rock what mother nature did to 2 metres in 10,000 years. This would be exposing the environment, according to my rather elementary math, to potentially 400 [m]/20[yr] divided by 2[m]/10,000[yr]=100,000 times the normal background radiation from this source. This seems like rather a lot. Perhaps it is not all released at once. We do know these tailings ponds remain strongly radioactive for many, many years after the mine closes. Help me out, here, George, what happens to all this radioactivity?
Core drilling, now. This is to be done with a 9/8 inch bit, which I assume will make a hole a bit over 1 inch wide, and 200-400 metres (roughly 600-1200 feet) deep. This will presumably go through aquifers as well as strata containing uranium and its highly radioactive decay products. Many of these are soluble. Water can move through a 1 inch hole, I’ve seen it happen. We live in an area of fractured bedrock. Up is not the only way for water and dissolved radioactive compounds to get out of these holes. Can you explain to me how capping is going to reliably keep these things in, and out of our ground water and our wells?
Tailings ponds, again. You indicated that tailings would be safely contained. How long are we talking about, here, George- 77,000 years, the half life of thorium, the principal radioactive isotope left after the uranium is taken away? Were you aware that these tailings containments have a rather discouraging tendency to release their contents by leaching, leaking or outright breach?
And did you tell us about radioactive dust, from rock crushing operations, and radioactive radon gas, released as ore is broken up, and quietly forever as thorium decays in tailings? And lung cancer rates from this? I personally think the people living around here might want to know about these things.
That company Cameco, which you described in your radio interview as having safe, world class mines- according to information I have, as recently as 1975 they and/or their parent company Eldorado were dumping tailings directly into Lake Wollaston in Saskatchewan, and in 1989 a spill occurred which released 2 million litres of radioactive, heavy metal containing fluid into this same lake. If these are environmentally “safe” mining practices, would you like to define “safe” for me, I don’t quite understand how you justify this term. Or perhaps this is as safe as it gets.
I’m really left wondering, George, whether we’re getting the whole story on this uranium mining thing. Perhaps you could set me straight.
Linda Harvey
Credit to othersThank You for the article entitled “Volunteers of the Year Honored in South Frontenac”. I'd like to give credit to others who deserve to be honored as much as me.
Preserving the history of Bedford and establishingan historical society could not become a reality without the help of others. Betty O'Connor's internet research is an inspiration and Bill's stories give a glimpse into the vastness of local history stored in the minds of settlers’ descendents. Nancy Jenkins, with Bedford roots, travels the roads of Bedford gathering photos and records of schools, etc. and Marty Humphrey and Sheila Simsstep in wherever there is a need.
Thanks gotoa multitude of others too large to list for their many contributions.
Recently the Bedford Historical Society established a research centre in the Bedford Community Hall at Glendower. It is open on Tuesdays,1pm 7pm June, July, and August. There is no charge.
Anyone wanting to visit or want a visit, contribute, or help preserve the history of Bedford can call 613- 273-7241. Photos are copied while you wait. - June Quinn
Do you ever wonder?
Do you ever wonder, do you ever ponder, why most folks never go to church except for weddings, baby dedications, and funerals? Some folks also go at Christmas time, and Easter.
Did you know - that God provides, food, clothes, housing, that new skidoo, four wheeler, 350 Ford truck, fishing tackle, sunflowers, Bell towers, chocolate, and everything else you can think of! All of these things come from God's green earth, the good earth God created because he loves us - that is, you and me. I see churches poorly attended and not supported - in this Denbigh area, for one; we have five churches in the area, churches that would love to have a lot more people show up for Sunday services. How about You? Do you think you could come out to one of these churches, next Sunday morning? The New Apostolic, Catholic, Free Methodist, Luthern, and United Churches around here need you to come and support them with your presence. You will be SURPRISED how your life will change for the better all round - mentally, physically, spiritually. Give God, and the Church itself, a chance. God can change your attiutude from “woe to me” to “THANK YOU, LORD” for what you have given to me and mine. God bless you all.
Donna Carr
A note from Dwain
A friend of mine was readin' in the paper that scientists have beenexperamentin' on jelly fishes - the big ones in the ocean that glows in the dark. The scientists took the gene that makes 'em glow an' put it into pigs. Now they've got pigs that glows in the dark.
But you just wait awhile folks, 'cause pretty soon we're all gonna be glowin'up here in the Frontenacs,if that uranium mine gets goin'.
Jeffy, I'm respondin' to yer recent interview with George White of Frontenac Ventures regardin’ the proposed exploration work for his uranium mine. Ya quotes'ol Georgeyas saying there are no environmental impacts fromdrilling andextractingcore samples. I'd like ta put in my two cents about one thing Georgey had ta say. Diamond drillin', as White said, goes into the earth for hundreds of meters. When it's finished yer left with a hole, hundredsof meters deep. They don't fill the hole in, they cap it. But there's stilla hole down there, under the cap - hundreds of meters deep. Now, when they drill a water well, they put in a casing ‘cause earth and fractured rock from drillin'the wellcould fall into the well and contaminate yer drinking water?
Now, if it's true you need a casing ta protect the water, would it not stand to reason that, when your drillin' fer uranium, and you leaves a hole, that dirt and fractured rock would fall into the hole? And, if there is uraniumin that dirt and fractured rock, is that not going to contaminate the water that's down there?Also, somewhere down those holes, is the water table. Would that dirtand fractured rock not pollute the water table?
I've heard that specialists who areinto uranium say that it has a unique effect on the water table. It can cause the water table to move up and down. So, now we've got holes, and I understand not just a few holes, but a dump truck load of holes, hundreds of meters deep. And, we have the water table, maybe moving up and down. Now, have you ever used a bottle brush? It seems to me that the water table could act just like a bottle brush. That same water would also move through the cracksand fishers in the rock,possibly carrying radiation - that is if there is uranium, down those holes. And Georgey seems ta think there is, or else why's he spendin' all that money drillin' holes that could be goin' into our water table?
Those same specialistssay it takes from four to six days for the water up here to reach theOttawa River. Now, that could be a good thing. Cause if it end up comin' out of the taps of the politicians in Ottawa, we might get rid of some of them.
The problem here is folks,that, on it's way to Ottawa, that water could end up in our wells. And, not only could it end up in our wells, it could end up in places like Almonte, CarletonPlace, Pakenhametc., etc.
Now, I'm just an 'ol coot, but I understand 'ol Georgey White is seventy-four. Maybe 'ol Georgey has been hangin' aroud to many uranium mines.
Dwain Scudder, A.K.A. Frank Morrison
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Feature Article - June 21, 2007Exploration drives a wedge into North Frontenac community
by Jeff Green
A group of North Frontenac residents, along with members of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Family Heads council, and local anti-mining activists, who are all concerned about the prospect of uranium exploration and mining in the township, were planning to have an organizational meeting this past Sunday at the Snow Road Hall.
The meeting turned into an open meeting when some other local residents arrived, people who consider the uranium project to be the most promising development in many years in terms of job creation and economic development.
From all accounts it was a heated meeting, with the people who support the exploration activity eventually walking out en masse.
The question of uranium exploration in North Frontenac contains a host of simmering issues: aboriginal land rights; economic development; surface versus mining rights; and ultimately the looming spectre of uranium contamination that could affect not only North Frontenac but a huge swath of land in Lanark County and beyond.
The issue was first raised publicly last fall, when some North Frontenac residents found that their land had been staked by prospectors and reacted in anger. Most of these residents have everything to lose and nothing to gain from this.
They had bought their land in order to build sanctuaries for themselves. Stakes and trenches, not to mention drills and rock crushers, are anathema to them. They then contacted people who have faced the same issues, such as the Bedford Mining Alert and the Citizens’ Mining Action Group (Tay Valley), and have received advice and support from these groups.
Meanwhile Frontenac Ventures Corporation has been quietly setting up shop at a rented building on the Robertsville mine site. They have hired local people, summer students, and some experts who have been staying in the area and spending money. They have deeper pockets than just about anyone else around, and many people expect that more money will be flowing to the community as exploration continues.
George White, founder of Frontenac Ventures, said earlier this week, “This is one of the poorest townships in Ontario, and mining is one of the best-paying industries.”
The live and let live attitude that has developed between the established multi-generational families and people who have moved into North Frontenac in search of peace, quiet, and rural charm, has been broken by this issue.
The fact that uranium is involved, and that the land in question is part of the Algonquin Land Claim, only makes the situation more complicated.
The history of uranium mining has been an abysmal one in terms of environmental impacts, at best. There are many horror stories about contaminated land and air, and dangerous effluent leaching into watersheds and being carried downstream.
The exploration phase as outlined by representatives from Frontenac Ventures, sounds benign, but those who oppose the project point to contamination in other jurisdictions even at the exploration stage.
Even Frontenac Ventures admits that uranium mining has caused major environmental damage, but they say it couldn’t happen now because regulations are much stricter. Guarantees must be in place, and companies must put money to safely close the mine in escrow before they so much as put a shovel to the ground. They also say this debate is premature, as they don’t even know if the resource is sufficient to justify mining.
Bob Lovelace, who represents the Family Head Council of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, used an analogy to address this issue: “If we had been lucky enough to know that a SARS patient was on a plane headed our way, would we ignore that information?” he asked.
Lovelace told the News that the Ardoch Family Heads Council has reviewed the issue carefully, and even though they prefer to support economic development and would be happy to share in the benefits a mine might bring, “we think the risk to the Ottawa Valley is too great. This is not a matter of sovereignty for us, it is a matter of stewardship.”
Sovereignty does play into this, however.
Frontenac Ventures has played by the rules as set out by the Mining Act in everything they have done thus far. In relation to the governments of Ontario and Canada, they are within their rights in pursuing their project. Only the fact that the title to the land they are exploring is unresolved and is subject to a land claim between Canada, Ontario, and the Algonquins puts their right to explore in any kind of doubt.
As we have explored at length in the pages of this newspaper, the Algonquin Land Claim is itself a tortuous issue, and it is into this issue that Frontenac Venture Corporation has become embroiled.
George White said this week that Frontenac Ventures is planning to negotiate with Chief Doreen Davis of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation, and writes of the Ardoch Algonquins (AAFNA) as a “radical group”.
AAFNA has sent a letter to Frontenac Ventures asking them to vacate their offices at the Robertsville mine site, and are planning to go to the site on June 28 to ensure that Frontenac Ventures is gone. They are planning a celebration at the site on the 29th, in honour of Aboriginal Protest Day.
George White said that he has given his students some vacation time, but vows to return to the site once the “radicals” are gone. He said he has not been contacted by anyone from the federal or provincial governments asking him to alter Frontenac Ventures’ plans in any way. He has talked to the OPP, who will be monitoring the planned events on June 28 and 29. There is no expectation of any trouble on those days.
There are a series of disputes and disagreements over the uranium project, and all of the competing interests will be impossible to reconcile. The simmering land claim dispute and fears over the impacts of a mine will not go away any time soon.
As an observer I would not want to wade into most of these debates. However, I would, and will be asking Frontenac Ventures for more detailed assurances that a uranium mine can be safely opened and closed in North Frontenac. Just saying that the regulations are stringent does not make me sleep easy. It would help if there were an example of a uranium mine, anywhere in the world, that has caused no lasting environmental damage.
That would be a start.
Palooza
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Feature Article - June 7, 2007Not just a fundraiser: the Relay for Life in Parham
by Jeff Green
The
first of what is to be an annual event at Prince Charles Public School
went off without a hitch last Friday Night as Verona area residents
flocked to the school to see student performers and adult bands for a
bbq, dance, and silent auction.
School Council President Nicki Gowdy was pleased with the outcome of he event.
“There were a lot of people whose kids are 23 or 24 now, that came out to the school for the first time in years. That was the kind of reaction we wanted. The school is central to the community, and we wanted to celebrate that,” she said. Other Stories this Week View RSS feedRelay
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Feature Article - June 7, 2007Not just a fundraiser: the Relay for Life in Parham
by Jeff Green
Claire
Macfarlane said she was “flabbergasted” by the success of the Relay For
Life event held at the Parham Fair grounds last weekend.
It was Macfarlane who brought the Relay for Life to the Central and North Frontenac Chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society, not knowing exactly how to pull off such a large scale event in a rural setting where there is no population centre to draw from.
“We could not have had a better group of volunteers,” Macfarlane said when contacted by the News this Monday, two days after the event had ended. “When they said they were going to do something, they just did it. No one else had to worry about it.”
The sheer numbers involved in the event are certainly impressive. A team of over 50 volunteers were recruited; about 320 participants spent the night at the relay (there were 32 teams averaging 10 people per team); six different musical groups showed up to perform; and in excess of $63,000 was raised for the Cancer Society.
All of this came from a community of 6,569 people spread over the two townships. The Cancer Society would be awash in money if they had attained the same ratios in some of the urban centres where Relay for Life events are well established.
For the participants, and for the volunteers, many of whom were working for weeks in advance organising the event before working up to 24 hours on the relay itself, there was much more to the Relay for Life than raising money.
The ubiquitous nature of the disease itself is part of the reason for this. The Relay for Life begins with a Survivors’ Walk. The reality of the struggle against cancer, the toll the disease takes on those who are facing it is brought home, and the fact that the Survivors are all friends and neighbours that the participants in the relay know well, brought the meaning of the evening home for everyone.
A couple of hours later, as the sun was going down on the fair grounds, the luminaries were lit. The luminaries are candles encased in paper bags, but each bag is purchased, for a nominal fee, in honour of a cancer survivor or someone who has died from the disease. A lone piper leads the walkers around the track, passing each luminary along the way. Unlike the luminarias that burn on events such as Christmas Eve, the candles at the Relay for Life burn all night, lighting up the track and the name written on the bags. As people took their turns walking around the track throughout the night, they had a chance to glance over as they walked, to see the names of loved ones, of people they once knew but lost track of, or of those they never knew personally but know their son or daughter.
Aside from the poignant aspects of the relay that was exemplified by the Survivors’ Walk and the luminaries, the bulk of the evening and night was spent visiting, eating, laughing, and listening to music. With campsites set up all around the track for the various teams, the atmosphere was that of an overnight community picnic, with team members dressed up especially for the occasion.
All of the organisation in the world would have gone for naught if the weather hadn’t co-operated. The situation looked quite dire in the late afternoon, as thunder, lightning and a deluge of rain came down just hours before the scheduled start time of the relay at 7 pm. Ominously, as the rain poured down, fire trucks rushed out of the adjacent fire hall, sirens blazing, en route to a house fire at the Bush residence near Tichborne, the victim of a lightning strike.
Skies cleared and volunteers had just enough time to dry the stage and sound system before the start of the event.
Even though the forecast called for more rain throughout the night, only a couple of light showers materialised, not enough to dampen any of the enthusiastic participants.
“Everyone had a really good time,” Claire Macfarlane recalls, “and people have already been talking to me about next year.”
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