Oct 9/08 - Meet the Candidates

Back toHome

Feature Article - October 9, 2008 Meet the Federal Candiates:Vote October 14

Conservative - Scott Reid

Green - Chris Walker

Liberal - Dave Remington

Marijauna Party - Ernest Rathwell

New Democrat - Sandra Willard

Conservative - Scott ReidConservative MP from Ontario

When the Conservative party took power after the general election in 2006, Scott Reid’s name was mentioned as potential cabinet material. He was one of only two Canadian Alliance MPs ever elected in Ontario; he had been a constitutional advisor to Preston Manning, and the Ontario chair of Stephen Harper’s campaign to become leader of the newly minted Conservative Party in 2004. He had also served in several party critic positions as an opposition MP.

However, instead of a cabinet posting, he took on the role of Deputy Government House Leader and he also serves as chairman of the parliamentary subcommittee on International Human Rights.

He has taken on several initiatives, since he was first elected in 2000, to engage the membership of his riding in the political process, including sponsoring riding referenda on five contentious federal issues.

With the election of Randy Hillier, a fellow Conservative, in last year’s Ontario election, Scott Reid took the opportunity to combine forces and amalgamate federal and provincial services in single constituency offices, and instead of a single office in the sprawling LFL&A riding, there are now three combined offices, in Napanee, in Hillier’s home base in Perth, and in Reid’s home base of Carleton Place.

“It is important that the constituents of our riding receive the best service we can possibly give them.” Reid said on the occasion of the opening of the Carleton Place office this past June. “Having three full-time offices located in major centers throughout the riding is the best way we can provide that service.”

Scott Reid has taken two tacks as an MP. He has been a champion of constituent causes, providing support on the federal level for mostly provincial battles that have been fought by groups such as the Ontario Landowners Association and others.

He consistently raises the issue of property owners’ rights, and has sponsored a private member’s bill aimed at enshrining property rights in the Canadian Bill of Rights.

Individual rights are very important to Scott Reid, who is described on Wikipedia, which is linked to from Reid’s own site, as “more of a Libertarian than a Conservative”. This has led to complications at times, as Scott Reid’s own political views don’t always jive with those of his party.

During the 2004 election campaign, he re-iterated some of the points from a book he wrote in the 1990s called “Lament for a Notion” in which he argued that official bilingualism on a national level has been an expensive failure and should be abandoned in favor of a regional approach that recognizes languages that are more popular in many locations.

Even though the book was a known entity, the publicity, coming as it did during an election campaign, led to Reid’s resignation as Alliance critic for official languages.

During the current campaign, the Liberal party made an attempt to bring to national attention the fact that Scott Reid questioned the legitimacy of government arts funding in an off-hand remark at an all-candidates’ meeting in Kaladar, but the regional and national media did not bite.

Scott Reid is a supporter of electoral reform, which also puts him at odds with the mainstream of the Conservative Party.

He is an enthusiastic supporter of Stephen Harper, whom Reid has described as “a really brilliant, inspirational person to work for. It’s been a privilege.”

(Note - The News made two requests to the Scott Reid campaign for an interview, late last week and on Monday of this week, to help in the preparation of this profile, but he was not available)

GREEN - Chris WalkerUrgency and the long haul

As a politician Chris Walker is a very patient man. He has been a Green candidate five different times in provincial and federal elections since the 1990s, when the party was one of a number of fringe parties.

He received only a handful of votes in some of the early elections, but has seen numbers for himself and for other Green candidates rise to 5% or more in recent years, and with the party polling between 8 and 12 % nationally, he is looking forward to the outcome next week

“As I told people at a local party fundraiser last week in Maberly, the way things are going, this riding will be one the Greens can win the next time around.”

Although Chris Walker has put his name forward five times, he only considers that he has run three times.

“A couple of times I was just trying to get something going in a riding that did not have much, if any Green presence, and I only ran a nominal campaign.”

This time around, Walker says he has benefited from a solid riding association. “I’ve really enjoyed this election more than in the past, partly because this time around I have a campaign manager, and other people are available to do the background work so I can concentrate on campaigning. And we are making a breakthrough as the fourth party, which is exciting. The Greens are a party of ideas, and we are in this for the long haul, not just one election.”

It is in terms of those ideas that Chris Walker has a real sense of urgency.

He says the Liberal Green Shift policy is okay as far as it goes, and would have been a reasonable response 10 or 15 years ago, but Chris Walker does not think it is sufficient to address the climate change crisis that is coming.

“We have to be clear about the targets we need to achieve. We need an 80% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 if we have any chance of staving off devastating climate change impacts. This is according to some of the more conservative scientists.”

Walker says that it is an “absolute shift” that is required.

“We are telling people that we are going to raise the price of gasoline. It’s is an absolute shift that we are talking about, I can be completely honest about this.”

Throughout the Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington riding, people drive long distances to and from work each day, “up to 90 minutes one way for people driving to Ottawa” Chris Walker said.

They will need to be driving completely different kinds of vehicles, or working closer to home, according to Walker.

“Current vehicles are not sustainable, not desirable, and not affordable. I’m sorry but that’s just the reality. This form of transportation is on its way out,” he said.

While Green support is growing, Chris Walker does not expect to be quitting his job as a renovator and college and university lecturer.

“I keep doing this because the strongest symbol a voter can send is through their vote, and voting Green will motivate the mainstream parties.”

Liberal - Dave RemingtonAll politics are local

“We decided early on that we were going to run a really local campaign. My strength is as a community candidate and we have highlighted my approach and style,” said Dave Remington in reflecting on the current election campaign.

Remington has a history in municipal and federal politics, having once served as Mayor of Napanee and working for a year in Ottawa as the parliamentary assistant to Larry McCormick. He has a background in local business as well so a local focus comes naturally to him.

Borrowing a page from another local Liberal politician, Ontario’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Leona Dombrowsky, Remington has been in campaign mode for the past 18 months, ever since securing the federal Liberal nomination for the LFL&A riding in the spring of last year. When Leona Dombrowksy was first running for MPP in 1999, she earned the nickname “The Walking Woman” by campaigning throughout the pre-election period, and eventually won an upset victory even as the Mike Harris’ Conservatives won a second consecutive majority mandate.

“In the pre-writ period I spent about 10 hours a week on the campaign trail, which is something I enjoy doing. I like talking to people about what their needs are, about what government can do with and for them,” said Remington.

David Remington is aware of how the riding went the last two times around, but he nonetheless has felt that it is a winnable seat for the Liberals.

“I said from the beginning that I was in this race to win, and nothing has changed since then,” he said.

The experience of the campaign has only made him more optimistic about his chances.

“I feel that this riding is at play, and I’m really pleased with what we’ve done during the campaign and with the response I’ve received at the door, even in communities like Lanark Village and Smiths Falls.”

Remington remembers a time when the reception was not so favourable. Campaigning for Larry McCormick in 2004, in the wake of the sponsorship scandal, Remington recalls, “People told us straight out that we were not getting their vote. They didn’t wait for us to ask. That’s all gone now.”

He said people have been raising an array of issues at the door and at all-candidates meetings, “from broadband, climate change and other national issues, to how to create jobs in the riding, people are very concerned about the future,” Remington said.

He is not completely surprised that some of the all-candidates meetings this time around have brought some heated questions to MP Scott Reid. “People aren’t happy with the government stance on some issues, such as arts funding and jail sentences for 14-year-olds, and so on.”

Remington says it would be his role to promote the riding not only to the federal government but to provincial and municipal governments as well, should he be elected.

“Municipal politicians have a certain amount of influence. They are able to pull meetings together and to put some weight behind things,” he said.

Win or lose, he expects to run again in the future.

Marijuana -Ernest RathwellLegalize marijuana

Ernest Rathwell, as an advocate for the legalization of marijuana, does not have a full-fledged political platform to fall back on, but he presents a passionate argument in favour of the legalization of a substance that he says has been a lifesaver for both him and his wife.

Ernest was born and raised in Carleton Place.

When he grew up he went to Alberta to work in the oil patch, returning home due to family illness. It was back in Ontario that his wife was diagnosed with MS and he suffered from depression as he struggled with alcohol problems and with coming to terms with issues from his childhood.

His wife tried a variety of therapies for her MS, including steroid therapy, but it was only when Ernest gave her marijuana, which he was using to combat depression, that her symptoms began to subside.

“I was already using marijuana myself medicinally, and I suggested it to my wife. Well my wife tried it, and continued until all signs and symptoms dissipated through usage. It enabled her to go to school and graduate with honours in her class and obtain her nursing certificate. I believe in marijuana and its capabilities. But, how many Canadians know the good this herb can do to help heal people’s minds and bodies?” Ernest Rathwell says on his Marijuana Party web page.

He decided to become politically active because, after being denied a certificate to use marijuana for medicinal purposes by Health Canada, he was eventually arrested for cultivation and jailed for nine months.

Ernest Rathwell argues that alcohol is a depressant and a dangerous drug, whereas marijuana use leads to clear thinking.

“Medical marijuana has been, and still is, immensely beneficial to me and members of my family. I believe that it would help many other people too, if the government stopped trying to stop it,” he wrote.

Ernest Rathwell also argues that legalizing marijuana would lead to a decrease in crime rates, and that if hemp were grown for fuel it would ease the energy crisis that Canada is facing.

Editor’s note: We were only able to contact Mr. Rathwell once during this campaign, in mid-September. He was invited to the all-candidates’ meetings we sponsored in Verona and Kaladar, but did not attend. We could not reach him to prepare a profile, The above is a reprint of an article we ran before the previous election in January of 2006, when Ernest Rathwell was also the Marijuana Party candidate.

New Democrat - Sandra WillardThe campaign of an activist

For Sandra Willard, the decision to run for political office as a New Democrat came from a “personal feeling that I had to do more as a political activist.”

She had already been active in union politics, and during last year's provincial election, Willard was the local organiser in the non-partisan campaign for “Fair Vote Ontario” in favour of an electoral reform proposal. She has also been involved in the campaign to prevent the Lafarge Cement plant in the village of Bath from burning tires and is a member of the executive of the Kingston and Area Health Coalition.

Running in a federal campaign is a full-time enterprise, and for Sandra Willard it has meant taking a five-week vacation from her job at Providence Care, where she works in the home visiting program.

“I look at this as my charitable contribution. It’s something that I can do, and it certainly has been a learning experience.”

Early in the campaign, at all-candidates’ meetings and media events in Kingston and Ottawa, Willard said she found herself scrambling a little bit to get a grounding in the NDP platform, which only came out early in the campaign. “A lot of information was coming at me in a hurry, and I had to be prepared to speak about it on TV and radio, and that was a challenge, but I haven't had any negative experiences.”

Although she has been a member of the party for seven years, this is her first time running for election, and she thinks that in the future, having “more of foundational basis in party policies would make a difference”. She expects that she might seek office once again in the future.

She said the flashes of anger that she has seen from the public at all-candidates’ meetings is a reflection of people's dissatisfaction with the policy directions of the two previous governments. “People are really fed up and angry. Rightfully so, in my opinion.”

Her commitment to her party has also been buoyed by the campaign. She points to a moment in the all-candidates’ meeting in Smiths Falls as an illustration of the importance of the party.

“People were talking about the loss of the Hershey's plant and its impact on the community, and there in the audience was Don Page, the NDP candidate for Smiths Falls in 1984. At the time, he said if the free trade agreement goes through, the Hershey's plant would eventually close. Now we not only have an agreement with US, but NAFTA as well, and the plant is closing.”

Oct 2/08 - Frontenac CFDC fulfills it's mission

Back toHome

Feature Article - October 2, 2008 Frontenac CFDC fulfills it’s missionBy Julie Druker

Anne Pritchard, Kristin Bissonette, Liz Crothers, Sue Theriault and Dave Smith of the Frontenac CFDC.

Almost 70 people filled the Verona’s Lions Hall early Tuesday morning for breakfast and to attend Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation’s annual AGM, 40 more people than attended their first AGM 5 years ago. Perhaps it is a sign of the FCFDC’s success in supporting and growing local business in the Frontenacs and adhering to its mission statement of “building business and growing communities.”

Executive director Anne Prichard summarized some of the accomplishments of the organization this year. Fifty four projects were completed and a total of $880,000 in loans were dispersed and 38 new jobs were created.

Some of the local businesses who benefited this year included Nowell Motors in Cloyne, Frontenac Outfitters in Sydenham, and the communities of Sydenham, Verona and Wolfe Island for their inclusion in OMAFRA’s First Impressions Community Exchange program which recently began this year.

In the 4.5 years of its existence, the FCFDC has lent 3.5 million dollars to community businesses.

Prichard described the FCFDC’s Strategic Plan that has been developed for 2008-2011.Their two overall priorities include:

“to develop new year-round well-paid employment opportunities and

“to improve the visual appeal, range and local services and vitality of our small communities to enhance our rural lifestyles.

Broadband infrastructure, tourism, and environmental and agricultural projects will also be focused on..

The FCFDC’s online directory now includes over 300 local businesses and it receives over 225 hits per week.

Guest speakers included Shawn Gee of Ockham Communications and Nigel Maund of OmniGlobe, two companies that have both been closely involved with the FCFDC in bringing broadband services and high speed internet to northern communities and local businesses, a long time goal of the FCFDC since their inception.

Gee’s company received support from the FCFDC and is proof that the kind of support offered can really make a difference to small business in their initial start up.

Gee explained, “We are a local company that has identified a market need and a community need and the FCFDC had the foresight to acknowledge that there is a need and we have been able to act on it.”

He continued, “Over the last year we have been able to go from nothing… to having over 200 paying customers on our network.

Nigel Maund of OmniGlobe focused on his company’s work with helping to develop broadband services in the north and his continued plans to expand on this work. His company will be holding information sessions in the area this week.(see current ads)

Board member Christine Ward focused on the importance of the FCFDC board, their diversity and the various skills they have to offer. She also explained their focus this year on a campaign to advertise all of the volunteer opportunities that are available to those who might become want to become involved.

Near the meetings end, Linda Thomas, a life time resident of Frontenac County and a retired administrator at Queen’s University in Health Services and Policy Research was elected as the new Director of the board.

Congratulations Linda and it looks as though the FCFDC is well on its way to another exciting year focused on generating new business ventures and new business growth in the Frontenacs.

Oct 2/08 - You go Joe!

Back toHome

Feature Article - October 2, 2008 You go Joe!By Julie Druker

Things are very different today then back when Joe Clayton was 12 years old. Today our government requires tobacco manufacturers to decorate their packaging with pictures of children and the caption: “Don’t poison us.”

When Joe was 12 he was institutionalized. What he experienced in his six years in an institution poisoned him and continues to poison him to this day. “Sometimes at night I can still hear people screaming and crying and moaning in pain. That’s the hardest part.” .

Deep wounds heal slowly, and always tend to leave their mark. But scars need not define a man. Man is made of flesh, mind and feelings, all of which can be newly created every day, but only with the determined will of the person to do so and with the help of professionals.

Joe Clayton is redefining himself and is proof that scars need not define a man, though they will always remain a part of him.

With support from Community Living-North Frontenac, doctors, friends and family, Joe has realized that telling his story is now the most important way to heal himself, to pay tribute to other victims of institutional abuse who have not survived to tell their own stories, and to raise support for the community services to which he feels so greatly indebted for helping him to turn his life around.

Through these services he has, ”learned to laugh again”. He has become reacquainted with the positive parts of himself that love to talk and laugh and enjoy a good joke. “For me it’s an honour now to let people know what really happened.”

In a document he wrote titled “Raising the Standard”, he referred to the six years from age12 to 18 that he spent in an institution, (which he prefers at this time to leave unnamed), as “living in hell“.

He endured physical, sexual and mental abuse by staff and other patients. He was humiliated, and attacked, once cut with scissors. He was sexually assaulted, received shock treatments and death threats and was often stripped naked and locked alone in a dark, cold room. He worked in the laundry room cleaning sheets covered in human feces. “I was always asking myself, ‘What did I do to end up in a place as terrible as this?”

Born in Pembrooke in 1953 to a very sick mother, Joe was cared for by his aunt until she died in 1958. At the age of five he was made a ward of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) and was placed in consecutive foster homes. He remembers that time: “My life was a game. It seems that people kept rejecting me and I felt that nobody really cared about me.”

Joe recalled one nice man at one of his foster homes, a Polish man who treated him like a son. He sadly remembers watching this man from a window cutting down trees and witnessing his accidental death from a falling tree. A short time later, in 1966 at the age of 12, the CAS placed Joe in an institution for six long years.

Joe ran away twice from the institution. Both times he was returned there. On his last return, a staff member whom he trusted told him that if he didn’t try to run away again, he’d be free to go in a year. A year later, at the age of 18, Joe was discharged and received a diploma saying that he had “graduated”.

Joe spent his young adult years trying to live his life but was always haunted by his past.The 1980s were especially hard for him and he tried to drown his pain in alcohol and drugs.

In 1997, his life took a positive turn. He was invited to a “Promise Keepers” meeting, a support group for men in Ottawa. It was then that he decided he “would not let the past take me down”.

Joe moved to the Sharbot Lake area in 1996 and was introduced to “Community Living- North Frontenac“. The staff there supported him for eight years and this support has had a huge impact on the life he now leads, the work he has accomplished and his continued goal of independence.

“Workers (at CLNF) play an important part in improving someone’s life. I started growing and felt cared for…I was allowed to express my opinions.”

Joe has been married to his wife Lillian for 10 years. He creates the sculptural art that decorates the grounds around their home near Maberly and he grows a large vegetable garden in his yard. He is also an active member of the Sharbot Lake Pentecostal Church.

He has been elected for the second consecutive year as Representative for the People Served on the board of Community Living-North Frontenac.

In the last year he has attended various conferences and has spoken as a guest speaker at schools, including Loyalist College in Belleville for their Developmental Service Worker Program, People First of Carleton Place, and Community Living Ontario’s Annual Conference in Toronto. His name has been put forward by the Carleton Place People First as a possible speaker for the provincial conference to be held in October of this year.

He has written a book that he hopes to get published in Perth.

Joe is living proof and a testament to the fact that, with community support, understanding and awareness, individuals can overcome obstacles and attain the quality of life that so many of us take for granted.

He tells his story honestly and holds firmly to his belief that in doing so he will both heal himself and raise people’s awareness of the importance of accepting others.

Joe’s life has been a challenge indeed. And continues to be. But many of his current challenges are of an altogether different nature; they are challenges that he has chosen for himself by himself.

Legalese - August 28, 2008

Back toHome

Legalese - August 28, 2008 Beyond Trail Riding: ATVs on highwaysSusan Irwin, Lawyer/Executive Director, Rural Legal Services

Have you seen someone driving fast, dark (without lights), helmetless, and with seeming disregard for other users of the road? A suicidal bicyclist at twilight? Perhaps, but it could also describe a few of the ATV drivers that I have had the heart-pounding pleasure of “almost” meeting in an up and close manner on the road this summer.

It would seem that there are still some ATV drivers who think they have to make a mad dash along area roads until they can cut off on to a trail. Has nobody told them that they can legally drive on the roads in many of our area municipalities if they would just comply with certain rules and regulations?

The basic rules of operation reflect a common sense approach: turn on your lights when driving so other people can see you; wear an approved helmet; drive at the reduced speed set for ATVs so you can maintain control; drive with only one rider per machine, and follow the rules of the road that apply to all drivers. Signaling for turns is more than just a courtesy!

If you are not sure of the rules, information is available from the OPP, the Ministry of Transportation and from your local ATV club or association. Most ATV drivers on our roads are safe and courteous drivers, and groups of riders out on club events are not a rare or unwelcome sight. But with the potential mix of vehicles on our roads, from transport trucks to snowmobiles and electric bicycles, all users have a responsibility to drive within their skill limits and in accordance with the law.

There are two levels of legislation that govern the use of ATVs on our roads. First of all, a municipality must pass a by-law permitting the use of ATVs on its roads. These by-laws may put restrictive conditions on the use of ATVs and may, among other things, set reduced speeds, restrict hours of operation, limit use to only certain roads, and even restrict or prohibit usage at certain times of the year. A person driving an ATV into a different township cannot assume that the rules governing road usage are the same from municipality to municipality, or even that the use of the ATV on the roads of another municipality is permitted.

Secondly, the use of ATVs on public roads is subject to further rules found in Regulations to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act. Under these regulations, the general provisions of the Highway Traffic Act will apply where appropriate with “the necessary modifications”. In other words, ATV drivers can be charged with the same offences as if they were driving a car or truck, such as speeding or careless driving. All ATVs must have a number plate or permit, be insured, and the driver must be wearing an appropriate helmet and have at least a G-2 or an M-2 license. No passengers are permitted, even – on a strict reading of the regulations – when the ATV is designed to carry one. Maximum speeds, unless further reduced by a municipality, are set at 20 kmh. in a 50 kmh. zone, and not more than 50 kmh. in areas with higher limits. Lights, white in front and red in the rear, must be on at all times when an ATV is on a public road.

The regulations also deal with safety and technical specifications at great length, as well as setting out special rules for passing, signaling, driving in construction zones, over-taking and passing, and so forth. There are also special rules for farmers, trappers, and certain classes of workers. Dust, noise, erosion of the road right-of-way, and environmental damage through careless use of ATVs are also touched upon in the regulations.

All drivers of all classes of vehicles are expected to know the rules that apply to them when they use a public road. And, of course, if we are all to get home safely, showing some respect for other users of the road is essential. As people look for more economical and environmentally friendly forms of transportation, we should all be aware of our obligation to share our public highways with the increasing variety of lawful vehicles.

Legalese is a column of general information and opinion on legal topics by the lawyers of Rural Legal Services, Box 359, Sharbot Lake, ON, K0H2P0, 613-279-3252, or 1-888-777-8916. This column is not intended to provide legal advice. You should contact a lawyer to determine your legal rights and obligations.

Editorial - August 28, 2008

Back toHome

Editorial - August 28, 2008 A cowardly councilEditorial by Jeff Green

Sitting on council is a thankless job, and members of North Frontenac Council deserve credit for the hours they put in at council and committee meetings. They are a hard-working bunch.

But they botched the job when it came to selecting a replacement councilor for Wayne Cole.

Even though councils are free to select replacement councilors in any way they see fit, the process should be reasonable and fair to all involved.

The first mistake came in July, when two people expressed interest in the position and it was decided there were not enough candidates.

Why are two candidates not enough? In each of the last two occasions when a council seat had been vacated, only one candidate came forward, and that person was sworn in with little muss or fuss. Ron Maguire was the mayor on both of those occasions.

The decision to re-advertise the vacancy was an insult to the two people who applied in the first instance.

Then, once the four candidates were found, and after they were interviewed in public by members of council, a kind of reverse voting system was chosen.

Instead of choosing their favourite candidate, councilors were asked to decide if each candidate was a suitable choice, and when a majority could not agree that a single candidate was suitable, that can't be seen as anything but an insult to the four people.

If that weren’t bad enough, a second vote was taken and again not one of the four people was considered acceptable by a majority of council.

At the end of all that, picking a name from a hat was a merciful end to a seriously flawed process.

Bernice Gunsinger, as well as Betty Hunter, Gleva Lemke, and Jim Bacon, deserve credit for putting their names forward to serve on council. They did not deserve the shabby treatment they received.

We wish Bernice Gunsinger well as Ward 2 councilor. She has already shown some perseverance in sitting through the election process.

Feature Article - August 28, 2008

Back toHome

Feature Article - August 28, 2008 Pow Wow at Silver Lake: a real eye openerBy Julie Druker

Silver Lake Pow Wow participant, traditional dancer and vendor Robert Donahue of New Brunswick

The 14th Annual Silver Lake Traditional Pow Wow took place this weekend at Silver Lake Provincial Park, near Maberly.

As the event brochure states, “The Pow wow is a spiritual legacy and is a link to the past that helps maintain heritage.” One organizer summed it up as, “a community gathering to show other communities what our community has to offer.”

The event attracts aboriginal people from various tribes and bands through out the province and country.

The event came about 14 years ago as native families in the area decided that it was time to organize an event as a way to keep their native traditions alive. Treasurer Trudy Knapp recalls, “The Pow Wow started basically as a way to get the community back involved in their native heritage.”

The Knapp family has been an integral part of the event since its inception and continue to run and organize the event today. “

Trudy Knapp is the Treasurer; sisters Ann Marie Wilson and Margaret Bilow and first cousin Danka Brewer, the MC, are all coordinators of the event. Another sister, Pat Crawford, runs the feast, the kitchen facility that provides meals for all of the dancers and drummers.

The site consisted of a central circular arbour built of log poles with a protective covering that housed the drums, drummers, singers and the EmCee.

Off to one side and surrounded by logs was the fire, lit and kept alight through out the event for the community and tended to by fire keeper, Martin Rennick.

Martin explained its significance. ”A number of community members use the circle to come and say prayers and for spiritual healing. Some will put tobacco on the fire and the smoke carries the prayers to the creator’s lodge.”

“Smudging’, is a form of spiritual cleansing where the individual cleanses him or herself with the smoke of the fire before prayers are made. Fire is an important part of native culture, representing “the spark of life”.

There are a number of special ceremonial events that consist of drumming, singing, and dancing, all of which are forms of prayer.

The drums represent the heart beat of mother earth and all of the events and beautiful regalia worn by participants have particular significance. For these reasons the EmCee states that no photographs or recordings are allowed. Pictures can be taken of individuals only after the ceremonial events and only with their permission.

One ceremony that took place was the gifting of a pipe to head veteran Willie Bruce by the surviving family of a veteran who recently passed away in May.

Many ceremonial dances took place throughout the day. Penni-Dawn Kernot performed the “Hoop dance”, a dance that incorporates roughly 30 hoops that she dances with and manipulates into various configurations, which represent spirit animals or guides and that are offered to observers of the dance who have a connection to that animal or guide.

The women’s “jingle dress dance”, is danced by women donning dresses hung with 365 metal cones and it is a ceremonial dance of healing.

Mitchell Shewell of Sharbot Lake has been the head dancer at the Pow Wow for a number of years and it is his first year as spiritual advisor. He was responsible for doing the opening and closing prayers for both days and for answering any questions from participants and observers.

Perhaps surprising to some observers was a Canadian Forces recruiting booth set up on site and the presence of many aboriginal Canadian Forces members in uniform, participating in the ceremonies.

Officer cadets and members of the first ever Canadian Forces Aboriginal Leadership Orientation Year program (ALOY)

Head Veteran and flag carrier of the Pow Wow Willie Bruce explained the relationship of the military to the aboriginal community.

“One of the things our culture has always respected is our warriors whose job it is to defend the community and those people who are least able to defend themselves. That’s why the military has a certain appeal to aboriginal people. Because we are born with that sense of responsibility for other people.”

Sgt. Kurtis White, an Ojibway and a 27-year veteran of the Canadian Forces, was present to participate in the Pow Wow and also to represent the Canadian Forces and provide information about the four programs the Canadian Forces presently offers to aboriginal people who want to get involved in the Forces.

The Pow Wow has been growing steadily in size and popularity since it began and attracts both natives and non- natives from all over the province and country.

Anyone who would like to volunteer, donate or make suggestions for future Pow Wows at Silver Lake can contact Trudy Knapp at 613-375-6356.

For those who missed the Silver Lake Pow Wow, next weekend offers another opportunity to learn about a culture that has existed for thousands of years and continues to exist here in the Frontenacs. The Ardoch Algonquin First Nation will be holding their annual Pow Wow in Plevna on Saturday & Sunday, August 30 & 31, and they extend a cordial invitation to the community to join them.

Outdoors - August 14, 2008

Back toHome

Outdoors in the LandO'Lakes - August 14, 2008 Whip-poor-wills – Love ‘em or hate ‘em. Outdoors in the Land O'Lakes by Steve Blight

Most people that spend time in the Land o’ Lakes eventually hear the call of the Whip-poor-will. This nocturnal bird is a member of an oddly named family of birds, alternately known as nightjars or goatsuckers. Apparently the name goatsucker comes from an ancient (and thoroughly incorrect) belief that these birds sucked milk from goats in pastures. The source of the name nightjars remains a mystery – at least to me. The other regular visitor to our area in this family is the Common Nighthawk.

In Ontario, Whip-poor-wills prefer rocky areas with scattered trees, open coniferous and mixed woodlands and woodland clearings. One of the areas with the highest concentration of these robin-sized birds is the southern edge of the Canadian Shield among the mosaic of rocky farms and woodlands. Whip-poor-wills hunt flying insects, flying erratically through the forest and catching them on the wing with their enormous mouths. They build no nests; their eggs (usually 2) are laid directly on the bare ground or leaf litter. Males and females have similar but not identical plumage, and incubation is mainly by the female.

Whip-poor wills breed across southern Canada from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan, south to the southern United States. They winter from the very southern US through Mexico and Central America.

People tend to have a mixed reaction to the whip-poor-will’s nighttime serenade. These mottled grey, brown and black birds can sing their loud song continuously from dusk to dawn in spring and early summer, especially when the moon is full. While some people find this behaviour very annoying when it keeps them awake, for others it brings back warm, familiar memories of time spent in the country. My first experience with Whip-poor-wills was when I was camping on the shores of Loughborough Lake in the 1970s. A Whip-poor-will set up shop very close to our tent one evening and proceeded to entertain us all night. Despite the fact that it cost me a good night’s sleep, I have fond memories of this experience – which puts me squarely in the camp of Whip-poor-will “likers”.

Conservation of whip-poor-wills is an important concern in Ontario. Breeding bird surveys have indicated a very sharp decline across Ontario, consistent with declines noted elsewhere in North America. Unfortunately, anecdotal evidence suggests that the Land o’ Lakes area is not immune to this trend. Whip-poor-wills have disappeared from many areas where they were previously common. In our two decades on Bobs Lake, we have heard just one Whip-poor-will, and only at a distance. Long-time residents and regular visitors to our area have noticed their absence from areas where they once were common. Some people have observed that they currently seem to be more common north of Highway 7 than south.

Reasons for the decline in Whip-poor-will numbers are not well understood, but have been linked to unfavourable habitat changes on their breeding grounds and wintering territories, increased pesticide use, and a general reduction of large night-flying insects such as moths. Whatever the cause, it is a disturbing trend and I would miss this bird if it were to disappear from our area. Let’s hope that we figure out how to make sure Whip-poor-wills are around to ruin the sleep of the next generation of Land o’ Lakers!

Please feel free to report any observations to to Steve Blight at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Lorraine Julien at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Feature Article - July 17, 2008

Back toHome

Feature Article - August 14, 2008 What is Rural Life? Part 2

This is the second article in our summer series about the idea of “rural” as it applies to our region.

Evolution on Craig RoadBy Inie Platenius

“You’re moving to Verona? You’d better think again!” our city friends warned us. “We know some people who tried that and they weren’t welcome out there at all. And unless your great grandfather settled there, you won’t be welcome either.”

That was 1969, and although our friends’ dire pronouncement was exaggerated, it carried some truth. Our individual neighbours were kind and welcoming, but breaking into village society was a gradual process that took considerably longer than it had in more urban places. Everyone was pleasant, but the sense of wary caution was never far from the surface. Now, 40 years later, the biggest change I’ve seen in our rural way of looking at the world is that we have an easier acceptance of newcomers. A generation full of technological changes has made the sense of “us” (old-timers) and “them” (newcomers) much less marked.

In the generations that lived here before we moved to Craig Road, it had been economically feasible to have a mixed farm, put up your preserves, entertain yourself in the evening and still pay your property taxes. It wasn’t easy, but it was possible. In that climate, people relied on themselves for almost everything and on their neighbours when they were in trouble. In this culture, the arrival of any newcomer was cause for wariness. If you have three neighbours and one of them doesn’t pull with the others, it makes a much bigger difference in the social fabric than if one of the 30 people on your city block doesn’t row with the crew; hence the strong reserve and even suspicion of newcomers that develops in a rural culture. By the time we arrived in 1969, the way of life that had created that cultural mindset was dying, but it takes a lot longer for the mindset itself to change.

The biggest factor in that change was simple population growth. In 1969 there were fewer than 20 houses on about four kilometres of Craig Road proper, and a dozen or so cottages on Howes Lake. Cottagers came in the summer and on the day after Labour Day, the lake was perfectly silent. Today most of the cottages have become permanent homes, and seven or eight new bungalows line the road. This growth does not in itself make for a more open culture, but how these new people make their living does. In 1969, four of the properties on the road (including ours) had clearly been working farms, though only one remained as a serious operation with a milk quota. On the other three, the owners took off hay each year, but mixed farming on the rocks and swamp was a dying way of life. Before we bought it, our farmhouse had been on the market for two years, and its 180 acres of land seemed to be an afterthought in the realtor’s pitch. When our neighbour’s farm went on the market the next year, it sold as a summer home. Fewer than five men (and no women) commuted to Kingston for work, and a trip to Kingston was a big deal. Only one or two women worked out of the home and several of them didn’t drive at all.

Interestingly, today Craig Road still hosts two serious farms (though not dairy) and the same number of people take the hay off their properties. The difference is that none of these farmers expect to make a living from their labour. One of them is a long-haul trucker and the others are either retired or commute to jobs in the city. Today, the commuting traffic by our house starts before 5AM and flows steadily till 8:30, and virtually every woman of working age has a job. That single change in demographics has gradually eroded the “beware the stranger” mindset.

Ease of transportation has made another inroad into what used to be a very big difference between us in the country and them in the city - our buying habits are much more similar to one another. In 1969 it was often impossible to find a head of lettuce in either grocery store, and we had to travel to Tamworth or Kingston for a case of beer. On the other hand, I could buy shoes, table linens, wedding gifts, and wallpaper off the shelves at Walkers General Store and interesting clothing at the Verona Dress Shop. Today, on any day I can buy half a dozen kinds of leafy greens at the IGA, but no shoes or jackets (except of the hunting or gardening variety) anywhere. Ease of transportation makes it much easier for fresh produce to come into the village, but also makes it easier for us to go out - to Walmart and Costco. Even our rural diet, our dress and our furnishings are more similar to city folk than they were 40 years ago.

What we didn’t realize when we first had the brilliant idea to move out to the country was that we were the beginning of a small wave. Until he was three, our son was one of only two children under high school age on this whole road, but within five years the neighbouring farms had filled with young families – back to the land idealist baby boomers whose arrival began to change the rural fabric even more. Some of us were insufferable, even to one another - know-it-all condescenders whose behaviour made us realize why the long-time locals could be so chilly. But some of us genuinely wanted to become a part of the community, and over time we did.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Feature Article - August 7, 2008

Back toHome

Feature Article - August 7, 2008 Sydenham Residents Gain Concession on Water Levy

At the July 15 Committee of the Whole meeting, Council had rejected CAO Gord Burns’ proposal to pass Sydenham water levy bylaw, which was accompanied by a schedule of payment for all of he affected properties in the village. Costs were slated to average between $6,000 and $8,000 for most households, depending on their road frontage and other factors.

See South Frontenac Water Debate Dribbles On

At the time, Council was divided over whether the plant was overbuilt or not, and debated whether current residents should pay for water that they are unlikely to use, instead of charging those costs to new developments that could spring upon the edges of the village over the next 20 years.

As requested, Burns submitted a second report, outlining three options and asking council’s direction.

His first option reiterated his earlier recommendation that there was "no significant justification for the township absorbing additional costs for the added capacity of the plant." In support, he said the Ministry of the Environment "is certain that once more people are hooked into the system and people become more comfortable with the use of the system (the volume of water use) will climb." Burns noted that if present use should rise, council could not claw back an adjustment, if one were made.

The second, more political option would be for the township to pick up the additional capacity costs, based on an estimation by the engineering firm Tottenham Sims Hubiki that if the plant had been designed for half the present capacity, the cost saving would amount to approximately $775,000. The residents’ share of this would be $258,000. Should council decide to support this option, Burns, though not in agreement, would recommend that the township delete $258,000 from the total capital costs being charged to residents, pay that amount out of reserves, and recover it through future development.

His third option addressed a development fund created by adding a levy to property taxes throughout the township. Such a fund could become available to assist all township residents with drinking water issues. However, Burns said that the development and administration of such a fund would be complicated, time-consuming and expensive in terms of staffing required.

There was general agreement that setting up a development fund was a separate issue from the question of whether or not Sydenham residents were being asked to fund the capital costs of a water plant with up to 50% excess capacity.

Councillor Hahn said he found the argument that the plant had an overlarge capacity persuasive, and questioned who should fairly pay for the excess capacity: the present residents, or new development as it accesses the water system? Robinson agreed, saying, "If [residents] are only using 33% [of the plant’s capacity], the long and the short of it is that they’re being overcharged and it’s our job to help them."

A motion was made by David Hahn, seconded by Councilor John Fillion, to accept Burns’ report, with option #2 being the preferred one It passed 5 to 4, supported by Fillion, Robinson, McPhail, Hahn and York.

The impact of this decision on individual Sydenham ratepayers will be calculated in the coming weeks and a new levy bylaw will be prepared.

Sept 11, 2008 - LOLTA Summer Survey

Back toHome

Feature Article - September 11, 2008 Summer 'Not that Bad', Finds LOLTA Survey

The Land O'Lakes Tourist Association released the results of a survey of their members this week. Twenty-six of the 200 member businesses answered the survey (13%) and the results confirmed that the summer of 2008 was not a banner year for tourism in the Land o' Lakes although it may not have been as bad as people had feared.

Of the respondents, 57% said business was down from 2007, 36% said it was up, and 7% said it was the same.

“As a marketing organization, we concentrated on the 'near market' with our materials this year because we knew that a variety of factors would attract new travelers from the United States,” said LOLTA manager Terry Shea, “and since 50% of the people said it was a better summer than they expected it would be, we think our focus on the 200 km radius around the Land O'Lakes worked pretty well.”

Twenty-five percent of the respondents said the summer had been worse than expected, and 25% said it was as they had forecast.

The decline in out-of-province traffic did hurt, however. Forty-two percent said the majority of their business comes from further than 200 km, and an equal number said the main negative influence was gas prices.

But the gas price factor might be overstated, according to Terry Shea. “People are still going to do what they are going to do. They are seeking an experience, and while they may decide to travel shorter distances, families are still traveling for their vacations. Factors that have nothing to do with gas prices, border issues, or fishing regulations, have a far greater impact than we might think. The weather was listed by 30% of respondents as the major negative factor, and there is nothing anyone can do about the weather,” said Terry Shea.

According to Shea, the survey demonstrated that for most tourist-related businesses 2008 was a year they “just had to get through,” in hopes that the combination of factors working against the industry will not be repeated in 2009.

For LOLTA itself, 2008 marks the end of a tourism marketing initiative that was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

In its stead LOLTA is pursuing a strategy of “accessible wilderness” to make the Land o’ Lakes a destination for the 7% of Ontarians that have physical disabilities. Funding is being sought from OMAFRA and from the Eastern Ontario Development Fund.