Issue 20 2022 May 25 NG Times by The North Grenville & North Dundas Times

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Vol. 10 No. 20

7343 - PROOF APPROVAL

May 25, 2022

North Grenville announces ParticipACTION Prize Money

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Members of Council and North Grenville’s Parks and Rec staﬀ were joined by Mr. Paterson’s Grade 3-4 class from Oxford-on-Rideau Public School at Crozier Park in Oxford Mills After being crowned Canada’s Most Active Community in the ParticipACTION Community Challenge last August, North Grenville was awarded $100,000 to expand its recreational opportunities for residents young and old. “This significant prize money will be used to establish more outdoor recreational throughout North Grenville. Speciﬁcally, the Municipality will be investing in badly needed improvements to North Grenville’s parks and

recreation space in four of our hamlets,” said Mayor Nancy Peckford. Based on public feedback, Participaction Funding Guidelines, and costing, the prize money will expedite upgraded recreation infrastructure in several of North Grenville’s rural hamlets, including: • a new play structure at Crozier Park, Oxford Mills; • a new play structure at Oxford Station Park; • a new rink house at Bishop

Mills Park; and • an upgraded basketball court behind the Burritt’s Rapids Community Centre. Recognizing that a major investment in Riverside Park in Old Town Kemptville was already underway that will see a new outdoor rink, splashpad and upgraded yearround change rooms built in 2022 -2023, the choice to invest in several rural hamlets was obvious. However, a small amount of funds will be used to sup-

port the establishment of a rebuilt BMX track at Riverside Park, given its age, popularity among youth and deteriorating conditions. This re-built BMX track is thanks in large part to local volunteer Mark Hurst, who has volunteered his time to revamp it. “We are so proud of our community for their incredible eﬀorts to come together in June 2021 and fight for the title of Canada’s Most cont'd on page 2

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ParticipACTION Prize Money cont'd

Go for Gold – ParticipACTION 2.0 Kicks off June 4 at Riverside Park After successfully winning the Community Challenge in 2021, the Health, Fitness and Wellness Advisory Committee plans to defend our title as Canada’s Most Active Community staring June 1, 2022. The month will kick off with a Healthy Living Expo on Saturday, June 4, 2022, at Riverside Park from 9 am to 1 pm. The Expo will feature different health and wellness businesses in our community. There will also be several groups running activities and demonstrations for participants to join in the fun and start tracking their minutes! Mayor Nancy Peckford will kick-off the Healthy Living Expo at 9 am with a family-friendly 1.5 km walk around Riverside Park, including a short, forested trail at the back of the park. The walk is a chance for residents to ask questions and share their feedback on recreation, mental health and community well-being. Other members of Council will also be in attendance.

Members of Council ready for next challenge Active Community,” highlighted Mayor Peckford. “We surprised a lot of people and beat out some larger cities that are typically the major contenders. It was an awesome experience.” According to the ParticipACTION Community Impact Report, North Grenville tracked over 9.9 million minutes during the month of June 2021. Over 2,000

residents participated along with more than 20 organizations who helped get people moving, including all six elementary schools, daycares, ﬁtness studios, and community organizations such as Seniors’ Community Services and Community Living North Grenville. “One of the great things about North Grenville’s entry into the ParticipACTION

Community Challenge was how inclusive it was. No matter your age or ability, anyone could sign up and track their minutes! Activities like gardening, washing your car, and chasing the kids around the house all counted,” added Councillor Doreen O’Sullivan, Parks and Recreational Liaison.

ed and relied upon to assist members of the public in cases of emergencies, day or night. During an officer's career, there are many opportunities to experience different specialized policing roles including technical collision investigator, scenes of crime officer and mental health crisis response team member, to name a few. Civilians: Civilians are non-uniform members who provide critical support to the communities we serve. There are hundreds of civilian careers to choose from, ranging from positions in Civilian Data Entry (CDE) to roles within the Provincial Communications Centres (PCCs) as well as administrative, specialized and managerial positions.

Special Constables: Special constables are civilian members who have been given limited peace officer or police officer powers by the Commissioner for a specific job or task. Special constables have a wide array of roles within the OPP. Auxiliary Members: Auxiliary members are dedicated volunteers who are trained to assist with frontline policing operations to ensure the safety of our communities. Volunteering part-time with the OPP Auxiliary Program is a great way to make a difference in your community. Candidates are encouraged to visit opp.ca/careers where they can find out more information about the above positions, the minimum qualifications, as well as instruc-

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ParticipACTION Community Better Challenge The ParticipACTION Community Better Challenge is an annual event that encourages Canadians across the country to get active for the month of June. Participants were encouraged to track their minutes on the Participaction App or website. All physical activity minutes counted – whether it was a virtual ﬁtness class, chair yoga, walking the dog, or yard work. All individual and group ﬁtness counted. For more information on the challenge visit: www.participaction.com/ en-ca/programs/communitychallenge

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OPPortunities to help build safer communities Are you passionate about making a difference and helping build safer communities within Ontario? During this year's Police Week, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) urged candidates who are dedicated to upholding the law and serving their communities to consider this challenging and rewarding career path. With hundreds of members eligible for retirement over the next few years, there has never been a better time to apply to the OPP. Whether you are interested in becoming a police officer, auxiliary member (volunteer) or working in a civilian role, the OPP has a job opportunity for you. OPPortunites: Uniform Officers: Uniform officers are trust-

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tions on how to apply. The OPP is dedicated to ensuring open, accessible, equitable and respectful workplaces, and is committed to reﬂecting the diverse communities it serves. We encourage applications from members of our diverse communities, including Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, women, persons from racialized groups, 2SLGBTQ+ persons, those who are able to speak ﬂuently in another language(s), and anyone committed to a rewarding career in public service. The OPP is an equal opportunity employer and accommodations will be provided in all stages of our hiring processes as necessary.

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May 25, 2022

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Kemptville Retirement Living residents making Pocket Hugs Submitted by Michelle Nel Residents of Kemptville Retirement Living (KVRL) have been knitting and crocheting teeny hearts called Pocket Hugs, stored in their own painted tiny crates. The Pocket Hugs are being dubbed “a free hug for those who need one”. The crates will be placed around the community to share free hugs. Engaging with Purpose has truly inspired the residents with this project. They are excited to spread kindness and love in the community. It has been incredible, ladies who have not knitted or crocheted in years suddenly are coming each day to drop oﬀ tiny hearts as well collect more yarn. Others have participated by attaching the tags, painting the crates, and some by rolling endless tiny balls of yarn from the large ones so all the ladies can share the colours. Even though we meet once a week to now do hand work, I smile seeing ladies now knitting waiting for Bingo, and in the lounge, and others coming to ask to paint the crates in their spare time. We have a few who are unable to do the tiny work but have enjoyed just bringing along their own projects to work on. The ﬁrst crate was at the Kemptville Art Guild Show this weekend, with more to come.

Buskerfest 2022, photo by Larry Belzac

SNC breaks a second-consecutive Tree Planting record This year South Nation Conservation (SNC) is once again on path to plant a record number of native trees and shrubs across its 4,441km2 jurisdiction this spring. Beating last year’s record by a few hundred trees, over 230,000 trees will go into the ground in 2022. The previous record dates to 1993, when 193,000 trees were planted by the Conservation Authority, and the average amount of trees typically planted annually by SNC is about 150,000. Thanks to fundraising initiatives and partnerships with member municipalities and the Raisin Region Conservation Authority, SNC will be distributing free tree seedlings to residents throughout Eastern Ontario. Residents who registered for a chance to receive a bundle of free seedlings will be contacted to pick up their trees at a municipal curbside location in May. In support of National Nurses Week beginning May 9, SNC said thank you by donating over 1,200 seedlings to frontline healthcare staﬀ at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital, Winchester District Memorial Hospital, and the May 25, 2022

Cornwall Community Hospital. Donated White Spruce seedlings were sourced locally from the Ferguson Forest Centre in Kemptville and were purchased by SNC through funds raised from 2021 fundraising campaigns and with support from the Cornwall Community Hospital Foundation. “We want to show our appreciation and support for the frontline healthcare workers in our communities who have been working tirelessly throughout this Pandemic,” said John Mesman, SNC’s Community Lands and Outreach Lead. “Trees are resilient, like us. And we hope that newly planted trees will inspire others and provide some hope for the future.” Tree seedlings are a perishable, agricultural product that need to be planted within a limited season to ensure that seedlings can survive being lifted from nurseries and planted in their new homes in idle ﬁelds, windrows on farms, along watercourses and within managed forests to maintain a global supply of forest products.

mental services while increasing local forest cover,” said Caroline Goulet, one of SNC’s Foresters. SNC is a not-for-profit and community-based environmental agency that relies on donations and self-generated revenue to protect and enhance the local environment across its 4,441 square-kilometer jurisdiction. It’s never too early to start planning for next spring! Contact your local Conservation Authority to schedule a free site visit to place an order for 2023.

Most of the trees will be planted on private properties thanks to subsidies available to property owners to create windbreaks, control erosion, and for small to large reforestation projects. Through these programs funded by Forest Ontario, SNC, and the Federal Government, seedlings can be sourced and planted by SNC for as little as $0.26/conifer or $0.56/deciduous tree. “We’re thrilled to plant another record number of native trees this spring and work on behalf of member municipalities and residents to deliver essential environ-

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The North Grenville Times

Local funeral home plants living legacy of 30,000 trees

OpEd

Voting rights and turnout Submitted by Steve Gabell The right to vote is something that has been hard won over centuries. The history of voting rights is of small concessions being granted that gradually expanded voting rights to diﬀerent groups of people. In 1780, the UK electorate was less than 3% of the population. In 1867, the year of Confederation, the Second Reform Act extended voting rights to urban working men who met property requirements. Secret ballots were not introduced until 1874 in Canada. While Ontario granted widows and unmarried women the right to vote in municipal elections in 1884, women were not given the right to vote in provincial elections until 1917. The Federal government granted widespread suﬀrage in 1920, but some minorities and most Aboriginal persons were still excluded. Women in Quebec did not win the right to vote in provincial elections until

Staﬀ from Hulse, Playfair & McGarry funeral services joined the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation to dedicate a white oak tree at the funeral provider’s Kemptville Chapel on Wednesday, May 18. The tree commemorates HPM’s long-time commitment to the Rideau Valley Conservation Foundation’s memorial tree program, having planted 30,000 trees on behalf of every client family served since 2001. The Foundation’s Memorial Trees program, plants local, native seedlings in the Rideau Valley watershed. The funeral home hit the milestone last year, but due to Covid we were only now able to get together to celebrate. From left: HPM’s communications co-ordinator Claira Calderone, Kemptville chapel manager Mark Dayneka, HPM owner Sharon McGarry, Kemptville chapel administrator Pam Heney, RVCF board chair Andrew Harkness, RVCA forestry technician Amber Blewitt, RVCF executive director Diane Downey and RVCA forestry manager Ian Cochrane.

Street Piano Concert Series launches with Toots and a Bang!

Submitted by Lisa Poushinsky Join the procession on May 29 at 2 pm in downtown Kemptville as the Kemptville Street Piano Concert Series launches with toots and a bang! The Left Turn Trio will march their way into our hearts as we parade to a secret location where the Street Piano will be revealed in all its painted glory. Keith Hartshorn-Walton (tuba/sousaphone), Linsey Wellman (saxophone/clarinet /ﬂute), and Michel Delage (drums) will then take a seat at the keys and serenade us with a free concert, opening the Street Piano for public use until the weather changes in September. To learn where to gather for the march, ‘like’ the Kemptville Street Piano FB page and you’ll be notiﬁed when the location is posted. If you don’t FB, event details will also be updated before May 29 on the Kemptville Street Piano Calendar (found on the Voyageur Art & Music School website) and the North Grenville Events Calendar. About the Left Turn Trio: Linsey and Keith have performed together in various Ottawa projects including some of Mike Essoudry’s variations on marching bands, while drummer Michel and Keith play together in The Beeched Wailers and Mélanie E. See you there, and don’t forget your kids, pets on leashes, lawn chair for the concert, and marching shoes! https://www.facebook.com/KemptvilleStreetPiano May 25, 2022

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Spring Clean-Up Tips by Katie Lamb, Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit Finally, spring is here! When it comes to cleaning up the cottage, garage or shed be prepared. You may find small accumulations of mouse, bird, raccoon, or bat droppings. These droppings may have harmful micro-organisms that are released into the air in the dust as you clean up. Prior to cleaning up: Open windows and doors for ventilation for about 30 minutes before your begin cleaning. Wear disposable gloves and a face mask to protect from breathing in dust and droppings. Wet down areas where droppings have been left with a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Shovel the wet droppings and dispose of the cleaning cloths into a garbage bag and seal the bag. Wash your hands well after you have finished. Some droppings may require extra special precautions or help from a professional. Cleaning up around the yard, including trimming brush, will help reduce tick and mosquito breeding grounds. These pests live close to their breeding sites and can carry disease. The following actions will help control these pesky biters: Wear protective equipment that will protect you from insect bites and rashes from annoying weeds. Remove dead brush and cut down long grass. Empty and remove containers that hold stagnant water such as old tires, swimming pool covers, clogged gutters, unused toys or vehicles. Mow the grass and trim the ditches regularly. Mowing the ditch helps control the growth of wild parsnip. Keeping the plant mowed will prevent the plant from flowering and spreading its seeds. Check yourself for ticks after your work is complete. A thorough spring clean-up can help you enjoy outdoor activities all season long by removing conditions that are favourable for unwanted pests that may cause discomfort and disease. For more information check our Home Health and Safety section of our website. or call 1-800-660-5853 or 613-3455685. You can also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter @LGLHealthUnit for important public health updates. 4

1940, and it was only in 1960 that First Nations persons gained the right to vote in federal elections. Given the long and sometimes bloody fight for voting rights, you would think that every person eligible to vote would see it as their civic duty to vote. Yet in the last provincial election, turnout was a meagre 58%, although shockingly this was the highest turnout since 2003. This low turnout means combined with the vagaries of our first past the post system means there is a huge democratic deficit in Ontario. The previous government was elected by the votes of one in four eligible voters. Even in our super safe PC riding, more people did not vote at all than voted for Steve Clark, and almost two in three people did not vote for Mr. Clark. There is a significant difference in voter turnout between age groups. In the 2019 federal election, 79% of people aged 65-74 voted, but only 54% of 18-24 year olds did. Politicians are very limited in what they can achieve without being elected, so they naturally listen most to those groups of voters who are most likely to vote. Young people need to be involved in the political process if their concerns are going to be addressed, and all politicians should be trying to engage and encourage young people to vote. One thing I often hear is

that people don’t vote because it doesn’t change anything. This is untrue. Even if you vote for a candidate who does not win, your vote still sends a message showing how much that candidate’s values matter in this riding. Your vote helps to show how much support there is for that candidate and their party in your riding. Your vote can help change the picture of this riding from a safe seat to a more contested seat. And if your vote didn’t change anything, why did powerful, vested interests ﬁght so long and so hard against universal suﬀrage? On June 2 use your vote. Use your vote to honour and respect those who fought so long and hard for you to be able to vote. Use your vote for those who can’t yet vote. Use your vote to express your view, your values, and your vision for Ontario’s future. Whether you vote PC, NDP, Liberal, Green, or any other party, our democracy is stronger when more people vote.

Send in your letters, stories, events to editor@ ngtimes.ca

4 GREAT CONCERTS

Thursday, May 26 Buckledown $20

Bruce Enloe and the Burning Sensations $15

Thursday, June 16 Mixed Blessings $15 Thursday, Aug 18

Thursday, Sept 29 River City Junction $20

Concerts at 7:30 at the Spencerville Mill, 11 Water St., Spencerville Advance Tickets at Eventbrite.com and at the door

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The Voice of North Grenville

Empty streets and dark homes

Katya and son Dima by Ekaterina Strutinskaya The war that began on February 24 forever changed my life and that of my child. It is difficult for me to find answers and explain to my son why the war came to our house and our country. As a child, I listened to my grandfather’s story, of how he survived the Great Patriotic War as a child. I could not imagine that such monstrous events would be repeated in our lives. At the start of this war, my girlfriends called me and invited themselves. It was unusual for me to have visitors very late in the evening. The visit became a most pleasant and memorable event on the eve of a tragedy. On February 24, Ukrainians were awakened by explosions that were heard in almost all cities of Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the territory of an independent state - Ukraine. Missile attacks were hitting military installations, airfields, residential buildings, and urban infrastructure. The next morning, I phoned my relatives, making sure that they were fine and decided

May 25, 2022

to go to work at the coffee shop. It was important for me to be among people, to remain calm, and not to shift panic onto my child. Schools were cancelled that day, so I took my son Dmitry with me to work. I tried to control my emotions, but the fear and panic that I saw in people’s eyes did not allow me to keep control of my emotions. Dima asked: “Mom, why did Russia attack us? Why do they want to kill us? What have we done wrong?” It was impossible to hold back tears and find words. Our life in Odesa would never be the same again. How do we live on? Where do we escape? How can I protect a child? At noon, there was a second explosion not far from the coffee shop. Fear, trembling, panic, heart palpitations - overwhelming fear. Dima cried. I cried with him, hugging him, trying to calm him. The fear only intensified. After the explosion, it wasn’t safe to remain at the shop. We headed home. On the way, we saw columns of military vehicles and long queues of

cars leaving the city. On February 24, our life and the routine schedule of our day were changed. In Ukraine, a curfew was introduced. After 6 pm, the streets were empty, and the lights in the houses were dimmed. A single light could become a target for Russian orcs. We spent nine days in the basement. The sleepless nights and the wail of sirens forced us to move to a safer place. I could not bear how my son was suffering, how he was crying and begging God to stop the war. My friend, who lived nearby, suggested that we leave Odesa and stay with friends in Canada. After much deliberation, I left my beloved city, where I spent the best years of my life. The most painful decision for us was to leave our cat Marusya behind. I gave her to Dima for his birthday. Marusya grew up in Dima's arms. She would meet him at the door after school and he would tell her how his day went. The journey from Ukraine to Canada would be difficult, especially for a child. But we had no other choice. Dima walked 16 kilometres with a heavy backpack for the first time in his life. He stood in line for 5 hours at the border with Moldova. We did not know what awaited us and where we would stay while we dealt with the paperwork for Canada. In Moldova, we were sheltered by a family for the night. The next day we headed for Bucharest, Romania. Caring and generous people provided us with free housing for an indefinite period. We met kind and generous people along the way and cannot adequately express how grateful we are. Dima quickly found a common language with everyone he met. Everyone loved him,

and he became attached to many people with whom he still maintains friendships. I realized that leaving Ukraine was the right decision for the sake of his emotional health and well-being. Throughout our journey, our friend Stephanie Gilmer stayed in constant touch. She helped us with the documents and supported us with finances. Having lost everything, we found a new family in Canada. We feel the unwavering support of Canadians every day and witness it through the Ukrainian flags that decorate homes. For Dima, a new life and an adventure began. Without knowing English, he has managed to make friends and become a ‘Rock Star’ at school. The principal and teachers at Kemptville School welcomed and accepted him so warmly. The only disappointment for Dima is that he has two days off from school. He enjoys school so much that he is willing to learn without days off. When we settled in with friends in Kemptville, a cat joined Dima’s world. Canadian Luna became the Ukrainian Marusya -- same breed and colour. He believes this is Marusya and does not know how she found her way to Canada. Our family consisted of two – a mother and her son. But now we have a bigger

family with grandfather Sheldon, grandmother Stephanie, sisters Lilah, Ava, Laela, and Poppy. We are grateful to all who support Ukraine, especially to Southgate and Ben Last for their financial support. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!

• • • •

Vehicle repairs Class “A” Mechanic Sale of Quality PreOwned Vehicles Flat Bed Tow Truck

Ekaterina Strutinskaya was born in Odesa and has lived her entire life in the port city on the Black Sea. She is the single mother of sevenyear-old Dmitry and raised her son on her own.

• • • • •

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Insuring Your Paycheque How do you know you’re deﬁcient in Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient found in citrus fruits and as a dietary supplement. Now, a reader asks, “How do I know if I have a deficiency of vitamin C?” It’s a good question, as studies show that 14 percent of North Americans aren’t getting even the meagre recommended daily dose. Many more aren’t getting the high doses needed to decrease the risk of heart attack, stroke, and chronic inflammation. What are symptoms of vitamin C deficiency? Bleeding Gums, Tooth Loss, and Easy Bruising Vitamin C is needed to produce collagen, the glue that holds cells together. If there’s too little C, weakened blood vessels bleed when brushing teeth. The tragedy is teeth are lost not just by tooth decay. Many teeth are lost due to weakened gums from lack of collagen. Easy bruising is also the result of weakened blood vessels that rupture under the skin. Bruises may cover a large area or appear as small purple dots under the skin. Slow Healing Wounds Low vitamin C decreases the rate of collagen production and slows wound healing. Consult with the surgeon on increasing vitamin C intake before an operation. This allows time to build up adequate blood levels of C. It’s also prudent to continue vitamin C following surgery to help in wound healing. On rare occasions, a severe lack of C could cause a wound to open, increasing the risk of infection. Few doctors realize that following a stressful operation, vitamin C blood levels can plummet! Taking vitamin C after surgery also helps prevent constipation, an annoying problem which causes more stress on the incision. More Colds and Infections Vitamin C in the blood energizes the immune system. Should infection strike, immune cells need as much as 100 times more vitamin May 25, 2022

C than normal. This allows immune cells to pump C into cells to fight infection. But it’s impossible if they do not have a reservoir of Vitamin C at all times. Moreover, extra supply of C can be lifesaving. For instance, it can reduce the incidence of pneumonia by 80 percent. This is important as the death rate from this infection in elderly people is 16 percent, even with the use of antibiotics. Painful Swollen Joints Joints contain large amounts of collagen-rich connective tissue. If there’s a vitamin C deficiency, a limp may develop. In addition, weakened arteries may start to bleed, causing additional swelling and pain in the joint. Dry, Rough, Bumpy, Wrinkled Skin Healthy skin contains large amounts of vitamin C, particularly in the epidermis, the outer layer. Insufficient vitamin C means less collagen to hold skin cells together and earlier wrinkles. Moreover, vitamin C protects against oxidative damage, the result of exposure to sun and pollutants such as cigarette smoke. Low vitamin C intake can also cause a condition called keratosis pilaris. Bumpy “chicken skin” forms on the back of the upper arms, thighs, or buttocks. This is due to a buildup of keratin in the bumps. Unexplained Weight Gain and Other Factors Vitamin C may help to protect against obesity by regulating the release of fat from fat cells. Low C is also needed for skeletal growth in children and increased risk of bone fracture and osteoporosis in adults. And never forget C deficiency results from a poor diet, smoking, and alcoholism. How To Get Extra C Supplementing with 500 mg (milligram) of C daily is helpful. But 1,000 mg three times a day with meals should guarantee that cells are never short of this vital vitamin. Sign-up at www.docgiff. com to receive our weekly e-newsletter. For comments, contact-us@docgiff.com. Follow us on Instagram @ docgiff and @diana_gifford_ jones

coverage amount is not always adequate to maintain the employee’s standard of living. This is where a personally owned Disability Insurance policy can help to top up the coverage offered through an employer. Critical Illness insurance: Like Disability Insurance, Critical Illness insurance pays out a tax-free benefit. The difference between the two policies is that, with Critical Illness, the individual receives a lump-sum amount. The definition of each policy can vary, most covering up to twenty-five illnesses such as life-threatening cancer, heart attack, and stroke. If one becomes ill, receiving the benefit would allow an individual to stay on track with their financial plan while covering their living expenses and allowing them to focus on the road to recovery. Although no one wants to consider the “what ifs?”; imagine the comfort in knowing that in the event of a tragedy you and your family would be able to manage the financial stress with the help of an insurance policy. Insurance can play a key role in an individual’s financial plan. Your ability to earn an income is one of the most significant assets and placing insurance on that asset is of utmost importance. We welcome questions so please reach out! See our ad in this week’s North Grenville Times and follow us on Facebook @OFarrellFinancialServicesInc. Cole Seabrook is a Financial Advisor with Assante Capital Management Ltd. The opinions expressed are those

By Cole Seabrook Financial Advisor, O’Farrell Wealth & Estate Planning | Assante Capital Management Ltd. When speaking with individuals regarding their financial plans, many like to focus on the wealth management portion. Although savings and investments are key components of financial planning, many individuals neglect an incredibly crucial factor Disability and Critical Illness Insurance. As individuals, we do not like to think about the worst-case scenario, but it is a consideration that should be addressed and planned for. Should anyone become disabled or critically ill at some point during their working years, this could have a major impact on many aspects of their financial situation. It could become difficult to cover their living expenses, mortgage payments, taxes, and other bills. On top of adding pressure to their financial situation, job loss can also cause stress on family dynamics. Let us look at how the two different types of insurance can protect individuals against potential job loss due to disability or illness. Disability insurance: In the event an individual becomes disabled, a private disability plan provides a monthly tax-free income – potentially for the entire duration of time that they are unable to work, or possibly until the age of sixty-five. There are many ways to structure this type of insurance to meet an individual’s needs. Although many employers have this type of coverage in their Group Benefits plan, the

Growing Food

Submitted by: Danielle Labonte, MPH, MAN, RD Registered Dietitian and Public Health Nutritionist Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit If land isn’t available or you don’t have the time to travel to a community garden there are other options. One solution is container gardening, where you grow vegetables and plants in boxes or bins, instead of in the ground. This way, you can have a garden on your balcony or deck. Container gardening can include beets, beans, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, eggplant, green onions, lettuce, collards, bok choy, spinach, kale, tomatoes, peppers, and radishes. It is helpful to learn about which vegetables grow well in diﬀerent sized containers. In addition to size, other points to learn about include container drainage, soil and fertilizing, water and light, planting and grooming, and insects and disease. Don’t be discouraged by this list. Some of these issues are straightforward and easily dealt with, for example, containers don’t have to be a big expense. No balcony or deck? Consider using windowsill gardens and include herbs in your gardening plans. You can use them when you cook up the veggies or dry or freeze them for use all winter long. You can ﬁnd excellent information about container gardening from Master Gardeners of Ontario, www.landscapeontario.com. 6

The Voice of North Grenville

North Grenville’s Local Financial Service Professionals

Cole Seabrook

Financial Advisor

Assante Capital Management Ltd.

Sarah Chisholm Financial Advisor

Assante Capital Management Ltd.

1-877-989-1997 | OFARRELLWEALTH.COM | OFARRELL@ASSANTE.COM BROCKVILLE CORNWALL KEMPTVILLE RENFREW WINCHESTER

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of the author and not necessarily those of Assante Capital Management Ltd. Please contact him at 613.258.1997 or visit ofarrellwealth.com to discuss your circumstances prior to acting on the information above. Assante Capital Management Ltd. is a mem-

ber of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada. Insurance products and services are provided through Assante Estate and Insurance Services Inc.

The Food Corner by Paul Cormier, Salamanders of Kemptville We use a huge number of chicken breasts at Salamanders for our salads, wraps and special dishes. Obviously, recipes that include chicken have a special place in our family. Today’s recipe, Apple-Chicken Medallions is a tasty combination of chicken breasts sliced into medallion shapes and baked with diced fresh apples. It is best served with wild rice and Ben’s Original brand has a nice version that cooks up very quickly and is very ﬂavourful. Another welcome addition is Tomates gratinées and I have added some notes on this below. By the way, you all know how to add and subtract ingredients based on the number of good folks you are feeding.

Apple-Chicken Medallions Main Ingredients ·3 or 4 largish chicken breasts ·2 green apples, peeled, cored, sliced and diced ·2 ½ cups of unsweetened apple juice ·1 cup of white sauce (recipe below) ·½ cup of 35% cream White Sauce 2 tablespoons of butter (salted or unsalted) ·Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a small saucepan set to medium heat ·Add 2 tablespoons of allpurpose flour and stir till combined ·Whisk in 1 cup of whole milk. Stir until thickened Preparation ·Pre-heat your oven to 375F ·Place the chicken breasts whole in a glass dish with ¼ inch of apple juice in the bottom ·Sprinkle with the diced apple and poach the chicken in the

oven till just done (don’t overcook) ·Remove the chicken, place on a cutting board and slice into “medaliions” about ½” thick ·Place the rest of the apple juice in a pan on medium heat and bring to just about a boil ·Stir in the white sauce, then the cream, then lower your heat ·Add the chicken medallions and cooked apple to the mixture and warm thoroughly ·Transfer the medallions to a serving dish and drizzle with your sauce Meanwhile, you have cooked up your wild rice. You have also prepared some tomatoes as follows: ·Mix about a ½ cup of Parmesan and Panko crumbs half and half ·Slice your tomatoes in ¼” slices ·Place your slices in another ﬂat glass baking pan that you have sprayed with oil ·Coat the exposed surface with the Parm and Panko mixture ·Bake at the same 375F till golden brown (once again, please don’t overcook) ·Remove from the oven and lift directly from the baking pan onto your guests’ waiting plates So, now you have the AppleChicken Medallions with a side of Wild Rice and some nice baked tomatoes. Do accompany with a favourite chilled white wine such as an unoaked Chardonnay. Please let me know how this works for you at pcormier@ranaprocess.com.

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The North Grenville Times

North Grenville seeking public input on reconciliation framework The Municipality is inviting the community to participate in the development of a Reconciliation Framework. A community engagement session will be held on Wednesday, June 8, 2022 from 6:30 – 8:30 pm at the North Grenville Municipal Centre (285 County Road 44). For those who cannot attend the public engagement in person can email their input to vision@northgrenville.on.ca. “North Grenville’s Council is committed to an ongoing reconciliation process, not only to better understand the meaningful actions we can all take, but also to provide the foundation as a community for moving forward,” emphasized Mayor Nancy Peckford. The Framework will create a plan to better recognize the history of Indigenous peoples in this area and the contributions of Indigenous members of our community. It will also provide strategic advice to the Municipality for

how to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action in the long term, under the lens of the local region and issues of Municipal inﬂuence. “Reconciliation is about relationship-building, and we invite all members of our community to participate in this process as we navigate a meaningful way forward together. We encourage residents to attend the public engagement session and add their voices to the Reconciliation Framework,” added Councillor Kristin Strackerjan. The Municipality of North Grenville began working on a localized Reconciliation eﬀort in the summer of 2021 in support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s “Calls to Action,” and retained the services of the Indigenous advisory firm, First People’s Group. The following steps have been conducted to date:

Council recognized September 30th as the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and held a Every Child Matters Flag Ceremony with local Indigenous leaders and members of the community. On November 8th, North Grenville lowered its flags in recognition of Indigenous Veterans Day, to recognize and acknowledge the many contributions and sacrifices of First Nations, Inuit and Métis to Canada’s war efforts and peacekeeping missions. Members of Council and municipal staff took part in Indigenous Awareness Training. In February 2022, North Grenville’s Council adopted an Indigenous Land Acknowledgement. The acknowledgement was created in consultation with First Peoples Group and was shared with Indigenous community members and local stakeholders who had been in contact with the

Municipality and was revised based on their feedback. Council adopted North Grenville’s new Community Strategic Plan on January 25, 2022. Reconciliation is a key value in the plan and is prioritized in a number of the goals and actions. It is expected that once the Reconciliation Framework is complete the Strategic Plan will be updated to include more specific actions. In early 2022, municipal staff began reviewing its procedures, policies and strategic documents to assess how they align with the Municipality’s reconciliation efforts. This assessment is the foundation for developing a Reconciliation Framework for the Municipality - created in consultation with the community. For more information visit: www.northgrenville. ca/live/community-involvement/truth-and-reconciliation

At the regularly scheduled meeting of North Grenville Council on May 17, Council members were presented with a report outlining the feasibility of a new indoor aquatics centre being developed locally. The study was conducted by East York consulting ﬁrm Sierra Planning and Management, and was presented to Council by Sierra’s director, Jon Hack. Jon began by presenting the various site options on which an indoor aquatics centre could potentially be built within Kemptville. The North Grenville Municipal Centre was proposed as the most viable site, with the Kemptville Campus being a good second option, and Riverside Park also looked at as an option. When presenting proposed details of what the facility itself would look like, Jon noted that the primary focus should be on making sure the facility is built to last. “If you’re going to build it, you’re going to build it the right way, and you’re going to built it so that it’s going to last,” said Jon. “It’s not going to be done simply to be able to tick a box that there is an indoor pool of some nature for the community.” The proposed facility May 25, 2022

would be a municipal Class A pool, with fully certified lifeguards and full programming. The recommendation taken from the study is for a multi-use facility, on an appropriate scale for the anticipated population served. This could potentially mean a 6-lane, 25-metre athletic pool, plus area for leisure swimming. Such a facility could measure approximately 25,000 square feet, though in such early stages, the size is not yet clear. The best practice recommended by the study is a two tank design with sufficient decking to allow for swimming lessons and other activities, and space for other amenities. Jon gave examples of other pool construction projects which have happened in other municipalities recently, including their costs, but was careful to point out that many factors affect cost, and so the examples should be taken as a guide only. Jon told Council not to be alarmed at the enormous expense presented in the examples, since costs can be controlled by adjusting what other amenities are built concurrently. The next part of Jon’s report focused on the local market for indoor aquatics, and whether it justifies such a centre being built in

••

UPDATE

MUNICIPAL OFFICE HOURS

The Municipal oﬃce is open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Please note: Renovations at the North Grenville Municipal Centre reception area are underway. Access to the facility will continue to be through the main entrance doors located on the North side of the building. Customer service will be moved upstairs for the duration of the renovation project. Access to the 2nd ﬂoor stairs and elevator will be available during this time. Sign-up to Mayor Peckford’s e-newsletter at: northgrenville.ca/connect.

2022 MUNICIPAL AND SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION

The nomination period is now open for the 2022 Municipal and School Board Election. Please visit NGvotes.ca for nomination information, announcements, and updates. Notices setting out the positions and details concerning school board elections can be found at: NGvotes.ca/ election-news.

UPCOMING MEETINGS COUNCIL MEETINGS Council will continue to meet virtually during the Municipal Centre renovation project. Please pre-register with the Clerk at clerk@northgrenville.on.ca. If you require accommodation, please advise the Clerk when pre-registering so that we may best assist you. To make a deputation in relation to an item on the agenda, please provide your comments no later than two hours prior to the start of the meeting to clerk@northgrenville.on.ca Council meetings will be live streamed on YouTube at: youtube.com/user/NorthGrenville/featured and on the Municipality’s website at: northgrenville.ca/govern/governance/agendas-and-minutes.

Study conducted on feasibility of a Kemptville Aquatics Centre by Brandon Mayer

The Voice of North Grenville

Council agendas are available at: northgrenville.ca/govern/governance/agendas-and-minutes.

Kemptville. Given that there are surrounding municipalities which also do not have aquatics centres, the Sierra study suggests that it is not appropriate to look solely at North Grenville’s municipal boundaries when determining demand for a new aquatics centre. The study includes a map of surrounding locales, showing all areas within a 30 minute or 45 minute drive of Kemptville, as these places would be a potential source of users of the facility. Within fewer than 10 years, an aquatics centre in Kemptville would have a primary catchment population of approximately 27,000 people, which is considered reasonable to justify the cost of the facility. “You would not be criticized for going forward with a suitably scaled pool,” Jon told Council. Aquatics centres are among the highest deﬁcit-producing recreational amenities that municipalities can build, but they provide signiﬁcant leisure benefits, and they

do generate revenue unlike some other amenities, such as libraries. A ﬁnancial report presented by Jon suggests that an aquatics centre would be expected to have a deﬁcit of over $400,000 per year, but that this is normal and expected with such a facility. In order to help cover the costs of the initial build, Jon recommended planning quickly in order to be ready to apply for provincial and federal grants when they become available. The report ultimately endorses the potential of the development of an aquatics centre as an addition to the Municipal Centre, and warns against developing a singleuse facility (i.e. a multi-use facility is recommended). Mayor Nancy Peckford emphasized that the study by Sierra Planning and Management was commissioned only to assess the feasibility of a potential future project. More discussions on the proposed project are certain to be had in the near future.

• Council Meeting (Open) -Virtual - June 7, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. • Council Meeting (Open) -Virtual - June 15, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Committees may be meeting in-person or virtually. Please see the Committee agenda for details on how to attend. • Environmental Action Advisory Committee – May 30, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. • Arts and Culture Advisory Committee – May 31, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. • Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee – June 1, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. • Heritage Advisory Committee – June 2, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. • Community and Economic Development Advisory Committee – June 6, 2022 at 3:00 p.m.

NORTH GRENVILLE POLICE SERVICES BOARD

Police Services Board meetings will be conducted virtually via Zoom. For any members of the public wanting to attend the meeting virtually, pre-registration is required by e-mailing the Clerk’s Oﬃce at clerk@northgrenville.on.ca • Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 1:30 p.m.

VOLUNTEER AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

The Municipality and the Kemptville Campus are seeking to ﬁll a variety of positions. Please visit northgrenville.ca/careers for more information.

The Municipality of North Grenville 285 County Rd. 44, PO Box 130, Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0 Tel: 613-258-9569 Fax: 613-258-9620 general@northgrenville.on.ca www.NorthGrenville.ca Building: 613-258-9569 x130 Fax: 613-258-1441

Help Support Your Local Businesses SHOP LOCALLY

Fire Services Info: 613-258-9569 x201 Fax: 613-258-1031 By-Law Services: email: bylawinquiries@northgrenville.on.ca 613-258-9569 x211 Police Administration: 613-258-3441 Animal Control: 613-862-9002

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The North Grenville Times

Forget “where”, ask “why” by Brandon Mayer As the provincial election draws ever closer, perhaps the most hotly debated issue on the North Grenville side of the Leeds-GrenvilleThousand Islands & Rideau Lakes riding will be the proposed correctional facility on the Campus grounds, or as it has become known colloquially – the Kemptville Prison. When debating something as unsightly and unpleasant as a new prison, it is just as important to ask “why” as it is to ask “where”. Few, if any, communities will ever welcome a new prison with open arms (and note that I only use the term “prison” for familiarity, since prisons are federal institutions, and the Kemptville facility would be a provincial jail). The argument can easily be made that a new prison should be in a more remote area, outside of a town but still accessible by populated areas. However, such a build

Letters to the Editor Dear Editor, After having day surgery yesterday at the Kemptville District Hospital Surgical Care Unit, I want to say how pleased I was with the whole experience - from being greeted at the entrance door to exiting in a wheelchair. The doctors were thorough and professional with their explanation of the procedure I was facing. And I cannot say enough great things about the nurses - friendly, helpful, thorough, professional, detailed, interested. Can't thank everyone enough. Roger Shantz Dear Editor, Triggered by news of the leaked USA Supreme Court draft decision about Roe v. Wade, Shirley Price (NG Times letter, May 18) fears that abortion will become illegal in many states, and that Canada may follow. She does a fair job presenting one side of the abortion debate - a common tactic on the subject - while ignoring the other side. A response outlining the other side is needed; the side of the child developing in the woman's womb; that is, the human selected for termination in the procedure. In most cases, the abortion issue comes down to a conﬂict between the woman's desires and interests (that is, her conve-

would create countless extra infrastructure challenges, such as water well drilling, septic tank installation, and the search for an inexpensive source of heat in the absence of natural gas. Valid concerns have been raised that suggest Kemptville may not have the right amenities to support a prison, either. Even though it has full utility services, Kemptville does not have a taxi or bus service, creating fears that those released from the facility who cannot secure a ride will lurk in town, possibly engaging in more criminal behaviour. With valid, pointed questions naturally come broader and more obvious questions, which is where the “why” comes in. Why does Ontario need a new correctional facility? Aren’t we supposed to be moving away from a “law and order” mindset, and toward an approach that addresses the systemic issues which lead to crime in the ﬁrst place? I am a mental health counsellor by training, and

completed the second half of the clinical placement for my degree just as COVID-19 was beginning to sink its teeth into everyone’s lives in early 2020. Nearly everyone I provided counselling for at that time – adults, elderly, and even teens and children who I provided service to at school – needed help dealing with the mental health ramifications of the pandemic. Many clients I provided service to didn’t even need help until COVID-19 became a reality. Several months into the pandemic, I was woken up late in the evening and became an unexpected provider of help to a man who tried to hang himself off the side of his own balcony (he thankfully survived). Did pandemic stress drive him over the edge? We may never know, but I do know that the system was already failing preCOVID. During placement, I was involved in a couple of crisis line calls made on behalf of suicidal clients – in both cases, crisis line staff at-

tempted to talk my clients off the phone, effectively saying they were too busy to send a team that day. A call to an ambulance is inevitably next when a crisis intervention team won’t come, at which point hospital responses can be highly varied. I have had close family members struggle to get help for their mental health concerns in hospital, and have even written stories in the Times of local residents who have had to say dramatic, impactful, and downright awful things just to be taken seriously enough to receive mental health help in hospital. Outside of hospitals, most professional mental health help costs money, except free psychiatrist services (assuming a person can afford to wait potentially years on a waiting list). Writing out my own concerns with “the system” has even helped open my own eyes. Are mental health issues an excuse for crime? Of course not. But there is no use for ignorance. When someone

who can’t get proper mental healthcare turns to drugs to cope instead, we now have crime. When someone actually wants help with their anger, or their crippling depression, or any other number of mental health issues that can impact well-being and decision making and therefore lead to crime, what are we proving when we refuse to help them, but are quick to punish them? Imprisoning people is expensive. Though the cost varies depending on the type of inmate, and the security level of the incarceration, a simple rule-of-thumb estimate is $100,000 per year per inmate. Imagine the type of mental health supports that could have been provided for $100,000. Or $1 million for an inmate incarcerated for 10 years. To make matters worse (yes, it gets worse!), the type of crime that would land someone in provincial jail is the type of crime that is likely going to become more commonplace in the coming years

due to the current economic situation. We’re talking about things like petty theft to feed one’s family, or stealing gasoline in order to get to work. These crimes hurt both small and large businesses, drive prices up even further, and are inexcusable, but they are also understandable. It’s a tough world, and raising taxes to cover the cost of caging up the public instead of ﬁxing underlying systemic issues, does not help to make the world any less tough, and only continues the cycle. As with many others, the thought of a prison in Kemptville scares me – for one, it will give me and countless other parents a reason to want to keep our kids just a little bit closer. But when it comes to the Kemptville Prison debate, let’s stop asking our provincial political candidates “why Kemptville?”, and instead just leave it at “why?”

nience), and the very existence and life of her developing child. The woman can speak for herself, but the child cannot, so needs the state to represent its interests. The child is, of course, fully human and not part of the woman's body. Moreover, except in rare cases, the woman is not a victim, as she participated in conceiving the child. Having the child killed seems an extremely brutal way to take responsibility for it. In the ongoing debate there is (or should be) room for rational discussion regarding at what point during the pregnancy the child's interests balance those of the woman, and that is where legislation must be involved to regulate abortion. Shirley Price is correct in one way, that as things stand today, Canada is lawless regarding abortion. In principle, a woman could legally have an abortion on her due date! In contrast, the laws presently considered in the USA are more balanced, allowing abortion early in pregnancy, while limiting it later on. The abortion issue will not be resolved by presenting only one side, while ignoring valid concerns on the other. Nor should it be resolved by histrionics, fearmongering, or demonizing opponents. A reasonable middle position can be arrived at logically and dispassionately, through fair discussion and careful consideration, perhaps even-

tually here in Canada as well. Such a position would provide some recourse for a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy, while truly valuing the life of the child developing within her. Ed Norman, Kemptville.

cherries come from the State of Washington. Can you imagine the price we will have to pay for them this summer because of the high fuel rates? Does the current Government not pay any attention to our history and learn from it? The very same thing will happen to the Holland Marsh. The place where Ontario gets the bulk of their fresh vegetables. It will be much cheaper to buy them from the Holland Marsh producers this year than from another Province or from the States. If this Government gets reelected, I really hope Mr. Steve Clark does the wise thing and stops the building of the highway through the Holland Marsh. I also question how many people of Ontario will beneﬁt from this highway. It seems to me not very many. I really don't appreciate my tax dollars being spent on another useless highway that only creates seasonal jobs, lines the pockets of a few large corporations and destroys some of the most important farmland in Ontario. Lynn Paibomesai

Open letter to Mayor and Council Transparency is not an option. It is mandatory that council give the rate payers the following information before the plan for the prison progresses any further. We need a full report of the sewer river crossing at Joseph St, Jack St. and through my property on Vista Crescent. The sewer running through my property was installed without my knowledge or compensation offered. This report should be carried out by a civil engineer stating exactly which areas are distributed between these three sewers. The 10 inch cast iron sewer on my property was to be placed between lots 13 and 14 by a registered easement which was never finalized. This was designed by engineers Gore and Story and was installed illegally by the town of Kemptville. When the sewer was installed, it was to carry the capacity for a much smaller population. My understanding is that the sewage from the prison will be directed through this sewer on my property. Many years ago the sewer backed up and now I am facing the probability of even more sewage flowing into my basement. On voicing my concerns, I received a letter from the mayor in June, 2021 assuring me that this sewer would never back up. On December 18, 2021, it did back up causing considerable damage to my finished basement

and a $600 a year increase in my insurance. It is obvious that the sewer is undersized for today’s needs and future expansion. How can it possibly carry the extra sewage from the prison, and in the meantime I could have a back up at any time. Since the sewer backed up, I have had no communication or assurances that immediate steps would be taken to rectify this problem. It could take up to two years to obtain a legal easement and replace the existing sewer. The town of Kemptville’s water supply comes from wells, and with the uncontrolled development, how can the developers who are selling the homes and the council guarantee any future buyer that they will have enough water and sewage capacity? The engineer’s report is urgent in order to put today’s and future home owners at ease. Ralph Raina

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The Voice of North Grenville

Dear Editor, I was horriﬁed when I found out the proposed 413 Highway was to go through part of the Holland Marsh. When the Queen Elizabeth Way in southern Ontario was being proposed by the Provincial Government of the time, my Grandfather was one of the farmers who opposed the highway. The farmers wanted the highway to be built on top of the Niagara Escarpment where the farmland was not top quality, instead of it being built on the richest soil in all of North America. Of course the farmers were not listened to. When I was a child, we would go to visit my Grandparents who lived on Lake Erie. Once we got off of the Burlington Skyway, the orchards were on both sides of the highway; now, it is almost two thirds of the way down the highway to Lake Erie before you see orchards. As my Grandfather predicted, factories and houses have been built along the highway, and once the land has been paved over and built on, it can never, ever be brought back to what it was. All of our summer fruit used to come from that region, now our black

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the north grenville

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TIMES Editor David Shanahan editor@ngtimes.ca 613-215-0735

OFFICE 613-215-0735

Accounting Pat Jessop cfo@ngtimes.ca 613-258-4671

Staﬀ Reporter Brandon Mayer brandon@ndtimes.ca

Dear Editor, In response to the “Letter to the Editor” of May 18/22 submitted by Shirley Price. Each year we celebrate Mother’s Day and I would take this opportunity to honour all the mothers that make personal sacrifice for the future of their children. This in contrast to Ms. Price’s article that honoured those who sacriﬁced their children for their own future. Willem Van Dam

Mailing Address P.O. Box 1854 Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0 Production production@ngtimes.ca 613-215-0735

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The North Grenville Times

The Voice of North Grenville

Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes

CANDIDATES ANSWER OUR QUESTIONS

by David Shanahan As part of our coverage of this year’s provincial election, the Times asked the candidates to meet for an on-lie interview to discuss their policies and platforms. Of the nine candidates running, ﬁve agreed to chat with us. The others not represented are: Stephen Ireland of the Ontario People’s Front, Daniel Kitsch of the New Blue party, Glenn L. Malcolm of the Ontario Party, and Dave Senger of Populist Ontario. It is an unusually packed slate of candidates this time out, representing, perhaps, a move away from the traditional politics of the riding, and a split within the older right-left divide we are used to in Ontario. These extracts from the ﬁve interviews we conducted deal with various issues, including healthcare, housing, education, and, naturally, the infamous prison proposed for Kemptville. While the excerpts can only cover a part of what was discussed online, each interview can be viewed in full on our website at www.ngtimes.ca.

Chris Wilson, New Democratic Party candidate

David Shanahan: What is the position of the NDP as a party, and you as a candidate, on the proposed prison for Kemptville? Chris Wilson: The position of the party is to immediately pause the prison project while we conduct some due diligence into the site selection process. The Conservative government under Doug Ford has released very few documents with regards to how the site was selected out of 50 different locations for the for the project. So, you know, normally when people are scared or don't want to give people information, it's normally because they're trying to hide something. So I think there might be some flaw, or something in the site selection, that could lead to redoing the site selection process. So that's what the NDP official stance is, that they'd like to pause the project, reinvestigate the site selection process, and if it was flawed, they're going to redo it. My stance is a little bit further than that. I believe the prison project should be cancelled entirely, mainly because it is a very, very poor investment of taxpayer resources, half a billion dollars of taxpayer resources and tens of millions of dollars annually going forward to house these prisoners. But in fact, incarceration causes more crime. So the Conservative government May 25, 2022

under Doug Ford, and with the support of Steve Clarke, is trying to spend half a billion dollars of taxpayer money to increase our costs annually on a programme that doesn't even work. So I would instead spend that money on mental health and addiction services, which is proven investment to reduce crime and spend it investing in vulnerable communities and poorer communities to provide social services to prevent criminals from being criminals in the ﬁrst place. David Shanahan: Do you think it's still worth going through the consultation process if you feel that it shouldn't even begin? Chris Wilson: We don't have all the information that the current government has with regards to the project. But we do feel heavily that there is a ﬂaw with how the site was selected, and even the Ford government admits that the main reason they selected the site here in the heart of Kemptville was because they already owned the land. And to me, the land acquisition cost is very minimal when you look at a project of this significance, half a billion dollars invested just to build the prison, and that's the budgeted amount. Projects like this very often go over budget. But when you look at the land acquisition costs and the savings of putting it right

in the heart of our small town, it just doesn't make sense. You could buy land somewhere else that's not in the heart of a small community that doesn't have the services. David Shanahan: What do you see as the role of you as an MPP, specifically for this region? Chris Wilson: I believe that mental health access is a huge challenge for every community and especially our community. So mental health access right now, children, even children who are suicidal and really on the verge of of doing something bad, they're waiting upwards of a year to see a therapist, sometimes two years. And the NDP are committed in investing heavily into mental health care access in order to shorten that wait time down to 30 days. Next would be education. The NDP is going to invest heavily into education. We're going to build new schools and we're also going to treat the staff appropriately: teachers, education assistants. We're going to treat them in a way that makes their job more rewarding and that will entice more people to become teachers and education assistants in order to staff those schools. Because there's no sense building new schools if you treat the teachers like garbage and they don't enjoy their jobs, and you have a hard time recruiting and retaining staff for those new schools. And then the last thing for local investments: I believe heavily in healthy, inexpensive, food access across the riding. We're known for a big agriculture community and growing healthy food is important, but also getting healthy food to the consumer in a cost effective way. So those are three areas that I think the NDP really excels in, and I'm really excited to start bringing solutions to the riding. David Shanahan: As you've been campaigning across

the riding and especially in this region, what are the issues that are coming up that you find important to the people, and are they different from what you would have expected,or what you thought of yourself? Chris Wilson: No, they're very similar. I mean, the one we're talking about most often is the cost of housing. Actually, two of them I'd like to mention: one of them is rural Internet services. So the Ontario government is looking to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds to provide subsidies to telecommunications providers to make Internet access more affordable in the rural areas. And not just affordable, but quality Internet, high speed Internet. So I think we really need someone with my background of business acumen as well as ethical and moral integrity, to make sure that these funds aren't given out sort of willy nilly to the telecommunications companies without some firm contracts in place and their requirements to meet. And I don't have the faith in our current leaders, especially under the Doug Ford government, to make sure that these contracts get handed out ethically and in a moral way. And number two is wasteful spending in our government, both the Liberals and the Conservatives alike. It's a well-known fact that they give big government contracts to companies that support their causes. I mean, obviously, if you're a company that's getting government contracts, you're going to want to support the party that's more likely to give it to you. But still, I'm proposing, and this is just myself, not the NDP, but I'm going to advocate for new ways to control wasteful spending in our government, whether it's a new ministry that's designed entirely to control wasteful spending, control salary costs that get out of hand. David Shanahan: You men9

tioned housing earlier. Obviously, it's a big issue for people everywhere across the world even. Not just on access to housing, but access to affordable housing. Chris Wilson: I want to say again, the gentleman that I'm up against, Mr. Clarke, he's the Minister of Housing in our province. His main responsibility as the Minister of Housing in Ontario is to keep housing affordable for the people of Ontario. He hasn't even tried. He hasn't implemented one new piece of legislation to keep housing affordable. And if he doesn't want to do the job, he should get out of the way and let me do the job for them. It's a mad scramble in the rural areas to try to buy houses. And what we're seeing is areas where normally the housing is pretty stable, they're spiking up all of a sudden. And that brings me to the next issue of rent controls. So if you can control rent increases through legislation that will make one tenant pay similar cost to the previous tenant when they're moving into a new place, instead of landlords being able to double the rent overnight, that'll go a long way to discourage these institutional and corporate investors from buying up all our homes in our province. Not only that, but it will control rents and make renting affordable for those who either don't qualify for a mortgage, or just choose renting as a better option for them. And to add to that, the supply is also a big concern. Housing is harder to build now. So what we need to do is end some exclusionary zoning in order to make it possible to build more what's called "the missing middle housing model". Right now, developers are really good at building single family homes, and they're also really good at building high rises in the city centres. What they're not so good at is building the duplexes, triplexes, and

low rise apartment buildings with commercial units on the bottom. You can live and work in the same place, so you don't have to pay the exorbitant amounts for gas to get to work. And it makes the housing more affordable for people to buy, as first time homebuyers, than these single family dwellings. David Shanahan: As you know, candidates will make any kind of comment and promise during a campaign. What kind of promise or guarantee can you give them that, you know, you will stand by your your promises? Chris Wilson: All I need to say is that I've lived a very, very, very difficult, challenging life in my personal life. I've also succeeded in the business world to to a high degree. And I've never once sacrificed my reputation of honesty, integrity, and doing the right thing morally and ethically. So all I can say is that I have defined my person, who I am and my character, based on openness, honesty, and integrity. And I plan on only building on that reputation as a political leader. I am not doing it for the money by any means. I'm actually sacrificing a lot just by running for office. Now, as you know, the area is is not extremely NDP supportive or progressive supportive at the moment. My business world is the same. There's a lot of conservative leaning business owners out there who I have as clients, and coming out as an NDP candidate, and aggressively promoting progressive policies, it's already been a significant sacrifice to me. But I feel like it's important to advocate for what you believe in, stand up for what's right, and do the right thing, no matter what, even if it means personal sacrifice.

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Steve Clark, Progressive Conservative Party candidate

David Shanahan: It's not just North Grenville, but it seems to be across the board and not just in Canada even that there is a real problem about housing, shortage of housing, especially shortage of aﬀordable housing. How do you see that working? Steve Clark: You know, our government, right from the first day I was sworn into cabinet, we took increase in housing supply as a priority for Ontario. And you're right, it's not just in Ontario a problem. It's not just a Canadian problem. You know, I've made a commitment through the introduction of legislation to help put a plan in place to increase housing supply. We've seen as of last year, a high of 100,000 housing starts, which is really the most housing starts we've seen in Ontario in since the mid eighties. The same thing with purpose built rental. We made some changes to purpose for rental and what we saw last year was a high in in rental stock being started the likes we hadn't seen in over 30 years. And, you know, my housing affordability taskforce is really going to be a roadmap that I hope the three levels of government can come forward and support that would really increase housing supply and really change the dynamics so that that aﬀordability is is paramount. But the government has done a lot in the last four years, but there is much, much more work that we have to do with our municipal partners and with the federal government. David Shanahan: We can May 25, 2022

move on to the whole prison issue. I suppose the basic question is: do you have any regrets about the way this whole thing has been handled from the provincial point of view? Steve Clark: Well, you know, I think we've talked, you know, and certainly I've heard the concerns of the of the community. I understand the ongoing concerns that they have on things like infrastructure and policing and the unused land. You know, the correctional ﬁle has been discussed for many, many years. As you know, unlike probably all the other candidates, I'm supportive of the correctional bundle. But I understand that there are some residents of North Grenville that are worried about the Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex. I want to assure people it's a modern new facility that represents a real signiﬁcant investment, I think, to the economy of North Grenville, and it'll support public safety across Eastern Ontario for generations to come. And I understand some of the concerns regarding local police. I've been assured by the ministry that because it's been bolstered by the Ministry of Correctional Services, that the challenge for local police is going to be greatly minimised. The policing cost to support the small facility, they're not anticipated to be onerous. North Grenville is not going to face the burden alone, because the correctional team is going to be bolstered in that institution. I’ve had great success with ensuring that there's

not that burden on the local community, and I'm going to continue to be vocal for it. I'm also going to be vocal that any unused property, and there's going to be some signiﬁcant property that's going to be unused, is going to be transferred to the municipality for their initiative that they've launched to the community a month or so ago. And I think that that will show that there's still a great opportunity for agriculture related initiatives that are sponsored by the municipality. So I think having that signiﬁcant collateral investment will not just support public safety, but it'll bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy during construction. And there are some well-paying jobs for many residents in the long term. David Shanahan: Well, you know, local opposition groups would kind of question almost every aspect of what you've said. And that's, you know, another issue entirely. But if everything is so positive and there is so much there, why is so little of the background information being released unredacted? Steve Clark: I don't control the freedom of information process. I don't control it in my own ministry when someone makes a FOIA request. I've said to individuals, I've written in the past and advocated in the past, but it's not something that I control. I don't control that process. So I can't speak to what was released by the ministry. I had no role in that. David Shanahan: Well you understand that the lack of transparency obviously feeds into any suspicions or fears that the community might have regarding what's involved. But if that's not your area, obviously that's not. And we can hope that there might be something further down the line that would be revealed. The other aspect is that in the whole course of this, the municipality has been pretty well hammered by Opposition critics as well, claiming that they knew all about this and that they could be doing more to stop it and so on. Do you feel you should come out more strongly in terms of making it clear what the respective roles are?

Steve Clark: Well, you know, again, David,you know, from my experience with other correctional facilities in the riding, specifically the St Lawrence Valley Treatment Centre, the Brockville Jail, the Forensic Treatment Unit, you know, I've advocated to Liberal ministers of corrections about extending those correction jobs in the right. I've been on the record to go back to my, literally, my ﬁrst campaign in 2010 indicating that I think a modern correctional facility bringing those good jobs is a positive. And I knew that my predecessor, Bob Runciman, felt the same way. So, you know, I understand there are still some outstanding concerns regarding things like infrastructure and and policing costs and what's going to happen with the remaining land. And I've committed to people who are in favour of the facility and who are opposed to the facility that I'm going to continue to advocate for answers from all of the ministries, whether it be the Ministry of the Solicitor General or the Ministry of Government, Consumer Services. And, you know, I think that, as an MPP, I'm going to continue to get those answers as best as I can. David Shanahan: But would you agree that the municipality of North Grenville had no control over this. They could not stop it. Steve Clark: The province made a decision to put a

provincial facility on provincial land. So I'm going to continue to work with the municipality. They've got a plan for the unused property, and I'm going to continue to work collaboratively with the municipality when they've had a question around infrastructure. I've been able to address that question. I've indicated to you today some of the answers that I received from the Ministry on Policing Costs, and I'm going to continue to advocate for the excess land to be transferred to the municipality. So I'm going to continue to work collaboratively with the North Grenville Council on those remaining issues. David Shanahan: Just as a last thing. I know in the North Grenville Times, we've decided to basically ask residents whether they're for or against or couldn't care less about the prison. Why wasn't something like that done before, and why wasn't there proper consultation to see what the attitude of the population would be to this before it was announced? Steve Clark: Well, right from the day the announcement was made in August of 2020, we started the process of communication. You know, the ﬁrst Zoom call in the middle of the pandemic took place in November, far earlier than the normal consultation process. So, you know, again, we continue to this day to forward concerns to the ministry and as well receive positive com-

ment. You know, I've been knocking on doors in North Grenville consistently since the campaign started, and I've also received a number of people who are supportive of the project. And I respect both sides of the issue. David Shanahan: Yeah, I agree. One of the reasons that we want to do this is because I personally feel that we don't really know who's for, who's against, what the general mood of the people is. And it would be good to get that clariﬁed at least, so that we have some idea of that. But in terms of the consultation, I think the main complaint is that consultation after decision is made, when you are told it's a done deal, isn't a consultation, it's simply looking for a response or reaction, but it doesn't change the actual decision. Consultation, you would imagine, should take place in order to inform the decision, and that didn't happen. And I wondered why not? Steve Clark: And I can't speak to the process. You know, the process from the ministry was the process. And, you know, we are continuing to you know, we're not done the conversation. We're going to continue to have the conversation with the community. I've made a commitment right from the day we announced it.

NG Times Prison Poll It seems a long time since anyone actually asked the people of North Grenville for their views on the proposed prison in Kemptville, so we're asking you! What is your view on having the prison located in Kemptville, as planned.

Let us know one of three opinions: For, Against, or Don't care. Go to ngtimes.ca 10

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Josh Bennett, Ontario Liberal Party

David Shanahan: I was wondering if it's different running against a sitting member of the government. Josh Bennett: Steve Clarke is a member of Cabinet, he's a minister in the cabinet of Doug Ford. He cannot divorce himself from anything Doug Ford has done. But more so, I mean, Steve Clarke has been Doug Ford's right hand man, using Ministerial Zoning Orders all over Ontario to pave over farmland, to pave over parks, to put up big high rises that benefitted Doug Ford's developer buddies. So, you know, he he is fully on board with everything the government has done. David Shanahan: It was interesting to see the Liberal Party come out with a definite policy opposing that to some extent. Maybe you can elaborate on that? Josh Bennett: And this is one of the issues, it's not the only issue, but it's one of the issues that really propelled me to run. There's so many levels to this. First, he didn't consult any of the community. You know, North Grenville had a strategic plan that involved that land. It was a good plan that had a lot of community involvement, a lot of community consultation. Steve Clarke was fully aware of that plan and then suddenly announced he's putting it up and, you know, on prime farmland at the old Agricultural College. And he didn't even make the announcement in Kemptville. He made the announcement in Brockville. And then when some citizens groups popped up and said, you know, we're opposed to this - one is the Jail Opposition Group, JOG, and then there's CAPP. And then Steve Clarke tried to weaponize Elections May 25, 2022

Ontario and complain and say, oh, they're a third party advertising, you should ﬁne them. And luckily, Elections Ontario said no, these are legitimate protest groups. But it was shameful, I thought, that Steve Clarke would do that. And then he promised to meet with the groups six months ago, and still hasn't met with them. And he doesn't show up in Kemptville for much anymore. So that is something that I think is wrong. A jail? And, you know, for one thing, we really, I think, we as Ontario, we need to really think about how many more jails do we really need? Is this a wise investment with public funds? But why on prime farmland? And why Kemptville? He hasn't released any documentation, saying why Kemptville was selected as a site for a security establishment like a jail. There's no courthouse, there are no shelters, there's no public transit. And it's on prime farmland. It just doesn't make any sense as to why a jail here. David Shanahan: Would the party's approach then be to simply cancel the project, or to reboot, get restarted with consultation and so on? Josh Bennett: I mean, right now there's my position and there's the party's position. My personal position is that I'm against this jail. I want to see it stopped. I think it's the wrong thing for for North Grenville. But the prudent thing to do, and this is our party's position, is to put a pause on it. We're going to place a moratorium on this entire project. We're going to release documents to say why Kemptville was selected, and have robust consultation with the locals, with the constituents and the people of North

you to sit on a committee to advise the Ontario Liberal Party on rural policy. And they admitted this to me that, when they were in government, after 15 years, they had stopped listening to the grassroots, and they admitted that we need to start really taking rural Ontario seriously. And we want rural Ontario to have a seat at the table, to be decision makers. And we want rural Ontario to help guide what we should be doing in rural Ontario. And so part of that is preserving farmland. We are going to preserve farmland. We are going to help farmers. We're going to give them a break, for example, on their carbon tax, because carbon tax, on a grand scale, it helps reduce our emissions. But farmers are taking the brunt of that, they get hit harder than anybody else. They need a break because we need our food security. And so, where does that play in with the rural identity is

Grenville to really decide as a community, is this something we want? And if the community says and again, you know what, yes, we think this will be good for our economy, and hey, if this is what the community want, then, you know, I'll back it. I don't think it's what the community wants. You know, when I knock on doors in Kemptville, I see a lot of No Jail signs. So to me, I think this is something that shouldn't happen. David Shanahan: And in terms of that, what would be the the alternative in terms of Liberal investment in the community? Josh Bennett: Great question, because that's the thing like, you know, the cost of the jail is going to be massive. And I would rather see that money go towards upgrading our schools. You know, money going towards things like what should we do with that land? I mean, I would love to see some form of agriculture education happening with that land. This is prime farmland we have across Ontario. There is only 5% of Ontario that's arable farmland. Once it's gone, it's gone. You know, we need farmland for our food security. I don't think we'll bring back an agriculture college. You know, if that could happen, I would be completely all for it. But at the same time, some sort of education, some sort of community way to have some fresh produce, teach young people. I also think we need to start teaching agriculture in schools again. You know, that agriculture is a viable career option. David Shanahan: One of the issues that North Grenville and Merrickville-Wolford in this part of the world are most concerned with is that we want growth, but at the same time we want to keep that rural identity, small town feel and so on. To what extent can the Liberal Party encourage the rural side of the community, while at the same time not interfering with a proper and directly directed growth? Josh Bennett: Great, great question. I'll tell you another reason why I started to run, and it ties in with this, is that about a year and a half ago, the Liberal Party of Ontario started asking me if I would be a candidate and I was, I'll think about it. But then they said, there's one other thing we want you to do. We want

that we can't keep building houses on farmland. So we need to focus on smarter and better density where there are houses currently. And I think that can really help with that community feeling that, we're losing ground. But we're a mix of urban and rural, you know, 60% rural, 40% identify or live in a more urban setting. And I think that's a good balance, so that when you live in an urban setting, like Brockville, or the town of Kemptville, you still have that rural sense because it's so easy to get out and go and walk the trails and you see farmland everywhere. This is what we need to hold on to. And so, I'm committed to working with our municipalities to have the growth we want, but at the same time, protect our green lands, protect our farmlands, protect our waterways. You know, this is important for our area. I want to see more public transit across our entire rid-

ing. And that's part of the Liberal platform as well. That with Buck-A- Ride also comes huge, unprecedented investment in building public transit. I would like to see some public transit here in Kemptville for a dollar, and that's going to be a dollar no matter where you are in Ontario, no matter how far you're going. There's a bus that runs along the river front, basically between Cornwall and Brockville. And that's a great start. I want to see that expanded, because this is another way we need to keep ourselves connected. You know, there are people, for example, who struggle to get to doctor's appointments, who live in rural communities, because there is no public transit, struggle to get to some of the mental health professionals, they need help because there's no public transit. So this is the kind of infrastructure we need to build up to help see our rural area grow.

Provincial - ALL CANDIDATES DEBATE

NG Municipal Centre Theatre Wednesday May 25, 2022

Hosted by Leeds and Grenville Labour Council

Steve Clark

Progressive Conservative

Fiona Jager Green Party

Doors Open at 6:30 pm Debate begins at 7 pm This event is open to the public

Josh Bennett Liberal

Dan Kitsch

Chris Wilson New Democrat

Mark Snow

New Blue

Liberatarian

To have your question(s) considered for use in the debate, Scan the QR code and complete the form; or email your question to leedsandgrenvillelabourcouncil@gmail.com 11

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The Voice of North Grenville

Mark Snow, Ontario Libertarian Candidate

David Shanahan: How would you introduce the party? And where do you stand in ways that you consider a viable alternative to the other parties? Mark Snow: I'm currently the leader of the party, which has been around since 1975. Libertarians stand for less government, more individual rights, more choice and freedoms. In regards to your education, public health care services, the ability to run your business free, with minimal regulations instead of the maximum regulations that have been applied to this province and businesses and people for the last 45 years, basically. Liberty means property rights, both in yourself, your business, your land, your ability to earn a living. In the last two years, the pandemic has exposed two very big issues that I noticed: one, the fragility of the supply chain system, and to the thought process that people actually thought they had freedoms and rights in Canada under our charter. And we've learnt that those are available to be taken away at the whim of government at any time. So that has actually increased the amount of people looking for liberty. David Shanahan: What would be your party's policy in terms of the location of this proposed prison and the need for it in the first place? Mark Snow: Well, first off, from a political party standard, Steve Clarke has absolutely failed the constituents of this riding and failed to engage in the consultation process so that is disrespect to every taxpayer and citizen within this riding. That's the first fundamental problem. You're supposed to communicate for the people. This is not the place for a prison. This is a place for this community and the province of Ontario to send people to learn how to do May 25, 2022

agriculture. So in that sense, it makes absolutely no sense to destroy the character, nature, of this beautiful rural setting with a prison. Third thing is, that at the end of the day, the social supports that need to be in place for a prison exist in Ottawa. They don't exist in Kemptville. I think the most disturbing thing, though, is the fact that he has not consulted with any of the council, with any, at least as far as we know at this point. There's been no consultation with the people. We don't want it. It's simple as that. It's not the place for it. It should be on the outskirts of Ottawa where those services are readily available, social services to support those leaving, health care services. It's all going to be a huge tax on this community and we just don't need it. We believe in what's called victimless crimes, and half the people that are currently in jail are in there because they've done something that affected nobody, but broke the law. In other words, a victimless crime. If you decide to smoke a joint in your own house, that's a victimless crime. But they can come in and arrest you for it. And we have a lot of people that are incarcerated for victimless crimes. David Shanahan: Well, given that and again, going back to your party's position on individual rights and so on, how do you see society's role in determining what is

answer, if I had a majority government, what I would do is I would eliminate the Municipal Act. I would eliminate the Conservation Act, eliminate the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation, and remove the conservation authorities to be able to aggress upon people privately on their lands. So basically we will decentralise government back down to regional control pretty much pre-Mike Harris days. So in other words, North Grenville residents in this riding would have representation via their local MPP, where they can bring their concerns to, who will be directly accountable to the people of North Grenville. That's what we want to do. Decentralise Queen's Park power. Move it back to regional authorities. Health care, education, property rights. We are the taxpayers. We should have representation by vote and by representation by taxation. David Shanahan: Well, the other big issue, therefore, around here, and in fact, right

unacceptable behaviour or criminal behaviour, or any of those issues in terms of holding one person's rights over against another? Mark Snow: So a simple libertarian principle is this non-aggression principle. In other words, I will live in this world and I will not aggress upon you in any way, shape or form whatsoever. That includes property rights, the rights to own a business. So if you want to own a business and had it open the whole pandemic, you should have had that right to do it. So non-aggression principle says that I will not aggress upon your private property, self, personal land, business, education, health care, and you should too. And if you do that to me, then that gives me the right to take you to court in that sense. Government now reaches into our bedrooms, reaches into our children's lives, reaches into every aspect of our lives, and is trying to control everything that we do. And we want to reduce the government, reduce the regulations and introduce more options. That's how you go and that's how we have to be. Otherwise, the state is going to keep growing and controlling more of what we do, how we live, how we educate our children, how we get our social services, how we get our land rights protected. You know, I'd love to be able to raise 200 chickens here, but I can't, and sell them because of the regulations that are in place. Why don't we have more farm gate sales? These are the kind of regulations that we need to do to make earning a living more sustainable than regulating it to the point where only the big players can play. David Shanahan: So how do you see your role as an MPP in relation to working with municipalities and their regulations, which often dictate things like you're talking about in terms of regulation? Mark Snow: Well, in a short

across the province and right around the world, it seems, has been the issue of housing and the need for housing and affordable housing. What is the best way, from your party's point of view, of encouraging the development of proper housing, good housing and affordable housing for those who can't afford the market as it is at the moment. Mark Snow: There's a whole litany of things that I could go into in regards to the government inflationary monetary policy. But let's let's just start with the simplest things. Government should not be in the business of creating social housing, and I mean that wholeheartedly and honestly. But not to say that we shouldn't do it. We have to work within the system that we have. The first thing that we have to do is get out of the way. So eliminate the $25,000 fee for building permits. Eliminate all these different fees and services that would allow the creation. Even if North Grenville want-

ed to build $1,000,000 worth of houses, there'd be about anywhere from $100,000 to $125,000 worth of access fees. Get the government out of that. We used to have Kiwanis and Shriners and all these diﬀerent places that used to manage these, the social housing issue and a lot of the social welfare problems. They've all been eliminated for corporate charity and they don't exist anymore. We need to reform those organisations, and those organisations after they're built can be in charge of looking after those places. The other thing is, it's great that we build these things, but nobody really thinks about the long term cost of funding and upkeep and maintenance of these properties, which constantly pushes on the taxation of the residents to provide these. We should be doing more fund raising and more community eﬀort is the one thing that I've learnt since I moved here in September 2020.

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Fiona Jager, Green Party of Ontario Candidate

David Shanahan: This is a different election in some ways for all the parties in that you're now running against somebody who's a member of a government, as distinct from sitting MPP. Does that make any difference to your approach to the campaign? Fiona Jager: I think the fact that I'm not a career politician is one of my strengths as someone who's running for government. I'm a nurse. I've been a nurse for six years, and I think that gives me a particular perspective on the problems that people are experiencing in this riding. I'm an ordinary member of this riding. And so that's what I try to focus on. The Green Party really has a holistic way of seeing problems, so it really looks towards the future. Where do we want to be in a generation, in seven generations? What are our values? And then, how do we get there, as opposed to just responding sort of willy nilly to the problems of the moment? And one of our core values is that we care about people, and we care about people living full and productive lives. And that means taking care of workers. And so taking care of workers is a really, really big part of the Green Party approach, making sure that we repeal Bill 194, that we create a task force for nurses to figure out what is it that's creating this state where we have nurses who love nursing, but are leaving the profession because their work life has become unsafe and unbearable. And then make sure that we're really solving long standing problems with the way nurses are treated in Ontario, that the pandemic has shone a light on. Make sure that we're fairly paying RPNs and PSW's. And then the other piece is we do want to fund health care appropriately. Mental May 25, 2022

health care is a big focus of our platform. So we want to increase mental health care spending to be 10% of the total health care budget. It's currently 7%. And then we have plans to rebalance the funding formula. So just sort of speaking a bit to the needs of this riding, so that we're better able to meet the needs of rural and remote Ontarians and providing services in these areas that sometimes now are only provided in the larger cities. And then getting back to the hospital piece again, we recognise that there's a backlog, a surgical backlog right now that's really not acceptable for many people. And so we would be negotiating with the federal government to make sure that we had surge funding to make sure that we were clearing that surgical backlog. David Shanahan: If you're looking at things like housing, education, the proposed prison, how do the Greens take an holistic approach to all of these things as a society? Fiona Jager: So we're saying we want healthy people and a healthy planet. Then how do we get there? So we know that we need to reduce our carbon footprint. And we also know, this is one example, that we need to create jobs for people. So combining those two goals, we look towards a new climate economy where the jobs that we're creating for people are also the jobs that move us towards a better, safer planet. So we want to invest in the EV industry, the electrical vehicle industry. We would offer retrofits to housing up to $15,000 for retroﬁts to reduce the carbon footprint of our housing and our buildings in the way that they cool and they heat, which would create a ton of jobs. And then we would

make sure that new housing was built in a way that was already more sustainable. So it's putting all of those goals together and seeing how they work together. You mentioned the prison in particular, and certainly that's another area. So we have a prison, and we know that one of the reasons why we need new prisons is because we need changes to the way that our jail systems works,we just need judicial reform. We know that certain groups are overrepresented in prisons, including racialized communities and indigenous communities. And we also know that people with mental health and addiction disorders are overrepresented in prisons. And so we say, don't build the prison. Don't put all that money into the prison. Instead, put it into all of those other areas, into judicial reform and to mental health and addiction funding. And then there are other issues with the prison as well. One is that it's being built over prime farmland. And another one is that the plan for the prison was created without proper communication with the community. And those are all things we would be transparent in any decisions that we made. And one of our big goals is to preserve the farmland in Ontario, which is currently being paved over at a rate of 175 acres a day. David Shanahan: Wouldn't making housing more ecologically friendly be too expensive, when housing is already so expensive? Fiona Jager: So this goes back to that being that forward thinking as a party. What we're proposing is, is change, right? Like a change where we're moving away from a fossil fuel based economy and towards renewables and towards a green economy. And people are always afraid of change, even when the things that we're doing right now are causing the crisis that we're in. Because of the crisis, we sometimes have that instinct to just clamp down. And we want immediate relief more than we want sort of that vision of a better future. And so we've really thought a lot about that. And our plan does have an element which we call "no person left behind". So we understand that the changes that we're going to need to make are going to require a transition period. And we have to think about

how to get people through that transition period safely and affordably. So there's a lot of things you mentioned: housing and then this idea, is it going to be more expensive to create more ecologically sound housing? And it's really about where we're putting our our money. So we would use a lot of incentives. We're going to give people up to $15,000 for retrofits because we know the average person can't just go out and say, oh, heat pumps are better than my natural gas furnace. I'm just going to replace it. We we know that. And we want to fund that. That also creates industry, right? Because now all these people are doing the retrofits. And, in the end, it saves people money on their utilities. So it's good on all three levels. The things that we need to do require making sure that we understand that homes are for people, and easing this financialization of the housing market. And so we have a plan for how to do that, so that the number one thing, I think, is that we would reduce speculation, and we would do that by creating a tax, a 20% tax on the third House that you buy, and then more for the fourth, and more for the fifth, to discourage people from owning multiple properties where other people can't buy a house. We would end blind bidding. We would make

inspections mandatory and at the cost to the seller. It's one thing if you're a speculator and you buy a house because of the bidding war, you buy it without an inspection and it turns out to be a lemon. Because you've got four other houses, you can move your investments around. But if you're a family and you've thrown your life savings into your house, you can't aﬀord for it to be a lemon. So inspections are a really important thing for families. Along with that, and going back to, you know, how can we do things in a way that's both eco friendly and good for people, and homes right now are being built on farmland, right. We're building these massive kind of sprawling suburban communities on the edges of our townships. And what we would do is freeze urban boundaries, and we would change policies to encourage inﬁll developments. And we have looked at whether that will create enough housing for people. And it does, the maths works. So we would change regulations so that you could build a second home on your property and then sell or lease that to somebody else. To make it easier for people to have duplexes, Triplexes and fourplexes to really preserve the character of our communities where we can live, work, go to school and youth

services, as opposed to sort of these bedroom communities of people who are commuting in and out. David Shanahan: You're talking about basically changing the thinking and the approach of a whole society. How do you get people to think in the longer term, a generational term? Fiona Jager: Yeah, I think that's a great question and I think I probably only know parts of the answers, but we can start to try to piece it together. So one thing is to talk to young people, because we're really trying to build up the next generation. I think we start really, really young. So we have to talk to people and make sure that that eco anxiety that they're feeling isn't causing a shut down and ignoring of the problems. And, instead, that we're infusing them with hope that there are other people out there who are working on these things, because there really are solutions to these problems. There's so many things like design solutions and green technology that's out there that we're not taking up because of a lack of political will. So if we can expose people to that, and tell them that they have options, then hopefully we can use that dread and that eco dread and the eco anxiety to mobilise people for change.

Satellite elections office for Elections Ontario We are located at 212 van Buren Street, unit 5. We are open now for people in our electoral district to vote for the upcoming provincial election. Hours are 10 am to 8 pm Monday to Saturday 12:00 to 5 pm on Sunday 13

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Classiﬁeds eds Classiﬁ FOR SALE

2 Brand New Wedding Dresses, never been worn, Tags Still On, LULUS (XL) ordered online. $300 each (phone number: 613-2032724 No. 6/4 wire cabtire 18 meters; No, 6/4 wire liquidtight 15 meters; $175.00 each or both for $300.00. Bill 613-850-1584 Two brand new wedding dresses, tags still attached, bought online LULUS (XL) $300 each 1992 Ford Econoline E150 Palm Spring's edition. B.C. vehicle, no rust, 396000 kms. 5.7 litre engine, tested and certified $2500. Phone: 613-791-0204 Hearing aid with charger, hardly used. Call 613-5678533 Firewood for sale $110 a cord delivered, min 2 cord for delivery. Call Jon 613227-3650 Hay and straw for sale 4x4 round bales, stored inside. Call Jon 613-227-3650

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CROSSWORD

Cedar posts and rails for sale, various sizes available. Call Jon 613-227-3650

WANTED Looking to rent farmland for cash crops. Call or text Mitch @ 613-262-1204

HELP WANTED

Occasional muscle required part time for landscaping and waterfront maintenance on Boyd Landing , Merrickville. Heavy work. Pays $100 for five-hour day. Must have transportation. Phone 613 2847780.

The Eric Gutknecht Memorial Bursary Charity is seeking 250ml jars (new or used) for 2022 jam/ jelly sales. Drop oﬀ at 529 George St. E or call Billy at 613-796-0941

HISTORIC HALL AVAILABLE FOR RENTALS in Beautiful Burritts Rapids! Gather your loved ones for a celebration of life or a life well lived. Start an art, musical, travel, or book club in a hamlet near walking trails and parkettes. Our hall is well equipped for any gathering or celebration, and we offer very competitive rates. http://burrittsrapids.com/

Hunter Education Course on June 25 in Burritts Rapids. Please contact Kerry Coleman at 613-791-7515 or ACROSS kerrycoleman@xplornet.com.

SERVICES SERVICES RETIRED CARPENTER Renovations, kitchens, bathrooms, additions, decks, home repair. Call George at 613 462 7637

HANDYMAN SERVICES Call Bill 613 774 2922

GARAGE SALES Forest Creek Community… June 4th 8-noon (Behind Giant Tiger) River Rd.

Hedge Trimming

1. Elation 6. Decorated, as a cake 10. Crones 14. Boundary 15. Pew area 16. Decorative case 17. Plenty 18. Diva's solo 19. Dry 20. It's sometimes called "Hoops" 22. Small brook 23. Strait-laced 24. Property 26. Bean curd 30. Beer 31. Steal 32. Black, in poetry 33. Pickle ﬂavoring 35. Angered 39. Two lines of verse

41. Criminal 43. Howdy 44. Abominable Snowman 46. Certain something 47. Consume food 49. Fourteen in Roman numerals 50. Eager 51. A yellow fruit 54. Long, long time 56. Freudian topics 57. Extraordinary 63. Molten rock 64. Person's manner of walking 65. Archer's bolt 66. Baking appliance 67. Anagram of "Seen" 68. Josh 69. Whip mark 70. T T T 71. Keen

DOWN 1. Spill the beans 2. Capital of Peru 3. Little devils 4. Type of fabric 5. Precipitous 6. Helplessness 7. Yellowish brown 8. Wicked 9. Trader 10. Grief 11. Skylit lobbies 12. Lack of innocence 13. Move furtively 21. Exchange 25. Earth 26. Technology 27. Double-reed woodwind 28. Highly offensive 29. Disagreeable 34. Sues 36. Chills and fever 37. Empty weight 38. Distinctive flair 40. Amount leant 42. Major organ 45. Look closely at 48. Prey 51. Not above 52. Tequila source 53. Unique 55. Glide over ice 58. Lack of difficulty 59. District 60. Boast 61. Fail to win 62. Pitcher

Solutions to last week’s Sudoku

Small or Tall Call Rob 613-795-1845'

MILTONS ESTATES LAW Wills - Probate - Estates Estate Litigation As heard on CFRA Experts on Call www.ontario-probate.ca

VA L L E Y A I R WAY MECHANICAL • HVAC • CUSTOM SHEET METAL• VENTILATION Jack Lalonde, RSE, President, Operator Serving The Ottawa, Dundas and Cornwall Areas Residential, Commercial

We Are Back! Buck- a- Bag Book Sale EC Library, Spencerville Branch 5 Henderson Street Saturday, May 28, 10:30- 1pm Huge New Inventory

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BUY AND SELL LOCALLY FIRST TEN WORDS FREE May 25, 2022

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OpEd

McAnulty,Mary

Agriculture land theft by Ford Government an Election Issue by William Langenberg Today we are facing an abuse of the Minister’s Zoning Order (‘MZO’) powers by our local MPP, Minister of Municipal Aﬀairs and Housing, Steve Clark. The MZO is only meant to be used for ‘situations of extraordinary urgencies’. This zoning order overrides local municipal urban long-range planning and development. It approves development without public input, consultations or any change of appeal. A MZO is land-expropriation for only self-serving purpose. The present Ford Government has issued more ‘MZO’s in this province than all previous governments from 1995 to 2018 combined. (https:// yourstoprotect.ca/ministerszoning-order-map/). Please see map. From this map it can be seen that the current Ford Government has been handing out MZOs like candy. Some of them are shady and a total abuse of power. It is indiscriminate land-use without having a vision for a sustainable future. These are stopgap measures or BandAid solutions without any vision for the future. The former Kemptville College Farm can and must be used for better and sustainable future. The Armstrong Farm, a 106-year old 80-acre heritage farm, which belonged to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Aﬀairs, as part of the former Kemptville College, was transferred by the Ford Government to the Solicitor General with the plan to build a jail on that historic farm. The MZO was not used, as the farm was already part of the former College and therefore the farm was considered to be “Institutional”, according to the government. This notion really accommodates to the wishes of the Ontario Government to build a jail on it. This farm is an “agricultural entity”. The Government did not ask for any public input, or consult the local community, which is normally the case in a MZO process. This farm is essential in creating a sustainable development. This Government decision is a total disregard for any future dreams and future development of the North Grenville Community. “Non-discretionary landuse by the Ford Government has become an election issue”, May 25, 2022

writes Alex Cullen former Ottawa Councillor and MPP for Nepean, in the Ottawa Citizen on May 16. “Decisions made by Doug Ford Government are undermining local autonomy by allowing Steve Clark to make decisions by using self-serving powers”, according to Cullen. Ford Government ignores Ontario’s Priorities in sustainable living: “Green Care Urban Agriculture” Ontario’s priorities right now facing Ontario Citizens are planning new strategies in Mental Health Services, such as a ‘Green Care Mental Health Farm’, for which the old Armstrong Farm is suitable. Throughout my 25 years on the faculty of Kemptville College as a teacher and horticulture crop advisor, I have come across numerous mental health issues. A student during the mid-80s committed suicide. This sad loss prompted me to pursue new Mental Health Strategies in Europe. During the mid90s, the Dutch Government combined Agriculture and Health to start multi-functional Green Care Farms, where people with mental health issues could hang-out and do some farm chores as part of mental health recovery. This Agriculture/Health Program became so successful that as of today there are 1200 Green Care Farms in that Country. In 2014, I made a proposal, accompanied by a feasibility study to establish a Green Care Farm at the Armstrong Farm of the former Kemptville College (east of 44) to provide a strategic plan for mental health services. This is a situation of extraordinary urgency. Mental Health Services at that time cost Canadian tax payers already $50 B. The proposal did not go anywhere. “Andrew’s Scenic Acres” in Milton was more successful with its proposal and is planning to start a Green Care Farm this summer. Right now the Ontario Mental Health Association should have priority of future use of this particular farm at the former college. This is an urgent matter and it should become an election issue this year. The Armstrong farm is too valuable to be used for other purposes than agriculture. We will all be winners if this farm becomes a Green Care Farm. The Ontario Mental Health Association is look-

ing for new strategies worth $3.8 B. in ﬁnding long-term mental health recovery strategies. Emma McIntosh wrote in the National Observer (Mar 8, 2021): The Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, is seeking to expand the Government’s ability to use MZO’s to dodge lawsuits. (https:// www.nationalobserver.com/ special/zoning-out-dougford-special-land-use-orders). “Citizens need ‘Green Farm Mental Health Care not Jail-Time”, say a few in correctional services. I had the opportunity to meet a person during a mental health strategy session a number of years ago. This person was extremely familiar with provincial jails. This person told me at that time: “most of the inmates do not belong in a jail, but desperately needed mental health treatment”. Doing farm chores will help a treatment immensely. This person continued to tell me that it will be a lot cheaper for the tax payers to keep people out of jail. These statements were agreed to by another

correctional person who visited me at the Kemptville Farmers’ Market. How can a Green Care Farm help those with Mental Health Issues or have a run-in with the law or suffer from addictions? Please watch this short video: “Green Care Amsterdam”: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=05DjZP7czms. Let’s make Clark’s landuse an election issue. Let’s stop the “theft” of the former Kemptville College Armstrong Heritage Farm and prepare it for better and more important future uses, such as a Green Care Health Farm. It is a f…….n agricultural farm for crying out loud! William J. Langenberg, M.Sc. Env. Biol. /retired lecturer, extension specialist and researcher at Kemptville College, Addictions Worker, Facilitator Horticulture Therapy. NOTE: Langenberg, facilitated Horticulture Therapy services for people with intellectual disabilities in North Grenville for 20 years

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Mary McAnulty of Kemptville, Ontario on June 2, 2021 at Bayfield Manor due to health struggles. Born on July 1, 1925 and raised in Riverside, New Brunswick, she moved to Ottawa area in 1975. Daughter of the late Elizabeth (McAnulty) Weir (Joseph). Companion of the late John Mackie of Clayton, Ontario. Survived by daughter Sandy Boyer (Angus Horner), granddaughter Michele Boyer Lee ( David Lee) and grandson Randy Boyer (Mylene). She leaves behind her Great grandchildren, Carson and Michaela Lee and Brittany and Cassandra Boyer. She is survived by siblings Marie Rossiter, Margaret Elliott, Donna Hayward, Howard Weir, Douglas Weir, and Darrell Weir. She was predeceased by siblings Elinor, Juanita, Clinton, Carney, Carl, and Garry. After moving to Ottawa she worked at E R Fishers Clothing on Sparks Street until her retirement. Her companion, John Mackie and Mary moved to a home on Clayton Lake, Ontario for retirement and spent most winters in Florida until John’s passing. A special thanks to Staff at Bayfield Manor LTC for their wonderful care and compassion. A Celebration of Mary’s Life will be held at the Kemptville Chapel of Hulse, Playfair & McGarry, 805 Prescott Street, Kemptville on Saturday June 4, 2022 from 1 pm to 3 pm. In lieu of flowers, if you wish, memorial donations can be made to Bayfield Manor LTC, Kemptville, Ontario, K0G 1J0. Condolences/Tributes/Donations Hulse, Playfair & McGarry www.hpmcgarry.ca 613-258-2435

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Contact Melissa Marketing Consultant Email: Melissa@ ndtimes.ca Large crowds gathered at Buskerfest 2022. Photo by Larry Belzac 15

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The Voice of Merrickville-Wolford

Merrickville to take a stab at ParticipACTION challenge this year

New concert series launches in Burritts Rapids

by Brandon Mayer Merrickville-Wolfdord’s Recreation Health and Wellness Advisory Committee will oﬃcially coordinate the Village’s participation in the ParticipACTION Community Better Challenge this year. The Challenge is a nationwide initiative which encourages active living. Participants track their activity levels, and log them for their speciﬁc geographic area by assigning a postal code. There is a national Canada’s Most Active Community prize, as well as sub-prizes for the most active communities in each province, except for the one in which the national prize winner is located. Last year, North Grenville won the honour of being Canada’s Most Active Community, which resulted in a $100,000 cash prize that was used to fund and upgrade recreational amenities in the municipality. This year, about 2,000 communities are registered for the Challenge, which runs from June 1-30. Janet Fitzpatrick is the Chair of the Recreational Health and Wellness Advisory Committee. She told the

May 25, 2022

Times that Council passed a resolution making the ParticipACTION Challenge the responsibility of the Committee this year, and they were happy to accept. Last year, the Village did not have an ofﬁcial role in the community’s participation in the Challenge, though two local residents spearheaded a campaign anyway, and MerrickvilleWolford managed to place 30th in Ontario, and 126th in Canada. This year, members of the Committee are hoping that the oﬃcial endorsement will give the Village a chance to be crowned Canada’s Most Active Community. Janet talked of North Grenville’s success last year as a good source of inspiration. “That was really cool to hear,” she said. “It takes a lot to get there. North Grenville did a

stunning job.” Merrickville-Wolford also put in a lot of effort in last year’s Challenge, and the goal this year is to build on that even further. “We just thought we would try to build on the work that was done last year, and to foster that and help it grow and do our best to get our community more involved,” said Janet. The Village is a registered participant, and any local resident can participate. Schools, service groups, and other local organizations can participate as well. Two of the three local schools will be doing a kickoff celebration on June 1, while the third will have students doing a “flyer walk” to distribute flyers to local homes. The Merrickville Public Library will also help out by providing online physical activity logging for those who do not have the technology to do so on their own. Janet emphasized that every little bit helps. Gardening, walking the trails, lawn mowing, and bicycling are all activities that can be logged for the Challenge. “Even housework counts!” Janet said. To track the activities, participants only need to post what activities they did and how long they did them once per week. Anyone interested in getting involved should consider joining for a kickoff walk around the track at the Merrickville Community Centre on June 1 at 6 pm. Information on the program itself can be found at https://www. participaction.com/en-ca/programs/community-challenge.

Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble. by Brandon Mayer A Burritts Rapids local has taken the initiative on bringing inexpensive live music to town with a monthly concert series that launched earlier this month. John Sobol launched the Blue Moon Live monthly concert series at the Burritts Rapids Community Centre on May 14. The concert series is an independent initiative, which John started as a way to make live music accessible to people of all ages, and to make use of the “beautiful” Community Centre. The series will feature jazz, blues, and roots musicians. He noted that people of all ages are welcome to come, highlighting the example that many youth no longer have the same opportunities to experience live music as those in previous generations. “I’m definitely a big believer in

connecting young people to great music,” John said. The tickets to each concert sell for $15 general admission, and $10 for those under age 19. “They’re cheap, probably excessively cheap,” John added. When asked about what inspired the idea for the concert series, John answered that he simply wanted to provide great music in a great setting, and is hoping that people who enjoy live music will come to one or more of the concerts. “It’s an intimate space with lovely acoustics,” he said. “It’s a very delightful setting by the river in Burritts Rapids.” John is a musician himself, and has been playing the saxophone for over 40 years. He will be joining in at least some of the concerts as a performer, but has also called upon other skilled groups in the area to perform. The next upcoming show

in the concert series will be on June 4. This show will feature Megan Jerome and the Together Ensemble. Megan Jerome is a singer-songwriter who plays keyboard. She has produced three albums with her band, Together Ensemble. She provided the Times with a press release for the upcoming Burritts Rapids show on June 4. “If you’ve never caught Megan Jerome’s life-aﬃrming performances, you’re in for a treat,” the release reads, in part. “Backed by the Together Ensemble – all stellar musicians in their own right – Jerome brings a big sound, rich harmonies and vintage keyboards to her original compositions. Variously described as roots, jazz, cabaret and R&B, her songs are really just 100% Megan. By intuitively connecting with her audience, Jerome draws us into her stories, her joy, and her love of life.” More information about the Blue Moon Live concert series can be found on a dedicated website at https:// bluemoonlive.ca/.

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CO2 Down to Earth 15

Mulches and Woodland Blue Phlox

Wild blue phlox, Phlox divaricata. Picure: Christine Chin.. By Philip Fry In my last column, I discussed the soil proﬁle of an undisturbed site. The top layer, generally labelled “O,” is composed of organic materials called humus that have been decomposed over time. The process of decomposition takes place as organ litter fallen on the site is broken down by insects, bacteria and fungi. In undisturbed sites, this takes place on the site itself. In the vegetable and flower borders of our settler gardening tradition, the organic litter produced each year is most often “cleaned up,” exposing the “O” layer to the elements. This means that to protect the “O” layer, the garden has to be supplemented annually with compost prepared off-site and/or with chemical fertilizers. Moreover, to protect the “O” layer during the growing season and shelter perennial plants during the winter, a suitable top dressing called a

mulch is required. With some notable exceptions – sand dunes, eroded hillsides – undisturbed soils are usually covered with site-speciﬁc mixtures of dead plant and animal materials. These are important factors in the recycling of a particular blend of nutrients, the conditioning of soil acidity, and the protection of the soil from climatic extremes. Three main types of mulches can be distinguished: Mor mulches: these are composed of evergreen needles and branches or accumulations of peaty materials such as dead sphagnum moss. These materials break down very slowly, forming rather thick mats, and are quite acidic. The acids (hydrogen ions) react with the nutrients in the soil, which helps determine which nutrients are available in solution for plant use. Some plants, for example blueberries, are adapted to

vening spaces between plants with a fairly impenetrable material can be said to have an aesthetic value, the impulse behind the practice seems to be more about imposing a human plan on the site than working with the plants to develop a collaborative habitat. Woodland phlox exemplifies how mor mulch works to the mutual benefit of the gardener and the plant. This plant's pale blue flowers appear during May in partially sunlit glades were there is dappled shade. The flowers, held at the top of a fertile stem, will eventually produce seed. But the plant has another strategy for spreading and reproducing: it has non-flowering stems that lean down to the ground and send roots into the surrounding litter. From this conjunction new stems grow, eventually producing a clump. The same principle holds true for Wild ginger, which spreads by sending out stolons between the litter and the “O” layer, and Foam flower which has whip-like leaders that root in the litter at some distance from the main crown. The flourishing and progress of these species depend on how hospitable the mulch is to their needs. Gardeners have a choice... The Provincial election is coming. As you go to vote, remember how the present government has gutted the environmental protections and initiatives formerly set down in law. If you wish, contact me at: wildflowerguy@ gmail.com.

absorb nutrients under acidic conditions. The underside of mor mulches frequently exhibits a white mould or fungal layer which enters into a reciprocal and vital relationship called mycorrhiza with evergreen trees and some species of plants. Deciduous or “mul” mulches: these are formed by the leaves of deciduous trees, small branches and rotting hardwood. They are less acidic than mor mulches. The materials composing deciduous mulches break down much more rapidly than those of mor mulches, and can create a nutrient rich and biologically active “O” layer in a just few years. Most of the "spring ephemerals" in our deciduous woods require a good mul layer to thrive well. One of these is Dutchman’s Breeches, which likes almost neutral mulch conditions: a little limestone dust powdered around the plant stimulates ﬂowering. Off-site Mulches: often prepared commercially, these mulches are brought from elsewhere and applied as a top-dressing in the garden. Some, when applied with care, for example partially rotted leaves, wood, and livestock bedding, do a good job at mimicking the vital functions of litter. Others, such as fresh or coloured wood chips, while they can help to control “weeds” and moderate soil moisture and temperature, create a hard barrier that blocks the development of many native plant species. Although covering the inter-

Menu # 114 will be our last Curbside Meal till the Fall as we turn our attention to all the special ccasions that have been on hold for the last 3 years. Our Catered Affairs team thanks our community for all the support over the last three years. We will have a series of special events over the summer months on the beautiful Kemptville Campus grounds. We will be open in-house and patio for Kemptville Live Thursday July 21st - Sat July 23rd for breakfast and dinner. Curbside meals will resume in the fall 2022. All gift certificates will still be honored. We can still prepare meals for your special events over the summer months Please contact us info@cateredaffairs.ca 613-324-3136.

Happy Summer North Grenville… Please stay Happy and Healthy! Book your special occasion or corporate event with Catered Affairs. 820 Heritage Dr. Kemptville Campus. info@cateredaffairs.ca http://www.cateredaffairs.ca/

Sunny,Thundery, Windy and Cool Rainy Days of Spring!

May 25, 2022

Please Preorder the day before for next day pick up 1:30-4:30pm Order & Pay online www.cateredaﬀairs.ca 613-324-3136 $39.99 Complete Meal for 2 + HST $74.99 Complete Meal for 4 + HST Meals come cold with gentle heating instructions Dessert of the week: Dessert of the week $2.50 each - Warm Sticky Toﬀee Pudding w/ caramel sauce

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Baldwin's Birds

Wow! Mother Nature didn't hold back this past week on the diﬀerent weather patterns she could inﬂict on us, did she!? The returning migratory birds must have had second thoughts about their

Menu #114 Wed May 25- Fri May 27 2022

arrival back here and wondered why they had rushed to come. Today though, they are somewhat redeemed in their decision, as the sun has appeared once more to lift all our spirits. The various

conditions had their aﬀects on the birds as they tried to cope with them. The Turkey Vultures, usually straight winged and just cruising the thermals, were being tossed about quite a bit and having to correct their ﬂight paths and stability by using their wings dramatically to maintain a somewhat straight and level platform, as they scanned the ground below for a bite to eat! Our Bluebird friends still don't seem to be using our nesting boxes, but do appear now and again in the garden to let us know that they are still around, and are especially more evident when it is raining, their bright blue

being considerably darker in the wet, of course. They were joined the other day by four Swallows, who came and ﬂew around my four high up nesting boxes and inspected them brieﬂy, before moving on too. Our chirpy House Wren is busy somewhere in the garden, judging by its singing, although it too hasn't been revealing that it is about to use one of the nesting boxes either! Not a lot of action at the front of the house on the various feeders, or on the ground, which is understandable, considering the amount of exposure they get in order to access this type of food

source in pretty miserable so far this year no such action conditions. The Goldﬁnches, has caught my eye, if they House Finches, Chickadees, haven't already gone. Stay safe and well, and Woodpeckers appear Cheers, on the hanging ones, whilst John Baldwin Pigeons, Mourning Doves, Cowbirds, and Chipping Sparrows (today's picture) are cleaning up around the other feeders, where the squirrels have spilled seed out, as they raid them! As a note, but not about birds, I haven't noticed any action in and around my nesting box hotel, where a nesting Red Squirrel had taken over and was raising her family. Last year I was able to get pictures of the parents moving the young out of the nest, but

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Rideau Canal saga The War of 1812 by David Shanahan When war broke out between the United States and Britain in 1812, there were assumptions made, on both sides, concerning what the conflict would bring. The Americans believed the war would inevitably lead to the absorption of at least Upper Canada into the United States, with the future addition of the lands west of the Great Lakes in years to come. In many ways, the British Government shared that belief. The initial strategy of the Crown was to withdraw all military forces from Upper Canada for the protection of Quebec and Montreal. Without the initiative of General Isaac Brock, and the essential aid of First Nations allies, this would have been done and Upper Canada would have been left to the American occupation forces. The facts on which this assumption were based were clear. Upper Canada had a population of about 75,000 spread over a thin strip of land stretching from Cornwall to the Niagara Peninsula. New York State alone had about one million inhabitants. What’s more, it was estimated that about 60% of the people of Upper Canada were American-born. Although some of these were Loyalists who had fled the revolutionary wars before 1784, these only accounted for about 8,000 people. The majority of the Upper Canadian population were settlers who had taken advantage of the free land policies in Upper Canada after the end of the American Revolution, the loyalty of whom was unclear at the very least. This led the American authorities to believe that an invading American army would meet with a warm welcome, leading to a short campaign to “liberate” Upper Canada. The British feared that this was quite likely; hence the plan to retreat behind the Ottawa River. This strategy was based on another assumption, this time on the part of the British. They assumed that one of the ﬁrst priorities of the Americans would be to cut communication between Upper and Lower Canada by blockading the St. Lawrence River. The river was the only viable means of moving troops, supplies and equipment into Upper Canada, and it was a very vulnerable supply line indeed. By taking Prescott,

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for example, and holding the river at that point, most of Upper Canada would be cut off and prey to American invasion without hope of reinforcement. York, Kingston and Brockville could then be taken at American leisure, and the impressive naval fleet built on Lake Ontario during the War would never have come into being. Given these considerations, the failure of the Americans to take advantage of the opportunities presented during the war are quite baffling. Although there was no general uprising of Americans living in Upper Canada in support of an invasion by the United States army, there was a sizeable amount of desertion from the Canadian militia, and even the British regular army, during the conflict. But the impressive defense of the Niagara Peninsula by British, Indigenous and militia forces, stemming from Brock’s decision to keep his troops in the province, meant that most of the fighting took place in that region, where the population on the American side of the border was not nearly as overwhelming as it was further east. The supremacy of the British naval forces in Lake Ontario also preserved the province from more dangerous incursions

by the Americans. Although the campaign of 1813 which culminated in the Battle of Chrysler’s Farm was a major event in the War of 1812, and although there were various skirmishes around Brockville and Prescott, the fact is that the War largely bypassed the St. Lawrence valley region. This was largely due to the reluctance of American entrepreneurs to have their cross-border business disrupted by war. These businessmen were the major paymasters of the war on the American side, and their financial support gave them influence with the American Government. This they used to maintain a peaceful ceasefire area on the St. Lawrence for much of the war. This, in part, also explains the failure of the Americans to actively prosecute the war along the St. Lawrence by cutting the supply lines to Upper Canada. In fact, at one point during the war, a local British officer at Prescott noted that fully 80% of his men’s food and supples came from the American side of the river. Commerce trumped politics. Various campaigns were carried on in 1814 from Lower Canada into the United States, but the St. Lawrence remained largely untouched.

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Science and Faith Part 1:

Naturalism versus Supernaturalism by Victor Lachance Naturalism can be defined as the doctrine that everything arises from natural properties and causes, and that the scientific method and resulting scientific laws are adequate to figure out our universe and everything in it. Supernaturalism can be defined as belief in supernatural causes, and that supernatural forces dictate the way things are; supernaturalism is, in one way or another, associated with all forms of religion. Over the past several hundred years, the forces of naturalism (science) have increasingly challenged supernaturalism (faith or religion)’s long-standing status as a source of knowledge and truth. At the same time, the forces of supernaturalism have increasingly challenged and defended themselves against the advancements of naturalism as a definitive body of knowledge and truth. In 1999, the renowned multidisciplinary scientist Stephen Jay Gould offered up a resolution to the tensions between science and faith: the idea of a non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA) to separate the roles of naturalism and supernaturalism in society. Naturalism would provide the facts of existence and supernaturalism would provide the purpose of it all. Built into NOMA was the idea that science should not put religion under the scientific microscope; that supernatural beliefs should not be subject to skepticism and scrutiny. But the forces of naturalism rely on skepticism and scrutiny; they therefore still questioned the forces of supernaturalism when supernaturalists tried to use scientific principles to claim that holy books should be considered the dominant source of knowledge, along with the defining word on the purpose of our existence. For example the so-called “new atheists” (think Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens) started pushing religions to defend their claims. The modern day battle lines were drawn. This only caused the tensions to spill over into politics and education, for example, the current battles in the US over the teaching of creationism versus evolution, or intelligent design versus natural selection. Both naturalism and supernaturalism also make appeals to logic, rationality and philosophy. But, in my view, it comes down to this: May 25, 2022

how do we determine what is true and what is not. How do we answer big questions like where the universe came from, or how humans came to exist? What methods does each one use to figure out why things are the way they are? And eventually we might discover if one of them is a more reliable path to knowledge and truth. Religions rely on revelation – that is, the given word, instructions, or assistance from a supernatural being. One needs faith to accept that revelation (for example, a holy book) provides the total knowledge and absolute truth of our existence. And under NOMA, faith is often described as believing without evidence. An important aspect of revelation (and supernaturalism) is that it cannot be changed or falsified based on new information or evidence. Science relies on the scientific method – that is, hy-

nelling Thomas Jeﬀerson and Pierre-Simon Laplace) noted that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, meaning that the evidence must be proportional to the magnitude of the claim. Naturalists therefore say that since supernatural claims are of the greatest magnitude (for example, the existence of a god), it is up to supernaturalists to provide overwhelming and reliable evidence to support their claims. Meanwhile supernaturalists say that you cannot prove that god does not exist, which is true, because in logic you cannot disprove a negative, and in science you cannot test and replicate revelation. In part two of this discussion I will endeavour to compare how naturalism and supernaturalism approach the question of where humans came from, where we are going, and human morality.

potheses that can be proven to be reliable through experimentation and replication. When a hypothesis is reliable, it becomes a theory, such as the theory of gravity or the germ theory of disease. When the evidence behind a theory holds up over time, it is treated as a fact. An important feature of a scientific fact is that it can be falsified (changed or abandoned) based on new information or evidence. Because of this, science is sometimes criticized by supernaturalists for not having the definitive and final answers to all of our questions. Another aspect to the tension between science and faith is the argument about how we should go about defending the claims each one makes about our existence. The rules in science are that a claim must be supported by evidence, and defended by the one making the claim. Astrophysicist Carl Sagan (chan-

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Science and Faith: A response by David Shanahan

Victor Lachance has stated his wish to “propose rules of engagement for a discussion or debate about science and faith”, a worthy and worthwhile goal, and one that has been attempted, with varying success on a number of occasions. And by trying to come up with clear definitions of terms before launching the discussion, I think Victor is on the right track. Unfortunately, I don’t think the definitions he chooses fit the situation. The approach, to “compare two main approaches, naturalism and supernaturalism, in terms of how reliable each one is as a path to knowledge and truth”, is fine in theory, but once these terms are defined as they are in his study, problems arise. The first statement, that “Truth is not an ideology or belief; it is an objective thing that can be identified through reason. It means that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality”, is a welcome departure from the all-too prevalent idea that Truth is relative, that there is no absolute. Such an attitude makes any attempt to “know” anything quite impossible. The basic laws of Logic begin with the Law of Non-contradiction: or, to put it simply, if something is A, it cannot be Non-A. If something is true, it’s opposite cannot be true. There is no

intelligent validity to the idea that “this is true for you, but not true for me”. A car is not a chair. Red is not black. Up is not down, etc. Therefore, as Victor rightly states, Truth is an objective thing”. However, Victor’s next definition raises problems. “Faith is trust or certitude in someone or something. It most often refers to a strong belief in God, or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.” That may be true for many world religions, and, in fact, for many statements by atheists also, but it is not accurate when it comes to Christianity. Look at the definition of Science: “It means a systematic approach that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about reality... It operates on the basis of the scientific method.” Christianity, as distinct from every other known religion, is based on historical facts, testable explanations, and predictions about reality. Christians specifically look to various proofs, scientific facts, if you will, that support their truth claims. Yes, there is also a foundation that includes “trust or certitude in someone”, in this case, Jesus of Nazareth. But that trust is a certitude, not based on “blind faith” regardless of evidence, but on

historical reality and personal experience. Ah, you will say: personal experience is subjective and unreliable and not covered by the scientific method! But it is quite the opposite. If millions of people experience the same phenomena over centuries, regardless of class, education, ethnicity, or any other category, then that provides a huge body of data to be scientifically examined. Psychology and psychiatry would be impossible otherwise. Furthermore, if that data set confirms claims made about what those experiences would involve, then it fulfills those “predictions about reality”. Victor confines his analysis to two positions which he assumes are contradictory

or incompatible: naturalism and supernaturalism. “Naturalism means that all beings and events in the universe are governed by nature and natural forces. It most often relates to the realm of scientific investigation (methodological naturalism).” But there are different and equally valid ways of looking at those phenomena. As John Lennox says: a scientific explanation of the internal combustion engine can perfectly explain the motor car. A second, equally valid explanation would be Henry Ford. You can analyse a tasty cake by identifying the ingredients involved, the temperature of the oven, and the length of time required to

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bake it. You can also explain its existence by pointing to the individual who made it. So, where as naturalism is deﬁned as those things which we fund in nature which can be explained by natural forces operating according to clear and consistent laws, it can also be said that those same things can have a more supernatural source, a source which establishes and maintains the same clearly understood and scientiﬁcally proven laws. I should point out that this article is written in response to Victor’s one of last week. I leave it to readers to enjoy his latest submission in this issue, and I will talk about it next time.

A scary time for many last Saturday when major storm hit Kemptville and surrounding areas as well as throughout Ontario. Photo by Larry Belzac www.ngtimes.ca

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Sons and Daughters:

John Fannin: an extraordinary life

by David Shanahan North Grenville has produced many amazing characters, but there can be few who measured up to the life of John Fannin. Born in Kemptville in 1837, the son of William, a tailor, and Eliza, John was one of eight children and took on the profession of shoemaker. The family lived on Lydia Street, from where father and son carried on their businesses. It has been said in some records that John worked for a time as a teacher, but no evidence of that has been found to date, although his sister, Lucinda, taught in a number of schools around Kemptville through the 1860's and 1870's. It would not have been unusual if John had remained in Kemptville and continued his life as a shoemaker for the rest of his life, but he took a very different path indeed. In 1862, at the age of 35, John caught the lure of the Cariboo Gold Rush and took off for British Columbia. Even then, he did not take the usual route by sea. Instead, he joined a group of 115 men (and one woman) who came to be known as the Overlanders. Leaving from Queenston, Upper Canada, the party travelled to Fort Garry (now Winnipeg, Manitoba), where they restocked their supplies and began the hazardous crossing of the Rocky Mountains, using the Yellowhead Pass. They had to abandon their carts and carry their supplies in back packs, and it was August before the group finally reached Tête Jaune Cache, hungry, exhausted, and trading what was left of their May 25, 2022

equipment for food. The group then split into two, and John’s group took the route down the Thompson River, travelling on rafts. Two men died on that stage of the journey, but they finally reached the Cariboo gold fields at Kamloops in October. The one woman in the party actually gave birth to a baby the day after they arrived in Kamloops. The journey was extremely hard and dangerous, and the trek of the Overlanders of 1862 is marked by Parks Canada as an Event of Historic Significance. John did not strike it rich, however, although he spent eight years prospecting and hunting around the interior of British Columbia. It seems he had become quite a good hunter and frontiersman, even before leaving Kemptville, and he gained a reputation as a valuable guide for wealthy Americans and Canadians who hired him to accompany them on their trips into the wilderness of B.C. But John moved to New Westminister, where he once again settled down to a career as a shoemaker. His years in the interior had brought out a gift he had for taxidermy, perhaps not that unusual for a shoemaker, and he began to stuff and mount his clients’ kills, as well as his own. In the middle of all of this, he wrote songs, at least one of which was published, and even put out a humourous newspaper in 1873, though it did not last long. In the same year, he began working on contract as a surveyor for

the government and had some close escapes as he battled climate and geography to survey and report on the Fraser and Stikine Rivers. He began to write articles on hunting and fishing for a New York magazine, “Forest and Stream”, and this increased demand for his services as a guide. He became internationally known for his knowledge and writing on the wildlife of British Columbia. As his reputation grew, he was appointed to various government positions, becoming postmaster for Burrard Inlet (Vancouver) in 1882, and justice of the peace for New Westminster in 1884. John had travelled a very long way from Lydia Street in Kemptville, yet his major achievement was still ahead of him. In 1886, he was appointed the first curator of the new provincial museum in Victoria, specialising in anthropology and natural history. He helped to found the Natural History Society of British Columbia in 1890, and in 1896 he was sent on an official tour of similar museums in Europe and the United States. John authored an influential book in 1891, “Checklist of British Columbia Birds”, which was republished last year. He remained as Curator of what became the Royal Museum of British Columbia until he retired in 1904. John Fannin died later that same year. He never married. He had come a long way from the young shoemaker in Kemptville, making a name and a career for himself out of sheer talent and industry.

OFA engages election candidates

by Sara Wood, Director, Ontario Federation of Agriculture Ontario’s provincial election campaign is now in full swing, and across the province, candidates are engaging with voters in hopes of capturing their support at the ballot box. In turn, voters want to know where candidates stand on the issues that matter most to them. The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) has been meeting candidates from all major parties for the last several months now in both urban and rural ridings to help build awareness of food, farming and how supporting economic investments in agri-food and our rural communities will provide benefit to the entire province. Agriculture is one of Ontario’s main economic drivers, contributing more than $47 billion a year to the provincial economy and supporting close to one million jobs across the province. There’s no doubt the industry will also have a vital role in our postpandemic economic recovery, contributing to employment and growth – and government is a key partner in helping to make that happen through policy, legislation and investment. Supply chain resilience: Ontario farmers grow and produce more than 200 different food products, supporting a wide array of food manufacturing and processing activity across the province. So, it’s important that Ontario’s farm policies and regulations ensure stability and prosperity in all aspects of the agrifood supply chain, from field-to-fork. Food processing is essential to food security – ensuring we are able to feed ourselves – so we need to make sure we have enough food processing facilities to meet market demands. When the pandemic first hit, a leading concern of many Ontarians was that our food supply chain would 20

collapse. That didn’t happen as Ontario’s agri-food sector rose to the challenge, persevered and showed how strong and resilient it can be. During the uncertainty of the pandemic, many commodity organizations and local federations stepped up by donating food products and contributing funds to help food banks and other groups support those in need. We applaud the eﬀorts made by our industry to keep our supply chain strong as we navigated through these unprecedented times. Our job now is to ensure that strength and resilience continues. That means we must address the labour shortages in the agri-food sector. The gap between the demand for workers and available labour in Ontario currently sits at 29,000 workers and growing – and it’s estimated that job vacancies cost farmers $1.5 billion in lost sales every year. We need focused promotion of agricultural and agrifood programs and careers to Canadian youth to attract job seekers to the sector. We also need to prioritize skills development and training throughout the value chain to make it easier for employers to ﬁnd, train and keep the workforce they need. Protecting food production by preserving farmland As resilient as our supply chain has proven to be throughout the pandemic, its success all begins with farmland. As farmers, we work hard to maintain the supply and meet the demand for locally grown produce, meat, eggs and dairy products – and without farmland, none of that can happen. We have to contain urban sprawl and preserve the valuable farmland that we have; if we don’t, who will we have to depend on in the future to grow our food when we can no longer do so ourselves? Our province loses an av-

erage of five farms per week to development to keep pace with Ontario’s growing population. Even though farmers are continually adopting new technologies and innovations to grow more food with less resources, that kind of farmland loss is not sustainable. We need to ensure we are protecting the land that feeds our families, cities, country and the world – not just for us, but for future generations to come. The decisions we make now will directly impact the future generation’s ability to grow and produce highquality food, fibre and fuel for our growing population. Long-term land-use planning needs to be responsible and focused on a balance of enabling urban growth while also protecting agricultural land. We can do this by intensifying residential development in our existing urban footprint to create complete and liveable communities and by distributing economic development province-wide. Distribution of economic development province-wide will make rural communities more attractive for families and businesses. Yes, it will require investment in highspeed internet, energy and social infrastructure like schools and hospitals, but encouraging growth and development beyond the Greater Golden Horseshoe will benefit all Ontarians. We would like all candidates to understand the tremendous value and opportunities the agrifood sector and our rural communities have to offer. OFA encourages all voters to get involved in the election by engaging with candidates and asking about their positions on issues that matter most to Ontario’s farming and food sector.