Issue 47 2022 December 1 NG Times

An

The perfect Christmas

customers to arrive were Brian and Geraldine Tracy who were looking to find the perfect

tree for their Equinelle Residents Christmas party on December 3. Within minutes, they found two full, freshly unwrapped trees to put on display at the country club. A special story behind these trees is that they are not from our Ferguson Centre, but actually grown and harvested in Peterborough at a sister forestry station, Pine Needle Farm. They have a great relationship that involves exchanges of trees and

seeds throughout the year.

You can visit the center on weekends from 9-5 pm and weekdays from 10-5 pm while supplies last! There is also a small selection of trees that range from 10-15 feet for anyone with big spaces to fill, for $80.

By purchasing a tree through the Lions Club, you are supporting the community and the initiatives carried out by these wonderful members. They look forward

to seeing residents who return every year to purchase their tree, and meeting new friends who have come to purchase their first of many trees.

A huge thank you to all the staff at the Forestry station, members of the Lions Club who devote their time during the holiday season and provide such a great fundraising initiative, and lastly to the community who come out to support great causes such as this.

by Ashley Sloan

Honouring a woman who loved her community

Hallelujah - the North Grenville Concert Choir is back!

In memory of one of our very first clients, Claire Larabie, and her furry friend, Toonie, the Kemptville Animal Hospital is hosting a fundraiser for kids in need this Christmas.

Claire was a member of the community, well-known for her boundless fundraising community efforts. Her recent passing has left a significant hole in the Kemptville Community this year.

Kemptville Animal Hospital will serve as a donation location for gift cards, new toys, and monetary donations to help make sure kids in our community have presents under the tree on Christmas morning.

Also, give the clinic a call and schedule your furry friend for a Paw-di-cure! All proceeds from every nail trim booked from now for the next month will be donated in Claire and Toonie's name, as well.

All toys, gift cards, and funds raised will go directly to the Knights of Columbus to support our community at Christmas Time!

Brockville rally protests Bill 23

office.

“As municipal councils were just emerging from election day, the Ford government presented a Bill that purports to address the

housing crisis by slashing the oversight of conservation authorities, allowing for unimpeded development on currently protected wetlands and other habitats, and furthering suburban sprawl,” reads a release obtained by the Times. The document goes on to list several arguments against Bill 23.

One argument against the Bill is that it will harm the environment by allowing the sale of formerly protected lands, and limiting the oversight powers of local Conservation Authorities.

Mark your calendars, after a long silence, the North Grenville Concert Choir is thrilled to once again be performing Handel’s MESSIAH with members of Divertimento Orchestra, under the direction of Gordon Slater. The choir has been working hard, rehearsing since early September under the marvelous tutelage of Music Director Philip Konopka, and is most excited to bring this beautiful work to a live audience. Joining the choir with their beautiful voices are guest soloists soprano Maghan McPhee, alto Sherrie Spelchuk, tenor John Steele and bass Norman E. Brown.

This delightful evening is guaranteed to bring the Christmas spirit to all who come. Concerts will be held on December 9 and 10 at 7:30 pm at St. James Anglican Church in Kemptville. Tickets are $25, available at Brewed Awakenings or online at http://ngcc.eventbrite.ca. For more information go to www.ngcc.net or call 613-322-6484.

In addition, it is argued that “urban sprawl” resulting from Bill 23 would cause significant car traffic in the absence of appropriate public transportation, which would further harm the environment.

Another argument against the Bill is that by eliminating development charges, it will result in the creation of large communities without the proper amenities to support those who live there. Further, in Municipalities such as North Grenville where sustainable, progressive development is already underway, Bill 23 could lead to a much more drastic urban sprawl that would affect the look and feel of the community, with limited options for the Municipality to fight back.

“Our municipality has already told me that if this bill goes through as is, they will no longer have control over certain developments,” said Tom Graham, a local resident and leading member of Sustainable North Grenville. “This isn’t right. Local municipalities know what works for their communities.”

A local doctor – Sarah Tuck – was one of the organizers of the rally. “The

rally exceeded expectations in terms of turnout,” said Sarah. “We had about 35 people from all over the region. There was a general sense of frustration with the resistance of our representatives to make socially and ecologically conscious decisions.” All those in attendance at the rally signed a letter which the children present delivered to Steve Clark’s office. Even though there was no one at the office at the time, a building manager allowed the children to slide the letter under the door of MPP Clark’s suite.

“The atmosphere was upbeat and positive because we know we are just one of dozens of rallies happening throughout the province in the days to come,” Sarah added. “We remain optimistic that our actions can effect a change in this government's stance and serious changes to the bill. We saw recently how collective dissent and action forced the government's hand with Bill 28.”

Sustainable North Grenville and Sustainable Merrickville-Wolford were two local organizations behind

a Brockville rally last week which protested the Ontario government’s Bill 23. The pop-up rally took place on November 25 outside MPP Steve Clark’s constituency

Local protesters gather in Brockville to show their opposition to Bill 23.

by Brandon Mayer

Mayor Nancy Peckford will serve as next Counties Warden

will bring my absolute best to the table as your Warden, and work to create the conditions for robust and respectful dialogue, deliberation, and decision making, that is always responsive and responsible to the people we were elected to serve,” she said.

North Grenville’s own Mayor Nancy Peckford has been selected as the next Warden of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville for the 2023-2024 term. The Municipality sent out a note of congratulations after the decision was made by unanimous vote at the November 23 United Counties Council meeting.

“The Warden serves as the Head of Counties Council and is elected every two years by the ten mem-

ber Mayors who sit on the Counties Council,” reads a municipal release. “In recent years, the position alternates between the Counties of Grenville and Leeds. The Warden presides over all Counties Council meetings, sits on all Committees and represents the Counties at a variety of meetings or official functions.”

Mayor Peckford’s appointment comes with two distinctions. She is only the fourth female Warden of the United Counties in 172 years, and is the first

Warden under the age of 55. Mayor Peckford has already been sworn in to the new role. At the ceremony, she spoke of her pride in the United Counties. "The brilliant blend of urban and rural in this region, not to mention the resilience, innovation, persistence and loyalty of residents and business leaders across the Counties is remarkable, and in my opinion largely unheralded on the national stage,” she said. “While some of our communities are increasingly becoming

Tim Hortons contest winner

more urbanized, I believe it is our deep rural roots, and our rural character that has largely defined our evolution as the United Counties, and how we continue to evolve as caring, compassionate, determined and fiscally responsible stewards and leaders.”

Mayor Peckford has pledged to address issues such as housing, inflation, access to health care and long term care, investments in a variety of County roads, the promotion of community safety and well-being, and environmental and climate change considerations in her term as Warden. “I give you my commitment today that I

Outgoing Warden Roger Haley passed the Chain of Office to Warden Peckford in a ceremony attended by all Leeds and Grenville heads of council. Roger Haley is the Mayor of Front of Yonge Township. He thanked his Counties Council colleagues, both past and present, and staff for their support during his tenure as Warden. “It’s definitely been an honour to serve as Warden these past two years, and it’s been a great learning experience,” he said.

Solicitor John Simpson administered the Oath of Office to Council and Warden Peckford. Several special guests were on hand for the inaugural meeting to welcome and congratulate the new Warden, including Mayor Matt Wren of the City of Brockville, Mayor Gauri Shankar of the Town of Prescott, Mayor John Beddows of the Town of Gananoque as well as members of the Municipality of North Grenville Council. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark brought greetings by way of video, as did Member of

Parliament Michael Barrett. Although acting as the leader of the upper-tier Counties Council, the main duty of the Warden role involves chairing Counties Council meetings to ensure they run with civility and efficiency. There is no specific benefit of having the Warden of the United Counties be our own municipality’s Mayor, though it stands to reason that North Grenville’s interests will be well-represented at Counties Council over the next two years, along with the other municipalities in Leeds and Grenville. Mayor Peckford’s executive experience, combined with her four-year tenure as Mayor and recent landslide re-election, made her a good candidate for the honour of the Warden’s Chair. Congratulations, Mayor Peckford!

Meagan Racicot was the winner of the “Enter for a chance to win” held during Trade Nights on Wednesdays, November 2 and 9 at participating Tim Hortons locations. Her prize was a framed and autographed photo of Sydney Crosby, with a value of $750. Submitted by Ingrid Kohling.

United Counties of Leeds and Grenville Warden Nancy Peckford

by Brandon Mayer

Chill out, you’re not married

by Brandon Mayer

One of my favourite things about community newspapers like the Times is the open exchange of ideas through submissions and letters to the editor. Beyond these submissions that readers get to see, many spirited people also like to express their views privately to the Editor, especially when their strong views are political in nature.

One thing that has always struck me when it comes to the political views of many is their propensity to develop an unyielding attachment to the politicians they support, almost like a fan club. I can’t help but think that many people might benefit from the realization that it is okay to disagree with someone they voted for. Politicians in a democracy are first and foremost representatives. It is not their views which are supposed to guide their vote, but rather the views of their constituents. Disagreeing with them sometimes is therefore an imperative, even when we generally support their party and their politics.

One “current event” that has been lighting up the Times inboxes lately is provincial Bill 23, called the More Homes Built Faster Act. From what I can see, it is drawing almost exclusively negative attention from various agencies across the area, particularly conservation authorities and organizations whose mandate it is to promote and preserve nature. The concerns certainly seem warranted. Bill 23 strips away many rights from many entities. It removes requirements for public meetings regarding certain planning manners. It gives the provincial government the power to override municipal planning decisions when it comes to housing development, meaning that new developments can be imposed on small communities who simply don’t want them or can’t sustain them. Bill 23 also strips certain powers from conservation authorities, including those that protect against pollution and the destruction of designated conservation lands.

Do any of these changes have merit? I would argue that all legislation must have

Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

On behalf of the Maple Hope Foundation team, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude for helping us raise awareness about the “United for Ukraine” gala dinner on November 17 at eQuinelle Golf and Resident Club and contributing to the “Project Liza” for children affected by war.

The event was proudly supported by EQ Homes, and thanks to individual and business donations, collectively we were able to raise $8720. We are so grateful to the following businesses that contributed to the silent auction: Spa Jada, Rega Nails, The Score, Shoeless Joe's, Starbucks, M&M Food Market, Staples, Wild Birds Unlimited, Home and Beyond, and West of Main. Maple Hope Foundation is a community-based and volunteer-run Canadian NGO committed to helping people

The North Grenville Times is published weekly by North Grenville Times Inc.

Marketing/Sales

Melissa Ottenhof marketing@ngtimes.ca 613 329 0209

suffering from the war in Ukraine since 2014.

100% of raised funds will be used towards internally displaced children, children who are separated from their parents, children whose parents are unemployed, children who lost their parents and homes, and those who face atrocities of war on a daily basis and need food, warm clothing, school supplies, and medication.

Our team believes and acts up to the following mission – whoever makes a positive difference in one life, changes the whole world. If you have questions or would like to continue to support our projects in Ukraine, I will be happy to discuss further.

Best regards, Dr. Svitlana Kominko, Ph.D.

CEO and Co-founder Maple Hope Foundation www.maplehopefoundation.

org

some objective upsides in any society not run by evil tyrants. In the case of Bill 23, the obvious objective upside is the fact that barriers to new housing developments – or so called “red tape” –are reduced, paving the way for more houses and thus, hopefully, a gradual elimination of the current housing crisis. Despite this, governments should always be tasked with considering the journey just as much as the destination. The end must justify the means. Eliminating protected farmland, risking pollution, and impacting the layout and feel of small communities for those who prefer to live and raise their families in them are all means that aren’t necessarily justified in the name of building more houses. There must be a better way to locate available land and entice existing developers without eliminating the checks and balances that keep our province beautiful, healthy and safe. As with many pieces of provincial legislation, I would argue that Bill 23 is Toronto-centric. It fails to consider the importance of natural lands and farmlands in areas such

as ours. Sustaining a population of millions of people in a condensed city would not be possible if not for the farmlands in areas such as North Grenville.

So how does this all relate to disagreeing with politicians? Quite simple. Much like the situation with the CUPE education workers union, wherein the provincial government used the notwithstanding clause to stomp on the constitutional rights of ordinary workers, the situation with Bill 23 is one that a significant number of individuals and organizations are recognizing as wrong. The problem is the number of Ontarians, including many locals, who seem to be defending the government just because it’s the “blue” party that they’ve supported and always have. Some people need to chill out and realize they aren’t married to Doug Ford.

Why do so many of us instinctively behave this way? We act as though casting our vote in an election is akin to picking a hockey team to cheer for. This could explain why, when politicians do stupid things, we find excuses to explain it

away. This is not unlike Leafs fans continuing to cheer for the “best” hockey team that hasn’t taken home the Stanley Cup in 55 years. Whoops, I went there!

Let me be the first to break away from the trend. Faced with other options I did not like, and perhaps jumping on the dark blue bandwagon of our area, I voted conservative in the last provincial election. That does not mean that when dumb decisions are made, such as thinking an education union will quietly be legislated back to work with sneaky tactics, or thinking that a simple blanket solution can resolve a complex problem such as the housing shortage, I have to agree. In fact, not agreeing with the party you voted for is a power show of independence. One of the advantages of having a conservative MPP during the term of a conservative majority provincial government is that our local representative can’t simply waste away time pointing fingers and blaming. Unpopular legislation is the work of HIS government, and he must therefore answer for it. Probably the strongest

voices emailing or calling our MPP with a complaint are the ones who voted for him. After all, a conservative stronghold won’t remain as such if the supporters begin changing sides.

I will forever see myself as an independent voter. I vote for people, not parties, and I will always evaluate legislation through an objective lens. This advice comes partly from a teacher in high school who, in a humorous mocking voice, told us that so many people have the attitude of “I voted conservative because my grandaddy voted conservative”. It’s time to stop thinking that we owe our politicians some kind of fangirl or fanboy loyalty. We’re not married, even if I voted for you. And if we disagree, I won’t even have to sleep on the couch tonight.

Dear Editor, Now that the elections are over, can we hope that the new Council in Kemptville will attend to an urgent outstanding matter, namely the proposed construction of a prison adjacent to the beautiful campus of Kemptville College?

I would like to remind councillors that the Province of Ontario has not fulfilled the requirements for the construction of new provincial buildings, i.e. that it has failed to abide by established Provincial Policy Statements under the Planning Act. The applicable Provincial Policy Statement was issued under Section 3 of the Planning Act and came into effect on May 1, 2020. It replaced the Provincial Policy Statement issued on April 30, 2014.

The proposed prison was announced in a general way in June, 2020 (money for upgrading existing prisons

the north grenville

Ashley Sloan Repotrer at large 613-215-0735

Accounting Pat Jessop cfo@ngtimes.ca

and building new ones) and the proposed Kemptville prison on August 27, 2020.

The prison would be built across the road from the present Kemptville College Campus, on the farmland, outbuildings, arena and heritage barns that were previously part of the College. The Campus site was purchased by the Municipality, while the Province refused to sell the farmside and still owns it. The farmland would be paved over, the buildings razed to make way for the proposed correctional complex. Local people who are opposed to this plan have been arguing that the 182 acres of prime farmland are a non-renewable resource which should be kept in agriculture. Razing the buildings that took millions of dollars to build would be a dreadful and senseless waste. They are sorely needed in order to develop any kind of agri-

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OFFICE 613-215-0735

Editor Brandon Mayer editor@ngtimes.ca 613-215-0735

cultural projects on the 200 plus acres of farmland now owned by the Municipality on the Campus side, and which are sitting in limbo.

The Coalition Against the Proposed Prison group has asked the courts for a Judicial Review (JR), financed by a Go Fund Me, on the grounds that building this prison is illegal because it contravenes the official provincial and municipal plans, and need for consultation. The Province is doing all it can to stop the JR in its tracks.

Lack of consultation with the local population and the established policies of the Municipality (Section 6(2) of the Planning Act) which protect farmland are issues that must be addressed before this proposal goes any further. Will the new Council have the courage to stand up to the Province and demand

Mailing Address P.O. Box 1854 Kemptville, ON K0G 1J0

correct procedures before irrevocable steps are taken? Yours sincerely, Jocelyn Rait

Dear Editor, I agree with Ms. Piché's letter which suggests that if the prison IS a done deal, however I don't think shovels are in the ground as yet, then the citizens of North Grenville, and in particular the town of Kemptville, show compassion and understanding of the situation incarcerated people find themselves. Not every child is born into a loving home, not every child goes to school or bed with a full belly, not every child is safe from violence and abuse of all kinds in their own home. While reading this letter, I was reminded of an incident I encountered while manning a Christmas kettle

cont'd on page 4

Production production@ngtimes.ca 613-215-0735

for the Salvation Army. I happened to be in the lobby of The Independent Grocers here in Kemptville, when a man approached me and stated, "what's wrong with these people, why don't they get a job". My response to him was "there but for the grace of God, goes YOU". I am quite sure none of the incarcerated people grew up with the idea that their life's ambition was to become a criminal, but "circumstances and choices" in a person's life path causes them to live on the wrong side of the laws.That is why associations such as Elizabeth Fry Society and the John Howard Society are made available to the inmates. I only hope that these Societies will be made available to the incarcerated souls in Kemptville.

Josephine Herman

Dear Editor,

I want to end this series of letters on climate change by asking Mr. Norman and Mr. Van Dam a simple question: what if you’re wrong?

If I, and the vast majority of the scientists working in the field, and the scientific data are all wrong about climate change, yet we take the steps proposed, we’ll have energy independence, sustainability, green jobs, livable cities, renewables, clean water, clean air, healthy children, and protected ecosystems. If we follow the climate change minimisers course of action and they are wrong, we’ll have expensive energy, drought, flooding, fire, famine, mass extinction of other species, mass migrations, wars, and potentially the end of civilisation as we know it.

I do wonder how the likes of Mr. Norman and Mr. Van Dam justify their positions to themselves, or how they would justify them to their descendants. Clearly they have not absorbed the Seventh Generation principle from the Haudenosaunee peoples, where decisions made today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future.

Steve Gabell

Dear Editor,

The claim that conservatives are fiscally responsible is oft repeated and is prevalent in many countries. It is a myth that refuses to die; it needs to be shot with a silver bullet, staked through the heart, sealed in a lead-lined casket, and buried at the bottom of the Mariana trench.

Let’s look at our provincial government since 2018.

Is it fiscally responsible to spend $231 million to scrap renewable energy projects?

How about spending $2.24 billion refunding licence plate stickers and forgoing $1bn a year in revenue? Or spending $234m building new methane connections to rural and remote communities instead of investing in heat pumps, insulation, and renewables? Is it fiscally responsible to restrain the pay of nurses so much that they leave in droves and hospitals then must pay double to recruit short-term agency nurses? Some hospitals are spending five times more on agency staff than they were before Bill 124 was passed. How about cutting municipal income from development fees by $5.1bn over the next nine years?

Is it fiscally responsible to spend $2.1bn on payments direct to parents to support learning, instead of investing it in our education system?

Is it fiscally responsible to spend anywhere between $6bn and $10bn building Highway 413 which will save a minute on people’s commute, or to spend $800m to $1.5bn on the Bradford Bypass? Or to spend $3.1bn on new prisons that will cost an estimated $5.3bn to operate over the next 30 years?

Was it fiscally responsible to scrap provincial incentives on electric vehicles?

Is it fiscally responsible to have 1.8m Ontarians without a family doctor, or to underfund education so that most students with identified needs do not receive the help they are entitled to?

We’ve all seen how our society is suffering under the claimed fiscal responsibility of Doug Ford and the PCs (and this is to say nothing of the environmental damage they are wreaking across the province). Hours waiting in hospital emergency departments. Surgeries postponed.

ODSP recipients condemned to legislative poverty. Poorly equipped schools. Months long waiting lists for mental health care.

We need investments in society that will benefit all of us, not just a select few at the top. We need to invest in mental health care as part of OHIP. We need to invest in funding healthcare so that hospitals are not spending millions of dollars on agency staff, so that every Ontarian has a primary care provider, so that Ontarians can access the care they need when they need it. We need investment in education to provide our children with the support and facilities they need to have a good education. We need to double ODSP so that people are no longer condemned to lives of poverty. We need to invest in affordable housing, in building vibrant communities. We need to invest in the new climate economy, supporting retrofits for homes, building the clean businesses of the future, restoring water and nature.

The Green Party of Ontario has a plan for all of this, laid out in our 2022 platform (www.gpo.ca/platform). A platform that was fully costed and that had projected deficits only marginally higher than in the 2022 proposed budget. The Green Party of Ontario is the truly fiscally responsible party.

Steve Gabell

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: the Municipal office will be closed as of Friday, December 23, 2022 at 5:00 p.m. and will re-open on January 3, 2023 at 8:30 a.m.

Visit our events calendar to find out what’s happening in the community: www.northgrenville.ca/events-calendar

UPCOMING MEETINGS

COUNCIL

MEETINGS

Council meetings will be held in Council Chambers and 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.

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

• Council Meeting (Open) – Council Chambers – Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.

• Council Meeting (Open) – Council Chambers – Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at 6:30 p.m.

VOLUNTEER AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Waste Transfer Station Attendant

The Municipality of North Grenville is seeking to fill a casual position of Waste Transfer Station Attendant. The salary for this position currently pays $16.83 to $18.92 per hour. Interested applicants may submit a cover letter and resume outlining qualifications in confidence to Human Resources Visit www.northgrenville. ca for details and to apply.

Accessibility Advisory Committee

The Municipality of North Grenville is seeking applications from individuals interested in being appointed to the Accessibility Advisory Committee. Candidates must be 18 years or older, a Canadian citizen and a resident of North Grenville. The deadline has been extended. Applications will be received up to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, December 9, 2022. Visit www.northgrenville. ca for details and to apply.

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

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

Tid Bit Musings

by Elva Patterson Rutters RSSW

It is that time of year when everyone asks every child are you "good" or "bad" to validate Santa's pending visit. This is one of the first ways we program a young child's thinking and self-perception in an er-

roneous manner. Combine the terminology with the apparent discretion of who gets what and how much simply defines the unfairness of "Santa". Some children get oodles and others get little! It has no bearing on anything other than the wallet of a parent or perhaps the parents' feeling of duty!

Every child is good. Fundamentally every person is "good," but the behaviors and choices are often negative, even to the point of being detrimental. Learning from those choices develops our ability to conform to societal acceptance. When the consequences are inconsistent or even non-existent, confusion and ambiguity results. We do learn where and when certain language or behavior is tolerated and where it is not. Some folks are slow-learners!

The gift giving is symbolic of God giving us the gift of His son and the promise of eternal life. No other gift measures in comparison. Perhaps this is the time to acknowledge Jesus is the reason for the season. Teaching your child the meaning of the varying Christmas symbols becomes the greatest gift you can give themthe Christmas tree, the star, the wreath, the candy cane.

As an adult, re-phrase the question away from are you "good" to what are you hoping to receive as a gift, or what are you choosing to "give" someone else? Now is not too late to readjust the terminology and contribute to positive self-esteem. It takes a village to raise a child- this is your part!

NG Marks International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

November 25 was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and an initiative of 16 days of activism against gender violence was launched.

This campaign, led by the UN Secretary-General and UN Women since 2008, aims to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls around the world, calling for global action to increase awareness, promote advocacy and create opportunities for discussion on challenges and solutions.

“While this is a global campaign, it is important to highlight the urgency of the issue in Canada, and right here in North Grenville,” emphasized Mayor Peckford.

While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, women and girls are predominately vulnerable - including, young girls and older women, women who identify as lesbian, bisexual, transgender or intersex, migrants and refugees, indigenous women and ethnic minorities, or women and girls living with disabilities.

“Stopping gender-based violence is crucial to the well-being of not just the victim, but children who may be exposed, and other loved ones,” added Councillor Doreen O’Sullivan. “Abuse of women and girls often happens with people they know - including family members, and is not limited to physical or sexual abuse, but may also include psychological or emotional abuse.”

Residents experiencing violence in North Grenville have access to a dedicated professional at Leeds and Grenville’s Victim Services who can meet privately in person or over the phone and provide confidential feedback and assistance. Residents can also reach out to a primary care provider.

North Grenville residents also have access to two shelters, Naomi House in Winchester, and Leeds and Grenville Interval House in Brockville.

North Grenville has a number of counselling agencies both public and privately managed that offer trauma informed counselling for women, men and children.

Celtic Golf Centre grand opening!

The Old Town Kemptville Business Improvement Area (BIA) would like to extend a very warm welcome to the latest member of our Downtown Kemptville family, the Celtic Golf Centre and owner Andy McWilliams.

Drop by the CGC on Saturday December 3 between 6 pm and 11 pm during their grand opening celebrations. Meet the staff, enjoy some refreshments, get a tour of the facility and see one of their five Trackman golf simulators in action! Take advantage of their grand opening special offers on memberships just in time for Christmas.

The Celtic Golf Centre (CGC) is a brand new state-ofthe-art indoor golf facility located at 24 Prescott Street in Downtown Kemptville across from the North Grenville Public Library. The CGC employs the very latest in indoor golf simulator technology with five Trackman golf simulators.

Some of the enhanced features of the Trackman simulators are the over 200 unique golf courses to play, longest drive contests, closest to the pin challenges, capture the flag and many more fun challenges.

Trackman Suite 9.1 displays such technical features as 40 unique parameters of measurement on each shot, an optimizer to fine tune your game and the Test Centre which measures how much your game has improved.

Just because outdoor golf season may be over, it doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to work on your game. For those seeking year-round improvement of their golf game, the CGC can provide you with a comprehensive swing analysis as well as golf lessons with a Golf Canada certified professional.

For those who also enjoy the social aspect of golf, you can even join one of their golf leagues, participate in organized events, or create one of your own. The facility is well equipped with lounge area, licenced bar and a kitchen for appetizers and snacks.

In the new year, the CGC will be offering customized club fitting appointments to ensure that you get the very best possible fit and that your clubs perform to their maximum capability.

To learn more about the CGC, you can visit their website www.celticgolfcentre.com, go to their Celtic Golf Centre Facebook page, give them a call at 613-698-0787 or email them at andy@celticgolfcentre.com.

Professional Women’s Hockey is making its historic debut in Kemptville

or more) is $10, single tickets are $15 each.

This is a rare opportunity to see elite female hockey players in action, including Kendall Coyne Schofield, Renata Fast, Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull, Melodie Daoust and Rebecca Johnston. Team Adidas will take on Team Scotiabank.

This prestigious professional women’s hockey game will showcase the strength and agility of internationally renowned female hockey players. Players will take part in autograph sessions and meet and greet after the game.

Leeds and Grenville Diversity Day is back!

The St. Lawrence-Rideau Immigration Partnership is presenting their first in-person Diversity Day since 2019. In partial response to local labour shortages, this year’s theme is all about the attraction and retention of immigrants to Leeds and Grenville.

Happening December 7 at Heritage Hall in Kemptville, the event runs from 8:45 am to 1 pm. Free for everyone, the day will include local speakers (including immigrants), networking opportunities, an attraction and retention game, and lunch.

“Diversity Day has long been our signature event,” says Melissa Francis, Program Manager. “We hope our focus on attraction and retention can assist a wide variety of local partners, whether they be service providers, employers, educators, or general community members. We want to help educate our attendees on the successes, struggles, and realities of attraction and retention, while also helping people connect with one another.”

Having been held annually since 2016, Diversity Day has always offered an informative and engaging event. Following consistent feedback on the popularity of immigrant speakers, that has become a central feature of the day, as has offering networking opportunities and topical games.

People wishing to register can do so on EventBrite (www. eventbrite.ca/e/diversity-day-2022-tickets-457233867807) or email (lauren@eecentre.com).

The St. Lawrence – Rideau Immigration Partnership is funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

You can see a doctor

Did you know that if you are experiencing COVID/ cold/flu symptoms you can make an appointment to be assessed by a doctor at the North Grenville COVID 19 Assessment Centre? Bookings can be made online after 5pm at www.ngcac.ca. To check for availability by phone, call 613-258-3192 between 9 am and 5 pm.

fessional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA), in partnership with Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) and the Ottawa Senators, the Kemptville game is part of the lead up to a firstever all-star event, set to take place in Ottawa on Sunday, December 11. In the lead up, three regular season games are being hosted in just three communities - Kemptville, Gatineau and at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.

valing for a first place finish in the Ontario end of year provincial tournament .

No matter what your involvement in girls hockey, if you have an appreciation for hockey or women in sports generally, don’t miss this unique opportunity to watch world class women’s hockey right here at home.

Tickets on sale now or can be purchased at the door:

North Grenville is making history once again, as the Municipal Centre will host its

first ever professional women's hockey game featuring outstanding Olympic level female athletes, some of whom played in Beijing just a

few months ago.

Doors will open on Friday, December 9 at 3:45 pm, warm-up at 4:15 and puck drop at 4:45 pm. Group ticket rate (for 10

Kemptville Minor Hockey will be taking donations for the Salvation Army Food Bank at this event. For each item donated, attendees will receive an entry to a draw for PWHPA merchandise.

Organized by the Pro-

North Grenville is very blessed to have a thriving girls minor hockey program that includes over 200 kids from ages 4 to 18, and a girls only Initiation program to teach the fundamentals from ages 4 to 6.

The Storm program saw unprecedented success last year with two teams (U13 and u11) ri-

https://www.showpass.com/ctasw-adidasvs-scotia/

by Kathy Dickenson and Nancy Peckford

A GIF star in our midst

“I love living in Spencerville,” Robert told the Times. “I was born and raised in the U.S. and lived the majority of my life in Los Angeles. When I moved to Canada in 2009, there was an adjustment to small town life, but the people here were so welcoming. Spencerville is steeped in history and tradition. They have embraced me and made me feel at home.”

feels nice to be able to promote our local community and shine a light on it.”

by Brandon Mayer

It has recently come to light that a resident of the nearby town of Spencerville is something of an online sensation. Robert E. Blackmon is well known in the social media community for his GIFs – short videos of only a few seconds repeating on a loop, usually to express a strong emotion. GIF databases are typically available above the keyboard layout in smartphones and other devices, allowing GIFs to be sent as a response to written messages. GIFs can also be used in the comment sections of social media

websites such as Facebook.

Robert is both a Hollywood actor and lifestyle coach by trade. He is originally from Detroit, but moved to Spencerville as his husband is native to the area. His GIFs have been used and viewed approximately 10.5 billion times (and counting), and his GIF of himself discarding a trash bag labelled “2020” attracted enough views – 360 million – to be considered among the most watched GIFs of the year. The odds are that a significant portion of readers have “seen” Robert’s image online, though few likely realize he lives in our own backyard.

Asked whether he often gets recognized by others in the local area, Robert confirmed that he does, but certainly not just for the GIFs. “Over the years, I have established myself locally as a fashion designer, so many people have hired me for my services,” he said. “I also donate my time in various local community events. Since moving to Spencerville, I have remained active in some Hollywood events and projects, so my television presence is never far. I am also an occasional lifestyle contributor to CTV Morning Live Ottawa. So yes, I’m often recognized locally. It’s actually quite fun to receive an email or a phone call from someone congratulating me on a project that I’ve completed. I feel quite proud because I’m a local, and it

Education workers’ labour dispute likely finally over

by Brandon Mayer

Parents can now finally breathe a sigh of relief after several weeks of uncertainty over whether or not their kids would be in school. The labour dispute between the province and members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) led to two days of missed inperson schooling earlier this month. At that time, CUPE was calling the job action a “political protest”, rather than a strike action, because of the impositions of the province’s now-killed Bill 28. A tentative deal has now been reached that will likely avert any further CUPE job action.

Parents had a scare last week, when a second strike action was looming over the weekend of November 19-20. Another potential strike could have happened on November 21, and by all accounts a strike was considered likely, with schools and government officials preparing actively for a strike

situation to occur. Parents were told that they would know by 5 pm on Sunday, November 20 whether they could expect their children’s schools to be open on Monday. However, they had to wait until about 5:30 pm to finally hear the news that a tentative deal had been reached, and schools would be open.

The tentative deal reached between CUPE and the province proposes flat rate wage increases of $1 per hour per year over the four year span of the contract. It also removes some negative actions that the province was hoping to take against CUPE workers, such as unfavourable changes to sick leave entitlement, and the ability to more easily cut education worker positions.

A tentative deal reached by a union is one that still must be ratified by a vote of the union members. CUPE is encouraging members to accept the terms of the tentative deal, as it is likely the best deal that education

support staff are going to get, particularly in the shadow of the now-killed Bill 28 which had stripped workers of many rights.

Voting for the ratification of the tentative deal began on November 24, and will continue until December 4. Though it is not certain, it is likely that CUPE members will ratify the deal and take the new four-year contract that has been offered. Labour solidarity usually takes place in conjunction with a union, not against a union. While it is not likely that CUPE workers will initiate any further job action in the years ahead, members of the province’s teacher unions are also currently without a contract, so it remains to be seen if a labour dispute with teachers will occur in the near future.

It turns out that there is money to be made from GIFs as well. “When I first started making GIFs, it was just a fun thing to do to be a part of the app. But as my popularity grew, companies started reaching out to me asking permission to license them for their brands. And so now I actively work with companies and brands. Some companies license material that has already been created, but others have me create specific GIFs for them. They have been used for everything from marketing promotions to popcorn and even television shows. So this format has definitely become very lucrative for me!”

Pay attention to your smartphone everyone. You may just see a local star!

Dr. Eamon

Spencerville GIF creator Robert E. Blackmon

Is it a Swansong or just the Cygneture Tune!?

The other day I was fortunate enough to have a friend, who lives by the river, call me to see if I wanted to go and see the beautiful swans that were feeding in the water at the bottom of his garden. What a silly question! I grabbed my camera and was on my way, for a super treat, to see not just a pair of adult swans, but also their four, quite grown-up, but still immature cygnets. The latter, and one of the adults, were busy, with their bottoms up in the air, "bobbing" their heads for food on the bottom of the river, whilst the

other adult kept an alert look out for danger. They were in the company of a flock of Canada Geese, and readily they mingled together, and idealistically to me, were showing no animosity towards each other. Such a lovely sight, but then came my own question to myself and maybe also to you, what type of swan are they?

Hopefully my pictures and my bird books would give me the complete answer when I got back home. I was able to narrow my observations down to two,-- viz .a Tundra Swan, or a Trumpeter Swan, which are so very similar in many ways. I never heard any sounds or calls from them during my

observation time there, so cannot draw a comparison on that count. Their beaks are very similar, very black and the coloring stretches back to their eye, but the Tundra one has some yellow coloring near its eye, not apparent on my pictures! Is that because of the time of year? So, not getting anywhere on that count, I decided to look at the juvenile coloring and this was a bit more convincing since the Trumpeter juvenile has a mostly black beak, but the Tundra has the pink coloring, as is shown in my pictures, so I'm plumping for the Tundra Swan! Perhaps you might think differently, but I hope you have fun trying to find out if I am mistaken through your own research! Stay safe and well, and be careful walking along looking up in the air as the geese, or swans, fly overhead, please don't fall!

Claude’s Gardening and Landscaping Forum

Dear Claude, Dealing with a bumpy lawn. We have a well-established lawn (20 Years) on a clay soil. The lot is about 12,500sq feet (minus the house and driveway). We would prefer not to tear up the lawn to start over. Over the years, the lawn is getting more rough to walk on and mow, and I was wondering if you could provide some suggestions as to how to smooth out the topography. Spring rolling does not help on clay soil

From Ruff and Tumble

You’re right, rolling does not work on a clay soil. As a matter of fact, it compacts an already compacted soil, making things worse. The good news is you don’t have to tear up your existing lawn, but you will have to put in some time to remedy the problem.

You can use a 50/50 mixture of sand and topsoil or compost to fill in the low spots in the spring, once the weather warms up. This is where the time comes in! The idea is to gradually fill in the low spots by adding not more than 1 to 2 inches of the mixture, spreading with the hard side of a rake, so that the grass can grow through. You will need to repeat every few weeks until your lawn is level, so it may take some time depending on how rough your lawn is.

You could also aerate your soil first, using a plug aerator which removes a core, or plug, of grass and soil from your lawn. This would benefi t your lawn as a whole before trying to level it.

Talking about lawns, please wait until your lawn has dried up before you do any raking in the spring. Beneficial insects are just waking up, so waiting until

Cheers, John Baldwin Featuring

the weather has been consistently warm for a week will give them a chance to emerge from the soil and leaf debris. If you’re thinking of over-seeding your lawn, the best time is when soil temperature reaches around 10 degrees Celsius and air temperature around 18 degrees Celsius. The seed needs to have good contact with the soil to germinate.

Did you know that the Kemptville Campus Greenhouse is open to the public every weekday morning from 9:30 to 12? We’re happy to answer your gardening and landscaping questions. You can also check our Facebook page for upcoming workshops and plants for sale. contact editor@ngtimes. ca for any questions

Grahame's Bakery is home to a heritage wood burning oven, located in Kemptville, Ontario. You want the best for your dinner table? Make sure

At Salamanders, we believe everyone can afford to eat good food prepared with care. We use the highest quality ingredients, make everything in-house and specialize in casual, home-cooked cuisine.

Michael Rowland, bag maker extraordinaire, celebrates 40 years of dedicated creativity. He is devoted to making leather goods of exquisite style and enduring quality. His award-winning designs attest to his passion for excellence. Leather linings and bound edges are distinguishing traits of his superb leather creations.

Workshop Dance a fun, affordable, and friendly dance studio for adults. They offer many styles and levels of dance and fitness classes to meet your needs. Drop by and see what class is a fit for you.

Sustainable stocking stuffers for the whole family

(NC) Racking your brain to come up with gift ideas for loved ones during the holidays can be tricky. Why not give back to the earth and introduce family members and friends to more sustainable practices? This is especially important during a time of over-consumption. Here are three ways to make stockings a little greener this season:

For the lover of goodies. Try stainless steel straws, organic cotton produce bags and clothing, a new coffee mug or water bottle. Consider making a green theme, adding a variety of sustainable options for someone to use every day.

For the cook. Give them the tools they need to really shine in the kitchen. Support a local farmer in your area even in the winter by purchasing organic honey, which is full of phytochemicals that can protect from free-radical damage. Beeswax products, such as candles, cosmetics and reusable food wraps, are unique gifts that have no harsh plastics or additives. Take it up a notch and inspire them to use less dairy-rich ingredients by adding in a shelf-stable alternative such as coconut oil to use while whipping up favourite recipes.

For the adventurer. Eliminate gift-giving altogether and plan an activity that will bring you closer, leaving the gift wrap and bags at the door.

A great way to navigate this gift-giving time of year is to head to a local Canadian Health Food Association retailer to find a wide selection of natural and sustainable gift items to introduce to family and friends that are safe and chemical-free. Find your nearest location at chfa.ca.

For almost a century, Canadian Tire has proudly offered products and services to help Canadians with the jobs and joys of life in Canada. There is something for everyone on your list. Add Christmas magic to your home this holiday season with their large selection of Christmas decor.

73’s turn it around during a slippery slope

Up..up..up..and

by the sportsguy

Cornwall Colts corral the Kemptville 73’s in their own barn 6 to 4 in a Tuesday evening excursion. Cornwall drew first blood at 2:15 when Andrew Langlois, with helpers from Fraser and Krenn, slammed into a crowd to beat Jocob Biron as Kemptville came out flat footed.

Brazier up the wall over to Lammi onto the pads of Dax Easter that bounced out to Emile Trottier on the doorstep to pump it between the pipes at 9:46 to even it up.

Cornwall outgunned Kemptville by 8 to 6 with the 73’s

unsuccessful PP attempt. Cornwall on a stampede to make it 4 to 2 for Cornwall at end of 2nd. Henry with Bennett downtown with Hunter Brazier in tow to put Kemptville behind by one at 5:33 to start the final twenty. End to end criss crossing through the neutral zone over the line to knot it up at four. Failure on assignment after a lost draw launched the tiebreaker at 9:22. Insurance goal for the Colts 14:17 to make it 6 - 4. Cornwall only outshot Kemptville by two, 12 to 10 with no PP’s for either.

Back on the road for

three more battles with Friday into the Den of the Smiths Falls Bears, currently holding down the first spot in the Robinson Division, looking for retribution after the last meeting with Kemptville. The Bears dominated their Den as they devoured their prey with a 6 - 1 victory to hand the 73’s their third straight loss.

Sunday evening onto the ice of PMC to face the Pembroke Lumber Kings looking for redemption after a 4 - 3 loss in front of Kemptville fans, and to determine the winner in a rubber match.

Old Town Christmas Promenade

offers festive activities for the whole family

Santa Claus’s official visit being a few weeks away, the volunteer members of the Old Town Kemptville BIA Marketing and Programming Committee are getting chills about the return of the free community event Old Town Christmas Promenade. This year’s celebration will be on Saturday, December 10 from 10 am to 2 pm on Prescott Street in Downtown Kemptville.

Join us for a wide variety of free festive activities including: Free traditional horse drawn wagon rides around the Downtown with stops at B&H Grocery Store, Riverside Park and Rotary Park.

• Shop ‘til you drop at the Old Town Christmas Market featuring lots of local artisans and vendors.

• Enjoy a unique shopping experience that can only be found in Downtown Kemptville as you browse our many retail, foodservice and personal service small businesses.

• At Rotary Park, kids of all ages will be able to visit and take photos at the North Pole with Santa and Mrs. Claus from 10:10 am to 2 pm.

• There will be three burn barrels to roast marshmallows and warm up. The barrels will be located at Rotary Park, Post Office Park (corner of Prescott St. & Reuben Cres.) and at the corner of Asa Street & Prescott Street (beside the music stage).

• Christmas craft activity will be happening at the North Grenville Public Library from 10 am to 2 pm.

• Two local choirs and one more local artist will be performing Christmas music starting at 10 am at the Asa Street stage.

• Buskers will be performing at various times up and down Prescott Street between 10am and 2pm.

• Local saxophone player Rob Barclay will be performing at 11am at Rotary Park.

• Watch for even more festive activities and goodies provided by our Old Town Kemptville BIA family member businesses.

Please watch for more current information and any updates to our event as the date gets closer by following our Facebook page www.facebook.com/oldtownkemtovillebia. If you’re interested in volunteering, sponsoring or participating in some way at this very special event, please email bia@northgrenville.on.ca to learn more.

Rubber was flying everywhere as the contest turned into a 68 SOG and 8 to 6 free for all as Kemptville turned their losing streak around.

The 73’s will roll into Cornwall to harness the Colts on Thursday, December 1 for an evening event and will be at home the following night to meet with the Carleton Place Canadians.

Hockey with EDGE… see you around the wall.

Whyte

away..top shelf..new team. Nicholas Bennett’s first game with first goal knots it up at three during Tuesday evening contest with Cornwall Colts, only to lose the chase by 6 to 4 for their second straight loss

Young artist joins NG Arts Guild

skills. She has taken courses in art locally and paint classes online to try new techniques. At a very young age, she is quickly becoming a notable artist in North Grenville and beyond.

Loss of Local Decision-Making:

Bill 23 does not work for Eastern Ontario

Dear Premier Ford, Minister Clark, Minister Smith, and Minister Piccini,

With housing affordability affecting much of Ontario, we understand your government’s target to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years.

by Brandon Mayer

The beauty and awe of art is something that many people take for granted. In many circles, the arts are mocked, with artists of all types often being expected to work for free. More recently, the arts appear to be making a comeback as a serious trade, and one that makes the world a better place. A local girl is proud to be a part of that movement.

Jay Russell is a 12 year old grade 7 student at North Grenville District High School. “She has been creating art since she was tiny,” said Jay’s mother, Jennie. “She loves drawing and cre-

ating.” Jay has had her work displayed and put up for sale at the now closed shop on Prescott St called Crystal Energies. Through her collaboration with Crystal Energies, Jay sold a few pieces and got some exposure. Then came an even greater honour.

Jay was recently asked to join the NG Arts Guild as a youth artist. “She attended and had a booth at the November 12 and 13 Art Guild show at the College,” said Jennie. “She did very well.” Jay got lots of exposure at the show, and was able to meet other local artists. She sold two prints of her mushroom series and six commissioned paintings.

Jay works in all mediums and is always eager to learn new things and hone existing

Arts are important because of the joy, sophistication, and entertainment they provide. Many people tend to dismiss the arts despite enjoying much that they have to offer in one form or another in their day-to-day lives. We enjoy watching television shows and movies, and playing video games, often without realizing the dozens of visual artists, makeup artists, and actors (who are artists in and of themselves) who are employed to make each one possible. For programs with music, composers and musicians can be added to the list of artists who help to make them happen.

Visual art in the form of paintings and drawings brightens the world and broadens the mind. The North Grenville community continues to be a strong supporter of the arts, and this is something of which we can certainly be proud.

Conservation Authorities (CAs) have always supported long-term sustainable growth. In fact, our role is to ensure land-use decisions made today do not impede future growth tomorrow. We accomplish this by ensuring development has minimal impacts on flooding, erosion, slope stability and water quality by guiding development away from natural hazards and protecting the function of natural features. This can only be accomplished when evaluating growth and its cumulative impacts across a watershed, which is the value and service CAs provide to municipalities. Water flows across municipal boundaries and so do the impacts of development.

In Eastern Ontario, CAs have been working closely with municipalities to reduce barriers to development and streamline processes to provide the best service possible to municipalities, communities, homeowners, and developers. For many, this includes modernizing policies

BACKYARD ASTRONOMY The Mars Show

and procedures, streamlining approvals, reducing timelines, meeting and reporting on service standards, and promoting pre-consultation with applicants. CAs are not a barrier to growth, but an assurance that growth is safe and sustainable, and we have been a source of cost-effective expertise for municipalities and developers for decades.

We are committed to doing our part to help increase Ontario’s housing supply, but it needs to be accomplished through smart, sustainable growth that will not have detrimental impacts down the road.

We are concerned that some changes proposed in the More Homes Built Faster Act will:

• ·Weaken the ability of conservation authorities to continue protecting people and property fromnatural hazards such as floods;

• ·Diminish our ability to protect critical natural infrastructure like wetlands which reduce flooding,droughts and improve water quality in lakes and rivers; and,

• ·Place new downloaded responsibilities on municipalities related to natural hazards and natural resources that they are unprepared and under resourced to tackle.

Recommendations:

4. Maintain “pollution” and “conservation of land” as considerations when conservationauthorities are reviewing permit applications but provide a clear definition of each to ensurea consistent approach on how it is applied.

-Streamlining these definitions will allow CAs to provide consistency to municipalitiesand developers and meet obligations under other pieces of legislation that requirewater quality-related comments from CAs.

5. Continue to protect wetlands to reduce flooding, provide flow augmentation.

-Wetlands are critical pieces of natural infrastructure and municipalities cannot affordto build the infrastructure it would take to replicate wetland function to protectupstream and downstream communities from flooding and drought.

6. Do not freeze fees to ensure growth pays for growth.

-Recent legislative amendments by this government now require CAs to demonstratethrough their budget process that development review fees are offsetting, but notexceeding, program costs.

Thank you for the opportunity to share our concerns and recommendations with you.

by Gary BoyleThe Backyard Astronomer

Some three billion years ago, Mars was believed to have been a water world just like earth. It possessed great oceans and was most likely on its way to forming life in one form or another. Water is made up of hydrogen, the most common element in the universe and oxygen, the third most common element. Water is extremely important to the development and sustaining of life as we know it.

Because Mars is half the size of the earth, the planet lost its heat faster as its internal core stopped rotating. Similar to earth's core which produces a magnetic field around our planet, Mars’ core ceased producing its protective magnetic field thus allowing the solar winds to eat away at its atmosphere and the red planet

lost its water.

Ever since the early telescopic observations made by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877 when Mars was in opposition, residing 56-million-kilometres away, he is said to have seen "canali" or channels on Mars. Seeing these features gave the impression of a possible civilization. Since then the red planet has been the focus of searching for ancient life and is also the base of science fiction writers and movie makers.

By the 2030s or 2040s, humans are expected to land on this fascinating world, looking for the possibility of life that might have once existed, even at the microbial level. After all, life is life. But Mars is now in the news for other reasons, it is now a very visible object in the night sky.

Appearing as a brightorange object rising in the northeast sky about fortyfive minutes after the sun sets in the west, Mars is nicely placed amongst the bright winter constellations of Orion the Hunter, Taurus the Bull etc. If you are still not sure where to look, any smartphone astronomy app will guide you.

So why is it so bright? Earth orbits the Sun in 365 days whereas Mars does so in 687 days. Just like the inner lap on a race track, Earth catches up and overtakes slower Mars every 26 months. This upcoming opposition will occur on December 8 at a separation of only 82 million kilometres. Over the weeks after opposition, our distance increases and Mars will slowly fade. Every seventh opposition is super close such as back in 2003 and 2020. The next opposition occurs on January 15, 2025.

Be sure to look at Mars the night before on December 7 as the Full Cold Moon will cover Mars for a little less than one hour. All of Canada as well as much of the US except for Alaska and the Southeastern states

will see this amazing sight. Throughout its 29.5-day orbit around the earth, the moon moves its width every hour. Throughout the month, it covers stars as seen through a telescope and in rare events, bright planets. This should be a fantastic photo opportunity as the disappearance and later reappearance should be quite evident.

Known as "The Backyard Astronomer", Gary Boyle is an astronomy educator, guest speaker, monthly columnist for the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada as well as a STEM educator. He has been interviewed on more than 55 Canadian radio stations as well as television across Canada and the U.S. In recognition of his public outreach in astronomy, the International Astronomical Union has honoured him with the naming of Asteroid (22406) Garyboyle. Follow him on Twitter: @astroeducator, Facebook and his website: www.wondersofastronomy.com

1.. Municipalities should retain the choice to enter into agreements with conservation authoritiesfor natural heritage and water-related plan review services.

-Recent legislative amendments by this government now require agreements to include defined terms, timelines, and performance measures, and CAs have demonstrated that they can provide these comments to municipalities ina cost-effective and timely manner. CAs are also already prevented by these earlier amendments from commenting beyond natural hazards if they do not have an agreement with a municipality.

2.Development that is subject to pla n approval should not be exempt from requiring a conservation authority permit.

-The planning process is not sufficient to ensure natural hazard concerns areaddressed through appropriate design and construction. This change would also place additional responsibility and liability on municipalities.

3. Conservation authorities should determine which types of developments are deemed“low risk” through their regulations policies.

-CAs are already able to create exemptions and streamline review processes that areappropriate locally, given watersheds have unique conditions.

Our goal is to support you in creating more housing in Ontario while ensuring changes to Ontario’s land use planning and permitting system do not have unintended and irreversible consequences on the protection of people, property, and natural resources.

We sincerely hope that you will remove the amendments we have highlighted from Bill 23 before it is passed, and that you will reconvene your government’s Conservation Authorities Working Group to work with your Ministry to propose alternative improvements and refinements to conservation authority development review processes.

Sincerely, Martin Lang, Chair

Raisin Region Conservation Authority

James Flieler, Chair

Quinte Conservation Authority

Pierre Leroux, Chair

South Nation River Conservation Authority

Jan O’Neill, Chair

Crowe Valley Conservation Authority

Pieter Leenhouts, Chair

Rideau Valley Conservation Authority

Eric Sandford, Chair

Lower Trent Conservation Authority

Jeff Atkinson, Chair

Mississippi Valley Conservation Authority

FOR SALE

Firewood for sale. Cut, split, seasoned, mixed hardwood. $105/face cord. Call Ken 613 323 5503

Queen size bed, complete with wooden frame, Crown Jewel posturpedic mattress in excellent condition. $150. Jackie 613-8216161

Comforter Queen 7 pieces rusts creams browns new condition $30 afoxbrown@outlook. com

Wheelchair for sale, like new only six month old. Paid over 4000.00, asking 2,000.00 but willing to negotiate. Please call 613-296-8778

Walker with seat; electric active cycle (pedal only type), manual exercise cycle. Call 613-567-8533

Black walnut planks and disks Merrickville jgharris@sympatico.ca

2 sets of winter tires 19560R 15"; 1 set on GM 4 bolt rims; $120 per set. Call 613-282-1836, leave a message

Dry firewood for sale $110 a cord plus delivery fee. Call or text Jon 613-2273650

Small square bales of hay and straw for sale. Call or text Jon 613-227-3650

Hay and straw for sale 4x4 round bales, stored inside. Call Jon 613-227-3650

Floating pool lounge chair, webbing good condition $20. Contact nadfudt@ gmail.com

Handmade hooded rose coloured spring & fall woman's coat, large. $40. Contact nadfudt@gmail.com

MISCELLANIOUS

HISTORIC HALL AVAILABLE FOR RENTALS in Beautiful Burritts Rapids! Start a book club in time for cooler weather 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/

WANTED

Looking to rent winter parking near Asa St. Contact 613-545-5420.

Kemptville Area Room. Mature student, studying automotive repair in Kemptville, needs a quiet room with bathroom facilities from September to November and from February to April. Weekdays only. Has small fridge, Kitchen not required.Needs reliable internet access. Call Chris 613-200-7016.

FOR RENT

Rental for winter months. Looking for any truck driver or two who might be looking for accommodations starting

the beginning of December. We are located in Kemptville with large drive way.Please call at 613-258-7778 to visit or for more details.

SERVICES

RETIRED CARPENTER

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

Painting, Demolition, Dry Wall Call Bill 613 774 2922

Hedge Trimming Small or Tall Call Rob 613-795-1845'

The joy of being a "Ding-A-Ling

We are back -- our Bells to Ring Because we enjoy being a Ding-A-Ling Showing our "Salvation Army" pride Close to where we reside!

This community - for two years in a row Has proven it has, the get-up and go To be fully involved in participaction Always ready for every action, or attraction! And could we be any less than the best When there is a need -- us to test On ringing in the Christmas joyous state Starting to fill up this year's empty plate!

If you have accepted any food from a Food Bank Then you should help to refill its tank

By volunteering for two or four hours, at least, Since it your innards once or more - - greased! Not everyone who volunteers benefitted that way But they want you to be thanked for your stay

Contributing to "the ARMY's" successful plan To help each needy -- CHILD -- WOMAN and MAN! Volunteering is not a demanded task But from you they simply ask "Please give back what you can" And they will become your biggest fan!

(c) Copyright by David E. Butler, The Observer Poet, Kemptville, ON November 24/22

CHRISTMAS IN MERRICKVILLE

The Christmas in Merrickville parade and festivities, in conjunction with the Lions Hamper fund/Mountain of Food drive, all take place on December 3 starting at 11 am.

The sorting of donated foods and stocking the hampers will be at the Community Centre on December 22 from noon until about 5 pm

Vaccine Status Report

Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit

Vaccination Statistics

As of November 21, 2022 a total of 513,528 vaccinations have been administered in the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit (LGLDHU) region. 3,405 vaccines were administered last week. Our vaccination dashboard, available on our website, has all the details and will be updated again next Tuesday, November 29

Vaccination Reminders

As we move inside during the winter months, we need to be reminded of the importance of being vaccinated against COVID-19 and Influenza as it is the single most effective measure to reduce your risk of getting or being seriously ill. Viruses spread more quickly indoors and when people are gathered together to visit and celebrate the holidays.

Vaccination Booking

A list of upcoming clinics is available on our website. Clinic dates and locations are posted through to December. More appointments will be added as capacity allows.

Walk-in appointments will be accepted at Health Unit clinics dependent on capacity; clinics tend to be busier during the first 2 hours – Walks-in will be accepted for ages 5+

We encourage you to continue to check with a participating pharmacy or your health care provider.

Vaccine appointments for six months to five years of age MUST be made by calling the Vaccine Call Centre at 1-844-369-1234 Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:00pm (NOT through the online booking system or the Provincial system).

Flu Vaccination

Flu vaccinations are not available at COVID-19 vaccine clinics – check with your local pharmacy or health care provider

· Anyone over the age of 5 can get both flu and COVID-19 booster vaccinations together

· Anyone over 2 years of age can get a flu shot at a participating pharmacy

· Parents of children 6 month to 2 years can call the Health Unit for assistance in getting their child vaccinated if they do not have a primary care provider (1-800-660-5853)

There are other measures we should be using at this time to protect ourselves and others from the triple threat viruses of COVID-19, Flu and RSV and how they can lead to serious illness and hospitalization:

· Stay home when you are sick

· Wash your hands frequently with soap and water (rub hands together under water for 15-20 seconds), or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer.

· Wear a well fitted mask when indoors, in crowded public places, and around those most vulnerable (many of them may not be able to wear or tolerate masks). A lot of the spread of respiratory viruses happens in homes when people gather (especially in the season coming up). Consider bringing a mask with you wherever you go!

· Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth. Germs spread this way.

· It is important to clean and disinfect surfaces that are touched a lot, like desks, door handles, toys and computer keyboards.

· Cover your coughs and sneezes with a tissue or sneeze into your arm, not your hand.

For more information on COVID-19 vaccines, visit the COVID-19 Protection and Vaccines section of our website.

Eastern Ontario Mayors support CA concerns about Housing Bill 23

More than 30 Eastern Ontario mayors have endorsed a Conservation Authority letter to the province expressing concerns with provincial Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. The letter, written by 10 Eastern Ontario CAs, was sent to Premier Doug Ford and relevant cabinet ministers earlier today. “We are overwhelmed and incredibly grateful for the support we have received from local municipalities,” said Sommer Casgrain-Robertson, General Manager of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority. “It was disheartening that this bill only had a 30-day consultation period given the magnitude of the proposed changes and that this short consultation period fell during the turnover of municipal councils.”

In their letter, the Eastern Ontario CAs outline

six key concerns with the bill and how the changes will negatively impact local development review processes, download new responsibilities to municipalities, increase costs to taxpayers, increase the risk of flooding, erosion and slope failure and damage the local environment.

But the CAs also provide recommendations to the province of how to improve Bill 23 and call for meaningful consultation with CAs, municipalities, and the development and agricultural sectors to identify real solutions that will increase housing without having unintended and irreversible consequences.

It is well understood that water flows across municipal boundaries – and so do the impacts of development. That’s why over the past 70 years, municipalities

have formed 36 CAs across Ontario to assess and understand the cumulative impact of development within each watershed. At a time when climate change is causing more frequent and intense storm events, the role of CAs has never been more critical.

ANIMAL CARE SPECIALIST

12 Month Contract

12 Month Contract

Full Time - Day Shift (6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. with rotating weekends)

Kemptville, Ontario

FULL TIME -DAY SHIFT (6:30 am - 3 pm w/rotating weekends) Kemptville, Ontario

Semex is a dynamic global organization that is committed to developing and delivering innovative genetic solutions. We believe that people truly are the cornerstone of our success, and that our employees are our most important asset.

Semex is a dynamic global organization that is committed to developing and delivering innovative genetic solutions. We believe that people truly are the cornerstone of our success, and that our employees are our most important asset.

We are currently seeking an individual for the role of Animal Care Specialist within the Kemptville production facility. The successful candidate must have a good knowledge of livestock care and be physically capable of handling large bulls. Hay, silage and manure handling are part of the regular job duties.

This position requires working a day shift from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and requires working rotating weekends and statutory holidays as scheduled.

Responsibilities include:

• Semen Collection

We are currently seeking an individual for the role of Animal Care Specialist within the Kemptville production facility. The successful candidate must have a good knowledge of livestock care and be physically capable of handling large bulls. Hay, silage and manure handling are part of the regular job duties. This position requires working a day shift from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and requires working rotating weekends and statutory holidays as scheduled.

• Feeding and caring for bulls

• Operating farm equipment

Responsibilities include:

• Seasonal crop work

• Semen Collection

• Mechanical and manual barn cleaning

• Feeding and caring for bulls

Qualifications include, but are not limited to:

• Operating farm equipment

• High School Diploma

• Seasonal crop work

• Strong agricultural experience, including livestock handling & care

• Mechanical and manual barn cleaning

• Ability and experience operating farm equipment; solid mechanical aptitude

Qualifications include, but are not limited to:

• Good communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team

• High School Diploma

• Strong agricultural experience, including livestock handling & care

If you are looking for an organization that invests in its people, is engaging, flexible and striving for betterment, this is the opportunity for you! At Semex, we demand the best of ourselves, our company and what we do for our customers.

• Ability and experience operating farm equipment; solid mechanical aptitude

• Good communication skills and the ability to work effectively in a team

We thank all applicants for applying for this position, but only those considered for an interview will be contacted.

Please send your resumé to Sameer Javed at sjaved@semex.com

If you are looking for an organization that invests in its people, is engaging, flexible and striving for betterment, this is the opportunity for you! At Semex, we demand the best of ourselves, our company and what we do for our customers.

We thank all applicants for applying for this position, but only those considered for an interview will be contacted.

Please send your resumé to Sameer Javed at sjaved@semex.com

The Food Corner

By Paul Cormier, Salamanders of Kemptville

It’s just about tree time for those of you who still go out and fetch a Christmas tree, either from a nursery or out in the wilds. Coming back from such an excursion, hot and hearty soups are in order. Mind you, even if you have an artificial tree, you’re still allowed to partake. Cheeseburger Soup is a lot of fun to prepare and even better to eat. This recipe cries out for your favourite Grahame’s Bakery bread for dipping: messy and great!

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients

½ pound of ground beef (or pork if you are on a budget)

5 tablespoons of butter

1 cup of onions, chopped

1 cup of carrots, shredded

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon of dried parsley

3 cups of peeled potatoes, cut in small cubes

4 cups of chicken broth

¼ cup of flour

1 X 16 ounce package of processed cheese (Velveeta) cut into small chunks

1 ½ cup of milk

A sprinkle of black pepper

¼ cup of sour cream

Preparation

In a large soup pot, cook and break down the beef till browned and set aside

In the same pot, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter

Sauté the onions, carrots, basil and parsley for about 10 minutes

Add the broth, potatoes and put the cooked beef back; bring to a boil

Reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft

In a small skillet, melt the rest of the butter, add the flour and cook till bubbly

Add this “roux” slowly to the soup pot, bring to boil, then reduce heat

Stir in the cheese, milk and sprinkle with the pepper; cook till the cheese is melted

Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream

Ladle into soup bowl and serve with another sprinkle of dried parsley

I hope you enjoy your Cheeseburger Soup. It’s actually a full meal, given the hearty ingredients and the dipping bread. Vegetarians can use the recipe without the meat, of course and add ¾ cup of diced celery. Take care and be in touch at pcormier@ranaprocess.com.

Ryan’s Well Foundation “World Toilet Day” fundraiser a hit

use private wells and septic systems may know of this importance when it comes to maintaining their septic tank to prevent sewage waste from leaking into the aquifer that feeds their well and other’s wells. Most communities that have municipal water services available also have “drinking water protection zones” that help keep municipal source water safe from this same type of contamination.

Wait…there’s an upside

puter or smartphone screen is not a psychologically healthy one. But with balance, where we still have in-person interactions but also use social media to connect with a larger number of people in ways that provide benefit to the community as a whole, the potential downsides of social media are greatly diminished.

by

who use it as a platform to provide help and spread community cheer.

by Brandon Mayer

Two weeks ago, an annual occasion with a silly name helped bring awareness to something that is anything but silly. World Toilet Day is held every year on November 19, and this year the Ryan’s Well Foundation hosted a 24-hour online fundraiser. Observed by the United Nations since 2013, World Toilet Day is meant to raise awareness of the 3.6 billion people – half of the world’s population –who continue to live without safe sanitation.

Throughout its history, the Kemptville-based Ryan’s Well Foundation has built over 1300 safe latrines and

fostered hygiene education to developing countries. On Saturday, November 19, the Foundation hosted an online 24-hour fundraiser to raise funds for this worthy cause. Ryan Hreljac founded the Ryan’s Well Foundation when he was just six years old.

“Something that goes hand-in-hand with clean water is proper sanitation,” Ryan told the Times. “Something as simple as toilets.” While many of us are inclined to take toilets for granted, they play a critical role in keeping our drinking water clean by preventing bacterial contamination of water in the natural environment. Local residents who

Saturday’s online fundraiser was not the first of its kind for the Ryan’s Well Foundation. “We’ve done them in the past and we’ve managed to fundraise a bit of money,” Ryan said. “Staying healthy is not just about clean water. If people have access to proper sanitation, it helps with all those things in terms of not getting sick.”

Ryan Hreljac has become a well-known name in Kemptville. At age six, he raised funds for a well in Africa. His story quickly garnered worldwide attention and he was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show on two occasions, in addition to other international media. A street in the shopping district in the east end of town was named “Ryan’s Well Drive” in honour of the noble work undertaken by the local organization. Now an adult, Ryan remains involved with the Ryan’s Well Foundation as its Executive Director. The Foundation promotes not only safe practices and

Earlier this month, I wrote about what is wrong with social media today. It is quite a long list, of course. But in the spirit of positivity, it is worth it to share the flipside of social media as well. In the span of just a few short minutes spent browsing a local Facebook page last week, I realized social media has a “high road”. There are those

clean water, but also focuses on equality for women, who often bear the brunt of the responsibility for accessing clean water and also typically have no proper menstrual education.

Although the World Toilet Day fundraiser is over, there is always an opportunity to contribute to the Ryan’s Well Foundation year round. For more information, visit the Ryan’s Well Foundation Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/RyansWell/ or the Foundation’s website at https://www.ryanswell.ca/.

During my time spent browsing, which was maybe no more than 15 minutes, I came across countless positive recommendations of small local businesses, as well as some heartwarming posts. There was one in which a man offered a word of thanks to an anonymous stranger who paid for his order at Tim Hortons. There was another by a woman whose mother had lost her wedding and engagement rings while out shopping locally, finished with a cheerful addendum of “rings have been found!” And of course, people use social media routinely to get recommendations on local businesses and service providers to meet their needs.

Like all things, social media needs balance. The psychology is clear on the fact that social skills are important, and social anxieties can be greatly reduced by practicing face-to-face social interactions. A world lived largely behind a com-

Ontario Federation of Agriculture re-elects President

From the perspective of a small town community newspaper, social media also has the advantage of being what one might call “the new phone book”. Young readers may know what a phone book is as these trusty relics are still printed and circulated from time to time, but I imagine few young readers would realize that the vast majority of landline phone numbers were once listed in the phone book.

Now, with far fewer people having landline phones, and the ability to look up phone numbers online, phone books are not as useful as they once were. Social media also allows people to be searched up and contacted by name, which helps tremendously when including members of the community as contributors to their community newspaper!

Why the flip flop on social media? On the contrary, I am not flip flopping, but rather expressing both sides of the social media universe. The world is changing, and we must change with it.

term

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s board of directors has expressed confidence in the leadership of Peggy Brekveld by electing the Thunder Bay area dairy farmer to a third one-year term as President of the province’s largest farm organization.

Joining Brekveld on the OFA executive are Vice Presidents Drew Spoelstra and Crispin Colvin, and Executive Member Paul Vickers. Spoelstra was elected to a third one-year term as

Vice President. Colvin replaces outgoing Vice President Mark Reusser, moving into the position after serving one year as Executive Member, and Vickers is new to the OFA executive. The elections were held at a board meeting following the annual general meeting that wrapped up in London earlier today.

“I’m humbled by the support from my fellow board members, and I’m honoured to work on behalf of Ontario’s farmers for another year as president of the Ontario Federation of

Agriculture,” Peggy says. “I’m proud of how we’ve built on our partnerships in the industry and with our stakeholders and I’m looking forward to continuing that work to ensure our sector remains strong, viable and productive.”

Peggy, a director-atlarge with the organization, was first elected as OFA president in 2020. She previously served as an OFA Vice President from 2014 to 2020, and represented the northern Ontario regions of Algoma, Cochrane, Dryden, Kenora, Manitoulin-North

Shore, Nipissing East & West, Parry Sound, Rainy River, Sudbury East & West, Temiskaming and Thunder Bay as Zone 15 director from 2011-2014. Together with her husband Gert, she ownsand operates Woodstar Farm, a 70-cow dairy farm in Murillo, and she is a graduate of Class 12 of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program.

Drew Spoelstra is OFA’s Zone 5 Director representing the diverse agricultural areas of Halton, HamiltonWentworth and Niagara on the OFA board since 2013. Before becoming Vice President in 2020, he served four years as Executive Member.

The Spoelstra family owns and operates Roy-A-Lea Farms Ltd. in Binbrook, where they milk cows and grow corn, soybeans, wheat and hay. Drew also manages

Roy-A-Lea Seeds Ltd., a dealership for Pride and C&M seeds, and together with his wife Heather, raises and shows Clydesdale horses. He is a graduate of Class 13 of the Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program.

Crispin Colvin is a soybean, corn and wheat farmer from Middlesex County. He represents the counties of Lambton and Middlesex on the OFA board as Zone 6 director and first joined the OFA provincial board in 2016 as a director-at-large. Colvin is a part of various OFA liaison commodity groups and spent 16 years on municipal council in his region, serving as councillor, deputy mayor, mayor for Thames Centre, and Warden of Middlesex County.

Paul Vickers, a dairy farmer from Griersville, represents the counties of

Bruce and Grey on the OFA board as the Zone 2 director.

After first joining the OFA board in 2019, he was just acclaimed to the director position for a second threeyear term.

The Ontario Federation of Agriculture (OFA) is the largest general farm organization in Ontario, representing 38,000 farm families across the province. As a dynamic farmerled organization based in Guelph, the OFA represents and champions the interests of Ontario farmers through government relations, farm policy recommendations, research, lobby efforts, community representation, media relations and more. OFA is the leading advocate for Ontario’s farmers and is Ontario’s voice of the farmer. For more information, visit ofa.on.ca.

Ryan’s Well Foundation founder Ryan Hreljac during a monitoring trip to Uganda in August

Brandon Mayer

Peggy Brekveld to lead organization for a third

The Road to Amalgamation

3. The devil in the details

by David Shanahan

By September of 1996, the amalgamation project seemed to be going nowhere. Although there were regular meetings of the Tri-Council Committee delegated with coming up with facts and ideas about restructuring, and the United Counties also had a special committee doing the same thing on a counties level, there was an overall unease with the lack of clarity coming from the province. The most commonly heard comment at council meetings seems to have been: “if there aren’t any savings, what’s the point?

South Gower, Oxfordon-Rideau and Kemptville seemed the most likely partners in any future amalgamation, as Merrickville, Wolford and Edwardsburgh had all declined invitations to join in the meetings. The three councils were also finding the pressure coming from the United Counties to be unnecessary. At a Counties Council meeting in September, the message from the Kemptville Council was “back off”, and that is a quote. The Tri-Councils wanted to be left alone to sort out their future without the Counties arranging things over their heads. To make matters worse, Kemptville Council considered itself at a disadvantage because their Mayor did not attend County meetings, as the heads of the other two councils did. Instead, it was the Reeve and Deputy Reeve of Kemptville who pocketed the stipend for attending in Brockville.

Tempers and egos were being rubbed raw, particularly in regard to Kemptville’s attitude to the whole

project. One Kemptville Councillor wanted a fiveyear extension in order to examine all aspects and implications of amalgamation. Another believed that, with the expected arrival of the new 416, Kemptville would be so prosperous that they wouldn’t need to be saddled with the two rural municipalities. This attitude was common on the town’s council. Reeve Ken Finnerty saw the other municipalities as poor relations: “They seem to forget that they are talking about sharing our services; we’re not sharing theirs.”

Mayor Ambrose Etmanskie wondered whether the possible annexation of South Gower and Oxford by Kemptville should be considered. Deputy Reeve Robert Higgins commented that rural municipalities were concerned with roads and ditches, while an urban area like Kemptville had to handle services such as policing, water and sewage. Rural areas would find it difficult to deal with a fullservice town.

There were so many other details to think about. It was decided that the new municipalities offices should be at the Ferguson Forest Centre, which was about to be taken over by Oxford. It was considered to be large enough, as the projected staff for the new Township would amount to just eight people. There would be a Senior staff of Clerk-Administrator, with three sub-managers: a Treasurer, a Planning and Building Manager, and a Manager of Public Works. Furthermore, the new Township Council would consist of five members, a Head of Council, Deputy Head, and

three Councillors. There was, as yet, no agreement about whether these would be elected on a ward system, or at large.

These five members would replace the seventeen existing council members, giving a saving of about $120,000. After all, as many councillors noted: If the only cost savings were a few councillor’s salaries, it wasn’t worth it. The two questions to be answered about amalgamation were: how much will we save, and how much will the whole thing cost?

Councillor Richard Boal was concerned about the proposed size of the new council. “The workload for these people would be such that it could not be handled on a part time basis, and that the area would end up with full time council members; an expense which would mitigate against any future savings.” This concern did not seem to find an echo in his colleagues, and so we have today a Municipal Council of the same five members.

Deputy Reeve Higgins of Kemptville worried that the FFC would not be big enough to house the new municipal staff and council. If a new facility had to be built, where would the savings be then? It was not long after amalgamation that his fears were found to be justified and a new Municipal Centre was built at a cost that is still being paid by North Grenville taxpayers, who still do not actually own the building.

By the end of 1996, the general feeling in the three municipalities was that there was not enough information, no hard data, on which

KLUB 67 Euchre – Fun, social card playing every 2nd and 4th Wednesday monthly at 1PM, September to May. Location: Kemptville Legion, 100 Reuben Cres, Kemptville. Everyone welcome $5., cash prizes.

BREAKFAST, Kemptville Legion! Every 3rd Saturday from 8-10am - $8 for adults, $6 for children 10 and under. Euchre will be held following breakfast, registration starts at 11:30 am.

BINGO , Kemptville Legion, 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, doors open at noon

to make a decision. The Council in South Gower was getting frustrated with the Kemptville Council. Councillor David Delaney expressed the annoyance felt by many that Kemptville needed to decide what they thought about amalgamation, because they were holding up talks. His colleagues passed a Resolution that, if Kemptville wouldn’t decide, then South Gower and Oxford should go ahead on their own.

There was just a few months left before the deadline for decision.

What have we learned in 30 years?

This week entails a visit to the Gifford-Jones archives. What follows is an excerpt from a column on diabetes published thirty years ago. What has changed in society? You be the judge.

November 1992:

Diabetes results from an abnormal handling of food by the body. Normally some food is converted into a sugar called glucose. This stimulates the secretion of the hormone, insulin, which acts as a "key" to allow glucose to enter the cells. Glucose is then used as "fuel" to provide energy.

There are two types of diabetes. Type I is inherited. It usually occurs before 30 years of age. In these cases, the pancreas produces little or no insulin. It's believed that the immune system in some people gradually destroys the pancreatic cells which produce insulin.

Type II normally strikes after age 40 and these patients are often grossly overweight. The pancreas still produces some insulin, but it's like a tired, overworked horse that's been badly treated for many years. The little insulin produced is also less able to penetrate the cells, a condition called "insulin resistance".

Too many people have been misled by Sir Frederick Banting's discovery of insulin in 1921. This hor-

mone, like a blanket that puts out a fire, prevents diabetic coma and eventual death. But insulin cannot extinguish the smouldering diabetic ashes which may cause a variety of catastrophic complications later in life.

This smouldering condition affects the large and small arteries of the body. Like plumbing coated with rust, the arteries become narrowed. This is known as atherosclerosis. Prime targets are the coronary arteries resulting in premature heart attack.

Diabetics also suffer more often from diabetic retinopathy. The arteries at the back of the eye become more numerous, weakened, and often rupture releasing blood into the vitreous chamber of the eye. This causes adhesions which tug on the retina and may cause detachment of the lining which sends images to the brain.

About 30 per cent of Type I diabetics and 5 to 10 per cent of Type II diabetics develop chronic renal disease. High blood sugars cause degenera-

tive changes in the nerves triggering numbness and pain in the feet. Damage to blood vessels and nerves also causes impotence in males.

Families must ask themselves a paramount question. Is self-indulgence worth this terrible price? If the answer is "no", the next point is equally vital. Weight loss under normal conditions is not easy. But when diabetes strikes, losing pounds becomes a delicate balancing act. Blood sugar must be controlled while at the same time shedding pounds.

Prevention of Type II diabetes by controlling weight gain is the only sensible route. A first step to avoid obesity is to buy a scale. The next is to step on it every day.

Avoid sugar like the plague. The problem is that hidden sugar wears a coat of many colours. It's disguised in packaged foods, cereals, and soft drinks. Indirectly it's a major source of obesity and Type II diabetes. Don't compound the problem by adding more sugar to your food and beverages.

Eat whole-grain foods such as pasta along with fresh fruits and vegetables.

These foods slowly release sugar into the blood following a meal and place less stress on the pancreas.

Exercise, exercise, exercise.

Don't expect help from the government or public health associations. They'll protect you from dirty restaurants, but not from Type II diabetes. Their failure to take an aggressive stand on this matter is the most flagrant lapse of responsibility in the history of medicine.

The NG Photography Club

Fading Light by Trevor Meunier.