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39 Renfrew Ave.W., W., Unit Raglan St. S.1, 39 342 Renfrew Ave. Unit 1, Box 100, Renfrew K7V 4A2 Renfrew K7V 1R5 P.O.P.O. Box 100, Renfrew K7V 4A2 Pager Pager 1-888-717-9181 Pager1-888-717-9181 1-888-717-9181
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Inside Year 142, Issue 28
Thursday, January 17, 2013 • 40 pages
www.yourottawaregion.com
Thumbs down for pool and second ice pad Steve Newman steve.newman@metroland.com
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School student Daniel Reid receives an extraordinary Christmas present. – Page 5 –
Horton residents are getting behind the township’s new Wednesday-afternoon coffee club. – Page 25 –
No pool and second ice pad are coming to the Town of Renfrew in the short term, and perhaps never. With 80 people packed into council chambers Monday night, Coun. Andrew Evansʼ motion to support the Ma-TeWay Park expansion project was defeated 5-2. “Nice retirement town weʼre going to have,” exclaimed Renfrew businessman Jeff Taylor as the crowd began filing out of the chambers. It was town councilʼs second council vote, since the late 1980s, that nixed community efforts to build a pool. That vote resulted in support for an arena and community hall, with plans to phase in the pool in 1992. The biggest applause of the night was reserved for Coun. Evans, who said in his election campaign two years ago that heʼd back the building of the pool and second ice pad. Evans said he had too much integrity to back down from his election promises. But his support was far too little from a council whose members mostly felt it would be too great a financial burden for taxpayers and the town. Mayor Bill Ringrose, who said he sat on the fence on
LUCY HASS/METROLAND
Jordi Butler is joined by her placard-bearing, five-year-old son Braedyn in a packed council chambers Monday night. They came hoping council would support construction of a pool and second ice pad. But they left disappointed, following council’s 5-2 rejection of the $18.3 million Ma-Te-Way Park expansion project. the issue, was the only other council member to support the facilityʼs expansion. However, he says that doesnʼt mean the expansion is dead forever. “So much for proactive health care,” said Colleen Berry, a local marathoner and supporter of the project who lives in Admaston-Bromley.
“Perhaps putting this concept on ice for now and raising it at a more prosperous time will give new life to this region.” Thatʼs the general feeling of Scott Buffam, chairman of the second ice pad committee. “As a group, we are certainly disappointed with the
result,” said Buffam. “We are encouraged, though, from the comments from Councillor Evans and the mayor, with the possibility of looking at this down the road, when fiscal opportunities may present themselves.” As for future efforts to try to bring the project forward
again, Ma-Te-Way aquatic committee chairman Leo Hall is unsure. “I really donʼt know. Our objective was to be advocates for these types of facilities, and we spent about eight years on the aquatic facility promotion.” See POOL, page 2
High-flying candidate for premier touches down in Cobden Steve Newman steve.newman@metroland.com
The Tim Hortons masters provincial curling championships wrap up in Renfrew. – Page 13 –
Attendance was strong at local leadership election meetings last weekend, as the six candidates for Ontario Liberal Party leader looked to garner support. The combined results showed frontrunners Kathleen Wynne and Sandra Pupatello still in that position. One of
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Wynneʼs most successful ridings was Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, which she visited Saturday night at Cobdenʼs West Way Bar & Grill. There she met with Liberal party supporters, including some local voting delegates. The Don Valley West MPP also had an opportunity to meet with local teachers, following the recent and controversial implementation of Bill 115
to impose contracts on teachers across the province who did not have agreements in place. In Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke last Saturday, 88 card-carrying Liberals were eligible to vote, of which 40 did. Seventy per cent, or 28 votes, went to Wynne and another 25 per cent (or 10 votes) to Pupatello. Single votes went to former MPP and MP Gerard Kennedy, who finished second to Dal-
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ton McGuinty in a bid for the Liberal Party leadership, and St. Paulʼs MPP Eric Hoskins. Following a coin toss in Kennedyʼs favour, Wynne has 11 local voting delegates, Pupatello four and Kennedy one. The other candidates for premier are Mississauga South MPP Charles Sousa and Mississauga Erindale MPP Harinder Takhar. See LIBERAL, page 6
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