Hi Ben,
We're entering the crunch time and I thought you and your readers
may wish a brief update.
First, it is likely to be Tuesday or Wednesday
of this coming week when we will find out when or if an injunction
will be pursued. While events could delay the decision,
time is running out.
The Board has requested portables and Council
has said "Not unless you can justify them". We have already
heard Mr. McKelvey's public response to this, i.e., "We'll
just have to do something else that you won't like any better"
or words to this effect. The threat being sending Grade
7 & 8 students to the East Collegiate. It was fascinating
to read Crystal Crimi's May 31st article on the Hawkins/PHHS
situation (in the local paper this week. What an interesting
perspective when Erin Brown isn't being quoted! Is access
to science & music resources, not to mention french fries
worth the "journey"? I think not.
A new rumour brewing about Thomas Gillbard is
that if the Board is forced to keep Thomas Gillbard open, they
may keep the school "open", but move all the students anyway.
A spiteful, nasty trick if the Board can manage to pull it
off; it may be tantamount to contempt of court. I wonder
if that would be good stewardship and an appropriate way to
spend taxpayers dollars.
Second, Confederation Public School community
members have decided to join F.O.G. in its efforts to challenge
the Board's modus operandi.
The good fight has been fought and there is little
left to prove. KPRDSB has shown its contempt for this
community.
Can we keep the only downtown public school open
and filled with eager students? If there is true justice
in the end, we will.
Sincerely,
Steven McCahon
Saludos, Rick Arnold.
rarnold@eagle.ca
However before that
I received an anonymous email And another in reference
to the notice about the Fair Vote Canada meeting this week And another mistake
that was pointed out in a nice way Sunday April
28th 2002 Today,
the future of Thomas Gillbard Public School certainly looks more promising
than it has in the past few weeks. All those who worked so hard to muster
their individual and collective strengths deserve a huge round of applause
for such a gallant effort. Their task seemed far too onerous to spark
much hope in the early stages of their mobilization. But the heart and
spirit of their unique “community” drew many more into their battle for
the preservation, and survival, of the very essence of that “community”. and another to respond to this
report click here
Sunday 21st April
2002 Into the last
mile! The Gillbard struggle comes back to Cobourg this week. On
Wednesday the School Board will be at the school sitting as a committee
of the whole. This gathering will listen to the public and then take a
vote which will be a recommendation to themselves for the next Board meeting
on May 9th. I have some thoughts
on the subject of closing Gillbard School. I graduated from there
about 70 years ago, but I respect the request to not give sentimental
reasons. The edifice has expanded greatly since my time, with the
addition of the Kindergarten and office areas, and the gymnasium and auditorium,
which should make it a great school building.
What else
can be said? The Chief of Police has obviously misread the public
again as his request that the public pick up his legal fees has gone
over like a skunk at a garden party, enough said!
Ramblings
"The Fat lady hasn't sung yet"
, must be the mantra that the Gillbard parents should adopt. "There
will be injunctive action!" says Steven McCahon, the spokesperson for
the "Friends of Gillbard". What form and when it will take place are the
only questions at this time.
One of the few new issues to
come up this week is a hundred years old! The musing of a ferry link
between Cobourg and Rochester. Fresh from a visit to the Mayor of Rochester,
NY, USA, a delegation of three (the Mayor and two economic development
department people) announced that a ferry link between Rochester and Cobourg
is being floated. This perennial idea is rumoured to cost about $200 for
each trip across the lake and would take place on a yet to be established
hydrofoil service. I wish them luck in putting this dream (Wayne DeVeau
has been musing this for years, but then that is his job!) but if the rumoured
$25 -$30 million dollar concept has yet to leave the dock on its way to
Toronto little old Cobourg will have to do more than just muse and say,
"we're looking at it". Still the announcement from the Mayor's office does
look futuristic, but then so did the Peterborough Railroad 150 years ago
and we all know what happened to that! [note: it bankrupted the Town and
many of its prominent citizens but it wasn't all bad we still have Victoria
Hall ] Besides nobody has really answered the major question, What
will you do in Rochester? and it should be noted Rochester downtown is many
miles away from the Lake and the ferry terminal.
Doug Galt may be 'Deep Throat'
That is a suggestion being made by many as the dust settles
on the latest cabinet shuffles. As noted in the last column Doug has
been appointed to be the PA to the Minister of Future ideas (now that's
an oxymoron considering that Jim Flaherty is the Minister) in the newly
minted Ministry of Opportunity, Innovation and Technology. As the Minister
is Jim Flaherty, Ernie Eves's political opponent, and Doug was a stalwart
Eves supporter much speculation abounded about the move. Was it a move
by Ernie to sideline the man who is most prone to 'gaffes' [considering
his profession (Veterinarian) "foot and mouth disease" would to much
of a pun to repeat!], or was it a move by Ernie to have the loyal footsoldier
inside the enemy camp. Seeking another opinion I phoned the most senior
Queen's Park reporter that I knew, Robert Fisher; lately of Global TV
but now of TVO, CBC, Ryerson and another Community College that I have
forgotten , but he hasn't because he is getting paid by them, and asked
him if he knew why. He said he didn't but the likely explanation is the
spy one. It wouldn't hurt Ernie to know exactly what Flaherty is up to and
who else would be in the best position to relay the news other than the
newly minted Parliamentary Assistant.
Back to the Gillbard story.
At the last meeting held on Thursday this week, a full Board session,
they did some peculiarly unusual, and according to some; smelly things.
Firstly the Board voted to hire a consultant to review the under enrolment
problem and the effect of it on the entire Board, secondly the committee
of the whole report which contained the recommendation to keep the Thomas
Gillbard school open was received 'for information purposes' and as such
required no action to be taken by the Board. Thirdly the Board then voted
on a motion to close Thomas Gillbard school and it was carried. Fourthly
by doing #3 they ignored the complete closing process as set out in Board
policy and destroyed the hopes of over hundred parents.
"I got carried away by the emotion
of the meeting last week and voted with my heart" said the Trustee
from Hastings/Norwood, Don Mathews. Of course Don, we believe you, bet
you a hundred bucks it had nothing to do with the suggestion that the
only school in Hastings might be put back on the closing list (it was
one of the six on the original list but taken off early in this round of
school closing) if you didn't vote to close a Cobourg school.
"There is so much alleged sleaze
around this vote that only a court hearing will be able to clear the
air" said one observer. He was referring to the alleged
conflict of interest of two of the trustees whose area will benefit
by the shift in money to their area for new schools. Cobourg to Clarington
(Mr Wilsher and Mrs Coffin), The money paid to high priced lawyers without
Board authorisation to figure out how to beat the committee of the whole
recommendation, and the way King Edward is allowed to stay open, although
being closed, for another year. And why was Gillbard the only school closed
and why was Gillbard closed before the comprehensive review?
"It may not get to court because
the Minister may order a review" said Steve McCahon the day after
the meeting. "The Board did not follow its own procedures and the Minister
may get involved because of problems in the decisionmaking process"
"There were no changes in the merits of the case before the second vote
was taken, nothing changed except the vote, the Minister may want to get
involved" he repeated and also said that the injunction will be filed before
next friday and the Town may get involved in it, he is discussing the situation,
on behalf of FOG with the two top politicians in Town.
Another story has the Cobourg
Police Association upset again.
This time it is the failure of the Police Services Board to purchase dress
blues for the department. The contract calls for a uniform replacement
policy but nothing for the purchase of #1 dress, you know the suits that
Officers dress up in when they bury their own. High necks and lots of braid.
"This is not fair and does not reflect well on Cobourg when they attend
Province wide funerals." Stan Sokay was reported to have said. Just another
demonstration of the atmosphere at the Station. Although I do wonder which
funeral would they wear the suits at: the next fallen officers funeral or
the Cobourg chief's rumoured political burial!
"What we have here is a failure
to communicate!" remember that
famous line from "Cool Hand Luke", well it appears the Warden has spoken
and it ruffled a few feathers. Last week Mayor Fred Holloway of Hamilton
Twp appeared at the Twp's economic development committee and told them,
in front of guests, "Council has decided (referring to a sheet of paper
with four items listed on it) and it appears you folks are out of business!".
"It was a surprise to hear that " said Pat McLaughlin the chair of the
committee, "Especially since it had been in the paper the week before
about council saying what a good job we had done." Later on in the interview
Pat said of Fred and Council, "There was no professionalism, in fact the
guy was pretty rude, this was a lesson in minor league politics"
Now to the failure
to communicate. During the budget process two or three things came together.
One was that because all of the successful projects that the committee
had completed were in Bewdley the committee appeared to be Bewdley based
and not representative of the Twp. This is in spite of the evidence that
the rest of the Twp has spurned any linkages with the committee. The
other was that because of a complicated funding arrangement economic development
money had been spread amongst different events and parts of the
Twp. Council has decided to simplify things and the first to be simplified
is the consolidation of power back to Council and away from the grassroots.
In an ironic twist many of the people who sat on the disbanded committee
will be invited to sit on the new one.
A major reason for
the lack of communication between Council and the CED committee was the
eight week absence of Councillor Twyla Marston who was working
away from home in the OPSEU strike. She didn't find out about the decision
to disband the committee, even though she was a member, until the day
after it had happened. "It may not have transpired in the best way" was
the way she summed up the situation today.
Adding insult to injury:
after calling the committee too Bewdley centred, even though the committee
had made several outreach calls to other parts of the Twp and had failed
to arouse their interest, the Council told the village that from now
on 50% of the revenue from the boat launch will go to the rest of the
Twp. Pat McLaughlin questioned whether the village will be as motivated
to work on the boat launch now if they will only get half the money. At
the time he made that comment he was unaware that although the village will
lose the 50% of the boat launch money they will now get 100% of the money
from the Bewdley Summerfest (see what I mean about complicated funding arrangements).
Councillor Marston confirmed that because Summerfest had only succeeded
in Bewdley no other funds needed to be retained for anywhere else. Oh what
a tale of confusion!
There is no I in Team. This
came home to me last week when the Cobourg Town newsletter was sent to
me. Reading it through nothing really registered until the last section
- the blurb from Lloyd Williams. Noticing an outbreak of alliteration
concerning the letter "I" investigation was warranted. Four Councillors,
four literary segments, four boasts of municipal achievement. Mr Delanty's
piece contained 1 personal pronoun, Mr Spooner's contained no personal
pronouns, (I guess you have to speak to him in person to get hit with those),
Mr McCaughey's piece had 1 I and Mr Williams's prose contained 7 references
to himself - enough said.
Now the email:
first an email that points out
my mistake and I own up to it; sorry.
Actually Erin Brown didn't shut
a school in Port Hope. The decision to
close Dr. Hawkins was taken
at the May 25, 2000, Board meeting when Port Hope'e trustee was Catharine
Tozer. She was board chair then. Erin was not elected until
November 2000.
Wilfred A. Day
> ". . .
it seemed that four of the votes to close the school were based
on > economics and one (Erin
Brown) was based on her belief that the kids are underperforming and
should be moved to 'better' schools. It was to be expected there was
no way in the world that she, being from Port Hope, would > vote to
support a school in Cobourg when she actually had the 'cajones' to shut
a school down in her own district!"
>
> Really? "No way in the
world?" Does one detect a note of guilt? A fear that "what
goes around, comes around?" A fear that people in Cobourg who
said "it's a crime that Port Hope's hospital is being closed before
the new hospital is open or even approved," but did nothing much to help
stop the Gang of 10, should expect to be treated the same way? Chill
out, Ben. I haven't talked to Erin Brown, but I have no reason to
think she's vindictive. Port Hopers generally don't blame the man
or woman in the street in Cobourg, just a few Cobourg developers and their
friends.
> Anonymous
No! no! no! What a fatuous moribund
idea that is. Proportional representation will guarantee we have
a government like Italy or, god forbid, Israel with every tinpot political
interest group represented. What a mess that will cause cobbling together
a government, which is like satisfying a flock of squabbling and babbling
geese.
I vote for the status quo and
to hell with the losers who want a say in
everything!
Art Cockerill
Sir:
I read in your April 26 report
that a meeting is to be held on Saturday....."10pm United Church Division
St, Cobourg... Lunch is provided."
With a 10 pm meeting and lunch
being served, my I conclude that you are planning a very long meeting?
Trevor Hearnden
to respond to this report click
here
Ramblings
Don't eat the cake just yet!
should be the approach to be taken by all of the supporters
of Thomas Gillbard School. At a meeting last Wednesday evening, which
droned into the night, finally finished with a squeaker of a vote at 1230am.
The closest vote of all 6 -5 to keep the school open was greeted by
a stunned silence and then when reality struck the forty odd people left
in the room started to hug everybody in sight.
23 speakers made all
of the arguments that could have been made to a full gathering of the
KPR school Board. Then came the presentation of the Superintendent, who
spoke of his "Superintendency (is this akin to Presidency?) many times
and the terms seemed to acquire an imperialistic tone, according to some
observers. The decision seemed to be based on two items: how can you
move pupils from a big school into portables and how can you think of
breaking up the programmes which have been developed by the school and
the community. And, of course there was the point made by our own wee
trustee, Gordon Gilchrist (who finally made up his mind and supported
the school) in a cogent and thoughtful presentation wherein he asked how
can the school be closed in the absence of a master plan for the area.
Listening to the trustees
debate it seemed that four of the votes to close the school were based
on economics and one (Erin Brown) was based on her belief that the kids
are underperforming and should be moved to 'better' schools. It was to
be expected there was no way in the world that she, being from Port Hope,
would vote to support a school in Cobourg when she actually had the 'cajones'
to shut a school down in her own district!
Of the six votes to refuse the
administration report two may be iffy, one for sure. Don Mathews, the
waverer discussed last week, does seem to be under the influence of the
Chair. The Chair, it was noticed by some was visibly agitated that the
vote didn't go his way. So who knows how many phone lines will get burned
up this week. But if the vote changes next week it would not be a shock
to his old cynic!
Now on to the local speculation:
Doug Galt's new job. The
list of Parliamentary Assistants (PA)
here
came out this week and pundits perused the list for clues about
the direction of 'Ernie's team' and who came on top of the 'greasy
pole'. In Northumberland the news is that our local MPP finds himself
working as PA for Jim Flaherty at the newly minted house of "Enterprise,
Opportunity and Innovation". The question is this; how can the second
most partisan pitbull in the revolution, the most loyal foot soldier
in the trenches and the person who has spoken more in the House than
anybody else (he does take his house duty seriously) and one of the first
sycophants to declare his liege for the Emperor be relegated to the enemy
camp. He is not saying anything, in public, except "thank you" but with
friends like Ernie who needs enemies?
Doug Galt's future; the
only political rumour that keeps circulating this week is that a successor
has already been picked for Doug's seat. Doug is not crying uncle yet
but he will! And when he does people will be lining up to fight with the
remnants of the tattered revolution. One of the people being mentioned
is the Past President of the Cobourg Chamber of Commerce - local typewriter
salesperson James Thomas. In an interview today James didn't give any
indication that the rumour was coming from him, that ties into the second
half of the rumour that a person within Doug Galt's office is behind the
push for James. All James would say is "No comment!" but he did allow
that Doug will be deciding when to leave and when he does James said he
be will exploring all options, "Nobody knows what Doug's timing is" he
told me. Presumably one of those options is whether he could win as Conservative
(or whatever name they decide to run on next time) candidate in this
riding. As all pundits know this riding is one that swings according to
the Provincial Trend and no candidate of any party can beat that.
There will ba an interesting
gathering of people in the United Church Hall on Saturday this week,
social activists and observers, of all stripes will be assessing the Provincial
governments last seven years and examining it for consequences of the 'Common
Sense Revolution' Did you get your money's worth out of the tax cuts? Are
social conditions any better now than before 1995? and so on. Part of the
Ontario Coalition for Social Justice's "Unfit to Govern" campaign this
assembly is being sponsored by the Northumberland and District Labour Council
and the Northumberland Coalition Against Poverty and others. Headlining
the speakers is Michael Lewis, longtime steelworker and political campaigner,
10pm United Church Division St, Cobourg... Lunch is provided.
I see the official organ of
the Cobourg Council, the Cobourg Daily Star, was trumpeting the "accomplishments"
of this Council after having been party to an orgy of self-congratulatory
reports from members of Council last Monday. If Frank magazine had been
reporting on the event it would have been described as a 'wankfest' but
we do not use such terms. I draw the line at 'fartcatcher' which I understand
has caused some consternation for the person who was described as being
one in a report a couple of weeks ago. Consternation and its opposite amusement
should be treated lightly and I will continue to 'call 'em as I see 'em!"
There will another Medicare
canvass next week. All people interested in helping the "save Medicare
campaign' should go to the office in the old Allen Hardware building
in Cobourg to pick up leaflets for a house to house canvass. 6pm on Tuesday
30th. The organisors are working on an activity that could see them,
and plenty of others, push a stretcher around the County, wish them luck.
The Stop the Privatisation
of Hydro campaign has kicked off with an impressive website and online
petition click here
to sign on and email it to your friends
The Annual Day of Mourning came
and went with a ceremony at the County Building. About 25 people
attended, the rain must have kept the hordes away, and about six wreaths
were laid. Speeches were made and everybody was intensely aware of the
need to remember the dead and to also change the laws to protect the
living. In a strange twist this year people were invited to speak from
the audience, rather like a Baptist prayer meeting, and one fellow took
advantage of this to explain how an industrial dispute and subsequent workplace
assault had destroyed his life for the past six years. His story certainly
made a couple of people cringe because he wasn't the usual industrial accident
victim, he still had all his limbs, and he was also critical of his union
and that didn't go down well in an audience of predominantly union people.
Maybe they were all thinking "It didn't happen in my union so I can take
the criticism!" Anyway another successful event. ALthough this year only
two politicians (Macklin and Delanty) compared to seven last year. One
person commented to me that maybe not having the event in office hours may
have contributed to the low attendance
Reading the Globe & Mail
newspaper this week I came across an advertisement from the Economic
Developers Council of Ontario(?) EDCO. It was pushing, and announcing,
the winners of its annual awards for all kinds of the good things that
members of EDCO have done. Anyway I did notice that the City of Oshawa's
economic development department had won two awards. Does that mean that
the former EDO of Cobourg who left before being pushed by the then incoming
Mayor is still continuing her award winning ways. Seems like a change
only appears to have made her better!
Nothing about Michael Moore
this week as he hasn't updated his book tour diary.
Now for the email:
Dear Editor,
But they're not home free,
not yet! The committee’s vote was dangerously too close to realize any
margin for sober second thoughts on the part of any member of the committee.
It goes without question that the Administrators, who are clearly advocating
the school's closure, will double their efforts to sway the one or two
critical votes in their favour, between now and the actual Board vote.
To counter this influence, I suggest to those that can, to rally their own
troops for one more push.
Doesn’t it seem particularly
offensive to hear the Administrators analyze the “facts” of the Board's
position in terms of 0.8 of a Teacher, or 0.4 of a Secretary, or 0.25
of a Librarian, and similar dissections of staff needed to keep a school
such as Thomas Gillbard working “efficiently”? These Administrators speak
of declining enrollments, full-time and part-time positions in the classrooms,
and the shifting and re-shifting of portables in an endless shell-game,
in their own gallant effort to provide the “highest quality of education”
possible. BUT, what we DON’T hear from them is the reasoning in support
of only FULL-time Administrators and Superintendents, even when the enrollments,
on which their positions are based, continue to decline, according to
their own reports. How can they continue to justify their own positions
as full-time when they work to close schools or compress student bodies
and teaching and support staff into ever shrinking entities? Surely the
closing of schools and reductions in staff are not the only sources of
savings to be sought. Surely there are complementary savings to be had
on the administrative side of the equation, which must also be pared down
to the most “efficient” ratios, based on declining student populations.
What's needed here is an equally regressive “funding formula” to be applied
to the administrative side of the educational pie. Let's rebalance the class-room
/ administration funding ratio to reflect the present facts and figures so
dispassionately laid out by the administration's reports in favour of closure.
This is reasonable common sense.
Will we see a comparable
reduction in the “overhead” at the Board when the oft-mentioned “double
cohort” strips the Board of an exceptionally significant percentage of
funded student placements? Here alone exists potentially enough savings
to permit schools like Thomas Gillbard to continue to provide the very
essence of all-round education and social development so vital in today's
society. The Thomas Gillbard collective deserves positive assurance that
these questions and concerns will be satisfactorily addressed and answered
before the crucial vote that will decide the future of their community,
and our town-centre’s history.
Manfred Schumann
Cobourg
Hello Northumberland Council
of Canadians Members,
Hopefully this update
is more helpful. There have been a couple new posts on the forum,
including a message from Howard Hampton regarding Electricity Deregulation,
and an update on the GATS from Leigh. Its great to see that it's
being used.
http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/192763
click
here to go there
There's the link.
If you need anything else, do not hesitate to contact me.
Have a great week,
Julian Warmé
Finally a notice about the "Fair
Vote Canada" meeting on the 14th at the Cobourg Public Library,
to discuss proportional Representation and Voting.
Ramblings
This time the public
should be more organised, having decided to line up a speaking gallery
drawn from all interested people. Seventeen concerned people, from Gillbard,
sent their names in to the Board so that they could plan their 10 minutes,
none should be the same and the committee certainly will be hearing a lot
of material. Whether that makes any difference is open to speculation as
there is now a voting record to look at.
Last week the Board/Committee
went to King Edward School, one of the inner-city schools slated for
closing in Peterborough and listened to the community. After the speaking,
which ended at midnight, a vote was taken. Six voted for the motion -
recommend to close, and five did not. The five were the two from Peterborough
(Kitney and Wilfong) and three of the four from Northumberland (Gilchrist,
Nelson and Gorveatt). Erin Brown the Trustee from Port Hope voted to close
Gillbard!
In an interview today
Gordon Gilchrist said that "It is going to be tough to change the vote
unless we can swing the one wavering trustee" The trustee that wavered
is Don Mathews from Norwood, he needs all the phone
calls he can get 705-778-3591 or email him at
donald_mathews@kpr.edu.on.ca
click to get a popup mail.
So see you all on Wednesday at 7pm
in the auditorium.
So much for the shop locally
campaign. Driving into the power centre at Thickson Rd
in Whitby I followed a car with Cobourg plates (the Thomas motors sticker
and the Chamber of Commerce plate surround gave them away). I noticed
other Cobourgers in the complex. Perhaps they were like me in wanting to
buy, immediately, merchandise that was not available in Cobourg except
on order. Or maybe they had, like me, a partner who was on a day off and
wanted to get out!
Congratulations to the local
chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) on opening their campaign
office downtown. I did see a picture in the local press of the usual kind
of people who attend store openings ceremonial scissors in hand. I wonder
if any of the politicians present actually understood what the OHC stands
for and that they will run a political campaign?
It is nice to see
those much reviled institutions, the unions, winning some good press
this week. First, in Cobourg, it is CUPE and the OFL who are spearheading
the OHC process and then the news issued late on Friday that told us
all that the sale and proposed privatisation of the largest hydro monopoly
in Canada was on hold. It seems that a Judge seems to think that the government
of Ontario didn't have the legislative mandate to sell shares in 'Hydro
One'. You would think that after seven years of being the government
these guys should know that they can't just make things happen, you need
laws and mandates not the whims of an outgoing Premier. We have seen this
before. The first mandate of this government consisted of passing laws
to get the legislation right a second time. Who can forget that the municipal
tax reform took seven consequent laws before municipalities had tax programmes
that would work!
Want to get on the FBI's watch
list, they may even open a file on you
click here.
It belongs to William Blum who is writing about the 'American
Holocaust' in a book called "Killing Hope". The book detailed subversive
acts and other nasty things that the US government has been accused of
since 1945 until 1994, the book was published in 1995 but still remains
relevent today 55 chapters cover alleged US aggression from Mao
Tse Tung in '45 to Haiti in '94
Michael Moore's book is no longer
#1 in Canada. David Suzuki (who else!) has knocked him off but Michael
is still on the book tour read his latest week's travels
here.
A message and an invitation
came from Tony Cunningham, of the Northumberland and District
Labour Council. Sunday April 28th will the National Day of Mourning.
This event takes place to honour those workers killed on the job. In a
day and age that seems to be desperate for heroes and the urge to genuflect
over the death of those designated as heroes it is fitting that we are
remembering all working Canadians who have died on the job not just those
who belong to the Police and Fire services. In contrast to the ostentatiousness
of recent funerals of police officers the simple ceremony to pay tribute
to workers will be on the grass at the front of the County building at
1pm. Everybody is invited.
Not wanting to shy away from
calling a spade a spade I was not surprised to see the former premier
of the Province and past leader of the NDP rip up his membership this
week because he feels that the Federal Party does not have a Foreign
Policy that fits his ideals. Quite frankly having watched this guy go
through middle age in his new job in the corporate world I am surprised
he has not left before now. I think this tantrum was just the issue he
felt he needed for his exit lines. Now that he has left perhaps the electorate
can forget him. I know I did when he trashed the idea of public auto insurance
in the imperious way that he did!
For those of us who rely on
the internet to make our livings it is becoming quite a shock to
realise that the good old days of 'free' are quickly coming to an end.
With the awareness that search engines are now places listings only exist
if you pay to get listed and the knowledge that not all the information
you think you need is on the internet one begins to live in a pay as you
go world. But it really hit home for me this week when I picked up a little
glossy 'infosheet' called the "Apple Route" This booklet has
been put together by a committee called appleroute.com Unfortunately
as I read it it became obvious to me that in order to get listed one should
have to buy an advertisement. Consequently the information contained in this
booklet is not worth the paper it has been printed on. I would congratulate
the producers of the effort, they have done a very good job but the info
is slim (good advice for next year: either list everything or sell more ads).
For instance Cobourg only has two restaurants listed (you guess who they
are!) If you really want good local guides call the Northumberland News
and ask for their giveaways.
Now for the mailbag
Subject: Re: new edition
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 22:08:25
-0400
From:"wacory"
To:"philoctetes" <ben@eagle.ca>
Cobourg did a miraculous
restoration of Victoria Hall which at the time was plagued with floors
that heaved in the humidity of summer, and most importantly the supporting
beams were rotted to a dangerous condition. Why shouldn't Gillbard
have whatever seems to be needed repaired? It is a much more substantial
building and the upgrading asked for seems to be well within the realms
of possibility at much less cost than Victoria Hall. I have some questions:
1. To whom does Gillbard School
belong? The present school board, the Town of Cobourg or the Provincial
Government?
2. What improvements are claimed
to be required for the perceived short comings?
3. What does the owner of the
school plan to do with it, if all the students are moved?
4. Does the owner already have
in mind a future purchaser of the school?
5. When portable classrooms
are not satisfactory, indeed have been found to be harmful to the health
of the students and teachers, why would it be thought to be a good idea
to move students from a school with plenty of room to schools that need
portables. Any movement of students should be in the opposite direction.
6. What future use of the property
is being considered?
7. Is there a plan to sell it
and have it made into a private school for the profit of one or a few persons
in league with the Provincial Government?
8. What sense or consideration
of the present students makes the School Board, who is supposed to be
working for the benefit of the children, want to send them to three other
schools that have portables, and would require the children to cross,
Division Street, William street or Elgin
Street and the heavy traffic
headed for the 401 and future hospital?
9. Could having too much school
building for the number of students be corrected by closing off part
of the school, perhaps the classrooms on the North side, and with whatever
renovations needed, renting the space for other uses, such as for the
Centre on D'Arcy Street for Individual
Studies, (I may not have this
name right), which I found to be inadequately housed, or for some other
specialized training? I haven't heard any discussion on this last suggestion.
Perhaps the shortage of children is partly the fault of the Town's preoccupation
with Tourism and the development of the Harbour properties for use by mostly
Seniors or childless couples. If the Town had put the same amount of
effort into bringing more manufacturing industry to the town, younger people
who have or are likely to have children requiring education would be attracted,
and the enrollment per square foot would satisfy those who are concerned
only with numbers and space.
If any of the above
ideas are useful to you to prevent this ..........action, please feel
free to use them.
Winnifred A. Cory, Cobourg,
On. Canada
Again this week I heard a plea
for Doug Galt to be included in the new cabinet. This time the call
came from that longtime Liberal Fred Long. Fred in his retirement has
landed a job where his dulcet baritone pipes can be used to great effect.
He shills for local services and products on radio station CHUC and is
also Gord Ley's second banana on the Sunday show (images of Ed McMahon
pop up here). But he does get to record a commentary every so often and on
his latest commentary he did try to make the case for Doug. Calling him
a loyal foot soldier (Sherpa perhaps?) Fred said that eastern Ontario deserved
a cabinet member. Perhaps Fred forgot that with the two Durham MPPs and
the real Eastern member, Bob
Runciman, the East may be over
represented. I did think that although Fred did quote many jobsite
competencies: loyalty, determination and loquacity (Fred even said that
DG has been on his feet more that any other member of the party, never
mind what he says is combative and mostly negative) no mention was made
of competency the big one!
A reader sent in this link
, I confess that I can't really make head nor tail of it but it
is a website abut a man called Reverend Billy. This guy attacks Starbucks
and does 'interventions' and interrupts business at the locations attacked.
Interesting if you have time to check it out
here