South Stormont ON - Education and learning is what provides light in a world of ignorant darkness.  I have had many opportunities to witness first hand just how dangerous it is when people, societies and cultures are ignorant of simple facts and lack common decency in seeing each other as human beings.

So when ignorant comments are made like many of the ones from Tammy Hart, it deeply concerns me.  The facts about the full day kindergarden program coming into effect this year are simple.  The school boards are choosing to  implement this on a much larger scale than what is being funded by the provincial government.

Whether this is a good choice or not is up for debate.  What it does is stretch staff and other resources.  It also raises the question as to where the school boards are taking the money from to pay for the additional offerings?  Of course the boards have elected officials called Trustees whose job it is to oversee budgets and spending on behalf of the tax payers who elect them.  These trustees are not the provincial government.  I am surprised that Tammy, an elected city councillor, wouldn’t know this simple fact about who is accountable for how the schools spend their money.

Perhaps what is needed is for people to take a greater interest in how our local taxes, school levees being a significant portion, are invested.  Perhaps we need to push for greater transparency and better reporting from our school trustees?

Respectfully,

James Borer C.D. – South Stormont Ontario

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON – Not withstanding what appears to be the good intentions on part of the Tories to protect the `innocent’, the current government’s scrapping of the mandatory aspect of the long form census is less than thoughtful or reasoned.

Any one with common sense, or at least asked the folks at Stats Canada, would know that there are chunks of any population that will refuse to do surveys. And those chunks go by location, sex, age and income and many other citeria that will seriously skew any results.

And any one with common sense, or asked any psychology student, will tell you that these chunks of population will not answer surveys even given a carrot instead of a stick. These are not innocent people. They are stubborn! Having the Census embued with penalty is the only way to get the participation rate that the Government Canada requires to gather scientific data in conducting its day to day affairs. The People of Canada have a Right to have scientifically valid facts.

The People of Canada deserve and want data that is better than plus or minus 13%, 19 times out of 20.

But the worst thing of this whole boondoggle is that those that don’t believe they should do census surveys will now be emboldened to refuse and expect that the current government will back them up. So, instead of having a 95% participation rate it will drop substantially and with disasterous effect. Even if the government was to restore the mandatory requirement, they have screwed it!

Sincerely,

Matthew Dubois -Cornwall, Ontario

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON – Tony Clement had an opportunity to perform today in front of the Industry Committee. One thing that can be said for Clement is that he is always well prepared, knows his files and it’s hard to trip him up. In addition, he always surrounds himself with highly competent staff, who keep him well briefed and prepared. As expected, his performance was pretty solid.

With the government refusing to back down on the long form census issue, they will now have to endure another week of negative press stories. One can always tell where these issues originate. If a minister screws up and makes a bad decision or makes a poor comment, PMO comes down like a ton of bricks on that minister’s staff or even the minister. A clarification from the minister’s office follows shortly after PMO intervenes.

When PMO is the source of the issue and negative stories, all too often they get stubborn, dig in their heels and refuse to budge. A story that should never have been one in the first place thus stretches out over days. In the end common sense usually prevails and political reality wins out. A recent example of this would be the decision to back down on changing the words to the national anthem.

So far on the census issue several respected organizations have suggested ways to solve this problem to everyone’s satisfaction.  These solutions cover some of the contentious issues such as which questions are intrusive and whether or not completion of the census should be compulsory. Today the minister indicated to the committee that he would listen to suggestions from others. This is a positive move. Thus the government has a way out if it wants to move this issue out of the spot light.

PMO has been insisting that ministers are now responsible for everything that happens in their department. In this case it means the minister gets hauled on the carpet for a PMO mistake, but if this policy really does mean that the minister is responsible for running his department then perhaps PMO should keep their fingers out of this issue and let the minister find a solution that is acceptable to all sides.

Keith Beardsley is a senior strategist for True North Public Affairs in Ottawa, as well as a blogger and political analyst. He can often be found running or cycling on his favorite bike trails.

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Cornwall ON - I don’t know why so many people don’t think about our healthcare system until it’s too late.  Either they or someone they love are the victim of the short comings and decline of Medicare.

I firmly stand on the opinion that we are not being well served by our service.  It’s not the Doctors or nurses fault.  It’s our own.   We don’t challenge our politicians and government loudly enough.  And they won’t do much as it risks votes for a not discernible pay off.

Medicare was created during a Minority government.  It would be lovely to see it reformed via one as well.   With some estimates as low as 25%  value for what we’re funding it’s not a solution that requires vast amounts of funding.   It requires holding those in charge accountable and putting people in place if necessary who can tackle the job of making sense of the billions of dollars spent.

Canada is comparing worse to other Western country’s  medicare systems, but the financial crunch is impacting everyone as seen in the story from the UK below.

LINK

Some of the most common operations — including hip replacements and cataract surgery — will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be protected.

The Sunday Telegraph found the details of hundreds of cuts buried in obscure appendices to lengthy policy and strategy documents published by trusts. In most cases, local communities appear to be unaware of the plans.

And that’s how governments work.   You don’t find out about many changes until it’s too late.

Here’s an example of how we’re overpaying for services.   I have Sleep Apnea and have to use a CPAP machine.  If I go to any of the four local providers of CPAP equipment here in Cornwall I essentially am offered the same equipment at the same price as the province sets caps or essentially the market.

Last I checked it was just over $1000.00 for an initial set up.  The province pays 75% and you or your insurance company have to pick up the balance.   The only thing is that these rates are inflated as much as Generic drugs were until recently.

How many millions if not billions are billed to the system and user for all of the many different products and services?

We don’t need private healthcare in Canada.  We need ACCOUNTABLE healthcare.   We need our governments to hold their staff accountable for getting us the best service they can at the most affordable cost instead of passing the buck to the taxpayer.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, it can only happen if we, the voters,  hold politicians and governments to task.   Ask your MP, or  MPP how they feel and how they’d vote.      Politicians generally aren’t stupid people.  If they know an issue is important enough to enough people they get things done.

Canada innovated Medicare.  We should be setting the example instead of looking at the success of others or even worse, giving up and letting our country get swallowed up by US styled health care.

Jamie Gilcig – Editor – The Cornwall Free News

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Cornwall ON - Last week we talked about the Wild Parsnip (Pastinaca sativa) plant, sometimes referred to as the Poison Parsnip plant because of the painful blistering that can take place on human skin when the sap of this plant comes in contact with the skin in the presence of sunlight. Curiously further research uncovered that the plant of the cultivated parsnip that we purchase in our grocery stores can have the same effect.
I hadn’t planned to talk about this further except by chance on a recent walk I noticed a most beautiful caterpillar perched on a Wild Parsnip plant happily dining on its leaves and flowers.  So this curious find begged a little research.  The words ‘caterpillar’ and ‘wild parsnip’ were googled to find that this was the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail.  This butterfly is sometimes referred to as the Parsnip butterfly. The eggs from this beautiful butterfly are routinely laid on plants from the carrot family; the parsnip is from this family of plants.

It seems very evident that each living thing has a purpose, many of which we do not know.  Although this plant can be harmful to us in certain circumstances it can also benefit us.  Not only can it serve as home and dinner to the beautiful Swallowtail Butterfly through parts of it’s life cycle it can also feed us with its tap root during the fall of it’s first year of growth.  Now before you go out and dig up some tap roots of this plant please do some research to insure you know how to properly identify this plant.  The late fall of the 1st year growth plant is what you want to look for. It grows a rosetta clump of leaves from the top of the root.  You will find these among the mature flowering plants which you do not want as the tap root of the flowering plant is too mature and woody to eat.
The wonderful discovery of this lovely caterpillar led to the discovery of a free food source and back to the heart felt words of Chief Seattle noted below.

“The rivers are our brothers.  They quench our thirst.  They carry our canoes and feed our children.  So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.  If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports.  The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh.  The wind also gives our children the spirit of life.  So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.  Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?  That the earth is our mother?  What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.  This we know:  the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.  All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.  Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

Your commentary is welcome and appreciated.  Feel free to comment here or to earthmatters@jmilner.com

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Cornwall ON - Last fall as my career as a Journalism student was nearing its end I began pondering about what kind of jobs awaited me after graduation. At this time of reflection it became embarrassingly apparent that I had no idea how to market myself and no understanding on how to get paid to write.

In normal circumstances this can be a big downfall for someone seeking a career in journalism. The fact that we were, and still are in a recession made even more difficult to obtain working experience. After sharing my concerns with some of my peers I learned of a new upstart media company known as the Cornwall Free News. It only took a few emails back and forth from the Editor and Chief Jamie Gilcig to convince him to take me on as his first intern.

In retrospect this ongoing internship with the CFN has been a great move for me. Not only has it given me a place to practice and hone my craft, but I have been given the freedom to discuss any topic I choose.  For a junior writer this is almost unheard of and even though I have enjoyed my freedom, it has made it difficult for me to keep my writing focused.
Throughout the past few weeks I have been receiving more and more curious questions about the various topics I choose to write about.  These questions have been coming from my editor, my close relatives, and my peers. The concern is that by discussing so many topics that have no connection to one another is that I am not resonating with my audience. Since this has been brought to my attention I thought it would be wise to ask you the devoted readers of CFN a sincere question.

What would you like me discuss more of? Your answers can be as simple as politics/sports or they can even be solid leads to news stories.
On that note I will be focusing more of my attention to my own interests such as writing, politics and the game of billiards. In the near future I plan to write extensively on all these topics as well as incorporating the suggestions from our readers.

This newspaper belongs as much to thousands of people who contribute to our over 100,000 page views a month, as it does anyone else. Therefore I welcome any story ideas or suggestions to either my personal email at markus.noe@live.com or to just simply blog it on the website. Feedback of any kind would be appreciated while I am travelling on this long and winding road to becoming a successful and profitable writer.

Markus Noé

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Newington ON - If you think Health Care in Ontario is bad, just wait till September when you see how badly Dalton McGuinty has screwed up our Educational System.

$1.5 billion per year is being spent on three and four year olds to attend full day/every day kindergarten.  Teachers making $70,000 plus, ECE’s (Early Childhood Educators) making $47,000 plus and EA’s (Educational Assistants) $30,000 all will be needed to run this program.  Administration will be required to record babysitting costs and attendance in the before and after school component of the program.  Trustees are already complaining of insufficient funding.  Principals are confused as to how the programs will be implemented.   Class room sizes are increased to 26+.  Education Assistants are being cut back, at the same time that school boards are implementing “inclusion” for all special needs students. Private daycare will be shut down.

Full day kindergarten was supposed to assist low income families by eliminating the need for daycare but the cost for the before/after component in most school boards has been set at unrealistically high rates ($29-$35 / day) which is more than most private daycares charge.  This rate is so high because the ECE’s are being paid considerably more ($24/hr) than most daycare workers are paid.  Thus the program which was to help the poor has been priced out of their reach by overpaying government workers to perform the same service that the private sector has been providing for less money.

Our education system will be in the same mess that Dalton McGuinty made our health care system…expensive, inefficient and unmanageable.    It’s disgraceful!

Tammy A. Hart

Newington, On

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON - The latest round in the census story has seen the Chief Statistician resign. While not an earth shattering event for the general public, who probably didn’t even know the position existed until yesterday, it helps to feed the media line of a government in crisis.

Certainly at the political level, many staff consider this to be an issue that is confined to the “Ottawa Bubble” and one that average Canadians aren’t interested in and which they aren’t paying any attention too.

To a certain extent this is true. I doubt that Canadians will be standing around their BBQ this weekend wringing their hands over the resignation of the Chief Statistician. But that is not where the problem exists.

Governments or political parties are rarely defeated in an election based on a single over riding issue, generally it’s a combination of factors and the impression voters have of the party, its issues and the leader. There have been exceptions such as the Bomarc missile, wage and price controls, Free Trade and to a certain extent the sponsorship scandal.  More often than not, governments are defeated by the overall impression they leave with voters. This impression is formed over time, in some cases years.

A governing party certainly has to keep its base on side and that never changes regardless of which party is in power. However, to win and to win a majority they have to reach out to others who do not traditionally support them. These voters tend to be rather fickle with their support waning or increasing throughout a government’s term. These additional voters will determine a majority, minority or a loss for the present government.

In politics, perception is often reality. If a government is perceived by the public to be incompetent, a bully, stubborn, unwilling to admit a mistake or arrogant, then there is a good possibility that voters will want to defeat them. The census issue by itself will not lead to the defeat of this government, but it will help voters form an opinion of it and of Harper.

Looking at the government’s track record over the summer and so far we have the Guergis/Jaffer affair, a sole sourced multi-billion dollar contract, the census issue, spending on the G8/G20, the fake lake, comments from the head of CSIS, the HST deal with Ottawa/BC/Ontario and   the shenanigans by ministers at committee.  These events have certainly left the average voter with an impression of this government, and setting aside partisanship, is it the type of impression the government wants voters to have of its term in office?

This government is far from being defeated, especially with a weak Official Opposition, but it can’t keep making mistakes, especially mistakes of their own doing. Clearly the census issue got away from them. Their communications strategy wasn’t up to par; at least they should have been able to back up their comments with real facts and not general comments about receiving 1000s of letters when they don’t appear to exist. At the same time staff should have been aware well in advance as to who would attack them and how and have already positioned the issue to the government’s advantage, instead of fighting a rear guard action every day.

The government needs to put this issue behind them and move on to more important issues that clearly demonstrate their positive abilities such as managing the economy. This census issue is not a hill for them to die on, but one to learn from their mistakes and but behind them.

Keith Beardsley is a senior strategist for True North Public Affairs in Ottawa, as well as a blogger and political analyst. He can often be found running or cycling on his favorite bike trails.

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Dear Editor:

The McGuinty Government’s handling of the eco fees issue has been a complete fiasco.  There was no plan to protect consumers from being blindsided by these new eco fees on July 1 at the same time as the introduction of the HST.

The Ontario NDP support the concept of producer responsibility for the recycling of their hazardous, toxic products. However, putting oversight directly in the hands of industry is the wrong way to go. This fiasco has once again shown that self regulation by industry does not work.

The industry-controlled Stewardship Ontario should be replaced by a government body that is fully accountable and transparent.   The bottom line is that companies that produce harmful, toxic goods should pay the costs of protecting our environment, not Ontario’s consumers or cash strapped municipalities.  This would certainly give producers an incentive to develop products that are less toxic and better for our environment.

Yours truly,

Brian Lynch,

President,

SDSG Provincial NDP riding association

(Comments and opinions of Editorials, Letters to the Editor, and comments from readers are purely their own and don’t necessarily reflect those of the owners of the Cornwall Free News, their staff, or sponsors.)

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Cornwall ON - So I was chatting with some news folk earlier this week about how “slow” it’s been news wise.   Slow in the news biz doesn’t mean that there’s no news; but just no HUGE news.  Nothing to really get people running or reading.

Here at The Cornwall Free News some of you may have noticed we do things a bit different than a traditional newspaper.  We tend to not even remotely try to cover everything, but simply look for tid bits to entertain and inform you, our most valued viewer.

Sometimes we hit and sometimes we miss.   Sometimes we get more feedback personally than via the site.  Recently we ran a story that had very few comments but seemed to hit some nerves locally here in Cornwall resulting in quite a few comments in person to me and via phone and email.

Being a “Citizen Journalist” or pundit can be an interesting ride.  You can write a piece and it can have opposite effects.  Some people can hate and despise you; tell people not to advertise on your paper and conspire to see your company fail, while others smack you on the back and become sponsors.

I think we don’t really conspire here; at least I don’t, to cause anyone to go to extremes emotionally in response to our material.   We have our supporters who like The Cornwall Free News and those that well…..

However we’re grateful to all of you who read us.  Thank you for the support and keep telling your friends and a family, and I and the Cornwall Free News team will keep trying to entertain and inform you.

If you have any stories you want us to cover or news tips feel free to email us at info@cornwallfreenews.com

And please, visit our sponsors and show them how much you appreciate them writing the cheques to keep our humble media outlet alive.

Please Buy Local, Spend Local, and Advertise local!

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