Cenotaph’s 90th year
Dear Editor:
On Monday, August 5, 1935 at 3:30am a field cannon (military artillery) was fired off in downtown Fergus. It was loaded with a blank so it made a big noise, but no one was hurt. It was fired every 15 minutes from 3:30am to 7:30am – 17 times in all. By then no one in Fergus was asleep. Promptly at 7:30am a military band started west along St. Andrew Street followed by a marching military unit. At Tower Street, they turned south, crossed the bridge, and marched with the band playing to the newly erected Cenotaph (remembrance marker) for those who had lost their lives in the Great War (World War I).
The 17 cannon firings marked the 17 years between the end of the War in 1918 and the cenotaph being built in 1935 – Arthur had a cenotaph, Elora had a cenotaph, even Belwood had a cenotaph but Fergus did not. After trying to convince town council to build one, Dr. Norman Craig took it upon himself to raise the money to have a cenotaph erected.
At 7:30am on August 5, 1935, the dedication of the memorial was carried live on the radio. August 5 was carefully chosen – it was not the anniversary of the start of the war which began in June 1914 – however the first battle of the war was fought on Aug. 5, 1914. Aug. 5 was the anniversary of when soldiers started dying.
In June 1933, the play You’re Lucky if You’re Killed a play (a musical, in fact), written, directed, and produced by Dr. Craig, with himself as a lead character, had been performed once in the Grand Theatre, Fergus. This was to raise funds towards building the cenotaph. The play, one of the first if not the first Canadian play about the war, gave the audience a look into the challenges soldiers had returning to civilian life and the impact of what we would now call PTSD.
With this background as we mark the 90th anniversary of the Fergus cenotaph we are reminded that war is tragic. Not only are the fallen to be remembered, but those who return home also deserve care and compassion for many have returned from Canada’s wars profoundly hurt in body and soul by what they have experienced.
Peter Bush,
Fergus
Recreation or racetrack
Dear Editor:
First I’d like to acknowledge how fortunate the communities along the Elora Cataract Trailway are to have such a great multi-use resource close at hand.
On these hot, sunny summer days the trail is a shady, breezy location to get a little relief while staying active. What really surprised me was how hard the trail has become from all the use – it might as well be pavement – and the fast bicycles using the trail. If you want to call them bicycles. There are vehicles using this trail that at a quick glance look and travel more like a motorcycle. It is very unnerving to be passed by an e-cycle, especially when the rider doesn’t slow down blasts by on whichever side they think they have the most room to squeeze through. I’m sure a majority of these riders acknowledge other users on the trail and ensure they don’t interfere with their enjoyment. It’s the few that act entitled that give them all a poor reputation.
It’s not that I’m calling these users out – well, maybe a little – it’s more an observation of the lack of acknowledgment of other users. Maybe if they’d like to travel the speed of a car, they should be limited to the roadways.
Policing the trail is close to impossible, just like all thoroughfares. Even restricting the use would be difficult to enforce. I’d just like to ask my fellow cyclists to slow down a smidge and bring your bell to alert other users that you’re passing.
Happy trails. Here’s to the future enjoyment of the Elora Cataract Trailway and all other multi-use linear parks.
Heather Aitken,
Fergus
‘Undemocratic’
Dear Editor:
Opposition to Ontario’s Bill 5 matters!
With attention focused on the drama south of the border, it’s easy for the power grab here in Ontario to go pretty much unnoticed.
Still, rallies, protests and campaigns continue, asking for the repeal of this legislation that overrides Indigenous rights, guts the Endangered Species Act and gives developers of “designated projects” a blank cheque to bulldoze over the land without regard to provincial or municipal laws.
In the guise of economic reform, the bill permits development by “trusted proponents” without local or Indigenous consent, with no environmental safeguards and with no accountability.
What could possibly go wrong? A development built over a protected wetland, a landfill polluting a river, loss of prime farmland to a mega-industry.
Three former Toronto mayors warned in a letter to the Toronto Star about a premier with unchecked powers. They said that putting the premier above the law is not red-tape reduction. This is rule-of-law suspension.
I would like to commend Wellington County council for taking a stand on Bill 5’s special economic zones. The warden’s letter to the province expresses the county’s concern about the bill’s scope and the possible consequences of these no-rule zones to the detriment of the people and communities the government is here to protect and serve.
In this, Wellington County stands alongside many municipalities, large and small, that have stated their opposition, including, among others: the City of Toronto, Waterloo Region, Orangeville, Mono, Shelburne, Dufferin County, Caledon, Mulmur, Kingston, Prince Edward County, Cornwall, City of Guelph, Newmarket, Lambton and Oakville.
It speaks volumes that Ontario’s municipal governments have warned that Bill 5 is undemocratic and will have irreversible consequences.
Jan Beveridge,
Elora
‘Frivolous’ politicians
Dear Editor:
The Fraser Institute reported that in 2024 the average Canadian family spent 42.3% of their income on taxes! A family earning $114,289 paid about $48,306 to federal, provincial and municipal governments. Housing, food and clothing took 35.5% of our income.
This means we spend more on taxes than to cover our own basic needs.
In comparison, in 1961 we spent 33.5% on taxes and 56.5% on shelter, food and clothing.
You can thank your politicians for squandering our tax money frivolously, giving themselves big fat raises and donating money to other countries instead of helping our own poor. Where does it end?
Steve Di Pisa,
Centre Wellington
‘Man-made famine’
Dear Editor:
In recent days, I, as well as everyone else, have been watching children in Gaza enter the fifth stage of starvation; where death is inevitable, even if food is available.
This has been done by the Israeli army and its denial of aid into Gaza, even though organizations like UNWRA have enough aid outside the border to feed everyone in Gaza. This is nothing if not a deliberate genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Bisan Owda, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza, has published a call to action to everyone around the world to bang pots outside Israeli embassies, government institutions, complicit companies and weapons manufacturers, to protest the man-made famine.
I urge everyone who reads this to join in.
Nicholas Bunch,
Fergus
‘Lives are on the line’
Dear Editor:
An open letter to Premier Doug Ford and all Ontario MPPs.
I was going to send this letter to the premier and his MPPs but there is no sense in that, as they refuse to respond to important rural issues. Yes, they have been emailed, with no response for over two weeks.
Sure, the province might send money for some hospitals and schools, but it seems something as simple as using their time, in the media, to explain to those from urban centres that when they see a green flashing light – either, coming toward them or in their rear-view mirror – they should pull over.
We all understand Ford is purportedly trying to balance the economy with the U.S. tariff scares, but five minutes could make a huge difference if he uses it while giving an interview to express that a green flashing light means lives could be on the line.
So why the poke at the premier and his MPPs? Generally, their majority is because of the rural vote. Rural people have volunteer firefighters and these green flashing lights are their way to drop everything to get to the fire-hall to go to an emergency. Yet when trying to reach the fire-hall they are met with traffic that does not understand what a green flashing light is or that they should be pulling over to give way to that firefighter so he/she might save lives, if the case warrants that.
As the premier and his MPPs seem to think rural people are disposable and consider rural Ontario as lesser than the urban counterparts, some thought it pertinent to inform those on the roads that when you see a green flashing light please do your part and pull over.
Lives are on the line and it could be your or your family member’s life.
Elizabeth Marshall,
Ontario Landowners Association
Updates needed
Dear Editor:
I live in the south east side of Fergus and have experienced constant brownouts this past year and more recently with the recent heat waves.
This past year I replaced many of our light fixtures and installed Edison LED lights, which have surge protection built into them (they are not cheap but the daylight model look fantastic).
However they are very sensitive to voltage drops, which is what a brownout is and do eventually go to full brightness after a few minutes thanks to the surge protector.
According to research I have done, a brownout is due to two reasons: our hydro infrastructure is inadequate for handling the extra load requirements during heat waves and/or more homes using hydro to charge their electric cars; and our hydro system is purposely reducing the voltage to prevent a total blackout due to an inadequate infrastructure.
In any case, it is advisable to unplug your electronic devices during brownouts until Centre Wellington Hydro can get the infrastructure system upgraded.
Paul Roberts,
Fergus