Put a price on it
Dear Editor:
If so many people in Wellington County are against selling our water for commercial purposes (and I am among them), and if all else fails and a permit is granted anyway, why does the township not put a prohibitive price on the water?
If Nestlé Waters accepts, at least the township will receive something in return.
Christine Baron,
Fergus
‘Cart before the horse’
Dear Editor:
Is Erin town council and the mayor living in a bubble devoid of any reality? They have gone ahead with awarding a contract for the design of the new wastewater treament plant at probably the most inappropriate time.
They claim this won’t cost the taxpayer anything. They are spreading falsehoods. I would ask, do they have any formal commitments from developers to proceed with development? Have the developers committed to a specific cost or development charges related to this facility? Has the provincial or federal government committed to any funding? I think I could safely say the answer to all these questions is no.
Given the current and future economic climate, you pretty much can’t count on anything.
The finance director has claimed there will be a cash flow issue. Who is going to pay to finance this?
This is foolhardy and irresponsible. The perfect analogy in this case is “the cart before the horse”.
This should only proceed when all commitments are in place and development occurs in tandem with the construction of this wastewater treatment facility. This mayor and council need to go!
Stephen Charbonneau,
Hillsburgh
A wake-up call
Dear Editor:
If the current pandemic is not a wake-up call to the federal and provincial governments then we are all in deep trouble.
It has proven how mishandled and underfunded our health care system is; under paid essential workers and outdated facilities. It is time to give these workers full-time hours of work at one facility, not part-time hours and no benefits, thus forcing them work at multiple facilities and be exposed to illnesses or expose illnesses to multiple patients.
This is a result of government underfunding and mismanagement on our government priorities, forcing hospitals and long-term care facilities to cut back on the number of workers (benefits and full time are a big cost in any business). After all, how long have we been paying extra health taxes in Ontario when we do our income taxes, and what has it got us? Ask people who have lost loved ones in long term care/ retirement homes!
Let’s all pray our governments do the right thing and fix this mess.
Paul Roberts,
Fergus
‘Grow up’
Dear Editor:
I live near the intersection of Scotland Street and Belsyde Avenue in Fergus. Since the “stay-at-home” mandate due to COVID-19, my neighbours and I have been witnessing a lot of senseless disregard for the posted speed limits.
There are a multitude of drivers that, of late, continually use Scotland Street (from Belsyde to St. Andrews) as a speedway; the under-25 crowd in their tiny loud cars and the majority, family types, driving a variety of vehicles.
Now drivers, ask yourselves this: if you have children, how would you like me and my neighbours driving through your neighbourhood at 70 to 90km/h? You would be screaming for police help!
We have children as well – some have to cross Scotland Street from time to time. Do we need special times or perhaps a pass to do so? Maybe you would like a speed bump halfway down the hill – would that slow you down?
Really folks, grow up. A driver’s licence is, and always has been, a privilege – not a right. It is yours to lose.
JB Martin,
Fergus
‘Echo chambers’
Dear Editor:
In this time of social and physical distancing, we rely on social media and other media to be our primary source of contact with others. When we listen to and engage with people who think like us and sound like us, we enter echo chambers where we hear only our own voice and voices that agree with us repeated and amplified. We are unlikely to hear other voices.
In those moments when we do hear views different than our own, they are expressed not by flesh and blood people, but through articles, sound bites and memes curated by people from our echo chamber.
Before COVID-19, walking on the street, in coffee shops, and fast food places, I would hear a variety of voices. People talking about things I had never experienced, or speaking from a perspective I had never thought of. These flesh-and-blood people thought differently than I did. They were not a sound-bite, not a meme, not a punch line – they were real people with views that challenged mine.
Hearing their voices enriched my life, pulled me out of my echo chamber of talking with people who sound and think like me.
The echo chambers we presently live and function in are not good for social discourse or for community building. We need to hear views we disagree with. Those who disagree with us have views which if expressed in a civil manner need to be heard. Hearing the voices of flesh and blood people who think differently than we do is good for us and individuals and important for our well-being as a community.
I hope, even in the midst of COVID-19, that we can find ways to get out of the echo chambers in which we presently live.
Peter Bush,
Fergus
Gun debate
Dear Editor:
RE: Applauds gun ban, May 21.
For someone claiming to have over 20 years experience in the armed forces teaching marksmanship, Terry Filce knows surprisingly very little about firearms.
Any firearm that is legal to own in Canada has already been subjected to rigorous testing in the RCMP’s FRT lab, and they have deemed it not easily converted to automatic. Firearms that do not pass their testing have long since been prohibited in Canada to own.
I invite Filce to provide an example of a YouTube video that demonstrates how a legally purchased firearm in Canada can be easily converted to full automatic, as he stated.
Robert Dunlop,
Rockwood
Illegal guns the issue
Dear Editor:
RE: Applauds gun ban, May 21.
Absolute shock is what I felt when I read Terry Filce’s letter about the gun ban! Not because of his point he made about assault weapons “that make shooters feel macho”, but the fact that firearms were a large part of his life.
Surely he would sympathize with gun enthusiasts nationwide, purely based on his experience. He probably saw firsthand the joy a well placed group of shots bring to a shooter, or the elation when the gong is struck by a novice 9mm happy hand gun owner. That’s what I don’t get about this ban; these firearms are only prohibited because of their looks? Oh well, it’s only the recreational shooters that suffer, right? No big deal (heavy sarcasm here).
If that’s the case, then let’s not stop at firearms, lets ban all recreational activities that can’t be justified as utilitarian. Let us prohibit the sale of all sports cars, pickup truck lift kits, dirt bikes, snowmobiles, crotch rockets … should I go on? I would definitely feel more macho if I owned any of those! But some would argue they are loud, obnoxious, unruly and not necessary. If you take away one’s “enjoyment of property” (as the Canadian bill of rights puts it) please be prepared, for others will fight to have yours removed as well.
The scariest part of all this drama was the way that our government handled the situation. Any proud Canadian who values democracy should be calling out the Liberals on this one, gun enthusiast or not. They banned over a thousand types of firearms through an order in council. Yah, guns have been put on that list before, but not to this scale. Should a minority government be allowed to wield this type of power? I think not! What kind of loop-hole will they find next?
Trudeau took advantage of the most tragic event in our history and twisted it to his advantage, all in the name of buying votes when he (probably) calls an early election. He doesn’t care about the honest law abiding citizen who really enjoys these firearms, he’s only in this game for himself. As Andrew Scheer and any other rational person would say, the gangs and illegal gun smuggling have got to go first!
Let’s please focus the money and resources on that, and let’s make some real progress!
Doug Vanderveen,
Belwood
Bottle drive a success
Dear Editor:
On May 16 the Optimist club of Centre Wellington Fergus and the Royal Canadian Legion Fergus Branch 275 joined together to run a bottle drive in support of the Centre Wellington Food Bank.
The response from the citizens of our community was incredible. From 9:15am until after 2pm there was a steady line of vehicles delivering bottles.
Both organizations would like to thank all of you for your generosity. We would also like to thank the Wellington Advertiser and the Grand 101.1 for promoting this worthwhile endeavour. There are others to thank as well; Shoppers Drug Mart for a donation of masks, and Grand River Pharmacy for a donation of gloves. Both of these donations made for a safer environment for the volunteers who worked tirelessly to sort and pack the bottles.
Jim Fleming of Fleming Fast Freight provided a truck and trailer to load and store the donations until they can be safely returned to the beer store. The Tim Hortons on St. Andrews Street provided coffee and Timbits to keep workers’ spirits high.
The combined efforts of all these contributors shows what a community can do when we all work together. At this time the total raised for the food bank is not yet known but a 45-foot trailer filled with refundable bottles will provide much help for people in our community.
Jim Dandy,
president, Optimist Club of Centre Wellington – Fergus and
Randy Graham,
president, Royal Canadian Legion Fergus Branch 275
Trail safety
Dear Editor:
We are so blessed to have rail trails in this area. These are multiuse for walking, running, bicycling and even skiing. On the weekend many people, children, dogs and bicycles used the trails. It would be wonderful if all the bicycle riders would ring their bells, blow their horns or shout their presence when they pass on the left. Let’s play safe!
Margaret and Harold Plue,
Elora
Looking for sibling
Dear Editor:
I’m writing to ask your readers for some help. I’m looking for my youngest sibling. She was born in BC in the spring or early summer in 1969.
Birth parents are Maisie Lea Fish and Timothy O’Rourke, also known as Eric Gordon Collins. Tim and Maisie did a road trip in the summer of 1969 to Ontario with my baby sister. They visited the Toronto, Huntsville and Erin areas. When they returned there was no baby. We were told she was left with a family friend to be raised.
Since both birth parents are deceased and talked to some of the relatives of Tim, we haven’t been able to locate her. Yet, a few of the relatives know about her.
We would like to make contact with her to let her know she has three other half siblings born to Maisie that would love to meet her.
If anyone knows anything, contact us at stefonah@yahoo.ca).
Terry Jones,
Nanaimo, BC