Mail bag: 09/24/26
Out-of-town ‘claims’
Dear Editor:
Residents deserve straight answers about the proposed AI data centre at 865 Gartshore St. in Fergus, and so far, we’re getting the opposite.
At the recent town hall in Waterloo, Spur Innovation representatives told the room the facility would be capped at 10 megawatts (MW), with no expansion planned. This is not in line with what their own earlier materials said. Documented project roadmaps and factsheets describe a Phase 1 of 25 to 35MW, scaling to 50 to 75MW, and eventually 300MW. Which number are we supposed to believe?
The cooling story has shifted just as sharply. Spur originally marketed a closed-loop system using the site’s existing pond that would be efficient and quiet. At the town hall, that plan was dropped entirely in favor of a 100% air-cooled system.
Developers insist this won’t be noisy at the property line, even at 100MW-plus, but the sound demo they offered was of a 5MW facility that’s still liquid-cooled (as per their website) – not the air-cooled system actually being proposed. Industrial air cooling at that scale runs on banks of exhaust fans and chillers – that’s not quiet.
Then there’s the environmental claim. The Fergus site has documented historical contamination with polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs). Developers offered only verbal assurance that the site has already been remediated to provincial standards – no documentation has been provided to back this up. As of September 2026, there’s no Record of Site Condition on file with the Ontario Environmental Site Registry confirming this. A verbal assurance is not proof of a completed cleanup.
Three separate claims on power capacity, cooling methods and site remediation have each changed between what was documented and what was said out loud, and none has been backed with binding specifics.
Before Centre Wellington council votes on a data centre moratorium residents should demand written, verifiable commitments, not verbal reassurance at a Q&A held outside of town.
Chris Musgrave,
Fergus
‘Still waiting’
Dear Editor:
RE: Committee endorses homelessness plan but delays vote, Sept. 17.
I don’t work in housing policy, I’m just someone who lives here, drives past the “for rent” signs, and has watched rents climb in this county faster than most of us can keep up with.
So when I saw the numbers behind “A Place to Call Home,” I had to say something. At the end of 2025, 3,582 households in Guelph and Wellington were waiting for rent-geared-to-income housing. Only 166 were housed all year. Do the math, and it would take more than 20 years to clear that list – and that’s assuming no one new ever joins it, which we know isn’t realistic. The plan itself warns that homelessness here could more than triple by 2030, from 263 people to over 1,000, if nothing changes.
That’s not an abstract policy problem to me. That’s neighbours, and possibly people I pass at the grocery store, waiting years for something as basic as a safe place to live.
I understand this plan checks a box the province requires every five years. But I don’t want my county’s housing strategy to be something we did because we had to. I want it to be something we actually believe will work. And I share the concern some Guelph councillors raised: there are no hard targets in this plan. No specific number of units, no timeline, nothing residents like me can hold council to later. It’s hard to trust a 10-year plan when we won’t even know, year to year, whether it’s succeeding.
It also bothered me to learn councillors got the full document the Friday before Labour Day weekend. A plan this important deserves more than a rushed read over a long weekend.
Council takes this up again in October. I hope they slow down, add real targets and remember that behind every number in that report is a family in Wellington County still waiting.
Margherita Tabone,
Rockwood
‘Real and meaningful’
Dear Editor:
An open letter to the community.
Thank you all for turning an idea into something real and meaningful.
To the organizers who met month after month to plan the inaugural Ride to Remember and Renew fundraising cycling event, to the volunteers who stepped forward to bring those plans to life, to the riders and fundraisers who embraced the opportunity to give back and to the sponsors whose generosity helped cover costs: thank you. Each of you has shown what is possible when a community comes together with purpose, compassion and hope.
At first, a hospice and a trailway may seem like unlikely partners. Yet when we look more closely, their connection is both natural and powerful.
The trailway is free for everyone to use, just as hospice care is provided at no cost to those who need it. Both, however, depend on ongoing community support to meet their operating needs. Both offer comfort, reflection and respite from the demands of a busy world. They create space to pause, reflect, connect with nature, and remember what matters most: our relationships, our well-being and the strength we find in one another.
Today’s success reminds us that neither of these treasured community resources can thrive on goodwill alone. They need our time, voices, generosity and continued commitment. Every donation, sponsorship, volunteer hour, shared message, and act of encouragement helps ensure that comfort, care and connection remain available to all.
Let us carry the spirit of our Sept. 19 cycling event forward. Together, we can support the trailway, strengthen hospice care, and continue building a community where no one walks – or rides – their journey alone. Thank you for your generosity, compassion, and for showing the extraordinary difference a caring community can make.
Sarah Gower, Ian MacRae and Alan Simpson,
Elora Cataract Trailway and Aboyne Rural Hospice Association
Chicken ‘infrastructure’
Dear Editor:
Mere days away from election day, all candidates for all elected positions continue to ignore the single most pressing issue facing residents of Elora and Fergus.
We are now a community of close to 30,000 people without a KFC. The closest KFC is in north Guelph, over 20 kilometers away.
To my knowledge, there has been no discussion about the construction of an LRT system linking Fergus directly with the KFC location on Weber Street in Guelph. To my knowledge, there has been no discussion about organizing a delegation of local politicians and concerned citizens to travel to Louisville to negotiate a new location in our fair city.
Why haven’t Marl Carney and his trade negotiators not once mentioned the dire KFC situation in north Wellington County?
We are a community surrounded by chicken farms without the production infrastructure needed to turn said chickens into delicious food.
Walter O’Rourke,
Elora
Roundabout location?
Dear Editor:
I’ve lived within shouting distance from the corner of Trafalgar Road and Erin/East Garafraxa Townline for 40 years and each year there are countless collisions. Damage to property and life-altering injuries continue in spite of the red/orange flashing light.
Traffic coming from north and south advance at 80km/h-plus speeds and travel from curves that can inhibit sight lines for vehicles approaching from all four directions.
There are no defined left turning lanes so cars pass on the inside, which can result in dangerous situations.
Roundabouts are a good solution in reducing speed and serious accidents – maybe one should be considered here.
Paul Griffith,
Erin
Water walk
Dear Editor:
From Sept. 20 to 25, local residents will see the All Nations Grand River Water Walk pass through Centre Wellington. Participants are carrying water from Lake Erie all the way back to the Grand River’s source in Dundalk. It is a peaceful initiative meant to honor the river, but it also serves as a perfectly timed reminder of our local history.
Because the Grand River runs through Elora and Fergus, our community sits directly within the historical Haldimand Tract. With Phase 1 of the monumental Six Nations v. Canada trial scheduled to begin in October, it is an ideal time for our community to become fully informed on the matter.
While many residents are aware of the tract in a general sense, partial information can sometimes lead to confusion. For instance, I have noticed occasional comments on local Facebook pages expressing concern that the Six Nations land claim could impact private residential property or lead to the seizure of homes.
In reality, the legal action brought forward by the Six Nations of the Grand River is directed entirely at the federal and provincial governments, seeking financial accountability for historical Crown land mismanagement. It poses no threat to private homeowners.
The upcoming Water Walk is a wonderful opportunity for the Advertiser to publish an informative, localized article outlining the actual facts and history of the Haldimand Tract. Providing clear, factual context will ensure that those who are unfamiliar with the case – or those who only have partial knowledge – can understand the situation accurately as neighbours.
Jeannette Collins,
Elora
‘Cheap retrofits’
Dear Editor:
The low concrete bike lane barriers on Scottsdale Drive in Guelph have become an urgent safety concern that highlights a broader municipal planning issue across Wellington County.
These retrofitted curb dividers are continually struck and shattered by traffic and maintenance equipment. In multiple spots, the concrete has crumbled away entirely, leaving sharp steel rebar exposed directly in active roadway lanes. One damaged barrier on Scottsdale Drive has sat completely unaddressed since June 11. Beyond the immediate hazard to tires and pedestrians, the narrowed road width creates daily bottlenecks for transit, emergency vehicles and school buses.
Our community supports safe active transportation, but cheap “curb and bollard” retrofits fail all road users and create unnecessary fiscal liabilities for taxpayers.
As municipal election discussions heat up, our community is urging leadership to immediately audit and remove these damaged concrete hazards. Long-term, municipalities should invest in proper off-road, divided boulevard multi-use pathways – similar to College Avenue – that protect cyclists without compromising road width, transit access or winter snowplowing.
Brittany Scott,
Guelph
‘Posturing, flexing’
Dear Editor:
Well here we are with tariffs counter tariffs and as expected it is escalating.
I have been saying for months now we cannot win a trade war with the United States. Should we accept the verbal abuse from the president? Of course not, but the verbal diarrhea is not about negotiations. I negotiated serious contracts during my work career and what all should know is that until the words final offer are put on table negotiations are not over.
Unless of course one side or the other, for posturing or flexing reasons, wants to make a rarely used move to distract. Well, there were by-elections coming.
The reason I am completely convinced there was no final offer is recently the U.S. said that it was at near final offer and there was no dispute from Canadian officials. So Canada walked away from negotiations at the 11th hour. So what did we walk away from?
Our prime minister went to Europe where Europen Union (EU) leaders have mused about Canada joining the EU. Where was the outrage to that?
We need this trade deal with the U.S., not with EU, which needs nothing but oil gas from us, which we can’t economically get there.
Doak McCraney,
Guelph
‘Mismanaged hell’
Dear Editor:
RE: ‘Captain and commander,’ Sept. 17.
I am not sure whether to express disgust, concern or contempt for Bronwen Stanley-Jones’s letter.
You see, we did have a masterful “captain and commander” in Justin Trudeau’s predecessor. Stephen Harper skillfully managed our country through one of the worst economic downturns on record and we hardly felt a blimp in our economy. All this while trying to deal with ever increasing socialist/communist adversaries, which includes his fellow MPs, our bloated bureaucracies and our state financed CBC and mainstream media.
It is people like Stanley-Jones that have the ability to hold their/our own government accountable for the deteriorating conditions/economy we are experiencing in our own country. Yet, they insist that Donald Trump (they have no say in his electoral standing) is responsible for our woes. It is hard to imagine an attitude that is more naive or entitled.
I personally think us Canadians have suffered through three prime ministers that have done everything possible to undermine our rights, freedoms and ability to function with relative autonomy and independence: Pierre Trudeau, Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney.
What really pisses me off is our insistence on giving all of them a free pass, when each one should be or have been removed from office.
I pray our country will recover from the mismanaged hell we find ourselves falling into.
Wayne Baker,
Wellington North
‘Mad king Donnie’
Dear Editor:
RE: Don’t vote Liberal, Sept. 17.
This letter makes sense only if the writer shares Donald Trump’s opinion of himself. I do not, so I can’t believe that Pierre Poilievre or any other patriotic Canadian could reach an acceptable agreement with mad king Donnie.
Ken Lancaster,
Rockwood