Letters_12-08
Back to Home Letters - March 1, 2012
Letters: Mar 1
Re: Scott Reid's "Polls", Dennis E. McDermott
Frontenac Heritage Festival, Rosemarie & Bill Bowick
Rescue on Sharbot Lake, Ian Whillans
Big Brother is calling, Ken Fisher
The Conservative Party, John McEwen
A Big Enough Ompah Fire Hall, Leo Ladouceur
Central Frontenac roads, Ross McLean
Warning Re: computer scams, Ron Hipfner
To Scott Reid, MP Re: Online Spying, Steev Morgan
Re: Black Rat Snake, Niclole McGrath
Re: Scott Reid's Polls
I agree with other writers to Frontenac News who find Scott Reid's "polls" silly, annoying, wasteful, ill-informed, etc.. But what I really dislike is the assumption that just because we're small town and rural, that we're therefore stupid.
Dennis E. McDermott
Frontenac Heritage Fsestival
We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the organizers on a very successful "Frontenac Heritage Festival". Each event was well planned out, right down to our very special Bear. We had a wonderful and fun time.
Bravo! Thank you
Rosemarie & Bill Bowick
Rescue on Sharbot Lake
I remember thinking last week while I was sitting in the sunroom enjoying a good glass of homemade wine, watching the deer feeding at the feed pile, how lucky I was. I had a new truck and ATV, a wife who loves me and good friends who respect me and cherish the times we spend together. I actually said out loud “Life is good”. Then just like that; my life took a plunge, literally!
I went ice fishing last Thursday on Sharbot Lake. Then I felt for one second how fleeting life can be as I and the ATV plunged into the cold water. After taking a short and speedy swim I found myself standing on good ice; I ran to the shore. Wet and exhausted, I called 911 at the Treasure Trunk.
Mark Powell first arrived on his ATV; we went out to where the ATV was floating in the lake, he called Fire and Rescue, and within minutes two more volunteer firemen arrived, Bill Young Jr. and Spencer Robinson donning rescue dry suits. Ice anchors were fastened and Jonathan Desroche arrived with a second ATV to help pull my ATV out of the lake if required. Apparently Glen Moase was the liaison on shore communicating with the crew on the ice.
Within a short time Mark’s ATV was anchored to the ice anchors with rope; Bill and Spence entered the cold water and attached the winch cable to my ATV and seconds later my ATV was out of the water and on the ice. Mr. Desroche explained to me what was required to get my ATV running again. Drain all the fluids and water out of the machine, is all I heard.
For an instant I cried inside, I was alive and safe and my ATV was out! I would like to thank the Central Frontenac Fire and Rescue Department and particularly Mark Powell, Bill Young Jr., Spence Robinson, Jonathan Desroche and Glen Moase for coming to my rescue.
So to all you readers, don’t take life for granted, “Life is good”. But when your life does take a surprising turn, thank God we have friends and neighours who have the skills and training to rescue us in our time of need.
Ian Whillans
Big Brother is calling
A few months ago I received a phone call from ‘Big Brother’. It came in the form of a call from a ‘high-powered salesman’ purporting to be doing a survey. Would I answer the question: “Are we being hard enough on illegal immigrants?” “Is Canada doing enough to stop illegal immigration?” The nature of the question implied a level of racism and paranoia. It was designed to appeal to my baser instincts. It had nothing to do with the effective federal government policies that are already in place. I quickly got it that the call was not about the content, but about identifying me as a Conservative supporter or as a non-Conservative supporter. I failed the test. For sure in some Federal Conservative play-book for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington I am listed as a ‘them’ not an ‘us’.
Ken Fisher
The Conservative party
There were some excellent observations regarding the Conservative Party and our own MP's failings: gun registry gone, prison farms gone, Kyoto gone, local food production diminished, a G-20 spending mentality, sham inflammatory "polls", more prisons & prisoners. Last week's observations covered Harper's abrogation of Universal Health Care and cutting Old Age Security for Canada's most vulnerable. And let's not forget the 65 F-35(s) and the four submarines we must have to fight some-one?
"Press time" probably excluded mention of the "you're with us or you are with the pedophiles" Act, as proposed by Vic Toews, apparently the last man anyone should be accepting "lessons in morality" from. And as of Thursday last it looks as though the "get tough on crime" Conservatives may be responsible for breaking Canada's Elections Laws again (this would mark the fourth time by my count). Should it prove that Conservatives are responsible for the robo-calls repressing Liberal & NDP voters, Elections Canada should do its job and insist on new elections for the eighteen ridings in question. Perhaps the Conservatives do not legitimately have the razor thin majority they claim as their "universal" mandate.
P.S. Re: "Snake Police", according to CBC radio the neighbour's principal objection was not the pig butchering or meat sharing; it was that the carcass was simply dragged into the bush for disposal.
John McEwen
A Big Enough Ompah Fire Hall
This letter was originally published as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly regarding North Frontenac Township’s plans to construct a mini fire hall rather than a structure big enough to serve its intended purpose.Every local citizen who depends on emergency services and every Ompah Volunteer Firefighter realizes the desperate need for the proposed Ompah Ambulance/Fire Hall facility. After all the negotiating, hassling, planning, and political posturing between Frontenac County Council and North Frontenac Municipal Council it appears the Ambulance Base/Fire Hall project is closer to fruition. That’s The Good Part.Normally when constructing a new township building or facility it would be designed based on the actual space requirements and needs to be accommodated. Taxpayers do not want to see their money wasted on a fire hall that is too small to adequately accommodate those needs. Township and fire department staff have established that the new Ompah Fire Hall requires a minimum area of 3,000 square feet to meet its operational and safety requirements. Since Council knows what must be built and where they will build it they now must find a way to finance it and build it – but build it right. Let’s move to The Bad Part. There are some North Frontenac councilors whose support for a new hall is conditional on a limited square footage. They insist on stuffing the new fire hall into a shoe box size of 2750 square feet. This is contrary to the advice of Township’s own staff, which is hired and are paid for their expertise in construction, finance and emergency services. The Ugly Part would follow if all of Council were to agree to this size restriction and build a white elephant. Let’s not go there! Whatever is saved today in tax dollars would be both false economy and poor financial management. The so-called savings would come back to haunt us by double or triple when the project is rekindled in a year or two. That’s when Council would have to consider approving a building expansion.Let’s go back to The Good Part again and trust that Council will listen to reason and approve a fire hall large enough to accommodate the requirements and needs for which it is intended – large enough is a minimum of 3,000 square feet. If the township intends to spend public tax dollars and funds raised by the fire department volunteers it should be for an emergency facility that is at least large enough that it can be used.
Leo Ladouceur
Central Frontenac Roads
In the Frontenac News a couple of weeks ago, the "Friends of Arden" were talking of new signs for Arden. Central Frontenac should make some for each end of Arden Road, #7 Highway, Clark Road and 90% of the other roads in Central Frontenac: "THE ROADS DO IMPROVE WHEN YOU GET OUT OF CENTRAL FRONTENAC TOWNSHIP”. The taxes keep going up and the potholes going down in this area.
Ross McLean
Warning Re: computer scams
I, and my neighbor, have been receiving calls regularly from scam artists from “Windows” claiming that there is something wrong with our computers and they are going to help us fix the issue. This is a scam. “Windows” is not a company, it’s a product from Microsoft and, believe me, Microsoft does not call anyone to assist in fixing your computer. They want you to download a program called “Teamviewer” which allows them to remotely access your computer. They can then steal anything interesting, like your sign-on codes, accounts and passwords for online banking, credit cards, email services, Facebook, etc. The people who call us have Indian accents. They call every week or so and are very persistent. Do not give them an email address because even receiving an email from them can trigger bad news for your computer and, possibly, your bank accounts. If you have downloaded Teamviewer remove it immediately (through the Control Panel). And contact every one of your banks and credit card companies as soon as possible to check on suspicious withdrawals and transactions. I’ve been in the computer business for decades and I can guarantee that these people are attempting to steal from you.
Ron Hipfner
Hon. Mr. Reid, Re: Online Spying
I am writing to you to address concerns about the new on-line surveillance bill, C-30.
I have read your flyers and the positions you have supported on subjects such as the long gun registry and the long form census. You have always defended the small “c” conservative values of keeping Government from interfering in the private lives of ordinary citizens and protecting law abiding Canadians from being treated like criminals. I urge you to continue to stand up for us in this respect; by opposing Bill C-30 as it is now written.
Although I’m sure Bill C-30 is a complex piece of legislation I implore you to study it, since even Mr. Toews has admitted publicly that he is not aware of all the ways this bill makes it easier for police and others to spy on regular citizens. He said, "This is the first time that I'm hearing [that] this [Bill C-30] somehow extends ordinary police emergency powers [to telecommunications]. In my opinion, it doesn't. And it shouldn't."(1).
Section 17 of the Act does state that under certain circumstances “Any police officer may, orally or in writing, request a telecommunications service provider to provide the officer with the information referred to in subsection 16(1)”. (2) That is: name, address, telephone number, email address, Internet protocol, address, and local service provider identifier (3). As the government’s privacy website states, these identifiers have a huge potential for abuse. (4)
Section 33 states that "The Minister may designate persons or classes of persons as inspectors for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of this Act."(5)
Clearly this means that not only the police will have access to our information. Anyone the government chooses to designate can enter an Internet or phone service facility and "examine any document, information or thing found in the place and open or cause to be opened any container or other thing." He or she may also "use, or cause to be used, any computer system in the place to search and examine any information contained in or available to the system."(5)
Since Internet criminals (like gun criminals) can, and do, use means to obscure their personal information, then this act is only really useful for monitoring the activities of the regular citizens who will have to foot the bill as well.
I respectfully request that you join other members of your party (6) who are demanding major amendments or the withdrawal of this intrusive bill.
Steev Morgan
Re: Black Ratsnake
“Our” forest. We love to live here, my family and our neighbours in the Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve. It’s spectacular, unique, a bit fragile because of human activity. Its flora and fauna, common and rare species, are doing their part to keep the forest whole and balanced.
We received a letter from the MNR about the proposed regulations for the Gray Rat Snake (also called Black or Eastern Ratsnake), asking for our input and comments. Their contact information was supplied. The letter reached landowners on locations where the threatened snake had been seen and reported to the MNR, but not all sightings are reported.
We see two around our home on occasion, an adult and another half the length, slow, passive, harmless. The sightings are rare and always a happy moment, our home still healthy enough for a threatened species to live here. That this rare animal be considered for protection will help to protect its territory - the whole living forest - in which we intend to live long, healthy lives.
Friends and neighbors also said seeing the Gray Rat Snake on their land was good news.
The large snake sunbathes on our roof, and sheds its skin in the garden’s rocks along the walls. Do we fear being limited in our activities because of MNR regulations? Of course not. But we do want to know what the Ratsnake needs, what a natural thermo-regulating perch or shedding place might look like so that we don’t remove these. An educational video on the Black Rat Snake provided contact info for the MNR biologist responsible for this region, Shaun Thomson. Through friends and local groups, we found two more contacts: Cam McCauley at the Frontenac Stewardship Council, and Martin Streit, Leeds –Grenville Stewardship Council. Glenn Desy is MNR contact to whom we can send comments on proposed regulations.
Getting information and sharing points of view was no problem; discussions with Mr. Thomson and Mr. McCauley, were interesting and led to exchange of ideas.
There is openness to dialogue on how to help this peaceful snake survive. Fear not: there are no poisonous snakes in this area, nor do any have teeth, just a shallow bony ridge. Another challenge is keeping the balance between all the living elements in order for the forest itself to stay alive; endangered ones are indicators of what’s wrong.
MNR biologists provided educational material: a general pamphlet on the Gray Rat Snake, another for landowners, the video through the library, an invitation to a forum, a plan to host a public workshop this summer, a detailed plan to build a nesting box.
Education, as mentioned in the article of early in February (With friends like the MNR, the Black Rat snake might not need enemies, Feb 9/12), is something everyone seems to agree on. A community gathering with an MNR biologist present, where we share knowledge, ideas, concerns might be of interest. The door is open for dialogue. Don’t miss this opportunity.
Nicole McGrath
