New Pandemic Arises: Attack on the Environment
March madness had a new meaning this past season for basketball fans and the greater community alike; it marked the start of Covid-19. Yet, when it comes to the natural environment, Canada has not been sinking any baskets lately. Before March, movements such as Fridays 4 Future, and international discussions… READ MORE
Province of Ontario to exercise power over Conservation Authorities
The Ford government is changing the way planning decisions are made, providing a way for their own ministry to override an approach that protects the long-term health of local watersheds. The changes are included in “The COVID Recovery Act” in Schedule 6. Schedule 6 changes the decades old relationship between… READ MORE
The new Covid-19 vaccines; a guide for my sister
My sister has reservations about the new RNA vaccine produced by Pfizer and Moderna that will likely be approved for Canadians very soon. She heard that the vaccine has to be kept in “super cold freezers” and her Facebook friends are concerned that if they roll up their sleeves, they… READ MORE
Eating Crow
It is not uncommon for editorials we run to seem logical when they are written, but end up being proven to have been misguided, after a bit of time has passed. Last week, however, that editorial “Yellow zoned out” started to be shaky before it was even printed. When it… READ MORE
Yellow 'zoned out'
Kingston Frontenac Public Health has designated the entire region as a COVID-19 yellow zone as of Monday, November 23rd. On the four COVID-19 zones, as have been designated by the Province of Ontario, yellow is the second least restrictive, after green. It is followed by orange and red, and there… READ MORE
What the winter may hold for us
For the moment, we remain in a sweet spot as far as COVID-19 is concerned in Frontenac County. Our current case count is 0, and our total case count of 17 cases over the entire pandemic is about 0.2% of the caseload in 9.5% of the Ontario average (per capita).8.4%… READ MORE
Root causes of tax rate differences in Frontenac County
The Frontenac News ran an editorial two weeks ago (Vol. 20, edition 41, October 29) about a consultant’s report on how to improve the delivery of services from a cost and efficiency point of view in Frontenac County. The option of full integration of service delivery, municipal amalgamation, was not… READ MORE
Lockdown's. restrictions and our MPP
Lanark Frontenac Kingston MPP Randy Hillier has been carrying on a campaign against the restrictions that are in place in Ontario as part of a society wide attempt to keep the COVID-19 pandemic from infecting the general population. In Mr. Hillier's view, and that of a group of people, experts… READ MORE
Time to talk integration for Frontenac Municipalities
Early this year, Frontenac County took advantage of provincial grant money to fund a service delivery review for services delivered by the four Frontenac Townships and the upper tier, county level as well. The review was somewhat secretive. Strategy Corp, an Ottawa based consulting firm, conducted the it All that… READ MORE
Contemplating winter with the COVID
There was a point, during the heat of the summer, when new COVID-19 infections were as rare as snowflakes in July, and life under the ‘new normal’ was indeed pretty normal for many of us. The opportunity to gather in backyards, parks and beaches and cottage docks and lawns, to… READ MORE
A drum of hope
I prepared an editorial about the second wave of COVID19 and the challenge it will bring to our communities in the coming months, for this week’s edition. But after witnessing the ceremony at Granite Ridge Education Centre earlier today, I decided that the pandemic will still be here next week… READ MORE
Who benefits from crowded schools?
"Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly,” says Dr. Tedros Adhanom, the Director-General World Health Organization. He is right. I am a grade 8 student at Module Vanier, and have started this school year in a full-blown pandemic. I must wear a mask from the moment I… READ MORE
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
The Chanukah holiday traditions are pretty well known in the larger community, mainly because the holiday takes place during the pre Christmas season. However, the most important Jewish holidays, the High Holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, usually occur in September. With the Rosh Hashana getting underway this weekend,… READ MORE
Teachers, parents and school-aged children to the forefront now
The return to school is complicated, and the true character of the experience will vary for every family, every classroom, and every school. Schools are publicly funded, bureaucratic institutions. They are administered by employees of school boards, which approve every penny they spend, and all of the protocols they follow.… READ MORE
Can’t you see it my way
Kingston City Council was relatively calm, resigned, dissappointed, and a tad, ok more than a tad, self righteous on Tuesday Night when, following the lead of Mayor Paterson, they agreed to turn the other cheek and abandon any attempts to reason with Frontenac County over how much City ratepayers will… READ MORE
Return to school a case of managing risk
A teacher from Los Angeles by the name of Tom Rademacher summed up the dilemma around schools reopening this September, back on June 7, in a pithy tweet: “Going back to school in the fall is a bad idea. Doing distance learning in the fall is a bad idea. Some… READ MORE
