Crunching the Budget Numbers
At least once every municipal budget year, someone asks why the Frontenac News don’t always report the same budget increase numbers as the local municipalities report. The first point is that all the numbers that we report come from the townships themselves. The difference is that some of the townships… READ MORE
Another Sad Sap Story
It started in late January. A friend(?) of mine leaned over to me while we were sitting in a restaurant and said, “have you tapped yet?” I was not ready to hear that. I said I was not going to be jumping at a January thaw, even in an El… READ MORE
North Frontenac Council Lost The Plot On Trail Grant Proposal
On February 2nd, North Frontenac Council had a full agenda for their regular meeting, the Christmas political lull being truly over. Council worked through a series of requests, with little fanfare. They listened to a detailed presentation about the township's various reserve funds, and the policies which have resulted in… READ MORE
Why is Nimbyism so constant, and who says it's bad?
Nimbyism is a boon to our business at the Frontenac News. In many cases, it is how we find out that something is happening, because someone contacts us to let is know about it. And more often than not, those people are the neighbouring property owners who have been informed… READ MORE
Amalgamation Of Local Health Units Inevitable, But Not Necessarily Wise
The Ontario Conservative government is not the first one that thought it would be a good idea for some of the small public health units, such as Kingston Frontenac Public Health (KFLAPH) to amalgamate with other smaller health units. Public health delivers services, such as dental screening of children and… READ MORE
A municipal response to climate change
As we begin a new year at the Frontenac News, it’s hard to predict what issues will come to the surface over the coming 12 months. There are already signs, however, that 2024 will be the year when climate change issues begin to filter down to municipal politics in our… READ MORE
Happy Christmas to our stalwart readers
2023 has been a year of change for many of us, certainly in the newspaper industry. Costs have jumped, most notably in the printing industry with the closing of the Metroland Plant in March. Luckily for us, another small business came though for us after a big media company walked… READ MORE
Troubled over Zionism
Almost 40 years ago, I wrote my first Christmas editorial. I was an editor of a student paper, at the time, after leaving the Jewish community in Montreal where I was raised.Where I grew up, Christmas was a day when we played hockey in backyard rinks. Ski hills would be… READ MORE
A Note To Readers Who Block Flyer Delivery By Canada Post
A couple of weeks ago, Canada Post began letting local post offices and community newspaper publishers, that as of January 8, 2024, they would be changing their policy regarding the delivery of community newspapers. Until now, when Canada Post customers inform their local post office that they do not want… READ MORE
Ontario Should Upload All Former Provincial Highways
It's too bad that Ontario Premier Doug Ford was not a former council member in Frontenac County instead of the City of Toronto. Because, if he was, then maybe Road 38 and Road 506/509 would have been uploaded last week instead of, or along with, the Don Valley Parkway and… READ MORE
There are Red Flags with the Alectra-Convergent Battery Storage Proposals in South Frontenac
The idea behind Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) is sound. If it is possible to store power that can be accessed instantly in order to maintain the integrity of the electricity grid at any time, then the path to replacing fossil fuel electrical generation with renewable sources is much smoother.… READ MORE
Unreasonable Behaviour Policy
Addington Highlands Council deferred passing their “Unreasonable Behaviour” policy this week, over Councillor Ken Hook's concern about who makes the final decision about imposing restrictions under the policy, but once that is sorted out there is no doubt the policy will be adopted by council. Addington Highlands is one of,… READ MORE
Independent Newspapers Outliving the Chains
There is a newspaper in Lanark. There is a newspaper in Westport, and there is a newspaper in Sharbot Lake. They all publish weekly and will continue to publish weekly. There is, or soon will be, no newspaper in Perth, Smiths Falls, Carleton Place, or Almonte. Carleton Place is the… READ MORE
The Minister is gone, But What About The MMAH
Much of the Premier of Ontario's talk about the housing crisis and the need to build 1.5 million homes has seemed to me to be a ruse to allow big time developers to make more and more profit. And nothing about what has transpired since the 2022 election, not the… READ MORE
We Need This Information
I was somewhat surprised by the lukewarm reaction of the Frontenac County Planning and Economic Development Advisory Committee to the proposal by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority to set up a Community Broadband Performance Testing Program for $4,000 per year. The committee approved a motion to pass it on the… READ MORE
Our Secret Weapon in Social Media Landscape
As of last week, as readers of our August 10 editorial are aware, the Frontenac News has been blocked from Facebook, presumably until the dispute between the Government of Canada and Meta is resolved. At the news, we are like a flea caught up in a battle between giants, to… READ MORE
