The Highland Games, fall fairs and packed public events – it seems like things are back to normal.
Within that return to having fun and getting to do all things social, we have numerous friends off this week with COVID-19.
Fortunately, symptoms have been limited to something like a really bad case of the flu. Hopefully that remains the case.
Some still choose for their own reasons to be careful and mask when in public, but by and large the public is out and about enjoying themselves.
Life is fun again – so thankful.
Making a list
The Centre Wellington Community Foundation circulated an online survey to aid in developing questions and themes for their upcoming candidate night.
Like readers and attendees, we will find it interesting to see how the labyrinth of options works its way into questions of substance. Over time, governments of all stripes and levels have interwoven their interests so much so it would be a stretch to believe local leaders can have much impact on some subjects.
Take planning, for instance – the federal government brings immigrants in, the provinces dictate where growth is to happen, the county confirms it, and local municipalities deal with it.
The “dealing with it” part isn’t easy and morphs into conversations surrounding heritage, culture, environmental factors, density, servicing and road standards. Looming over those issues is the chance for developers to take the matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), negating local input.
Similar things can be said about health care, meeting seniors’ needs, mental health issues and accessible food.
It is difficult with limited budgets to address all issues, but with some thought and tenacity reaching out to other levels of government, good things can happen locally.
