‘We have lost trust’
Dear Editor:
RE: Proposal amended but public opinion hasn’t changed on ‘Estill Innovation Community,’ June 29.
Thank you for creating awareness of this proposed industrial development. Our neighbourhood community believes the concerns cannot be dismissed as NIMBYism, as earlier suggested by Jim Estill.
Everyone has an obligation to protect the health and well being of both the environment and the people. We need to acknowledge well documented findings of serious physical and mental health issues impacting nature and humans when industry moves in.
We need to ensure that industry grows in a safe and proper way that minimizes this harmful impact. Mr. Estill has safe, suitable locations available. Industry clashes with nature and humans – they cannot coexist. Mr. Estill’s vision could be well received in an appropriate location.
Mr. Estill clearly stated in February that he “would not shoehorn his way in where he is not wanted.” We took him at his word, thinking he was abiding by his motto of “Do the right thing.” We were stunned to be told he afterwards purchased the farmland. A new design concept was presented, lacking in both honesty and transparency – e.g. superficial little “amenities” like a “seating area” labelled and highlighted, with vast paved areas of parking lots and endless truck bays not even identified.
We have lost trust. No amount of modification can prevent the overwhelming impact on quality of life. How can Mr. Estill describe these huge appliance and lumber warehouses (and unknown additional industry) as an agriculture and food hub? With Mr. Estill being recognized as a “community builder” and calling it an Innovation Community, it is ironic that, by building his so-called “community,” he will destroy a well established peaceful, much loved, nature and residential community in the process.
Everyone has a responsibility here – it is time to put health and well being ahead of poorly located industrial development – not just in our neighbourhood, but throughout our beloved Puslinch and far beyond.
Donna and Jim Christie,
Puslinch
‘A liveable future’
Dear Editor:
RE: Time to ‘wake up’? (June 22).
Everybody in the world who drives a gas-powered vehicle or burns fossil fuels to keep warm in the winter (and stay cool during increasingly hot summers) can learn from Ron Moore’s advice and actions to reduce his own climate-heating greenhouse gas emissions.
We all need to do our part. For Delsie Drover (Bubbles in the wind, June 29) to suggest we in Canada “are just blowing bubbles in the wind” until we stop ignoring China’s pollution, it’s also critical to reduce our own emissions.
Those aren’t bubbles floating over our heads these days. It’s smoke from record wildfires made worse by Canada’s failure to rein in the burning of fossil fuels.
Thank you Ron Moore for continuing to urge us to do what we can to reduce carbon emissions – and to give our kids a chance for a liveable future.
Liz Armstrong,
Erin
‘A really worthy cause’
Dear Editor:
On Saturday, July 8, my wife and I attended the Family Fun Day event at Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus.
This was an event organized by
“Team Addy”, in support of cancer research at Sick Kids Hospital. This was our first, and we were very impressed. My wife suggested we pass the word on – hence this submission.
For new (or even old) residents of Fergus who do not know, Addison Hill was a local teen who was diagnosed with sarcoma cancer. She went through a long, painful diagnosis/treatment program. From reports (TeamAddy.ca), she had good and bad times.
She organized “Team Addy” and they did a lot of events to raise funds for Sarcoma Cancer Research at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto (where she underwent treatment).
After her passing in July 2022, her family carried on her quest – and the 2023 events of ‘Team Addy’ continue – several, aside from the Family Day event last weekend. The ultimate goal is to raise funds for sarcoma cancer research, and to promote public awareness.
A 13-year-old started a Quest – and I believe most of us will support this in years to come – I know that we will.
This is, without a doubt, a great example of what we, the public, can do in unison. A 13-year-old showed us the way. It is up to us to support her legacy – a really worthy cause.
In 2022 – Team Addy raised over $215,000 for cancer research. We can do better in 2023.
Brian and Kathy Martin,
Fergus
‘Fiscal management’
Dear Editor:
It was interesting that your July 6 edition contained stories about a $386,500 single-stall outhouse in Elora and a possible property tax increase of up to 6% next year in Centre Wellington.
While perhaps not directly related because of Ottawa’s contribution to the high-tech outhouse, it does bring in to question the state of fiscal management in the township. That over $200,000 for the facility came from the federal government, not exactly a bastion of prudent fiscal management, is not much consolation. It is still taxpayer money.
I don’t how many users this washroom will accommodate in an hour, but a guess based on 10 to 15 minutes per user including cleaning time would be four to six per hour. That is not much washroom “relief” in the busy summer season!
I also wonder how many conventional washrooms could have been built with just the township’s contribution?
Craig Sullivan,
Fergus
‘Hard-won rights’
Dear Editor:
RE: Axe Pride, prevent hate? (June 29).
It is my view that people have the right, in most circumstances, to believe as they wish. Canada is a free country, after all.
On the other hand, rights enshrined in the law, civil rights, have often been grudgingly granted by the status quo, and ofttimes not at all. We have seen repercussions of this rigid patriarchy in the Civil Rights Movement, the Women’s Liberation Movement, and here and now, the fight for gender equality.
It is in light of the current situation that I must take issue with the simplistic solution proffered by Henry Brunsveld – i.e. “the elimination of ‘Pride’ events in schools.”
The majority and the least affected have always desired that these protests, agitations and celebrations be a bit more subdued – or better yet, nonexistent.
I would counter by saying that hard-won rights, those that are already on the books in the first place, deserve to be acknowledged and validated.
Allan Berry,
Fergus
‘A failure to prepare’
Dear Editor:
With the forest fire smoke blanketing southern Ontario over the past weeks, no one can ignore the fact of the out-of-control wildfires burning in northern Ontario and Quebec.
This is an appropriate time, then, to remind Ontarians that Premier Doug Ford, in 2019, cut Ontario’s Emergency Forest Firefighting budget by 67%. Funding was cut from $212 million to $69.8 million.
This was the same budget that cut funding for flood preparedness by 48%.
This first Ford budget, titled “Protecting What Matters,” focused on protecting jobs and getting money into the pockets of Ontarians.
But at what cost? What, exactly, was being protected, and what was put at risk? We knew in 2019 that the costs of extreme weather from climate change were on the rise.
This year’s budget allocated $135 million for Emergency Forest Firefighting, while the actual cost in 2021 was $237 million. There is no doubt that firefighting and saving our forests is underfunded.
Ford’s cuts were a failure to prepare for the fires that we knew would become more common and more dangerous.
Jan Beveridge,
Elora
Changed for the worse?
Dear Editor:
RE: Developer hopes to amend zoning to allow for grocery store in Elora, July 6.
I read with some amusement Debra Kropf’s comments in regards to the opposition to another grocery store opening in Elora. That she wanted it to remain beautiful. Well, that genie escaped the bottle years ago.
Gone are the days where winning teams would ride through town on the fire truck, or you could fart around down in the gorge alone for hours, unbothered.
Now, they are plowing up pristine farmers fields to build townhouses, we have traffic clogging, litter-inducing crappy old McDonald’s coming, and we can’t even see our own Tooth of Time unless I sneak past security, or rent a $1,000 room for the night.
You will notice I don’t even live in Elora anymore; I can’t afford to. Housing prices are through the roof, and if something semi-affordable does come up, it is generally scooped up, demolished and some monstrosity with no yard replaces it.
I am one of the residents that watched in horror what they did to our beautiful small town, while others rubbed their hands with glee, dollar signs glistening in their eyes.
Yes, Elora is changing, into what, I don’t know, nor do I have control over – but it certainly isn’t my small, beautiful town anymore.
Brett MacKenzie,
Alma
‘Does nothing’
Dear Editor:
RE: How tall is too tall? (July 6).
“The artists rendering for a proposal at 19 Mill St E. didn’t do the proponent any favours” is one of the best understatements of the year. In agreeing with Resa Lent, that structure at any height does nothing to complement the existing character of Elora.
Dave Scharman,
Elora
‘Monuments to capital’
Dear Editor:
RE: How tall is too tall? (July 6).
Kudos to Resa Lent for speaking in opposition to the proposed development at the base of Geddes Street in Elora. Resa’s voice should carry extra weight in view of her many contributions to life in the village over the years she has lived there.
Resa has always favoured development, and her generosity in supporting new and existing businesses is well known. Consequently, her opinion on the proposed six-storey building will, I hope, be taken seriously by any council that has to consider approving such a venture. Resa has aptly summed up the major concerns in her comments, and the artist’s rendering leaves no doubt about how out of place such a structure would be.
My voice cannot equal that of Resa’s, but I add it nonetheless. The “normal” pressure of growth and development of the village has been exacerbated greatly by the provincial government and its arbitrary targets for population expansion. But what strikes me as most analogous is a shark feeding frenzy.
It seems that one proposed development cannot stand alone—it must be accompanied by one, two, three or more additional projects, all of which serve to enhance the frenzy. If these projects are all approved,
and there is little indication that they will not be, the village of Elora will be unrecognizable to those of us who have known it since the 1970s.
Growth and change are inevitable parts of life, but excessive amounts of both can be detrimental to all living creatures so affected.
Please, listen to voices like Resa’s, and consider the wisdom contained therein. Once these behemoth buildings are in place, they will be there for a very, very long time. Do such monuments to capital really fit into our beloved Elora?
Richard Giles,
Alma
Dedication lauded
Dear Editor:
For someone to dedicate their whole working career to just one establishment is a disappearing trait. For three local men that is exactly what they have done.
Rick Flewelling (47 years and three months), Rick Bott (47 years, one month) and Bill McKee (46 years and 11 months), will all be retiring on July 14 after dedicating their entire working career to one factory in the northwest part of Fergus on Hill St. West.
These three men and countless other men and women over the years have gone to work there for 30, 40 and a few for over 50 years of their life.
This factory for many years was the go-to place in Fergus for employment. Many families have had fathers, brothers, uncles, mothers, sisters and aunts all choosing to work there.
These three men have all decided to retire on the same day with 141 years of seniority combined. All of the remaining employees, many of whom have known these men as brothers, wish them a long and happy retirement. You have earned it!
Over the next five or six years, 21 of the remaining employees in the warehouse, on the shop floor will have also reached retirement age. These 21 employees represent over 828 plus years of seniority.
I wish all of these brothers and sisters a long and happy retirement as well.
Emerson Woods,
Mount Forest
‘Mockery’ to veterans?
Dear Editor:
As a long and active member of Br. 275, Fergus Legion, I would like to ask who approved the placing of the ugly billboards across from our cenotaph.
Many served and many made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country.
I feel that it is a mockery to all that are remembered there and I ask you for your support.
Griff Manley,
Fergus
Poor-quality paint?
Dear Editor:
Last week, the township painted red the Elora Cataract Trailway pedestrian crossing at Frederick Campbell Street.
On July 10, less than a week later, on the sections where the car wheels roll on the crossing, the paint is already gone.
What kind of paint was used that won’t last even a week? I’m sure that we, the Centre Wellington taxpayers, paid for both the paint and the work.
Shouldn’t the township be using a paint that will last?
Anthony Martins,
Elora
‘Horrific … devastating’
Dear Editor:
The advocacy group, “Ontario Place for All” has challenged the rash decisions by the provincial government to gut both The Ontario Science Centre and Ontario Place.
This organization has requested a federal impact assessment for Ontario Place: both the Therme spa and the expanded Live Nation project is a big mistake and does not protect important natural resources.
The current Ontario Government has proposed privatizing large portions of Ontario Place. They would build a pricey mega-spa complex, run by the Austrian company, Therme.
We will have to pay an estimated $650 million toward this investment, which most of us will not be able to afford. The lease is for 95 years!
The West Island in particular, because of this frantic development, would see the infilling of Lake Ontario, the destruction of 850 mature trees, and decimation of wildlife and bird habitat.
According to the Ford Government, a Class C Environmental Assessment of this area is not necessary. How can they deny such horrific long-lasting and permanent environmental damage to the entire area and wildlife!
What the Ontario government is proposing for Ontario Place should upset us all. How can we justify the devastating results that our children and grandchildren will experience for years to come?
The federal government needs to examine the integrity of this decision and conduct an impact assessment to determine the damage posed by the Therme and Live Nation projects.
You can find and fill out the impact assessment request online. I will. I hope you do.
Gerry Walsh,
Erin
‘Not genuine diversity’?
Dear Editor:
It is so narrow-minded to think that diversity is only what you select to see (ie. – race, sexuality, gender and colour).
After all, DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) is an attempt for repayment of past historical sins with no possibility for redemption; not genuine diversity.
God created individuals not groups. We are all unique and diverse as individuals.
I don’t care what gender, sexuality or colour my pilot or doctor is, but he or she better possess the necessary training, knowledge and skills.
Bonnie Hollinger,
Wellington North