Does your voice matter?
Dear Editor:
Some readers may recall my attempts in 2021 to get Centre Wellington council to reconsider a decision that essentially went against the preferred option of 85% of people who completed a township survey relative to the re-shaping of St. David Street North.
A petition against this decision with over 1,000 signatures was also presented to council at that time but after deliberation, the attempt to reconsider was defeated.
After the election of our new council at the end of last year, I have communicated with the new mayor and all new councillors to ask them to reconsider this decision and while I did receive a couple of responses, the general answer was that it is a “done deal” decided by the previous council.
Since then, I have distributed flyers to all residents and businesses along St. David and St. Andrew Streets encouraging people and business owners to contact their local councillor and the mayor if they had concerns about the project (such as the removal of more than 20 parking spaces) and now I read that the project is going to cost around $8.8 million when it was initially projected to cost approximately $4 million.
Surely this cost increase and additional tax burden to our community should be enough to revisit this project? But no, it will soon go to tender and is scheduled to start early in 2024.
This got me thinking about other recent projects such as the East Mill Street reconstruction, the Middlebrook bridge removal, the new township operations centre and several new housing and apartment developments, most of which have had public meetings but all of which are still moving ahead, regardless of any community concerns.
Whether you are in support of or against these projects, it just makes me wonder, does your voice really count in municipal politics?
Ed O’Shaughnessy,
Fergus
Sad bill was defeated
Dear Editor:
It is with sadness that I read that Bill C-314 was defeated. This Bill was put forward to protect people with disabilities from MAID (medical assistance in dying) in our hospitals, etc.
The Trudeau government and their supporters defeated this bill. Our MP, supported Bill C-314 to provide protection. Thank you Mike.
I am writing this to say to all people with disabilities that you are very important to society, that you are loved by God and by people like me and that you play an important role in society.
Have you ever thought that people with disabilities may be teaching us to have compassion and love? It is often people with disabilities who have that enthusiasm for life that we lose as we go through life’s daily struggles.
Many people with disabilities, in my observation, are brave, refreshing and beautiful and entitled to be supported through this life with great care from our hospitals and support services and our society. Remember this please everyone with disabilities: if you can’t run, speak, walk, etc. now in this life, hold on … there is healing in the next life, if not in this life through a miracle.
You matter! Your life matters. Run from the culture of death being promoted.
This is good advice for all of us … including me.
Carolann Krusky,
Fergus
‘Indoctrination’
Dear Editor:
RE: Same ‘grifters,’ Oct. 12.
I appreciate Mr. Trautman taking the time to send in his denunciation of my letter all the way from sunny California.
“Slave”, “chattel”, “owned by their parents” – I really do wonder where he came to the conclusion that I believe such things.
But all that aside, I must refocus our attention on the real problem. I’m only 14, I get to witness first hand the indoctrination of our students.
I have gathered from Mr. Trautman’s letter that he is an older, distinguished man and father. So I ask; how would he have felt if his daughters had been taught what children (myself included) are today?
He has gathered his information from left-wing media sources, and not from today’s classroom. I know what they teach, and I know what they tell you.
I can assure you, Mr. Trautman, you’d be frightened to know what they really teach.
Susannah Sinclair,
Fergus
‘Imagine the difference’
Dear Editor:
Imagine how good it must feel to have a safe place to sleep every night. What if you didn’t have to carry your belongings everywhere because you have somewhere to leave them? Imagine having a space to rest when you need it, and community when you feel ready. Imagine not having to worry what will happen to you in winter.
Our community is in crisis. Too many valued community members we care about have nowhere to live. People who spend their days and nights outside get cold and sick. Anxiety and desperation escalate. They might forget to take their medications. They are in crisis.
We know their names. We know how to help.
Many people who are experiencing homelessness are also facing additional challenges that make their needs more complex and the barriers to accessing care and housing insurmountable. They live with mental health, addiction, trauma, violence or physical health challenges.
Imagine we built a custom-designed home, and provided the 24/7 specialized supports that people told us they need.
That’s the vision for 10 Shelldale, Guelph’s third permanent supportive housing project to open in our city this year. The building will provide bachelor-style apartments and 24/7 supports for 32 people. The project is also designed to provide extra health resources for 76 others living at other supportive housing buildings in Guelph.
Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, Kindle Communities, and the Guelph Community Health Centre are partners in this effort. We have incredible partnerships with private sector, federal, provincial and municipal leaders. These partnerships – including the land that was so generously donated by Skyline Group of Companies – have allowed us to build a building.
In a couple of months, 10 Shelldale will be a reality, ready to provide the right help at the right time to people in desperate need.
We have a plan and we are relentlessly implementing it for our community. Housing is health care. Our partners are taking urgent action to deliver the right health supports by the time construction is completed in December 2023. Imagine the difference we will make together.
Melissa Kwiatkowski (Guelph Community Health Centre CEO) and Kristin Kerr (Stonehenge Therapeutic Community CEO),
Guelph
‘Time to do it is now’
Dear Editor:
Kaboom! The van shuttered as a big buck bounced off the windshield and flew through the air into the ditch. Shaken but alive I paused to give God the glory for preserving my life once again.
I watched the shattered windshield swaying in the wind as I shook bits of glass off my coveralls. I realized right then that had I been travelling any faster, that surely the deer would have gone right through the windshield, crushing me.
It reminded me that we all are just a breath away from eternity and that if we want to reserve a spot in heaven the time to do it is now.
Tomorrow may be too late.
Joe Newson,
Centre Wellington
Ensure legacy endures
Dear Editor:
I lost my right arm on Oct. 18, 1944, while serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment in Italy. I was staked at a farmhouse that had a children’s treehouse located nearby. In the treehouse was a sniper who kept shooting at our boys. A tank then came which shot out shells, the shrapnel hitting my right arm.
When I returned home from the war, I joined The War Amps and have been a member ever since. This association was started by First World War amputee veterans to help each other adapt to their new reality as amputees.
Having just recently turned 100, I am reflecting this Remembrance Day upon all those who served in my regiment and never returned home. Their absence weighs on me and it is essential that we keep their memory alive. I take comfort in knowing that The War Amps and its young members will continue to keep spreading the message long into the future.
The sacrifices of those who served (and continue to serve) deserve to be remembered and honoured. Each Remembrance Day serves as a poignant reminder of the tremendous price paid by these brave individuals.
Their selflessness and courage continue to resonate, and it is our duty to ensure that their legacy endures.
Lloyd Brown,
War Amps member, Edmonton
‘Where are the trees?’
Dear Editor:
RE: Council endorses new pedestrian crossing in St. David Street North reconstruction project, Oct. 19.’
I read with interest this article and saw the rendition of council’s vision for St. David Street North.
All I can say is, where are the trees?
Dori Steele,
Fergus