Here is What I Have to Say Today......

Every tax payer in the Township of Wellesley should be up in arms over the passing of the proposed Greenwood Hill Trail plan at the September 6, 2016 council meeting by council.  The residents affected by this trail still have many questions that have not been answered or even addressed by council and Township staff. However, the most important issue, not surprisingly, is one of money.    Even though we have repeatedly asked Township staff and councilors for a budget to put in the trail and the costs of maintaining the trail we have still not been given any concrete information.  When pressed at the September 6, 2016 council meeting, Township staff stated that they have already spent about $30,000.00 on engineering fees and figure it will cost another $100 000.00 to complete the trail.  The cost of paving the trail next year has not been laid out either. Nor has council/Township staff disclosed what it will cost to maintain the trail in future years. At t...

Honestly....I am done praying for Orlando, Ferguson, Sandy Hook, Boston, and any other American city that has dealt with gun violence. I am now praying that the American people wake up and figure out that they need to get guns out of their homes and off of their streets. With every news report I hear of a child shooting their sibling with a gun their parents did not secure properly, with every account of a mass shooting I want to yell, “You idiots, wake up!  There is a solution.  Why aren’t you talking about it?”  How many people have to be killed accidentally or murdered before they decide that someone’s life is more important than someone being allowed to own a gun? I am shocked by how many people when posting and writing about these tragedies want to ignore the issue of gun control, especially thought leaders, people professing to love God, and people posing as spiritual beings. Guns and killing are not loving, good, or spiritual. What you allow is what w...

My husband and I have been camping at Provincial Parks for over 25 years now.   In fact, we have visited more than 25 different parks, some of them many times over.    We enjoy the Provincial Parks for the recreational opportunities and the natural environment they provide.   Their beaches, playgrounds, hiking trails, visitor centers, naturalist programs, and biking trails have made our summer vacations memorable and enjoyable.   But lately it has been harder to get reservations at our Park of choice, especially if it is in Southern Ontario, and especially if it is last minute.   Unfortunately, while we struggle with getting campsites in Southern Ontario, 7 Provincial Parks have been closed for camping in Northern Ontario in recent years.   Ontario has about 280 parks covering over 7 million hectares or approximately 10% of the surface area in Ontario and receives over 9 million visitors each year.   Approximately 65 parks are deemed “recreat...

 L ast September, we watched the news in horror as an entire family was killed by drunk driver, Marco Muzzo.   The accident was shocking, senseless and heart breaking.   Ed Lake and Jennifer Neville-Lake are devastated by the loss of their children, Daniel age 9, Harrison age 5, and Milagros age 2 and their Grandfather, Gary Neville.   When Muzzo spoke at his sentencing hearing, they left the courtroom unable to listen to his grief, remorse, and apology.   To any parent, this is the most horrifying and unthinkable event.   The internet was buzzing with people condemning Muzzo.   Many thought 10 years in jail was too lenient and indeed he deserved the death penalty.   At one time, I believed the same thing.   But not anymore. Almost 10 years ago I met Steve.   He was a young man who had made a terrible mistake.   He made the choice to drive drunk and ended up killing his best friend in a horrible accident.   When I me...

Today is my Grandma’s 100 th Birthday!   Last Sunday, we celebrated with cake and ice cream.   Her remaining children and siblings were there along with many of her grandchildren and great grandchildren.   It was fun to look back at old photographs and reminisce.   In Grandma’s 100 years this world has changed greatly.   Instead of family farms we now have factory farms and GMO’s.   The number of cars on the road, the size of cities, and the height of high-rise buildings must seem baffling.   Cell phones, computers, and the internet have changed how we communicate and interact with each other.   Medical advances, birth control, feminism, globalization….the changes keep on coming.   Grandma, however, has stayed pretty much the same over the years because her life has been shaped by the era in which she was born and her conservative Mennonite beliefs.   She has never had a TV, let alone a cell phone or computer.   And the rad...

So the word on the street is that Mayor Joe Nowak wants to have a “Town Hall Meeting” on the Greenwood Hill multi-use trail.   I am sure he is thinking who would say no to a trail?   A trail is surely a welcome addition to any community.   I sure wouldn’t say no to a trail   except when said trail has not been properly planned for, budgeted for, nor implemented according to the Townships own guidelines.   Joe is obviously determined to implement this trail at any and all cost to us taxpayers. This evening I grabbed my camera and headed out to document where this trail is supposed to go.   Greenwood Hill Road is a narrow country road with little room for a shoulder to walk on and cars, trucks, and transport trucks whizzed by me kicking up dust and small stones.   Horse and buggies also regularly use this road although, thankfully, I did not encounter one tonight. I did not feel very comfortable walking along Greenwood Hill and normally I would not ...

As a woman and mother of two teenage daughters I would just like to say thank you to Prime Minister Trudeau for implementing Canada’s first gender balanced cabinet.   It has been long overdue. There are several reasons why having a gender balanced cabinet should be celebrated.   The first is that these women are occupying real positions of power in our government.   Unfortunately women hold about 20% of the power positions in corporations even though we make up more than 50% of the population.   When women are denied a chair at the table where decisions are made they loss their voice and thus the female perspective is lost.   So it is wonderful to see our government take a leadership role in bringing true equality about. Finally woman’s voices will have a chance to be heard in regards to policy and in the media.   We are able to participate in our own destinies. Secondly, having these female cabinet ministers be role models for our children opens th...

My home backs onto a busy road.   A small parcel of bush and a deep ditch buffer my neighbours and me from that busy stretch of road.   In the winter, when the trees are bare, we have amazing vistas of nearby farm land.   I bought this lot specifically for the trees and paid a premium for it.   Two weeks ago the Township trimmed and cut down some of those trees along the ditch.   When one of my neighbours called in to ask about why they were doing this we found out that a multi-use trail was to go in this summer.     Needless to say my neighbours and I are not very happy for many reasons. Firstly, the fact that residents that this multi-use trail directly affects were not informed of it before a decision was made smacks of deception and secrecy.   In a democratic society such as Canada one rightfully expects their government to be transparent and honest in their dealings with their constituents.   This was not the case.   Once ...