Northeast Town gives the Wild an ultimatum: 'pay or lose ice'

by Lindsay Kelly

NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN-The already-beleaguered Manitoulin Wild hockey team faced another setback this week, after the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands passed a motion that will require the team to pay double the money they were paying the town for rental of the Little Current Howland Recreation Centre.

The town called a meeting on Monday afternoon, requesting the presence of Wild owner Larry Leblanc to discuss the future arrangement of arena rent payments that are currently in arrears.

As a result of the meeting, council passed a motion in which the town requests that the 2004-2005 arena rental lease for the Manitoulin Wild be signed by Larry Leblanc and the other Wild owners, by 4 pm, on December 23. The motion also requires that the Wild pay $1,000 per home game to the town before the third period commences, for every home game, for the balance of the season.

If the Wild owners fail to comply with this arrangement, the team will no longer be permitted use of the facility.

The motion was unanimously carried by the mayor and attending councillors.

On November 10, council passed a motion requiring that the Wild pay $500 from ticket sales to the town for every home game.

Councillor Tony Ferro said council made its decision to ask for that amount in payment after taking other organizations into consideration.

"Our position with the Wild is that it's not fair to the community that they (the Wild) can get away with not paying their debts," he said. "Other groups are paying their debts up no problem."

Mr. Leblanc did not attend the meeting. Mayor Joe Chapman waited a few minutes before calling the meeting to order, but determined, at about 4:06 pm, that Mr. Leblanc would not be attending and proceeded to then call the meeting to order.

The meeting immediately went in-camera so that council could discuss their "bargaining position," according to Mayor Chapman, and returned to open session approximately 45 minutes later to read the motion forwarded by council.

The councillors indicated they would have liked to meet with Mr. Leblanc; however,

"We'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt," Councillor Marcel Gauthier said. He noted that they have attempted to meet on other occasions, but Mr. Leblanc has not always attended.

When contacted by the Expositor, Mr. Leblanc said his absence from the meeting was not an intentional slight on his part.

"I completely forgot about the meeting," he said. "It was organized some time ago."

Mr. Leblanc said he had attempted to contact the mayor and several members of council that same evening, but had been unable to do so. He reserved further comment on the arrangement of Wild payments until he had spoken with the mayor.

Councillors Tony Ferro, Marcel Gauthier, Bill Koehler, Jim Stringer and Jib Turner were in attendance Monday afternoon, along with Mayor Joe Chapman, clerk-treasurer Ned Martin and arena manager Greg Wright. Councillors Tom Batman, Gary Green and Sam Nardi were unable to attend the meeting due to prior engagements.

Mark Stephens dies in tragic car crash

by Michael Erskine

NAIRN CENTRE-A fatal multi-vehicle collision on Highway 17, three kilometers west of Nairn Centre, took the life of Mark Stephens, age 47, of Little Current.

The accident occurred at approximately 6 pm, Thursday, December 16.

Two tractor trailor units and three passenger vehicles were involved in the crash, and two other people were brought to Espanola General Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Ontario Provincial Police technical traffic collision investigators and the OPP indentification unit spent the night at the scene and the road re-opened Friday morning.

Witnesses who were at the scene described the road conditions as having changed rapidly to black ice shortly before the accident.

Mark Thomas Stephens, owner operator of Stephens Millwork Inc on the Bidwell Road, is survived by his wife Patty and his sons Hugh, Caleb, Nathan, Marcus and Patrick. The funeral service was held at the Grace Bible Church in Little Current on Monday, December 20.

Missing paperwork ends coaches', managers' season

by Michael Erskine

MANITOULIN-The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, and that old adage certainly seems to be the case when it comes to enforcing requirements for criminal checks for volunteers involved in Manitoulin minor hockey.

There have been at least eight one-year suspensions of coaches and managers involved in minor hockey this year for failing to keep required criminal checks up to date. It is a number that has made it problematic to fill the ranks and keep the kids on the ice, but minor hockey officials are hopeful that something can be done to rectify the situation.

Everyone agrees that criminal reference checks are important to maintain the safety of children involved in minor hockey, and in most of the suspension cases, those checks had been completed-they were simply not filed by the required due date.

The current situation evolved after the Manitoulin Minor Hockey Association met this past September to put regulations in place to ensure the paperwork was properly filed. Those filings are vital to meet the Northern Ontario Hockey League regulations. The details and penalties for not meeting the deadlines for the filing of the papers are left to the discretion of the local associations.

But the regulations put in place by Manitoulin Minor Hockey, in the words of one volunteer, did not leave 'enough wiggle room.' Others complained that the penalties were too draconian and did not recognize the difference between a simple paperwork error and a deliberate refusal to comply with the rules.

In the case of Al Wright, who coaches three minor hockey teams, his criminal reference checks were in place for two of the other teams he coaches. Manitoulin Minor Hockey apparently wants the suspension for not filing a check for the one team to cross over to his involvement in other leagues, but does not want the paperwork, i.e. his valid criminal reference checks, to flow in the other direction.

In the case of Mr. Wright, the paperwork had been completed for the third team, but the forms were inadvertently forgotten in an association member's briefcase.

Rendell McDonald, president of Manitoulin Minor Hockey Association, confirmed that a number of suspensions has occurred, and that appeals have been turned down, but did not want to comment while further appeal processes are being pursued.

"You should talk to the individual associations involved," he said. "I don't want to thrash this out in the press."

Mr. McDonald said he was unable to provide a copy of the regulations in question by press time.

Dick Prescott, president of the Northern Ontario Hockey Association, said he was aware of the situation, and that appeals have been filed, but he was not certain of the particulars of where those appeals were at. He did confirm that his association leaves the details of suspension up to the local associations.

In what appears as an almost ludicrous case, Bruce McCullagh, detachment commander of the Manitoulin OPP is one of the coaches who has been suspended for a year for not filing his papers on time.

"Don't go there," he smiled ruefully when asked about the situation, summing up the embarrassment with a shake of his head.

In Mr. McCullagh 's case, his reference check had been duly completed, but the office where he was to file the papers had moved locations.

"I put them on my desk figuring I would drop them off at the next meeting," he said. To his surprise, that was not acceptable.

Mandy Case, one of the leading figures in local women's hockey, and an eight-year veteran of minor hockey volunteerism, was unaware that her reference check expired in November.

"They told me it was up to me to keep track of that," she said. "I didn't even know it had expired. There was no notification."

"It's embarrassing," said Little Current Minor Hockey Association president Jennifer Sayyae. "Here we are trying to get more people involved in volunteering, and a simple paperwork issue has us scrambling to find replacements for these wonderful people."

Many of the people contacted for this story were reluctant to comment fearing the publicity over the story would discourage volunteers from becoming involved.

"I understand that there have to be rules," said Ms. Sayyae, "but the checks were done! It's not like anyone refused to have them done. There has to be some flexibility in the system."

All parties hope the issue will be resolved with some accommodation and are reluctant to assign any blame for the situation.

"The executive are all volunteers, too," said Ms. Sayyae. "These are all wonderful people who are trying to do a good job. I think they all just need to refocus on what is really important: giving kids something that is healthy and constructive to do. The rules shouldn't be there to get in the way, as long as the kids are protected, there should be some way to work this out. We should be embracing our volunteers."

The cost of filing appeals at $200 a shot, and paying the fines imposed at $100 a suspension, is taking money out of the limited funds raised through bake sales, dues and other avenues.

"It takes a lot of muffins to make up one $200 appeal," said Ms. Sayyae. "How far can we go spending the money, that should be going to put on tournaments, on appeals of something that should never have happened in the first place."

Everyone contacted agreed that the rules requiring criminal reference checks are important, and that some meaningful penalty should exist to enforce compliance, but most added that the penalties should not be so onerous as to endanger the very sport they are meant to protect.

"In the case of one person who coaches three teams, the suspensions add up to over 100 games," said volunteer Ron Cooper. "That's more than they gave Bertuzzi! "

Ms. Sayyae suggested the fine of $100 would be ample to ensure compliance.

"Then suspend them until they comply," she said. "It's as simple as that!"

Memorable gifts:a Santa book sampler

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Expositor interviewed some three dozen Islanders this past week to ask them the burning question: "What was your favourite Christmas gift of all time?" Below is a small sample; the rest can be read on pages 14-16 in the Santa Book supplement.

Barney Turner, Little Current

Barney Turner, the owner of Turner's of Little Current, say he received his most memorable Christmas gift when he was eight-years-old. "My parents gave me an electric train set one Christmas back in the 1930s. This was special to me because back in those days, people were having a hard enough time to scrape money together for food, and my parents managed to save up enough money to buy a train set on that Christmas," noted Mr. Turner. Mr. Turner can still recall all the great memories that he and his friends shared with that electric train set.

Peter Baumgarten, Manitowaning

Peter Baumgarten, a teacher at Wasse Abin High School, was 10-years-old when he was given an unforgettable gift. " My father built me a steam engine factory one Christmas. It had a grindstone, drill, hammer and other mechanical tools built onto it that were all powered by water and methyl hydrate, which created the steam to power the factory," he recalls.

Editorial

We must continually strive for quality

A newspaper that strives to be a quality product will be managed with the understanding that it must continually earn its stripes in the eyes and mind of its discerning readers, week after week.

This newspaper celebrated 125 years of continuous service to Manitoulin Island last May 24, on the anniversary of its founding. It is the oldest newspaper in the North and has had its share of honours over the years.

But the longevity of its publishing history and awards and honours that decorate its offices rightly mean nothing, or not a great deal, to the readers who want to know not only the news of their communities but as much background to that news as possible. And they are concerned with the news of the present and how a current situation may impact on the future of the community.

Reaching the 125-year mark is something of which The Manitoulin Expositor's management and staff are certainly pleased and proud. Recording a community's history for a century and a quarter is a significant accomplishment.

But there are several other events relating to this publication this year that are just as important from the perspective of The Manitoulin Expositor as a living community institution.

Advertisers, for example, will be interested to know that The Expositor's circulation continues in positive growth: the 2004 newspaper circulation audit, (an independent third-party process that measurers the circulation trends of community papers and daily papers,) shows that The Expositor's readership has increased steadily by a factor of five percent between 2002 and 2004. (This data is collected and analyzed, for community papers like The Expositor, in two-year increments.)

Here's another example of the analysis of The Expositor as an active community institution: the Union of Ontario Indians (UOI) kept track of the coverage of events in First Nations communities in 10 Northern Ontario daily and community papers. The Expositor was one of the papers being tracked but the staff was not aware this paper was involved in this process until data was released that indicated The Manitoulin Expositor not only took more interest in the activities in the First Nation communities it serves than the other publications did for the First Nations communities in their coverage areas, but The Expositor was deemed to present the most balanced First Nations coverage of all the publications surveyed.

As we look back over 2004, it was certainly significant that the paper reached and passed its 125-year milestone. But of equal and even greater significance are these other indicators of the real health of the publication in the community: more people are reading it than ever and in an important and sensitive cultural area, the paper is deemed to be doing a superior job.

These are measurements over which The Expositor's management and staff had no direct influence, but they are indicators that, even after 125 years, The Expositor continues to earn its stripes.

There are a lot of people in the community who can be justifiably proud of these accomplishments, for they contribute to the mix that makes The Expositor a must-read Manitoulin Island institution.

These include our weekly columnists: Rose Diebolt, proprietor of the Garden's Gate Restaurant and author of Rose's Recipes; Andre Leblanc and Larry Leblanc, author of the sports column Ice Chips and Canoe Quips; Petra Wall, author of the column that spotlights seniors, Now and Then; Brian Bell, Manitoulin agricultural representative, author of the column Farm Facts and Furrows; Debbie Robinson and Claire Cline who are, respectively, librarians in Assiginack and Central Manitoulin and who contribute useful book reviews; Ted Jackson (who is taking a hiatus this year) who writes Curling Chatter; Stephanie Burt who writes the news of Manitoulin Secondary School in her column Kids in the Halls and her counterpart, Kalita McEwen, at Wasse Abin High School whose column Writings on the Walls brings the Island the highlights from Wikwemikong's high school.

The contributions of such freelance writers as Margo Little, in Gore Bay, and Saulis Tribinevicius of Central Manitoulin, are also greatly appreciated.

The important social news of Manitoulin's myriad communities remains a staple in these pages and is one of the forces that drives readership. The authors include Lillian Sullivan, Audrey (Toots) McDermid and Phylma McDermid who, at various times of the year, each contribute news from Providence Bay; Erma McAllister who writes the news of Spring Bay Rural Route; Pat Hall whose newsy column Tehk Talk keeps readers up to date on Tehkummah events; Jean Cannard, author of Sheguiandah Scribbles; and Ruth Dunlop, who writes about activities at Little Current Place as Jean Bennison does about The Slash.

Their work is widely read and is important to the culture both of this newspaper and of Manitoulin Island. Thank you all for your diligence.

There are many others who contribute news content to these pages, other than the Expositor's staff writers.

They include OPP Manitoulin Detachment Community Relations Officer Al Boyd whose press releases account for the bulk of the report headlined Law and Order.

All of the people who communicate their views through the letters to the editor public forum are important because they show that democracy is alive and well and working in Canada. We must never take it for granted that we enjoy the right to offer our views in a public way on the activities of municipal, provincial and federal governments as well as virtually anything else.

In order to reach that growing number of readers, The Expositor must be delivered in a timely way so we recognize the good efforts of all of our Island post office staff and the rural route and feeder mail contractors as well. A thank you is also offered to Steven Richards who has taken on the job of distributing the paper in Little Current every Wednesday morning.

Thanks as well to many others, including Ivan Wheale and Perry Anglin who also contribute their talent and ideas to these pages regularly.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the loyalty of the newspaper readers of Manitoulin, and also of the friends of Manitoulin whose papers are delivered to them no matter where they live. Some of you represent the fifth and sixth generations of your family to subscribe to The Expositor.

To all of you, thank you very much for being part of The Manitoulin Expositor team.

Merry Christmas to you all and the very best wishes for the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Rick and Julia McCutcheon

Kerrene Tilson

Al Ryan and Susan Hart

Jack MacLean

Esther Anstice

Jim Moodie

Mike Erskine

Lindsay Kelly

Gerry Clifford

Roy Bowerman

Rosemary Debassige

Matt McHarg

and from the Gore Bay office:

Tom Sasvari

Jane Hubbard

Joan Parker

Carolyn Haggart

Chris Addison

Letters

Northeast council reminded of oathThere is no place for a Manitoulin Star Chamber

To The Expositor:

I am saddened by the report in last week's Expositor of the activities of certain members of NEMI Council. Those members would do well to recall their oath of office, whereby they promised to "truly, faithfully and impartially execute the office of councillor."

Councils can only exercise the powers of the municipality that they represent by using the proper procedure, which is by resolution or bylaw passed at a regularly constituted meeting by a majority of the councillors. It is a cardinal rule of municipal law that corporate affairs must be transacted at a council meeting, duly convened at the proper time and place, upon due and adequate notice.

Thus, there is no place for secret meetings at undisclosed locations, unauthorized by council as a whole, which are held without any notice given presumably where minutes are not taken. One expects this sort of thing from members of a Star Chamber, but not from members of a duly elected municipal council.

If these secret meetings have culminated in the most recent motion passed by council, which approves of a new management structure, and it appears that they have, this calls into serious question the legitimacy of any such motion. Council would do well to reconsider their most recent motion, and stop this process - the real purpose of which is unstated, but which is plain to those with eyes to see - now.

The people of this municipality expect their council to decide issues openly and fairly. And where difficult issues that affect the very livelihood of a respected member of this community are at stake, it is crucial that they be made with integrity and compassion. Council would appear to have failed badly in this regard.

This motion is ill-considered and mean-spirited, and the process whereby it came to be brings the entire administration of this municipal government into disrepute. Fairness and justice require that this motion be reconsidered and the matter tabled pending a full and open discussion of the issues here.

Michael W. Shain

Executive Director,

Manitoulin Legal Clinic

Little Current, Ont

Thanks to food bank contributors

And to the businesses that put out donation boxes

To The Expositor:

Thank you very much to all those who made contributions to the Food Bank for the Christmas baskets.

Special thanks to the Manitoulin Expositor, Emma's Hilltop, IDA Pharmacy and the Little Current ValuMart for putting out donation boxes.

Thanks again,

Gloria Myronuk and Margaret Bowerman

Little Current, Ont