Suicide victim chooses North Channel

Divers recover body of southern Ontario man in 30 feet of water near information centre

by Michael Erskine

LITTLE CURRENT-Apprehension turned to tragedy Friday morning as the body of a 48-year-old man from the Port Perry area was pulled from the icy waters of the North Channel near the swing bridge on Friday morning, ending a two-day search by a helicopter, local OPP officers, the OPP Emergency Response Team and the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit.

The search began after the Manitoulin OPP detachment were notified by Durham Regional Police that they were searching for a 48-year-old Nestleton resident who went missing in the Durham area and was believed to be heading to the Manitoulin area.

At 3:15 am on Thursday OPP officers on patrol in Little Current observed a grey pick-up truck parked at the entrance to the Manitoulin Tourist Association Welcome Centre. A closer investigation revealed the vehicle to be the same vehicle reported missing from Durham. There were no signs of the driver.

Footsteps in the snow led down to the water's edge-but did not return.

Around 10:56 am on Friday the Underwater Search and Recovery Unit located a male in approximately 30 feet of water about 200 yards west of the Little Current swing bridge.

A post mortem was scheduled in Sudbury to determine the exact cause of death.

A relative of the victim said that he has had a long battle with depression, with at least three previous attempts to end his life. As far as is known, the only connection the victim had with the Manitoulin region was a single visit as a child.

The deceased has since been identified as Brett Allan Campbell, age 48, of Nestleton, Ontario.

Wiky threatens Manitowaning's new water plant if Cardwell St. is not repaired

by Michael Erskine

WIKWEMIKONG-The first shot in a war of words over the Cardwell Street corridor, the only route in and out of Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, was fired in a letter to Assiginack council from Martin Bayer, of the firm Weaver Simmons, which represents the band.

The letter brings the municipality's attention to Wikwemikong's interest in unpatented lands and islands in Lake Huron (including all of Manitoulin Island and an area ranging from Sault Ste. Marie to the Coldwater area-encompassing over 23,000 islands in between).

A ruling by Justice Poupore in the land claim proceeding, notes Mr. Bayer, requires that the band be given an opportunity to respond to "any applications, new licences, permits or approval in respect of any of those lands that would entitle a person to erect any building or structure or make any permanent improvement thereon."

In Wikwemikong's view, continues Mr. Bayer, both Assiginack and Ontario's Ministry of the Environment were both bound by that requirement in relation to the town's new water plant.

According to Justice Poupore's order, Wikwemikong and the province should have made a reasonable effort in good faith to agree upon whether or not approval would be made, without objection by Wikwemikong.

In his letter, Mr. Bayer also brought up the issue of the unsafe condition of Cardwell Street, as well as a plan by Assiginack to implement a Community Safety Zone (allowing a doubling of fines) and a 50-kilometre speed limit on the road.

The Community Safety Zone, suggests Mr. Bayer, would "do little to improve the condition of the road or enhance public safety for that matter."

The road in question has deteriorated badly over the past few years, as the township steadfastly refuses to allocate more resources to the thoroughfare than the number of its residents using it warrants. The municipality insists that the federal and/or provincial government steps up to help defray the costs involved in repairing the road. The road is currently solely a municipal responsibility-but that, argues Reeve Les Fields, is patently unfair to her ratepayers-a position heartily endorsed by her council.

Although only a handful of residents uses the Meredith-Cardwell Street roadway, nearly every resident and business in Wikwemikong depends on the route to travel to and from work off-reserve, or to move commerce in and out of the area. A steady pounding from logging trucks travelling off the reserve has added significantly to the problem.

In the past, the Township of Assiginack and the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve have agreed to work together to attempt to find a solution to the issue-lobbying both upper levels of government for some support to offset the costs of rebuilding the road and bringing it up to the standards its traffic dictates.

Wikwemikong Chief Robert Corbiere said the linkage of the two issues on his community's part was no accident.

"Chief Robert Corbiere is making a big fire and is on the warpath," announced a press release, adding "Chief Corbiere has declared cold war on the Township of Assiginack."

The rationale behind the letter, explained Chief Corbiere, was to highlight his community's displeasure over the quickly deteriorating and unsafe condition of the road to his community.

"If this were a non-Aboriginal community, we would not be having this conversation," he pointed out. "The Township of Assiginack is responsible for that road. They say use federal money, and by that they mean Wikwemikong money. We feel the road is not maintained because residents of Assiginack don't use it."

Chief Corbiere pointed out the neglect is deliberate and that other roads in Assiginack are very well maintained.

Assiginack town clerk Alton Hobbs suggested that the condition of Cardwell Street was not a case of brinksmanship to force the upper levels of government or Wikwemikong into action, but simply the result of limited resources available to the town. When contacted by the Expositor he said he would ask the town foreman to look into the road's condition.

The application for a Community Safety Zone and a 50-kilometre speed limit, Chief Corbiere suggested in turn, was also directly aimed at residents of his community.

"They want to impose double-fines and a reduced speed limit there. You even lose more driving licence points there," he said, "but on the biggest stretch of that road there is nobody living there!"

The threat to delay development in Assiginack was just one weapon Chief Corbiere said he has in his arsenal to force the township to meet its road-work obligations.

"Maybe we can charge them $30,000 or $40,000 for rent on our land that their watermain passes through," he said. "It runs right through Wiky territory."

Other options being considered in the community include a boycott of the businesses in Assiginack.

"It's unfortunate," said Chief Corbiere. "We have many friends in that community. There are a lot of historical relationships between our two communities."

Chief Corbiere called on Manitowaning's merchants and friends of his community in Assiginack to march on the town council to bring pressure on them to repair the road and return it to a safer condition.

"We pay a lot of taxes in Assiginack," pointed out Chief Corbiere. "Between the golf course and other property we own, we probably pay around $30,000 to $40,000 now."

Chief Corbiere suggested that perhaps the band should seek to have Rainbow Ridge Golf Course, the Mitchell Farm, the Holiday Farm and the Bryant Farm included in the reserve boundaries.

Oddly enough, concerns over the possibility of those properties being annexed to Wikwemikong are credited with prompting the township to remove its support from a proposal to build a new road into Wikwemikong. The proposal, for which the federal government, through FedNor, had allocated engineering study funds, would have made those properties contingent to the reserve boundaries, and thereby, it is suggested, candidates for eventual annexation into the reserve.

Federal sources suggest, however, that such an annexation would have been very difficult to accomplish, even were the properties contingent.

There is no question that the state of Cardwell Street, inadvertent or not, is a dangerous one. Potholes almost deep enough to completely swallow a car tire await the unwary or those unfamiliar with the road, bringing perhaps the greatest threat to the municipality's coffers-a legal liability should anyone be seriously injured or killed on the roadway.

"Someone is going to be killed on that road, the way it is, "said Chief Corbiere. "Who is going to do the math on that?"

Province increases transfers to Manitoulin municipalities

by Michael Erskine

TORONTO-Island municipalities received welcome news as the final balmy winds of a record-setting January blew through, when the province announced hikes in the transfer payments coming to the Island under the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund (OMPF).

"This is good news for Manitoulin Island," said Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown. "The government has recognized the need to support our Northern communities. The costs of social programs and police services can be quite onerous on Northern municipalities and the OMPF includes targeted funding to assist Northern communities with these costs."

"It's excellent news," agreed Northeast Town CAO Dave Williamson. "The province began telling us what we could expect in funding last year; that is why we have been able to set our budget, and since they told us we would be getting around the same as last year, getting another $23,000 is particularly good news."

There are plenty of places where those funds will come in handy for cash-strapped Island municipalities.

The OMPF replaced the Community Reinvestment Fund in 2005 as the province's primary transfer payment to municipalities. In 2006 it will provide funding to 391 municipalities, 88 percent of those in the province.

"The OMPF is calculated through a complex formula that takes into account population, population density, policing costs and a host of other inputs," explained Mr. Williamson. "The money we are receiving represents about one percent of the increase in the municipal levy."

The four components of the OMPF are a social program grant to reduce the burden of social programs on small, rural and Northern communities; an equalization grant to provide funding to municipalities with a limited tax assessment base; a Northern and rural communities grant that recognizes the unique challenges faced by those communities; and a policing services grant to provide funding to Northern and rural communities with higher policing costs.

The specific levels of funding and increases for Island municipalities are as follows: The Township of Assiginack, $716,314, an increase of $24,527; the Township of Billings, $419,048, an increase of $7,761; The Township of Central Manitoulin, $928,321, an increase of $14,768; The Township of Gordon, $313,193, an increase of $5,881; The Town of Gore Bay, $394,105, an increase of $4,786; The Township of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands, $1,667,843, an increase of $23,266; the Township of Tehkummah, $257,677, an increase of $3,887 and the Township of Burpee and Mills, $212, 275, an increase of $3,532.

The Winner of this year's  Manitoulin Expositor

Valentine's Poetry Contest!

What is Love?

To John from Deborah

A winter walk down a winding road,

A shoulder to cry on, to share the load,

A cup of tea in the morning, a Keats ode-

Key words over time, our own Morse code,

A boat in rough waters that's jointly rowed,

Kindness and giving and nothing is owed,

My partner, my Valentine,

my Tristan-your Isolde

Deborah Wilson

Honora Bay

EDITORIAL

Road fracas demands political will and common sense

It has been two years since this paper's editorial called for a resolution of the Cardwell Street impasse in the Township of Assiginack, and the road, which was horrendous then, has deteriorated significantly since.

That the ratepayers of a tiny rural community like Assiginack should be forced to foot the bill to maintain the only access road into the Island's largest community is unconscionable-and yet, it remains a municipal responsibility that cannot be ignored any further.

It is also all too easy to understand the frustration of the community and leadership of Wikwemikong, whose residents must each day run a daunting gauntlet of potholes- that would put even Sudbury to shame-to enter or leave their community. They have remained patient for years as Cardwell Street has slowly crumbled further into ruin-and now that patience has run out.

That these two communities, with deep and historical ties of friendship and cooperation, have been set on a course so fraught with conflict and potential tragedy is in itself a terrible tragedy.

It has been said before in these pages, and it must be said again, that this issue does not require the wisdom of Solomon to resolve-only a modicum of political will and common sense.

It should not take the sacrifice of some unwary traveller whose vehicle is tossed into a head-on collision by a sudden encounter with a dangerous pothole to bring this issue to the front pages of the national press and then belated resolution at the provincial or federal level.

Chief Corbiere is unfortunately all too right when he charges that this issue would not exist were his community just another non-Native municipality located down the highway from another.

There must be a political resolution to this problem, as well as for similar issues facing other communities in the North, such as Sagamok where the road to their community needs a tremendous investment. Politicians at all levels talk about the tragedy of rural and First Nations communities who are trapped in an economic depression, whose living conditions embarrass us all upon the world stage-it is time to do more than just talk.

In the meantime, Assiginack must step forward to shoulder an unfair burden, at least so far as to fill in the worst of the potholes with sand and cold patch for safety's sake. It is the right thing to do.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Job security guarantees are not all that unusual

My employer values the contribution of its part-timers

To the Expositor:

I would like to comment on the state of the dispute between NEMI and its union workers. As clarification, let me state I do not have anyone from my family working on either side of this issue, although I am a member of a union (RWDS local 1177).

In last week's edition of the Expositor (N.E. Town calls for supervised union vote, Page 1), Mayor Chapman highlighted the offer of job security to full-time workers as a huge concession for the town. Really! Full-time and part-time workers had that guarantee in the last contract! This so-called improved offer would indicate the demise of part-time workers on the town's payroll. This generous offer was frowned upon by the town's legal counsel, according to the mayor. Really! This would be the legal counsel that the town didn't feel was necessary to include in their budget for last year? The same legal counsel whose advice the town now feels it can disregard even though this year the town budgeted $15,000 for legal counsel? The mayor's comment that "nobody gets that," when referring to job security guarantees at other businesses, is just plain wrong. That guarantee, Mr. Mayor, is in my contract, and it applies to full-time and part-time workers. But then, my employer values the contribution of its part-timers.

The mayor's position that the town's offer granted job security to full-time people because he feels the use of managers performing union work is "a sore point with the union" shows just how out of touch he is. Did he think they would be happy? In the October 26 edition of the Expositor, CAO Dave Williamson stated the two positions (treasurer and public works foreman) were vacant management positions that he was merely filling. Really! Why do they now have to perform union work when they never did before? Is this to justify keeping them or was the intent to split the union solidarity by having workers cross the picket line to apply for jobs that really didn't exist?

The mayor and the rest of the town's bargaining committee had the chance to settle this dispute way back on November 18, before town council authorized hiring additional workers and scabs. The union asked for a three-year contract with raises of 3 percent, 3 percent and 2.5 percent. Why is the town now offering more? Now they want a membership vote. Why? Does the town really believe the union will vote 'yes'? Or is it just trying to drag this out longer?

At the budget meeting I asked CAO Dave Williamson to stop sending out those ridiculous flyers which are full of half truths. He said "OK." See, I took that to mean he would stop. We have had two more since then. Either he's doing this on his own or he has the council's blessing. Which is it?

I would be remiss if I did not commend Jim Stringer for his courage in speaking out. I know from experience what an unpleasant atmosphere is created when no-one will support you. It is most unfortunate that no other member of council has the strength to join him. Rest assured it has not gone unnoticed.

Colin Senior

Little Current

Prov dock has improved, but needs more work

Ball is in the court of Fisheries and Oceans

To the Expositor:

I have to reply to Mr. Roy Ferguson's February 1 letter, "Prov needs to improve marina."

As a member of the Development Implementation Committee (DIC) in Providence Bay, I have to tell you that the dock has had a big improvement-but nothing like what we proposed.

As Fisheries and Oceans owns the dock in Prov, the pressure has been put on them to repair the whole dock-not just part of it. Our committee and council have fought for years to have the full length of the dock fixed and brought up to standards. But they refused to complete the rest of the dock that is in terrible disrepair.

Personally, I met with Mr. St. Denis, our MP, and we walked out onto the dock to see the problem. He certainly agreed that the job wasn't finished and that we needed more docking space, and that it was up to Fisheries and Oceans to finish the job.

So the ball is in their court. We are pushing hard on this end.

I talked with the engineers, who did a super job on the part they were responsible for, and they said there would be no problem fixing the rest, as far as they are concerned.

In conclusion-as you probably know, dealing with the government is very frustrating.

I cannot respond to the other issues you referred to as I'm not on council, but we like your ideas and they need to be implemented.

Thanks for coming to Prov and we'll keep trying to push for improvements for our boating friends.

Lyle Dewar

Providence Bay

Island blessed with hard-working MP and MPP

Actions of a handful tarred entire party

To the Expositor:

We want to commend Deborah Wilson for her letter ("Tories betraying principles," January 11).

Ms. Wilson's letter is succinct in the chronology of Stephen Harper's Conservative party's actions and his acquired communication skills. Her letter is extremely thought-provoking regarding our democratic system-and the democratic decisions our parliamentarians and judiciaries make. To beg this point, we use Ms. Wilson's reference to legal same-sex marriages and Mr. Harper's remarks to revoke this law. Not to belabour the point, but to be forthright, I, Diane, was honoured to be one of two dozen people invited to a Toronto restaurant to witness a same-sex marriage that was broadcast on CBC television on February 15, 2004.

Ms. Wilson notes that recent corrupt actions of a handful of Liberals tarred the entire party. Politicians of any stripe brushed with corruption smear affiliated parties. Manitoulin is fortunate to have hard-working and dedicated provincial and federal representatives: Mike Brown and Brent St. Denis.

Like Ms. Wilson's father, my father, Gar Sims, fought in World War II. He volunteered, became an officer and was seriously wounded two weeks shy of the end of the war in Europe. He returned home knowing he had battled for the ideal of democracy.

By now we have a new prime minister. Regardless, thank you Ms. Wilson for your considerate letter.

Diane Sims

Don Hoffmeyer

Stratford, Ontario

Dear Dave and Beth,

My problem is probably serious. I am a teenager and I don't really know how to get this information without being anonymous. Some of the people I hang out with are starting to get interested in smoking drugs. One of the girls has a boyfriend who had a joint and they were all smoking it at a party. I am a bit interested myself cause I have heard it's not really a bad drug. I want to try a small puff and see what it feels like. Do you guys think I should? I have had beer before and I like it a bit.

Tempted Teen

Dear Tempted,

Some people start smoking dope only when there is something to do (concerts/dances/parties), and the next thing these same people know, they are smoking it "for something" to do. That's how habits start. Ditto for alcohol. It would just become another habit you'd have to live with or work out later in life. So my answer is stay real and say no to drugs!

"Their plans, their desires and all of their hopes/Wither and die as they go up in smoke/Sharp as a needle and filled with despair/Such is the curse of the wildweed flower."

Song sung by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagner.

-Dave

Dear Tempted,

When I was 12, all of my friends were smoking cigarettes, so I decided to try it-mind you I coughed and gagged. But I wanted to be just like my friends. Now I'm stuck with a bad habit and I haven't talked to those friends since Grade 10. So, unless you want to smell like skunk piss, then I would let your friends do what they want and not fall into peer pressure.

-Beth

Dear Dave and Beth,

This is a letter for Beth, especially. What do you look for in a man? What are some of the qualities that are important to you? How can I improve my chances with the ladies? I don't have no luck. I need a lady's ideas. Dave can pitch in if he's got any brilliant ones.

Lovelorn

Dear Lovelorn,

Do you ever go to Sudbury and see a couple that couldn't be more different, and say to yourself, "What does she see in him?" Because I'm interested in music, when I first meet someone and I think there may be something there, I always ask about their interests in music. If they mention jazz, classical, or disco, I'm out! If there's a girl that you have your eye on, strike up a conversation about something that you know she's interested in. And remember, a good conversation could be the start of something. You may realize that she's more friendship material than girlfriend material. Every girl likes different things about a man.

-Beth

Send your Dear Dave letters to: the Expositor, Box 369, Little Current, ON, P0P 1K0 or email