Island pits, quarries now under Ontario's rule

Local contractor fears paperwork will force some pits to close

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-A recent extension of provincial aggregate laws to our area could have some local pit and quarry owners scrambling to file the necessary paperwork before the price of doing so gets even steeper, while others may simply shut their operations down rather than go through the cost and bother of licensing them.

As of January 1, Manitoulin became designated under the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA), which requires pit and quarry owners to produce detailed site plans, pay annual licensing fees, undertake rehabilitation programs, and part with a per-tonne royalty on excavated material.

"If you're removing aggregate from your property, you need to apply for a licence," said Tim Ruthenberg, aggregates technical specialist with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

He urges Island pit and quarry operators to do so soon, as it will only become more costly and difficult later. "The best opportunity for getting licensed, the most cheaply and with the least red tape, is within the first six months, which ends on June 30," stressed Mr. Ruthenberg.

Those who apply before this date will get a break on the application fee, avoid having to file technical reports, escape a public review process, and will not have to submit a site plan immediately, the aggregate specialist noted. Beyond June 30, fees more than double, a site plan will be a prerequisite to removing material, and owners may have to complete hydrogeological, noise assessment and natural environment reports, not to mention risk the type of public consultation process that can lead to a municipal board hearing.

Sites eligible for licensing must be 'established,' meaning that a significant amount of material has been removed within the past two years. "We don't want to license pits that just put a hole in the ground in December when they found out about this coming," said Mr. Ruthenberg.

Pits must also comply with local zoning bylaws governing extraction or be grandfathered in as 'legal conforming,' Mr. Ruthenberg noted, explaining that the latter designation occurs where "there was an established use going on before the first zoning bylaw came into place."

A large swath of Ontario is already subject to the stipulations of the ARA, including most of southern Ontario, the immediate environs of Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie, and all Crown land, noted Mr. Ruthenberg. Sudbury and nearby LaCloche Island were designated under the act in the mid-1970s, he said, while a stretch between Nairn Centre and Sudbury, as well as Sudbury to Warren, were included in 1998. "It's been slowly expanding," he said.

Joining Manitoulin as newly designated areas are Muskoka, Parry Sound, North Bay, Pembroke and the North Shore, among other previously exempt corners of the province. Areas farther north remain unregulated but Mr. Ruthenberg noted that they are not prime aggregate zones, and where extraction does occur, it is generally on Crown land, which does fall within the strictures of the act.

The rationale for extending the legislation, said Mr. Ruthenberg, is threefold. "The big reason is to strengthen environmental protection, because pits throughout Ontario affect the environment in the same way," he said. "Another is to level the playing field for all aggregate producers across Ontario, because all the areas will be regulated in the same way now. Also, it increases the area in which old quarries will be eligible for rehabilitation funding."

For the MNR, it remains a bit of a mystery at this point how many pits will be 'captured' through the extension of the act to previously unregulated territories. Mr. Ruthenberg said that, based on maps available through the Ministry of Transportation, there could be as many as 120 gravel pits on Manitoulin, although some of those could be dormant and some too small or depleted to warrant the cost of continued operation.

Local contractor and pit operator Randy Noble said a more realistic number of functioning pits on Manitoulin would be 70 to 80, and of those, "I doubt you'd see more than 30 pits licensed, because a lot are old has-been things, or 80 to 90 percent extracted."

For Mr. Noble, the arrival of the legislation is not a surprise. "It's something that's been coming," he said, noting that Espanola and McKerrow are already under the scope of the act, and the Wawa area was included in 2003.

Still, he said that "it caught us pretty quick when we heard about it in October, because we hadn't been forewarned, so some of us have been scrambling a bit."

Mr. Noble operates a half-dozen pits on Manitoulin, and said he has already engaged some expert help to begin working on the site plans required by the MNR, because he doesn't want to get caught in a mad rush in the spring. "Some of it you can do yourself, but it's pretty detailed and you might need surveying assistance. We'll do the groundwork, and get a firm to do the application," he said.

Paying an engineer or surveyor to help prepare a site plan is only one expense that pit operators will incur, however. A yearly licence fee of $200 for a Class B operation (extracting under 20,000 metric tonnes per year), or $400 for a Class A operation (extracting in excess of 20,000 tonnes per year), must be paid by those who sign up prior to June 30. After June 30, the rates jump to $500 for a Class B licence and $1,000 for a Class A licence.

Pit and quarry operators will further be required to pay a wayside permit fee of 11.5 cents per tonne on all excavated material. For a major quarry like Lafarge in Meldrum Bay, which ships an annual volume of 4-6 million tonnes of aggregate, that adds up to a hefty outlay indeed, but it will impact smaller producers as well.

"It will bring a bit of a hardship," said Mr. Noble. He figures it will cost about $5,000 in all, between the site plan work required and the licence fee itself, just to bring a single Class B pit into conformity with the legislation. And since he anticipates that some smaller pits will close, the cost of trucking will also go up for those who rely on aggregate, as "it will force us to haul gravel farther."

He appreciates the rationale of creating a level playing field with other aggregate producers in the province, but pointed out, "all the contractors here are already on a level playing field, and we don't compete with Sudbury, so it's seems like a bit of overkill." He also noted that First Nation pit operators, being federally governed, remain exempt from the act, so in a way the playing field will be less level on Manitoulin as a result of the ARA's arrival.

That said, the contractor allowed that "it's not going to be all bad," pointing out that the legislation harmonizes the way business is done and business could also increase for those pits which adhere to the legislation. "I think there will be a certain number of pits, and that's what you'll bid and price your jobs from," he said.

As well, Mr. Noble pointed out that a portion of the fees levied on extraction will go to local municipalities. The rationale is that this helps to offset the impact of pits and quarries within a municipality's boundaries, and while the province doesn't dictate a particular use for the funds, they can theoretically be applied to road and infrastructure projects. The contractor said the majority of the aggregate he supplies is for projects undertaken by Island townships.

Such isn't the case for Lafarge, which ships all of its product off the Island by boat, with 75 percent going to US markets. Since it is neither using local roads for transporting its product nor engaging in much domestic (let alone Manitoulin) trade, the company seems to have a legitimate complaint in arguing that the municipal levy is inappropriate in its case, but it remains to be seen whether the province will make an exception for the West End quarry.

While it may impact local operations to varying degrees, the general upshot of the legislation is that the price of aggregate will almost certainly go up, as pit and quarry operators pass on the cost of licensing to consumers. "You're used to paying $1 a yard for gravel, but the guy who just had to get a licence is going to say, 'now I have to slope and bevel (the property), and I need 20 cents to go to the ministry, and 80 cents for rehabilitation,'" noted Mr. Noble. "So it's $2 a yard now, and our customers are going to pay more."

Mr. Ruthenberg is aware that the legislation is not apt to be warmly embraced. "It's a tough pill to swallow," he said. "It will cost them money. And unfortunately, normally that cost gets passed on to the consumer-and that includes municipalities and the province, which represent at least 50 percent of the consumer."

At the same time, however, he believes the site plan work and rehabilitation measures required under the act will not only benefit the environment, but also the operator of the pit or quarry down the road.

"It's a hard sell to say that, but if the site plan is done well, it will pay for itself in the long run," he contended.

An information session on the Aggregate Resources Act and how it will impact on Island operators has been scheduled for April 18, from 9:30 am to noon, at the Mindemoya Community Hall.

In the meantime, pit and quarry owners are encouraged to contact Mr. Ruthenberg by phone at (705) 564-7855 or by email at tim.ruthenberg@ontario.ca to receive an information package, or they can contact the Espanola District office of the MNR, which is in the process of hiring an aggregate inspector, at (705) 869-1330.

Debaj presence seen as boost for Manitowaning

On both business and cultural levels

by Alicia McCutcheon

MANITOWANING-Ron Berti, artistic producer of Debajehmujig Theatre Group, believes Manitowaning is poised for community development.

Manitowaning will soon house the new training centre of Debajehmujig. The former Mastin Store has been renovated and transformed to hold workshops and conferences as well as offices and storage space for the group's many costumes and sets.

Construction is set to begin in the next few weeks and the troupe is hoping to open the facility in early summer.

Currently, the theatre group has 15 full-time employees and 12 interns who stay on Manitoulin for up to three years at a time. Mr. Berti would like to see those figures rise to 16 full-time employees and 12 more interns. These many interns will be taught how to design artistic programs, and then put them on.

This large increase in employees, not to mention the tourist population the theatre will bring, asks Mr. Berti to raise some issues, issues both he and Les Fields, reeve of Assiginack Township, hope the community can come together to solve.

The applications Debajehmujig have been receiving from possible interns are differing from before as the age of the applicants is on the rise. It is not unusual for the group to receive applications from people in their 30s and 40s as opposed to more typical applicants of those in their teens and twenties.

So, where would this large influx of people live? Mr. Berti would like to see the accommodations for the theatre group's employees in both Manitowaning and Wikwemikong. He adds that there are a number of First Nations artists who have left Wiky to pursue artistic endeavours and who would like to come home, now that they have a place to devote their creative energy, not to mention the fact Debajehmujig's main office and play stage are in Wiky.

He says that Manitowaning has unused buildings that could be fixed up to serve as a residence for the numerous interns or, perhaps, boarding houses or billeting in the community.

One spin-off from this increase in population is daycare. Mr. Berti says there is only one daycare in the Manitowaning area and many of the applicants who would like to make Manitowaning their home for a period of time have children. He even has ideas of a daycare enrichment program with which the theatre group could be involved.

The artistic director also has many ideas of Debajehmujig becoming involved with Assiginack Public School, perhaps even turning the school into a cultural centre, a magnet school as they're called in the Rainbow District School Board-a school that offers children something more than the typical curriculum. In this case, Mr. Berti thinks the public school could teach arts, culture and the environment with the group teaching in such areas as visual arts, dance and storytelling.

"It all depends on what people want," he says.

In 1984, Debajehmujig was established in M'Chigeeng and in 1989, moved to Wikwemikong because of an offer of more space. Now, in 2007, the theatre group is again moving because of better space.

"We have to meet a variety of needs-young people, guest artists, families, mixed tourist crowds," he adds. "Everything from a bed and breakfast to a tipi."

Mr. Berti also addresses the need for tourist accommodations in the winter. The theatre group's latest site will also play host to winter conferences and festivals, something they've had numerous calls about already. He says the numbers would not be huge, but would require accommodations for between 70 and 100 people over a period of two or three nights. The group has already agreed to host one such conference in June.

"The health of the organization relies on the health of the community," he says.

He adds that Debajehmujig wants to nurture community spirit and sees this as an opportunity in cross-cultural relationship building. The many interns that would descend upon the communities would come from many different cultures, he says, not to mention the relationship building between Manitowaning and Wiky.

"We're aware of having to figure out ways of doing things organically," he says. "We've had to try to figure things out on our own or we wouldn't have gone anywhere."

Reeve Fields agrees that it will take some creative thinking but, "the possibilities are unlimited. There's no doubt about it, it's got a great future. It's a real bonus for this community."

Hiking trail proposal irks some landowners

by Lindsay Kelly

NORTHEAST TOWN-Fears that the development of a proposed 35-kilometre walking trail would threaten their rights as landowners spurred an estimated 100 Northeast Town residents to attend a council meeting last week, during which one landowner presented his case to council.

The trail in question would run from the eastern part of the town along public road allowances and end at M'Chigeeng, and council passed a motion in January giving the trail developers permission to build the trail along the road allowances.

However, landowners immediately expressed concern that a trail would limit their land use and pose other problems regarding liability, trail maintenance and trespassing issues. On February 6, Ed Ferguson presented his concerns to council.

As a landowner whose property abuts on 1,320 feet of road allowances, Mr. Ferguson argued that while he doesn't oppose to a hiking trail being developed, he has legal access to the road allowances, and has concerns about people using the property abutting his land.

"Will I be allowed to hunt with my rifle if I'm within a certain distance of the hiking trail?" he asked. "Can I use a vehicle on the trail if I'm going to cut wood? These issues must be addressed before it's put through."

Other landowners share these concerns, and want an opportunity to share their opinions, he added, noting that tempers are already flaring over the issue.

The group of landowners in attendance was more than just "a few old farmers," he said, and the matter "will not be taken lightly."

"A public meeting must be held," he insisted. "The landowners must have input, and ultimately, the decision must satisfy all taxpayers."

The majority of council seemed somewhat alarmed at the reaction by the landowners. The town had distributed a flyer earlier that day assuring them that "no agreement has been signed," and that "municipal staff will sit down with representatives of the ski club to be sure that all relevant concerns are addressed." Only then will an official document for development be signed.

Still, council was sympathetic to the landowners' concerns, and Councillor Al MacNevin suggested that perhaps the wording of the motion was too definitive in its scope, creating undue confusion in its application.

"Negotiate is the key word," he said. "We expect that the CAO, on behalf of the municipality, will invite interested parties to have an opportunity to present their concerns for discussion."

Councillor MacNevin also tried to reassure the landowners that the ski club, which is spearheading the initiative, has the best interests of the community at heart, and that past club initiatives have been team efforts that have accessed the input of Northeast Town citizens during development.

Council agreed to set a date for a public meeting where concerned citizens could speak their minds; however, the issue has raised the question of if, and how, a successful trail can be constructed.

Mike Meeker, co-chair of the Manitoulin Landowners' Association, believes there are inherent problems in the idea of a walking trail which is not monitored. "If people coming from off Island just came to walk the trail, enjoy the sites, keep quiet and leave, that's fine, but that's not what happens," he said.

Because of more stringent stipulations surrounding issues like endangered species and clean water, landowners must be more cautious that they aren't in violation of some law, he added.

One concern is that if a rare species is found on a landowner's property, he or she will be limited in how the property is used, because environmental groups will want to protect that species's habitat, Mr. Meeker offered. He points to changes to the government's Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), which he says is continually including more regulations that must be followed.

Mr. Meeker suggests that landowners living along the Bruce Trail faced such a situation, and many moved to Manitoulin as a result. "It got to the point where they couldn't even put a roof on their house without getting a permit from the planning board and the biosphere people," he said. "You can't ignore something that's real and that's already happened."

One of the greatest concerns is that, while the trail is currently the initiative of a local group-which Mr. Meeker believes has the best intentions in developing the trail-it could eventually become adopted by a larger environmental group, which would not take into consideration the rights of the people who live on the land.

"Pretty soon people will be walking up there and immediately assume they know how to take care of the land better than those who are living on the land," he opined. "I'm not saying it will happen, but you can't ignore what's already happened."

"The worst thing-what I really dislike-is that this gets neigbours upset with each other," he added. "In my mind we need to stick together, because we are all neighbours."

While the landowners' association will be on hand to support those Northeast Town landowners during the trail's consultation process, "in the end, it's the landowners in NEMI who are potentially impacted by this-it's their decision," Mr. Meeker said. "If they decide it's worth the risk, so be it."

Ross McLean, a Bruce Trail volunteer and chair of the Bruce Trail Association's Landowner Relations Committee, has been involved with the trail's development since the 1970s. For more than 40 years, the Bruce Trail system has been working with landowners to develop a good relationship, and Mr. McLean believes that issues can be overcome so that everyone is satisfied.

As to the issue of liability, he points to the little-known Occupiers' Liability Act, which was passed in the 1980s, and was designed specifically to address the trails that go onto private land.

"It says that if a trail exists and there's no charge, the landowners can't be liable," he explained. "The person using the trail is responsible for their own safety."

By removing the liability from the landowner, the act recognizes the goodwill of the landowner in permitting use of his property, Mr. McLean said. And, while the act could be challenged, he said there has never been a liability lawsuit against the Bruce Trail.

He also addressed the issue of hunting on one's own land, indicating that hunting takes place in numerous areas along the Bruce. Their solution is to post a warning to trail users, clearly indicating the hunting season dates so that they use the trail at their own risk. The trail could also be closed up during hunting season, he added.

People can never fully be monitored against trespassing, he conceded, but he believes that most people would adhere to the trail's posted rules and regulations. "Sure it (trespassing) could happen, but people prefer to stay on a trail that is clearly defined, because they know they're not going to get lost," he said. "On the whole, it does not show itself in reality."

The main tool trail developers and landowners have in protecting private property is public education, Mr. McLean said, and the last thing trail developers want is to create ill will between neighbours.

If, for example, a rare species was to be found on private property, protection of that species would not come to the exclusion of the rights of people, he said. Instead, he suggests that people should be educated on what is special or unique about a trail feature, and landowners can help people realize how special it is.

Mr. McLean uses an example of a rare orchid that grows on the Bruce Trail, saying that, while there are some controls on development of the escarpment, it is more of an effort to find balance between protection and development. "I know of no case where, because of a rare orchid, a permit for development has been refused," he said.

He added that he knows of no instance where there has been the expropriation of private land to offer protection to a rare species, but if such a case came up, it would be the decision of local government to do so.

About 50 percent of the Bruce's 850 kilometres is situated on private land, and the association works with 1,000 landowners. Mr. McLean advocates using 'handshake agreements' in working with landowners to secure the use of their land.

The agreements are "non-contractual, and can be terminated unilaterally"  by either party at any time. Sometimes, a landowner will request having a copy of the agreement in writing, and the association is happy to provide them.

Many of the concerns expressed by Northeast Town residents are "natural fears," Mr. McLean agreed, "but once a person can feel, in one sense, that he or she is a partner in the project with the organization, and they get to know the other people, it's a whole different story."

Eventually, the Bruce Trail Association would like to own all the land the trail occupies, but in the meantime, volunteers do whatever they can to maintain good relationships with those landowners who agree to let their land be used for the trail.

"We don't want to prey on people, or bully them," he said. "We appreciate the help of the people who show their love of the land by sharing it with us."

Electoral reform for Ontarians?

Part III of a series

Single transferable vote better for cities

EDITOR'S NOTE: In this ongoing series examing electoral options for the voters of Ontario, we address the system of single transferable vote, which was picked by participants in BC's Assembly for Electoral Reform as the most attractive alternative.

by Alicia McCutcheon

MANITOULIN-On November 28, 2004, the British Columbia Citizens' Assembly for Electoral Reform ended their 11-month period of learning the various electoral systems and listening to the public to come to a decision. The assembly decided their province needed a change from first-past-the-post and that change came in the form of the single transferable vote.

The findings of the Assembly were made into a report and mailed to all of British Columbia's 1.4 million households in January of 2005 to ready the public for a referendum on the subject.

On May 17, 2005, 57.69 percent of the public voted in favour of change, but 60 percent was required to make a change. Because the vote was so close, the electorate will, this year, again be voting to change the current system.

Single transferable vote (STV) is another in the family of proportional representation which was studied at length in last week's Expositor. Systems of proportional representation must have multi-member ridings, in order to be proportional, and the ridings tend to be much larger-in some cases, a riding may be a whole province or even country.

In the book 'Electoral System Design: The New International IDEA Handbook,' it explains that single transferable vote, like the List system, uses multi-member districts and voters receive a ballot with all of the candidates running in the district. Voters choose the candidates by marking a number one beside their first choice, a number two beside their second choice, and so on. Voters do not have to vote for more than one person if they wish; they may only choose one.

A quota must be determined to elect candidates and is typically done using the 'Droop' quota: dividing the votes by the number of seats in the district, then adding one. As cited as an example in 'From Votes to Seats: Four Families of Electoral Systems,' if a three-seat district or riding has 8,000 votes, the quota would be 8000 divided by (3 + 1) which is 2000, plus the extra vote is 2001. Two-thousand-and-one votes would be needed to be elected.

All of the votes with a number one beside the name are then counted and the quota applied. Any candidates who meet the quota are automatically elected. Most often, a candidate who is elected right away will have votes that have exceeded the quota, or surplus votes. These votes are then transferred to the candidates with a number two marked beside their name and this continues throughout the rest of the ballot until all the seats have been filled.

If not enough candidates have been elected to fill the seats as the quota has not been met, then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated and their votes redistributed to the second preference candidates.

Dr. Jonathan Rose, academic advisor to the Citizens' Assembly, says that people are drawn to a single transferable vote because of the amount of voter choice.

"Some people thinks it's complicated with the counting and the mechanics, but nobody really knows the mechanics behind our current system either," he says.

Dr. Rand Dyck is a professor emeritus of political science at Laurentian University and doesn't see the single transferable vote system boding well for Manitoulin.

"It surprised me that the BC Citizens' Assembly recommended STV in place of the current system, and that in the referendum the electorate supported it by over 57 percent," he says.

Dr. Dyck says that, like with the List system, Manitoulin could conceivably be swallowed into one large riding encompassing all of Northern Ontario, with maybe 10 members or perhaps two large ridings with five members each.

Imagine, says Dr. Dyck, that northeastern Ontario is one big five-member constituency, and in an election, the popular vote broke down as follows: Liberal, 40 percent; New Democratic Party, 40 percent; and Progressive Conservatives, 20 percent. In this scenario, the Liberal Party would then get two seats, the NDP two seats, and the Conservatives, one seat, he says.

"The advantage is that the seats would be awarded more fairly than at present in terms of each party's proportion of the vote. But the disadvantage is that there would be five members of parliament for northeastern Ontario without specific constituencies," Dr. Dyck says.

"I can certainly imagine Manitoulin Island would end up without a local representative when there are many more votes in Sudbury, Timmins and North Bay," he adds.

The single transferable vote method works well in large urban centres such as Toronto where the city could, hypothetically, be divided into five 10-member constituencies, Dr. Dyck notes, but might not be relevant to thinly populated Northern areas.

EDITORIAL

The Manitoulin economy is made up of many little things

On Manitoulin, we take our economic successes where and when we find them.

Manitowaning can boast of two new additions to its local (and the general Manitoulin) economy: the newly-expanded Henley Boats, a manufacturing industry, and the new theatre space for Debajehmujig theatre, a cultural industry.

These are quite different industries, of course, but they will have the same impact on the Manitowaning (and Manitoulin) economies in that they will both generate additional jobs in the community.

Elsewhere on Manitoulin, it is encouraging to see that Harbor Vue Marina in Little Current is completing an expanded showroom and retail sales area and that Manitoulin Transport in Gore Bay has again expanded its administrative area.

And there are other examples: Manitoulin Canvas in Mindemoya is planning expansion, while the family of businesses operating under the A. Manitowabi (Andy's) banner in Wikwemikong is continually expanding. In Little Current alone, over the past two years there are at least eight brand-new businesses, all in the downtown area. (These include: Bio Ped Foot Care Centre, Boarderline, The Edgewater, Hayden's Meats, Loco Beanz, Tamali's Tickle Trunk, Divinely Aesthetics and Allen's Automotive NAPA Auto Parts).

In Mindemoya, Cindy's Clothesline is a new women's wear store, there are several new carpenter-contractors, and the list goes on.

Each of these businesses, just as is virtually every business on Manitoulin, is owner-operated.

That's a good thing because as the owners grow their businesses efficiently, they begin to need more staff and that means additional jobs.

Henley Boats, for example, has been producing aluminum craft for between five and 10 years now, learning the business. Their expansion to much larger quarters means they can take on larger orders and employ more people. Proprietor Dave Ham hopes that will mean a dozen new workers. Debajehmujig Theatre, founded nearly a quarter-century ago and one of Canada's oldest Aboriginal theatre organizations, expects with its new theatre space in Manitowaning to be able to lease out its "black box" rehearsal facilities to other theatre groups and in this way create a cultural business that will bring an ongoing series of professional theatre people to Manitowaning (and to Manitoulin) where they will need to have places to stay, purchase food, gasoline and so on. There are other "signs," literally, of cultural tourism on most local roads where signage directs visitors to the nearest First Nation community on the Great Spirit Circle Trail.

These examples of positive economic change, together with the others mentioned, demonstrate how Manitoulin's economy changes, little by little, with some ensuing small growth.

The proposed 35 kilometre-long hiking trail in the Northeast Town is another example of an improvement that would cater to an important Island industry: tourism. The nature of tourism on Manitoulin, as elsewhere, has increasingly become experiential in nature and, to some extent, involves a degree of adventure. More trails, like the one proposed, is an example of both.

If this aspect of Manitoulin's economy-just as manufacturing, cultural, retail and service-is to have increases, even modest ones, tourist visitors must be accommodated.

Naturally, neighbours of any proposed new trail must also be accommodated and that, we believe, is what the trail's champions (Dr. Roy Jeffrey and Stan Ferguson) are making every effort to do.

In rural Canada, there is always a part of the community that is suspicious of the development of new parkland or other public spaces.

On Manitoulin our own example, more than 20 years ago, involved vigorous opposition in the Island's West End to the expansion of the original Misery Bay acquisition in order to provide for sufficient buffer lands to develop a provincial park.

Time passed-at least a decade-and Misery Bay also found a champion, Doreen Bailey, who was able to convince the community that a Provincial Nature Reserve was not at odds with local customs and ambitions.

Of course Misery Bay Provincial Nature Reserve is now one of Western Manitoulin's "must see" gems and a magnet for exactly the type of tourism alluded to earlier.

We expect that the proposed hiking trail in the Northeast Town will sooner rather than later be viewed in the same context as Misery Bay. We would also like to see concerned local farmers mollified on the issue of wild turkey hunting and wild turkeys established here for eventual hunting, another addition to tourism.

Misery Bay is a good comparator at many levels, for this successful project proved, eventually, how good things are possible when people of good will choose to work together to iron out difficulties. We expect no less from the current discussion in the Northeast Town.

Manitoulin has one large, successful example of a homegrown industry that any community would be pleased and proud to call home to its head office: Manitoulin Transport. It stands on its own, unique among Manitoulin-based businesses, and serves as a useful contrast to the mom-and-pop nature of the rest of the business economy here.

The charter industries here-agriculture, commercial fishing and, more recently, aquaculture-are stable but always susceptible to the exigencies of climate and external market forces.

Owner-operated retail, manufacturing and service adapt, change and grow gradually. That is in the nature of a small market.

So it is with tourism.

We must all continue to work steadily towards positive, common goals.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Equality must be exercised in urban, rural areas

We cannot retreat to separate school boards

To the Expositor:

Doreen Dewar's letter ("Time to reconsider one publicly funded school system," February 7) is to be commended. To her comments, I would add the following thoughts with regards to how programs, expenditures, and quality of delivery of services to rural areas are unfolding.

Mrs. Dewar and I have differences in the areas we serve such as transportation services and student access to extra classes. Our taxpaying citizens equally contribute their monies as do the urban ratepayers of Sudbury and immediate area. Espanola and Manitoulin trustees are unique in that we serve taxpayers who all live in a rural area. Other areas such as Noelville, Killarney, Warren and Wanup all have trustees who serve them, as well as schools within the Sudbury core that, through no fault of theirs, contain the larger amount of voting taxpayers.

I understand and accept that it is reasonable that some amenities are not available to the rural students and parents due to low numbers of students in our respective rural areas. But I would point out that, in the matter of transportation, the urban rule-makers state that if one lives within a certain distance, depending on academic grade, that student must walk to a designated bus stop. In the urban setting the student may pass numerous houses on a sidewalk where the rural student may pass one barn in that distance, if lucky. Further, a rural student may have a snowplow pass them on numerous occasions and have no sidewalks to retreat to for safety.

Through time I have learned it is generally frustrating to plead the case of rural students and families. People who have never lived in rural scenes, again through no fault of their own, cannot appreciate the stresses and problems that are inherent with living in this setting. In fairness, there are probably things about urban living we cannot appreciate. I submit that locations such as Warren, Noelville, Wanup and Killarney fall into the same category as us, but do not have an independent trustee to beat their drum.

This must change. I think it is time to stand back, assess, evaluate and calculate if the actions that have taken place since school board amalgamation have produced desired results. I will say without question that we must remain as one board; we cannot retreat to separate boards.

Case in point. It was suggested to me, and I quote, that "if you do not maintain free bussing to magnet schools, we will lose students to other boards." This will mean loss of money.

We are engaging in a recruitment process, through supplements in papers, free handouts, as well as seminars in Sudbury promoting French immersion. These are all excellent, world-class vehicles to awareness and learning. It is explained to me that the money being used to finance these efforts is placed in an envelope by the government. Once they collect taxes from all of us, they decree that it must be spent this way, even though it does not include the rural areas or benefit them in any manner. Think of it. Advertising in a rural community where they have one public school-this will not benefit from a recruitment drive.

The Transportation Consortium dictates that all bus rules apply in Sudbury (where public transit is available) as well as in rural areas (where there is no public transit). These commandments are handed down with zero consultation from trustees, and applied without consideration to area obstacles and problems. Why then is the extra bussing available at magnet schools, and special courses available within these schools, not offered in the rural areas as well, if we are equal? Does a student from Falconbridge wanting to be bussed to Lively High School (a magnet school) differ from one student from Manitowaning who wants to play volleyball after school or obtain extra help from a teacher and come home on a late bus?

There has to be an answer. Equality must be exercised in the rural and urban areas. There is no question that the rural community has benefited by joining in with urban communities. The urban communities have likewise benefited by joining in with the rural communities. Magnet schools receive special consideration to recruit students away from other boards and likewise rural communities need special consideration to serve and maintain the students they now have.

If you are foolish enough to ignore the fact that there is a fierce competition out there for students to attend specific boards, while your tax dollar supports this, then you are part of the problem.

We have a million-dollar computer system with supporting staff in our board system. The expense for this computer system is justified when one considers how our kids win by using it. It is also a vehicle by which we can be transparent with the public and keep them informed on a day-to-day basis should the individual so decide to show interest and look up the information they want, even our budget process.

A rural school being the only show in town is not reason enough to treat these rural area students with less services. In the spirit of fairness, we should be catering to other non-urban needs. It is rather difficult and hurtful to sit back and watch the urban areas fight over student bodies and spending monies to the expense of us all, both rural and urban.

Larry Killens

Mindemoya

Hiking trail a welcome addition

Trails attractive for summer visitors

To the Expositor:

I first learned about the proposed hiking trail from the Name That Trail! ads. I think it's a great idea. Lots of people enjoy hiking, me included, and we will find it a welcome addition to the other beautiful hiking trails here: Misery Bay, Lewis Twin Peaks, Cup and Saucer, McLean's, Bridal Veil Falls, M'Chigeeng, Nimkee's Trail and Wagg's Woods. I'm sure it will make Manitoulin an even more attractive destination for our summer visitors.

Jan McQuay

Mindemoya

Problems in nursing homes will escalate with Bill 140

3.5 hours of daily care per resident required

To the Expositor:

Although recent media coverage of the Ontario government's proposed new long-term care legislation, Bill 140, has been fairly well done (a very informative article was done by the Manitoulin Expositor), I have noticed that there are still many in the public (with whom I have spoken personally) who really know nothing about the bill nor the devastating effects it will surely have on long-term care facilities in this province if passed as it is presently written.

Certainly I do not claim to be an expert in government legislation, nor would I venture to say that I am completely in tune with all the aspects of long-term care in Ontario, but I have workedin nursing in a long-term care facility for over 17 years, so I would say that would at least give me the right to have an educated opinion.

The sad fact at the forefront of this whole situation is that the province only funds 2.5 hours of care per resident per day in long-term care facilities. This allocation of funding is the lowest in all of Canada and, in fact, surveys have shown that one of the poorest states in the US, Mississippi, provides more funding for care for their nursing home residents.

Not only does this bill not insure a guaranteed amount of funding for per-day care, it provides no increase in hours of personal support workers and health-care aides, although such staff provide the vast majority of hands-on care in nursing homes today. This bill, in fact, demands nursing staff to do more charting, written reports and other paperwork, which will only take away more time from resident care!

Many of us have mothers, fathers, grandpas, grandmas, sisters and brothers living in nursing homes-people who have been good citizens and contributed to society in many ways, including war veterans who put their life on the line for this country! They certainly deserve better then what Bill 140 will provide. Please, help them get the hours of care they need. Call, write or email our MPP Mike Brown or the Minister of Health George Smitherman and demand that Bill 140 includes a minimum of 3.5 hours of care per day per resident in Ontario's long-term care facilities.

If Bill 140 passes as is, and puts more demands on our facilities without increasing funding, then the problems to operate these homes effectively will escalate. If this happens, maybe Mr. Brown will be saying the same thing to Mr. Smitherman that Ken Dryden said to Stephane Dion: "Why didn't we get it done?"

Greg Young

Big Lake