Northeast Town union rejects latest offer by 15 to 2 vote

by Lindsay Kelly

NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN-Striking workers with the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands have rejected the latest contract offer from the town by a vote of 15 to 2, extending the stalemate between the two factions into its 21st week.

On the afternoon of February 15, striking workers made their way to the Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Little Current, where they cast secret ballots in a vote supervised by a representative of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Only 17 of the 22 eligible voters cast ballots on the contract.

Highlights of the town's offer include a three percent per-year increase over the next five years, and job security for full-time employees for the length of the contract.

Following the vote, representatives from both sides were quick to issue press releases expressing their disappointment with the current situation.

Union representative Fred Bond said that this recent rejection of the town's offer is a clear indication of the union members' view of the contract, and should force the town to return to the bargaining table.

"Our members know that the so-called job security offered by the town is a sham, because hand-in-hand with management's offer are take-aways that would let them reduce our working hours at their whim, contract out our work, and assign managers to do work," he said in a press release. "In public, the town is saying they are offering job security and not changing anything, but in the contract they are proposing, our members' hours could be cut, their shifts obliterated, and there is no protection for part-time employees. I would like to know who on town council would work under those conditions."

The workers rejected the offer because of fear of being replaced by contractors or non-union staff, he added.

Union members have recently been referring to mayor and council as a 'one-time council,' insinuating that they are looking to extend the strike into the fall and make the strike an election issue. While this is not necessarily the union's intention, Mr. Bond said the course of the strike will be determined by how willing the town is to return to negotiations.

"Certainly we hope the town will realize in bargaining you're supposed to be going in with an attempt to come to some common ground, and not just make demands on their terms," he said in an interview. "We're very disappointed that the town continues to take the approach of 'take it or leave it.'"

Mayor Joe Chapman noted his disappointment with the results of the vote, standing by his previously-stated belief that the town is offering the union members a fair contract.

"There is nothing left to do except give the union the chequebook and the keys to the buildings," he said in a press release. "No other employer on the Island is offering a package that can compare with what we have offered these employees. Although I am disappointed with the results of the vote, the five workers the town has hired to replace the 14 CEP union members are doing an exceptional job and we will continue to provide quality service to our ratepayers."

Strikes are not limited in their length, Mr. Bond noted, saying that strikes can last anywhere from a few months to several years. And rumours circulating around town that suggest the strike will be over in March are without merit; as long as the workers are willing to walk the picket line, the strike will continue, he said.

As well, Mr. Bond is disappointed with the statement recently made by the town that the municipal work is being done efficiently by five workers who replaced the 14 workers that formerly completed the work.

According to Mr. Bond's calculations, the current workforce is comprised of 30 workers. "The mayor needs to go back and do the math again," he said.

However, these numbers presented by the union don't take into account that people working in some of these positions only work on an as-required basis.

Since the numbers are not presented in full-time equivalent, they are misleading, Mayor Chapman contends. The town maintains that it is saving money by hiring out work to contractors and operating with its current staff.

"The town is saving tens of thousands of dollars," he said in an interview. "We're seeing $10,000 per month in savings, and we're providing better services today than prior to the strike."

And, to suggest that the union is not making the strike a political issue is simply not true, but "council is prepared to run on its financial accountability," should the strike run into the fall come election time, Mayor Chapman said.

Mr. Bond maintains that the unionized workers simply want to maintain the status quo in keeping job security for its full- and part-time workers, and only the contract language to change. "If it's not the town's intention to take those jobs away, then why does the language have to change, if nothing else changes?" he asked.

But the mayor says the union has indicated that it wants the town to hire an additional four or five people to replenish the workers who have left the bargaining unit, and this is "nonsense."

"It's foolish to think anything can be gained from the town hiring more workers," he said. "The union refuses to recognize that there are huge procedural problems within the union workforce."

In fact, the town was already overstaffed prior to the strike, he says, and if anything, the town is looking to reduce the town's workforce through attrition to make operations more efficient.

The town's contracts with replacement workers are set to expire on March 31, but the mayor says the town will consider extending those contracts if the strike extends past that date.

"It is certainly being discussed," he said, adding, "You pay more if you contract out per month as opposed to three or five years at a time."

The mayor said that the results of the vote have simply caused council to throw up their hands in frustration, and there's "not a chance" that negotiations will resume between the union and the town.

"There is nothing to be gained by bargaining with the union," he said, noting the two parties are too far divided on the outstanding issues to be able to come to a middle ground.

When asked whether binding arbitration could be a viable solution to the impasse, Mr. Bond said it is not mandated by the negotiation process, and would have to agree upon by both parties before it could be considered.

But it would also be a good "scapegoat, so the mayor and council wouldn't have to bargain," he suggested.

Mayor Chapman said the town would discuss binding arbitration as an option at council, but the town would only consider it if it provides a more cost-effective way of doing business for the town.

"The town is not a charity," he said. "The town exists to provide services."

It's is not the town's job to preserve CEP union jobs, but to provide taxpayers with good services, efficiently and cost-effectively, and that's what the town is attempting to do, he added.

No new talks are scheduled between the union and the town. The last round of negotiations took place on January 26 and 27.

Part II of a series

Suicide is wide-ranging, but help is available

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second, and final, part in a multi-part series looking at the issue of suicide. In last week's edition of the Expositor, our story focussed on the signs exhibited by people with suicidal tendencies, along with some of the processes they go through, and professional help they can obtain, to help them come back from the brink of despair. In this issue, the Expositor looks at the personal experiences of those who have been directly affected by suicide, as well as some of the initiatives being taken locally to help those affected most.

by Lindsay Kelly

with files from Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-Suicide has been linked to mental illness, but the circumstances surrounding each suicide are numerous and varied, which can make it difficult for the families left behind to cope with their loss. Whether you are a volunteer working for an organization that regularly deals with families affected by suicide, or a person who has been through the pains of suicide first-hand, the after-effects of the experience are hurtful and lingering.

One of the organizations people can turn to for immediate assistance is the Manitoulin-North Shore Victims' Crisis Assistance and Referral Service (VCARS). They provide people who have been affected by suicide with  assistance and support immediately following the suicide, explained VCARS executive director Leanne Lockeyer.

"Our involvement comes after the fact," she said. "We don't do any prevention. If the police encounter someone who is suicidal, they will refer that person to us for a referral, or for a place to call for help."

Last year, VCARS received 32 death notification calls, although not all of those calls were for suicides, Ms. Lockeyer noted. When VCARS is contacted, the organization will send out a volunteer to the affected family's home where they will talk with the family about the suicide.

Ms. Lockeyer said there are many volunteers throughout the Island community who work for VCARS, providing support to those affected by suicide, and all of those volunteers undergo specialized training which teaches them to how to interact with people who are dealing with the suicide of a loved one.

"The volunteers all undergo suicide prevention training, and a large number of people have specialized suicide intervention training," she explained. The volunteers receive training from the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) program, which is generally administered through the west coast organization Living Works.

People can contact VCARS themselves, but in many cases, volunteers are contacted by police who have been involved with a suicidal person, or a family who is dealing with a loss from suicide.

For the most part, VCARS volunteers are there to console the family members, and help them with things like making phone calls to other family members, Ms. Lockeyer said. In addition, because many people take on the guilt associated with the suicide of a loved one, VCARS volunteers help the family explore those feelings, and explain that it isn't the family's fault that their loved one has taken their life.

"If we're there, we can provide support to the survivors," she said. "The big thing is not to try to take the grief away, but to acknowledge the feelings involved."

But volunteers can also act as an intermediary to stop a person with suicidal thoughts from taking their life.

"We can make life contracts," Ms. Lockeyer explained. "They'll call and we get them to make a promise not to hurt themselves before someone gets there."

While the volunteers don't do any counselling themselves, they will conduct follow-up visits to ensure that the family is still able to manage their grief, as well as provide debriefing to students and teachers at schools, or employees at businesses where there have been incidents. And they always make themselves available to anyone who needs their help in the future.

"We never cut anybody off," Ms. Lockeyer said. "We'll leave our business card, and if there is ever a situation where the person is suicidal again, we can be of support to them again."

Joe Laford, a mental health worker with the Sheshegwaning health centre, believes there is a distinct connection between alcohol abuse and suicide in First Nations communities. Alcohol abuse sets in as suicidal people try to cope with years of neglecting their spiritual selves, and as such, lose sight of what roles they would traditionally play in their families, he said.

"You need to learn to love yourself before you can love someone else, whether as a parent, or as a partner," he explained. "We need to find meaning in ourselves as loving, gentle, kind people."

While he speaks from his professional experience in helping other Islanders, he has also experienced the personal effects of suicide. Mr. Laford is open about his 21 years as a recovering alcoholic, and said that, about five or six years ago, he experienced his own suicidal thoughts.

He began a cycle of self-pitying thoughts that emerged "over wanting to help people so much. I didn't look after me," he explained. This led to serious health complications that landed him in the hospital for several months with a pulmonary embolism.

"Three weeks after I left the hospital, I remember sitting in my own basement with a loaded 30/30 (rifle)," he recalled. "I know what depression is."

At that point, he said, he was at peace with his decision to end his life. But something changed his mind.

"I don't know what happened then, but I broke down and cried, and I put down the rifle," he said.

Following that experience, he recognized his need for help, and visited a traditional healer for four days, where he took part in traditional Aboriginal practices like visiting a sweat lodge. He said he needed to do those things to heal, and rediscover his spiritual connection.

When he returned he felt ready to return to the world, but his wife suggested he still needed time away, and he spent an additional month off.

"I took a month off to go travelling, fishing, boating-all the things I love doing," he said. "I smoked a pipe in the early morning. It was a beautiful month, absolutely incredible."

It was this reconnection with the spiritual aspects of his Native culture that he believes pulled him back from taking his own life.

He now describes this period as "craziness." "I can't believe I put myself through that," he said. "I've never been so weak and frustrated."

It's these feelings of hopelessness and frustration that people working in Island First Nations are trying to combat in their community. If workers can halt these suicidal thoughts early on in youth, they may be able to greatly reduce the number of completed suicides on First Nations, believes Joe Osawabine, artistic director with the Debajehmujig Theatre Group.

His theatre company has addressed the issue of suicide through the touring play 'Billy,' about a suicidal teen who receives guidance from an elder while in a pill-induced dream state, as well as through a new show that was created and performed for a suicide prevention conference held in late January in Thunder Bay. Sponsored by the youth council of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), the week-long conference was a response to the growing number of youth suicides throughout NAN territory, an area covering two-thirds of Ontario.

"The rate of suicides is a lot higher on First Nations-for youth, and especially males in the 18-30 age range," said Mr. Osawabine. "I think it's because young men have a disconnect from the culture."

He explained that "the theme of our show was connecting with the culture, and using the Seven Teachings as a way to combat suicide." He added that, unlike 'Billy,' which "took place in the supernatural," the recent work "was more real." The four actors involved-Mr. Osawabine, Eli Kavanagh, Jessica Wilde and Tabatha Peltier-"chose to portray a family whose older brother committed suicide, and show how that impacted on the family."

Since performing the piece in Thunder Bay, the troupe has received a request to present the show again, for a suicide prevention group in London, Ontario, on March 20.

While the goal of the Debajehmujig plays has been to help potentially suicidal youth by "using the arts as a way to express the issue and talk about it out in the open," Mr. Osawabine noted that exploring the subject has been therapeutic for the actors as well. "Between the five of us on the 'Billy' show, we could count 25 suicides we knew of among acquaintances and friends," he said. "And that number isn't getting any lower. Even while we were on that tour, that number was still climbing."

Mr. Osawabine said he's personally been touched by eight suicides in his life already, and he is still in his mid-20s.

All of the actors underwent Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) prior to touring 'Billy,' and Mr. Osawabine said a number of youth disclosed suicidal impulses during workshops that were held following the performances.

Suicides are particularly rampant among the more remote First Nations. "One fly-in community, Pikangikum, has had four since this new year," Mr. Osawabine noted. "I think it has the highest rate of suicide in the world. They're not even getting over one, when another is happening."

Suicides are fewer and more far between in Wikwemikong, but they still occur. One occurred as recently as mid-January. In this case, however, it was not a young man, but an older man who was in failing health and felt he was a burden on his family.

Mr. Osawabine noted that there is a cultural precedent for this, stemming from a time when Native tribes were more transient, moving from hunting ground to hunting ground. "Elders would 'walk the land' when they felt they had become too much of a burden, and it was more of an honourable thing, because they were preserving the life of the community."

He hastened to add, however, that such a practice is no longer encouraged, as communities are now more rooted and have the resources and infrastructure in place to support their ailing elders.

The trend of youth suicides remains an alarming one for Native communities, but "right here at home, in Wiky, I feel we're getting better," Mr. Osawabine said. "In the overall Native population, it's still a big problem, though, and that's why I think that conference (in Thunder Bay) was important. One of our goals is helping people to express themselves, and I think a lot of it (for potentially suicidal individuals) is feeling that no-one is listening. By going to these communities, we are helping them to get it out in the open."

Help is available to those who are having suicidal thoughts, or who has been affected by suicide. For immediate assistance, contact VCARS at 368-9945, or the Sudbury-Manitoulin District crisis triage line at 1-877-841-1101.

Part II of a series

Net Pain

Psychologists explore the 'world within a world' of hockey

EDITOR'S NOTE: In modern times, the terms hockey and violence have become virtually synonymous with one another, with more and more players succumbing to injury. Last week, in Part One of the Expositor's ongoing series, Net Pain, the issue of violence in hockey was viewed through the eyes of minor hockey fans on Manitoulin, and examined instances of injury occurring in the minor hockey system on Manitoulin. In Part Two, the Expositor takes a look at the issue from a sports-psychology perspective.

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-An individual walking down a street suddenly tugs off their gloves and begins punching another person in the head, or sneaks up from behind and starts slamming the unsuspecting victim nose-first into the window of a storefront. Is that okay?

Of course not. Yet when the gloves are hockey gloves, the assailant a revered hero, and the glass the sort of puck-streaked plexi that encircles rinks, people tend to find such behaviour perfectly acceptable, if not admirable.

It's that sort of moral relativism, or 'bracketed morality' as it's called in sports psychology circles, that makes it very difficult to separate the violence in hockey from the sport itself, let alone begin to rectify it, says Ryan Mastin, a sports psychology student at Laurentian University and onetime skater with the Wikwemikong Hawks.

"Hockey is a world within a world," he says. "The sports psychologist Michael Smith, who applied social learning theory to sport, has done a ton of research about youth hockey, and found that fighting and body contact has been accepted as not only part of the game, but as adaptive and constructive behaviour-it's seen to serve a purpose."

Mr. Mastin has done his own share of research on the subject, making hockey aggression the focus of a thesis he wrote for his degree last year. "My topic was to see how hockey players' perceptions of what is considered aggression differed from those of non-hockey players," he explains.

To that end, Mr. Mastin rounded up a group of undergraduates (above the age of 16) that was equally split between hockey players and non-hockey-players, and subjected them to video clips depicting aggressive incidents in the game. "All the clips were penalties, and whatever the example was, it was obviously immoral," he says. "But there was a real difference between the way the (non-hockey-playing) students and the hockey players viewed them. The level of moral reasoning was much higher for the non-hockey players when judging aggressive hockey acts."

His thesis further explored the issue of hockey aggression by categorizing it as one of three types: assertive, instrumental, or hostile. 'Assertive aggression' is the most acceptable form, societally speaking, at least. "That's the Wayne Gretzky type: if you want to score, you have to be assertive, and put forth a lot of effort," Mr. Mastin explains.

'Instrumental aggression,' on the other hand, carries with it "an intent to harm," Mr. Mastin notes. He uses the example of a defenceman taking away a scoring opportunity by slashing or tripping a rushing forward, "with the probability that the player could get injured;" or an enforcer coming to the aid of a marquee player who has been roughed up. "We call it instrumental, because while the player might not be angry, there's a purpose to it. It's deliberate, if not necessarily calculated."

The final type of aggression, termed 'hostile,' is distinguished from the other two in terms of both motivation and degree of violence. "It requires anger, and usually involves a lot of pent-up frustration, like in the case of the Bertuzzi incident," says Mr. Mastin. The oft-replayed incident involved, of course, Sudbury's Todd Bertuzzi, a forward with the Vancouver Canucks, 'repaying' Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore for an incident in an earlier game by sucker-punching him and then cross-checking his face into the ice.

Mr. Mastin notes, however, that sports psychologists often have a hard time distinguishing between 'instrumental' and 'hostile' acts, because "you don't really know if someone's angry. We can observe body language, but this needs to be explored a lot more to reduce the ambiguity."

What is clear, however, is that aggression, in all its various incarnations, "is basically a part of the game; it's the nature of the sport," remarks Mr. Mastin. "The majority of hockey's offenders, and their victims, the players themselves, have accepted what could be labelled violence as a part of the game."

He notes that a correlation between aggressive play and success in the sport begins early, with positive reinforcement from coaches and parents, and that the aggressive behaviour only becomes more pronounced as kids move up through the ranks of minor hockey. "Researchers have found that the higher the level, the more aggressive they are," he relates.

This is, in part, because children become stronger and more capable of aggression as they grow older, but mostly it's because "expectations increase," Mr. Mastin maintains. "Kids are taught that, if they don't have the skill, they have to be aggressive to do well."

By the time hockey players reach the junior level, acceptance of violence in the game is remarkably broad. "Studies have found that 78 percent of players in the 18-21 age range perceived their teammates as high approvers of hockey violence," the sports psychology student points out.

Mr. Mastin does stress, however, that such approval remains confined within the realm of the rink, rarely spilling over into how players conduct themselves in society. "Studies have shown that, in real life, hockey players are fine-it's the culture of the game, and because it's part of the game, it's accepted."

As for the theory that hockey provides a healthy outlet for aggression that might otherwise be manifested among society, or within the family, Mr. Mastin admits that there is some credence to the argument-one made by A.C. Fisher in 1979-but indicates that it's a weak justification.

"The catharsis theory, coined by Freud, suggests that athletes with a lot of pent-up frustration will aggress to reduce the amount of aggression within them, but it's not tenable, because players are rewarded for aggression. So they will do it again, because it's been reinforced to them that it's acceptable," he argues.

Not only is it generally accepted within the world-within -a-world of hockey, it is often outright celebrated, by both coaches and fans. "The crowd loves aggression," notes Mr. Mastin. "If there's a big hit, people cheer and convey that the player is doing a good job. It becomes a circular effect." In many instances, however, the violence being applauded is "just bullying," Mr. Mastin says.

Numerous other factors, apart from the cheers of the crowd, play into the continuing acceptance of violence in the game. Children are exposed to ever-sophisticated Xbox and Playstation games that feature bone-crushing hits in vivid detail; Don Cherry's 'Rock'em'sock'em' videos are a kind of propaganda, or porn, for the would-be punisher or pugilist; broadcasts of games feature play-by-play and colour commentators happily reviewing the fights that break out, and calmly (sometimes breathlessly) pronouncing upon who won, or at least 'held their own.' Players on the bench are frequently depicted banging their sticks on the boards after a fight has run its course, in an ice-level version of the applause that is already occurring in the stands.

It all feeds into the general sanctioning of 'big hits' and bigger punches. There's a semi-admirable code that reserves applause for 'clean' hits and 'fair' fights, but often there's a fine line between what's clean and fair, and what's dirty and despicable.

Referees have the unenviable task of deciding which is which, and they aren't helped much by the constantly changing rules, which moreover differ from league to league and level to level.

Changing the culture of violence in the game is no easy task, and would have to occur on a variety of levels should it ever truly happen, but Mr. Mastin believes that enforcement of rules, with stiff penalties applied in a consistent manner, is as good a place as any to start.

"If I had to give advice on how to reduce aggression, I'd basically say that there has to be a clear standard of rule enforcement," he suggests. "Some penalties go unnoticed, and players pick up on that, learning how to get away with extra-legal behaviour. We need proper training protocols for minor hockey referees, so they can grow and advance."

Many refs at the minor hockey level "are very young starting out, and they're going to make mistakes," Mr. Mastin notes. Unfortunately, the moment they do, they get booed unceremoniously by the crowd, and often feel like they have to hide after the game, lest they also have to face the wrath of the losing coach.

Many simply quit. "Refs don't get enough respect in minor hockey, and there's a 70 to 80 percent dropout rate after one year of refereeing," he says, noting that he recently confirmed that statistic with former NHL referee Dave Newell of Sudbury, who now serves as a refereeing supervisor for the big league.

To further illustrate the disrespect shown to refs, Mr. Mastin points out that he once learned of "a bunch of parents in minor hockey who put together $50 and said that they'd give it to the kid who fired a puck at a ref."

He believes the onus is on the leagues and associations to set the bar for what is permitted in the sport, and then provide proper training and support for referees, so they can enforce the rules. And, of course, for parents and coaches to respect these policies, and reinforce fair play and 'assertive' aggression, while frowning upon the more dangerous, immoral varieties of aggressive play.

Recent rule changes in the NHL should help, Mr. Mastin believes. "The NHL sets the standard, and I think the rule changes have definitely deterred some aggressive behaviours," he says. Fighting in the NHL this year, for instance, "is down roughly 58 percent," he points out.

That said, there is still a role for enforcers in the new NHL, and a culture where some degree of violence is not only permitted but applauded.

"How do we reduce that?" Mr. Mastin asks. "We have to wean it early. So that by the time a kid has made it to the higher level, they've already developed the skills on an assertive level. Parents and coaches have to stress making a contribution to the team that's morally acceptable. We have to teach players how to learn the right behaviours-stress stickhandling, skating, and where to be on the ice, versus how to hit and shoulder check. There needs to be more positive reinforcement for playing a good, ethical game."

To leave further food for thought, Mr. Mastin cites some quotes by experts in the field. Brenda Bredemeier, who developed the 'bracketed morality' theory explaining how violence is accepted within hockey while frowned upon outside the game, wrote that participants in sport, unlike in everyday life, are "free to concentrate on self-interest, by a carefully balanced rule structure...Players are guarded against the moral defaults of others by protective rules and officials who impose sanctions. Moral responsibilities are thus transferred from the shoulders of players to those of officials and coaches."

In other words, as Mr. Mastin puts it, "the game itself is guarding them." And players themselves have to begin to accept responsibilities for their acts.

The student is also partial to another quote, this one from ex-Montreal Canadiens goalie Ken Dryden. In his 1983 book, The Game, Dryden wrote: "What matters is that fighting degrades, turning sport into dubious spectacle, bringing into question hockey's very legitimacy."

Assiginack and Wikwemikong restore peace on Cardwell St.

by Michael Erskine

ASSIGINACK-The war of words which threatened to boil over into litigation action cooled somewhat after a meeting between officials of the Township of Assiginack, Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown's office and Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Brent St. Denis.

"We have all agreed to be nicey, nice and work together for now," said Wikwemikong Chief Robert Corbiere.

"It will be a co-operative effort," agreed Assiginack Reeve Les Fields. "The meeting was productive and we have agreed to move forward together."

The meeting included Tom Farquhar from Mr. Brown's office (Mr. Brown's duties as Speaker of the Ontario Legislature precluded his presence), Chief Corbiere, Frank Fisher, Hazel Fox (Recollet)  and Gene Trudeau from Wikwemikong, Reeve Fields and Assiginack clerk-treasurer Alton Hobbs from the municipality. It had been called to try to come up with a plan of action to build a new road into Wikwemikong.

The current road, known as the Cardwell/Meredith Street corridor, provides the only route into and out of the First Nation community of Wikwemikong and legally falls under the mandate of the Township of Assiginack to maintain and repair. The roadway has been falling steadily into worse repair over the past decade, but the municipality says it is unable to put the resources required into the road.

"We are doing everything we can," said Reeve Fields, while confirming that town crews would be addressing the worst of the current crop of potholes as soon as the weather abates enough to free up the necessary town workers.

The financing of roadway repairs, really a complete rebuild at this point, is problematic for the four levels of government, despite sincere desires expressed by each representative to see the issue satisfactorily addressed.

The municipality cannot afford to spend the $2 million estimated needed to rebuild the road, while the province has no legislative route to 'upload' a road to its responsibility-even though in many other instances, such as the roadways into Gore Bay that seem to be identical in nature, yet are maintained by the province. The Wikwemikong band, in the meantime, is prevented by funding regulations from spending money on a roadway outside of its own boundaries and the federal government has no direct means of contributing to a project that lies within a provincial area of jurisdiction.

Compounding the issue is that any solution has a potential impact on hundreds of other situations across the province and the country-expanding far beyond those relating to First Nations.

The Gore Bay roads, identified as Highway 540b on roadmaps, exists because those roads were once the highway itself, by-passed by new construction and a streamlined Highway 540. The roadway was never uploaded to the province, simply never downloaded to the municipality.

The Cardwell-Meredith Street corridor is caught in a structural impasse, admitted each representative, but it is an impasse which presents a safety issue that each wants addressed before tragedy strikes.

The issue has been an ongoing source of friction between the two communities, and the recent rapid deterioration in the roadway coupled with a community safety designation that doubles fines and reduces speed limits on the road prompted the band to threaten to hold up the town's new water plant and any other shoreline development if the matter is not addressed.

The roadway issue has festered for over a decade without any resolution in sight, and members of the Wikwemikong community have begun to run out of patience, noted Chief Corbiere. "This is impeding our community's economic development," he said. "Our community members have to travel on that road every day, and it isn't safe."

Still, in light of their communities' long-standing relationship, Chief Corbiere said he and his council were willing to work together to try and find a solution.

Everyone expressed optimism that this time a solution would be found, but what shape that solution may take has yet to surface. Suggestions include involving the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, FedNor and/or the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines in some manner to alleviate the strain of rebuilding the road on the municipal budget, but the structure of that plan remains nebulous.

WORKS OF ICE: It's a far way from the South Pole, but Pingu the penguin and his seal friend made their way to M'Chigeeng on the weekend to take part in the carnival's snow sculpture contest. Creators (left to right) Sonya Armstrong, Shane Manitowabi and Tonya Armstrong spent two days designing the sculpture, which garnered the contest's second-place prize.

photo by Lindsay Kelly

EDITORIAL

Integrated health networks need cautious approach

Change is nearly always met with trepidation, especially when a new way of doing things impacts on someone's job security or their ability to meet obligations to serve the community in which they live.

Painful experience through numerous polical regimes over the past two decades have made unions and management boards especially cautious of the phrase "We are from the government and we are here to help you." Too often 'help' has proven to have an entirely different (and somewhat biological) meaning from that generally assigned to the word in the Oxford dictionary.

The health-care issues facing politicians these days are gargantuan in scale. With an aging population and advances in medical care seeming to hold out the promise of even longer lifespans, albeit at an increasingly unsustainable price, the challenges faced by a health minister seeking to balance the province's health care books will become even more challenging as the new century progresses.

The temptation to offer up double-speak interpretations of service reductions as "improved health care delivery models" and to dress up rationalization of services in increasingly distant centres as "more localized control" must be overwhelming-and words are certainly much cheaper than action.

We must offer the benefit of the doubt to our political representatives in regards to their motivation in creating the new Local Integrated Health Networks, but that benefit should also be couched within very clear boundaries.

Health services are very important to rural regions of the province facing the challenges of economic stagnation and decline for even more reasons than those of our southern neighbours in Ontario. For Manitoulin, embarking as it is upon an economic strategy that highlights marketing a lifestyle designed to attract both older and younger people to the region, any loss of service provision to more distant (that's 'local' in doublespeak) centre could prove to be economically disastrous.

The stated goals of the new LIHNs, building a system that is more responsive to local needs and concerns while at the same time delivering services in the most cost-effective manner possible, are laudable. But it will take something close to genius to pull that mission off, so tread cautiously Mr. Smitherman.

If those nobly-expressed statements, however, really mean cutting services, reducing local employment and further centralizing control of health care in an office in Toronto-seller beware!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reader offers possible solution to NEMI strike

Wonders about administration's motives

Dear Editor

A letter to the Citizens of N.E.M.I.( Full and Part-time,)

What is the problem???

As far as I can tell the employer wants to take away the right of belonging to the bargaining unit or at least by default, the seniority rights of part-time employees and this seems to be the major obstruction to obtaining a settlement in the current labour dispute.

The Mayor, on MCTV news said, "No employer guarantees employment for its part-time workers".This statement is true in so far as it would be un-wise to "guarantee" anyone's employment; union or management. The fact is, financial situations change. Layoffs must occur at times when services are no longer needed or affordable.

I do not believe it is the union's intent to seek tenure for the individuals presently belonging to the union nor do I believe this is what the town is offering.

Labour seeks to protect jobs by collectively agreeing with the employer on the definitions of what jobs belong in the union bargaining unit. Job security is usually provided within a clause that effectively would state that no employee will lose their job as a result of contracting out. This does not mean that layoffs can't happen, it just means that a position deemed redundant cannot be replaced with a contractor or perhaps a manager until certain conditions have been met. The terms usually provide recall rights within a certain timeframe. Two years, I believe, is not unusual. Should the position reopen during this period, the employee will be recalled.

I understand from the union rep's statement on MCTV that the part-time employees are already provided with these or similar rights and that it is the town's position that these rights be surrendered in order to settle the contract.

I can't believe the town council understands what it is asking the workers to do! This is not a reality TV show! The full-time employees cannot simply vote the part-time employees out of the tribe and go for the big prize! The union local is dutifully and legally bound to protect the working rights of all it's members! They simply CANNOT sign away the rights of other workers! To do so could possibly see the Local facing charges under the Labour Relations Act and therefore, I can't see how a government appointed mediator could take part in allowing such a decision either.

As I see it, and I'm sure many would agree, we have come to a grand impasse and this in fact is the problem. Given the positions of the two sides, I can't see this matter resolved anytime soon.

My suggestion would be for both sides to withdraw all their proposals and agree to re-implement the expired agreement and let the employees return to work. If it means waiting until after the next elections to reopen negotiations, I guess that's how it will have to be. The town workers at least had some faith a settlement could be reached and put their livelihoods on the line. I believe the Mayor and Councillors should take a similar leap of faith and put their political future with this municipality on the line.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with unions or unionism, it's never hard to guess what motivates them. What I am having a hard time understanding is this: what are the motives of this administration?

Cliff Jewell,

Little Current

Nuclear power a costly, dangerous dinosaur

Ontario needs more power, but where will it come from

To the Expositor:

I read with interest your article in the February 8 issue regarding the comments of the mayor of Blind River in his interest in a nuclear power plant. He also mentioned the Blind River refinery. It was built against the wishes of the majority of the people of Northeastern Ontario. It was the pro nuclear position of the federal government of the time and the "follow the party line stand" and of our member of parliament that made it happen.

It is pretty clear that Ontario will need more electrical supply in the future but where that production unit should be, whether we need one at all is not clear.

I was a part of a committee a few years ago that looked at the needs for electric power in Northeastern Ontario. At that time we had a shortfall when the cold froze the rivers of about one thousand megawatts. The nuclear plant that was proposed at that time was a six thousand megawatt unit. If a plant had been built we would have sold the extra five thousand megawatts to Michigan (which I hope is never an option) or the power would go south and the line lose would be five times as much as power coming from the south to meet our peak.

It is also not clear if the nuclear option is clouding the issue. In the last several decades, the pro nuclear federal government has pumped over twenty billion dollars into the nuclear industry. The glossy nuclear ads we see on our TVs are paid for by tax dollars (ours). It is a very powerful impulse. They are ready and have been for years to build power plants anywhere at any cost, at any risk whether they are needed or not. We also have members of parliament in Northeastern Ontario who will follow the pro party line. I have often wondered down in their own hearts what they think as individuals about living down wind from a nuclear power plant. There are many more concerns about nuclear power than there used to be. To even mention a few would make this letter too long. There are several things we know for sure about our energy needs in Northeastern Ontario.

Energy audits and retrofitting can free up many, many megawatts of power. We can build appliances that are up to ten times as efficient as the ones we are using now. The renewable clean power options that we have now were not available even five years ago. There are far safer, cleaner ways to supply our future energy needs.

Nuclear power is a costly dangerous dinosaur.

Many people can see a new way. The World Wildlife Fund Canada and David Suzuki Foundation and the Sierra Club of Canada are calling on the Ontario Government to embrace a new way.

There is also a new interest, understanding and sympathy for the environment. Our evolving consciousness will give rise to maybe higher spiritual knowledge, the main thing may no longer be the thought of the small human being within his own skin, but the whole of humanity connected with the whole Earth.

When enough people embrace this vision nuclear power will cease to be an option.

Edward Burt

Kagawong

Stand Up For... Total Hypocrisy !!

Conservatives become what they decried

To the Expositor:

Stephen Harper's total and breathtaking hypocrisy during his first week as Prime Minister is just so obvious , that it needs no editorial comment from me. It will suffice to simply place the facts on the record.

Harper and his supporters viciously attacked Conservatives Brison and Stronach for defecting to a Liberal government, and held such behavior up to Canadians as examples of the type of political opportunism that he would end as Prime Minister.

Then, in his first week as Prime Minister, he invited  Liberal Emerson to defect to his Conservative government just days after Canadians in that MP's riding had elected a Liberal representative.

Harper's  mantra throughout his entire political career has been the elimination of the so called democratic deficit, by calling for elected Senators and by decrying the use of government contracts or political patronage to reward Quebec organizers.

Then, just days after becoming Prime Minister, he rewards a personal friend and key Quebec  political organizer by appointing him to the Senate and putting him in charge of government contracting.

Many Canadians have always feared Stephen Harpers "hidden agenda." Little did we know that his actual agenda was to become exactly that which he and his followers recently judged to be the most repugnant.

What is even more interesting, however, is the question of how members of the Conservative Party and some local letter writers will react to this contemptible display by their leader.

While I seldom agreed with Reform or Alliance policies, I always admired their genuine commitment to grassroots democracy. The fact that they were so long in opposition was, in part at least, a tribute to their refusal to trade principals for power. The current Conservative Party may have adopted the name of Brian Mulroney's party, but its supporters are largely still enamored with the party of Preston Manning and Stockwell Day. In their rush to become electable, Harper's new Conservatives have swayed from the fundamental cultural difference between the Reform western style populism versus the Progressive Conservative perceived eastern elitism. They have failed the test of conscience versus convenience.

Right wing, conservative Canadians tore their movement apart in the 1980s by forming splinter parties, engaged in a destructive, vote splitting war for more than 20 years, made unpalatable choices to reunite, compromised many aspects of their platform to pander for votes, and they did it for this.

Congratulations.

Delroy Prescott

Honora

Dear Dave and Beth,

I'm involved in a sticky situation and I don't know where to turn. A friend of mine recently told me that she saw my husband "getting cozy" with another lady. This supposed  coziness was at another friend's ice fishing party.  I know my husband was there because he told me he was going. But they didn't stay out over night or anything. How do I ask him about this other lady? I am suspicious but I don't want to start a big fight.

Fishy Business

Dear Fishy:

I would like to comfort you by telling you that this is only a rumor but when a "friend" tells you something that she personally witnessed well... You say that you don't want to start a fight by bring this topic up with him BUT if you keep this to yourself your imagination is going to "run wild" every time he goes out. If you really got to know the truth. Ask your friend to be there when you question him. Ma used to say you got to nip problems like this in the butt (before things get way out of hand).

-Dave

Dear Fishy Business:

You have to give her the benefit of the doubt and not jump to your own conclusions, because it hasn't been proven true. I think the best thing to do, even though you may have reservations, is ask. Ask for an honest answer, but if you feel she isn't telling you everything, maybe talk to the person that she's been accused of fooling around with, or just warn her that you will talk to him. Don't wait too long to do it though because the curiousity will eat you up.

-Beth

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