Georgian Bay's 'lakekeeper' says L. Huron in crisis

by IJC's measure Faults over-dredging of St. Clair River

by Jim Moodie

WASHINGTON-A Georgian Bay rep who returned on Sunday from a Great Lakes summit in Washington, DC feels Canada is lagging behind the US in terms of our commitment to the continent's pre-eminent freshwater resource.

"The Americans are very engaged on this," said Mary Muter, waterkeeper for Georgian Bay (or Georgian Baykeeper, as the Waterkeeper Alliance prefers to call her) and chair of the environment committee for the Georgian Bay Association (GBA). "They're quite close, for instance, to getting ballast water legislation passed."

Ms. Muter was on hand in the US capital along with members of the Healing Our Waters Coalition-a spectrum of environmental and conservation groups-for two-and-a-half days of meetings and government lobbying that culminated with Great Lakes Day on February 28.

This annual occasion in the US is convened by the Great Lakes Commission, which also held its semi-annual meeting over the preceding two days. According to the commission's website, Great Lakes Day allows for "a unified expression of the Great Lakes region's priorities for legislation and appropriations to assist in protecting (the basin's) environment and sustaining our economy."

Other groups in Washington included the Council of Great Lakes Governors, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the mayors of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (of which Blue Mountains Mayor Ellen Anderson is a Lake Huron voice) and tribal representatives, with over 200 people in all taking part in meetings and advantage of the opportunity to meet with congress and senate members.

Issues on attendees' minds ranged from water levels and climate change to pollutants and invasive species. On the latter front, the US is close to passing legislation that would subject ocean-going freighters to stricter rules regarding ballast water, as it is via such ship-stabilizing fluid that invaders like zebra mussels are imported to the Great Lakes.

The Ballast Water Management Act, drafted last year, would require "vessel operators to conduct all ballast water management operations in accordance with a ballast water management plan designed to minimize the discharge of aquatic nuisance species," according to a summary of the legislation. As well, it would require vessels to exchange water more than 200 miles from shore and in waters more than 200 metres deep. And the discharged water would have to meet a standard 100 times more stringent than the current guideline.

The act was expected to come to the floor of the House of Representatives last week, but was pulled for consideration, according to story in the Detroit Free Press. Still, water champions anticipate it will receive attention in congress in coming weeks.

An equally if not more pressing concern for Great Lakes advocates is the drought gripping the upper lakes, with Huron and Michigan both nearing record lows. Ms. Muter and the GBA remain convinced that measures need to be taken to reduce the flow of water through the St. Clair River, and are frustrated that interim mitigation measures aren't being implemented prior to the completion of an Upper Lakes study being carried out by the International Joint Commission (IJC).

The IJC has frontloaded the St. Clair issue into the first two years of its five-year study, pledging to "produce a draft report a full year ahead of schedule by February, 2009, with interim progress reports throughout 2008," according to a release from the commission. "A peer-reviewed final report on the St. Clair River is expected in June, 2009."

Ms. Muter said her organization is "pleased they've accelerated" this portion of the study, but believes "they can still put in interim measures now while they figure out the final report. To just allow 2.5 billion gallons per day to escape through the river is totally unacceptable."

The GBA is also concerned that the study group will not be employing 3-D modelling in its analysis of the river. "They say they don't need it," said Ms. Muter. "But it's required to understand the complexity of the river's high flow, sharp turn and the change in sediment supply."

Ms. Muter elaborated that riparian dwellers along the St. Clair have, over the years, employed bedload traps to "harden the shoreline and protect it from high water," and this, in turn, has "removed significant amounts of the sand supply, which used to slow down the flow. And you can't understand that change without doing 3-D modelling."

Such technology was employed, Ms. Muter noted, in an analysis of contaminated sediment in the St. Clair, which the federal government is now prepared to clean up to the tune of $3.3 million.

In an announcement made on February 23, Environment Minister John Baird said the funding would be put towards "a sediment management strategy for the site," with remedial options to include "capping and/or dredging, disposal of contaminated sediment and long-term monitoring."

While Ms. Muter doesn't question the need for a cleanup of polluted matter in the river, she feels it's equally urgent to address the deepening of the channel due to dredging and scouring, which the GBA contends has contributed to the decline of Lake Huron.

And she says the IJC need only follow its own advice in this regard. "If you look at a Levels Reference Study they did in 1993, and the Crisis Condition Report within that, you'll see that what they define as a crisis alert condition is something we've been in since 2000," she remarked. "The bottom line is, they have already looked at this, and know what to do-they established what qualifies as a crisis level years ago, and at what point the adverse consequences warrant interim mitigation measures."

In other words, the IJC needn't await the findings of its Upper Lakes team before acting; the rationale is spelled out in the 1993 study-one, Ms. Muter added, that spans 1,700 pages and cost $37 million (in today's values). "How much more money and time are they going to spend studying this?" she asked.

While the Levels Reference Study of 1993 grew out of concerns over the high levels of 1986, its research was equally focussed on the potential for alarmingly low levels. It sets "crisis threshold limits"-both high and low-and outlines measures that should be implemented in response to such crises.

Lake Huron's crisis level for low water, according to this study, is 576.8 feet. As of Monday, Huron's level was 576.7 feet, and through most of January and February it was a couple of inches lower. The all-time low, set in 1964, is 576.1 feet.

Ms. Muter said that she's recently been asked to sign petitions regarding droughts in Australia and at Georgia's Lake Lanier. In each case, the images she's been shown of "high-and-dry docks don't look any different from the shores of Georgian Bay."

Yet whereas these dry spots have sparked considerable alarm among both members of the press and political leaders, "ours doesn't seem to get the same attention," said Ms. Muter.

Canadians, she suggested, are slower to get worked up since the country has such an abundance of lakes, and the presumption is that we will never lack for a supply of H20. Yet it's time we got worried, in her view.

"We need to protect this resource-the water, the fishery, and the habitat we have left," she said.

Inquest urged, protest planned

regarding slain M'Chigeeng man

by Alicia McCutcheon

TORONTO-The family and lawyer of Byron Debassige-the young man who was shot and killed by Toronto police on February 16 after the theft of lemons led to a confrontation with police- are pushing for a coroner's inquest.

"The SIU (special investigations unit) is being very tight-lipped and holding onto all of the information," said Barry Swadron, the Debassige family lawyer, from his office in Toronto. "It seems to me that there should be a mandatory inquest into this case."

Under Canadian law, a public inquest must be made into the death of anyone who dies while under police custody or while in the prison system. The case in question bears some similarities to the death of Sean Trudeau, whose inquest was held in October. Both Mr. Debassige and Mr. Trudeau perished (Mr. Trudeau at his own hand) while police were trying to arrest them.

A February 29 article in the Toronto Star notes that Mr. Debassige was a schizophrenic and had been dealing with delusions since the age of 14.

After a clerk at a market near Yonge and Davisville reported that they had chased a man out of the store who had stolen lemons and pulled out a knife once outside, two police officers were dispatched from the 53 Division. The officers found Mr. Debassige in nearby Oriole Park, where witnesses saw him singing, stumbling and asking passersby for change. Early reports suggested he was intoxicated.

When police located Mr. Debassige, witnesses heard the officers yelling at him to put the 10-centimetre knife down twice and, soon after, four shots were fired. Mr. Debassige was shot twice in the torso. He was pronounced dead at St. Michael's Hospital soon after.

"Byron wasn't perfect," Mr. Debassige's mother, Jennifene Debassige, told the Toronto Star. "But he didn't deserve to be shot for stealing some lemons. Why couldn't they have called for backup? Why shoot him?"

According to the article, Mr. Debassige was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 14 but did not like to take his medications; once he turned 16 and Ms. Debassige could no longer force the issue, things got worse. Eventually, the family had no choice but to kick Mr. Debassige out of the family home, the article continued, and soon after, the young man was abusing drugs and alcohol, stealing cars and was in and out of jail.

Ms. Debassige is busy planning a protest for her son, set to take place on March 14 in front of the 53 Division police station, and hopes there will be a big turnout. She said the family is inviting organizations to join them such as the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, among others.

Ms. Debassige is asking everyone who plans on attending to bring a lemon to hold during the protest.

Federal NDP_demands refocus

of FedNor activity for the North

by Jim Moodie

NORTHERN ONTARIO-An NDP bid to redraw the northern map to exclude Parry Sound-Muskoka from FedNor's purview has prompted an alternative proposal from the Liberals and a predictable outcry from Tory member Tony Clement, who not only represents the cottage-country riding but acts as FedNor minister.

Tony Martin, MP for Sault Ste. Marie, has introduced a private member's bill that calls for the bolstering of FedNor into a full-fledged regional agency (similar to the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and other pseudo-departments in the country) with a mandate to invest solely in Northern Ontario-an area he defines as extending only as far south as the Voyageur route.

"Historically, looking north-south, the feeling was that the French and Mattawa Rivers were the dividing line," he noted in a recent conversation with the Expositor.

That changed when Ernie Eves, MPP at the time for Parry Sound-Muskoka, not to mention finance minister under the Harris regime, pressed to have both halves of his riding (Parry Sound had earlier gained inclusion) absorbed into Northern Ontario for purposes of accessing Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) dollars, said Mr. Martin.

That, in turn, prompted Mr. Eves' federal counterpart, Andy Mitchell, to follow suit on the FedNor front-in part because the two agencies have overlapping mandates, but primarily, in Mr. Martin's view, because both members wanted access to a pot of money previously reserved for folks farther north.

"They both helped themselves to some of the money," said Mr. Martin. "This was done unilaterally and without consultation in the North."

While the province removed Muskoka from its definition of Northern Ontario in 2004, both Muskoka and Parry Sound have continued to benefit from FedNor grants, said Mr. Martin, as have other areas in the province that are even less "northern."

His party contends that, in 2005-2006 alone, nearly one-third of FedNor's $90-million kitty was doled out to communities in eastern and southern Ontario.

That's largely because, apart from supporting projects in the North, the agency also channels funding to Community Futures Development Corporations (CFDCs)-such as our own LaCloche-Manitoulin Business Assistance Corporation-that are quartered in balmier corners of the province.

For Liberals like Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Brent St. Denis, this is not only an acceptable function of the federal agency but one that creates needed employment in the traditional precincts of the North.

"Tony (Martin) is confusing CFDCs with FedNor," Mr. St. Denis told the Expositor. "As CDFCs expanded in eastern Ontario and some parts of the south, there was no other natural mother hen for them."

Funds aren't siphoned away from northern projects as a result of this FedNor sideline, said Mr. St. Denis; the agency merely acts as an administrative channel for monies committed to the community development groups.

Yet in doing so, "extra jobs have been created in Northern Ontario," he noted. "So it's counterproductive to say that FedNor should retrench and only do programs in Northern Ontario, because it would mean a loss of jobs."

Mr. St. Denis also takes exception to the NDP position that Parry Sound-Muskoka is undeserving of consideration for FedNor support. "I don't agree that (this riding) should be taken out of the FedNor area," he said.

While conceding that there are many wealthy cottagers in Muskoka, Mr. St. Denis pointed out that "it's still a seasonal economy with most jobs in the service sector, so you could argue that you're better off with a full-time mining job in Timmins."

And while this summer playground is generally presumed to be prospering, "other parts of Northern Ontario are doing relatively well, too," said the MP. "Just look at the housing prices in Sudbury, for example."

In Mr. St. Denis's view, "it's too easy to say that Parry Sound-Muskoka is privileged." Meanwhile, tinkering with the concept of what qualifies as "the North" can, he suggested, become an endless-and fruitless-exercise. "If you're in Toronto, Barrie is north," he said. "And you could argue that Manitoulin is south of Winnipeg. It's all relative."

He does feel, however, that the array of ridings presently considered as the North for federal funding purposes "do face similar problems." And it's best, he feels, "to let well enough alone, and concentrate on making sure that FedNor is adequately funded."

The Liberals have tabled their own bill, authored by Nipissing-Temiskaming MP Anthony Rota, in response to the NDP measure. It echoes Mr. Martin's plea for enhanced status and resources for the agency but reaffirms a commitment to the inclusion of Parry Sound-Muskoka.

That stance was previously in question, at least in the assessment of FedNor head and Parry Sound-Muskoka member Mr. Clement, who lashed out at both Grits and NDPers when he sensed a movement was afoot to oust his constituents from the funding body's catchment area.

As a recent editorial in the Parry Sound North Star notes, Mr. Rota had supported the NDP bill in its first reading. "Mr. Rota's intentions may not have been to exclude the riding from FedNor, but to allow first reading in order to debate the bill," the paper allows, while defending Mr. Clement for "rightly point(ing) out the slight."

Mr. Rota hasn't been so forgiving of the FedNor minister's attack. "As a life-long resident of Northern Ontario, I do not need an MP from Toronto lecturing me on the history and importance of this area," he states in a release. "If Mr. Clement is serious about making the people of Northern Ontario his number-one priority, then perhaps he should explain why his government has already cut annual FedNor funding by more than $6.4 million since he was appointed minister responsible for the program."

The bickering could get louder as a federal election nears and representatives of northern ridings seek an angle in their respective campaigns.

Mr. St. Denis noted that Mr. Martin has embarked on a round of visits to various areas of the North to promote his bill (he was in Espanola last Friday, with Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing hopeful Carol Hughes on hand). The incumbent's sense is that the reception among northern community leaders to the NDP proposal has been lukewarm so far, but he also concedes that it's a hot-button type issue that will likely resonate with some residents of the region.

It will almost definitely backfire in Parry Sound-Muskoka, though, mused Mr. St. Denis. "It's really helping Tony Clement right now," he said. "I'd be grateful to Tony Martin if I was Tony Clement."

Relative to issues like Afghanistan, health care or the environment, the question of FedNor's funding scope is "not a big issue on the grand scale," reasoned Mr. St. Denis. That said, his party is committed to bolstering the agency's role while still accommodating its southernmost partners-which don't, in his estimation, drain significant funds from needier areas.

"I don't see any diminution for places farther north," he said. "Look at Little Current, for example," he said, in reference to the community's waterfront improvements that have benefitted from federal largesse.

Mr. Martin isn't so sure, however, that northern communities haven't been shortchanged by FedNor's expansion to embrace such southerly points as Gravenhurst. Nor is he comfortable with a spreading concept of what qualifies as being the North.

"We need to be clear on what the boundaries are," he said. "If it includes Muskoka, what's to stop someone from saying it should include Orillia?"

He believes the French River cutoff point is a logical one, and that the communities that range northward from there, while obviously different in some respects, share a number of key commonalities. "We have a certain character and unique challenges in the North," he said. "There's a significant number of First Nations, a sizeable Francophone community, issues of geography, distance and weather, and a cyclical, resource-based economy."

Mr. Martin's concern is largely that FedNor's budget will get stretched thinner if it continues to service a broader area, but he also worries that its very purpose-"to promote economic growth, diversification, job creation and sustainable communities in Northern Ontario," as articulated at its formation in 1987-will cease to have meaning.

"My fear is that FedNor is morphing into FedOntario," he said. "I think FedNor should get back to its original mandate and focus solely on Northern Ontario."

School using community resources

to deal with anti-social behaviour ...as an alternative to suspension

by Lindsay Kelly

LITTLE CURRENT-A new program at Little Current Public School (LCPS) involving organizations from three communities aims to head off disciplinary action by getting to the root of underlying problems plaguing students.

The alternative resolution program has been in the works for about three years and stems from the Safe Schools Act, which was passed in 2000. Seeing an escalation of violence in schools, the Ministry of Education adopted the act as a way to create "a safer learning environment for teachers and students," explained LCPS vice-principal Ron Hodkinson.

The act has been tweaked since its original form was created eight years ago, primarily through Bill 212, the Education Amendment Act, which outlines procedural matters for suspensions and expulsions, as well as circumstances under which students can be suspended or expelled.

Last week, LCPS unveiled its implementation plan, tentatively titled Community Partners in light of its partnering with community organizations from Sheguiandah, Aundeck Omni Kaning and Little Current, as well as the United Chiefs and Council of Manitoulin (UCCM). The program will enlist the help of community workers in these communities and the services they have to offer.

"The main focus of the initiative is to get to the root cause of the problems" instead of having to send a student home for a suspension, Mr. Hodkinson noted.

Through the program, educators are able to consider mitigating factors when determining what sort of reprimand to mete out to students exhibiting behavioural issues. For example, teachers may take into consideration the student's personal or academic history, previous approaches teachers have used to resolve the issue, whether the incident stems from a student's disability, as well as the impact a suspension will have on the student's future.

The idea is not to consider just one isolated incident, but to look at the student as an individual. "All this should be documented when we're looking at the student as a whole," explained Mr. Hodkinson, who sat on the Bill 212 steering committee at the board level and has a background in social justice.

For example, if two students are involved in a physical altercation, and one punches the other, the students may not get the same punishment, depending on the mitigating circumstances.

"I believe each situation is unique and every student is an individual," Mr. Hodkinson said. "It's the right thing to do to treat each person as unique."

To date, LCPS has been taking a reactive approach to behavioural incidents, but is seeking to adopt more of a proactive approach, he added. The school's Safe Schools Committee determined that in being able to do this, the school needed to consolidate the services available in the communities of Sheguiandah, Aundeck Omni Kaning and Little Current, as well as those offered by the UCCM.

"We tried to create a model for how to act when dealing with students," Mr. Hodkinson said. "We aren't using the resources we have available to us."

LCPS is in a unique situation in that it has a wide pool of service providers in the three communities to pull from, he added. Ideally, and tentatively at this point, workers will be scheduled for one-on-one time with students.

Students will have access to everything from wellness workshops and nutrition workshops to cultural programming and justice and sharing circles. The sharing circles, specifically, will be a school-wide initiative that the school hopes to implement in a few weeks. They will take place at 2:30 in every classroom at the end of the school day.

The circles allow students to leave school "on a positive end note and talk about what happened at school so they can feel positive about themselves and connected to each other," Mr. Hodkinson suggested.

The Community Partners program has already received unanimous support from Aundeck Omni Kaning Chief Pat Madahbee and band council, and there has been positive feedback from M'Chigeeng First Nation as well (a formal resolution of support is expected to be passed this week).

Mr. Hodkinson said he believes this type of program is essential for today's society, and emphasized that what makes this program so unique-and what will ultimately make it successful-is the cooperation of everybody working together.

"We have a lot of resources," he said. "We're extremely fortunate to have a lot of people who can help us in this area. We're taking a look at every service provider we have available to us."

EDITORIAL

FedNor scope should have stopped at French River

Since neither the governing federal Conservatives nor the Liberals in official opposition support this change, the NDP's bid to move the Parry Sound-Muskoka district out of the FedNor catchment area is doomed to fail.

The point is that the boundaries for FedNor (and, with it, the provincial Ministry of Northern Development and Mines) should never have been allowed to creep south of the French River, historically the line of demarcation between southern and Northern Ontario.

A few years ago, when some public construction was unveiled in Muskoka, the then-publisher of the Huntsville Forester wrote an editorial that suggested strongly that the FedNor dollars that had been spent on this project should have been earmarked for projects in the "real" North, and she went so far as to say she was embarrassed that her region, as prosperous as it is, accepted the FedNor funding that had been applied to the Muskoka construction.

With the permission of the Huntsville Forester, this newspaper republished their editorial (with an introductory note) and with some further explanation.

The federal minister responsible for FedNor, Tony Clement, holds the Parry Sound-Muskoka riding, so it is a certainty that the federal Tories will defend the status quo. The Liberals, federally, previously held the same riding and their man there was also for a time the FedNor minister.

The NDP's efforts will be largely a tempest in a teapot.

But they will focus on the unnatural connection with Northern Ontario that gives Parry Sound and Muskoka membership in FedNor and, through the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

The Parry Sound and Muskoka districts are, by and large, much more prosperous than any Northern Ontario districts, in part, by dint of the numbers of prosperous cottagers paying big taxes on their lakeshore properties.

It's interesting that, for example, the Kawartha Lakes area north of Peterborough or Muskoka's neighbouring district, Haliburton, were excluded when the boundaries for a share of the North's largesse were redrawn. These are not particularly prosperous areas either. Neither is much of Frontenac County, or the northern reaches of Hastings County, come to that.

Why, we could reasonably allow most of Ontario, excepting the GTA, London, and Ottawa to feed at the FedNor and Heritage Fund troughs.

In fact, the NDP has it right. The "special funds" should be saved for the North-the districts that habitually need a hand up. And the North starts at the French!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Good Samaritan thanked for rescue of boy at Low Island

Parents should be cognizant of the deep drop-off

To the Expositor:

This is a letter that is long overdue. I would like everyone to think for a moment about summer-kids playing and swimming at the Little Current docks, having a great time. You notice that your four-year-old child is getting close to a deep section of the water and ask them to wait while you place your other child on the dock. When you turn around to go to the boy, you see him going under the water; you are six months pregnant and know you can't get to him in time.

Rebecca Bateman is my son's hero. She jumped in the water fully clothed, wearing a long jean skirt, without even a thought, and saved him. It has been four years since that day on the docks at Low Island, and it still brings tears to my eyes.  She jumped in, saved him, and handed him to me, and while I checked him out, she continued on with her job a taking care of three other children in the community.  I want her know that this moment is and will be forever etched into my mind, and that I truly believe that things would have been horribly different if she had not been there that day. My family thanks you from the bottom of my heart.

I also want to caution parents that are not from here to be very careful around the docks at Low Island. There is a very deep drop-off that is deceiving. One second you are able to touch and the water is at your waist, and the next it is over your head. My son was trying to get to the ladder on the dock when he took a step and under he went. I have not returned to the docks at Low Island since that day. Thankfully my son does not have a fear and has returned, with a life jacket I might add, but please everyone, keep safe.

Martha Boyle

Little Current

Friends of the Norisle applauded for ongoing restoration efforts

Government should invest in cruising opportunities

To the Expositor:

I have been reading up on information about the cruise ship industries within the Great Lakes region. The Georgian Bay and North Channel regions have great opportunities and can benefit from any cruise that is offered. Cruises to other destinations would be wonderful as well, such as Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay, and into the US. There is a lot of history within the Great Lakes region and so much beauty that can be exposed by these cruises.

Last summer I visited the city of Sault Ste. Marie, and one attraction that caught my eye was the MS Norgoma. During my visit to the Norgoma, I learned of her cruising the North Channel and Georgian Bay region to becoming a ferry and sister ship to the SS Norisle.

Upon returning home, I was viewing my photos of the trip and decided to see if I could find any information on the Norgoma's sister ship.

I was very impressed to find that a group called Friends of the Norisle (www.norisle.com) were raising money to put the retired ship under steam again.

In light of the cruise ships that are to enter the Great Lakes in the coming years, I think the resurrection of the SS Norisle would be a valuable asset to the region. People talk about bringing cruise ships into the Great Lakes-well, you have one already there: the SS Norisle.

I agree with Mike Brown that, "The Great Lakes region holds great potential for hosting a dynamic cruise ship industry, which would benefit a number of northern communities." Well then take those words Mike Brown, and help out your region!

I also think that if the Heritage Fund is going to help pay for a familiarization tour for cruise ship operators, they should be investing their funding into the rebirth of a steam ship that could bring people from all over to the region. I would much rather hear the sound of a steam engine put me to sleep in my bunk then be rattled in it by a diesel engine. Keep up the effort Friends of the Norisle; I applaud you!

I do plan on visiting the Georgian Bay region this summer with a trip across the ferry to Manitoulin Island to view this fantastic geological area. You all have a gift that can be shared by others from around the world-show it off!

Donald Cunning

Fort Erie

Dianne Constantineau

Valu-Mart

Little Current

I'm your neighbour

Working at a grocery store can be stressful; you have to look after all of the products in the store and assist customers at the same time. However, Dianne Constantineau is one grocery clerk that makes the job fun and extremely entertaining.

With a smile on her face, Ms. Constantineau works steadily as a full-time employee at Valumart. Not only does she stock shelves and check signs in the store, but she also assists customers and works as a cashier sometimes.

Ms. Constantineau said the reason why she loves her job is because she gets to interact with customers.

"I just love talking to people when they come in," she said. "People generally think that employees at grocery stores are grumpy all the time, so I try to create a happy atmosphere."

Ms. Constantineau knows what the customers want since she has a lot of experience when it comes to working in a grocery store.

"Aside from working at Valumart, I have also worked at Foodland here in Little Current as well as various grocery stores in Espanola," she said.

While working at Valumart, she decided to move from her residence in Espanola to Manitoulin so she could be closer to work. 

But aside from stocking shelves, Ms. Constantineau said one of her favourite things to do involves music.

"I love to sing," she smiled. "I sing every Tuesday at the One-Stop restaurant in Little Current as well a couple days a month at the Legion."

Along with singing gracefully, Ms. Constantineau enjoys going skiing, taking walks and listening to music.

But most importantly, she said she enjoys making life around her more entertaining.

"Everything to me seems funny," she said. "If I'm not singing then I'm laughing because that's just the way I am."

Nothing's wrong with having a good chuckle, especially seeing how humour can help brighten anyone's day.

Shopping at Island businesses like Valumart creates lasting employment for people like Dianne Constantineau.