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by Cheryl Waugh
MANITOULIN --- The
Manitoulin Expositor is an amalgam of its community; it reports and
comments on events, advocates for change, provokes thought, and
encourages discussion on issues that affect Manitoulin. And with this
edition, The Manitoulin Expositor celebrates 125 years of service to
the dynamic community that is Manitoulin.
In the upper left
hand corner of our masthead, readers can take note that there has been
a volume change with this edition. Today's newspaper is volume 125,
number 1, denoting the full 125 years that The Expositor has been
publishing. Since May 24, 1879, The Manitoulin Expositor has been at
the forefront of public debate - often with unpredictable, but
impressive results.
In the late 1800's,
the debate on where to place Manitoulin's judicial seat was hotly
contested because economic benefits were expected for the community
that won the seat. At that time, The Expositor was publishing out of
Manitowaning and came out strongly in favour of locating the seat in
that village. When Little Current threw its hat into the judicial
ring, there was a great outcry by The Expositor. With the east end of
the Island split,
Gore Bay stepped in
and snapped up the judicial seat for West Enders during an election
held on June 23, 1888. That likely was not the type of influence The
Expositor had expected, but one suspect's West Enders didn't mind.
Former Expositor
owner Stuart Jenkins purchased the newspaper from its founding
publisher W. L. Smith, and moved it from Manitowaning to Little
Current in 1887. A staunch Conservative, Mr. Jenkins levelled such
criticism at Liberal MPP R. A. Lyon that he lost the 1890 election.
During the late
1800s and early Twentieth century, The Expositor had a strong
religious component, as it published weekly sermons. However, when the
furor surrounding the 1913 Canada Temperance Act arose, The Expositor
remained editorially uncommitted. Publisher J.F. Snowden, who was also
an Anglican Minister, did see to it that letter after letter
commenting on the issue was published.
Non-commentary on
the issue stopped when temperance advocate William Moore took control
of the paper. He pushed for the abolition of alcohol within the pages
of The Expositor.
Although he left the
temperance issue alone, Mr. Snowden was not shy about advocating for
change, or taking credit when he felt it was due. He wrote in one
edition of The Expositor that "No little credit of securing that
railroad belongs to The Expositor."
The railway arrived
in 1913 when the Algoma Eastern Railway pushed it through so that they
could use it to get to their mines and use the port at Little Current.
Many had held the charter to build a railway here but none had acted
upon it. The Expositor criticized those who weren't active when they
held the charter.
The Expositor was a
strong advocate of the war effort for both the World Wars. Even during
the Boer War, The Expositor pages were filled with patriotism and
encouragement for young men to enlist. Times change though, and so do
opinions and when
Canada
made the decision to participate in the 1990 Gulf War (i.e. Operation
Desert Storm) with Iraq The Expositor initially opposed sending troops
to the Middle East but supported Canada's troops there once the
decision was made to participate.
The Expositor also
supported Prime Minister Jean Chretien's decision not to invade Iraq
in 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein's regime. Known as Operation Iraqi
Freedom, the war in Iraq is now proving to be a military and political
quagmire for the US and Great Britain. (Long gone are the days when
Canada marched in step with mother Britain.)
However, during
World Wars, the paper published complete lists of recruits and fully
supported the war efforts. One of the first times the word Haweater
appeared in print occurred when The Expositor published a letter from
a World War I soldier. As well, free Expositors were sent over to the
recruits.
When Germany marched
into Denmark, Expositor editor Borge Jarnel (who was of Danish
heritage) raged at Hitler, calling him "a lowly rodent."
In the 1990s, The
Expositor gave ongoing support to veterans' efforts to build a new
district cenotaph at the central site of the old Spring Bay Monument.
Monument committee chairman John Bryan credited the newspaper with
rallying the public to support the project.
The Expositor
continued that effort during the dedication of the Students' and
Women's Memorials. The Students' Memorial, which promised to remember
the sacrifices of the veterans, was the first of its kind in Canada.
While The Expositor won provincial and national acclaim for the
supplement it produced to honour the dedication of the Women's
Memorial, which was constructed to remember the war efforts of women
at home and abroad.
In the 1930s, The
Expositor led the attack against the Hiawatha ferry, and the crooked
road that led to the ferry terminal. The terminal was located in a
spot where the channel froze early and then thawed late; in other
words, the ferry terminal was in the worst possible spot.
The Expositor
published numerous articles on passenger delays, and created such a
furor that the Minister of Lands and Forests soon brought in a
government ferry. By 1937, the ferry was free.
Concurrently, a
lively debate began about using the railway Swing Bridge instead of
the ferry, as car traffic steadily increased. In 1945, with The
Expositor's support, the Swing Bridge was finally opened to vehicular
traffic. Later, in the 1990s, The Expositor supported straightening
the road leading to the
Swing
Bridge
on Goat Island. That work was completed in 1998.
Temperance became a
hot topic again in 1947 after then-publisher W. J. Patterson denounced
the Canada Temperance Act. Mr. Patterson cited the increase in
bootlegging as the official reason the newspaper wanted the act
repealed.
It was during Mr.
Patterson's era that This is Manitoulin first rolled off the presses.
That magazine is still published today, along with the more recent
Manitoulin's Magazine. The Expositor then, as today, strongly supports
the tourism industry on Manitoulin.
The late 1960s and
1970s was an era of great social activism, and The Expositor
frequently challenged its readers to respond to the issues of the day.
Under the direction of Expositor editors like Mike Atkins, Ian Gibb
and Mac Swackhammer, The Expositor stood ready to challenge the
establishment at every turn.
It was under the
editorship of Mr. Atkins, as well as subsequent Expositor editors,
that the haphazard, checkerboard development of Carter Bay in the
early 1970s was opposed. The Expositor drew attention to the risks
that such a development scheme could impose on the old
municipality
of Carnarvon. The debate the newspaper began ultimately resulted in a
freeze on the development. The freeze on building permits is still in
place, although the Carter Bay Eco-Developments Corporation is working
in the area, and in fact, has recently received some building permits
to construct rental units at Carter Bay.
"No Nukes!" was a
cry often heard in the 1970s, and that was the side The Expositor
leaned toward when debate began about the possibility of placing an
Ontario nuclear plant in the LaCloche area. Letters advocating both
sides of the issue were published in the paper.
Another hot topic of
the day was the development of Fisher Harbour. Editor John Low covered
the development story, which had a lot of local opposition to Cliff
Fielding's plan to build a harbour and a quarry on LaCloche Island.
Complaints concentrated on the amount of noise and pollution that
would be generated. Opposition to the project was so strong that such
stringent restrictions were placed on large-scale quarrying that it
never took place.
Opposition against
Fisher Harbour arose again this year after Alexander Centre Industries
attempted to put together a plan to ship nickel concentrate from
Voisey Bay to Inco's Copper Cliff operation through Fisher Harbour.
During that process, it was discovered the company was illegally
shipping salt and silica sand. All of this was reported in the paper,
while the paper published letters to the editor hotly debating both
sides of the topic.
In 1975, Expositor
editor Mac Swackhammer covered a rash of copycat suicides in the
Buzwah community of Wikwemikong and the newspaper pushed for an
inquest in its editorial space. The inquest was called by Dr. J. F.
Bailey and held in the fall of 1975. It eventually led to the
establishment of mental health facilities like Network North and
Rainbow Lodge, which remain in place today.
In 1982, Expositor
editor Peter Carter again tackled the difficult issue of suicide, but
this time in the Island's general population and specifically among
young men in their 20s. His stories sparked community activist Mary
Nelder and others to organize a suicide hotline that was widely
publicized in the pages of The Expositor. When contacted, the hotline
put someone suffering from depression in touch with an anonymous
counsellor in Sudbury, who in turn, could alert a volunteer in the
caller's area to provide one-on-one attention.
This system was
credited with intervening in possible suicides and The Expositor won
the prestigious Michener Award for Public Service Journalism, Canada's
pre-eminent journalism award, because of Mr. Carter's articles in
bringing the suicide problem to light. The Expositor was awarded the
Michener at a state dinner at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in the fall of
1983.
In 1984, The
Expositor, under the editorship of John Morrissey, was the only news
medium in Northern Ontario to give extensive coverage to the Ministry
of Natural Resources plan to spray a chemical pesticide in the Spanish
River forest area which would control the outbreak of spruce budworm.
The Expositor drew attention to the connection between this particular
pesticide and the heightened occurrence of Reye's Syndrome among
children, which East Coast environmentalists had long suspected.
The coverage and
subsequent public awareness led to local debates on the issue and
finally, MPP Mike Harris from North Bay, a member of the Bill Davis
Conservative government, moved in the Queen's Park legislature that
the more benign Becillus Theriengensis be used instead to control the
spruce budworm.
In 1985, The
Expositor and editor Diane Sims gave coverage to Indusmin's proposal
to quarry the quartzite mountains at Frazer Bay. The 'Save Baie Fine'
effort was spearheaded by Stuart and David Cork and involved Little
Current businessman B.G. Turner, Ann (Turner) Casson, Dr. Roy Jeffrey
and others. Today, the mountain is known as Mount Casson and remains
as beautiful as ever. The quarrying never happened and in the end
Indusmin and its parent company, Falconbridge, agreed to place the
property back into public domain. It is now part of Killarney
Provincial Park.
In the early 1990s,
when the Manitoulin Island land claim was settled, much of
Manitoulin's shoreline allowance suddenly came into the public realm.
Municipal leaders were faced with the decision of whether to sell the
shoreline to adjacent landowners, or to keep the land surrounding the
lakes for the use of the public.
The Expositor and
editor Jane Story forced a debate on the issue with the newspaper
editorializing in favour of the public use of shoreline allowance.
That was ultimately also the way municipal leaders and the majority of
their constituents felt was appropriate for the use of the land, and
so a decision was made by all Island municipalities to follow this
course of action. That decision was briefly re-visited this year by
the council of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands,
but in the face of opposition from the United Chiefs and Councils of
Manitoulin (UCCM), council shelved its proposal to sell waterfront
road allowance to adjacent landowners.
In the 1992
referendum debate following the Charlottetown Accord, The Expositor
gave extensive coverage to all points of view on the issue, finally
coming out the week before the referendum with its first-ever front
page editorial supporting the 'Yes' option. While the
Algoma-Manitoulin riding voted 'No' to the referendum question, it is
interesting to note that the 'Yes' vote was much stronger on
Manitoulin Island than anywhere else in the riding and indeed in the
most of the rest of Northern Ontario.
The Expositor has
always been a strong advocate for political activism. During election
campaigns for both provincial and federal elections, The Expositor
sponsors an all-candidates night so that Manitoulin voters are
provided with an opportunity to meet and question potential members of
government. One is presently being planned for the anticipated Federal
election.
As well, The
Expositor both commented on and covered deliberations on the
controversial First Nations Governance Act. One of the few
publications nationally that not only covered the Act, through
articles and a series by reporter Michael Erskine, but argued against
its unilateral imposition. In one editorial the Act was referred to as
the continuation of the patronizing concept of "the white man's
burden."
In the 1990s, The
Expositor also took a strong stand regarding the Rainbow District
School Board's decision to eliminate courtesy bussing for the clients
of Hope Farm in Mindemoya.
The school board
finally agreed to continue to transport Hope Farm clients, and
Marguerite Hayes, executive director of the Manitoulin District
Association for Community Living, credited the extensive coverage of
the issue in The Expositor in changing the school board's position.
The school board
made another attempt to eliminate the courtesy bussing, and again The
Expositor took a stand that it should remain, and it did.
More recently, The
Expositor has supported Wikwemikong and Manitowaning in their efforts
to receive funding for a new road between the two communities,
publishing several articles on the issue, together with an editorial
stand.. There is hope that the new road might be built sooner rather
than later with the announcement last week of $900 million in new
infrastructure funding for small towns and rural communities by both
the federal and provincial governments.
The Expositor has
also supported the development of Little Current's waterfront, a
continuing initiative, and added its voice on the editorial page for
the exclusion of Low Island Park from consideration for any commercial
development when the waterfront plan's terms of reference were being
established.
The newspaper's
strength is its staff and readers.
The Expositor has
had a remarkable array of diverse but dedicated individuals holding
down not only the editor's and reporters' chairs over the years, but
committed people in every area of The Expositor office.
"Clearly," Expositor
Publisher Rick McCutcheon said, "the news opportunities on Manitoulin
are endless. We are constantly challenged to do good work, to support
and improve what is best about this place and to do our best to
contribute to an atmosphere where neighbouring communities can help
and support one another and not merely co-exist."
"It's an exciting
place for news papering, and we thank the people of Manitoulin for
their ongoing support," he concluded.
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