Parks Canada says two years culling cormorants at Point Pelee Park has cut numbers

by Jim Moodie

POINT PELEE-Culling of cormorants for the second year in a row at Point Pelee National Park wrapped up this month, with 1,600 birds shot.

That's less than half the number targetted by park staff for removal-and also far fewer than the 3,000 estimated to have been wiped out by vigilantes on Lake Huron in 2007-but considerably more than were taken during the first Pelee cull in 2008, noted Julie Woodyer of Cormorant Defenders International.

"Last year they killed 211 birds," said the animal rights activist. "This year they were after 4,000, but called it off last Saturday with 1,600 killed."

The shooting has been confined to Middle Island, the southernmost point in Canada and a relatively recent addition to the federal nature preserve on Lake Erie. Acquired in 1999 by the Nature Conservancy of Canada, this remote and uninhabited piece of real estate was turned over to Parks Canada in 2000.

Cormorants have taken up residence here in increasing numbers since, to the point that precious flora and fauna are being severely impacted, according to park officials.

"Middle Island is dying because of the high density of cormorants," Dr. Stephen Woodley, chief ecosystem scientist with Parks Canada, told the Expositor last year. "It's a wonderfully unique place containing many species at risk, and one of the last remnants of a Carolinian ecosystem, but when you go on the island it's an absolute rain of guano."

The park estimates that 40 percent of the canopy has been lost on Middle Island due to the toxic droppings of cormorants, and believes the only way to preserve what's left of the forest is to bring the population into check through culling of adult birds.

A five-year strategy was approved last year, with a goal of reducing the cormorant nests on Middle Island from an estimated 4,000 to 500-900.

Ms. Woodyer feels the problem is being overstated, however, and that the strategy has failed miserably so far in achieving its goals.

The diet of cormorants consists largely of unwanted invaders, she said, while the trees that are of concern to park naturalists are neither as rare as they are made out to be, in her interpretation, nor ruined to the extent that is being claimed.

"Stomach samples show cormorants are eating mostly invasive species like round gobies and alewives, so it's not a problem for fishermen," she said. "And all of these trees they're talking about just happen to be at the north end of their range. They're common throughout the US, and I can go into a garden centre and buy these plants."

The culling activity, in her view, has proven essentially pointless. "I can guarantee you this is having very little impact on the number of birds," she said. "There are hundreds of loafers-younger birds waiting for a chance to breed-and they will just move in."

The population of cormorants in the area "is dropping gradually on its own anyway," she said. And those that remain in residence on Middle Island haven't caused nearly the degree of damage that was predicted by park staff, she argued.

"Last year they said that if they didn't kill 4,000 birds, there would be a catastrophic 'eco flip,' which is the term they use," she said. "Well, they only killed 211, and of course nothing like that happened. The island is still nice and green, because there are big spaces where the cormorants don't nest anyway."

What has happened, said Ms. Woodyer, is that the shooting has traumatized other birds that inhabit Middle Island. "We were out there on a charter fishing vessel as observers, and what's really shocking about all this is the level of disturbance-not only to cormorants, but to herons and egrets," she noted.

Herons can't take a rest on the water, as they lack webbed feet, she noted, so when they're spooked by gunfire "they have to fly the whole time, or find somewhere for a perch." She and her cormorant-defending colleagues witnessed many exhausted herons that were barely able to lift their wings after a day of agitation.

"It's mass panic, and it's bad for them to be stressed, particularly during the nesting season," said Ms. Woodyer. "They're protected under the Migratory Bird Convention Act, and it's against the law to harass them, so we've filed a complaint with the Canadian Wildlife Service."

Ms. Woodyer suspects that this action might have influenced a decision to end the cull ahead of schedule, as shooting was supposed to have continued throughout last week, but stopped the previous weekend.

While springtime culls could occur over each of the next three years, according to the scope of the Parks Canada management plan, Ms. Woodyer feels the questionable success of the strategy so far will force park officials to reevaluate the tactic.

"I don't know how they can justify continuing," she said. "I can't see how they can spin this to say they're accomplishing any of their proposed goals."

Attempts were made to reach Pelee Park staff, but contact could not be made by press time.
 

Papal "apology" draws mixed reviews from Island residential school alumni

by Lindsay Kelly

with files from Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-The papal expression of sorrow delivered last month to the Anishinabek people who attended residential school in Canada is garnering mixed reaction amongst First Nations people.

On April 29, a delegation representing the First Peoples of Canada-led by Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine, and including Elders and residential school survivors-travelled to the Vatican for an audience with Pope Benedict XIV where he was expected to issue an "apology" for the years of abuse and cultural assimilation inflicted on former students of the residential school system in Canada.

Pope Benedict "expressed his sorrow at the anguish caused by the deplorable conduct of some members of the church," offered sympathy and "emphasized that acts of abuse cannot be tolerated in society," according to Chief Fontaine.

While he did not acknowledge the pope's statement as an official apology, the AFN leader accepted the statement, suggesting the time had arrived for reconciliation and forgiveness.

"As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Government of Canada's apology on June 11, this visit with the Holy Father closes the circle of reconciliation," he said in a press release. "In the past, we received apologies from the Anglican, United and Presbyterian churches and the Government of Canada for the residential schools. Today's expression of understanding, acknowledgement, and emotion by His Holiness on behalf of the Catholic Church closes the circle."

His sentiment was echoed by Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief John Beaucage, who said the statement should be used as a foundation for reconciliation.

"We want to see the bishops, dioceses, and Roman Catholic communities and churches in Canada embrace their responsibility and move towards reconciliation with First Nations," he said in a press release. "I'd like to see the impacts of the papal apology be recognized and addressed, not only at the Vatican, but within Canada."

Chief Beaucage suggested that the national chief has left an "historic legacy in making Canadians aware of the horrific impact residential schools have had on First Nations communities," and that his work be built upon through the truth and reconciliation process.

But the atrocities of the past are not so easily forgiven closer to home.

"I don't accept the pope's apology, and neither the prime minister's," said Angus Pontiac of Wikwemikong, who attended residential school in Spanish. "It doesn't erase my scars."

The Garnier school for boys, in his experience, was "worse than a concentration camp," he said. "I suffered every crime and abuse, both mental and sexual."

About three years ago Mr. Pontiac finally received some financial compensation for his ordeal, but this hasn't made up for the physical and emotional toll that he's carried for decades as a result of his time at residential school.

Nor is he swayed by the Vatican's expression of sorrow, despite having "tried to be Catholic" for much of his adult life.

Now 88, the Elder still bears palpable traces of the abuse he endured as a boy. "I've got scars on top of my head, and on top of my left knee," he noted.

Mr. Pontiac served with the Canadian military during the Second World War, and overcame a long battle with alcohol in 1974, after being hospitalized in Toronto. He's been sober ever since, marking his 35th year of sobriety on May 2.

The Elder credits former Wiky chief and healer Ron Wakegijic with helping him onto the right path, as well as the traditional teachings of his people.

One thing that residential school didn't take from him is his language: Mr. Pontiac said he didn't learn English until he was forced to pick it up in lumber camps and other work settings, and to this day he speaks Ojibwe in his home, using English only when required.

Because he has only briefly read media accounts of the apology, Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) executive director Alan Corbiere hesitated to speak at length about the pope's statement. But what has stood out in the accounts he has read is the fact that the statement is not being considered an official apology.

"He said it was wrong to do this, but he didn't say the church was wrong," noted Mr. Corbiere, who, this past winter, hosted an event at the OCF for residential school survivors to talk about their experiences.

"To some people, I guess it would be something they would really want to hear from the pope, but for others it just goes back to reminding them of Harper's apology," he added.

With Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology last June came the promise of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which was supposed to foster understanding between Native and non-Native Canadians, and begin the healing for survivors by allowing them to tell their individual stories about their time in residential school.

But following the resignation of the commission's leader, Justice Harry LaForme, last October, little has come out of the process.

Mr. Corbiere also suggested that politicians, and even the pope, are guarded in their delivery of an apology. "They have these apologies very carefully worded to try to diminish or wash their hands of culpability," he said. "Morally they can make an apology, but in the legal sense, they won't be held accountable."

Herman Peltier of Wikwemikong holds little value to the apology, suggesting the issue at hand is long past. "It's sort of like it's too late to close the gate, after the horses get out," he said.

While some of his residential school peers suffered physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, that recollection of residential school is far from Mr. Peltier's experience.

"I went to residential school for one year in Spanish," he recalled. "It was the best training I ever had. It was like being in the service."

He concedes he was lonely after being sent away to school, since he had never been away from home before, but he wasn't the victim of abuse, and suggests that the punishments handed down by the priests were often warranted.

"They stepped out of line-there were rules," he said. "If you kept your nose clean you were fine."

During his time in Spanish, Mr. Peltier gained practical training in skilled trades that have served him well, and he calls the priests responsible for teaching him "great guys."

In one class he was taught about electronics, and learned how to build a motor using a 9-volt battery. Mechanics was the topic of study in another class; Mr. Peltier and his peers learned to tear down an engine and rebuild it, "and it started!" Mr. Peltier noted gleefully. Yet another course provided training in being a cobbler, and Mr. Peltier learned how to make boots.

"It wasn't all bad," he reiterated. "I have no ill effects from my time there."

Once his time in residential school was over, Mr. Peltier had been educated up until the age of 16, when he returned to the Island and decided to go to work, because the same opportunities for post-secondary school weren't available then as they are now.

Mr. Peltier remains a practising Catholic today, and calls the pope's apology a "nice gesture," but gives it little other credence.

"Some people were bitten," he acknowledged. "But I had no bad experience there other than the fact that I was a bit homesick."
 

New abattoir proposal a scaled-down model

by Lindsay Kelly

MANITOULIN-Proponents of an Island abattoir are aiming to get construction of a facility started by the fall, with the goal of opening by spring 2010. But in order to make the abattoir a reality, more funding is needed.

Following the completion of a study last November by Mallot Creek, a firm out of Fergus, proponents are seeking funding commitments from communities across Manitoulin in order to raise the capital needed to fund the construction of the facility.

"The study has been very helpful in a number of ways, but the financials have been a bit of a challenge in the last few months," noted Jim Anstice, a representative of the Manitoulin-LaCloche Slaughter Facility Steering Committee at a recent Northeast Town council meeting.

Over the last few months, the committee has approached farmers to determine how many animals would be available for slaughter at a proposed facility, but unfortunately, "we haven't met the numbers that are required in the financials to make this thing work as they've shown up here," Mr. Anstice said of the study.

The stakeholding farmers currently have $350,000 that has been approved for use through the Ontario Cattlemen's Association. An additional $800,000 would be required from other government ministries to make the project work as it is laid out in the study.

The committee currently has about two-thirds of the animals required to make the project work. Forty-three farmers have committed to providing 500 animals, including sheep, hogs, and bison, for the abattoir for one year.

But after touring a small abattoir near Simcoe, Ontario that slaughters 20 head per week, the group is confident it can rework the plan to construct an abattoir similar in size that would accommodate the 43 farmers who have already committed their animals, Mr. Anstice noted. If farmers are interested in becoming involved after the abattoir has been constructed, their names will go on to a waiting list.

"There's always room for expansion, if we get to that point-we'll grow, but we can only apply for funding for the numbers we can make work," Mr. Anstice said.

Despite scaling back the original project, the committee remains confident that there remains interest for an Island-based abattoir.

"Our study has shown that there is some potential is out there," Mr. Anstice said. "We do know that there are approximately between 7,000 and 8,000 head leaving the Island every year and what we were only asking for was 700 to 1,000."

But there is a market demand for meat, he added. Statistics Canada numbers show that there is 23.2 kilograms per year consumption per person. Based on those numbers, the committee estimates that on Manitoulin, there are 303,668 kilograms eaten every year, and taking in the entire region, more than 4,300,000 kilograms of meat would be eaten.

"We believe the potential is there," he said. "Even if we had less than 10 percent of that market we'd be looking at around 700 head."

The farmers involved have committed to providing $300 for membership, plus an additional $100 per animal that they've committed to the abattoir over a five-year basis, all of which is a one-time provision.

Those funds would be used towards a property purchase, which would not be funded by agencies like FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). Sites have not yet been chosen; however, farmers have indicated that the best spot would be near Central Manitoulin where the greatest population of animals is located. "We've had a number of offers, but we're not at that point," Mr. Anstice said.

Following that lead, Tehkummah has committed $3,000, or the equivalent of memberships for 10 farmers, in the area. The committee is now in the process of approaching other municipalities for support, but so far the response has been positive.

"What basically has been shown, with the interest we've got from the municipalities, is that there is quite a bit more support from the general public wanting to buy local product and buy support local agriculture industries," Mr. Anstice said. "I think there's a very large support for that."

The committee is also keen to get support from FedNor and the NOHFC for a marketing initiative, which the group believes could go a long way to promote made-on-Manitoulin meat, which could be popular amongst those looking to support local farmers.

Mr. Anstice noted that the money currently accrued for the project has been put into a trust, and if the project does not go ahead, the money will be returned to any party that has invested funds.

"We're very hopeful that we're at a point now that we're able to go forward with this," he said. "Any commitment at all, contingent on it going ahead, would very helpful."
 

We're 130!

North's oldest paper begins Vol. 130 this week

by Michael Erskine

LITTLE CURRENT-On May 24, 1879, in the tiny Northern Ontario hamlet of Manitowaning, W.L. Smith pulled the first sheet of newsprint bearing the Manitoulin Expositor masthead off of an antique Washington Flatbed press.

Momentous historical events were taking place in May of 1879. The redoubtable British Empire was beginning to make serious headway in the Anglo-Zulu War, Great Britain and the Russian Empire were playing 'The Great Game' of empire, signing a treaty which would create the state known today as Afghanistan, and in New York, Madison Square Garden received its name.

The Manitoulin Expositor reported on some of these events, to be sure, but its great strength over an illustrious 130-year history has been in the reporting the matters of public debate deemed important to the citizens on Manitoulin Island by those citizens.

It is a policy that has remained consistent throughout the paper's long history, and one that current publisher Rick McCutcheon credits with its success. Mr. McCutcheon and his wife Julia have been in the publishing business for over 40 years.

"A newspaper's success-and its longevity is certainly one measure of success-is based in large part in providing its readership with the information it requires at any given time," noted Mr. McCutcheon in an article celebrating the paper's 125th anniversary. "There is a fine balance, in marketing terms, between leading and following its readership, and a successful newspaper will usually follow its reading audience, providing its readers with information about, analysis of and comments on key community issues of the moment."

Mr. McCutcheon points proudly to the paper's motto "who dares not offend cannot be honest," and remarks that it stands as much as a reminder to its editorial staff and publishers of its implied promise to its readers.

"We have been incredibly fortunate in the support we have received from both our subscribers and our advertisers," said Mr. McCutcheon. "It is a mutually beneficial relationship, to be sure, but in a time when media is becoming more and more concentrated in large corporate chains, the support of community has allowed us to not only survive, but to grow incrementally, year after year."

Independent papers across the nation may have fallen one by one into the realm of the chains, but the calling of the newspaper business is a challenge that calls into play far more than mere mercenary considerations.

"The newspaper business, just as it was for W. L. Smith 125 years ago, continues to be a calling, and the people who toil in this office, and indeed in the offices of the community press across Canada, do so in no small measure because they couldn't imagine doing anything else," said Mr. McCutcheon. "It is a challenge most of us are happy to rise to, most of the time, and in any line of work, that in itself is quite an accomplishment."

Those sentiments resound within its pages throughout the 130-year history of The Expositor. They belie the strain that comes of constant deadlines, pressures from within and without, and the pain of the occasional misstep or misplaced yard sale advertisement. For it is in the knowledge of a job well done and with a sense of accomplishing something of worth and meaning that keeps the pages rolling off of the press.

It is the kind of dedication that saw the paper publish on time in August 2006 in the aftermath of a devastating windstorm that knocked out power to the region on a Monday night-not only publish, but with as complete a coverage of the event as it was humanly possible to accomplish.

There has been plenty of peer recognition for the paper-its editorial room is lined with plaques and accolades, including the 1983 Michener Award for Public Service Journalism-but the greatest award for its hard-working staff is, and will hopefully always remain, being stopped in the street by a reader expressing gratitude and congratulations for a local story well done.

It is in the local story that community newspapers outshine their big city cousins, the dailies. It has been this way since young Mr. Smith arrived on these shores with youth, enthusiasm, and an antiquated hand-powered press.

While gunfights were taking place throughout the American west and Thomas Edison was demonstrating the incandescent light bulb, Manitoulin was locked in a crucial debate over where the local courthouse would be built. The Expositor chronicled that Gore Bay won out.

In 1887, The Manitoulin Expositor was moved to its current home of Little Current by its new owner, Stuart Jenkin, and his stout editorial criticism proved instrumental in the downfall of the Liberal MPP of the time, R.A. Lyon. Since then the paper has maintained its criticism and, when deserved, praise, of politicians and their actions-or lack thereof.

In the early days of The Expositor religion dominated daily life, and the paper's pages contained the sermons of local clergy each week. But while churches were to be counted staunchly within the ranks of the temperance movement in those days of the demon gin, The Expositor remained uncharacteristically aloof from the fray-although Anglican minister and Expositor publisher J. F. Snowden did ensure that letters on the issue appeared regularly within. When temperance advocate William Moore took over the paper, abolition became the paper's stance.

Listed by Mr. Snowden as being among The Expositor's early accomplishments is the arrival of the railroad. The paper had roundly criticized the failure of previous rail charter holders to take action in bringing the rail line to our shores.

Since then the paper has also patriotically endorsed Canada's involvement in two world wars, and cautioned against the blind involvement in a couple of ill-considered American adventures in the Middle East, but it has always remained true to the men and women of Canada's armed services.

During the wars, free Expositors brought news of home to our brave men and women overseas and at home. Among the first references in print of the term Haweater was contained within a letter from a soldier in the Second World War. In more recent years, The Expositor has given its support to efforts to build a new regional cenotaph in Spring Bay as well as later monuments to the efforts of serving women at home and abroad and a student monument which pledges that "We shall never forget."

The Expositor led the battle to establish a new ferry, creating a furor that led to the establishment of a government ferry in 1937. At the other end of the Island transit, The Expositor lent its weight to the establishment of vehicular traffic on the Little Current swing bridge. In 1945 the first cars began to roll across the structure.

In 1947 The Expositor reversed its temperance position, with publisher W.J. Patterson citing the rise in bootlegging as reason for its stance.

The Expositor has always stood ready to challenge the establishment at every turn with good effect. Its challenge of the checkerboard development of Carter Bay in the 1970s led to a halt in that development and a change to Ontario's legislation on lakeshore development.

The Expositor stood against the building of a nuclear reactor on the shores of the North Channel and the LaCloche foothills. Through the years, The Expositor has raised awareness of plans to quarry many of the region's landmarks, and thanks to the efforts of folks like the late Barney Turner and people like Anne Casson, Roy Jeffrey, and a host of others, regions like Casson Mountain are now contained within Killarney Provincial Park.

The Expositor has continued to shine a light on such issues, sometimes, but not always, taking a considered position on one side of the debate-but always letting the debate be heard as a strong advocate for political activism.

In the 1990s local issues such as whether the shoreline allowances should remain in the public domain were covered extensively. On a national level, the concerns of the First Nations and the controversial Governance Act and its continuance of the patronizing attitude of the "white man's burden" were championed by The Expositor. More recently, the paper kept up continual pressure for the settlement of the residential school issue and the proper recognition of the impacts of that outrageous policy.

On two separate occasions, in the 1990s and again in the early 2000s, the paper challenged the Rainbow District School Board when it attempted to drop courtesy bussing of Hope Farm residents-to good effect.

The Expositor was among the only newspapers in the 1980s to challenge the Ministry of Natural Resources' use of controversial chemical pesticides in battle against the spruce budworm-a challenge taken up by North Bay MPP Mike Harris when he moved that the Bill Davis government use the more benign becillus theringensis instead.

In more recent years the paper has been involved in the debate over the use of Garlon 4.

The Expositor has chronicled the debate between landowners and conservationists in the ongoing biosphere controversy, attempting at many turns to bring understanding of both sides positions to the greater public.

Acts of bravery by both humans and their animal companions have been lauded within her pages.

The battle against the scourge of cormorants has often dominated both the front pages of The Expositor and its editorial pages. On the issue of the voracious fish-eating birds, The Expositor has stood strongly in favour of efforts to control the creatures. Strategies against invasive species like the zebra and quagga mussel are also sources for regular feature articles and series.

The need for an Island abattoir has been reported on and editorially supported regularly-and hopefully will see one come to fruition soon.

Visits by politicians of all political stripes are recorded, and if possible they have been interviewed in order to bring their views to our readers.

Celebrities with a cause like Hurricane Carter have found room for their stories, as have local people who have accomplished great things, such as country music sensation Crystal Shawanda, the inductions of Hardy Peltier and Doug Hore into the Great Northern Opry (and for Mr. Peltier the Northern Country Music Hall of Fame), as well as our many outstanding Ontario Junior Citizens of the Year.

Sad events like the passing of individuals of note and the demise of Island institutions-like the Manitoulin Livestock Co-operative and its annual cattle sale, as well as the departure from the Island of Farquhar Dairies-are recorded for posterity, recording facets of a way of life that are becoming more endangered with every passing year, as are the hopeful campaigns such as that being waged to save the venerable Norisle from oblivion.

On the religious front, The Expositor has chronicled the first-ever ordination of a Catholic priest (Father George Gardner), and has attempted to foster greater tolerance and understanding with articles on less well-understood faiths such as the Christedelphians.

As the 21st century and technology have come to play a greater role, many of The Expositor's stories are archived online, and a new and updated website is taking shape, but so also are the stories investigating the new medium with coverage of issues such as cyberbullying.

For 130 years, the Manitoulin Expositor has brought the issues of interest to its readers and fostered a lively debate-but it would not be possible without the support of our loyal subscribers and advertisers. In the end, as publisher Rick McCutcheon has often said, The Expositor's longevity is a reflection of the vibrancy and tenacity of the people of Manitoulin Island and its many friends both at home and abroad.
 

EDITORIAL
 

Shopping local includes sailing on the Chi-Cheemaun

Other than to offer a heartfelt thanks to the readers of an advertisers in this newspaper for 130 years of support with the commitment that we will endeavour to earn more of the same in the future, the observations in this space this week will focus, as usual, on an issue of importance to the Manitoulin community.

Last week's editorial commentary argued the clear merits of supporting local retail and service businesses whenever and as often as possible with our shopping dollars so that we can help keep as many Manitoulin people employed as possible.

The title of that piece was taken from the motto of the "Shop Manitoulin" logo developed some years ago by this newspaper through a contest. It reads, "Prosper Together...Shop Manitoulin."

In a related issue, the Chi-Cheemaun ferry must be considered an important aspect of the Manitoulin Island economy.

In southern Ontario, people who may not know much about Manitoulin Island generally know that there is a large ferry that crosses Georgian Bay, connecting the south to the North in this seasonal way.

The Chi-Cheemaun, then, is a very important Manitoulin symbol for, in a conversation with a potential tourist visitor at a sport or travel show, it's simply a matter of connecting the dots and explaining that South Baymouth on Manitoulin Island is precisely that famous ferry's Northern terminus.

And having so quickly and easily established a positioning point for Manitoulin in the mind of the visitor, the volunteer at the travel show can move on to discuss the merits of this place, why it is a natural destination-and why a trip to Manitoulin via the Chi-Cheemaun will also represent a unique aspect of their holiday experience.

At any such sports and travel show at which organizations like the Manitoulin Tourism Association represents Manitoulin, the Chi-Cheemaun is the single greatest point of reference.

And while it follows that such an icon should not be taken for granted, we all know that it is.

It's this big boat that begins its season in early May and finishes it the week following Thanksgiving.

Sometimes Manitoulin people use it as part of their own trips south. Usually they don't.

People grumble about the cost and the schedule and how "it doesn't save any travelling time anyway" compared with a southbound drive via Sudbury and Highway 69.

No, it probably doesn't.

But, just as we can make shopping choices to purchase the things we need on or off Manitoulin, we should be conscious about the choice we have when we leave, or get back to, Manitoulin Island. We can take the long drive south via Parry Sound and Barrie, or we can call the Chi-Cheemaun's reservation number (or access it through its website) and make at least a part of our trip via this iconic ship.

We need to be more and more conscious of this choice for, in our own small ways, we can demonstrate our local support of the ship that is so closely identified with Manitoulin Island.

In a rarefied economy, such as the one we're presently experiencing, it's a guarantee that an institution like the Chi-Cheemaun will do less business as people do not travel quite as much, and that will be primarily be lost business that originates in southern Ontario.

The Chi-Cheemaun is operated by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and operated by the Crown-owned Owen Sound Transportation Company.

Its operation is certainly subsidized by the public purse but for the 35 years that this "new" ferry has been in operation (since this purpose-built ship replaced the Norisle and the Norgoma in late 1974) successive ministers of Northern development and mines have expected that the Chi-Cheemaun will also contribute, through revenue collected from travellers, a substantial percentage of its total overhead.

And while many people have always argued that the service should either be a free one or should receive greater government subsidy, the reality remains that the travelling public using the Chi-Cheemaun is paying a good price of its operational costs.

Considering all of the arguments that have been mounted against this model in the past, together with the government's consistent rejection of them over virtually the Chi-Cheemaun's entire sailing history, we don't imagine any major changes to this particular status quo anytime soon.

The reality is, then, that we have a provincially owned and operated ferry that is very important to Manitoulin's identity as a holiday destination, or even as a retirement option. Not only does the Chi-Cheemaun serve as a transportation link, it serves to position Manitoulin Island as a unique place in Northern Ontario.

The reality is also that the Chi-Cheemaun is doing less business, but is committed to a published schedule of crossing between South Baymouth and Tobermory and that its overhead is fixed no matter how its revenue from paying customers may vary from one year to another.

The further reality is that while we don't anticipate a "use it or lose it" situation, there will always be political considerations taken into account when the Owen Sound Transportation Board (half of which is comprised of Manitoulin members) goes to their minister responsible to argue for increased operational subsidy for the upcoming budget year.

And, in this case, the more Manitoulin Island people who have chosen to ride the Chi-Cheemaun, to support its operation with their dollars, the better.

No matter what, we should not take the operation of the Chi-Cheemaun on the relatively handy schedule that it does, for granted.

We should consider it as an option for travel every time we need to make a trip south, or back home, and we should recommend it to friends and family planning a visit.

The Chi-Cheemaun's reservation number is 1-800-265-3163 and the reservation website is www.ontarioferries.com.

Letters to the Editor
 

Tree teaching suggests excuses for criminal behaviour

Vandals should take responsibility for actions

To the Expositor:

In the May 13 edition of The Manitoulin Expositor, there was an article about the planting of new trees at Little Current Public School after a terrible act of unjustifiable vandalism ("LCPS receives donation of trees after act of vandalism left playground bare"). I was quite surprised to see that religious instruction is permitted in a public school setting where students from a variety of religious and irreligious backgrounds are in attendance.

In the article we read that teacher Maryann Endanawas offered a tobacco offering to each of the trees before the planting took place. I quote: "She later explained that although what happened to the trees was a tragedy, she is teaching the students and staff to look at the incident in a different light. 'Those trees gave up their lives for the person or people who did this to them,' she said. 'The trees knew that whoever did this must have been going through something bad and needed their spirit more than they did. This must have been a bad time in their lives.'"

This particular teaching appears to give excuses to the vandals for an act that is reprehensible and entirely unacceptable. I think it needs to be stated that such criminal behaviour will not be tolerated by our society that expects criminals to accept fully the responsibility for their crimes. We all have bad times in our lives, but most of us do not commit crimes.

John R. Corliss

Little Current

Blended tax to affect poor

'Windfall' not enough to help Ontarians

To the Expositor:

Re: McGuinty to refund up to $1,000 if you are in need earning under $160,000 per year year.

The Ontario government, headed by Dalton McGuinty and led by Mike Brown's party of choice, has given a signal that they are moving ahead with the controversial blending of the GST and PST, up by approx 8 percent. Ladies and gentlemen, this means tax now on new homes, books, heating fuel, children's clothes, fast-food value meals, etc. Remember, retail outlets or the stores that you buy these items from will be raising their prices to recover the extra tax they are paying.

How far are the identified poor (those earning under $160,000) going to stretch the $1,000 windfall? I predict over two heating bills, if that. Over what period of time will you have paid back in new blended tax the $1,000? I predict two months. Am I a math expert? No. But, I am not stupid like Mr. McGuinty is hoping I am.

McGuinty has also stated that, "What Ontarians want us to do is what is right!" Does this mean he is quitting? Again, I am not stupid, but I can hope you take Mike Brown with you on your way out the door.

Larry Killens

South Baymouth
 

Plastic bag ban dimwitted

Focus should be on air pollution, water

To the Expositor:

Apparently a few dimwits in our society, with their lack of intelligence, are trying to outlaw the plastic white bag, one of our most sanitary, dual-purpose, convenient, non-polluting products. This is my opinion. Possible sign at store entrance: please shake all used bags; roaches are known to hide in dark places.

If they are sincere and want to lower pollution, start with banning the sale of disposable baby diapers, which are really polluting the already-polluted landfills, ending up in our water tables, lakes, and rivers.

Human waste, whether it be septic systems, sanitary sewers, or other means, is affecting our water.

Our gas lawn mowers are real air polluters, and the automobiles are next are my air polluters' list. The airplanes also do more than their share of polluting the atmosphere.

And how about no lawn watering, which is a waste of our water resources.

If you want to get involved with pollution and global warming here's a realistic platform to work on.

Willard Taylor

Mindemoya

Slashing regional CBC abandons the mandate of the service

Many residents of North have no other broadcasting alternative

To the Expositor:

The following is an open letter to Hubert T. Lacroix, president of CBC/Radio Canada.

Dear Mr. Lacroix:

I am writing to express my outrage and profound disappointment in your actions towards the people of Northern Ontario. In 40 years of public life, I cannot recall a more glaring example of public servants choosing to turn their backs on those they are mandated to serve.

In 1991, parliament passed the Broadcasting Act, which provides the direction for your services. It states unequivocally that the CBC must "reflect Canada to its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions."

As someone who sat in the House of Commons when this act was passed, I can tell you that these words do not mean that you should protect jobs in CBC Toronto, a market with a staggering number of for profit and non-profit media choices, while decimating staff numbers in regions like Northern Ontario that have no viable alternatives for CBC listeners. To follow through with these actions is to abandon the very reason for CBC's creation and to undermine support for continued public funding.

CBC Northern Ontario Radio has just celebrated its 25th anniversary as a full-fledged station. This service does indeed connect the residents of this region-an area as large as the three Maritime provinces plus the island of Newfoundland-together and it has helped many artists to reach regional and national artists. Your cuts will inevitably mean less opportunity and fewer connections for all of us.

Later this weekend, citizens will gather in Sudbury and Thunder Bay to raise their voices in opposition to your ill-considered cuts. But the listeners who will be most affected will not be there. In Northern Ontario, we can't jump on the TTC and come down to Front Street. Many of your most dedicated listeners live several hours from their regional stations in areas that have no real alternative to the public broadcaster. These are the people who will be devastated when the planned cuts come into effect.

The current economic times challenge all of us to come up with creative ways to maintain services and deliver them more efficiently. I suggest that you and your team go back to the drawing board and develop a new plan that respects the core mandate of the CBC and ensures that the vital programming of CBC Northern Ontario Radio continues to bring this region together.

I look forward to your response.

John Rodriguez

Mayor of Sudbury

Repaving Highway 6 stretch should be priority

Residents, professionals need safe roads to drive on

To the Expositor:

Re. "Highway 6 users bemoan bumpy state of pavement," April 1.

The answer to the state of the road from Ten Mile Point to South Baymouth could start as early as April 25. Rather than focus on Highway 6 north, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) should switch its emphasis to the southern portion of the highway.

According to Gordan Rennie, the regional issues advisor for the MTO, "the pavement condition on Highway 6 through Manitoulin Island is currently rated 'fair.'" I don't agree.

According to residents Pat Novack, Eric Stillwaugh and Robert Brown, who were interviewed in the article, and writer Heather Pennie, it's much worse.

Robert Brown's buses run daily to Manitowaning and elsewhere. We can't have our bus drivers having headaches because our schoolchildren in Grades 1 to 8 go to Manitowaning daily and our high school kids go to M'Chigeeng daily.

Our nurse practitioners, nurses, secretaries, doctors, EMS paramedics, court workers in Wiky, all our police vehicles and our farmers use these roads daily, as well as all residents and our families in Wiky and Manitowaning.

I'd like Heather to call our MPP and ask for the above to be completed before the ferry starts running this year. It's only a matter of picking up the asphalt and repaving.

Stan Allen

Manitowaning