Trade fair a triumph!

by Lindsay Kelly

LITTLE CURRENT-From live snakes to live models, from gas fireplaces to gas-powered ATVs, the Little Current-Howland rec centre was abuzz with activity last weekend as visitors from Manitoulin and across the North descended on Little Current for what has become one of the North's biggest trade fairs.

Now in its 10th year, the Manitoulin Trade Fair, sponsored by the LaCloche Manitoulin Business Assistance Corporation (LAMBAC), held captivation for visitors seeking all sorts of attractions. More than 160 vendors hosted booths, enticing thousands of visitors with everything from sweet treats and cozy Made-on-Manitoulin clothing to career advice and home renovation materials.

Attending the trade fair has become a tradition, and in hard financial times, many were hoping to see it add a kick to the local economy, including Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes, who congratulated LAMBAC on its hard work in putting the trade fair together.

"It's a perfect time on the Island to come out and see what's new on Manitoulin," she said during Friday night's opening ceremonies. "It's a perfect way to entice visitors to come see what's on Manitoulin."

Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown, who was also in attendance, provided his own not-so-subtle hint to put participants in the spending mood.

"Credit cards are accepted at all booths, and cash is accepted," he joked. "So let's have a good time, spend some money, and make some things happen."

During the 2007 trade fair-the last year the event was held on Manitoulin-LAMBAC counted roughly 8,200 people coming through its doors. That number was slightly down this year by about 1,600 people, said executive director Mary Nelder.

"Our take at the door was under $900," she added. "That's because we had quite a few less people who used their guest passes this year."

Numbers were significantly down on Friday night, and lower than normal on Saturday, but high on Sunday.

Speculating on why the numbers were down, Ms. Nelder estimated that the lousy weather-which included cold temperatures, rain, and strong winds on Friday evening and Saturday morning-or the change in hours as possible contributors.

The trade fair ran for two hours less on Saturday, "because of what the exhibitors told us," Ms. Nelder explained. "They found it too long a day on Saturday."

In previous years, traffic slowed significantly between the hours of 7 pm to 9 pm, and it was thought that closing down the fair earlier, at 7 pm, would alleviate some of the fatigue experienced by vendors.

Weather was again cited as a factor as to why the traffic was so high on Sunday. People seemed encouraged to venture out by the warmer temperatures and sunny skies that lasted all day.

Ultimately LAMBAC's goal is to provide an avenue for vendors to promote their wares, boosting awareness of Northern businesses and encouraging spending in the local economy, Ms. Nelder said. In that sense, this year's edition of the trade fair was an overwhelming success.

"We talked to all the exhibitors as we were picking up their surveys, and to the last one, they all said they had a really good response at their booth," she said. "Many felt the response was better than last time, even though the numbers were fewer."

The friendly, cheerful atmosphere and the sense that everybody knows each other were big attractions for the vendors, especially many who travelled from long distances to be there, Ms. Nelder said.

Some of the responses were downright effusive, with many indicating it was "the best show they had ever been at," and that it was "very good for their business."

"That's what it's all about," Ms. Nelder added. "The real test is if the exhibitors felt their time was well spent."

Visitors certainly had a lot to take in. From the moment they approached the doors of the rec centre, there were exhibits to explore, and they extended from the arena, into the curling club, and outside to a large tent-also a new feature this year-where demonstrations and performances took place throughout the weekend.

First up on Saturday were Ministry of Natural Resources handler Mike Plourde and his four-legged partner Cinder, who demonstrated some of the skills required by a K9 team. There are six in the province, and their primary purpose is to search out contraband ammunition, fish and wildlife, and conducting human searches when seeking a suspect or a lost person.

"We provide a service to the officers," Mr. Plourde said. "If they require our assistance, they call us in and we go out there."

Two-year-old Cinder, who has been in service for one year, was recruited for work after a family decided her energetic personality was too much for their family, he explained. She is trained in obedience and agility, goes everywhere with her handler, and "lives for her ball," he added.

It didn't take very long for Cinder to search out some ammunition and a fish from the obstacle course set up by Mr. Plourde. The dogs are trained so intensely that they know their job the moment they put on their harness.

"They're working dogs, they're not pets," he was careful to emphasize. "They don't socialize and they don't play with other dogs. When we take them out to work, they know it's important and they do their job."

A quick walk over to the curling club revealed a crowd gathering at the Ontario Parks booth, with good reason. Representatives with Ontario Parks had brought along their own pals from the animal kingdom, and were taking the opportunity to slither up their handlers' arms to the delight of onlookers.

Holding Angus, an eastern milk snake, Eric Cobb, a species at risk biologist for the Sudbury district with the Ministry of Natural Resources, said the trade fair offered a good opportunity to educate visitors about the Species at Risk list and the Manitoulin species on that list.

Eastern milk snakes like Angus are currently of special concern, while the eastern fox snake is a threatened species, as is the Blanding's turtle, an example of which was also on hand.

"We want people to know that we don't have rattlers and the snakes here won't hurt you," he said. "The snakes in Ontario are pretty tame compared to snakes in Australia."

Over in the main arena, Wayne Martin, otherwise known as the Stoneman, was enjoying a fruitful weekend.

"We've had a beautiful response. It's just been busy," he enthused, as some visitors arrived to view his unique inukshuk figures. "The inukshuk sales are doing great, and there have been some gift store people who have placed orders with us."

One man had come from as far as Barrie to attend the trade fair, and said the inukshuks would sell well in his antique store. Another couple said the inukshuk they purchased would be travelling all the way to Germany.

Mr. Martin, whose booth won second place in the best small booth category, also received many inquiries from people interested in his stone work and expects they may translate into additional projects. He relayed a story about a couple who approached his booth at the trade fair a few years ago. While they didn't make any purchases at the time, they did take his card and Mr. Martin did work for them later on.

"Just because they aren't interested that day, it doesn't mean they won't be interested in future work," he reasoned.

As an Islander, Mr. Martin said he also enjoyed socializing with old friends and new visitors, and that he was happy to see a lot of local visitors to the fair. "I recognized a lot of faces last night," he said.

Around the corner from Mr. Martin's booth, Honora Bay Riding Stable proprietor Kyla Jansen was excited about winning the top prize for her small booth. With a hay bale and riding jump, along with plenty of photos and information about the horses at the stable, her booth attracted a lot of visitors interested in starting up riding lessons for their children or learning about the new features Ms. Jansen has added since the last fair.

"It's been a fantastic show for us so far," she said on Saturday morning. "My horse puppets are already all sold out, and I only have one space left for my July summer camp."

Many visitors said they didn't realize Ms. Jansen had full-time riding students at her stable, or that she had opened the new indoor facility since the last fair. She also got some new clients from Birch Island who lamented the lack of a facility in their community.

As an incentive to visitors, anyone who brings in a photo of themselves at the booth will get $5 off their next ride at the stable. It was a unique touch that she said attracted a lot of attention and hopes will bring more people into her facility.

"The show is just a really fun place to be," she said. "I always love the trade show here for the networking."

The Manitoulin Chocolate Works booth was a popular place, both for the chocolaty treats on offer and the rest stop their Chocolate CafŽ provided visitors. Their creativity earned Beth Gordon and Elizabeth Wilson first prize in the large booth category.

It was the second trade fair, and the first on Manitoulin, for the pair, who said the sampling was going particularly well. People enjoyed coffee and a chocolate cupcake, or one of the many flavoured popcorns and toffees.

The trade fair helped "get people to realize that we make the vast majority of our items in the store," Ms. Wilson said. "I make all the toffees and there's popcorn as well."

Visitors seemed to arrive from a variety of places, with some American money showing up in the till.

The one thing she hopes her booth will achieve is encouraging more people to visit Kagawong.

"A lot of people here said they don't come to Kagawong," she said. "But if they've heard of you and they like our stuff, they might come to our store."

Just as the trade fair was winding down, one of the event's more touching moments occurred at a small booth where a crowd of supporters had gathered for Shirley Pegelo, a Sheguiandah resident who will lead the Northern Belles during the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk in June.

The 60-kilometre walk is designed to raise awareness and money for cancer research, and Ms. Pegelo and her fellow teammates had hoped to raise a minimum of $2,000 over the course of the weekend. If they reached that goal, Ms. Pegelo had vowed to shave her head.

As word got out about her goal, others began to pledge their hair as well, and by the end of the day, three other volunteers had offered to cut their hair, with the shorn tresses going to A Child's Voice Foundation, based in Mississauga, which creates wigs for children with cancer.

By the end of the day, the tally had reached $2,000 and beyond, for a grand total of $2,856.39. Ms. Pegelo was touched, both by the show of support for the cause, and for the support shown by those who cheered as she took the plunge.

"This is the shortest it's ever been," she joked, as her locks fell down around her. "We set a goal of $2,000, and now we're sitting at $2,800. That's awesome."

Health unit confirms case of swine flu on Manitoulin

MANITOULIN-Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, medical officer of health for the Sudbury and District Health Unit, reported Monday that there is one confirmed case of swine flu in the Manitoulin District.

The adult male had recently travelled to Mexico. Laboratory testing has confirmed the H1N1 flu virus, also known as swine flu. The individual has recovered and did not require hospitalization. His illness was characterized as being mild and consistent with seasonal flu.

"Although only one case has been confirmed in our service area, it would not be a surprise to see more cases in the coming days and weeks," said Dr. Sutcliffe in a release. "We have heightened our surveillance activities to track the local spread of the virus."

At this time, there is no recommendation for individuals who have recently returned from Mexico to restrict their activities if they do not have flu-like symptoms. Flu-like symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, body aches, fatigue, and lack of appetite.

Anyone who has flu-like symptoms should call their health-care provider or Telehealth. This applies to individuals who have and have not recently returned from Mexico.

On Friday of last week, representatives from district health agencies met in Sudbury to review plans to ensure a coordinated health-sector response to the potential spread of the flu.

"Our discussions focussed on reviewing and updating the Inter-agency Pandemic Influenza Plan for the Health Sector in the Manitoulin and Sudbury District," said Shelley Westhaver, co-chair of the Pandemic Clinical Care Committee and director of clinical services with the Sudbury and District Health Unit (SDHU), in a release. "Specifically, the plan addresses six key areas: health services, surveillance, vaccines and antivirals, public-health measures, emergency response, and communications."

The Pandemic Clinical Care Committee is an inter-agency group that has representation from the Manitoulin and Sudbury districts. Its goal, according to the SDHU, is to work collaboratively to minimize the spread of illness and social disruption during a pandemic.

"Since 2006 we've worked together to develop the inter-agency plan so that the various roles and responsibilities of local health-sector agencies are clearly laid out and understood," said Joe Pilon, co-chair of the pandemic committee, and senior vice-president with the Sudbury Regional Hospital. "Although we feel confident in our planning and level of preparedness, the outbreak of influenza H1N1 is an evolving situation, and we will need to continue to work closely to monitor the situation and respond accordingly."

On Manitoulin, nursing homes began posting signs last week to discourage individuals who might be infected from entering the premises, and were vigilant in enforcing a sign-in policy for visitors.

A self-screening alert affixed to the entrance of the Manitoulin Centennial Manor in Little Current bore the word "Stop" in bright red letters, followed by such questions as "Do you have a new/worse cough or shortness of breath?" and "Have you travelled within the last 10 days to Mexico?"

Those who had either been in Mexico or had been in recent contact with a sick person who had visited the country were being asked to not enter the facility, as was anyone who had been feeling feverish or had experienced shakes or chills.

An information display was additionally set up inside the Manor to educated residents and visitors about the disease, which has been assigned a phase-5 pandemic level by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A level-5 alert means there has been human-to-human spread of a virus in at least two countries in one region, according to the organization's pandemic response guidelines. The classification means a pandemic is imminent, and countries must finalize preparations to deal with the outbreak.

To declare a full-blown pandemic, the WHO would have to be convinced the new virus is spreading in a sustained way among communities in another region besides North America.

Over 50 cases of the potentially deadly flu had been confirmed in Canada by press time, with BC and Nova Scotia having the highest concentrations, although most of these were considered mild. Ontario had seven cases confirmed as of late last week, mostly in the southern part of the province.

Islanders are urged to wash their hands thoroughly, and often, with hot water and liquid soap; to sneeze and cough into their sleeves; and to stay at home if they are sick, as well as reduce contact with family members and the public.

People who have symptoms of respiratory illness should call their health care provider or call Telehealth at 1-866-797-0000, TTY 1-866-797-0007. Health-care providers who are seeing clients with flu-like symptoms in the community and who have medical questions about patient care can call the Health Care Provider Hotline toll free at 1-866-212-2272 from 8 am to 8 pm, seven days a week.

Visit the health unit's website at www.sdhu.com for up-to-date local information about human swine flu.

Gun registry debate heats up

by Jim Moodie

OTTAWA-The latest salvo on the part of the Harper government to scrap the long-gun registry may be resonating among many residents of the rural North, but minus the support of the opposition this looks to be a case of smoke without fire.

Earlier this spring, the Conservatives introduced a bill in the senate that would eliminate the need for owners of rifles and shotguns to register their firearms, a requirement that Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan has characterized, in comments to the press, as "totally inefficient and ineffective against crime."

This senate bill, titled S-5, was brought forward as an alternative to an existing private member's bill that similarly calls for an end to the long-gun registry, but goes farther to seek other changes, including laxer rules concerning machine guns.

Introduced by Saskatchewan Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, Bill C-301 would make it easier for owners of fully automatic and semi-automatic assault guns to transport these weapons to public shooting ranges.

While Mr. Breitkreuz's bill has the support of many in the hunting and sport-shooting sectors, and is scheduled to be debated in the House of Commons this week (beginning May 4), his own party seems to be sidestepping the controversial bill by submitting its own legislation through the senate, which itself is an unusual route.

As a Canadian Press article notes, 98 percent of bills are presented in the House of Commons. And the senate, being dominated by Liberals, is virtually guaranteed to reject S-5.

Bill Elliott of M'Chigeeng, a teacher of firearms safety courses and critic of the regulatory regime in place for shotguns and rifles, agrees that this attempt to amend the registry is likely doomed. "It's fairly safe to assume that the senate bill won't pass," he said.

But he feels that this would actually be "a good thing," as S-5, in his view, would be "a retrograde step." Mr. Elliott said the bill "doesn't dismantle the long-gun registry-it just provincializes it, if that's a word, by creating 12 provincial registries."

Downloading responsibility for gun registration on the provinces would only create more headaches, he suggested. "If you bought a gun in Quebec and wanted to transfer it to Ontario, the paperwork would probably take six months," he said.

Mr. Elliott favours the private member's bill, as it would not only lift the onerous requirements placed on owners of long guns but additionally "calls for a review by the auditor general on the gun registry," he noted. "This is really important, because while it's pretty well acknowledged that it's cost $2 billion and counting, the auditor has said that she couldn't get at all the numbers because they're hidden in ministerial budgets."

Given the amount of money taxpayers have contributed to the gun registry, "it's important to have an honest accounting of what value we're getting from that," he said. "And if we're trying to reduce crime, you could put $2 billion a long way towards police officers on the street."

Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing MP Carol Hughes feels it's a bit misleading and unhelpful, however, to focus on the amount spent on the program at this point. "It's not a cost issue anymore, because all of that has now been downloaded to the RCMP," she said. "There's nothing we can do about getting the money back, so now it's a matter of working with different groups to make it an easier and fairer process."

Ms. Hughes has come under criticism, from some quarters, for failing to be present in the House on April 22, when the Bloc Quebecois brought forth a motion in support of the gun registry. While not legally binding on the government, this opposition motion-which insisted that the government "should maintain the registration of all types of firearms in its entirety," and was approved by a 143-136 margin-was an opportunity for voters to know where each MP stood on this issue.

The AMK member explained that she has been quite ill lately-a claim that was audibly backed up by a raw, raspy voice-and "unfortunately couldn't be there that day." Asked how she would have voted if she had been present, the member said, "I would have voted for the Bloc motion at this point."

Ms. Hughes said she understands the aversion of many constituents to the gun registry, and is scheduled to meet with a group of firearms owners and trappers in Manitouwadge on May 20 to listen to their concerns, but noted that many others support the measure, including "women's groups, victims, and the (national) police association," so it's a matter of finding a balance.

"I'm committed to looking at what the concerns are regarding the current law," she said. "I do believe we need changes, but I don't think it has to be gutted as a whole."

The Harper government's approach on this issue has been disingenuous, in her view. "If the Conservatives were really serious about doing this (cancelling the registry for long guns), they would have put it forward as a government bill," she contended. "Instead they're just dangling a carrot in front of voters, and not acting on it. S-5 is sitting in there in the senate, and may never see the light of day."

As for the private member's bill, Ms. Hughes said, "If it was a straight bill dealing with long guns, I would maybe look at it." But she is leery of the parts of the bill that would "make some handguns, and certainly long guns and prohibited weapons, easier to acquire," and of a clause that "would weaken transportation rules for restricted and prohibited firearms."

Mr. Elliott feels the concerns raised about transport of automatic and semi-automatic weapons, as outlined in Bill C-301, have been overstated. "There's been this wild concern raised that people are going to be able to transport machine guns around, which is just plain silly," he said. "You can't shoot a fully automated weapon at any range other than a military one, and there's such a small number of people that even owns these kinds of firearms, it's really just a red herring. The majority of gun owners hear talk like this and say, 'What does this have to do with me?'"

What many gun owners do continue to bemoan, on the other hand, is the complexity and cost of the system requiring them to register their rifles and shotguns, said Mr. Elliott. "There's massive confusion about the gun registry," he said. "I confront confusion every week as a firearms safety instructor. People still phone me up and say, 'I guess I have to get a Firearms Acquisition Certificate,' when the last one of these would have expired in 2005, so you can't even get one-it's now a possession and acquisition licence, or a possession-only licence."

The private member's bill, if passed, would simplify matters by blending the two, so "there would only be one firearms licence," noted Mr. Elliott. And it would, above all, remove the requirement for owners of rifles and shotguns to submit information about their weapon, at a cost, for a national database.

Mr. Elliott believes C-301 "has a lot more merit to it" than the senate bill, as well as "a better chance of getting a majority of members in the house to support it," presuming members are allowed to vote as they like, and aren't instructed to tow the party line through a "whipped vote."

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff has indicated that his party will not support either the senate bill or the private member's bill, but there are members of each opposition party who might support it, given the chance.

In a comment to reporters on Parliament Hill, Mr. Van Loan said his administration's conviction that the long-gun registry "simply does not work" isn't confined to Conservative ranks. "I know there are a lot of members in the NDP, some members in the Liberal Party, who have shared that view," he said. Such individuals further have "campaigned on that view, have spoken publicly on that view, and we hope to achieve their support for that," he said.

While Mr. Elliot is skeptical that the senate bill will garner the required level of support, he hopes that the private member's bill will, at the very least, move beyond the first reading to the point where useful debate and fine-tuning can occur.

"Rather than dismiss this out of hand, why not pass it to the stage where it gets to committee," he said.

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH) is certainly in favour of eradicating the registry for long guns, through whichever legislative channel is most expedient, and has launched an online petition to this effect. "Together we can abolish the costly, ineffective long-gun registry and redirect our taxes to initiatives that will reduce crime in our country," the group states in a release, while encouraging Canadians to visit www.scrapthelonggunregistry.com to add their names to a mounting roster of frustrated gun owners.

The Canadian Sports Shooting Association (CSSA) has also been vocal in its criticism of the firearms protocol, taking out a full-page ad in the Hill Times to debunk points made by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP), which has asserted its support for the gun registry.

This group questions the CACP's assertion that the registry provides police with useful information on the presence of firearms while responding to emergency calls, arguing that legal guns are the ones "an officer is least likely to be harmed by." The reality, according to the sports shooting association, is that "very few legally owned guns are used in the commission of crimes."

Mr. Elliott said he has "no problem with hand guns being registered, since they're most attributable to criminals," although most of these are smuggled into the country, he noted, so even in this case the registry has a limited effect.

But there's much less evidence, in his view, that the registration of long guns has led to a reduction in crime, and in the meantime it has only added frustration and confusion to the lives of those who have responsibly kept firearms for hunting and marksmanship purposes.

"The saddest thing for me," he said, "is when you have a veteran who has fought for the country, and now he has to either write a test or dispose of his firearm. It's the cost of it, but also the indignity and unfairness."

Ms. Hughes agrees that it's unfair if responsible gun owners in the countryside are unduly subject to restrictions, but if it proves effective in reducing crime in cities, that has to be taken into account as well.

Her party "is willing to work with the Conservatives on the gun registry provided they look at urban issues as well," she said. "What do we need to do to make sure people are protected in certain areas, and what do we need to take out of the law so that others are not punished and violated for being gun owners?"

She believes that most people in the North are conscientious gun users but "you also never know what's going to happen," she said. "Someone who is reasonable can become unreasonable if their health deteriorates."

This is something she's experienced first-hand, she said, as her own father suddenly presented a threat-to himself-after years of responsible gun ownership. "He had only ever used a gun for hunting purposes, but he had a stroke and then we had to take away his gun because he was threatening suicide."

While the rights of reliable gun owners need to be respected, Ms. Hughes said public safety is also a priority, and if someone has reached a point where they can't be trusted with a weapon, "there needs to be an avenue where those weapons are taken away."

International study team excuses St. Clair R. in Huron water crisis

by Jim Moodie

LAKE HURON-A much-anticipated report on the role of the St. Clair River in lowering the level of Lake Huron has largely exonerated the Sarnia outflow while placing most of the blame for water loss on climate change.

On Friday, members of the International Upper Great Lakes Study (IUGLS) board released findings of an investigation to determine "whether the conveyance capacity of the St. Clair River has changed, to assess if there is ongoing erosion in the river bed, and to identify other factors that may be affecting water levels," according to the report's authors.

Titled Impacts on Upper Great Lakes Water Levels: St. Clair River, the draft study has concluded that erosion of the river is not appreciable at this point and is recommending that no remedial measures be undertaken to stopper the flow from Huron to Lake Erie.

Boaters, cottagers and tourist operators on Lake Huron have been pointing to the lake's unregulated outlet as a key factor in the draining of upstream H20, particularly since the river was dredged in the 1960s and has been impacted by other human activities since. But the IUGLS board has largely discounted those concerns, arguing that the situation on the St. Clair has stabilized and other forces are at fault for waning Huron water.

"A key finding from the range of studies of the sediment and hydrology of the St. Clair River is that the river bed has not experienced any ongoing erosion since 2000," reads the report. "Rather, the river bed appears to have been stable since at least 2000."

The study panel did document a deepening of the river bed over the period of 1962-2006, but attributes much of this to a "a major event or series of events," notably ice jams, that were experienced in the mid-1980s, and resulted in "a temporary increase in flows."

Packed ice, such as a major clogging that occurred on the St. Clair River in 1984, "can temporarily increase the force of the water's flow over a river bed by forcing the same volume of water to flow through a much smaller, constricted channel," the report notes. Water upstream of the jam gets backed up, while the flow under the ice is more intense than usual and "can trigger river-bed scouring," plus the depositing of sediment downstream. Further erosion occurs when the ice jam breaks up, the report notes.

Extreme fluctuations in the levels of the Great Lakes during the mid-1980s "could have played a role in the relatively rapid change in the river's conveyance as well," according to the report. But the increase in outflow from Lake Huron via the St. Clair did not continue unabated, the researchers say; by the end of the 1980s, the river's conveyance level "had returned to pre-change conditions."

Investigators determined that the "head drop," or difference in water levels, between Lakes Huron and Erie plummeted by 23 centimetres (nine inches) over the span of 1962 to 2006, with the ice-related erosion of the mid-'80s accounting for some of that.

But crustal rebound-the rising of the earth's upper layer in the aftermath of the last glacier-has also been a factor in dropping Huron water, as has, to an even greater degree, climate change. "This factor has become even more important in recent years, accounting for an estimated 75 percent of the decline between 1962 and 2006," reads the report.

Calling climate "the main driver of the lake-level relationships," the study authors point out that "there has been a persistent decline in net total supply of water to Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron over the past two decades that has resulted in declining lake levels and a change in the relationship to Lake Erie."

Pinning Huron's water woes primarily on natural causes is not going over well with members of the Georgian Bay Association (GBA), which earlier commissioned its own hydrological study of changes to the St. Clair River and determined that shoreline alteration and mining activities at Huron's outlet are contributing to a loss of 12 billion gallons per day.

The GBA has been swift to criticize the findings of the IUGLS, accusing the study board of using flawed data, screening out other important information that might have yielded a more urgent response to the problem, and failing to react with an appropriate sense of alarm to the issues it does identify.

The IUGLS study confirms that "six billion more gallons of water are flowing out of Lakes Michigan and Huron per day as compared to 1971," according to a release from the GBA. Yet it refuses to recommend any structural changes, such as the installation of a weir or the laying of substrate on the river bottom, as the GBA had hoped might be the case.

"The fact that it completely dismisses such an enormous increase in outflow and recommends that nothing be done about it is very disturbing," said Roy Schatz, the founding president of the GBA Foundation, in a release.

Bill Bialkowski, a retired engineer and member of the GBA's Water Level Committee, suggested, in the same release, that the IUGLS panel ignored critical data. "The study board needs to move to a higher level of science in order to understand this complex river," he charged. "It appears that sources were carefully screened to support preconceived conclusions."

The report's authors, however, maintain that the research was sweeping and impartial. "The report is the product of intense effort by a 10-member binational study board of experts and public members, who commissioned 42 research projects that engaged over 100 scientists," they point out.

The St. Clair report is just one phase of an ongoing, multi-year study of the upper Great Lakes that was launched by the International Joint Commission, a quasi-judicial body established by the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to prevent and resolve disputes concerning the shared freshwater resource.

Funded equally by the US and Canadian governments, the Upper Lakes study group will now proceed to the next stage of its mandate, which is to examine the outflow from Lake Superior to Lake Huron via the St. Mary's River and recommend any physical or regulatory changes that may be required.

In the meantime, a series of public meetings have been scheduled for input on the St. Clair River scientific report, including one slated for Little Current on May 20. The session will occur from 7-9 pm at the Little Current-Howland Recreation Centre.

EDITORIAL

Ordinary measures can stop the spread of swine flu

Much is being made of the potential crisis of the so-called swine flu.

Some students from Quebec on a school trip to China have been quarantined in their hotel for a week-simply because they're from a country where active cases of the disease (although with fairly benign symptoms) have been diagnosed.

We have been told for about a decade now that the world is due for a new "pandemic," some form of illness that will spread quickly through populations and across borders, even oceans, with the potential of interrupting the ordinary flow of commerce, travel and day-to-day human contact.

It has been six years now since Canadians were at the forefront of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis, a phenomenon that gave our tourist industry, particularly in Toronto, a major setback that took a couple of years to overcome.

Now it's Mexico's turn to feel the pressure of the enormous weight of negative publicity about the swine flu outbreak that seems to have originated in that country and, predictably, their tourism industry will bear the brunt of this for one or two years more.

No-one wants to be ill, or to be part of a galloping international illness.

There are some simple measures that all of us can-and should-take to keep our friends, neighbours, even strangers with whom we may come into contact, as healthy as possible.

First of all, we should all take advantage of the annual flu shot.

While it's a guarantee that the particular mix any year will not address every influenza virus that might infect us, it will give us some immunity to some of them and, over the years, as we introduce a variety of anti-viral agents into our systems, we stand a better chance of mitigating the effects of any flu bug of which we might run afoul.

It's an old saw, but we must wash our hands-a lot. Certainly after using the washroom. That is (hopefully) a given.

But this basic preventative measure must be extended to hand washing every chance we get.

At the trade fair last weekend, for example, The Expositor booth included a bottle of hand sanitizer on its countertop.

It was just there as a convenience, but people certainly took advantage of it and that was a good thing as these individuals clearly recognized that they were in a closed environment, that they were sharing with a lot of other people who come from a wide variety of destinations. It was also an environment that presented more close contact than most Manitoulin Island people are used to.

But there was recognition of all of these things, likely more of an intuitive, survival-based response than a considered one, that made people take advantage of the hand sanitizer when they saw it.

We will suggest that we need to have more of these sorts of things available publicly, and not just at hospitals, nursing home or other health-related agencies.

We will also suggest that, as it is increasingly important for all of us to be vigilant about communicable diseases-for the notion of a pandemic is clearly a possibility in a world where international travel is taken for granted-that, as a priority, young people must be taught both at home and at school, and from their earliest possible learning opportunities the importance of frequent hand washing, the proper disposal of tissues that have been contaminated by nose blowing, and the inappropriateness of public, unshielded sneezing and coughing.

All of these ordinary measures cannot be overemphasized, nor can they be over-stressed to boys and girls beginning in their toddler years and continuing throughout their years in schools and while they are under their parents' direct influence at home.

Each of us must consider ourselves as functioning parts of the public health system.

It's as simple as that.

Letters to the Editor

Ignatieff was already acclaimed as Liberal leader

Vote of no-confidence needed from NDP, Bloc before election call

To the Expositor:

Don't look now, but your slip is showing. The theme of your editorial ("Michael Ignatieff's maturity used as selling point," April 29) is well done, but you haven't done your homework. Michael Ignatieff is not acting Liberal leader. He is the Liberal leader. After the other candidates dropped out of the race and endorsed Mr. Ignatieff, he was acclaimed leader by the caucus and the Liberal executive in due accord with the bylaws and constitution of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The Liberal Convention being held, as I write, in Vancouver is not a leadership convention. It is a delegate convention to discuss policy and strategy and the rebuilding of the Liberal Party of Canada. There will no doubt some kind of a "coronation" ceremony of courtesy for Mr. Ignatieff recognizing him as leader.

Your reasoning is flawed if you think there will be an election "within a few months." You forget that a vote of no-confidence needs the support of the NDP and Bloc Quebecois leaders Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe. This is not likely to happen soon. Both parties are falling in support in favour of Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberals in Quebec at the present time. The NDP is failing badly in Ontario.

Of course it may all depend on how large a carrot Stephen Harper will dangle to Mr. Duceppe, and you may be sure he will dangle it.

One thing is sure: we are living in very interesting times.

William R. Ritching

Little Current

Ratepayers don't represent everyone in the community

Recording council meetings should be mandatory to ensure accountability

To the Expositor:

Two items caught my eye in your April 29 edition, both relating to whether democracy is in fact working.

Joe Chapman took a potshot at Carol Hughes's "non-appearance" to vote on the long-gun legislation.

Joe's comment, "Our riding deserves a lot more than just another back-bench NDP MP who fails to show up to vote on important issues," shows an itchy trigger finger, Joe-best keep your powder dry.

I agree our riding should be well represented. It was, for five terms, by a member, Brent St. Denis, who was not a minister, even when Liberals were in power, so being a backbencher is not in itself an impediment. Joe should know that members have duties in their ridings, and can make arrangements to be paired with another member-of the government side-if they can't be present. Maybe Carol Hughes had made such arrangements, or maybe she ducked the issue because she knew it was one of the most contentious issues in this rural riding in the last election, and the Liberal vote suffered badly (to her benefit) because of it.

However, Michael Ignatieff announced this weekend that he has a policy that he will announce closer to the election that will satisfy both gun owners and those, like me and the police chiefs of Canada, who think gun registry is here to stay, and of value to law enforcement. Then which side of the argument will Ms. Hughes duck?

The second item was the news that some Kagawong residents met to form a ratepayers association. Usually, this happens in larger communities where council is perhaps remote, secretive or even antagonistic to individual or even small groups. It also happens when the community is so small that the media cannot provide a resource to be on site to report on council meetings.

I'm a relative newcomer to Manitoulin, but like much of what I have found here. Frankly, I was somewhat spoiled in my last community, in that, in the 15 years or so I lived there, I attended weekly council meetings in the public gallery pretty well every week, and was impressed that two print newspapers and one Internet news agency were present to take notes (and even occasionally the local TV station). In the case of the enterprising Internet publisher (www.madhunt.com for anyone interested), with the permission of council, for 10 years used a tape recorder in council meetings until last year when a videocamera replaced it, which ensured that members of council who challenged the veracity of the later reportage were held accountable by the recording). I've seen that particular municipality (which shall be nameless here) go from reasonably open to positively clandestine-at one point I counted 14 in-camera items in a single meeting-after which point I read the riot act (actually the pertinent sections of the Municipal Act related to openness of government) to council in front of those media representatives, and the mayor and council received some advice from the CAO at the next meeting that suggested politely to her "bosses" that I was right, after which the in-camera option fell down to a miniscule number. In fact at the next election, pretty much the whole slate of council, including the mayor, who were behind these games were voted out of office.

I have to say I'm not much for intermediaries attending council in my behalf: too many conflicting agendas. Too often they filter, or communicate intermittently or not at all (and that can include the media). Even more importantly, I'm strongly opposed to people who think they represent me (but don't) speaking on my behalf. There are other organizations in Kagawong who already fit that profile. Billings Township's council minutes are, to put it politely, terse! They provide only the bare bones. What I think Billings council should consider is to make arrangements to buy a CD recorder to record meetings, including the background discussion (who said what) and if necessary to have recorded votes. The municipal clerk could use the recording to verify her own notes, and could then provide a copy to the media (possibly along with the clerk's official minutes). If the media decided to regularly print this, alongside the excellent work it does for the larger municipalities like NEMI, I suspect this storm in a teahouse might go away.

Paul Darlaston

Kagawong