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Mail-in
votes for central Manitoulin
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by Jennifer McCauley
MINDEMOYA-Central Manitoulin Council unanimously
ruled in favour that a vote-by-mail system be implemented for
the next municipal election. Council's decision last Monday
night came after receiving a 104-person petition three weeks
ago from Campbell Ward advocating the vote-by-mail system. Council
made the decision at their previous meeting to have their administration
committee explore voting-by-mail as well as other alternatives
and make recommendations based on their research to Council.
Reeve Mary Nelder said she approved of the alternative voting
method. "Of all the alternative methods researched by the committee,
vote-by-mail is the most practical and feasible option," she
said. "According to the committee's research municipalities
who use a vote-by-mail system had a significant increase in
voter turnout." Reeve Nelder also said although vote-by-mail
costs more than the traditional method, it ends up being cheaper
per person due to the increased number of voters. Mail-in-voting
has been a hot issue in Central Manitoulin since the spring
of 2000 when a number of residents, both seasonal and year-round
requested the previous Council offer mail-in-voting as an option.
The issue became much debated among the Councillors as well
with Councillors Ted Dryden, Mary Nelder and Joyce Varieur voting
in favour of the option and Sarah Bowerman, Adam McDonald, Steven
Orford and former Reeve Perry Anglin voting against. Reeve Nelder
said when the previous Council first discussed the issue, there
was overwhelming support for a vote-by-mail system from Sandfield
and Carnarvon residents but no feedback from Campbell. Although
Councillor Bowerman was against implementing a vote-by-mail
system originally, she said the support shown by Campbell Ward
combined with the data indicating increased voter turnout convinced
her to change her mind. "Personally, I still don't like it,
but I am not here on a personal level," she said. "I am here
to represent my Ward." Both she and fellow Campbell Ward Councillor
Derek Stephens said they could find no one opposed to the alternative
voting method. With the new system in place, there will no longer
be traditional polling booths although residents will have the
option of dropping their mail-in ballot into a ballot box at
the municipal office rather than mailing it.
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NEMI
bugdet
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by Cheryl Waugh
NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN and the ISLANDS
(NEMI) ---- The 2001 budget was passed at council last week
with an 11.5 per cent increase in the municipal levy. Ratepayers
for the town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands won't
feel the full effect of that levy though because the provincial
government decreased the education levy by 9.9 per cent this
year. With property assessment on the increase in the province,
the government was able to decrease the education levy without
losing any actual income. When the two levies are combined,
the final result will see a levy increase of 19.5 per cent in
Ward One, 5.6 per cent in Ward Two, and 1.4 per cent in Wards
Three and Four. In real dollar terms, ratepayers with an assessment
of $100,000 in Ward One will pay an extra $148, in Ward Two
it'll be $83, and in Wards Three and Four $18. The budget went
to a recorded vote at council's meeting last Wednesday evening
with two councillors, Bill Koehler and Carl Ziegler - both councillors
for Ward Two, voting against it. Councillors Kathleen Bowerman,
Marcel Gauthier, Ron Lewis, Al MacNevin, Ann McGregor, Jim Stringer,
and Mayor Ferguson all voted in favour of passing the budget.
After a very lengthy and at times acrimonious budget process
most councillors, even those who opposed its passing, seemed
relieved that it was finally done. Councillor Koehler said he
wasn't pleased with the final budget for his Ward Two constituents,
but was happy the process was finally over. "(The budget) caused
a lot of dissension between councillors and the mayor. I'm glad
it's done with - I'm happy about that. I just feel it could
have been better for people in Ward Two. I would've walked out
of there happy if the increase for Ward Two was between three
and five per cent. The other Wards saw substantial decreases."
Mayor Ferguson said no one is ever happy with a raised budget,
but felt it was a necessary evil. "If we don't keep up with
the times, we'll just fall behind every year." He apologized
for the budget process taking so long and admitted there are
several areas where improvements must be made in order to shorten
the budget process. "We need to do a better job of forecasting
what will be handed down to us and we need to do a better job
of forecasting our needs. These are things we haven't been able
to do very well in the past." He said the problems of the budget
process hasn't all been about restructuring, but changes in
the structure of how social services are delivered have not
been a help. Social Services such as Ontario Works, child care,
social housing and land ambulance, are now delivered by the
Manitoulin Sudbury District Social Services Administration Board
(DSSAB), based in Espanola. "I hope next year the DSSAB will
have a better idea of their position...early. It's a significant
part of our budget," said Mayor Ferguson. The final municipal
levy is a huge decrease from the initial proposed levy increase
of 31.7 per cent brought forth by council in mid-September.
Under those conditions, there would have been a 40.03 percent
increase in the combined levy for Ward One, a 17.33 percent
increase in the levy for Ward Two, and a 14.52 percent increase
in the levy for Wards Three and Four. However, when that budget
was brought before a public meeting at the Little Current Howland
Recreation Centre, the 200-plus audience quickly voiced their
displeasure. A committee of council and five members of the
public, Doug Wuksinic, Stu Harris, Sam Nardi, Martin Musson,
and Stan Ferguson worked together to bring the budget increase
down to a more acceptable level. The town used several suggestions
from the community volunteers to bring in a municipal budget
almost $400,000 lower than the earlier proposed budget. The
most significant of which was $250,000 in Community Reinvestment
Funding (CRF) taken off the levy. The CRF is a fund that the
province gives to municipalities to offset half the cost of
downloaded services. (The province reconciles service costs
from the previous year, not for the current one.) The provincial
government keeps municipalities on edge about the CRF by seemingly
making it a year-by-year decision, however, the province has
provided CRF funding for the last four years and promised at
an Association of Municipalities of Ontario meeting in August
that they will continue it this year. In the proposed budget,
the CRF funding was not accrued as a revenue, so the entire
cost of social services ended up on the levy. The town has now
estimated they will receive $306,250 in CRF funding in 2002.
Leaving about a $50,000 cushion, they budgeted $250,000 as accrued
CRF funding, taking that amount off the municipal levy. That
move alone accounted for almost 65 per cent of the decrease
from the proposed budget. The other 35 per cent was made up
in project deferrals, or in taking money from reserves to pay
for one-time expenses rather than raising that money from the
levy. For instance, the $25,000 needed to pay for the closure
plans of the Little Current and Green Bay dump sites will be
taken from the landfill reserve. The $10,230 cost of an engineer's
report on the water treatment plants in Little Current and Sheguiandah
will also be taken from reserves. Initially, the town wanted
to raise $2,432,287 from the municipal levy, however with the
above budget moves, they will now raise $2,059,057. Now, a tax
by-law will go before council at its Tuesday, October 16 meeting,
and tax bills will be mailed out at the end of October. Town
staff will be getting started on the 2002 budget very soon in
order to meet council's requirement that it be ready for the
first council meeting in March. Mayor Ferguson said that process
will still be a challenge, but said he's looking forward to
an earlier budget next year. Councillor Koehler said he is also
looking forward to an early budget next year. "We can't continue
this. The taxpayer doesn't like what's going, we have to get
our affairs together."
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Cormorant
Controls Action to be taken on cormorant controls
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Tom Sasvari
The Recorder
MINDEMOYA - Action will be taken concerning
cormorant controls for the Manitoulin area in 2002, M'Chigeeng
First Nation Chief Glen Hare told members of the United Fish
and Game Clubs of Manitoulin (UFGCM) at a meeting last week.
"The bottom line is that the MNR (Ministry of Natural Resources)
had said something would be done last spring, but they are going
to renege on this again, and there won't be anything done next
spring as well," said Chief Hare. "Our plans are to have another
study done and to take action on the cormorants next spring
(2002)," he stated. Jason Laronde, Resource Management Council
(RMC) Co-ordinator with the Union of Ontario Indians (UOI) explained,
"Out last meeting was in June. The RMC is a forum for discussion
of issues between Anishinabek First Nation people and the MNR.
Glen (Hare) participates on this council and he brought the
issue up at the meeting. It then went to a working group and
more discussion was held." "One of the elders from M'Chigeeng
came up with the suggestion that the First Nations and communities
do something on our own and see if the MNR would sanction us
to do our own study. This was brought back to Kevin Loftus,
at the MNR office in Peterborough and we got the okay. He said
a proposal would be well received to do a study whether the
MNR is involved or not," continued Mr. Laronde. "Given that,
we're looking at developing and sending a proposal to the MNR
along with a letter from our Grand Council Chief giving his
support." Jim Sloss, chair of the UFGCM told the meeting, "We
feel there are three things that need to be done. A major cull
of adult cormorants needs to be done, by any means, because
an adult bird can live to over 15 years. It wouldn't matter
if they only live to seven to eight years old, it would be too
long to let them continue to the damage they have been." Secondly,
he said an oiling of cormorant eggs needs to be done, as well
as having the cormorant reclassed so that if a member of the
public feels the birds are a nuisance, they would be allowed
to shoot them. "I don't like the solution to just shoot and
bang away at the cormorant, but it is a most important aspect
of any proposal." As well, he suggested with the substantial
loss of several species of fish populations, there needs to
be a rehabilitation of the fish. Mr. Sloss pointed out the birds
are not only found in larger water areas, but have for some
time now been moving into smaller lake areas. "This is a First
Nation issue and a community issue, and is something a lot of
people have been working at and want to continue working on.
By Chief Hare telling the MNR that we will do something regardless
of what they want, we can do our own study and implement controls
ourselves," said Mr. Laronde. Chief Hare pointed out information
is needed from the UFGCM as well as from other areas concerning
the issue of cormorants. He noted that at least one chief, in
Nipigon wants to be a participant in the study, and if the Manitoulin
study is a success, he would take it back into his community.
"Mr. Loftus said there is really nothing that the Ministry can
do to stop us (First Nations). I know the chiefs on the North
Shore are concerned about cormorants, and they want to be a
part of this as well. By the spring of 2002 there has to be
action taken on the cormorants," said Chief Hare. Mr. Sloss
said the First Nations and UFGCM should work together, as well
as include many other groups and organizations such as fish
and game clubs in the province who are also interested in the
study to be carried out. "Hopefully, we can use all of this
to get something done right away," said Mr. Laronde. He pointed
out the control program needs "to be done in a humane way, not
just go out and slaughter cormorants. And, we non-native and
native participation targeted in the proposal. It is important
to get not only First Nation input but non-native people as
well." Doug Cheer, of the of the Central Lake Ontario Sport
Anglers, told the meeting the Ontario Federation of Anglers
and Hunters has recently formed a petition urging the MNR to
significantly reduce cormorant populations where there are local
habitat or fisheries affected, as well as remove the special
protected status for cormorants. This petition will be sent
to over 600 fish and game clubs in the province, and is expected
to be signed by about 10,000 members. The UFGCM members agreed
they will distribute draft copies of the petition around Manitoulin,
to garner signatures. "We all have to be together on this issue,
and we will win," said Mr. Sloss. Mr. Sloss had earlier in the
meeting outlined the negotiations and meetings the UFGCM has
had with the MNR in trying to get a cormorant control program
instituted on the Island including a promise by John Snobelen,
Minister of Natural Resources earlier this year that the MNR
was committed to an experimental control of cormorants at specific
sites in 2001. However, this did not take place. "This past
spring we were told they still didn't have enough study information
and would continue a monitoring program this year. When the
ministry was asked when there would be a program for culling
the birds, he said this would taken place when the ministry
found the answers they were looking for. He said this could
take a year, five years, or maybe never." The New York Fish
and Wildlife Service has done studies to show that in 1998 cormorants
wiped out a years stock of fish and that it will take between
seven to eight years to reduce the number of birds to an acceptable
level. "They are upset that Ontario isn't doing something with
the birds," said Mr. Sloss. He noted, "It appears the federal
government has approved cormorant control plans in Michigan
and New York so they are allowed to do something, and they may
change the regulation in the U.S. that cormorants are protected
and open this up next spring for further controls. So, no doubt
there will be pressure put on by the U.S. for Canada to do something
as well." Groups and organizations across the province are concerned
with cormorant populations and the affects they are having,
and presenting these concerns to the MNR. At Presquille Provincial
Park cormorant numbers have gone from 5,600 nesting pair of
cormorants in 1998 to the current 9,679 nesting pairs in that
area. Mr. Sloss said, "There are no fish anymore, even alewife
is being affected by the cormorants." "We have to challenge
the MNR with scientific numbers and studies that have been done
of the cormorant populations and what they are doing to fish
populations," said Mr. Sloss. He told the meeting in 1989 there
were 8,299 cormorants around Lake Huron, there are now 30,689
bird in the North Channel area alone.
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