Sunday, December 29, 2024
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Editorial

Happy Holidays, See You in 2025

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
It has been a long year, and after this week's newspaper hits newsstands, the Meaford Independent team is taking its annual break. For a small rural community newspaper, opportunities to take a break are few, so for the past decade the Meaford Independent team has taken advantage of the late...
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Cost of Water Services Will be One of the Biggest Challenges in the Years to Come

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
On Monday, council held their final regular meeting of 2024, and while the delayed budget process for 2025 might be the top issue currently occupying the minds of council and ratepayers, one of the major issues facing council in the years to come will be the cost of water and wastewater services, which are forecast to increase significantly over...

Winter Weather Arrived Just in Time For the Festive Season to Get Underway

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
There was no easing into winter weather this year, as the significantly milder than typical autumn that we had been experiencing allowed us to head outdoors wearing little more than a lightweight windbreaker all the way until the very end of November. And then winter weather was thrust upon us over the weekend with a significant amount of snowfall,...

Challenges Mount For Council as They Now Seek a New CAO

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
As I mentioned in last week's editorial, I had nearly completely written an editorial for this week, chronicling my months' long quest to obtain a public document from the municipality, that document being the municipal hiring policy. However, with the departure of Meaford's CAO, who had been the roadblock to accessing that document, announced by Mayor Ross Kentner at the...

Council’s Budget Discussions Have Been Unlike Anything We’ve Seen Before, and it is Far From Over

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
If you have tuned in to the first two full days of council's discussion of the 2025 municipal budget, you already know it has been unlike anything we have ever seen. It has been two full days, 15 hours worth, of discussions, and councillors are more confused and frustrated than before they began, as is the public no doubt. Unlike...

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Editorial

Remembrance Day Reminds Me How Fortunate We Are to Call Canada Home

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
During Monday's Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph outside Meaford Hall, where hundreds had gathered to observe the ceremony, I was thinking about an editorial that I wrote back in 2016, that sadly is as relevant today as it was eight years ago. “In many ways, it’s a charmed life here in Canada, which is why I think it is...
Editorial

Council Facing a Challenging Budget For 2025

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
On Monday, Meaford's council was presented with a 2025 draft budget package that makes clear that council is in for a challenging time as they work toward establishing the municipality's budget for next year. As presented to council on Monday, the draft budget calls for a rate increase of 6.33 percent in 2025, which doesn't seem outrageous as a place...
Editorial

The Holiday Season is Approaching: Be on Guard For Porch Pirates

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
As the holiday season approaches, we should all be paying more attention to a growing phenomenon: porch pirates. With so many of us doing at least some of our shopping online these days, theft of packages left on doorsteps by Amazon or similar delivery people is of concern to all. A recent survey that I found referenced in articles focused...
Editorial

GBPH’s Report on Food Affordability Highlights What Many Already Know

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
A week ago I wrote about the warning issued by the United Way Bruce Grey about the growing food insecurity issue that has been festering not only in Grey and Bruce counties, but across the province. This week, Grey Bruce Public Health issued their 2024 Report on Food Affordability, and it highlights something we are all painfully aware of...
Editorial

Food Insecurity Is A Growing Problem In Grey-Bruce

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
As was highlighted by the United Way of Bruce Grey this week, food insecurity is a growing problem in Grey-Bruce and across the nation. Anyone who has been paying attention to the news over the past couple of years will be all too aware that we are in the midst of a growing opioid crisis, with new overdoses and fatalities...
Editorial

Thanksgiving is Upon Us

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
This year is certainly moving along rapidly. So much so that it nearly escaped me that this weekend is Thanksgiving. It wasn't until Tuesday morning, when I was about to write this column on another topic, that I realized quite by accident that Thanksgiving is nearly upon us. Thanksgiving is my favourite of the holidays, and it falls conveniently during...
Editorial

After Two Decades, I am Still Glad to Call Meaford Home

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
I am in my 20th year of living in the Municipality of Meaford, and I am glad that I decided to move here all of those years ago. There are many things I love about this community, but there are also things that frustrate me, and things that I would change if I could, but on the whole, I...
Editorial

Meaford’s Big Fall Weekend is Nearly Here

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
While we have had a warm beginning to the autumn season, we are starting to see some of the leaves in the trees turn colour, a nice complement to the many scarecrow displays that have been created in this municipality in recent weeks, in preparation for Meaford's Big Fall Weekend, which is now just a week away. With another successful...
Editorial

I Am Always Thankful For Those Who Are Passionate About Issues

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
Whether I agree with them or not, I am always very interested when people share their opinions on issues that face us. Throughout my life I have often learned more from folks with whom I have differing views than I have learned while staying safe within my bubble of like-minded friends and acquaintances. In recent years however, we seem to...
Editorial

Meaford Has Once Again Been Invaded By Scarecrows

Stephen Vance, Editor - 0
When the scarecrows begin appearing in the downtown area of this municipality, I know that my favourite time of year is fast approaching. Autumn has always been my favourite time of year, and after I moved to the Municipality of Meaford nearly 20 years ago, thanks to the Scarecrow Invasion it became an even more special time of year for...
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