Thursday, March 6, 2025

Editorial

Could Canada Day be the Last Major Virtual Event of This Pandemic? Let’s Hope

Next week's regular Canada Day festivities, in all corners of the municipality, from Bognor to Leith and Annan to Meaford's urban area, are cancelled once again due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In place of the traditional festivities, a virtual celebration is planned, and hats off to the organizers, but I suspect that many, like me, will be happy to see...

Nobody Reads Father’s Day Editorials, and That’s Okay

Another Father's Day has crept up on us, and this Sunday fathers everywhere will be celebrated by those who love them, those they have cared for and inspired. I typically shy away from dedicating my editorial space to 'Hallmark' holidays; it is not my forte, and others do a much better job writing about these sorts of things. Not to...

One Small Step…

We in Ontario will regain some freedom and fun on Friday as the province enters Step One of the three-step Roadmap to Reopening. The move comes a few days earlier than had been anticipated, and it will mean that non-essential retailers will once again be permitted to allow customers in their stores, restaurants will be able to operate outdoor...

Accessibility is Vital For All

It's National AccessAbility Week, an initiative aimed at shining a bright light on the importance of accessibility for all, identifying where we are falling short, and celebrating our successes. Accessibility isn't something we spend much time thinking about when we are young, fit, and healthy. A healthy 20-year-old is unlikely to consider that a door into a building might be...

A Love Letter to My Community

Dear Readers, We have been through a lot over the past 18 months, and we have been getting through it together. This pandemic has upended our lives, and it has shattered our daily routines, but through it all I have been proud to call this community home. In the early days of this pandemic, none of us really knew what to...

Proposed Development Would Overwhelm Existing Neighbourhood

A proposed mixed residential development on the property of the former Knights flooring factory on Boucher Street has many residents concerned. The proposed development would see more than 200 residential units, from townhouses to two five-storey apartment buildings, along with a 90 room, five-storey hotel packed onto the property, which is surrounded by quiet, long-established residential streets of mostly...

Paid Parking Debacle Shows Why Council Shouldn’t Shoot From the Hip

At Monday's council meeting we witnessed the falling apart of a poorly cobbled together plan after Council stomped on the brake and made a U-turn away from their own paid parking pilot project, and ultimately limited the pilot project to just Memorial Park, not all of Meaford's parks and green spaces, as was the original plan. I can't say that...

Thanks to COVID, the Cancellations Continue

The month of May might just barely be underway, but this week we learned of the cancellation (again) of this autumn's Scarecrow Invasion & Family Festival, thanks to the pesky COVID-19 virus that continues to impact virtually every part of our lives. The announcement was made a week after Meaford's Council had discussed the impact on municipally run events for...

This Pandemic Has Become Somewhat of a Groundhog Day Experience

On April 30 of 2020, the title of my editorial was There is Light at the End of the Tunnel, But it's a Long Tunnel. Now a full year later, it is clear that though I was correct that the tunnel would be long, I was perhaps too optimistic at the time, as the light at the end of...

A Rough Week For Premier Ford

It has certainly been a rough week for Ontario Premier Doug Ford, with Ontarians becoming increasingly frustrated with bungled plans and mixed messages, and calls for his resignation have been growing. Even a column in the Washington Post has called for Ford to resign. At the outset of this pandemic, Premier Ford was praised, even by the likes of me,...