Editorial

Stephen Vance, Editor If you thought that the close of my July 6 editorial 'Still a Long Road Before We Know if Former Foodland Building is Suitable For a Library' seemed a little harsh, you're right and it wasn't meant to be – I screwed up. With a busy short week last week thanks to the Canada Day holiday, I found...

Stephen Vance, Editor The former Foodland grocery store property on the corner of Sykes and Trowbridge Streets offers high traffic, high visibility, and easy access – everything you'd want in a prime commercial property. Many in the community have expressed their view that the property would also make a fine location for a new library, and council is listening and...

Stephen Vance, Editor Well, another Canada Day is upon us, but not just any Canada Day, this year we celebrate 150 years as a nation. 150 years is a long time, but it is also not so long at all. Compared to many nations whose history stretches back thousands of years, Canada is just an infant – wait, what am I...

Stephen Vance, Editor No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks... ahh, the only thing I liked more than the first day of school when I was a kid, was the last day of school, and in the coming days our local students will all be enjoying the last day of the school year, and the beginning...

Stephen Vance, Editor I'm not much for 'Hallmark holidays' like Father's Day, and so there's never been much made about the day in my household, but I do think it important to recognize the special bond between kids and their parents, and to celebrate it, and heck, if it takes a 'Hallmark holiday', then who am I to question that? Rather...

Stephen Vance, Editor Over the past few weeks we've all been reading and hearing a lot about a giant inflatable duck that is sure to feature prominently in the upcoming Canada 150 celebrations. While there is most certainly support for the duck, in spite of its $200,000 rental fee, $121,000 of which is being funded (sort of) through a provincial...

Stephen Vance, Editor Most of us have a healthy appreciation for local volunteers and service clubs, but it can be easy to take their contribution to the community for granted, and to forget just how much these folks actually do. I was reminded of this after Monday's council meeting, when I was handed a piece of paper listing some 31 projects,...

Stephen Vance, Editor I frequently hear people comment about the lack of affordable housing in Meaford, and there's no doubt that if you're trying to find an affordable apartment or house to rent in this town, you've got your work cut out for you. To address the problem, we must first understand the problem, and if you talk to people about...

Stephen Vance, Editor As much as I focus a lot of my time (and ink) on infrastructure issues, like many, in spite of the fact that my feet tromp on them each and every day, I often overlook sidewalk infrastructure. Like much of our infrastructure, many of our sidewalks were installed decades ago, and some of those old sidewalks are now...

Stephen Vance, Editor “It's a short agenda, should be a quick meeting,” my friend from the Express said to me as we were setting up at the media table prior to Monday's council meeting. “Well, the first intake of the community grants is on the agenda so...” I responded. Face palm. “Oh right, I forgot.”Monday's council meeting lasted three hours and 15...