OPINION
editionap.ca
Le drapeau canadien a préséance?
Revolting roads Irate Taxpayer (not his real name) called the other day to gripe about -- you guessed it -- the roads. “The frame is shot,”he fumed, relating that the chassis of his car had been deformed by yet another encounter with yet another crater in a municipal rural road. The roads are brutal in – fill in the blank here. From Hawkesbury to Harrington, from Alfred to Arundel, from Plantagenet to Pointe- Fortune, people everywhere pay for the sorry state of roads, streets, curbs, sidewalks, bridges, culverts. There is nothing more annoying than, on the way to pay your tax bill at the town hall, to be forced to slalom around gaping holes in the very road you are helping to maintain with your hard-earned money. The toll can be high. Vehicles vibrate, shocks shudder, nerves fray, serene countenance is put to the test. What are you going to do? Well, you could trade in the car for an all-terrain vehicle. Or you could commiserate with fellow taxpayers and other frustrated motorists. Some harried travellers, such as Irate, contact their local newspaper while a few take the most efficient course of action – they contact their municipal hall, where there are people who can take concrete action to resolve the problem du jour. “It is pointless to talk to the township,” insists Irate. But how can he expect anything to be done if he doesn’t make his grievance known to those who are supposed to represent him? “The council already knows that the roads are horrible.” He suggests that all tired and over-taxed motorists pool their resources and their car repair bills and launch class action lawsuits against municipalities that persistently fail to fix roads. Irate does not buy the standard response that resources are limited and municipalities simply do not have the money to pay for all the necessary improvements. Ratepayers have good reason to be cynical. Take the Charbonneau Commission on corruption in Québec, the Senate expense brouhaha in Ottawa and the Rob Ford fiasco in Toronto, please. Yet, most Canadians still have faith in their municipal representatives, according to a recent survey. An Angus Reid poll, “Vision Critical,” found that Canadians are more satisfied with ser- vices delivered by local governments than by any other order of government. The online survey showed 71 per cent of Canadians are satisfied with their local gov- ernment services. Municipalities provide the lion’s share of front-line services to Cana- dians while collecting just eight cents of every tax dollar, says Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Claude Dauphin. “While local governments strive to continue improving all of the essential services they provide to Canadians, whether it’s clean water, safe streets, or fast, reliable public transit, survey results show we have a foundation of support among our citizens to build on.” At the recent FCM convention, 1,800 delegates agreed that “governments working to- gether must be the rule, not the exception.” The message is: “It’s time to partner for the greater good of the country and we are just getting started.” That all sounds fine but partnering is not going to pave your road or grade your con- cession, at least not right away. Irate believes that litigation is one way to get the atten- tion of those who control the strings on the public purse. A grass-roots movement of people brandishing car repair bills would surely open up the municipal coffers and chan- nel funds into road work. At least that is the theory. However, any legal action against our own governments would be costly and time-consuming. Or, as they say, if life is a highway, you had better be prepared for a bumpy ride.
Réponse à la lettre publiée le 7 juin par Mme Nancy Gray-Lachaîne, résidente de L’Orignal, qui s’inquiétait du non-respect du protocole du drapeau canadien, c’est-à-dire de la taille du mât du Monument de la fran- cophonie de Hawkesbury par rapport à celui du drapeau canadien. Le comité du Monument de la fran- cophonie de Hawkesbury a reçu votre plainte au sujet du protocole du drapeau du Canada et celui de la francophonie. Pour votre information, voici ce que la personne responsable au ministère du Patrimoine canadien sur le protocole du drapeau canadien avait à dire sur son dé- ploiement: «Un drapeau, quelle que soit son origine, peut être érigé par lui-même par un indi- vidu ou un groupe, sur le terrain de la ville ou chez un particulier. La mise en applica- tion du protocole du drapeau canadien doit être respectée lorsque ledit mât et drapeau sont sur un édifice ou un terrain à entité fédérale. À ce moment-là, l’ordre de
préséance et le respect de la hauteur des mâts doivent être respectés.» En tant qu’historienne locale, vous savez qu’il est primordial de connaître la prov- enance de la source de vos propos. C’est une chose de le penser, mais tout autre de le publier dans un journal sans en avoir vé- rifié la véridicité. Si vous vous étiez informée sur le pro- tocole du drapeau canadien, je ne vous apprendrais rien en vous disant que la hauteur du mât, la taille du drapeau ainsi que l’emplacement du Monument de la francophonie de Hawkesbury ne s’y appli- que pas. Dans le cas présent, ni la Ville de Hawkes- bury, ni le Comité du Monument de la francophonie de Hawkesbury sont irre- spectueux du protocole du drapeau cana- dien. Gilles Trahan, Fier résident de Hawkesbury et prési- dent du Monument de la francophonie de Hawkesbury
“A perverted hobby” The Editor, In the last Friday edition of The Tribune Express, you published a picture submitted by a private person, on the “ Community” page. It shows a woman who lives in Grenville- sur-la Rouge beside a “Spirit Bear” that was senselessly destroyed by her in Northern Canada. Her husband Mr. Eslinger, brags in the caption about “harvesting the second rarest of the black bear’s colour phases”.....not for the meat to eat... or in self-defence, simply killing for the colour of the fur. Now it is dead and the fur has become the private property of greedy “trophy’ collectors. Last year Mr. Esliger did the same thing and published the picture in a different local Anglophone newspaper. He harvested weeks of negative attention through the letters of disgust and outrage from readers. Also the newspaper was criticized for paying so little attention to the quality of the submissions they publish. I ask you if you would publish a submitted picture of a huge fish caught in Hudson Bay by a local person, proudly reporting he had bagged the last of a species? This is not local, community news. This is simply attention-seeking of someone with a perverted hobby, using your publication for self agrandissement. Marlana Carnett Hawkesbury
The Editor, I am neither a tree hugger or a devout pacifist, however the story of the“Quest for Spirit Bear” prompted this message today. I did find the line “giving the death cry of a In bad taste
mortally wounded bear” a little too graph- ic for my taste and I think this was not in very good taste at all. Steve Johnson, Alfred
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For whom the tolls?
A reader comments on the suggestion by an Ottawa councillor that tolls be in- stalled on Highway 174 east of the city. What makes the residents of the Rockland - Orleans corridor think that they own the road? Those that commute know when they movetherethattheywillhavetocommute- orbetterstill,takeabus(there’sagreenidea!) If my memory serves me right, when Pierre Lemieux was first elected he said there was money available to “investigate” the dualling of the 17/174. This was also supported by then provincial M.P.P., Jean-Marc Lalonde.
We’re not at all sure what has hap- pened to that initiative. Pierre? Grant? Another thought for those who want to raise toll booths is that us out-of-towners prefer to drive through your countryside rather than zooming along on the 417. Also a large percentage likes to show our capital city to our visitors. Also several of our trips are to attend one of the Ottawa hospitals, not through choice, but that’s where the specialists and consultants hold their surgeries. This is not your ball. You cannot just take it home to play with by yourself. Doug Fowler, Hawkesbury
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