Taxing ganja

Editorial | Mar 27 |  (2)

We’re hopeful a new leader will bring better relations

Thoughts of spring bring hopes for renewal and better times ahead. We are grateful in this week’s federal budget story to hear MP Tony Clement talk about the importance of jobs in our community.
There are still far too many people either unemployed or underemployed in this region, and...

Not to be judged

This week we start this space by being amongst the first to congratulate Town of Kearney Mayor Paul Tomlinson on his awarding of a Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his service to the betterment of Canadian life.

The award is high honour and we hope he feels proud for being of the many...

Fear factor

Young people in Muskoka have opportunities that are not available to their urban counterparts. They have ready access to nature: clean lakes, night skies and fresh air. They go to small schools that nurture a strong sense of community. They grow in an environment where the pace is less frenetic...

Editorial | Mar 07 |  (1)

Passing the buck

Canada has no national housing strategy.
And our MP, Tony Clement, wants to keep it that way.
Last week Clement was the spokesperson for the Conservative government as yet another private members bill bit the dust. It seems a complete waste of time and money to even discuss private...

Use the ombudsman

Given the tax increase the Town of Huntsville is facing, it is perplexing that councillors would opt to pay for a special investigator if a complaint about a closed session meeting is brought forth by one of its citizens.
The Municipal Act dictates the rare instances when your municipal...

A good track record

We hear frustration this week coming from the Municipality of Powassan regarding a just-released report on an investigation into closed meetings by the council there.

The findings of that report are that council is believed to have gone into closed meetings with an inappropriate item once over...

Editorial | Feb 21 |  (1)

Save it for the ballot box

This past Tuesday we were finally able to witness the men and women elected to represent Ontarians return to Queen’s Park to do the work they were sent there to do.

Whether or not they do that work remains to be seen. The cynics out there could probably make a good case that actual work...

Time to shake things up

All is not fair in love and politics. While we’re being pegged as gazebo city, it’s refreshing to see high-calibre Liberal leaders, at both the provincial and federal level, making the rounds to Muskoka.
It is no secret the ire towards Ontario Liberals has been growing in our...

Editorial | Feb 14 |   3

Stop and think

This week, The Huntsville Forester brings you a powerful story; a story about hope, survival and the refusal to remain a victim.
It’s a story about a woman who was brutally attacked and raped on the Hunters Bay trail five years ago. Her assailant was about three decades younger – a...

Celebrating Mayor Smith

BRACEBRIDGE - Tony Clement pinned Graydon Smith this week, just in time for Valentine’s Day. But the love story isn’t between our top politicians; it’s between Smith and the community.
Smith was awarded the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee pin for his service to Bracebridge.

Debating zero

MUSKOKA - In an ideal social democracy we play a zero-sum game. That is, we all gain or suffer together. As various district committees debate the possibility of a zero-per-cent budget increase, the potential for suffering together seems great. We had hoped the result of the recent comprehensive...

Editorial | Jan 30 |   1

Increase too high

There’s a runaway train at town hall and our representatives need to do a better job hitting the brakes.
In just two short months council has gone from contemplating a three per cent budget increase to a whopping 9.5 per cent increase, leaving our heads spinning, and apparently theirs as...