'Secret meeting' allegations divide Northeast council

Ont. ombudsman conducts investigation

by Lindsay Kelly

NORTHEAST TOWN-A Northeast Town councillor is being asked to publicly apologize for slandering council, even while its members are being investigated by the Ontario Ombudsman for allegedly holding a meeting in secret.

Councillor Paul Skippen was asked to offer an apology to council and the public for his November 6 email alleging that six members of council held a secret meeting after the November 5 Administration and Finance Committee meeting, from which he and Councillor Bruce Wood were excluded. The email was brought to the attention of council, members of the public, government representatives, and several media outlets.

Bringing forward that type of accusation without first confirming its credibility is slanderous, and presents an image of council that is unbecoming, Councillor Al MacNevin charged.

"There are a number of incidents that are taking place in our council that would warrant some action on behalf of council," he said. "The latest incident that's given rise to concern on my behalf, and I believe a number of other councillors, stems from comments and statements that were made following the November 5 Ad and Fi meeting where council has been accused by a number of councillors of having a secret meeting...and I believe it requires some action."

The email was sent out the day following the meeting and suggests that the transparency of council is in question.

"Last night at the AD/FI meeting Councillor Marcel Gauthier informed me that he had a special meeting to attend after the AD/FI meeting," reads the email. "All councillors were present except for Bill Koehler who had not attended the meeting. Councillor Wood and I were not invited to attend. We both waited outside the meeting for Marcel to leave. He informed Bruce and I that the meeting was to clear loose ends about the sale of the hotel property on the waterfront."

The email goes on to encourage people to attend the November 17 council meeting, at which council made the decision to go ahead with the Highway 6 land sale, and is signed, "without [prejudice] Paul Skippen and Bruce Wood."

The attention the email has received has resulted in an investigation by the Ontario Ombudsman's office to determine whether a secret meeting had taken place, and several councillors were scheduled for interviews last week with the ombudsman staff.

"Frankly, I find it quite frustrating that a councillor would misinform the public to this degree and not realize that those comments led to the investigation in the first place," Councillor MacNevin said.

Councillor Gauthier, who is named directly in the email, offers an alternate version of the story.

He claims that the other meeting he had to attend that evening was in relation to his role as a judge for the Legion's Remembrance Day poster contest and had nothing to do with the hotel decision.

"I'm really irritated by this email, not because my name's mentioned in it, but because it's knocking the integrity of our council as a whole, and especially our staff, because everyone knows that our staff was also here at that meeting," Councillor Gauthier said.

While he expects to "take some flak" as a councillor, town staff should not have to be subjected to that kind of scrutiny, especially when they are all familiar with the Municipal Act and the guidelines for council operations.

Procedures following meetings include the signing of bylaws that were passed in council, which requires the presence of the clerk, mayor, and CAO, Councillor Gauthier noted, and it is not uncommon for members of council and the public to remain for conversation unrelated to council proceedings.

Councillor Gauthier then asked each of the councillors and staff who were present at the meeting whether a secret gathering followed; each denied that any wrongdoing had taken place. He then put forward the motion seeking an apology.

Although initially reluctant to comment, suggesting that there are proper channels through which the council should move if they wish to make a "personal attack" on him, Councillor Skippen stood by his belief that a secondary, secret meeting had taken place on November 5.

"According to the ombudsman, five councillors with a door closed in a room could possibly constitute a meeting," he said. "There were three people present outside when we were told that there was a meeting going on inside, and when it was over, three people were there when the person came back outside and said it was because they had loose ends to tie up with the hotel."

Councillor Skippen suggested that he had not contacted the ombudsman to make a complaint, adding that he was limited as to what he could say as the ombudsman had asked him not to speak publicly about the matter.

He additionally suggested that he had already attempted to make amends by sending out a second email on November 17 noting that he had been informed by clerk Janet Moore and Mayor Jim Stringer that there had not been a secret meeting, and encouraged people to contact him for more information.

"As far as apologizing, I don't have a problem with that, but I would like to wait until the ombudsman has made a decision, because he is going to make a decision," Councillor Skippen said. "He wants to know what there was inside and I don't believe you people are going to lie for a second."

The problem, noted Councillor MacNevin, is that rather than approach mayor and council directly to ask whether a meeting had been held, the email has spread word about the investigation, putting doubt in the minds of the municipality's constituents about the trustworthiness of the council.

"They didn't wait for a decision by the ombudsman," he said of Councillors Skippen and Wood. "They have defamed and slandered this council and communicated that to the public. They owe the public and this council an apology because he knows there was no meeting and he's just hoping that they can find a reason. But they owe us an apology and unless they're prepared to give us one, I'm prepared to take further action after."

In a motion, council "demands a written apology from Councillor Skippen," independent of the ombudsman's finding, which should also be sent to "all parties previously notified by the email."

Highway 6 in southeast identified for MTO_repairs

by Heather Pennie

SOUTHEAST MANITOULIN-The notorious bumps and ridges of Highway 6 may soon become fireside lore as the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) gears up for improvements to this often-discussed stretch of rough pavement. The MTO has begun its study of the highway and the required improvements, according to MTO regional issues advisor Gordan Rennie.

"The project is scheduled to begin in 2010 as part of the Northern Highways Program," said Mr. Rennie.

The highways program, according to the MTO website, "is a record $1.8-billion, multi-year plan for highway improvements and expansion in the North...the projects outlined in the Northern Ontario Highways Strategy will create 45,000 jobs across the province and play a pivotal role in our plan for the economic prosperity of the province as a whole."

The scheduled highway improvements are for a 23-kilometre section of Highway 6 from Highway 542 northerly. As Mr. Rennie explained, "The project will include pavement distortion and frost heave repairs, drainage improvements, operational improvements, the rehabilitation of three structures, and resurfacing."

Though many area residents may feel elation at the resurfacing of Highway 6, not all Islanders concur. Larry Killens of South Baymouth has some reservations about the upcoming road improvements and the spending of government dollars.

"The road is in need of repairs, yes," stated Mr. Killens. "However, it doesn't have huge potholes like in the city of Sudbury. We could have put those dollars into education, into health. Is it something we can afford right now? No."

Mr. Killens also voiced concerns over the reasons behind the resurfacing project. "Normally it takes five years for the paving to start, and this is being done in one year," he said.

Mr. Killens noted that he spoke to a supervisor on the roadway, who had an interesting perspective regarding the road repairs. "He said that those who are going to the G8 Summit-they are coming to Manitoulin Island and are driving from Ten Mile Point to South Baymouth or Wikwemikong, and they want to pave that road," he related. "If someone important is coming, then it only takes one year?"

The G8 theory, however, has not been confirmed by either Gordan Rennie or area MP Carol Hughes.

There has been no sudden change of plans, as these are the improvements which were already slated to take place along this timeline. In the spring of 2009 Mr. Rennie said, "engineering is underway for the resurfacing of 23.1 kilometres of Highway 6 from 10.5 kilometres north of Highway 542 northerly. This project has been committed in the Northern Highways Program for 2010-2012."

While the allocation of dollars for this upcoming project has not been released due to the MTO's obligation to ensure competitive bidding by contractors, the improvements are to be the first of three slated for this highway.

Mr. Rennie explained, "This project is part of the ministry's ongoing strategy to rehabilitate Highway 6 between Highway 17 and South Baymouth. It is the first of three projects between Little Current and South Baymouth. In recent years, the ministry completed the rehabilitation of the section from Highway 17 to the swing bridge."

A further concern regarding the ministry's rehabilitation plans, which Mr. Killens brought to light, is the use of an American vehicle for the drilling currently underway for the Highway 6 study. "I'm just wondering what's going on here...I noticed a vehicle had New Jersey plates on it and it was in the process of drilling cores," he said.

"Why is there an American vehicle doing this? You can't tell me we don't have that kind of a drill around here-we are in a mining community." The operator of the vehicle, however, as noted by Mr. Killens, was a Canadian university student.

Currently, the rehabilitation of Highway 6 is in the design phase, as the consulting firm of AECOM has initiated a detail design study and class environmental assessment. The affected areas include the townships of Assiginack and Sheguiandah.

Comments and information regarding the project are currently being collected from the public to meet the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act. Upon the completion of the study, a report will be made available for public review.

Health issues concern wind farm opposition

Manitoulin group sets up website

by Michael Erskine

NORTHEAST TOWN-An Island anti-industrial wind power group remains undaunted in its battle to prevent a major industrial wind energy project currently proposed for the Island, despite the waning possibility of forcing the project into a higher threshold environmental study.

The full environmental study is still being advocated by the group, but it is not pinning all of its hopes on that avenue either, arguing that the health implications of the project are too uncertain for the province to move ahead with licences.

The proponent of the wind project maintains that the health issues being cited by those opposing the development are a red herring, lacking any credible scientific evidence or support. Rick Martin, manager of the development project, cites several studies establishing the relative benign nature of the turbine's impact.

"None of the so-called studies being pushed by these people have been published in peer-reviewed journals," said Mr. Martin, laying down the generally accepted credibility gauntlet for scientific analysis of phenomena. "If you want to look at what is out there from reputable sources, look at 'Infrasound from Wind Turbines-Fact or Fiction?' by Geoff Leventhall in volume 34 of the peer-reviewed journal Canadian Acoustics. Much of the so-called science being tossed around is based on self-deception and misinterpretation or representation of the facts."

Mr. Martin's rebuttal seems directly aimed at the 'Summary of Recent Research on Adverse Health Effects of Wind Turbines' compiled by Keith Sterling, MA and Carmen Krough-neither of whom, Mr. Martin points out, is an acoustical scientist. The authors are a psychologist and a pharmacist weighing in on matters way outside of their areas of expertise, he suggested. Mr. Martin pointed out that one of the experts cited in the Stelling work was reported as having inserted the word infrasonic into an advertisement in a local paper "in a manner which might mislead na•ve readers into believing it was par to the original."

Nonetheless, Manitoulin Coalition for Safe Energy Alternatives (McSEA) spokesperson Ray Beaudry said his organization is planning a deputation to the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands municipal council's December 15 meeting. Mr. Beaudry and his anti-wind farm compatriots will be seeking a letter of support from the council urging the province to impose a moratorium on industrial wind farms until it can be proven that there are not adverse health implications for those living in the vicinity of the towers.

"A full environmental impact study would identify all of the impacts on the environment," said Mr. Beaudry. "People are part of the environment."

McSEA maintains that the setbacks established under the province's new Green Energy Act are insufficient-especially when taken in context of the 'conservative' regime assumed by the computer software which establishes the minimum setback. "They are only required to test in the 40 db range," Mr. Beaudry added. "They are not required to measure the low frequency."

The setbacks required for each wind tower are established through the use of a specialized computer software program outsourced to a third-party contractor. "The modelling works on a best-case scenario rather than a worst-case scenario," asserted Mr. Beaudry. "So they don't take into account what happens with higher speed winds. They may be working with 40 db when in fact the actual level may be 51 db."

Mr. Beaudry stressed that the db scale does not rise on a graduated scale, but rather rises exponentially. "So it isn't just that a 10 db difference from 40 db is a quarter louder, it is much, much more than that."

"Even the World Health Organization recommends 1.5 kilometre setbacks," he added.

Mr. Beaudry's group wants setbacks to be at least 2 kilometres, but he makes little secret that the group hopes such a setback would be enough to kill the project. "If you look at the number of applications, they are talking about 8,000 turbines in the Great Lakes region," he said. "Some of those projects are for between here and Killarney, through the North Channel, out by Collins Inlet. There are 100 proposals for wind farms in water on the Great Lakes-it is too much; they are getting too many applications."

Mr. Beaudry noted that a person by the name of Ian Hanna, of Big Island, has taken the province to court seeking an injunction to stop the ministry from issuing any new licences.

Mr. Hanna argues that it is contrary to the precautionary principle to allow wind-energy development in Ontario without further study of its alleged health effects. He claims that the regulation is therefore contrary to the Ministry of the Environment's Statement of Environmental Values and should be struck down.

Environmental lawyer Dianne Saxe said that it is extremely unlikely that Mr. Hanna will succeed in getting an injunction.

"No Ontario regulation has ever been struck down on the grounds that it conflicts with a statement of environmental values, which is a generally worded, subordinate instrument traditionally given less importance than a regulation," she wrote in an assessment in her October 19 blog on the subject. "To do so, the court would have to decide it is better suited than the Legislature to balance the various harms caused by each form of electrical generation-a classic political decision."

Ms. Saxe does think the litigation will place added pressure on the ministry.

In addition to the impact of the wind towers themselves, McSEA asserts that the issue of the 10.3 km 115 kV power transmission line to be constructed to connect the McLean's Mountain wind farm to the Hydro One transmission grid on Goat Island (located just north of Little Current) will pose health and aesthetic issues in its own right.

Northland counters those concerns with health impact studies ranging from the UK and France to Chatham-Kent's health unit, all of which seem to be summed up in the words of the Chatham-Kent Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby.

"In summary, as long as the Ministry of Environment guidelines for location criteria of wind farms is followed, it is my opinion that there will be negligible adverse health impacts on Chatham-Kent citizens," he said. "Although opposition to wind farms is on aesthetic grounds is a legitimate point of view, opposition to wind farms on the basis of potential adverse health consequences is not justified by the evidence."

Whatever the Northeast Town council decides on December 15, there is little beyond the moral pressure of the requested letter of support to the province.

"With the passage of the Green Energy Act, the province has essentially taken the matter out of our hands," admitted Northeast Town CAO Dave Williamson. "It is completely up to the province at this point."

The litany of impact concerns of the property owners within sight of the towers is very local, however, according to Mr. Beaudry. "Anyone who has property within a couple of kilometres of the project will see their property values go down," he said.

In the simple equation of municipal budgets and mill rates, if the property values go down on properties near the site, then more of the tax burden will fall on the rest of the ratepayers whose homes may not even be in range of sight or sound.

The wind turbines are taxed at the highest rate of property tax as industrial, sort of. If an individual builds a $2-million house, that individual will pay fair market value on the house they build-at $2 million. If a $2-million wind turbine is erected on a property, however, the province steps in to rate that structure at $44,000-a significant drop in potential tax revenue which impacts on the local ratepayer as well.

On the other hand, the money coming into the hands of hard-pressed local farmers, rumoured to be as much as $8,000 per turbine cited on a leased portion of land, will have a very welcomed local economic impact.

But even there, there is a bit of fly in the ointment. Some 150 properties making up the Bryan Wind Energy Project in Prince Edward County have had construction liens place on their property after the developer, Skypower Corporation, went under. This places a serious encumbrance upon those properties, limiting what the owners can actually do with their land. The worst-case scenario would see the landowners on the hook for the $265,000 owed by Skypower to its construction company.

Although there is no suggestion that Northland Power Income Trust would fall prey to the kinds of issues which beset the Skypower Corp operation, the long-term implications of such complicated developments provide a cautionary tale.

Meanwhile, McSEA and its allies are tackling the expensive strategy of encircling the development with building construction permits, hoping to limit the turbines one by one until the project is unviable and the whole thing goes away. At $600 a pop, the strategy is an expensive gamble, let alone the cost of actually building residences beside a wind farm, when the main rationale in your arsenal is that there are serious health issues and property value implications.

FLU FILE

Mindemoya's health unit office open late for influenza vaccines

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-As the province shifts its focus to the provision of seasonal flu shots, it is still urging those who haven't yet been jabbed for H1N1 to be proactive on that front. Both types of vaccine are currently available to anyone over six months of age on Manitoulin.

The health unit in Mindemoya will be open for extended hours of 1 pm-7 pm on Wednesday and Thursday of this week (as opposed to last week, as the December 2 Expositor, oops, reported) for anyone who wishes to be vaccinated for H1N1 or the seasonal strain of flu, or both. Appointments are encouraged but walk-in clients will also be accommodated as time permits.

Many Islanders have already been vaccinated for swine flu, either through the pair of community clinics in November, subsequent clinics in two elementary schools, or by appointment with a physician or health-unit nurse. But many have also resisted rolling up their sleeves.

Across the province, it's estimated that less than a third of the population has so far been immunized for H1N1-far short of the target of 75 percent.

And while many seniors were administered the seasonal flu shot earlier this fall, it has only recently been made available to the rest of the population-to a rather lukewarm response so far.

Some may feel the main flu threat has passed or that it's overkill to get both shots, but health professionals are recommending a dose of each flu-busting inoculant, and assuring that both can be safely administered at the same time.

As of late last week, the province was reporting that 1,672 Ontarians had been hospitalized for H1N1 since April, with 106 deaths attributed to this flu strain. Some 3.5 million Ontarians have now received the swine-flu vaccine; of those, 48 have experienced a severe allergic reaction.

Seasonal flu gets less press but is arguably more of an issue: it is estimated to afflict 9,000 people per year in Ontario and contribute to approximately 500 deaths.

To arrange for a vaccine for H1N1 or seasonal flu, contact your local health-care provider, or the health unit office in Mindemoya at 377-4774.

EDITORIAL

Battle for television fees a chance for more local news

The Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) is poised to intervene in the competing demands of the television broadcasting and cable industries.

It would be difficult to find a Canadian citizen who hasn't been made aware of the issue, thanks to the intensive television ad campaigns, in which both sides have been involved in an effort to sway public opinion to one side or the other.

In a nutshell, in case you are a member of the tiny percentage of TV viewers who hasn't been bombarded with these two rival campaigns, the television broadcasters are demanding that the cable networks should reimburse them for the privilege of carrying their local TV stations as a part of the package cable offers to viewers.

In response, the cable industry is telling viewers that it is precisely through their delivery system that most people are able to access local TV these days and, further, that if they are required to pay the broadcast industry for these signals, then the monthly cost of cable service will also rise in a corresponding way.

The broadcast ads portray the cable industry as ridiculously rich and greedy, while the cable industry's answer is to depict the broadcasters as whiners whose demands, if successful, will simply add a further burden of cost to household cable bills.

It is interesting that these competing interests are each appealing to public opinion in an effort to influence the CRTC's decision.

It would seem that, should the "local TV" interests prevail and the CRTC determines that the cable industry must begin to pay them for their content, then the public-whose support is clearly seen to be all important-should get something out of this too. A bonus, if you like.

Other rural and Northern Canadian markets are very likely similar to Northeastern Ontario where our television news service has been much diminished over the past 15 years.

Not too long ago, for example, the MCTV network had broadcast centres in each of Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Timmins, and local news, sports and weather was, indeed, local to each market.

While the suppertime news has been expanded from a half-hour to an hour slot every day, the broadcast originates from Sudbury and viewers are shown news and sports from every centre in Northeastern Ontario, compiled by the reporters MCTV employs in each of Sudbury, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay.

This change, when it was made, was done as a cost-cutting measure. The network was clear on that point and mitigated the closure of the other three broadcast centres by adding an extra half-hour to each day's suppertime news slot.

The fact is, though, it's not quite the same thing for each centre as was the case when there were four distinct broadcast centres and each separate market got a solid half-hour of its own news, sports and weather every day.

And this was the most recent rationalization of the Northeastern Ontario television broadcasting industry. For many years, there were two distinct broadcasters in the North, one a CBC affiliate and the other a CTV affiliate.

The CTV affiliate group bought out the CBC affiliates and, for a while, there remained two different broadcasters (using the same news) operated by a common owner.

The then-locally owned cable company eventually obtained control of the Northeastern Ontario television broadcasters and, following that change, there was just the CTV affiliate available to viewers as the "local" station.

The cable company is no longer the owner and the broadcaster also has different ownership, but there have been a multitude of changes in a fairly short time period.

If the broadcasters get their way and the cable industry is required to pay them for "local" content, at the very least there should be some conditions placed on how this newfound revenue must be spent on product improvement.

For example, the local CTV broadcaster could spend its new income on re-staffing and rebuilding its broadcast centres in each Northeastern Ontario hub, thus giving viewers back something that was taken away from them a decade or so ago and, of course, this may go some distance to making them feel a little more positively about the higher cable fees they'll have to pay if the broadcast industry has its way.

At some time in the earliest days of the radio broadcast industry in this country, our federal government made the wise determination that the air in which broadcasts must be transmitted belongs to the Canadian people, in the same way that land designated as Crown land is commonly held.

As a consequence, the broadcast industries in Canada are regulated and the CRTC can, to a significant degree, dictate operations and procedures to this industry.

Television news is important. There is no question that it has been allowed to be watered down, at least in Northeastern Ontario, and doubtless in other similarly sparsely populated regions as well.

This is an opportunity for the North's major markets to regain their own broadcast centres, for the local TV products to be improved, and for viewers in each of Northeastern Ontario's centres to have, once again, a way of taking distinct pride in the communities in which they live.

Letters to the Editor
 

Hockey player leaves legacy for Islanders

Equipment donated after untimely death

To the Expositor:

I met John Case in late 2006, when we lived in Tweed, Ontario, 30 minutes north of Belleville. John and his wife Marilyn just moved to this area and I was able to help get him contacted with some hockey ice times.

Every hockey player knows how important it is to have goalies for your scrimmages. John was a goalie who loved playing, sometimes six and seven times a week, being retired.

Sadly though, in the spring of 2009, John's battle with cancer ended. At the age of 61 he travelled to the Island with a Kingston team to play in the 2008 B.J. Corbiere Memorial Hockey Tournament in M'Chigeeng. He ended up winning MVP for the 45-and-up division.

The Island and the people must have impressed John greatly. His wife Marilyn informed me that John wanted his equipment to be given to someone on the Island, and that they decided to have his equipment sent here the day before he knew he was to die. I have donated his equipment to the M'Chigeeng arena for recreation hockey.

John G. Corbiere

M'Chigeeng

Harmonized sales tax is unjust and inhumane

McGuinty should resign before province goes bankrupt

To the Expositor:

I was reading the article in the Expositor in which Pat Madahbee was quoted ("UOI's Pat Madahbee predicts nasty fight if HST imposed on First Nations," December 2) and decided to speak on this issue myself.

Harmonizing the PST and GST is not going to help anybody except the government, which is going to benefit from this bill. The McGuinty government did say the children will benefit from this when he first brought it up, but he is just lying. The only thing I can see is that a lot of kids will go hungry-now that's abusing his power. He is coming with this excuse to do this, which will just gouge more money off taxpayers.

I think it's about time for McGuinty to resign as premier for this province before he bankrupts everybody in Ontario. As Aboriginals, we have more rights here than the government, because we were here first. I did not want to say this, but I have to now, and racism has nothing to do with it either. I'm just bringing up the true facts. I do get along with the non-Natives myself, but the government is slowly taking away our constitutional rights as Aboriginals, and I do know the Constitution-the treaty rights that were signed back in 1700, the promises the government made-and now he is in violation of those rights.

The government is always bragging about the law, but now he is breaking his own laws. It's unjust and inhumane what he is doing to the people in this province.

Ron Osawabine

Wikwemikong

Islanders need HST explanation from MPP Brown

Money continues to be squandered by province

To the Expositor:

The incredibly unfair and most misunderstood money grab by our current government comes in the form of the harmonized sales tax (HST). I have been uncharacteristically nice by asking our member of parliament to use up a little of the free space he gets in the media to explain how it will benefit us. He has failed to do so and accomplishes only one thing by doing this. He displays his complete disregard and lack of accountability to his constituents. It also brings to mind a quote from Mr. Albert Einstein: "What is the difference between intelligence and stupidity?" Answer: "There is a limit to the height of intelligence one can rise to!"

The only reason taxes are raised is because the government needs more money to squander. On the topic of education, it certainly did not go completely to our kids. From what I see in health care, it did not go there either. I did see huge payoffs of Crown corporation managers who left their office in disgrace, non-accountability in the billions of dollars in gun legislation, Hydro affairs, and the loss of one billion in e-health. Warning from the auditor general went unheeded, and so on. Premier Dalton McGuinty bears a strikingly similar appearance to Julius Caesar and a famous observation attributed to him: "Rome (Ontario) burned while he played the fiddle."

In the absence of our MPP explaining the HST you will be paying on heating, lighting, some clothes, real estate, and yes, funerals please call him. Ask for an accounting. Your future, your family's station in life will depend on it.

Larry Killens

South Baymouth