Unseasonal high winds cause havoc to Island power grid

Some areas lose power for 36 hours

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-'Twas the season to shovel roofs, bail basements, burn candles, and file a few insurance claims.

Christmas came with another wallop of white stuff to cap the snowiest December on record for many areas, including nearby Sudbury, only to be promptly followed by a sudden thaw and drenching that turned back roads into freshly slicked skating rinks and basements into swimming pools.

If that wasn't trying enough, the weather gods then decided to throw a bit of wind-gusting up to 110 kilometres per hour in some parts of Ontario-into the mix on December 28. The result being dozens of downed hydro lines and power outages impacting over 200,000 customers in the province, including 1,600 on Manitoulin.

Residents in Mindemoya and environs went without electricity for nearly two days, causing a run on lamp oil, batteries and power adapters at Williamson and Sons Hardware, which stayed open on the Monday by running off a generator.

Proprietor Barry Williamson noted that many homes in Central Manitoulin were still flooded, and the outage caused some grief for those who were still trying to get water out of their basements, although many were able to operate pumps by using devices that convert a car battery's voltage from DC to AC.

Wilson's Corner Store, located at the flood-prone main intersection in Mindemoya, was "without power for 36 hours," said owner Ben Wilson. "We had water under the store again, and lost two motors-in a cooler and a pump-because of jolts."

The storekeeper wasn't too upset, though. "The hydro guys did the best they could," he reasoned. "That's life."

Rick Niven of the Spring Bay General Store was equally unfazed. "We were able to stay open because we have a generator," he said. "But it was interesting to see how dark it was around here at night, and kind of surprising how many people weren't prepared for it."

Most Islanders had their power restored by late Monday night, but those on surrounding islands were not so lucky. Zoe McDougall, who lives on Vim Island in McGregor Bay, didn't see the light blinking on her microwave until New Year's Eve.

"We were without power from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday at about 1 pm," she said. "It was a long four days."

The same wind that wreaked havoc on hydro lines was simultaneously ripping shingles off roofs and snapping trees in people's yards. White's Point resident Bill Caesar said he'd never encountered winds so ferocious during his many years of living on the point, and that includes the famous microburst of July 2006.

The first blast of wind came on December 28, but after a brief lull there was another gale of near-equal ferocity on December 30. Hourly data from Environment Canada shows wind in the Sudbury area on those two dates reached speeds of 56 and 43 kilometres per hour, respectively.

"There were two absolutely incredible storms," said Mr. Caesar. "A 14-foot aluminum boat went whooping down the point and I had to rescue it from out by the Strawberry lighthouse."

The Holtzes of Cambridge, who just acquired a home in Little Current, had a nastier surprise when a big pine crashed through the roof of their new abode at the corner of Red Mill Road and Campbell Street. "It snapped in half and a 20-foot section came down through the roof into the master bedroom," said Michelle Holtze.

The family had only owned the building for three weeks, but were "glad to be up there," said Ms. Holtze from her Cambridge abode, as "we were able to prevent a lot of water damage by getting buckets under the hole right away."

While no-one was hurt and damage was relatively minor-no windows, for instance, were broken-Ms. Holtze admitted it was an unusual "housewarming" event. "We're hoping it's not an omen," she said with a laugh.

Another structure near Little Current was completely trashed in the high winds. The old Morphet barn on the Morphet Side Road, now owned by Ray and Patty Beaudry, came down in a heap in Sunday's gale.

Lois Morphet said that her brother-in-law Alan Morphet had built an addition on the barn about 60 years ago, but the original structure was probably well over 100 years old, as "both Alan and my husband (Edwin) were born up there and their father had it before them."

Kyla Jansen of Honora Bay lost a couple of outbuildings in the wind-a hay shed and a 12'-by-20' horse shelter-and a week later was still sporting a "green goose egg on my head because of it," she said, as a piece of framing struck her in the noggin as she was trying to keep one of the buildings from blowing away.

While many types of damage, including roofs that collapse from an accumulation of snow and ice, are generally covered by insurance, Ms. Jansen noted that smaller outbuildings typically aren't insured, so she'll incur the cost of rebuilding these.

The Insurance Bureau of Canada, in a release issued over the holiday, warned that "damage caused by overland flooding is not covered by home insurance policies," and encouraged home owners to take appropriate steps to prevent a flood of melt water seeping into their buildings.

As January began, the wind subsided, the temperature plunged, and another round of snow began to fall, although it will take a while yet before the banks begin to climb back to the same height they'd reached in mid-December.

Many people are just now getting reacquainted with the composting bins, barbecues, and dog houses that had disappeared under the earlier welter of white stuff.

While statistics for Manitoulin aren't readily available, Environment Canada has declared a record December snowfall for many equivalent areas, including Sudbury, Elliot Lake, North Bay and Muskoka.

Sudbury received 114 centimetres of snow in December, its biggest yuletide accumulation since 1985, while Elliot Lake broke a record set in 1996 with a new December dump of 149.4 centimetres. North Bay got walloped with 153 centimetres, while Muskoka, in the snow belt, was buried under 211 centimetres of snow.

Sudbury also set a new record for December precipitation, receiving 152.5 millimetres of rain last month-almost a third more than the old high of 111.7 millimetres, marked in 1996.

Along with the rain came near-record high temperatures in December for many parts of the province. But there have also been many sub-zero nights, and days too, as is obvious from the rate of freeze-up on Manitoulin water bodies.

Lake Manitou froze solid well before Christmas, a couple of weeks ahead of its typical schedule (of recent years, anyway), and the Strawberry Channel near Little Current was firm enough last week to support snowmobiles, not to mention an ice boat that was built by White's Point adventurer Dave Organ.

Sledding enthusiasts anticipated an ice route to Killarney could be safe to travel in a week or so, although none of the local Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club trails-either on land, or water-had been officially declared open as of press time.

Given the thaw of late December, and the pools of water still in the bush, a solid freeze-up and more snow are required before the trails will get the green light, according to the Rainbow Country Snowmobile Association website.

Livestock co-operative has accepted offers on its grocery, fuel divisions

Interest has also been expressed in Little Current cattle sales barn

by Jim Moodie

MANITOULIN-A year since the Manitoulin Livestock Co-operative gained the endorsement of members to sell off any or all of its assets, each of the businesses operated by the long-running agricultural enterprise now appears to have a taker.

"We have letters of intent signed for all our properties and stores," said John McNaughton, chair of the co-op board. "Things are looking very good, and it's a relief to us that we have interest in all our parcels."

Mr. McNaughton was not in a position to name the buyers, as "we're still waiting for final approval." But he did confirm that a single party is poised to purchase the two Valu-Mart stores in Gore Bay and Little Current. "A letter of intent has been signed for both stores, and we just need to finalize the legal paperwork to the satisfaction of both parties," he said.

As for the hardware store that formerly functioned in tandem with Gore Bay's Valu-Mart, Mr. McNaughton indicated that a separate buyer is interested in that business. And the bulk fuel business in Gore Bay is coveted by yet another entity.

The cattle sale barn in Little Current, which has lain dormant since the annual fall auction failed to occur in 2007, also has a likely buyer. "It's not quite finalized yet, but there is a party on that one, too," said Mr. McNaughton. "There's solid interest in all our properties, and we hope to have the transactions done soon."

While a year has elapsed since the co-op began entertaining offers on its assets, Mr. McNaughton said the process could have stretched on longer. "We were worried it might take a considerable length of time to sell everything, because we might not get solid offers for all of our properties," he said. "We're very pleased with the offerings we've received to date and feel we'll be getting our dollar value out of it."

The hardware store in Manitowaning was the first co-op asset to switch hands, with Reuben Allen of Allen's Automotive acquiring the business in late June of last year. Once the remaining businesses are sold off, the co-op will effectively cease to exist, although Mr. McNaughton indicated that the organization will need to maintain some form of administrative structure until such time as lingering financial details are tidied up and its books are firmly closed.

Revenue from the sale of the businesses will be put towards the co-op's debt with lending institutions as well as obligations to individual members. "Secured creditors will get taken care of first," said the board chair. "Then residuals will get paid off to members."

He explained that members initially chipped in $100 each to join the co-op, but larger amounts were invested too over the years. "In the past we paid interest, but the principal is outstanding," he said. "Ours was an older-style member loan co-op, so it's like buying back shares."

Until the deals are completed, Mr. McNaughton said he couldn't put a firm figure on the amount that will be available to members. "They will get some money back on their principal; we just don't know how much yet."

In recent years the co-op had been hobbled by an outstanding bill for a pension shortfall, owing to the 2003 collapse of a plan serving superannuated co-operative workers from across Ontario.

"Because of the pension issue at the time, we couldn't raise capital for new member loans," said Mr. McNaughton. "Financial institutions made it difficult for us to have working capital."

Speaking last January, following the co-op's 2008 annual general meeting, director Hugh Moggy noted that "there are 1,600 people who are members, and probably close to 800 have larger amounts of money invested." That money, he indicated, was due to be paid back, "and we don't have the money to pay them."

Members learned last year that the co-op had incurred a loss of $63,000 in 2006, and owed its investors nearly $1.4 million.

All of this informed the difficult decision to sell off "pieces or all of the co-op," said Mr. McNaughton.

The organization had its humble beginnings in 1944, when it was formed to host the first cattle sale on the Island, and grew over the years to boast a variety of outlets selling feed, fuel, groceries, hardware and clothing. By the time the decision was made to part with these businesses, the co-op employed over 60 workers.

It is expected that many of these positions will survive the transition to new ownership when the businesses change hands.

Road hockey tourney debuts in Wiky on Saturday

First Nation vying for Hockeyville nod

WIKWEMIKONG-Teams from as far away as Sagamok and Sudbury will be travelling to the Island this coming weekend for the January 10 Road Hockey Tournament in Wikwemikong. Teams will be testing their skills among other teams from the island for supremacy and bragging rights, but most of all prize money.

One of the major reasons for putting on this tournament this Saturday is to prepare Wikwemikong for the 2009 Kraft Hockeyville Contest. By demonstrating keen hockey spirit and dedication to the sport by hosting the event, Wikwemikong could, if selected the Hockeyville winner, get up to $100,000 in arena upgrades and be able to stage an NHL game right here on Manitoulin. W TV5 will be covering the action this weekend, doing interviews with every player so that they can share their stories about why Wikwemikong should be the host for 2009 Hockeyville for Canada.

"Right now we have five teams confirmed for the weekend, but we expect more teams," said Shane Cooper, from the Wikwemikong Tourism Information Centre. "We will have two divisions: Division A, which will be 15 and under, and Division B, which will be 16 and over."

The cost to join the tournament is $10/team. Only five players are needed for a team. "Division A will be playing on the Pontiac school grounds, while Division B will be played on the parking lot at the Wikwemikong arena," said Mr. Cooper. Games begin at 10 am." Trophies will be handed out at the end of the day to the winners.

Posters for this event have been distributed throughout Manitoulin and area, and Mr. Cooper has spent time going around to the local schools to promote the hockey tournament. Community members, their noisemakers and family and friends of players are welcome to attend the weekend event.

"We want to make this an annual event, so we want people to come out and support the tournament," said Mr. Cooper. Vendors are encouraged to sell hot chocolate or other food and beverages at the tournament.

Don't miss out. The only required equipment is a stick, but gloves are strongly encouraged too. For information, please call Shane Cooper at: (705) 859-3477.

Home-built ice boat skims

off White's Pt. by Bill Caesar

WHITE'S POINT-Every true Islander knows that the best way to survive the Canadian winter is to make it as much fun as possible. To this end, Dave Organ of White's Point outside Little Current has erected a 16-foot masterpiece of fun in his garage.

For years, Mr. Organ had been a "liquid sailor," and often thought how neat it might be to carry on sailing through the winter months. The Strawberry Channel outside his front door often freezes solid with ice stretching miles down to Manitowaning, so the temptation to build an ice boat was very strong.

Finally, when he turned 73 last year, Mr. Organ knew the time had come. Scavenging bits and pieces from old boats and the lumber yard, he was able to assemble a truly remarkable machine based on the designs of a Canadian from northern Manitoba.

After a few weeks, he was ready to try out this invention, equipped with mast and sail, a pair of comfy seats, and three horizontal arms shod with skis. On New Year's Day, "Dave's Folly" was launched and sailed off to the south towards Sheguiandah, while a cold but enthusiastic crowd of neighbours cheered on the septuagenarian ice sailor.

Although the wind was light and there were some patches of snow, the boat was clocked at almost 32 kilometres per hour on its first outing. Fortunately there's lots of winter left, so there could be lots of opportunity to see if it gets up to its rated speed of 80 kph.

EDITORIAL

Idea of coalition induces queasiness in Canadian public

Michael Ignatieff has now been the interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada for nearly a month and, given the fact that the Christmas-New Year's national news cycle is always on the quiet side, Mr. Ignatieff has been enjoying his share of positive press.

For most Canadians, Mr. Ignatieff has, until now, enjoyed a low profile: he came into parliament as an opposition member, sought the Liberals' national leadership in 2006 and then was awarded it last month when the idea of a coalition government involving the Liberals and the New Democratic Party, with the Bloc Quebecois' support, seemed a possibility. The problem was that Canadians-many of whom shared some level of discomfort with the coalition plan-really balked at the idea of a coalition government led by then-Liberal leader StŽphane Dion.

That led quickly to the Liberals convincing Mr. Dion to quickly step aside and Mr. Ignatieff, a declared candidate for what was to have been a spring leadership convention, had his way paved by the dropping out of the two other declared contenders: Bob Rae and Dominic Leblanc.

Mr. Ignatieff will still have to face a ratification process this spring, and one or more other candidates may decide by then to also seek the job.

The chances are that the coalition group will not opt to defeat the Conservative minority government following the January 26 budget speech.

There is little doubt that the New Democratic Party and Bloc Quebecois MPs will vote against the budget, but Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberals will find a reason to not defeat the budget-providing the Conservatives present a useful budget document that addresses current economic woes and does so on a national scope-and so Mr. Harper and his Conservatives will, in all likelihood, be spared the defeat with which they'd been threatened just a month ago by the notice of a coalition.

The fact that the national news scene has seen so little mention of the coalition idea during the Christmas break must be seen as a sign that Mr. Ignatieff is not particularly promoting the idea.

It is an irony, though, that it is by means of the threat of a coalition-and the accompanying realization that the country would not stand for StŽphane Dion becoming prime minister as coalition leader-that Mr. Ignatieff achieved this leg up to Liberal leader, even on an interim basis, in the first place.

It's clear that the coalition plan was a six-day wonder. It gave Mr. Harper a rightfully deserved scare, gave the national news pundits something entirely different on which to opine and gave us all a lesson in how our parliamentary system operates.

But, ultimately, there was a queasiness felt in the land on this issue that gave Mr. Ignatieff his new job and it's difficult to believe that he will choose to challenge the Canadian people just when those same Canadians are starting to get to know him.

Letters to Editors

Notion that we can spend our way into prosperity utterly foolish

Tories were managing economy just fine prior to coalition threat

To the Expositor:

Reductions in income taxes, reductions in corporate taxes and reductions in interest rates spur economic growth because they provide incentives to produce and invest. Big government spending packages, however, almost never work. None of the massive spending programs tried in the 1930s, 1960s or 1970s actually worked to stimulate economic growth.

FDR's New Deal is credited with ending the Great Depression, but the US unemployment rate was 17.2 percent when that program began and was still 17.2 percent eight years later. George Will quotes Henry Morgenthau, FDR's treasury secretary, as lamenting, "I say after eight years of this administration we have just as much unemployment as when we started." Will goes on, "Unemployment declined when America began selling materials to nations engaged in a war America would soon join." My recent letter to our member of parliament, Carol Hughes, was apparently misunderstood. I was not advocating a huge spending program. I only suggested that Mr. Flaherty ought to have said more about the government's further plans for dealing with the economic downturn.

The miscalculation that provided the opposition parties the impetus to unite and form a coalition was the withdrawal of public funding to political parties. The consequence is that in order to stay in power after parliament resumes, the Harper government is forced to implement a massive spending program and incur a correspondingly massive deficit that will hang as an albatross around our neck for years to come. Until the miscalculation, the Harper government was managing our economy quite splendidly. Our Canadian economy is the envy of every other industrialized country in the world.

This did not come about by accident. As Mr. Flaherty explained, the Harper government had, since taking power, provided a massive stimulus of nearly $200 billion by way of personal and corporate tax reductions. Contrary to perceptions, that stimulus is working extremely well.

A recent Financial Post article quotes RBC as saying Canada's economy grew 0.6 percent during 2008, that the economy will recover in the second half of 2009, and that Canada will post zero growth for the full year. Craig Wright, RBC's chief economist, said: "We expect the slowdown in Canada not to be as severe as in other countries...we expect to see a moderate, though sustained, recovery in the second half of 2009."

If RBC is even close to being right, our recession in Canada should be called "Recession Lite." It will be a recession of the type the United States and other countries can only dream of having.

Our standard of living is dependent upon exports of goods and services to other countries, mainly the United States. When they have a recession, they have less money to buy our goods and services and our economy suffers. We cannot escape this economic reality no matter how much money is fire-hosed at the problem.

If only the Harper government had been given a majority, it could have continued its sound financial management, thus continuing to mitigate to the greatest degree the effects of the recession. Instead it finds itself in the position of having to succumb to the utterly foolish notion that we can spend our way to prosperity. We can't. Nobody can.

Jack McMillan

Espanola

MNR should welcome more public input in resources management

High-handed, dictatorial style is alienating many volunteer groups

To the Expositor:

It seems that there may be a groundswell building in Northern Ontario and the target of the uprising is the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). More specifically how the MNR manages our natural resources. That's right-"our" resources. They belong to the citizens of Ontario and more specifically to the citizens of Northern Ontario. As such the management of these resources should incorporate true community involvement in the entire management process.

I have written recently about examples of the MNR's contempt for public input and involvement in the management of our natural resources. I just received a letter from the MNR Fisheries Branch that further proves the point. The letter was a response to the letter sent on behalf of the directors of the Temagami Stewardship Council that voiced concerns about the brook trout regulation for Zone 11 that took effect in January 2008. The MNR response was typical: the brook trout tool kit introduced to gather public opinion was totally disregarded in Zone 11 and the MNR did it their way. (Both letters are available on the TSC webpage at www.temagamistewardship.ca.)

It is beginning to appear that the Temagami Stewardship Council may not be the only group in Northern Ontario that is prepared to stand up to the MNR and call for a change in their high-handed, dictatorial management style. In Temagami, the Local Citizens Committee (LCC) voted down the proposed Forest Management Plan (FMP) and now several member organizations are taking the MNR decision to proceed to arbitration.

A group in Sault Ste Marie called the Ontario Recreational Alliance (ORA) has formed with the support of the United Steelworkers. They are fighting to ensure equal access to Crown land and lakes for all Canadians. Read some interesting articles on their website at crownland.org/blog.

The Algoma Wilderness Riders of the Sault St. Marie area are holding spaghetti suppers to fund legal action in their fight to provide equal public access to Crown land. Their web page can be found at www.algomawildernessriders.com.

Recently Northeastern Ontario has lost two valuable volunteer organizations without a fight. The West Nipissing Natural Resources Access Group existed for 20 years, conducting bush road and trail maintenance. They were involved in repairing and building boat-launches in River Valley, Crystal Falls, Sturgeon Falls, Cross and Temagami Lakes. Volunteers would do the work and the MNR would supply the heavy machinery, which included repairs on washouts and culverts. Now the MNR refuses to participate and are closing roads instead of maintaining them.

The Lake Nipissing Stewardship Council was the other. A headline in the Nugget stated that the LNSC had "Stepped out of the boat onto the shore." The LNSC had been perhaps the premier example of co-operative management of natural resources in Northern Ontario. However, no one seemed concerned that the LNSC turned its back on a long list of studies, activities and projects designed to enhance the single most important economic resource in North Bay, Lake Nipissing. The MNR exerted control, directors resigned, and the organization got a new name. Years of studies and work designed to benefit the lake ended.

It is time to expect more from the MNR in Northern Ontario. Meaningful consultation and the meaningful involvement of the local public in the entire management process would be a start. If you value our natural resources it is time to demand better from the Government of Ontario.

Gaye Smith

former chair of the Temagami Stewardship Council

Paisley

Misdirected government spending is ignoring those most in need

PM_should fix up the country's mess, not his own residence

To the Expositor:

You have to hand it to our politicians for finding the most incredibly stupid, uncaring and thoughtless things to do at the wrong time. Prime Minister Harper has maintained that super low standard and indeed advanced the depths to which stupidity can go. Wait, though: you can bet Mr. McGuinty, who sometimes rises to the occasion and takes the spotlight of screwing up to a higher level, is burning the midnight oil just to screw up even worse.

I ask you to recall that the following services were removed to some degree from coverage of OHIP: vision, chiropractic, hearing, and home care. Meanwhile Ontario recently announced we are now paying for sex-change operations.

I ask you to recall the government lost $250 million-plus in the sponsorship scandal in Ottawa. It's yet to be discovered where these funds went, let alone have them returned to the taxpayer purse.

I ask you to recall the ethics commissioner was cited for having his fingers in the cookie jar, and all the while the politicians, digging into a different cookie jar, gave themselves a healthy raise.

The gun legislation has cost Canadian taxpayers millions of dollars over and above its budgeted costing.

The list goes on and on and we forgiving taxpayers allow it. Yes, sadly, we are the authors of our own misfortune.

Finally, to draw attention just how unfeeling and crass our politicians can be: three-month-old Malayah Flett in Vancouver, British Columbia lies in a hospital bed with a hole in her heart that will take her life within one month if intervention is not completed soon. CTV news reported there are not enough critical-care beds in the hospital to accommodate the infant, or "no room at the inn." Also involved is a cost factor to the parents.

We hear this week an announcement by National Capital Commission of $9.7 million of repairs to be completed to the prime minister's residence as it is falling down around his ears.

Let's see if this taxpayer can be as uncaring as a politician. Too bad, PM! Clean up our system first that you promised to serve. The PMO reply was they wanted to wait until after the pending election-not let's wait until the financial crisis we are in is over. No need to add to the plight of closing industries, loss of citizens homes, unemployment and so on.

Lastly, I am finding it very difficult in understanding the idea of bailing out banks and the auto industry while our people most in need are hurting so badly. Isn't it profound that the World Health Organization has discovered the fact that the cause of stress is reality.

Kind of tough to close this off with wishing everyone a happy holiday, but think! You could be living in the same electoral riding of those people who are part of this. People who help the person in power and who support the parties responsible for spending the taxpayer's dollar in such wasteful ways. You do have a gift if you escaped that!

Larry Killens

South Baymouth