Island municipalities to get gas tax rebates

by Lindsay Kelly

MANITOULIN-An announcement by the provincial government that the Ontario federal Gas Tax Fund extension agreement has been signed is good news for Manitoulin municipalities.

The extension of the Gas Tax Fund-a program that supports environmentally sustainable municipal infrastructure that contributes to cleaner air, cleaner water and reduced GHG emissions-was announced during Budget 2007. The ratification of the agreement means an additional $746 million per year will go to Ontario communities over four years.

"This extension ensures that federal gas tax funding contributes to hundreds of infrastructure investments each year, right across Ontario," said Peter Hume, president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), in a press release. "All three orders of government-federal provincial and municipal-are working together to create employment opportunities and to strengthen our communities economically and environmentally."

AMO has released preliminary numbers to indicate what municipalities can expect to receive annually between 2010 and 2014, to enable municipalities to prepare their 2009 budgets, although these numbers are subject to change before finalized.

In each of the four years, Gore Bay can expect to receive $56,844.48, the Town Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands will receive $166,780.72 and Assiginack should received $56,229.28.

Barrie Island is set to receive $2,891.44, while Billings Township should expect $33,159.28 and Burpee and Mills Township should receive $20,240.08.

Cockburn Island has been allotted $615.20, Gordon Township can expect to receive $25,346.24, Tehkummah is set to receive $23,500.64 and Central Manitoulin will receive $119,594.88.

AMO notes that the per capita funding allocation remains in place, but the population data used to negotiate the allocation has been updated to the 2006 census.

It is expected that a framework for permanent funding will be negotiated in 2010.

GAS TAX REBATE BY MUNICIPALITY

Assiginack               $56,229.28

Barrie Island            $2,891.44

Billings                    $33,159.28

Burpee and Mills      $20,240.08

Central Manitoulin    $119,594.88

Cockburn Island       $615.20

Gordon Township     $25,346.24

Gore Bay                 $56,844.48

Northeast Town                  $166,780.72

Tehkummah            $23,500.64

Wiky's Cecil King chosen for

Aboriginal Achievement Award

by Jim Moodie

SASKATOON-Again this year Manitoulin will be proudly represented when a select group of First Nations standouts are acknowledged by their own people for career accomplishments and contributions to Aboriginal culture.

Cecil King, a veteran Wiky educator currently serving as resident Elder and Ojibwe language teacher at the Saskatoon campus of the First Nations University of Canada, is among 14 notables selected to receive a prestigious National Aboriginal Achievement Award, which will be handed out during a ceremony in Winnipeg on March 6.

Last year, when the gala was held in Toronto, the Island counted three Aboriginal achievers: filmmaker Shirley Cheechoo, lawyer David Nahwegahbow, and hockey icon Reggie Leach.

"I've been given a number of awards out here in Saskatchewan," noted Mr. King from his Saskatoon home. "But I'm kind of proud of this one."

As well he should be. As the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF) points out in a press release, the award is considered "the highest honour the (Native) community bestows upon its own achievers."

The organization describes Mr. King as tireless champion of culturally appropriate education. He "has fought hard to see his belief that First Nations children need not sacrifice their culture and teachings in school come to fruition," the foundation notes.

Other recipients this year range from a hereditary chief who is a fierce advocate of Mi'kmaq culture (Stephen J. Augustine) and a doctor of veterinary medicine in northern Manitoba (Candace Grier-Lowe), to a Top-40-under-40 entrepreneur (Allan C. McLeod) and a member of the Canadian Olympic Swim team (Adam Sioui). Awards are given out in a variety of categories, including Arts, Sports, Politics, Health, Law and Justice, and Technology and Trades.

Mr. King, unsurprisingly, received the nod in the Education category. It's a field he's been involved with all his life, beginning with his own schooling at Wiky's now-defunct Buzwah School and the equally obsolete Garnier School for boys in Spanish.

Shortly after graduating from the North Shore residential school-which Mr. King describes as a more positive learning experience than do some pupils-"I was among a group nabbed, so to speak, by the Department of Education, and shipped to Toronto to be trained to be instant teachers," he recounted.

He would later gain a teaching certificate from the Normal School in North Bay, bachelor's and master's degrees in education through the University of Saskatchewan, and a Ph.D. through the University of Calgary. His master's thesis explored "animistic thinking as portrayed through the Ojibwe language," he said, while his doctoral research focussed on "Indian control of Indian education-local control of curriculum development in Aboriginal schools."

Through such academic positions, and his later role as a professor with Saskatchewan's First Nations University-an institution with which he's been involved since its earliest days, as the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, in the 1970s-Mr. King has been a pioneer of the shift towards a First Nations-specific form of education.

"I've been through the whole process of it to what you see today," he said. "There's been a tremendous change in the whole field of education. Before, the non-Indian systems felt that unless we stopped being Indians, we'd never become as educated as non-Indians. That thinking is now gone."

While he hasn't lived in Wikwemikong for many decades-almost half a century, in fact-Mr. King has regularly returned to his Island home. He was pleased, and proud, to see the ribbon cut on Wasse-Abin High School-he was, naturally, invited to the opening-and has been a keynote speaker for education conferences hosted by his home reserve.

He suspects he'll eventually retire back to Wiky, but who knows when that might occur? "I've retired three times now in my life," he said with a chuckle. Each time he gets sucked back into fulfilling some sort of role within the realm of education and academe.

In the 1990s, he served as professor emeritus at Queen's University in Kingston, developing a teacher-training program for Northern Ontario; at present, he's still teaching at the Saskatoon campus, versing students in his language, which is described on the prairies as Saulteux, but is basically the same tongue as Ojibwe.

Mr. King has been fluent in this first language for a very long time, although "I didn't begin my life being fluent," he noted. "It was something I picked up at elementary school in Buzwah, because all my peers were speaking it outside of the classroom."

At the Garnier school in Spanish, "we were generally not allowed to speak our language," he added. "Some cultural dislocation was definitely there, but it wasn't that big a deal-if you wanted to speak Ojibwe, you just did it in the basement."

Still, when he arrived as a young man at the University of Calgary to work on his Ph.D., his plan to focus on spoken (and written) Ojibwe for his thesis proved unworkable, "because there were no people fluent in the Ojibwe language," he noted.

These days, of course, every First Nation school across the country includes at least some form of instruction in the language of its respective peoples, be they Cree, Iroquois, Ojibwe or members of another linguistic group, and Mr. King can take some credit for that.

He's also proud to see many of his people now pursuing post-secondary education-a relative rarity at the time when Mr. King was doing this himself-and emerging as professionals in a variety of fields. "There are lawyers, doctors, and teachers-an army of teachers-which I've seen, and I like to think I've had some influence there," he said.

With the Aboriginal Achievement Awards shindig slated for Winnipeg this year, Mr. King will have a relatively short commute from his Saskatoon home (certainly shorter, at any rate, than the ones faced by co-recipients who hail from New Brunswick and Nunavut), as will a couple of his children who plan to attend.

Daughter Alanis, of Debajehmujig (and other) fame, "is here in Saskatoon, working as artistic director of the Native Theatre School," he noted, while another daughter, Analeah, is in an adjacent prairie province, serving as co-director of the language program at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Two other children remain in Ontario-a third daughter is working for the Tyendinaga First Nation near Belleville, and a son is in Wiky-but they plan to fly west for the ceremony as well.

Convenient as it is to have his family either living nearby or travelling to be with him in his Western haunt, Mr. King figures he'll eventually be heading back east to Wiky, where he was instrumental in reviving this community's powwow in the 1960s, and has maintained many personal and professional connections over the years since.

"When I came out here, almost 50 years ago, it was always with the intent of getting a higher education and returning back home," he said. "I'm still here, so maybe I'm just a slow learner."

Or a remarkably committed, award-worthy teacher.

Isles' board chair seeks donation from N.E. Town

by Lindsay Kelly

LITTLE CURRENT-A bid by Islanders board president Jim Stringer to secure funding from the town for the flailing junior A team brought surprised indignation from community sports groups last Thursday night.

But members of the board insist securing town funding is not part of their overall sponsorship plan and that the board president acted on his own in soliciting funding.

Mr. Stringer, who temporarily ceded his role as Administration and Finance Committee chair to make a presentation to the group, submitted a letter to the members of council on January 6, two days before the meeting.

In the letter, Mr. Stringer makes a request for a $5,000 donation from the town for the team's upcoming year in an effort to offset the growing costs associated with operating the team.

"This is a significant amount, but relatively small compared to the direct and indirect benefits generated by the team," he writes. "As well, it is comparable to the amount which the town gave to figure skating by way of interest forgiveness last year."

Despite its fundraising and sponsorship efforts, the team will end the year "in a significant deficit position," Mr. Stringer noted, and although the team will return in 2009-2010, its future beyond next season cannot be guaranteed.

The board president cited a tight budget and volunteer burnout as the primary reasons behind the team's current status and suggested that additional funds could be invested in producing a better team.

"The solution to both of these issues is significant new sponsorships, which will allow us to develop a more competitive team," Mr. Stringer writes. "This, in turn, will increase revenues from admissions and season tickets, generate additional sponsorships from small businesses and bring out additional volunteers, all of which means that the team will not merely survive but will thrive and be a more important part of the community."

"The reality is that without fundraising, the team would not be able to operate here, and if they're gone, they won't be coming back," he said, adding that the team operates on a "shoestring budget."

"Whatever you're able to do is greatly appreciated," he added.

But following the meeting, board vice-president Ron Steeves indicated that the decision to solicit the town for funds "wasn't condoned" by the board. He declined to comment further pending a meeting of the board, but noted that members were scheduled to meet on Tuesday evening and he would have more information at that time.

Following Mr. Stringer's presentation on Thursday night, the floor was opened up for debate; however, no discussion ensued, nor was there an effort by any councillor to table a motion to accept the request.

As the meeting was adjourned, former councillor Tony Ferro suggested Mr. Stringer was underhanded in his treatment of the issue. "If you're going to discuss this again, I would ask that you let us know so that we can be there," he said.

He argued that two days' notice is not sufficient time for community sports groups to plan to be at the meeting in order to hear council's consideration of the request, suggesting that by introducing it at the last minute, "you're trying to slide it in there. It's kind of sneaky."

Mr. Stringer indicated he would speak with concerned residents following the meeting.

Man dies following tragic fall at workplace

Labour ministry is investigating

MANITOWANING-Wade McMurray, an employee of FreshMart in Manitowaning, died tragically from injuries sustained in a fall from a ladder last week.

He was rushed to Sudbury in a helicopter on January 6, and underwent surgery to relieve pressure in his head. Two days later Mr. McMurray was pronounced dead at 5:30 pm from his injuries.

The incident occurred when Mr. McMurray was using a ladder to remove Christmas lights from the store. It was estimated that he fell only eight feet but it was how he landed that caused the head trauma.

"We're devastated about it," said Richard McLeod, owner of the Manitowaning FreshMart. "In my more than 25 years experience running supermarkets, never has anything like this happened before. It's a terrible tragedy. Our thoughts are with his family for their loss."

Described as energetic and talkative by his friends and associates, Mr. McMurray was a father of four, leaving behind a newborn baby daughter.

Sandra Pennie, manager of the medical clinic in town, was saddened to hear of the incident. "It's a terrible tragedy," said Ms. Pennie. "He was a very nice man, talkative and very active. My heart goes out to Wade's partner, who is my friend. It's such a tremendous loss."

Residents of Manitowaning are in shock. Brad Ham, deputy reeve of Assiginak Township, expressed sorrow for the death. "I heard about it when it happened," he said. "We're in shock here."

The incident was a freak accident, and a stark reminder of the danger inherent when climbing on ladders, whether inside or outside, especially when there is ice.

The incident is now under investigation by the Ministry of Labour, as is standard for any workplace fatality.

The funeral for Mr. McMurray is tomorrow (Thursday) from 1-4 pm at the Island Funeral Home in Little Current.

EDITORIAL

Constant vigilance required in management of group home

It is commendable that communities agree to the establishment within their boundaries of homes where young people with particular emotional needs or unsettled backgrounds can be housed while trained staff work with them towards modifying their responses.

In common parlance, they are usually referred to as "group homes," implying that a group of young people who present the community with a variety of behavioural challenges can work with trained staff, individually and as a group, to change their behaviour.

Over 30 years ago, the town of Little Current was the location of a privately operated group home when a former hotel property was converted to this use.

There was understandable concern expressed by many of the proposed facility's immediate neighbours (it was located centrally in a residential neighbourhood) and by many other citizens of the town as well. A public meeting was agreed upon by both the proposed group home's owner and the town council of the day. It was capably moderated by the late Jack Ashley, then administrator of the Manitoulin Centennial Manor, and supporting and opposing views were expressed at that well-attended forum.

Eventually, the facility received its licence to operate as a group home, staff was hired and the initial group of young people arrived in the community.

Most of the young people were keen on mending their ways, making a new start and dealing with society in a different fashion.

Others, however, appeared to be putting in time and doing everything they could to beat the system.

Residents of the group home were constantly moving in and out from other agencies but there was always a core group whose actions reflected badly on the facility. Car thefts were fairly common, for example, as were break and enters.

In fairness, that facility-which was part of the community for about four years until it closed-was very sloppily administered and a coroner's jury convened to make comment on the death by drowning in the North Channel of a boy whose medications were not being regularly administered (deemed a factor in the drowning) supported this observation about the administration. The jury recommended that the proprietor never again be issued a licence to operate a similar home anywhere in Ontario.

Over 30 years ago, when the initial debate was held and before the group home opened its doors, this newspaper supported the proposal, arguing that young people with particular emotional needs that have led them to anti-social behaviour must be dealt with and rehabilitated somewhere-so why not in a generally caring community?

Nearly 35 years on, largely in light of the turn society has taken and the levels of violence some young people are today capable of, but also remembering the impact the original experience had on the community, it would be difficult to support such a facility in a small community like Little Current. There would, unfortunately, not be a supporting editorial.

For this reason, it was disturbing to learn that a resident of a relatively new group home in a neighbouring community is alleged to have been involved in an attempted vehicle theft in Little Current. As far as we know, this is the only significant mishap in the couple of years that the facility has been in operation, but it is a serious enough event to merit comment and many would be quick to point out that one incident of this nature is too many. The alteraction left the vehicle's owner injured when he moved to interrupt the theft, and while he recovered from the attack, the results could have been far more serious.

In the case of the Little Current group home over 30 years ago, that facility was privately run on a for-profit basis.

In the case of the current example, the facility is operated by the community and the rationale for locating it where it is are the same points this newspaper put forward in support of the Little Current group home all those years ago: these are young people who need help from society in modifying their behaviour so that they can be productive citizens, and the centre of a small, caring community is the best place to take on this responsibility.

And that is the key word: responsibility. Little Current's closest neighbouring community has taken on an enormous responsibility-not only to its own citizens, but also to those who live nearby-to ensure, at the very least, that everyone can expect to be as safe in their homes now as they were before this new element was introduced into the social mix a couple of years ago.

Group homes, by their very nature, bring in young people from other areas and put them in a new setting as an important aspect of their behaviour modification, and reintroduce them to a somewhat different society. It's an opportunity for a fresh start.

The incident in the late fall with its alleged association with the group home must serve as a heads-up to those who administer the facility, to the wider community, and also to the well-meaning social workers who make choices about who goes to live where.

These are small towns. They are places where some people choose to live precisely because they feel much safer than they would living in a city.

Let's make sure no-one has any regrets about choosing one of our Island communities as a place to live, raise their children or retire because some of the less attractive aspects of urban life also appear on the landscape.

Let's do it right. Let's do it judiciously-and be as careful as possible about the nature and background of the clients who are welcomed to the facility-for the benefit of the larger community.

Letters to the Editor

People should be outraged by CAS abuses of power

Bill 93 would hold organization accountable to Ombudsman

To the Expositor:

Bill 93, allowing an Ombudsman to investigate the Children's Aid Society, is a bill putting an end the absolute power that CAS has had over the lives of families and their children-children that the society are to suppose to protect. Indeed, especially where our children, Native and non-Native, are concerned, some Children's Aid Societies have fallen from their proverbial position of grace as protectors of children to a devilish position reflected in the phrase, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." Bill 93 would see the end to this tyranny and abuse of power and authority. In the end, the public has a right to know that in some cases it is not the family or individuals who perpetrate violence and abuse against children, but it is the very agencies and organizations like the Children's Aid Society that are guilty of such abuses. The following are specific examples of this abuse of power and authority.

With his consent to reproduce this specific example, I recall a friend who witnessed this abuse firsthand. I am aware that this individual was subject to such abuse by the Children's Aid Society of the districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin. This individual (the access parent) has launched a binder full of child complaints and concerns that have gone unanswered by the society since 2004-it is now 2009. Weapons were apparently involved. The access parent's ex-spouse was dating an individual who was banned for life from possessing weapons. Yet a weapon was discharged in the home of the ex-spouse and the person who discharged the weapon was consequently arrested. The incident made the local news. The access parent had made Children's Aid Society officers aware of the weapons in the home months prior to this weapon being discharged in the home of the ex-spouse. Yet, to date, the society has not been accountable for answering the question as to why children were allowed to reside in the home where weapons were involved. This in light of the fact that such weapons were prohibited from being in the possession of the ex-spouse's boyfriend. The ex-spouse apparently knew of the boyfriend's lifetime weapons restrictions. There are other issues of abuse and violence perpetrated by the ex-spouse as well. Yet the Sudbury society chooses to turn a blind eye to such abuse and violence. The access parent firmly believes that the Sudbury society's behaviour is reflective of complacency in the protection of his child. Perhaps, in this case, the Sudbury Children's Aid Society can be viewed as co-conspirators in child abuse. It is interesting and ironic to note that those CAS officers involved in the access parent's particular case are female in gender and appear to be feminist in orientation. Yet this particular CAS agency is seemingly guilty of abuse and neglect of children.

Another example includes the Ontario Court of Justice, a First Nation child and the Children's Aid Society of the districts of Sudbury and Manitoulin. This was a child apprehension case where the "Children's Aid Society had good reason to apprehend the child but thereafter tried to circumvent its obligation and to exceed its mandate." The presiding judge describe the society's conduct: "In carrying out its statutory obligations, the society was not diligent in its investigation...." He goes on to say that, "the society effectively ignored the special provisions in the Child and Family Services Act...." In addition, "the society's conduct constituted serious neglect." This is unacceptable in the 21st century and yet this particular CAS is allowed to continue to carry out its child welfare mandate in spite of the court ruling. Such behaviours are ultimately unacceptable for any child welfare agency to engage in. Indeed people should be outraged.

Again, I would not hesitate to say that Bill 93 would hold the Children's Aid Society accountable for their actions or inaction. In a world where democracy is being promoted, sometimes forcibly, in the global community by certain nation states, it falls dismally short where families and children have to deal with corruption in a governmental child welfare agency designed to protect the "best interest" of children and their families. Certainly the provision of "Protection from personal liability" (section 15, subsection 6) of the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA) can be viewed as undemocratic and should be deleted. This particular section states that, "No action shall be instituted against an officer or an employee of a society for an act done in good faith in the execution or intended execution of the person's duty or an alleged neglect or default in the execution in good faith of the person's duty." This stands in stark contrast when superimposed with the cases mentioned above. This particular section effectively renders you and I, Mr. and Mrs. Public, from prosecuting the society for abuses that may be perpetrated by the society against our children and our person. It appears that the officers and administrators of such Child and Family Service agencies utilize this provision as a legal mechanism to cover up incompetence and the blatant feminist abuse of power and authority against families and children. Shame, shame on the society.

Patrick Corbiere

Whitefish River First Nation

Hockey is expensive but kids work hard to play

Islanders need support of townspeople

To the Expositor:

This letter is from one concerned Islander fan in response to Mr. Scott Orr's letter ("Northeast Town should be investing in recreation, not junior A squad," January 7). I agree that it is a very expensive sport and also hard for parents to pay for all types of sports, not just hockey. I also agree that a large sum of money was thrown away for a big piece of concrete. A lot more planning and research should have been done.

Mr. Orr, I played for the Onaping Huskies when I was younger and I can tell you we did not get paid to play; as of today, we all play because we love to play hockey. My parents did what they could to help with the expense for me to play, but also I had a paper route and did a lot of odd jobs just so I could play. I would like Mr. Orr to do some research on these next points: the cost of ice time, at our complex as well as other arenas on the Island. It is easy to always put the blame on someone else. There is an old saying: "If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem."

I find it hard to believe that Mr. Orr's comments involve our hockey team; these players are playing their hearts out to give us fans some type of entertainment and are getting poor support from the town's people.

So Mr. Orr, if you are really concerned about investing in recreation for our youth then get involved. I am all for this and would sit down with anyone who shares concerns to put a plan together.

An Islander fan,

Ronald Steeves

Little Current