Northeast Town opts for GSCT version of hotel plan

Proponent committed to public meeting

by Michael Erskine

LITTLE CURRENT-A hotel development project proposed by a consortium of First Nation bands represented by the Great Spirit Circle Trail was given the nod to move to a public consultation phase by the Northeast Town council during a special meeting of council on October 12.

A capacity crowd of interested local citizens came to the Little Current Curling Club to hear the results of council deliberations on two proposals for a hotel development proposed for a commercially zoned property adjacent to the Manitoulin Welcome Centre near the swing bridge in Little Current.

"I appreciate the opportunity to address the project with the community," said Waubetek Business Development Corporation director Dawn Madahbee. "It is important to address their concerns in an open forum."

"Council has taken the next logical step forward," said Mayor Jim Stringer. "We are taking the project forward for public comment. The public presentation will afford the council an opportunity to exactly determine the wishes of the public."

The majority vote of council could be taken as a strong expression of confidence in which project they felt was the best possible for the community, noted Mayor Stringer, but added that the public forum would help address concerns the public may have about the project.

Although it was clear before the start of the special meeting of council that the council's deliberations would be moved in-camera-as they have been throughout the process and which, as Councillor Al MacNevin pointed out following the council announcement, has been the practice of the council of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands for over two decades-most of the crowd stayed to hear the result of those deliberations with quite a few more arriving as time went on. Many in attendance expressed surprise when council returned to the room with their decision less than 45 minutes after retiring to another room for their deliberations.

In a recorded vote requested by Councillor Bill Koehler, only Councillors Bruce Wood and Paul Skippen voted against the motions to move the proposal to the public consultation stage. Both councillors indicated that, while they were not in opposition to the development of a hotel per se, in their opinion, the other proposal presented to council "offered five times as much to the taxpayers."

Both councillors also expressed considerable frustration at the in-camera process, which they said made it very difficult to present specific examples of why they believed the other option was better. "This is simply our opinion," stressed Councillor Skippen. "We believe the other option provided more public benefit."

Both councillors agreed that the project is largely opposed in the old Howland region of the municipality which they represent, but they refused to allow the matter to be expressed as a town and country divide. Instead, they stressed position on the matter was based on what they felt was good for the community as a whole. "You have to look at things that way," said Councillor Skippen.

Councillor Bill Keohler also expressed reservations about voting for the project in the face of strong opposition in the community, but said that since the public as a whole were not yet aware of all of the details of the proposal, he felt the matter should be presented to the public before any final decision be made. Councillor Koehler stressed that his final vote on the proposal would be dictated by his sense of where public opinion lies following the public presentation.

A 550-name petition headlined "Help save our NEMI parklands" presented to Councillor Paul Skippen carried less weight than might otherwise be expected by elected politicians, because, as pointed out by staff and the mayor, the premise put before the signatories was inaccurate. "The property is zoned commercial," noted Mayor Stringer. "Parkland is not part of the project-we made that clear from the start."

Rough estimates indicate that the proposed project would return at least $180,000 to the public coffers in commercial taxes-an amount which translates into roughly 6 percent of the ratepayers' portion of the municipal budget.

The NEMI Ratepayers Association nonetheless expressed concerns about the project, albeit as a question of process. "We are not against the idea of development," stressed spokesperson Irene Callaghan. "We have been calling for a public meeting prior to talking to developers. It would have been a wise decision to have asked the people what they wanted before proceeding."

The ratepayers do not dispute the argument put forward by Councillor MacNevin that this is the way council has always proceeded, said Ms. Callaghan, but added that, "It is time, maybe, for a change."

The ratepayers know that certain portions of the negotiations must be, for commercial reasons, kept behind closed doors, said Ms. Callaghan, but she said too much is being done behind closed doors. Ms. Callaghan cited the process of the City of Greater Sudbury as an example of a jurisdiction where more information was being placed before the public by politicians and staff prior to making decisions on behalf of the public.

Ms. Callaghan pointed out that she believed Sudbury was putting its 2010 budget before the public prior to beginning deliberations. "They ask people, 'What do you want?'" she said. "Here, the budget is completed-the work is all done, ready to go-before they present it."

The date and venue for the public meeting has not yet been set.

Central Manitoulin okays sale of property for slaughterhouse

Abattoir group makes offer on retail outlet

by Jim Moodie

PROVIDENCE BAY-Offal isn't necessarily that awful. This is one message that the local abattoir group will be trying to get out as the approval process-including answering to any objections from neighbours-gets under way to situate a proposed slaughter facility in the countryside near Providence Bay.

At its last regular meeting, Central Manitoulin council agreed to sell a 10-acre piece of land at its sewage lagoons property, located at Monument Road and Cranston Road, for use as an abattoir site, provided requests for rezoning and a severance are granted by the Manitoulin Planning Board.

"It's a really positive step forward for the project," said Birgit Martin, chair of the Manitoulin-LaCloche Slaughter Facility Steering Committee. "If everything goes through, we would hope to have a building permit and be breaking ground before the end of the year."

Before that happens, though, there will be an opportunity for residents of the area to express concerns, in keeping with any proposed rezoning and severing of property, and no guarantee that the applications will actually be approved.

Still, Ms. Martin is optimistic that most qualms will be put to rest once people understand the nature and scope of the project. While a slaughterhouse might sound like a noisy and smelly addition to any neighbourhood, even a sparsely populated rural one, the committee chair maintained that this facility will be tastefully realized and have little impact on those living nearby.

"It will be an attractive building, and there would only be one day per week where it would operate as a butcher day, so it's not a high-traffic issue," she said. "And we're confident that, with the strict regulations that exist in the industry, it will be environment-friendly and neighbourhood-friendly."

Waste from an abattoir cannot be randomly heaped around the premises, but must adhere to rigorous rules set out by various government ministries. While composting of offal (the guts and organs of slaughtered animals) must occur on site, "there's a very high ratio of sawdust and shavings," noted Ms. Martin. "It's designed so that there is no smell or unsightliness."

The composting must also be undertaken in a way that keeps visits of vermin to a minimum. And once the decomposition is complete, this material is valuable as fertilizer, noted Ms. Martin.

The property near the lagoons is considered the best spot for the facility, said the committee chair, for reasons of both centrality and services. She noted that members of the abattoir collective earlier voted on which part of the Island should host the plant, and Central Manitoulin was identified as the clear favourite (with Little Current coming second). This particular property also suits the group's infrastructure needs, as three-phase hydro is handy, land is available for composting, and the nearness of the liquid-waste facilities will make the disposal of wash water that much simpler.

The site is also close to a butcher shop that the abattoir co-operative plans to acquire, and operate in conjunction with the slaughtering facility. The two would be separate from one another, but contiguous enough to make for an effective fit. "The idea is that the plant itself would not be that obvious, but the retail location would have a higher visibility," said Ms. Martin.

However the plan pans out, Ms. Martin said that each of the existing butcher shops on the Island would be guaranteed half the meat-cutting business that comes from the slaughter operation.

As for the size and layout of the plant itself, Ms. Martin communicated that an engineering design has been sketched out based on an existing kill-and-chill operation in Vanessa, near Brantford. "We took a set of blueprints from the owner there as a starting point," she said. That design is now being fine-tuned, in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as well as funding agencies.

Ms. Martin's group has already been pledged $345,000 from the Ontario Cattlemen's Association (OCA), and also hopes to get backing from FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). These outlays would supplement investment from farmer members, who are expected to contribute a flat fee as well as chip in an additional amount based on the volume of animals they expect to have processed.

There's a caveat to the OCA funding, however, requiring the local group to get a spade in the ground by the end of this year. While the process to realize the plant has dragged on over the past few years, due to the need for a feasibility plan and ongoing consultations with funders, Ms. Martin feels the long-envisioned venue for local livestock producers now finally stands to get a green light and begin to take shape.

"The wheels have turned slowly because we're asking for a lot of assistance from the government and industry, and we have to respect that, because it's not our money to spend," she noted. "It takes time, but we're getting there."

While Central Manitoulin council approved the selling of municipal land for an abattoir site, this remains subject to planning approvals, and was not granted without several additional expectations being stated.

"I definitely want to see the (slaughterhouse group) incorporated before we sell them this property," said Councillor Harold McCutcheon.

Sarah Bowerman, meanwhile, suggested that, while the usual process for a zoning amendment restricts public input to immediate neighbours, "I would like to see this be made open to everyone" in the municipality.

If the transaction does take place, it would be as a sale of land, not a gift, although the municipality (which counts almost a third of the Island farmers who have become members of the slaughterhouse movement to date) is committed to donating $8,000 to the abattoir initiative if approvals are met and the deal goes forward.

A meeting has been set for November 12 to allow for public input on the proposed zoning amendment.

New Manitoulin Secondary film club plans silent movie

by Lindsay Kelly

M'CHIGEENG-It's lights! Camera! Action! for the students at Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS), who are getting an opportunity to explore their interest in movie making with a fledgling film club.

A background in film production inspired teacher Chris Theijsmeijer to form a film club similar to the one he forged at his previous school, for any students who were interested in working with video. With the medium becoming more mainstream, and filming and editing tools becoming more accessible, more students are interested in exploring that format.

"Video is something that is getting more and more popular-when you think of YouTube, things online, and even everyone's cameras and iPods can now all record video-so everyone's doing this video processing," he explained. "Computers have become more powerful, so they are also able to do more video editing, so it's really hitting more mainstream media and a lot of students are interested."

The club formed at the end of the last school year, and its goal is to foster creativity in filmmaking, and allow students to explore their interests, whether it is filming, editing, or script-writing.

The high school currently offers a communications and technology class that touches on many of the principles involved in filmmaking, but students are restricted to class time, and focus less on scripted video, Mr. Theijsmeijer explained, noting that "we try and take it to the next level."

"We do everything," he said. "Right now we're actually trying to film a music video, because there's an artist that sometimes plays on the Island named Angie Nussey, and she has this song that she invites people to do film and video for to keep on her website."

Its theme is real female beauty, a topic that has piqued the interest of some female students involved in the club. Students are also filming a silent movie that will come complete with "old-school piano music in the background and slapstick comedy," Mr. Theijsmeijer said. And while the logistics of filming a full, feature-length film is prohibitive, he estimated that students would be able to create a 10-minute feature.

"We basically try and do whatever the students are interested in," he explained. "So if someone's interested in doing some real script-writing, I'll try and help them write a script. Or if they want to try and do some fancy editing then we'll try and do that."

There are some limitations to the club's abilities to recreate what students may see online or up on the silver screen, since the cost of software and editing equipment can be prohibitive, but the MSS teacher said that evolving technology has made filmmaking much more accessible to students than in the past.

"The fact that everything is digital now instead of analog videotape makes it so much

easier," he said. "You're not dealing with videotape anymore, you're just dealing with files on a computer."

Ultimately, the students would like to have a vehicle to promote their work; last year the students' council hosted its first film festival for student filmmakers, and Mr. Theijsmeijer would like to see the students participate in that, but there are also student film festivals in other locations, including Sudbury, where the students may get to show their work. "We would like to have our own film viewing of whatever films we produce," he noted.

In the meantime, students continue to meet on breaks and after school, where they engage in workshops and field trips to further their interests. Students recently took an after-school tour of the Weengushk Film Institute, and Mr. Theijsmeijer suggested that there would be further collaboration with the organization, with students helping to fill acting roles, and getting some hands-on learning from those looking to become professional filmmakers.

"Certainly, once we have our first production to put up on the screen in the cafeteria and show students what we're doing, that will generate some interest, and hopefully more people will get involved," Mr. Theijsmeijer said.

Nobel laureate enjoys Manitoulin summers

Prov cottager Elinor Ostrom first woman to take prize in economics

by Jim Moodie

BLOOMINGTON, Ind.-The Nobel Prize for Economics was established in 1968, the same year that Elinor Ostrom and her husband Vincent built a small log cabin near Providence Bay for use as a seasonal escape and rustic study.

Last week, the long-time Island visitor and Indiana academic was named a 2009 recipient of this global award, becoming the first woman ever to be laurelled for a Nobel in the field of economic science.

A septuagenarian professor of political science at Indiana University and co-founder of the school's Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Ms. Ostrom was apprised of her win last Monday, through an announcement by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, which also confers Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. She shares the 2009 award-and the $1.4 million that comes with it-with Oliver Williamson, a professor of business, economics and law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ms. Ostrom was recognized for her analyses of economic governance, especially in regard to shared natural resources like fisheries and farmland, which she feels are most sustainably managed when the people closest to the resource have a role in their stewardship, as opposed to being solely governed by industry or the public sector.

She's authored numerous books and papers on this subject, with her 1990 publication, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action, cited as a particularly pioneering work in this field.

"Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized," the academy said in announcing the prize. "Based on numerous studies of user-managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes and groundwater basins, Ostrom...observes that resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule enforcement to handle conflicts of interest."

It was a hectic week for the scholar, who said she was "flabbergasted" by the news, as well as overwhelmed by the sudden storm of media attention. But she made time over the weekend to speak with the Expositor, noting that she considers Manitoulin a second home and also credits this area with having played a significant role in shaping her thoughts and facilitating her academic work.

"A good deal of the revisions for Governing The Commons was done on The Manitoulin," she noted. "The log cabin is a place where Vincent and I can be quiet and think. We're surrounded by beauty, but it's not considered a vacation-it's a writing retreat."

She added that her own accomplishments could not have occurred without the influence of her spouse, a fellow academic and frequent collaborator, "whose work has been very instrumental and important to me."

The couple first visited Manitoulin in 1967-two years after Ms. Ostrom joined the faculty of Indiana University-on the recommendation of a graduate student, whose parent was "a Manitoulin old-timer and had a cabin there," she noted. "We rented a cabin that year on Lake Mindemoya, and were smitten immediately."

The next year, the Ostroms returned and started to create their own rudimentary hideaway near Providence Bay. "We built the cabin in 1968, out of logs, and it was a lot of fun doing that ourselves," she said.

To this day, the retreat remains a sylvan and simple affair. There is neither electricity nor a phone. To power up their computers, which are an occupational necessity, the pair uses a 12-volt battery and a small solar panel. The walls are lined with bookshelves, which sag with thick rows of tomes.

"Basically the place is packed with books," said one acquaintance and admirer. "Half the cabin is her books, and half is his, and they wander around in there like two little hobbits."

One of Ms. Ostrom's own publications includes a reference to the Island. "I mention it in the introduction to my 2005 book Understanding Institutional Diversity," she said. "Manitoulin has been very, very important to us."

That would include not just the soothing landscape and relative lack of commotion-so conducive to reflection and intellectual productivity-but also the people they have met and befriended over the years. "We became very good friends with Vic Golder, a mechanic who has since passed away," said Ms. Ostrom. "And Lyle Dewar and his family are very close to us."

These Islanders even influenced the naming of the research institute the Ostroms founded together at Indiana University in 1973. While the full name is the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, that first word tends to function as shorthand for the entity. When the Expositor dialled up this wing of the university, the person answering said, simply, "Workshop," leaving the impression that woodcraft or tool-and-die fabrication might be going on here, as opposed to intellectual investigation.

And that's no accident. "We learned about workmanship from Vic and Lyle and others," said Ms. Ostrom, inspiring the pair to, among other things, "make our own furniture." They also discovered, from such local handymen, how a Jeep could be utilized to power a variety of tools in the construction of their off-the-grid cabin. So when they set up their research institute, "we purposely named it a workshop," she said.

Manitoulin is a long way from Ms. Ostrom's original home. The Nobel winner grew up in California, attending Beverly Hills High School and then completing her undergrad at UCLA in 1954. She would go on to finish both an MA and PhD at the Los Angeles university before moving to the Midwest in the late 1960s.

But the Island has been a regular haunt for over 40 years now, and in that time she's seen a lot of changes that have informed her theories regarding local control of resources and the damage that can occur when government and industry usurp that grassroots grip. "In the early days when we were there, farmers were allowed to sell their milk," she said. "Then it went to a quota system, and a lot of the farmers disappeared."

The creamery in Mindemoya was "once very impressive," she added, but it eventually disappeared too, as a new system for milk collection and distribution shifted the focus away from a community-based model. Similarly, schools and post offices that once were scattered across the Island and "enabled people to live in these communities" have since closed down, she noted.

Ms. Ostrom said she is intrigued by the current debate over wind power in Ontario, and particularly how this industry could play out on Manitoulin. In her view, the development could be beneficial if it serves to "augment incomes" of landowners while "reducing carbon issues," but she worries that too much power is being hoarded at the provincial level, overriding the authority of local communities to guide, and benefit from, such projects.

"It is important for the people to have a voice," she said. "In Ontario, it seems there's a little more of this power being taken away, which I find sad. How do we make sure governments recognize that citizens have intelligence?"

Whether it's the water, land, or wind-filled air that's at stake, Ms. Ostrom believes "the community of people who jointly live around or benefit from the common resource is one of the mechanisms that governs," and too often "there's a presumption that they will do so ineffectively," so government or industry takes the reigns, at the exclusion of the local stakeholders. "And sometimes the government or the private company fails," she said.

Ms. Ostrom said she and her husband "are looking forward to coming back" to the Island, but at the moment "we're just trying to cope with keeping up with everything here." While the Nobel prize could be seen as a career-capping achievement and an excuse to retire, the scholar said she has "wonderful graduate students who keep me going," and the accolade, if anything, makes her feel more energized to continue her work.

The political scientist, now 76, will be travelling to Sweden in early December to receive a gold medal and diploma from the Swedish king. The ceremony is scheduled for December 10, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death in 1896.

EDITORIAL

Pool would render hotel development more popular

There have been two proposals for new hotel projects recently on Manitoulin Island, each of which would involve the turning over of publicly held, municipal property for private sector development.

One was in Gore Bay where an entrepreneur proposed using existing, town-owned buildings on the waterfront as the basis for a 20-room motel that could also serve the marine community.

After much debate, a divided Gore Bay council decided against this project, opting instead for a proposal from the Gore Bay museum that will see the property developed as an arts centre and gallery space.

Interestingly, just at the same time, the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands was considering proposals for the development of approximately two acres of waterfront property located west of the welcome centre on Highway 6 in Little Current and behind the Three Cows and a Cone restaurant and dairy bar.

The Northeast Town council, in its case, had issued a request for proposals (for the second time) precisely because it did want to see a hotel/motel developed on its property.

In fact, when the old Town of Little Current and the Manitoulin Tourism Association had co-operated on the construction of the Welcome Centre in 1987, the property from the swing bridge to Sims Street had been purchased from Marathon Realty (the CPR's real estate division) in order to accommodate the welcome centre. The Farquhar Dairy company then purchased from the town the portion of the property where it built the Three Cows and a Cone dairy bar and the remainder of the property, the lot now under consideration, was landbanked specifically for an eventual hotel/motel project.

The town council, nearly a quarter-century later, is finally considering just such a use for this lot and, in fact, has chosen one of the proposals with which to move forward. Taxpayers will soon be invited to a public meeting where the aspiring developers will explain their concept.

What is not yet clear, however, is whether or not a swimming pool will be part of the hotel/motel project.

Just as with Gore Bay's consideration of a new hotel/motel project, the council of the Northeast Town is also divided (although in the Northeast Town case, the majority so far supports the hotel/motel).

This divided vote, and a carefully qualified statement by another of the councillors, is likely directly related to a 500-plus signature petition that opposes the sale of the property for this kind of development.

It seems fairly obvious that if the community felt it was getting something it could make use of as a new community resource-like a swimming pool-opposition to the project would be very much diminished.

It follows that this should be a vital item for negotiation between the Northeast Town and the project's developer.

Any hotel with a year-round swimming pool has an immediate advantage, especially to travelling families.

The hotel/motel can also benefit financially from community buy-in for a swimming pool as it could sell memberships to individuals, host birthday parties and other paying events and, in every likelihood, gain revenue from the local school board that could make use of the facility in order to offer swimming lessons and, in other ways, extend physical education programs.

In one survey after another in the Northeast Town that has asked citizens what they would like to see included in the recreation mix, the same item always tops the list: a swimming pool.

Accessing such a facility through a private sector development is likely the best chance for the community to get what it wants and this is squarely in the hands of the local politicians to help negotiate, just as Gore Bay council determined that the will of its community was to focus on the arts.

From the standpoint of the hotel/motel project's developers, a year-round swimming pool would become a unique community resource not just for the Northeast Town and immediate environs, but for all of Manitoulin Island, and the accommodations complex will stand to gain revenue from swimming memberships and other rental uses from all of Manitoulin's communities.

Letters to the Editor
 

Wind farm would be a blight on the landscape

Visitors do not want to be greeted by turbines

To the Expositor:

I have been following the wind turbine farm proposed for Manitoulin with considerable interest and although I am strong proponent of alternative energy sources I am opposed to this wind farm, specifically the location of it.

It is heartening to hear of all the various viewpoints with respect to health issues related to wind turbines and I hope that smarter people than I will come up with some definitive answer to the health issues. However I am more concerned with a couple of issues, firstly, the noise of the turbines. If all those with a vested interest, decision makers, local residents, and visitors took the time to stand near a wind turbine you may be surprised just how noisy they actually are.

Secondly, and worse in my opinion, are the terrible aesthetics of a wind turbine. I have travelled a lot on business and have seen wind turbine installations around the world, throughout the USA and those along the north shore of Lake Erie. Some of these installations have hundreds of wind turbines and they look terrible; now it is proposed to scar the landscape of Manitoulin the same way. I was on the Island this past weekend, and as I was sitting on Lake Mindemoya looking at the two wind turbines already on the Island I was trying to envision how they would look as you come on to the Island. Is this really what we want the new face of the Island to look like as we come onto the Island to be greeted by dozens of wind turbines adorning the horizon?

My father was originally from the Island and I have been visiting the Island frequently for almost 50 years. This is where I come to relax, and enjoy not only my family history but also the pristine landscape. We regularly bring our family and friends to the Island to show off its beauty, but now I will have to endure seeing these eyesores. I feel that as part of the due diligence of approving these installations, maybe fully disclosing these issues may be in order. I have not seen anything in any of the presentations that show a wind farm with hundreds of wind turbines, but you may be shocked to see just how bad this looks on the landscape, and I for one do not want to be greeted by this every time I cross on to the Island.

I am all in favour of alternative or green energy and feel strongly that we have to do something to get away from our reliance on fossil fuels, but don't be misled by the power companies proposing these have any environmental conscience; they, like all other business, are in it to make a profit and no other reason than that. The use of an environmental slant is nothing more than a sales tactic to get these approved. If wind turbines are the answer to our energy needs then surely selecting a location that does not cause an eyesore should be part of the approval process. Isn't that already part of the process for selecting sites for other power generating facilities?

Phil Hembruff

Worthington

Resident seeks answers on harmonized sales tax

MPP_needs to speak out on views

To the Expositor:

A few weeks ago I wrote a letter to the editor asking our MPP, Mike Brown, to put pen to paper and inform his constituents how he intended to vote on the harmonized sales tax proposal.

This tax will increase prices of gasoline, heating fuels, electricity, haircuts, newspapers, magazines, the professional services of lawyers, accountants, real estate fees and, sadly, funeral costs. It also will have municipalities paying tax on items from which they were previously exempt. Mike, who do you think the municipalities will look to, to pay the increase?

Mike, I have not seen an answer to my plea in the paper to enlighten all of us on how you will vote in relation to this harmonized tax (dumb question I admit), but it's a reasonable request, from a taxpayer, for you to explain the value of this tax.

Mike, our vote we gave you to use on our behalf has helped to increase health premiums, downsize hospitals, close schools, decrease health coverage in matters of our eyes, and erode coverage for chiropractic services. Mike, I have relatives, friends, and acquaintances here on the Island awaiting their turn in line to obtain needed surgery and cancer treatment in Sudbury. I stand in line at the drug store next to seniors, now my age, deciding which prescription they can afford. This is very sad, Mike. These people are our neighbours and friends.

In closing, someone discovers that a member of your party commits a billion-dollar squandering of eHealth money and then pays the individual responsible a farewell million. The news media reports that your government has yet to decide to recover the lost money.

Mike, where is that fire and Manitoulin spirit in you? Speak out for us and help your own.

Larry Killens

South Baymouth

Ferry preferred over highway route

Know the schedule and allow extra time

To the Expositor:

I read the letter in the Manitoulin Expositor for October 7 titled "Chi-Cheemaun is inconvenient" and wanted to express an opposing view.

I frequently travel between Elliot Lake and a community west of London and during the summer I prefer the ferry to Manitoulin over the Highways 89, 400, 69 and 17 route. Knowing highway transit times to and from the ferry terminals and allowing one hour before ferry departure, my total transit times are similar. The ferry route probably costs me approximately $10 more but I get three hours off from driving and a leisurely meal in the ferry cafeteria during this time.

During the off-season, I can easily make a reservation online, but this may not be necessary.

For the middle sailing times during the summer season, I usually do not make a reservation because of the extra $20 cost, unless it is a busy time and I need to be sure of getting a specific departure time. I find it is often possible to catch a sailing even arriving well within the one recommended one-hour time.

Last June I made a mistake, arrived at Tobermory 10 minutes before sailing and still got on the boat.

On the boat I also have a chance to buy The Manitoulin Expositor and read the Manitoulin Island news.

Bob Landsborough

Elliot Lake and Wardsville, Ont.