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Home My WebLink AboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-04-17, Page 44 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, April 17, 2013 OplflION www. Iakeshoreadvance,com t*osboro•Aulvaoco PUBLISHED WEEKLY P.O.BOX 1195 58 Ontario St., North Grand Bend ON NOM 1TO phone: 519-238-5383 fax: 519-238-5131 email: Iakeshore.advance@sunmedia.ca SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher/ Advertising Manager nell.cUfford@sunmedla.ca LYNDA HILLMAN-RAPLEY Editor Iakeshore.advancekOsunmedia.ca MARK STEPHEN Advertising Sales markstepheoesunmedia.ca KATHY YOUNG Typesetting/Classltleds lakeshore.adsOsumnedia.ca www.lakeshoreadvance.com SUBSCRIPTION RATES ADVANCE: Regular $42.00 (40 00.7.00 GSi) Online subscriptions available-- same rates Publications Mall Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO LAKESHORE ADVANCE CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT PO.Box 1195 58 Ontario St. North Grand Bond ON NOM 1TO For any non•dellvenes or delivery concerns phone: 519.238.5383 e-mail; Iakeshore.advancetOsunmedla.ca Changes o1 address, orders to subscriptions, and undeliverable copies (return postage plismntoixt) are to be sent to f /ekes/we/ova/ice /ekes/we/ova/iceat the address indicated hero. Advertising Is accepted on the condition that In the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous Item together with a reasonable allowance for slgnahro, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertise- ment will be paid at the applicable rates. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of (:numb% through tire(:nnndinn I'ertodlcnl Punct (CIT) for our publishing activities. Canada NewMMembee e ore Canadian nd the ly ApCna NewapKbr Assoc�intkn end the (Mtnrb Community Newspapers Associstion editorial Sad state of affairs IVIost Ontario residents are against it proposal that would sec tolls or new tuxes rolled Out t0 help pay for the province's transportation infrastructure. But despite what residents think, tolls and new taxes might be just the ticket to get some of our highways, roads and bridges hack on track. Sadly, it might not happen otherwise. 'the idea is being floated by Premier Kathleen Wynn', who says new "reve- nue tools" are needed to pay for transit improvements in the Greater Toronto Area. But Wynne also suggests those same "revenue tools" might be needed for roads and bridges in the rest of Ontario. What she really means to say is that Ontario is broke and can't afford to take care of one of the government's core responsibilities -- roads and bridges. 'the issue should be of some impor- tance in Sarnia-Lambton, which faces its Own municipal infrastructure challenges. Both the City of Sarnia and County of Lambton have done a good job in rt'Cetlt years addressing local infra- structure needs. But With the province downloading more and More to the local level, at some point tht' munici- pal coffers are bound to dry up. As always, it comes (sown to spend- ing priorities and objectives, and whether of not a tax increase would be acceptable to ratepayers. And tax increases rarely are. 'plat position is reflected in a Forum Research Inc. poll, conducted last week, that asked Ontarians what they thought about Wynne's suggestion. To nobody's surprise, 479 of the respondents were opposed to the idea of tolls and new taxes for transporta- tion infrastructure, while 39% said they'd support it. But the bottom line is that the Ontario government is starved for cash and is desperate to find new sources of money. After years of frit- tering away public cash and creating an unsustainable public debt, Wyn- ne's liberals are left with few options but to seek new "revenue tools:' It's a sorry state of affairs. indeed, the condition of Ontario's roads and bridges has become a metaphor for a government that is, incredibly, unable to meet its obligations. And given this government's track record, it's doubtful those obligations would be met even if tolls and new taxes are legislated. Peter Epp, QMI Agency letters to the editor Same old...same old I read the 1.ttkeshole Advatn'e' article "Staff rows the boat, consultant tells 1.a111htoit Shores council" (April 10th) with interest and wonder why 1.amhton Shores (us) would pay $3,000 for a consultant to help them go in the right direc- tion and then not listen to him. 1 attended the April 11th regular I.ttinhton Shores nteeting.'1he continued lack of under- standing or not reading the agenda done councilor, the constant grandstanding and of another and the irritating opinions, not follow- ing the procedures or code of conduct again and again, interruptions and not following Section 7.4 in their procedural by-law to pre- vent the inordinate amount of discussion on each and every topic in the agenda...an(1 how about the bullying from that table- when will that stop? I have to wonder why this council bothered spending half a day with a consultant who actually knows what he is talking about. This is year three and it just never seems to get any better. As taxpayers, we should wonder why we are going to he paying for an Integrity Com- mission- when these council members will probably dismiss what he/she has to say. Per- haps this council should stop spending our money to band-aid the issues they have caused. Shirley Andraza Give communities power During the Ontario Liberal leadership campaign, Kathleen Wynne promised to give municipalities across Ontario more say when it comes to wind farms, atter the Green Energy Act of 2009 took that power com- pletely away. On March 26, I luron-Bruce M PP Lisa 'Ihontpson introduced a private member's hill called Ensuring Affordable Energy Act, which would give democracy hack to munic- ipalities like ours. Whether or not you believe wind turbines are the right answer to Ontario's future energy needs, there are communities that are willing hosts and communities that are not. 'there is much anticipation that on April 111, both i.iberal and NI)P members will sup- port a return to democracy in Ontario's rural areas by supporting this hill. With the politi- cal climate at Queen's Park, if these two par- ties do not support this hill, then a spring election would he more than welcome. This is not about whether Ontario should support green energy; it's about having something very important and fundamental to Canadians restored and maintained democracy. Mayor Kevin Marriott, Township of Enniskillen Showing disregard 'Ihe latest round of hype in the ongoing wind turbine saga has only proved to show Stlncor's disregard for citizens of Plympton- Wyonting and elsewhere. Local leaders have been bamboozled: the original mandate was 'no wind turbines in our area.' Now it's a "set -back" issue, which must mean that wind turbines are OK, if they are a couple of kilometres away. Meanwhile, the Suncor wind turbine promoters are rub- bing their hands together, optimistic about their strategies and seeing victory in the forecast. As for some farmers, they're selling their autonomy, which is the only reason to own property in the first place. And what for? Filthy lucre! And the 99.9% that make up others living in the area have been sold out by politicians and the greedy. Any energy to he gained will be sold elsewhere for big bucks, none of which will benefit anyone here and yes, our energy hills will skyrocket even more. Jim Gryner, Plynlpton-Wyoming LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Lakeshore Advance welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include the writer's full name, address, daytime phone number and signa - ture (for verification. Anonymous letters will not he published. We reserve the right to edit all editorial submissions including letters for clari- fication, style and length. Letters must he signed and be in good taste and follow the laws of libel and slander.