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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-04-22, Page 5Wednesday, April 22, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 5 www.lucknowsentinel.com letters to the editor Putting pay into perspective Editor: With all the recent hype about how much public servants earn, workers strug- gling in the private sector might be forgiven for com- plaining about how much their colleagues make. After all, the Sunshine List of pub- lic sector executives who make over $100,000 now has over 100,000 members. And a study by the Fraser Insti- tute seems to show that pub- lic sector employees average Spring Cleaning Dear Editor: Congratulations on your work at the Lucknow Senti- nel. The newspaper is now filled with local events and pictures of people in the area. We hope you will help us out. Spring is here and along with it comes the task of spring cleaning. This year as people in the vicinity of Luc - know are doing their annual clean up please check for the following items: Anything aluminum including pots, pans, BBQ's, $60,000 a year, $5,000 a year more than the average in the private sector. But is it a question of pub- lic servants being paid too much or private sector work- ers being paid too little? Consider this: many work- ers in the fast food and retail service industries make min- imum wage. That's not enough to live on. Paying workers less than a living wage, means the public purse has to make up the dif- ference. In the US, the fast lawn chairs, siding, old doors or windows, tent poles or beverage cans. Do not throw these items out. By donating them to the Luc - know & District Lions Club you could provide some- thing new for your commu- nity's betterment and not fill up the landfill site. This is a continuous program. Also save old eye glasses. These eye glasses are refur- bished and given to third world countries to help those with impaired eyesight. Would you not feel good helping another less fortunate Compensating Landowners Dear Editor: I've been following the newspaper articles about the legal challenge to the K2 Wind project in ACW Town- ship and the costs awarded against the families that brought the challenge. The wind companies requested $340,000 in costs. Theywere awarded $67,000. The three judges who awarded this cost settlement also stated that there is a serious public interest component to this case. This [case] got me thinking about the situation here in ACW and how much the K2 Wind project has dis- rupted the residents' lives and businesses (the public interest) for the past year and a half and how much it will impact people in the future. It seems to me that when the province approves these wind projects it gives no consideration for how the residents and businesses are affected. I have been farm- ing in ACW my entire life. As a farmer operating a large- scale operation, my time is just as valuable as that of the wind company. When I have to deal with delays and interruptions, it impacts my productivity and affects my operation/business. The arrival of K2 Wind into the Township has had an ongoing impact on my productivity as a farmer. Roads blocked for construc- tion have prevented access to fields and held my work- ers orkers and me up on an ongo- ing basis. This plays havoc with schedules and pushes back important things like planting dates which affect crop yields. Then there is the time lost when I have had to deal with situations where K2 Wind and its contractors have dis- regarded private property rights by trespassing, breach of bio -security measures, use of toxic cement dust on laneways, blowing/pushing snow and sand onto private land, and disregarding/dam- food industry alone costs taxpayers $7 billion a year. It's not as if MacDon- ald's or Walmart can't afford to pay their workers more. Aetna Insurance in the US will now pay their lowest -paid workers $16 an hour. In fact, CEOs in the US and Canada are the most highly paid executives in the world. CEO's in the US make 345 times what their average employee makes. Canada's CEOs take home 206 times person to see better? Give them to the Lucknow & Dis- trict Lions Club. This is a con- tinuous program. The third item of value is old bicycles. It does not mat- ter the condition of the bike or parts thereof. The bike will be shipped to some- where in Africa. The bikes will not be repaired in Can- ada. Someone will train a person in Africa to fix the bicycles, giving him or her pride in ownership and maybe start them on a new business. The bike will assist someone to go to work or to aging our private infrastruc- ture like drainage and lanes. If K2 Wind had followed through on the initial assur- ances that there would be minimal disruption to the farmers and residents, that would be one thing. But they certainly have not followed through on those empty promises. Some might argue that it is no different from the Township doing road work but it is. A government body that disrupts your life for roadwork, for example, is acting for the public good. Rebuilding or fixing a road benefits everyone. The wind companies are private com- panies acting for their own profit. When they disrupt people's lives, shouldn't they be obligated to com- pensate for that disruption? I know I am not the only one whose business and daily life has been impacted by a wind project. Appar- ently the wind companies feel that it is just fine for them to disrupt people's what their workers make. Now look at what the aver- age Ontario public service executive makes: $127,000. That's only twice what their employees make. Using the private sector as the yardstick for what employees are worth is a mug's game. Nobody wins except those who already profit by keeping workers' wages low. David McLaren Neyaashiinigmiing school in which distance is a problem. The deadline for this program is May 31, 2015. The project also saves the landfill site. So please remember to save these items and give them to Lucknow & District Lions Club. If you do not know a local member, call the President, Tom Hagan, at 519-529-7213 and he will direct you to someone who can help you. Kathryn Todd Public Relations, Luc - know & District Lions Club lives and businesses without any compensation. Are the residents of Ontario not entitled to our rights or do we live in a province with a double standard where wind companies have pref- erential rights? So, I pose the question - who do residents and land- owners contact for the dis- ruption and inconvenience in their lives and busi- nesses? Isn't it about time that the government and the wind companies provided us with an answer and establish a procedure for that? I challenge the wind companies (and the govern- ment agencies that are get- ting a copy of this letter) to respond by May 15. (Note to the wind companies - a threatening lawyer's letter trying to muzzle my voice does not constitute a response to legitimate questions.) Yours truly, George Alton Bruce Power opens new fire training facility Submitted Bruce Power has added to its already impressive emergency preparedness capabilities with the con- struction of a new 23,000 square foot fire training facility, which officially opened today. "This is another important safety enhancement for our site and it will offer our Emergency and Protective Services staff improved training opportunities so they're ready to respond," said Brian Hilbers, Bruce Power's Vice President. "We also look forward to advanc- ing with local municipal fire departments potential co - training opportunities which we believe will help make our communities even safer as well." The $25 million facility, which took 18 months to build, includes a mock-up of a turbine generator which allows firefighters to practice on realistic scenar- ios. Propane fuelled props, producing fire and smoke, will simulate a variety of situations, and thermal cameras, located through- out the building, will cap- ture video footage and stream it back to a central control room. The main building, which can be used year round, is 80 feet by 227 feet and 30 feet, with a 50 -foot tower for high -angle rescue training. There are also a number of outdoor fire simulators including a car, forklift and transformer. SUDOKU THIS WEEK'S PUZZLE SPONSORED BY Mitchell Twolan, Broker of Record Lake Range Realty Ltd. Brokerage 3430 Concession 2, Point Clark R.R.1 Kincardine, Ontario N2Z 2X3 Office: 519-395-3959 Toll Free: 1-866-495-3959 Direct Line: 519-955-0664 www.lakerangerealty.ca ANSWER 8 L b L 9 9 Z6£ 4 9 £ 5 I- 6 8 8 L 9 9 9 6 9 2 7 L 8 8 1 Z£9 6 L 6 i 9 1- 17 8 L L 9 9£ 5 7 Z 8 9 8 6 ti 9 7 9 3 2 L 9 4 9 3 Z€ 9 6 5 9 8 8 17 6 L9 Z 6 9 Z£ 6 L 1 8 7 9 ANSWER 8 L b L 9 9 Z6£ £ Z I- 6 8 b L 9 9 9 6 9 Z£ L b 8 l Z£9 L 6 8 9 1- 17 17 L L 9 9£ 6 Z 8 9 8 6 ti Z l 9 8 L L 9 8 9 L Z€ 17 6 / 9 8 8 17 6 L9 Z 6 tr Z£ L 9 8 L 9 Level: Intermediate To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in: • Each of the nine vertical columns • Each of the nine horizontal rows • Each of the nine 3 x 3 boxes • Remember, no number can occur more than once in any row, column or box