Huron Expositor, 2014-12-17, Page 88 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, December 17,2014
letters to the editor
Remembering the
"have nots" this
holiday season
To the Editor;
At this time of year it is important to
think about the "have nots," those on
our doorstep, in Ontario, indeed Canada
and the whole world.
When one looks at the facts below it
is easy to see why we have many
affected by poverty in Ontario. There is
also a paucity of justice on so many
levels.
According to the 2014 Auditor Gener-
al's Report, we spend $50 billion more
on buying electricity than we sold it for.
She also flagged Ontario's growing debt
as a concern. The net debt was more
than $267 billion as of March. And to
think there is a 25 per cent increase in
electricity rates coming.
In 2011, the Financial Post in
observed that it "...will cost Ontario
ratepayers over $125 million annually
for power that won't be delivered to the
grid." The author also noted that Ontario
ratepayers spent $10 million dollars for
just one day, in November 2014, for
wind power.
Electricity we did not need.
In fact, we exported electricity at the
same time.
In a recent Fraser Institute Study
titled, "What Goes up...Ontario's Soaring
Electricity Prices and How to get them
Down," the authors observed that
"Ontario's total annual power cost has
risen by over 50 per cent since 2004"
and "...that solar and wind provide just
under four percent of Ontario's power,
but accounted for about 20 per cent of
the average commodity cost in 2013."
Furthermore, We also recommend a
BABIES OF
2014
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"BABIES ON PARADE"
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Published Wed. Jan. 14, 2015
DEADLINE:
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Please send picture (with name on back) along with a cheque to The Huron
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moratorium on new renewable power
capacity; pursuit of regulatory and leg-
islative options to reduce operating
renewable capacity..."
At the Oct. 14 Brown County Board of
Health meeting, a motion was unani-
mously approved declaring the Shirley
Wind Turbines a "Human health Hazard."
The text states, "To declare the Indus-
trial Wind Turbines at Shirley Wind pro-
ject in the Town of Glenmore, Brown
County, WI, a human health Hazard for
all people (residents, workers, visitors
and sensitive passersby) who are
exposed to Infrasound/low frequency
noise and other emissions potentially
harmful to human health."
For those who do not know, the
Shirley Wind project consists of eight
turbines, approximately 500 ft. tall.
Many have been asking, "Does the King
know he has no clothes on?" My answer
is we told Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen
Wynne, indeed the whole Liberal Party,
but they choose to remain blind. How
much longer will it be before they
acknowledge truth?
That is to say, the Green Energy Act is
a monumental failure that is destroying
the health and economic stability of
Ontarians.
For those of us who know the King
has no clothes on, let us think about the
"have nots" this Christmas.
I will leave you with two quotes from
Pope Francis. First, "Every man, every
woman who has to take up service of
Government, must ask themselves two
questions: `Do I love my people in order
to serve them better? Am I humble and
do I listen to everybody, to diverse opin-
ions in order to choose the best path?' If
you do not ask those questions, your
governance will not be good." And
"Human rights are not only violated by
terrorism, repression or assignation, but
also by unfair economic structures that
create huge inequities."
Norma Schmidt
Tiverton
CORRECTION NOTICE:
Ontario Ford Dealers
We regret to inform our Ontario
customers that this
newspaper ran the
incorrect Ontario Ford Dealers
"Year End Pricing"
ad in their previous issue.
The ad which should have run is the
"Year End Pricing" F-150 XLT 4x4
SuperCrew Lease Offer
featuring: $299 @ 01Y0APR with
$2,575 Down and not $299 @
0°/0APR with $0 Down.
We apologize for any inconvenience
this may have caused.
Liberals proposed sex education
curriculum leaves parents in the dark
To the Editor;
Few parents realize what
is about to take place in all
publicly funded Ontario
schools this September.
Kathleen Wynne's Liberals
are determined to launch a
new sex education curriculum
by September 2015. They
state that the 1998 curricu-
lum is outdated and we need
to respond to the changing
ways society is impacting our
children. Sounds innocent
enough doesn't it? But have
you ever tried to figure out
exactly what changes are
being implemented? It is all
but impossible to find out.
They are refusing to show the
controversial proposed
changes to us parents.
Recently Monte
McNaughton, MPP for Lamb -
ton -Kent -Middlesex, stood up
in parliament and asked
Wynne to release the pro-
posed changes to parents
before they are implemented.
She proceeded to blast him
for "trying to prevent a des-
perately needed update," cit-
ing that in light of "recent
events" he should have
begun to understand the
need. She is referring to the
recent sexual scandal involv-
ing Jian Ghomeshi, as though
his actions somehow mean
we should be teaching our
children the how-to of
explicit sexual practices.
If you call the Ontario Minis-
try of Education to find out
more information, you will be
told that they are in the process
of "extensive consultations"
right now so they cannot
release the proposed changes.
What does this "extensive
consultation" process look
like?
One survey has been sent
to each public school in
Ontario. That survey was
e-mailed to all school princi-
pals on Nov. 12, to be passed
on to a member of parent
council and sent back within
16 days. Keep in mind that
most parent councils only
meet once a month at most.
Once that parent opened the
survey, they discovered there
was only one URL link pro-
vided and it needed to be
filled out immediately - on
their own as a representation
of all parent opinions in that
school. On top of that, the
survey was fairly vaguely
worded, so most parents had
no clue about what details
were being proposed to
share with our children. The
only way that parent could
have possibly represented all
parents in that school would
be if they were warned in
advance not to open the link,
host an emergency discus-
sion meeting open to all par-
ents, or even the council and
once assembled, take a wild
guess at what questions
would be asked in the survey
and discuss them.
Does this situation sound
impossible to you?
This is Wynne's idea of
"extensive consultation" and
polling the opinions of all
Ontario parents.
Here is problem number
two: We as parents have still
not been privileged to know
what is actually being dis-
cussed and they do not plan
on letting us in on it before
the process is finished, at
which point - you guessed it
— it will be too late to weigh
in on the matter.
Are we chasing our tails
yet?
The only information the
Ministry of Education has
been willing to give is to say
that these are the same
changes they tried to put
through a few years ago.
Back then, parents rose up
en masse and Dalton
McGuinty quietly shelved the
idea.
But, if schools are only
going to teach the facts and
explain terminology, then
what is all the secrecy
about?
Why aren't parents allowed
a real part in the discussion?
Isn't the government sup-
posed to represent the
people?
To have your voice be
heard, please visit the Minis-
try of Education site at www.
edu.gov.on.ca/eng and leave
a comment.
There are also currently
two petitions being circu-
lated at www.change.org/p/
ontario-liberal-party-imple-
mentation-of-the-new-sex-
ed-curriculum-add-an-opt-
out-clause and www.
gopetition.com/petitions/
stop-graphic-revisions-to-
ontarios-sex-education-cur-
riculum.
To leave a message with
Lisa Thompson, your local
MPP, call her Blyth office toll
free at 1-800-668-9320.
Anna Wozniak
Egmondville