Huron Expositor, 2009-02-11, Page 44
PQM 4 February 11, 2009 • The Huron
sitar
Opinion
Proprietor and Publisher, Bowes Publishers Limited, 11 Main St., NOK 1.WO }'' �.A'�
p Seaforth, ON, � ;��-�,�
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We're
i
We're shovel -ready,
show us the money
Huron East councillors were justifiably concerned
last week after hearing from administration that
the aging equipment and infrastructure that needs
to be replaced throughout the municipality costs far
more than ratepayers' ability to pay.
And, like every other municipality in Southern
Ontario, they're pinning their hopes on the federal
budget which has targeted infrastructure as a key
economic stimulus to combat the recession.
While the details of a $4 billion Infrastructure
Stimulus Fund have yet to be seen by local munici-
palities, administrators grappling with the lottery
system that federal and provincial funding has be-
come in recent years are getting better and better
at positioning themselves to take full advantage of
every penny that comes down from above.
Huron East's Deputy -Clerk Brad Knight has iden-
tified several ''shovel -ready" projects, including a
$450,000 project on the road, waterline, storm sew-
ers and sanitary sewers on Crombie Street in Sea -
forth from Coleman to Mair Streets and a similar
$597,000 project on Burgess Street in Brussels from
Alfred Street to the county road.
Knight also warned that antiquated water and
sanitary sewer systems, particularly in Vanastra,
will also need to be replaced in the near future.
In a similar vein, about 17 economic development
projects, still sitting on the shelf after $125,000 in
provincial Communities in Transition funding was
allotted to five of 22 proposed projects, are also
ready to go.
The projects include the Gateway Rural Health
Research Institute in Seaforth, sure to bring more
well-paid healthcare jobs to the area, and a pro-
posed beef plant for Brussels, which would answer
a critical need of local livestock producers who are
having more and more trouble having their animals
slaughtered' in the U.S. with its country of origin
labelling. •
Huron County economic development officer Mike
Pullen is hoping federal funding specifically target-
ed at Southern Ontario will contribute towards the
$652,000 remaining of the original $777,000 -pro-
posal that expected to create 600 jobs throughout
Huron County.
Here's hoping Huron -Bruce MP Ben Lobb is work-
ing hard to bring some of those federal dollars home
where it can create. local jobs and repair municipal
infrastructure.
Susan Hundertmark
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Canada's first 60 -year -ole ' n
mom makes me feel youth
When I was having my first
baby at age 32 and my second
one month shy of my 36th birth-
day, I worried a little about be-
ing an "older mom.
Many of the new moms shar-
ing the experience at the same
time were a decade younger
than me and I fretted that if
my kids waited as long as I did to have :chil-
dren, I'd be in my 70s before seeing any grand-
children. Afterall, I want . someday to be a "fun
grandma" who gets down on the floor with her
grandkids, can still throw a ball or even jump
with a skipping rope.
Even so, I've been in no hurry to ' be 'identi-
fied as a grandmother and on the one occasion
when a shopkeeper asked my daughter if she
was having a good day with her grandmother
when we were shopping together - clearly I
was not having a good day Y was not a happy
camper. f 4
But, with the recent news of Ranjit Hayer,
the first woman in Canada to give birth to
twins at age 60, I am feeling positively youth-
ful these days.
While I- understand . the deep desire and
longing to have kids since conception did not
happen quickly or easily for us, I still have to
wonder if the Calgary woman realizes what's
she signed on for by becoming a first-time mom
past menopause.
It took two trips to India for in -vitro fertiliza-
tion after years of trying naturally and with
other medical intervention for the woman to
have success., She had been turned away by
fertility clinics in Canada an
the recent birth of her twins has
caused= a stir among experts in
ethics and medicine s1
Obviously, she , and her hus-
band Jagir, who . is also 60,
had the energy and passion to
keep pursuing the dream , de-
spite miles of roadblocks. Let's
hope that supply of energy doesn't dwindle too,
much when they're faced with 2 a.m. feedings,
teething and the . multitude of demands that
= inevitably test new parents.
And, later in their 70s, when they're racing
their kids to music lessons or sporting events
or waiting up late for their teenagers to come
home from a party, I hope she and her hus-
band can:keep up.
It's true that kids keep you feeling young but
the also re quire huge amounts of stamina. —
•
ere seems to be a trade-off made in the
timing involved in having children. What an
older parent might lack in energy, they might.
make up in maturity, wisdom or financial se-
curity.
But, choosing to have kids in your 60s is cer-
tainly not a recipe for early retirement. Many
parents ` already have a tough time juggling
their savings to be able to afford both saving
for their children's post -secondary education
or their own retirement. Imagine when retire-
ment comes first.
We are living longer and longer these days -:
reaching 100 is not the rarity it once was and
many seniors look decades younger than their
See IT'S, Page 9
Susan
Hundertmark
C' mon f ella....here's your
bone...:that's a good boys
Hey Mom! I couldn't
get rid of him....He
just followed me
homer Can T keep him?
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