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Perth Courier
March 3, 2011 • Edition 37
www.yourottawaregion.com
Th e
The Perth and District Community Newspaper since 1834
Council kills grants program
IN BRIEF Planned power outage to hit Perth A planned power outage will take place in the Perth area from 7 to 11 a.m. this Sunday, according to a press release from Hydro One. “Hydro One requires this interruption to perform maintenance and upgrades to our equipment,” the release stated. The outage will affect customers along Hwy 7 to the Carleton Place Industrial Park along with customers from the 7th line of Beckwith Twp to the 9th line, then along the 9th line to Ashton. It will also affect customers from the 9th line to the North side of Prospect. Approximately 625 customers will be affected, all of which should receive an automated phone message notifying them of the outage.
Police investigate BB gun damage Pe r t h p o l i c e o f f i c e r s a re investigating after a BB was shot through the window of a residence on Wilson Street on Feb. 26. After arriving at the scene at approximately 6:54 p.m., police recovered the BB, which broke a storm window on the outside of the residence.
INSIDE
But still giving out most of $300K pot BY GEOFF DAVIES geoff.davies@perthcourier.com Lanark County won’t be giving out community grants anymore. On Feb. 23, county council reviewed reports from its various committees in preparation for the upcoming budget discussions. Among the items considered was a recommendation that the Community Grants program be eliminated. John Fenik, mayor of Perth and chair of the corporate services committee, asked council to consider re-opening the matter for discussion. “I think we should always have the ability to hear any of our citizens that come forward,” said Fenik, adding the county still reserves the right to turn down funding requests. “Somewhere, somehow, someone out there might come up with a brilliant idea that costs very little to this county…that would be of great benefit to Christina Laroque looks on as her daughter Olivia, 2, sends her bowling ball flying down our citizens.” The list of potential recipients of county-levied the lane at Bowl for Kids on Feb. 26. Guide rails like this allowed everyone at Perth’s grants for 2011 included the county’s tourism and Alley Cats to take a shot at the pins. Simultaneously held in Smiths Falls, the Bowl for trails associations, the Algonquin College redevelKids event raised $68,000 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lanark County, which serves more than 225 children. Geoff Davies photo See ‘Council kills grants’, Pg. 3
FUN TO SPARE
Perth welcomes new doctor to town BY CATHY JAMES Perth Courier
Another doctor has been added to Perth’s family physician roster, as Dr. Peter Cunniffe will set up a practice in town this spring. According to the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital CEO Todd Stepanuik, Cunniffe will have an office in the Perth Medical Centre, located adjacent to the Great War Memorial Hospital. He will also work in the hospital’s emergency department. A pre-existing connection to Perth is what initially attracted Cunniffe to move to town. He is friends with Perth-based Kids are binge drinking at an alarming rate 2 doctors, Alain Gauthier and Stephanie Popiel, who Stepanuik s ay s we re i n s t r u m e n t a l i n
Drinking dangerously
recruiting the doctor to Perth. “Dr. Gauthier and Dr. Popiel are champions of the hospital and understand that working in a professional environment is a rewarding experience,” said Stepanuik. “They are great ambassadors and had made the connection with Dr. Cunniffe and so we brought him out to Perth for a site visit.” Stepanuik said talks with Cunniffe began in 2010, and not only did he get a hospital site visit, he also got a community tour. Stepanuik says he was sold. “He loved the area and was impressed with the hospital and scope of services and the focus on excellence,” he says. Cunniffe previously practised in Marathon, Ont., a small town located 350 kilometres west of Thunder Bay. He practised out
of the Marathon Family Health Team, and worked for the Wilson Memorial General Hospital, where, at one point, he served as chief of staff.
Recruitment pays off It was only four years ago when the Town of Perth was designated an underserviced area by the province of Ontario. Since that time the town has welcomed five physicians to the area, and Cunniffe brings the tally to six. Stepanuik says Cunniffe is a good addition to the existing team. “From a general practitioner perspective, it’s great to augment the physician complement we have in terms of providing services to hospital in whatever capacity,” he says. “It’s also great
news in terms of being able to provide primary care in the area and have greater support to the hospital.” Stepanuik says Cunniffe is married with a young family, and his arrival will be a welcome addition to the community. “He is a wonderful physician and he has a dynamic and wonderful family who will immerse themselves into the community,” he explains. “And that’s great for the community.” Cunniffe and his family moved to Perth last month, and according to Stepanuik, he has been familiarizing himself with the hospital set-up. A specific practice launch date has not yet been determined, but Stepanuik says it will most likely happen by early April.
Hillier, Reid seek to enshrine property rights BY GEOFF DAVIES geoff.davies@perthcourier.com
Fashion for rent The Runway clothing store in Perth is putting a new spin on old classics. 5
Snowshoeing his way to victory Perth’s Andrew Harris brings home gold at the 2011 Special Olympics Provincial Winter Games. 15
Ontarians should be able to enjoy their property safe in the knowledge that it can’t be taken from them – by governments or anybody else – without proper compensation. Though the concept itself seems simple enough, it’s not a right enshrined in Canada’s Constitution. Local politicians Scott Reid and Randy Hillier want to change that. Reid and Hillier, respectively the MP and MPP of Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, announced they would be working together to embed property rights within the Charter of Rights and Freedoms at a news conference at Queen’s Park on Feb. 24. “The infringement on private property by this legislature has been increasing and escalating
over the last number of years and the examples are numerous and unending,” Hillier said at the news conference. “The motion we have introduced will fix and correct that long-standing problem.” Their first step towards this goal came on the same day, with Hillier introducing a resolution to protect against deprivation of property “unless made whole by means of full, just and timely financial compensation.” Reid announced his intention to introduce a similar motion in the House of Commons and, if both are passed, the Constitution would then be amended to include this Ontario-specific guarantee of property. Passing twin resolutions would allow lawmakers to amend the Constitution while bypassing the Local MPP Randy Hillier speaks at a Robbie Burns Day event held traditional route, which requires Jan. 30 in Perth, while a bagpiper looks on. On Feb. 24, Hillier and the support of seven provinces local MP Scott Reid announced they will seek to guarantee property representing 50 per cent of the rights to Ontarians with a province-specific amendment to Canada’s See ‘Hillier, Reid seek’, Pg. 4 Constitution. Geoff Davies photo
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