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NEWS & OPINION
Solar project set for Scugog F RO M PAG E 1
“It should be remembered that the proponents have no legal obligation to provide compensation,” said Mr. Gordon in a report. “However, staff have used any and all leverage in order to achieve a beneficial outcome to a project that Scugog Township did not support.” Township staff will begin the process of scouting local townshipowned structures for use as Feed-in-Tariff sites, and will determine if structural strength and power capacity are up to par. “We have reached an agreement with Canadian Solar, but it was appar-
ent earl on that the type of deal we reached with Solray would not be reachable,” said Don Gordon, Scugog’s Director of Community Services. “The energy would be fed into the power grid, but we need to find a location which can accommodate the additional energy.” Mr. Gordon explained that “one location which springs to mind is the Scugog Arena, but it may be beneficial to look at sites closer to the Illumination project - such as the Blackstock Rec Centre.” The inception of the Illumination project began in July of 2011, but drew strong opposition
from Council due to the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, which allowed prime agricultural lands to be re-zoned for renewable energy projects. After a 2013 hearing and mediation with the Environment Review Tribunal, Scugog was granted more control of the project’s location and terms. “These Class ‘A’ farm lands, once outfitted with solar equipment, will be taxed at the industrial level,” said Mayor Chuck Mercier. “We welcome this new source of income. The loss of farm land is regrettable, but it’s one of the outcomes of using new-age technologies in a modern world.”
Irish Stew a St. Patty’s success To the Editor, This letter regards the Irish Stew recipe by Chef Elizabeth Peck, issue Vol. 10 No. 11, on Thursday, March 13, 2014. Believe it or not, but, the very first Standard Newspaper I pick-up from my local grocer, happens to be the St. Patrick’s Day issue. While browsing through the headlines over my morning coffee, I came across the recipe for Irish Stew printed on page four. I had already been driving my family crazy asking them what they wanted on their menu for the week coming - Finding this recipe was a message from the divine! On Sunday, I purchased all necessary ingredients and on Monday morning, I
started on my venture. By dinner-time that night, the entire house smelled amazing and my family were all ‘chomping at the bit’ for dinner. My biggest critics are my three unabashed children, and they were amazed by the bowl of delicious in front of them! My husband and I were equally impressed. Thank you, Chef Elizabeth Peck! You gave us the ability to try something new as a family and the chance to experience your taste of the Emerald Isle! An uplifting bowl of luck on an otherwise cold day - We look forward to seeing and tasting more! R. MacLeod Little Britain
Staying in touch... JOHN O’TOOLE MPP
Secret documents show $5.7 Billion in spending Last week, the McGuinty/Wynne government claimed it is on track to balance the Ontario budget in 2017. But, at the same time, a secret Liberal government communications plan revealed by the Official Opposition shows the government is about to embark on a $5.7 billion spending spree leading up to the 2014 budget and perhaps a spring election. This is clearly a contradiction. You don’t have to be an economist to know that governments can’t spend themselves into balanced budgets. I simply cannot trust this promise. While secret documents from the McGuinty/Wynne government make clear how the government plans to rollout $5.7 billion in new spending, Premier Kathleen Wynne clearly has no jobs plan in sight. Official Opposition Leader Tim Hudak called on the Premier to adopt his Million Jobs Plan to reduce debt, make energy affordable, and create new jobs. To put Ontario’s finances in perspective, MPP Vic Fedeli, Opposition Finance Critic, said last week that Ontario’s debt has doubled in the past ten years. We spend nine cents out of every revenue dollar just to cover interest. As a result, interest payments on the Ontario debt have become the fastest-growing expenditure. The amount this government pays on interest is growing faster than healthcare and education. Each man, woman and child in Ontario has about $20,000 in provincial debt hanging over his or her head. According to Canada’s Fraser Institute, Ontario’s debt now consumes 39.3 per cent of our provincial economy. That’s up from 27.5 per cent ten years ago. The McGuinty/Wynne government claimed in a financial update last week that it’s still on track to balance the provincial budget. But there’s no explanation of how this government can spend its way towards balanced books. In fact,
Goodbye Dave No one has done more for sarcastic humour than David Letterman, and as an extremely sarcastic person, I was more than a little saddened last week when he broke the news that he will be retiring from latenight TV next year. Because of my age, I was slightly late to the latenight TV party having never seen his original latenight show on NBC before he moved to CBS in 1993 after being spurned by NBC to take over hosting duties of The Tonight Show, with the honour instead going to Jay Leno. I was just shy of my 10th birthday when the Late Show with David Letterman debuted in August of 1993, and it quickly became my favourite show. Of course I could only watch it live on Friday nights, and only when I was visiting my Dad’s house where the bedtime rules were slightly more relaxed. The rest of the time, I would have to tape it on my VCR and rush home from school to watch it. It was the excitement of never knowing exactly what was going to happen from night-to-night that kept me coming back to Letterman. He turned his staff into featured characters on the show, he answered viewers letters on the air, he ventured out from behind his
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the latest update by Finance Minister Charles Sousa said the $11.7 billion deficit will be just a little lower than expected. Of equal, if not greater concern, is the fact that the Ontario economic outlook calls for an average of just 2.1 per cent annual growth in GDP (gross domestic product) until 2035. That’s a rate that barely exceeds inflation. No matter how you crunch the numbers, the bottom line for the McGuinty/Wynne government just doesn’t add up. New Law Won’t Prevent Youth Smoking The problem with the new youth smoking prevention law is that the government is once again taking aim at the legal tobacco industry and corner stores. The focus ought to be on preventing the illegal sale of contraband cigarettes, especially to youth. Everyone agrees that children and youth must be prevented from smoking. But, the proposed new law does not take action against the sale of contraband. Instead, the Youth Smoking Prevention Act would, for example, ban the sale of flavoured tobacco. This ban supposedly would discourage children and youth from trying cigarettes. Yet, Health Canada says 94 per cent of the market for flavoured cigar products is driven by legal-age smokers over 25 years old. The real problem is not favoured tobacco, but the sale of contraband tobacco to young people. The key is to ban the illegal sale cigarettes to under-age smokers. The Canadian Convenience Stores Association estimates that a “baggie” of 200 illegal cigarettes can cost less than a movie ticket. And, of course, contraband dealers don’t check for ID. Candy-coated tobacco products are not the main reason why kids start smoking. It will take more than candy-coated laws and policies to prevent teens and youths from smoking.
Up All Knight desk and bantered with the audience as part of the show, and frequently took to the streets as part of the action, be it throwing things off the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theatre or simply having the camera stop by Rupert Jee’s Hello Deli. It was zany, it was unpredictable, and most of all, it was hilarious. As I moved from public school and into high school, Dave moved with me. I was fortunate enough to find like-minded students who lapped up Letterman’s brand of dry humour and without fail, everyday Mike Wiseman, Mike LeFort and I would recite the running jokes from the previous night’s episodes. That was another trait of Letterman’s I try and carry on today, much to the chagrin of my Wife at times, I will tell the same joke over and over in the hopes that I becomes unfunny, but with enough repetition, eventually it becomes funny again. As a side note: this does not often work in real life. What set Dave apart, and continues to set him apart was the way he was unafraid to circumvent the typical late-night format. Instead of gushing over every guest, he would belittle intellectual lightweights such as Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, and would offer the same sort of contempt for the likes of John McCain and
DARRYL KNIGHT The Standard @darrylknight83
Bill O’Reilly. He was never afraid to tell it like it was. As the years passed, his show seemed to mellow out as he switched seemingly into autopilot and the sketches that were once such an integral part of the show slowly faded away. But there were still magical moments tucked away. Like post 9/11, when he spoke so eloquently about the tragic events of that day, or when he returned from heart surgery and opened up about how scary the whole ordeal was. The moments came less and less often, which made them all the more special. As I’ve grown up, like many others, I’ve watched Letterman’s show less and less, but I always found comfort in knowing that he was always there just a few channels away, except that starting next year he won’t be. But so long as people are still embracing sarcasm and nonsense, he will always be there, his legacy ingrained in countless people like myself who came of age alongside his humour and co-opted it as their own.