The Voice, May 9 2018

Pelham Seniors Apartments "dialogue" page 3 Ford backtracks on Greenbelt page 10 Market is back page 11

The Voice

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Special to the VOICE

East Fonthill financial planning.

The series also examined the extraordinary price the Town agreed to pay a GTA-based developer for roughly three acres of land in East Fonthill, a transaction that appeared to resemble “bonusing,” a form of bribery illegal in Ontario.

(No charges have been brought, nor has any wrongdoing been proven in court.)

First place in the Investigative

E’V E ALL dreamed of doing it and on that afternoon I was given the chance.

The gate was open.

I almost couldn’t believe it. Since getting my driver’s license I’d been monitoring that gate religiously. For three years I drove down that road whenever I was in the area, hoping someone had finally slipped up, and for three years, the rush of hope inevitably turned to disappointment. These days, when I passed by, I only gave the gate a half-hearted glance.

But today was special.

My younger brother was with me, and I was taking the long way home to extend our time together.

I thought he’d get a kick out of my weird fantasy, and so I turned down that road which had crushed my dreams so many times before. As we passed the gate, I slowed the car considerably to explain my obsession.

"I always look to see if the gates here are open,” I told him. “They never are, but one day they'll forget to lock them and I'm going to—”

See AWARD Page 8

See COLUMN SIX back page

BAD DAY FOR THE BARN OF BAD DREAMS The "Barn of Bad Dreams," the feature attraction of the former annual Winnicki Pumpkin Patch in Fenwick, was destroyed by Friday's devastating winds.

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Voice wins award for Best Investigative News Story

BY VOICE STAFF At its “Better Newspapers Competition” awards gala, held in Toronto on Friday, April 20, the Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) awarded the Voice second place for Best Investigative News Story, 2017.

OCNA received some 1700 entries across numerous categories for the 2017 competition. The finalist short list was announced in February, with the winners of first, second, and

third places revealed on April 20.

The Voice won for a series of articles that ran in July and September 2017, laying out the Town of Pelham’s land-for-credits scheme related to its development activities in East Fonthill.

The controversial use of some $3 million dollars worth of credits, which the Town of Pelham variously described as “municipal” and “development charge” credits, and their subsequent buy-back by the Town, raised questions over the Town’s

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See TENDERS Page 16

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LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL?

Column Six

Town of Pelham hasn't produced required tender documents Nearly three months after the Voice first requested tender documents for work worth millions of dollars in East Fonthill, the Town has not complied with a freedom of information request (FOI).

“Tendering” is a process by which companies can bid on the contract for a project.

It is Town policy that any project greater than $10,000 dollars must be formally tendered, and that any project over $25,000 must be approved by Council. $2.5 million dollars for the construction of Summersides Drive was approved in the 2016 capital budget. A further $2.1 million dollars was approved in the 2017 capital budget for Summersides. $1.3 million was approved in the 2017 budget for servicing in East Fonthill.

All of this work was to be carried out under an agreement the Town signed with the Allen Group, a major East Fonthill developer. In this agreement, obtained by the Voice through a separate FOI request, engineering firm Upper Canada Consultants was named as

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Page 2

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

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Brock and Region receive $450K grant

PUBLISHER’S CORNER

by Dave Burket

BY VOICE STAFF

Catching up on the papers: Belated and current thanks to some kind donators and lenders of old newspapers to us over the last few weeks—Andrew Ralston, Brian Gerrard, and Gary Chambers have all bought in some items, in Chambers’ case via George and Bernice Alsop… Stuck on you: Then there are the fridge magnets—thanks, Faye Suthons!… CSI Ridgeville: It looked like a crime scene outside Sweet Thoughts chocolate and clothes shop last week, what with the entrance draped in blue tarps and all the traffic cones. “It’s not Death

by Chocolate,” owner Bobbi Lococo assured us. “Just a new roof”… Ideas for Mom: Speaking of Sweet Thoughts, they are among various local businesses offering Mother’s Day specials, including The Pelham Street Grille, Bloomin’ Crazy Garden Centre, Salon Allegra, My Place Bar & Grill, Nature Lovers Garden Centre, the North Pelham Hall, and the Pelham Art Festival coming this weekend. See ads for all of the above in these pages!…A design only a mother could love?

There was mixed reaction around town last week as a design sketch was revealed online for the ongoing construction at the former Moku’s building, also home to Fonthill Fitness, in downtown Fonthill. Featuring four stories of posts and setbacks, Fonthill Fitness resident-wit Strange De Gym said the design looked like “the love-child of a wedding cake and a Mississippi paddle-boat steamer.”… Mark Twain would be right at home: On the topic of old-fashioned fun, before you know it the Fenwick Lions’ Carnival will be here again. Advance tickets are on sale now at the Avondales in Fonthill and Fenwick… And the award goes to: The Voice is grateful to the Ontario Community Newspapers Association for awarding us second place for Best Investigative News Story in their Better Newspapers Competition, 2017. The category was open to newspapers of all sizes—meaning that we were up against big city as well as small town weeklies. Ironically, when the newspaper association announced in February that the Voice was on the shortlist for the award, this revelation prompted Pelham Town Hall to cut off communication with us for a time, asserting, bizarrely, that despite our 21-year membership in the OCNA, we were not a properly accredited newspaper. Compounding the irony? I had just finished the third of three newspaper judging roles of my own—two for newspaper associations in provinces to the west, where some fine work made it tough to pick the best of the best, and for Ontario college newspapers, where there was plenty of upcoming talent… Being coy: Despite the registration period being open for a week, we have yet to see any candidate announcements for mayor or council. Cards, they are being played close to the vest. Judging by the rumour mill, odds now favour our current Mayor running for a fourth term after all, leaving the Regional Chair race to horses with more dollars behind them. Interesting times ahead.

The Niagara Region and Brock University announced that a partnership between the two has been awarded a $470,000 Ontario Trillium Foundation grant for a review of the Region’s poverty reduction efforts. The announcement, made formally

by St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley and Regional Chair Alan Caslin at Regional headquarters last week, was also attended by some of the eight Brock faculty members who will be conducting the review.

Caslin explained that the poverty reduction program, called the Niagara Prosperity Initiative (NPI), was started by the Region in 2008, and has funding of $1.5 million dollars annually.

The grant is for 2018, 2019, and 2020, with reports being released by the Brock team each December.

“As I travel across the Region and meet with stakeholder roundtables, poverty reduction is a high priority,” said Caslin.

Marc Todd, a manager with the NPI, said that over the past decade some 350 efforts have been funded.

“There have been community garden projects, after-school activities for kids, volunteer opportunities—they’ve all been successful,” said Todd.

Bradley, who has been an MPP since 1977, touted the Region’s rebound from tough economic times, and said that much-needed at-

Voice on vacation!

tention is finally being given to poverty reduction.

“Governments are recognizing poverty, and that people don’t go running down the street with signs saying that they’re poor,” said Bradley.

He said that measures such as a three-percent increase in disability support included the provincial government’s latest budget help to ensure people have some protection from falling into poverty.

“The real goal is to engender economic activity,” said Bradley.

“The NPI has promoted food security, strengthened job skills, and provided assistance to over 100,000 individuals and families,” he

said. “After a decade, it’s time for a holistic evaluation of the program, and the multi-disciplinary group from Brock will do that.”

The Brock faculty members come from departments as diverse as psychology, geography, and nursing, Bradley said, and the review will contribute to the NPI’s role as a model for poverty reduction across the province.

“Applications aren’t approved by me,” said Bradley.

“Don’t give me the credit.

There’s a local grant review team, and then a provincial one. It’s outside of the political process, and that’s what I think is great about it.”

See GRANT Page 12

Brock VP of Research Tim Kenyon, Regional Chair Alan Caslin, and St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley pose with the recipients of a $470,000 Trillium grant to study anti-poverty efforts in Niagara.

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Wednesday, February 8, 2017

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Column Six

Growing up British

Vol.20 No.32

Wednesday October 12, 2016

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Apple Day comes to Fonthill

BY JULIE MANNELL

Special to the VOICE

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BALLOONING INTEREST Grade 6 student Jinja Shepherd explains her experiment on static electricity at the Glynn A. Green Public School's annual science fair last Friday. See story, page 3.

NATE SMELLE PHOTO

Public meeting tonight on school issues

BY VOICE STAFF As questions continue to mount regarding an email that Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn quietly sent to a District School Board of Niagara trustee last summer, Augustyn has agreed to address the issue at a public meeting scheduled for this evening, Wednesday, Feb. 8, in Fenwick.

Nancy Beamer, speaking for “Names Matter,” a Pelham citizens group lobbying the DSBN to reverse its decision to rename a local public school, confirms that the meeting will be held at Fire Station #2, known locally as the Fenwick Fire Hall, starting at 7:00 PM. While the Mayor has agreed to ap-

Under pressure, Mayor to address email revelation, other E. W. Farr matters pear, says Beamer, DSBN officials associated with the school-naming process have either declined to attend or have not yet responded to the group’s invitation.

DSBN Chair, Dale Robinson, to whom Augustyn’s email was addressed last June, has declined to appear, says Beamer, asserting that she would be

“on holidays.” The Voice was unable to independently confirm Robinsion’s intentions. She did not respond to repeated requests for comment on E.W. Farr-related matters before presstime.

Beamer, whose group maintains an email list of some 580 residents, says that all members of the public are invited and encouraged to attend the meeting.

“We would especially welcome parents and children who are unhappy with the name change,” she says, referring to the contentious decision by the DSBN to consolidate two Pelham See MEETING back page

HEN I WAS young, my father and I would go for long drives along the rural routes of Pelham. We’d blast George Thurgood and roll down the windows because we loved the smell of the breeze, the sensation of crisp Niagara wind beating our cheeks and tangling our hair against our summer-kissed skin.

My father was not a sentimental man. He worked in factories and had a Gordon Lightfoot mustache and never shed tears over injuries.

Yet something about the Pelham landscape, the hilly backdrop to his childhood and the childhoods of our ancestors, drew him in. He’d stop by a farm or a gathering of woods and, surrendering his manly veneer, tell me a story about the town.

This place is precious. This is the earth that granted us life. Here is the place where we happened upon love or here is a site of devastation.

On one particular drive sometime in the late ‘90s we stopped at a tree with a plaque.

“This tree looks dead,” I said to my father.

“It sure is getting there, Julie.”

The Comfort Maple is supposedly Canada’s oldest See COLUMN SIX Page 14

Part 2 of 2: Coronation to embarkation

BY VOICE STAFF

A construction error was discovered following the opening of a traffic calming chicane on Haist Street north of Hwy 20 last Monday that prevented large vehicles from passing through.

One resident living in the neighbourhood said he contacted the Town after seeing a small schoolbus get stuck as it tried to get through the new traffic calming measure. Later that day while driving behind a cement truck, he said that he became concerned for the public’s safety when the truck had to turn around because it couldn’t get through.

“If a small school bus and a cement truck can’t make it through what about a fire

BY HEATHER McLAREN ROHRER

Special to the VOICE

A

Repair measures underway last week to correct a construction error in the chicane. truck or an ambulance?” he said.

While waiting for the contractor to return to fix

the mistake, the Town has taken measures to temporarily allow passage for vehicles through the neigh-

VOICE PHOTO

bourhood in the short-term.

Manager of Public Works Ryan Cook said that after discovering the issue with

the chicane the morning it first opened, the Town See CHICANE Page 5

Petition-inspired changes coming to 2017 Summerfest

BY NATE SMELLE

The VOICE

Representatives from the Pelham Summerfest committee Candy Ashbee and Bill Gibson presented council with a final report on the 2016 Summerfest at the Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 21.

Prompted by a story in the Voice in August about a merchant petition to move Summerfest from Pelham Street, in September Town staff met with various stakeholders to hear their complaints, promising at the time that changes in the way Summerfest was mounted would be con-

sidered.

The main concerns identified during the community engagement process were security, parking, ensuring customer can access all businesses in town, and liability for damages. How to get all Pelham Street businesses to participate and finding ways to make it beneficial for them to set up a booth were also determined to be of high priority for the committee as they plan for next year’s event.

Gibson told Council that the committee is addressing these concerns in a variety of ways. To improve parking, they intend to create bet-

ter signage for out-of-town visitors to designated parking areas and shuttle services. To make participation in Summerfest more enticing to local businesses, they plan to implement a tiered-charge for booths. Under the new system, Pelham Street business owners will be charged the least, other local businesses will pay a slightly higher fee, and vendors from outside Pelham will pay the most. In response to more specific issues for individual businesses, they will also slightly alter the footprint of the event and make adjustments to security.

Another way the committee plans

Debbie

Get

to improve the 2017 Summerfest is by sponsoring and working with the organizers of the Thursday Night Bandshell Concert series to select the artist performing on the first night of Summefest. They also intend to make more use of the smartphone app they launched in 2016.

"We are really going to push it this year," Ashbee said.

“It really helps to get people to see what events there are so they can plan out where they are going.

We will be able to actually help the merchants and local businesses adSee CHANGES Page 5

FTER LUNCH ON Saturday, Mum and Dad had my afternoon cut out for me. Mum had more brass than anyone I knew, and it had to be cleaned. In addition there was the set of silver fish-knives and forks which were never used, but which had to be cleaned and put back in their velvetlined box.

Next was a walk to the newsagents to pay for the daily delivery of the Daily Mirror. As I said, Dad was a printer, but when he was 37 he had been rejected for a job, as being too old, by the printers of the Beano.

For that reason, my favourite comic was not allowed in the house, but while I was paying the papers, the newsagent let me have a 'shoofty' at the Beano. I'd explained my predicament and he understood completely.

Sundays were different again. Dad would play golf on summer mornings and billiards in winter. Then he'd stop for a 'refresher' at the local and would pick up the prawns, cockles, winkles or whelks we'd be having for tea later. Meanwhile, Mum was roasting the 'joint' and potatoes. I got to make the Yorkshire pud, and mint

See COLUMN SIX Page 14

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BY VOICE STAFF

While shopping in Fonthill between Friday and Sunday, keep an eye out for Beavers, Cubs and Scouts in front of local stores with bushels of apples.

As part of the annual Apple Day campaign, Scouting youth of all ages will be trading apples for donations.

The yearly fundraising drive is an important way for young Scouts to connect with the communities they are serving, says Leah Marie of Scouts Canada.

“The Apple Day campaign holds a great tradition of being able to have youth interacting within the communities they live in,” she says. “All of the Apple Day donations stay directly within the group that re-

The goal is to have these youth develop into confident and well-rounded individuals

ceives them, enabling youth to have experiences that build character, challenge them, and allow them to try new things. The goal is to have these youth develop into confident and wellrounded individuals, better prepared for success. Apple Day helps to achieve that.”

“Any money raised during Apple Day goes towards improving the Scouting program by providing more outdoor adventures for youth, camping equipment, canoes and paddles, training and many other endeavours that the youth want to experience,” says Marie.

Scouts Canada has some 100,000 members across Canada, and carries out programs for boys, girls

walk/trail is slated to be built between the south side of the road from Timmsdale Crescent to the high school.

Because of the large volume of motor vehicle traffic travelling at high speeds through this area, and because of the necessity for students to tread this path on a daily basis, many residents would like to see the sidewalk go in sooner than later.

After delivering to Council a petition containing

Many residents would like to see the sidewalk go in sooner than later the names of 450 students calling for a safer walk to school, Simpson handed the

podium over to Loewen and Williams to plead their case.

Loewen told Council that because there are a lot of students who have work placements and coop placements during the school year, this is the only route for many of them to travel.

As one of the students facing this predicament, Williams said she has had no other option but to walk along the dangerous highway.

www.pennylanesold.com

H EATHER AND P ENNY L ANE S ALES R EPRESENTATIVES

BY JOHN SWART

VOICE Correspondent

and youth ages 5-25. This year the 3rd Fonthill Group, which includes Beavers to Ventures (youth ages 5- 25) will be hitting the streets to drum-up support.

Over the weekend, Scouts will be set up in Fonthill outside Sobeys, Tim Hortons, Target Gas station, Fonthill Shopping Plaza and the Pioneer Gas station at the corner of Hwys 20 and 24.

Town Council approves sidewalk to serve E. L. Crossley

BY NATE SMELLE

The VOICE

Joining their principal, Karen Simpson, at the Sept.

19 Council meeting as part of a delegation from EL Crossley Secondary School, students Abby Loewen and Neenah Williams presented Council with a list of reasons that they should immediately approve the construction of the new sidewalk proposed along Hwy. 20. The asphalt side-

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T

Second year Beaver with the 3rd Fonthill Group, Russell Letford offers a fresh apple to shoppers in Pelham during the 2015 Apple Day campaign.

SUPPLIED PHOTO A longtime Canadian tradition, Apple Day began in 1932 in Saint John, New Brunswick, when Scouts handed out 21,000 apples as a way to say thank you to the community. In return for their generosity, many people offered them donations. From then on Scouts have reached out through Apple Day to raise funds for their programs.

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Column Six It doesn’t get better than Autumn

Longtime Scouting tradition dates to 1932

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Request made of community still peeved at name change

See DSBN Page 9

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Column Six

BY VOICE STAFF The District School Board of Niagara is requesting that the Town of Pelham cede a portion of Cherry Ridge Park for use as a soccer field to serve the students of the new Wellington Heights Public School, formerly the E. W. Farr Memorial Public School, in Fenwick.

Currently under renovation and expansion, the new school will combine students and staff from the previous school and Pelham Centre, where classes are being held while construction continues.

Two letters, containing virtually identical text but signed by different authorities, were sent last week to nearby residents of the park, as well as to parents of Pelham Centre students.

“The DSBN is currently building onto Wellington Heights Public School on Alsop Drive,” states the letter. “The size of the school's addition means the existing small soccer field will be eliminated.

The Town and the Board have been discussing the possibility of working together to create a field for both the school and the

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In an effort to bring further attention and deterrence to driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, the Niagara Regional Police Service reports the names of those people who are charged with an alleged criminal impaired driving offence in the Region. None of the following charges have been proved in court.

In addition to being charged, these individuals are also bound by a Ministry of Transportation 90Day Administrative Driver’s License Suspension and are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle on a roadway. The public is encouraged to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service Traffic Safety Hotline or Crime Stoppers to report those who are driving in contravention of the suspension.

The following individuals have been charged criminally with impaired driving by alcohol or drugs, driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 80 mgs of alcohol in 100 ml of blood, or refusing to provide a breath / blood sample.

Larry W. WITTENBERG, 68, St. Catharines Nicholas W. JOHNSTONE, 42, Niagara Falls Mark C. KROEKENSTOEL, 32, Fort Erie Justin W. A. FORTUNE, 28, St. Catharines David R. PENNER, 49, Thorold Terrylyn MCARTHUR, 55, Niagara Falls Anna I. PEMKIEWICZ, 29, Buffalo NY Daniel W. KEYES, 28, Niagara Falls Philip J. PERRONE, 24, Vanessa Laith M. KADHIM, 27, Niagara Falls Miranda S. RIPLEY, 23, Stratford Krista D. HARGAN, 37, Jacksonville, FL Rakeel JAVAID, 23, St. Catharines Joshua R. GAMBLE, 25, St. Catharines Alexander I. H. CHILTON-KESSLER, 32, Pelham Ernest J. KALLAI, 56, Niagara Falls The Niagara Regional Police Service is committed to reducing impaired driving offences through education and the apprehension of offenders through enforcement programs like RIDE. Impaired driving is still the leading cause of criminal deaths in Canada and destroys thousands of lives every year.

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“I start work at 2:30 PM and school lets out at 2:15 PM so I can’t take any other route,” Williams explained.

“I have had friends, family, teachers and other community members reach out to me in the past about how this is unsafe and how there should be another alternative for us.”

Looking ahead to winter, when she will need to walk this path three or four times See SIDEWALK Page 2

HERE IS NO BETTER time to cycle than Fall. It matters not whether you’re new to the sport, a seasoned recreational cyclist, racer, touring rider or mountain biker; we all have reason to look forward to autumn.

Summer’s heat has faded, and the streams of sweat that ran from soggy helmets into our eyes are now just slight perspiration. Fitness is peaking from lots of saddle time, making those tough climbs of Spring a breeze in Autumn.

It’s hard to beat the feeling of beginning a crisp, cool Fall ride with a slight shiver, knowing your efforts will soon warm you perfectly.

The hues of Autumn are outstanding.

A Pelham route as simple as following our southern boundary is one that would make most Toronto cyclists jealous, especially when our forests and fields are ablaze with colour.

Begin from Harold Black Park, and zig-zag south along Effingham Rd toward the Welland River.

If you’re new to cycling, it’s important to know south is the direction away from any hills.

If you avoid the morning and evening weekday rush hours caused by those travelling through Pelham between Wainfleet See AUTUMN Page 3

Indulgence Bakery Mossimo’s Pelham Street Grille Sobeys Fonthill Peter Piper’s Pubhouse DeVries Fruit Farm Beamer’s Hardware & TV Fonthill Library Bob’s Boys Antiques RBC Bank Fenwick Family Health Pharmacy Fonthill Fitness Fenwick Pie Company McDonald’s Fonthill Legion Semenuk’s Gas Bar Shoppers Drug Mart Tim Horton’s Giant Tiger Fonthill LCBO Zee Lube Express Care Food Basics Minor Bros Stores Avondale Stores A-1 Market Pharmasave Sobeys South Pelham Grill on Canboro Maple Acre Library Ridge Berry Farm Circle-K

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The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Page 3

Pelham Seniors Apartments board hosts "open dialogue" Many tenants remain dissatisfied with building's approach

BY SAMUEL PICCOLO

The VOICE

The Pelham Non-Profit Housing Corporation’s board of directors held an “hour of open dialogue” with tenants last Monday evening, four days after it abruptly cancelled its Annual General Meeting, and one week after the Voice published an investigation into management practices, including improper apartment entires, illegal fees, allegations of bullying, and tenant concerns about governance.

At the scheduled AGM, the Voice and other non-tenants were present at the invitation of several building residents. Rather than permit non-tenants to observe the meeting, board president Geoff Kirkwood cancelled the open session and moved the board behind closed doors.

In an audio recording obtained by the Voice of Monday’s “open dialogue,” Kirkwood can be heard beginning the meeting with 45 or so tenants by asserting that the board was not required to allow non-tenants to observe the AGM. “[Under] our by-laws, article five, five-one, and I read: ‘The board must hold an Annual General Meeting open to tenants,’” said Kirkwood. “Nowhere does it indicate that the general public can attend.”

Kirkwood said that the board held its AGM privately, at which it received its auditor’s report. This would appear to contravene the bylaw requiring an AGM open to tenants. Responding to a Voice query on this point by email on Sunday

evening, Kirkwood did not directly answer, writing, “the meeting was relocated ‘elsewhere in the Town of Pelham, as determined by the Board’ so that the Audited Financial Report could be reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors in a timely manner. This is also in accordance with the Corporation’s by-laws.”

Kirkwood told tenants that they did not “have the right to see the financial results of the corporation,” nor to invite non-tenants to the AGM. He also refused to provide tenants with the board’s governing by-laws.

Kirkwood asserted that surveys conducted among tenants over the past several years showed that a majority were satisfied with the building. He also read testimonials apparently written by tenants. “‘You are the best,’” read Kirkwood. “‘We have the best management and staff ever.’ ‘No reason for complaints.’ It all paints a very positive picture.”

Before allowing tenants to speak, Kirkwood said that he was not going to address anything included in the Voice’s investigation.

“I’m not going to debate with you all the incidents in the paper since 2000-and-whatever. They were all dealt with. That’s water under the bridge,” he said.

The Voice’s investigation detailed incidents and allegations from 2012 through early this year.

Elaine Champagne, who moved into the building last year with her husband, Bill, said that initially they were not bothered by the con-

Pelham Seniors Apartments, at 45 Pelham Town Square.

cerns of other tenants.

“We discussed with Catherine some of these things, and [we] said they’re not affecting us. We don’t care. When the newspaper article broke, we found out that we did care,” said Champagne. She chastised Kirkwood for the board’s response to the questions posed by the Voice.

“How do you respond appropriately to illegal entry, to bullying, to harassment, to elder abuse? What you should have said [to the paper] was, ‘Please allow us the time to meet with all of the individuals concerned, sit down and try to sort this out,’” said Champagne.

“Instead, you responded with a bullying attitude. So they printed that. I was shocked. I was devastated,” said Champagne, now speaking to the other tenants present. “Just because it didn’t happen to me and Bill, just because it didn’t happen to some of you, doesn’t mean it can’t. Because it does. And

VOICE PHOTO

it could.”

She turned to the subject of illegal entries of apartments by superintendent Mike Fairman.

“We apologize for that,” said Kirkwood, who admitted that Fairman had entered an apartment illegally on one occasion. (Tenants allege many more such entries.)

“I’ve been asking,” continued Champagne, ‘Who are the bosses?’

I understood that you don’t have a boss. You’re wrong. Public opinion is your boss. Have you read the social media? Do you know the comments that have come in? You can slap us around with what you’ve said. You were responsible for this going in the paper. You were also responsible for the fiasco at your Annual General Meeting. You tried to bully and muscle people…You do have bosses. I’m asking you as a board to resign, and to let Catherine and Mike go.”

After the meeting, Champagne told the Voice that she has heard

King refer disparagingly to another tenant as, “the princess.”

Barb Beamer called King’s use of the term “unprofessional.”

“Who knows what she calls us [when we’re not around],” said Beamer.

Board vice-president Jake Dilts, who has been involved with the building since its inception in 1980, was also in attendance. Tenant Irene Shepperd said that Dilts sat behind her, mocking tenants who raised concerned during the meeting.

“When someone would speak he would call them a troublemaker, and laugh at them,” said Shepperd.

At one point in the meeting, Dilts himself rose to address the room.

“I’m very disturbed about people talking about this building,” said Dilts. “It’s one of the greatest buildings around, and I have helped everybody in this building personally. People in this building should start backing people like us that put our effort in this building,” remarks that earned applause from tenants perceived to be upset by their neighbours raising concerns.

Though he is board vice-president, later in the week Dilts appeared to suggest that his influence is limited. When asked by the Voice whether the board would respond to future questions from the newspaper, Dilts said, “It’s up to them…I just play along with the game.”

“Everything works out in the end,” continued Dilts. “We’ll see how it all works out.”

Bill Champagne spoke about the board’s communication style. Earlier in the meeting, Kirkwood had clarified an issue regarding snow removal, saying that this year’s See DIALOGUE Page 14

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The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

OPINION

The opinions expressed in submitted commentary and letters to the editor are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of the Voice of Pelham.

The Voice of Pelham is a 1211858 Ontario Limited publication David Burket, Publisher 2-1428 Pelham St., P.O. Box 1489, Fonthill, ON L0S1E0

COMMENTARY / OP-ED Larry Coté Pitch the plastics properly

T

HERE IS NO doubting the good intentions and brilliance of the chemists who invented plastics 60 to 70 years ago. However, it is unlikely they could ever have imagined how almost 10 billion tons (a current estimate of production) of that invention might reek havoc on the planet. Undeniably, the compound has provided the world with many benefits but, none-the-less, at some unintended costs to all that inhabit this planet. It is not the product that is the problem but the inappropriate usages and unnecessary applications that has resulted in untoward measures of harm.

As a recent participant in the Pelham’s volunteer contingent to help clean up the Town’s landscape it was a shocking revelation to see first hand how so much plastic material litters our lands. Picking up bottles, food containers, sipping straws and all manner of wrappings made from plastic kept this small army of litter-pickers busy for a good part of the day. Also, the number of cigarette butts with non-bio-degradable filters that litter the ground is absolutely astounding.

Sadly, one can readily see some of the misuses when making their way through the town and countryside and observe the number of discarded drink bottles that litter the boulevards. The improper disposal of such one-time usage plastics has now become a major issue affecting the environment and, not insignificantly, our land and aquatic wildlife.

A recent OP/ED in the Toronto Star on the one-time use of plastics reported the following. A camel had 40 pounds of plastic removed from its digestive system; a young sperm whale had 64 pounds of plastic in its stomach and a baby dolphin died as a result of being poisoned by the plastic in its mother’s milk.

On a more consoling note, the Niagara Region has done, and is doing, an admirable job of educating and encouraging residents on the proper sorting and disposal of household waste. Thankfully, this has resulted in a significant reduction of what ends up in the landfill facilities. By way of an analogy, observe the effectiveness of the educational program that has many shoppers now bringing their re-usable totes to the grocers and oth-

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The Voice

1428 Pelham Street, P.O. Box 1489, Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0 Office open: Monday - Thursday 8 AM - 2 PM

(905) 892-8690

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca PUBLISHER & EDITOR Dave Burket publisher@thevoiceofpelham.ca NEWS WRITER Samuel Piccolo ADMINISTRATION Lori Gretsinger office@thevoiceofpelham.ca CONTRIBUTORS Carolyn Botari, Larry Coté, Colin Brezicki, John Swart, Kirk Weaver NEWS INQUIRIES & TIPS editor@thevoiceofpelham.ca LETTERS TO THE EDITOR letters@thevoiceofpelham.ca ADVERTISING INQUIRIES advertising@thevoiceofpelham.ca

er shopping venues.

The disparaging fact is, a large number of plastic products are not readily recyclable nor bio-degradable.

They will not decompose for many, many years.

Since many of the plastics regularly used are not bio-degradable and otherwise expensive to dispose of then the solution to this part of the pollution issue lies at the source. Consumers need to reject the many inessential single-usage plastic containers and packaging. If sufficient numbers participate in that refusal, then the manufacturers and others in the chain of distribution will get the message and switch from plastics to using compost-able wrappings and containers. A healthier ecosystem is the beneficiary.

Each person can easily do a little to help save this wondrous planet by reducing this addiction to the unnecessary usages and applications of non-degradable and non-recyclable plastics.

Those who will inherit this earth will be grateful and a little bit more litter free. ◆ Larry Coté is a retired professor of business. He has been awarded a Governor General’s Medal for his community involvements.

Letters Pelham High School reunion reminder Saturday, September 22nd, 2018 is the date for our tenth Pelham High School Reunion.

The older we get, the more often we say “Where has all the time gone?” It seems as though we are better at remembering what we did when we were 17 than what we had or if we had breakfast this morning.

The time we spent growing up together is special.

There is a bond between us that nothing can replace.

Pelham High School did that

for us and we enjoy going back to look at those times.

When we get together we can really relate to each other because we shared the same experiences. Sometimes, we agree on what really happened and sometimes we don’t. But, that’s the fun of it and we can’t Google it to see who’s right or wrong!

We like to remember: playing and watching sports, going to dances, skipping school and going to the beach (don’t tell the

grandkids), detentions, the Pelham Review, assemblies, E. L. Crossley—“a word to the wise should be sufficient,” teachers, walking the halls with your steady, and, oh yes, perhaps, what we learned in class.

What we love best about our reunions is to see each other and find out how everyone is doing. We ask “How are the kids, the grandkids, the great grand kids!” We have gone from See REUNION next page

CONTACT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS Member of Federal Parliament

Electoral District: Niagara West

Dean Allison, MP 4994 King Street Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 Dean.Allison@parl.gc.ca 877-563-7900

Mayor of Pelham David Augustyn mayordave@pelham.ca 905-892-2607 Ext 317 Members of Pelham Town Council

Member of Provincial Parliament

Ward 1 Councillor Richard Rybiak rrybiak@pelham.ca 905-892-2105

Sam Oosterhoff, MPP 4961 King St. East, Unit M1 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 sam.oosterhoffco@pc.ola.org 905-563-1755

Councillor James Lane jlane@pelham.ca 905-892-2607

Electoral District: Niagara West-Glanbrook

Members of Niagara Regional Council Councillor David Augustyn mayordave@pelham.ca 905-892-2607 Ext 317 Councillor Brian Baty brian.baty@niagararegion.ca 905-892-5317 Town of Pelham 20 Pelham Town Square P.O. Box 400 Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0 905-892-2607

Ward 2 Councillor Catherine King cking@pelham.ca 905-658-8599 Councillor Gary Accursi gaccursi@pelham.ca 905-892-5528

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Have an Opinion?

BARRISTER, SOLICITOR & NOTARY LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are welcome. Letter submissions should contain the writer’s full name, address and telephone number. Names only will be published. Names may be withheld if compelling reasons are provided. The newspaper reserves the right to change, condense or reject any contribution for brevity, clarity or legal considerations. All material in this publication is protected by copyright. Reproduction is prohibited without express, written permission of the publisher.

ADVERTISING: The Voice of Pelham regrets any errors or omissions that appear in advertisements in this newspaper, however, we will not be held responsible for more than one absent or incorrect insertion or for any damages beyond the cost of space containing the error. The Voice is an independent, locally owned and operated publication.

The Voice is a member of the National NewsMedia Council, a voluntary self-regulatory organization that deals with journalistic practices and ethics. If you have an unresolved complaint about news stories, opinion columns or photos, please visit their web site at mediacouncil.ca or call 1-844-877-1163. If you have a complaint about delivery or membership problems, please contact our office at 905-892-8690. For a summary of Voice ethical guidelines, see www.thevoiceofpelham.ca/ethics

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The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Page 5

OPINION Letters

Another Pelham Seniors Apartments resident speaks out

continued

REUNION continued from previous page having a couple of pictures in our wallet to 100 on our phone or tablet. We ask: “What is your phone number so I can text you, what’s your email, are you on Facebook.” We wonder how we ever got this far— from Pelham High School and sock hops, penny loafers and bobby socks, brush cuts and D.A.s —to texting and taking pictures on our phones.

Pelham High School has been closed since 1974, but come reunion time it will open again for just a few hours. In 2016, there were over 300 of us there. We have lost many over the last two years so, please come — one more time.

On Saturday, September

...a word to the wise should be sufficient...

22nd, 2018 from 1-5 PM. we will gather at Lipa Park, Oille Road, North Pelham.

So, if you are a former student, staff or support staff member, we hope you can join us.

Please email: pelhamhighreunion8@gmail.com or call (905) 892-7090 for more details. We hope to see you there.

Vilma Moretti Welland

My name is Elaine Champagne and my husband Bill and I moved into 45 Pelham Town Square last August. We absolutely love living in our apartment. The superintendent Mike has been very friendly and outgoing and manager Catharine has been very cordial. Up until a few weeks ago we had no complaints.

But I must say we were beginning to notice that living here is kind of like the “Animal Farm” story, in that it feels like “we are all equal but some are more equal than others.”

When we started hearing rumors about problems in the building we had no actual references for any of it. We were new here. We discussed some of the these rumors with both Catharine and Mike —illegal entering, bullying, etc., but they said it was just a few people causing trouble. We figured that it had never happened to us so if

it never did we didn’t care, didn’t want to get involved.

When the newspaper article broke, we found out we did care. The problem is that if you don’t know what is going on, then it doesn’t affect you and you can bury your head. But once you know, when you see the irrefutable proof of illegal happenings in the building, then you care —then you need your voice to be heard.

It took courage for the people to come forward and share what had happened to them but when they repeatedly were accused of lying when they approached Catharine about Mike illegally entering, and other harassment and bullying, they felt they had no other option and I agree.

The newspaper approached the Board of Directors and Catherine and Mike several times to get their side of the story. They held the publica-

tion of the article waiting for comment. When their responses finally came they were “Not interested, bud-

Up until a few weeks ago we had no complaints

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The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

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continued from previous page corporation were “seeking legal counsel” and requesting that the paper postpone publication of the article to allow them the time to “respond appropriately.”

My question to Mr. Kirkwood is this: “How do you respond appropriately to illegal entry, to bullying, to harassment and to elder abuse?”

There is no appropriate response! What you should have done was ask the newspaper to give you time to meet with all the individuals concerned, sit

down and try to sort this out. To show you intended to address these issues. But no—you lawyered up and tried to bully the newspaper.

You had no intention of addressing these issues ever, and based on that conclusion the newspaper published the article. And what an article it was! I was shocked and devastated.

This is my home, I love this building and I felt hurt and embarrassed that the image of abuse in this building was out there for everyone to see. However this stuff happened.

Just because it hasn’t happened to Bill and I or some of the other tenants it has happened and is happening and we could be next. So we need to address this. This has got to stop.

Your bullying, condescending attitude toward the newspaper continued when you tried to eject the reporter and his editor as well as Sharon Cook, a senior’s advocate, and the Rev. Scott Beamer, the son of one of the tenants, from the Annual Meeting two days after the first article was published. This meeting was to be held in the Common

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Room for the Board to give an overall report of finances, etc.

We need to address this.

This has got to stop.

You caused such an uproar, and then two male tenants tried to threaten and bully the invited guests (not those men’s finest hour). Some of our tenants could have been hurt in this heated interaction and then when you knew you had no grounds for the ejections you cancelled the meeting.

Why? The tenants were under a “gag order.” We couldn’t speak at the meeting. What were you afraid of in your reports that you didn’t want the public to hear?

Mr. Kirkwood has already admitted in the newspaper that one instance of illegal entry did occur. The tenant was sick in bed with her cell phone by her side and Mike unlocked her door and walked in. This illegal entry was to change four screws in the light plate on the wall in her bathroom. This has been admitted. Illegal entry under the Tenants Act is grounds for dismissal. And this hasn’t happened only once — it has been proven several times.

In an open meeting, which the Board held April 30th for tenants to have open dialogue, you likewise admitted knowing of the threatening and abusive letter that was sent to the tenants about their toilet. That was classic elder abuse, and you should step down as President for condoning this abuse.

Mr. Kirkwood, you seem to feel you have no boss. Well sir, you are wrong. Public Opinion is your boss. Have you read the comments on social media? People in this community and beyond are appalled by the actions of this Board and the staff they employ and they will hold you accountable. Under your guidance and watch this Board continues to condone and encourage abuse, bullying, invasion of privacy etc.

Please resign, and let a new Board oversee with respect and integrity.

To all who are reading this please realize that this is our home. This isn’t just a place where these people come and work and reign supreme.

They need to show us some respect and allow us to live with hope and eagerness for the years ahead, not fear and dread of abuse, invasion of privacy and harassment.

We sincerely wish that the other tenants living in our building who have judged us harshly for airing our dirty laundry in such a public fashion, would understand that we do so on behalf of everyone so it ends with those of us who have suffered these indignities.

Elaine Champagne Fonthill

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

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*Regular GM Card Application Bonus – Offer applies to individuals who apply for a Scotiabank® GM® Visa* Card (GM Card) or current Scotiabank® GM® Visa* Cardholders. Credit valid towards the retail purchase or lease of one eligible 2018 model year (“MY”) Chevrolet/ GMC delivered in Canada between May 1, 2018, to May 31, 2018. Credit is a manufacturer to consumer incentive (tax inclusive) and credit value depends on model purchased: $750 credit available on: Chevrolet Colorado (excluding 2SA model); and GMC Canyon (except 2SA); and $1,000 credit available on: Chevrolet Silverado, Silverado HD; and GMC Sierra or Sierra HD. Offer is transferable to a family member living within the same household (proof of address required). As part of the transaction, dealer may request documentation and contact General Motors of Canada Company (GM Canada) to verify eligibility. This offer may not be redeemed for cash and may not be combined with certain other consumer incentives. Certain limitations or conditions apply. Void where prohibited. See your GM Canada dealer for details. GM Canada reserves the right to amend or terminate offers for any reason in whole or in part at any time without prior notice. +Bonus Tag Event Offers are valid toward the retail purchase of an eligible new or demonstrator 2018 MY GMC SUV or full-size SUV delivered in Canada between May 1, 2018 – May 31, 2018. $1,500 Bonus Cash and Up To 15% Of MSRP Cash Purchase Credit cannot be combined with each other. $1,500 Bonus Cash is a manufacturer to consumer incentive (tax inclusive), valid toward retail purchase, lease and finance transactions. $1,500 Bonus Cash is available on new 2018 Acadia, Terrain, Yukon, Yukon XL, Savana. Up to 15% Of MSRP Cash Purchase Credit is a manufacturer to dealer incentive (tax exclusive), valid toward retail cash purchases only on select 2018 models in dealer inventory the longest as of May 1, 2018. Not compatible with special lease and finance rates. By selecting lease or finance offers, consumers are foregoing this credit which will result in higher effective cost of credit on their transaction. Credit is calculated on vehicle MSRP, excluding any dealer-installed options. Credit value will vary with model purchased: models receiving a 10% of MSRP Cash Purchase Credit are: Acadia, Savana, Terrain, Yukon and Yukon XL. On all offers: Models not eligible for these offers are: Bolt EV, Colorado/Canyon, LD and HD trucks, all Cadillac models, all 2017 MY or earlier models, vehicles not noted above, and those exclusions noted above. As part of the transaction, dealer may request documentation and contact General Motors of Canada Company (GM Canada) to verify eligibility. These offers may not be redeemed for cash and may not be combined with certain other consumer incentives. Conditions and limitations apply. Void where prohibited. See Dealer for full program details. GM Canada reserves the right to amend or terminate offers for any reason in whole or in part at any time without prior notice. ∞ (Lease) Eligible 2018 GMC Canyon Extended Cab 4WD: Lease based on suggested retail price of $36,120, includes $750 manufacturer-to-consumer GM Card Application Bonus (offer applies to individuals who apply for a Scotiabank GM Visa Card [GM Card] or current GM Card cardholders) (tax inclusive), $500 manufacturer-to-dealer lease cash (tax exclusive), $1,250 manufacturer-to-dealer Delivery Credit (tax exclusive) and $1,500 manufacturer-to-dealer Truck Nation Credit (tax exclusive) towards the lease of an eligible new 2018 GMC Canyon Extended Cab 4WD at participating dealers. Bi-weekly payment is $146 for 48 months at 1.9% interest rate on approved credit to qualified retail customers by GM Financial. $2,475 down payment is required. Total obligation is $17,693 plus applicable taxes. Taxes, license, insurance, registration and applicable fees, levies, duties and, except in Quebec, dealer fees (all of which may vary by dealer and region) are extra. Option to purchase at lease end is $16,254. See dealer for details. Discounts vary by model.

Dealer may sell for less. Limited time offer, which may not be combined with certain other offers. General Motors of Canada Company may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. Offers may not be redeemed for cash and may not be combined with certain other consumer incentives. ˠTotal Value: Eligible 2018 GMC Sierra Double Cab Elevation Edition 4WD: Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada for vehicles purchased between May 1, 2018, to May 31, 2018. Limited time only. Suggested purchase price of $46,655 includes $11,000 Total Value which is a combined total credit value for cash purchases on eligible 2018 GMC Sierra Double Cab Elevation Edition 4WD including $4,150 manufacturer-to-dealer cash credit (tax exclusive), $1,600 manufacturer-to-dealer (tax exclusive) Truck Nation Credit, $750 manufacturer-to-dealer Option Package Discount Credit (tax exclusive), $1,000 GM Card Application Bonus (offer applies to individuals who apply for a Scotiabank GM Visa Card (GM Card) or current GM Card cardholders)(tax inclusive) and $3,550 manufacturer-to-dealer delivery credit (tax exclusive). Suggested purchase price includes freight and air conditioning charge but excludes taxes, license, insurance, registration and applicable fees, duties and, except in Quebec, dealer fees (all of which may vary by province and dealer). Limited time offer, which may not be combined with certain other offers. General Motors of Canada Company may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. See dealer for details. ¶(Finance) Eligible 2018 GMC Sierra Double Cab Elevation Edition 4WD: Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada from May 1, 2018, to May 31, 2018. 0% purchase financing offered on approved credit by TD Auto Finance Services, Scotiabank® or RBC Royal Bank for 72 months on a new 2018 GMC Sierra Double Cab Elevation Edition 4WD. Other trims may have effective rates higher than 0%. Participating lenders are subject to change. Rates from other lenders will vary. Down payment, trade and/or security deposit may be required. Monthly payment and cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed and down payment/trade. Example: $40,000 financed at 0% nominal rate (2.37% APR) equals $555.55 monthly for 72 months. Total Value consists of $3,550 manufacturer-to-dealer Delivery Credit (tax exclusive), $1,600 manufacturer-to-dealer Truck Nation Credit (tax exclusive), $1,500 manufacturer-to-dealer Finance Cash (tax exclusive), $1,000 manufacturer-to-consumer GM Card Application Bonus (offer applies to individuals who apply for a Scotiabank GM Visa Card [GM Card] or current GM Card cardholders) (tax inclusive) and $750 OPD Credit. Cost of borrowing is $0, for a total obligation of $32,965. Freight and air charge ($100, if applicable) included. License, insurance, registration, PPSA, applicable taxes and dealer fees not included. Dealers are free to set individual prices. Limited time offer which may not be combined with certain other offers. General Motors of Canada Company may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. See dealer for details. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. Φ(Finance) Eligible 2018 Sierra 2500 Denali 4WD Diesel with Duramax Diesel Engine: Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada from May 1, 2018, to May 31, 2018. 0% purchase financing offered on approved credit by TD Auto Finance Services, Scotiabank® or RBC Royal Bank for 72 months on a new 2018 Sierra 2500 Denali 4WD Diesel with Duramax Diesel Engine. Other trims may have effective rates higher than 0%. Participating lenders are subject to change. Rates from other lenders will vary. Down payment, trade and/or security deposit may be required. Monthly payment and cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed and down payment/trade. Example: $80,000 financed at 0% nominal rate (0.2% APR) equals $1111.11 monthly for 72 months. Total Value consists of $4,272 manufacturer-to-dealer Delivery Credit (tax exclusive), $500 manufacturer-to-dealer Finance Cash (tax exclusive), and $1,000 manufacturer-to-consumer GM Card Application Bonus (offer applies to individuals who apply for a Scotiabank GM Visa Card [GM Card] or current GM Card cardholders) (tax inclusive). Cost of borrowing is $0, for a total obligation of $83,788. Freight and air charge ($100, if applicable) included. License, insurance, registration, PPSA, applicable taxes and dealer fees not included. Dealers are free to set individual prices. Limited time offer which may not be combined with certain other offers. General Motors of Canada Company may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. See dealer for details. ®Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. ∆(Lease) Eligible 2018 GMC Terrain SLE FWD: Lease based on suggested retail price of $32,195, includes $1,500 manufacturer-to-consumer Bonus Cash (tax inclusive), and $750 manufacturer-to-dealer Lease cash (tax exclusive) towards the lease of an eligible new 2018 GMC Terrain SLE FWD at participating dealers. Bi-weekly payment is $159 for 48 months at 0.9% interest rate on approved credit to qualified retail customers by GM Financial. $1,150 down payment is required. Total obligation is $17,672, plus applicable taxes. Taxes, license, insurance, registration and applicable fees, levies, duties and, except in Quebec, dealer fees (all of which may vary by dealer and region) are extra. Option to purchase at lease end is $13,200. See dealer for details. Discounts vary by model. Dealer may sell for less.

Limited time offer, which may not be combined with certain other offers. General Motors of Canada Company may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. Offers may not be redeemed for cash and may not be combined with certain other consumer incentives. ʵ(Finance) Eligible 2018 GMC Acadia SLE-1 AWD: Offer available to qualified retail customers in Canada from May 1, 2018 to May 31, 2018. 0% purchase financing offered on approved credit by TD Auto Finance Services, Scotiabank® or RBC Royal Bank for 72 months on a new 2018 GMC Acadia SLE-1 AWD. Other trims may have effective rates higher than 0%. Participating lenders are subject to change. Rates from other lenders will vary. Down payment, trade and/or security deposit may be required. Monthly payment and cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed and down payment/trade. Example: $30,000 financed at 0% nominal rate equals $416.66 monthly for 72 months. Includes $1,500 manufacturer-to-consumer Bonus Cash (tax inclusive).

Cost of borrowing is $0, for a total obligation of $37,628. Freight and air charge ($100, if applicable) included. License, insurance, registration, PPSA, applicable taxes and dealer fees not included. Dealers are free to set individual prices. Limited time offer which may not be combined with certain other offers. General Motors of Canada Company may modify, extend or terminate offers in whole or in part at any time without notice. Conditions and limitations apply. See dealer for details. °Sierra 5-star Overall Vehicle Score applies to 1500 series vehicles. U.S. Government 5-Star Safety Ratings are part of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) New Car Assessment Program (www.nhtsa.gov). ^Full functionality requires compatible Bluetooth® and smartphone, and USB connectivity for some devices.

Data plan rates apply. >Not compatible with all devices. ▲Whichever comes first. Limit of four complimentary Lube-Oil-Filter services in total. Fluid top-offs, inspections, tire rotations, wheel alignments and balancing, etc., are not covered. Conditions and limitations apply. See your dealer for details. Ω Whichever comes first. Conditions and limitations apply, see your dealer for details.

Page 8

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Letters

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

continued

Enters Niagara-Centre race as independent I am excited to announce that after much soul-searching, I have filed my Elections Ontario nomination papers and am re-entering the Niagara

Centre MPP race as an Independent candidate.

Most of the candidates in this race are parachuting in for their own political interests. For my entire

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life, I have been a true blue Wellander; from the inside and out.

I want to be a real alternative to the party establishment.

The political parties don’t care about you, they care about your vote. I have spent my entire political career from the time I was 19 fighting for those who did not have the means to fight for themselves.

Like a lot of individuals and young people in our riding, I struggled with addictions, as I recently made public at my recent presentation to the Niagara Region Social Services and Public Health Committee. There-

fore, I want to continue to be a voice for those people young and old, dealing with a mental health and addictions issue.

Unlike my opponents, I speak from experience. I am just an average Joe with the same challenges as my fellow residents.

Niagara is facing a health care crisis, and the best way to deal with the crisis is to elect individuals who have accessed those essential services and knows firsthand how they can be improved.

As a Child and Youth Worker by trade, I understand what supporting families really means.

I

have witnessed family breakdowns too many times, and a lot of the time, its because those essential services for families are not as readily available as they should be.

I have seen the financial strain that has been put on parents by the Wynne government, and we need to let them know that the party is over.

I will not stop fighting for what’s right for the people of my riding. I have stood up in the face of the opioid crisis, for the families of missing loved ones, against animal abuse, and for and restoral of services at our hospital, just to name a few.

These are the issues I will continue to champion as your Niagara Centre MPP. When election day comes, I want my fellow residents to think very carefully about who they want to represent them at Queen’s Park.

We can get more of the same from the PC/Liberal/ Green/NDP brain trust, or we can elect someone who has no other interest then representing his fellow residents, neighbours, and friends at the provincial stage.

Steven Soos Independent MPP Candidate, Niagara Centre

AWARD

gency services in coming years. The third place award went to the Halliburton Highlander, for its coverage of questionable management practices and financial problems at an 800-acre resort near Algonquin Park.

Voice publisher Dave

Burket credited former writer Nate Smelle for his contributions to the winning work.

“Nate covered the politics around the allegations and I looked into the business aspects. It was a team effort, and one that stands out for me as a highlight of his time at the Voice.”

Burket said he looked forward to the award plaque arriving by Canada Post. The Voice did not attend the awards gala.

“When we found out that tables cost over a thousand dollars, it was the easiest decision to make all year.

That’s the equivalent of twenty-five Voice memberships, and I was not about to tell twenty-five new members that their cash went straight to a dinner in the GTA!” The Voice has been an OCNA member since the paper’s founding 21 years ago. The Association represents weekly newspapers across the province.

continued from Page 1 category was won by the Guelph Mercury Tribune, for its comprehensive look at Ontario’s opioid crisis and how it would likely affect the city’s emer-

Writer Wanted Full-time staff reporter The Voice seeks to fill both staff and correspondent openings for news and feature writers.

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www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Fraser Darling, Alex Jastremski, coxie Kennedy Keith, Neil Kennedy, Graeme McKinley, coach John Ruscitti.

ANTHONY GALLACIO PHOTO

South Niagara rowers win Welland award The South Niagara Rowing Club’s Youth Men's Four crew, which won gold at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in 2017, was named Senior Team of the Year in Welland at the city’s recent sports award banquet hosted by the Welland Sports Promotion Committee.

Neil Kennedy (Fonthill), Fraser Darling (Fenwick), Alex Jastremski (Beamsville), Graeme McKinley (Fonthill) and coxswain Kennedy Keith (Welland) defeated 85 crews and smashed the course record by 11 seconds in the men’s youth event at the Boston-based regatta, a record which had been held for almost 25 years by the US Naval Academy. The crew was

BY DON RICKERS

Special to the VOICE

coached by John Ruscitti.

The Head of the Charles (HOTC) Regatta is to rowing what the Boston Marathon is to running: a premier international competition which draws from a full spectrum of men and women, young and old athletes, and experience levels from novice to Olympic.

The three-mile course passes under six bridges on the Charles River, with crews starting at 15-second intervals in a “head race” or time-trial format. The HOTC is the largest two-day rowing regatta in the world, featuring some 11,000 athletes and 350,000-plus spectators.

SNRC’s history of rowing success is due in large part to its ongoing partnership with high schools in Niagara’s southern tier, including the perennially dominant rowing program E.L. Crossley Secondary School. Crossley has won numerous Canadian high school rowing championships in recent years, and has been the primary feeder for SNRC’s competitive youth program success. All five of the crew members in the youth men’s four are ELC students.

SNRC annually runs two of the most successful and largest regattas in Canada—the South Niagara High School Invitational in May, and the Head of the Welland Five Bridges Classic in October.

Page 9

CANINE GRADUATE #19 Members of the Fabulous Fenwick Lions were on hand recently to watch the Club’s 19th sponsored Dog Guide graduate from the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide School. The club congratulates Michelle Woolfrey and Liscio. Liscio replaced Odin, our 18th sponsored guide dog who had to be removed from service for medical reasons. Michelle became blind at 16, and is currently attending Ryerson in Toronto, with hopes of becoming a lawyer. Thanks to funds that were raised from last year’s Classic Car Raffle, Michelle has a new seeing-eye dog. Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides are provided at no cost to eligible Canadians from coast to coast, despite costing $25,000 to train and place. Pictured, Lions Scott Kenicky, Ryan VanLochem, and John Blaszynski, Michelle Woolfrey and Liscio, and Lions Andrew Dominey and Paul Slattery.

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It was McHappy Day at Fonthill McDonald's last Wednesday. Fonthill Lion Rick Gretsinger poses with a representative from the Ronald McDonald House in Hamilton. McHappy Day is an annual event held nationwide at all McDonald's to raise money for their local Ronald McDonald House. The Fonthill store raised approximately $4800.

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Page 10

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

Ford proposes Greenbelt development, does about-face

The North Pelham Hall is having a

DOWN AND DIRTY The Rotary Club of Fonthill held its annual Mudfest challenge at Bissell’s Hideaway on Saturday morning, with hundreds of participants navigating the obstacles on the six kilometre course. Rotary president Paul Snack said that the morning, which was warm and sunny, was a pleasant departure from the five-degree weather experienced last year. “The runners didn’t mind, but the volunteers were freezing,” said Snack. He praised the 90 volunteers who were spread out amid the 26 obstacles, offering water, making sure that no one became lost. Funds raised will be donated to Big Brothers and Big Sisters of South Niagara. VOICE PHOTO

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“Doug Ford’s comments regarding his plans to open large sections of the Greenbelt to development are typical of Doug Ford personally as well as a reflection of the attitude and actions of the Conservative Party as they attempt to undermine Conservation Authorities and promote development of environmentally sensitive areas such as wetlands and lakefront,” said Burch.

“We see ample evidence of this in the Niagara Region,” he continued. “The fact that Ford attempted to reverse his position in public after he was caught, provides no solace to those of us who know he was telling the truth to his developer friends and cronies in that secret back room meeting.”

ES T

Golden Horseshoe (GGH) for housing until 2031 and beyond. There isn’t a housing supply issue, there’s a housing cost issue. And building more mega-mansions in the Greenbelt isn’t going to make housing more affordable, nor is it going to create housing where people want to live.”

Gray called for a focus on more compact cities and towns, saying, “Building more far flung housing increases property taxes by driving up municipal debt related to building and maintaining roads, sewers and water pipes to far flung, low density housing developments.”

In a press conference, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Chris Ballard called opening up the Greenbelt “recklessly shortsighted.”

“Opening up the Greenbelt will only make rich developers even richer,” he said.

On Twitter, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said, “Sprawling development creates traffic jams and tax increases. He’s saying he’ll be moving the sprawl line outwards. Sad.” Last year, Burton made a similar case and was backed up by Toronto’s chief planner Jennifer Keesmat, who said that the city had approved nearly 120,000 housing units that had not yet been built.

"Builders control supply in this region," said Keesmat to the CBC. At a campaign stop in Toronto, NDP leader Andrea Horwath said, “There is no reason whatsoever to even contemplate paving over the Greenbelt unless you’re try-

we’re not going to be distracted by that,” he said.

Wainfleet Mayor and Niagara Centre PC candidate April Jeffs said she is “glad that Doug listened to the people of Ontario.”

“I think Niagara residents are particularly sensitive about the Greenbelt because they look to past losses of tender fruit farms in place like Pelham and NOTL and don't want to see that happen again,” she said. “I am confident that the party will pursue a balanced approach to creating affordable housing that doesn't compromise rich farmland.”

Niagara Centre NDP candidate Jeff Burch, meanwhile, blasted Ford’s proposal, and then the reversal of proposal.

IPERS P RP

Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford unleashed a furor last week when it was revealed that he had privately promised to open the Greenbelt to developers.

A video of Ford’s remarks, which he made in February while still a candidate, was released by the Liberal party last Monday.

In the 40-second clip, Ford promised to open up a “big chunk” of the Greenbelt, an 800,000-acre span of protected land in the GTA and Niagara. Ford called the Greenbelt “just farmer fields.”

“It’s right beside a community. We need to open that up and create a larger supply,” Ford says in the video. “I’ve already talked to some of the biggest developers in the country, and, again, I wish I could say it’s my idea, but it was their idea as well.”

After the video was posted online, Ford initially stood by his comments when speaking at a campaign stop in Whitby.

“I support the Greenbelt in a big way. Anything we may look at to reduce housing costs — because everyone knows housing costs [are] through the roof and there’s no more property available to build housing in Toronto or the GTA — it will be replaced,” he said.

“Anything that we will look at on the Greenbelt will be replaced, so there will still be an equal amount of Greenbelt.”

The blowback was swift.

Tim Gray, Executive Director of Environmental Defence Canada, wrote in a blog post, “There is more than enough land already designated in the Greater

MPP Sam Oosterhoff called Ford’s initial Greenbelt proposal an example of a “policy error.”

“Doug felt he was acting in good faith to make housing more affordable, and he felt that that was one of the options on the table, but he obviously heard the voice of the people very strongly on this one, and he listened accordingly,” said Oosterhoff, who asserted that the PC party supports keeping the Greenbelt in its entirety.

He called Ford “pragmatic,” and blamed the Liberals for trying to distract “from their record of waste and mismanagement.”

“They want to obviously talk about anything but what they’ve been doing for the last fifteen years, so

PET E

BY VOICE STAFF

ing to make a good buck for your friends in the development industry. Paving over farms and wetlands and green spaces is absolutely not good public policy.”

Ford’s proposal was widely condemned by commentators and residents alike, with most saying that developing the Greenbelt would not only destroy protected space but also do little to curb congestion.

On Tuesday, Ford backtracked.

“The people have spoken—we won’t touch the Greenbelt.

Very simple.

That’s it, the people have spoken. I’m going to listen to them, they don’t want me to touch the Greenbelt. We won’t touch the Greenbelt.

Simple as that,” Ford said in a campaign video posted online.

“There have been a lot of voices saying that they don’t want to touch the Greenbelt. I govern through the people, I don’t govern through government.”

Marcy Burchfield from the Neptis Foundation, which studies urban sprawl in Ontario, told the Toronto Star that there is already a great deal of land in the GTHA that can be developed.

“Our research shows that it’s totally unnecessary to go into the Greenbelt,” said Burchfield.

“Opening up that whole Greenbelt Act … definitely wouldn’t be an easy thing to do. The idea is that you don’t open it up every year,” she said.

Former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty raised the idea of the Greenbelt when he was first elected in 2003, with the protection officially passed into law in 2005. Much of Pelham, aside from the downtowns of Fonthill and Fenwick, is protected by the legislation.

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www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Page 11

Pelham Farmers' Market back for 15th year Forecast dampens turnout, official burlap snip postponed to this week

BY VOICE STAFF The Pelham Farmers’ Market kicked off its 15th year last Thursday afternoon, with a dark forecast dampening turnout but doing nothing to blot the optimism of the organizing committee.

Chair Stacey Duncan was on hand with market clerk and former chair Fred Arbour, along with current committee member Bev Yungblut. The three elected to postpone the ceremonial cutting of the burlap until this week, when they hoped more vendors would be present.

“I think the rain scared

everyone off,” said Duncan, whose business Nature’s Corner bakery has had a stall at the market for several years.

Arbour, formerly of Klager’s deli, has been a part of the market since its inception.

“I heard they were having a meeting about a market with mostly organic stuff,” said Arbour. “Someone suggested that we sell meat there, so we brought a barbecue. Then they said we should be frying onions, and soon it was two portable barbecues, and then three.”

Arbour recalled that at

the beginning, selling 45 or 50 units a night was considered a good evening. By the time he hung up the tongs, three years ago, he was selling between 450 and 500.

“It would’ve been great if I were thirty-five or forty.

On a normal Thursday I’d start at 6:00 and get home at 10:30 or 11:00.”

Anne Durst of Bri-Anne Farms in Fenwick, the last of the market’s original vendors, was selling preserves on Thursday.

Durst said that the market hasn’t changed too much, though at its beginning there were only farmers selling their products.

This year the market has 23 vendors, a handful of which are new.

“We have to keep fifty percent farmers, or else we’re no longer a farmers’

Market newcomer Misha Reed and her daughter with their micro-greens.

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The species SPECTER is expected to grow a lot of warts.

“Maybe there could be a competition for the wartiest pumpkin,” said Yungblut to Duncan.

“You can count the warts.”

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market. We’d just be a market,” said Duncan.

One of this year’s new vendors, Misha Reed, was selling micro-greens to shoppers on Thursday. Reed and her business partner Ann Canning-LeBlanc operate their farm in Ridgeway, and have previously sold at a farmers’ market there.

“We’ll have edible flowers, infused vinegars, beer mustard, granola, infused salts,” she said. “What I have today isn’t much, because I only make things with stuff that we grow. I don’t buy from others. So once I sell out, I’m sold out.”

Bev Yungblut, who sells grape juice at the market, said that other new stalls at the market are a strudel-seller, someone with soaps, and a cidery.

“People can just take a little sample of the cider, just like the wine,” said Yungblut. “Then they have to take the bottle home. They can open in right away.”

When the Thursday night supper market and bandshell concerts begin later this year, a portion of the area will be gated off and licensed, where alcohol can be consumed.

On May 24, Yungblut said, the market will be giving away seeds to a new strain of white pumpkin, called SPECTER. “It’s part of our ‘Kids Can Grow' program. We’ve done it for a few years—we give kids the seeds and a pot to

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The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

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GRANT continued from Page 2 Bradley more broadly praised Brock as an institution.

“When I get the Maclean’s issue with the university rankings, I burn it,” he said.

He also spoke of the school and NPI in the context of youth, saying that it’s important that the Re-

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NIAGARA REGIONAL EXHIBITION gion be able to provide good jobs it’s common for a mother to say ent departments as the key to its Rodeo, games retain, and live entertainment headline this teaching years exciting event. It with the Region. for, and thereby its younger she has a daughter Enpartnership population. glish Fairgrounds. [abroad], and a son manag“Real-world issues don’t carve runs from Sept. 11-14 at the Welland “I talk to my colleagues in siming a hotel in Dubai, and another themselves out to correspond with ilar-sized cities, and they all say son in Vancouver. The choice now departments,” he said. the MOVE same thing, that the young isn’t between here and Toronto.

Geography professor Jeff Boggs BIG CANCER RIDE people are going to the major urIt’s between here and the world.” spoke about the way in which facThe Big Move Cancer Ride is a non-competitive ride taking place ulty on Sept. ban areas,” said Bradley.

Brock’s Vice-President of Remembers’ contracts are di“Two generations ago, mayTim Kenyon, pointedthe to the vided.

7. Proceeds for the Big Move staysearch, in Niagara and support Walker Famthe expectation was that kids school’s general efforts to bring “Forty percent is teaching, forilybe Cancer Centre. would stay in the area. But now, together researchers from differty percent is research, and twenty

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percent is [community] service,” said Boggs, explaining that community work can come in a variety of different ways.

“We have really good contracts that appreciate that. Much more prestigious schools might frown on this,” he said.

The director of Brock’s social

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The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Page 13

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Fonthill Baptist Church 1414 Pelham St., Fonthill

Holy Trinity Anglican Church 1557 Pelham Street, Fonthill

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bers from Brock have a salary from the university,” she said. “[With private consultants] there would’ve needed to be two times as much money.”

“Sometimes this money is used to buy out teaching time. But that isn’t de rigeur at Brock,” said Boggs, sounding disappointed. Nevertheless, Boggs said that he will likely incorporate parts of the review into the courses he teaches.

The NPI’s roots are in a 2007

report on poverty in Niagara, which found, among other things, that 15 percent of working families earn less than $20,000, 15.6 percent of Niagara's children live in poverty, and that 33 percent of visits to food banks are made by children.

Natalie Chaumant, another manager at NPI, said that the program regularly receives many more applications than it has the resources to approve.

“We choose the ones with

justice research institute, June Corman, said that the grant money will largely go towards the labour costs of hiring young researchers to help with the study.

“This review might have been done by private consultants, but they would’ve been drawing a salary. The eight faculty mem-

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the greatest benefit, especially for women, single parents, youth, people with disabilities, newcomers, and our indigenous population,” said the Region’s director of social assistance Lori Watson.

Only legal non-profits can apply for funding through NPI, though Watson said that community organizations often take their ideas to non-profits so that they may be considered for funding.

Folks, I realize that you ordered in good faith, but applicable legislation allows us to delay delivery of your food for 30 days. We also require a $75 deposit. Thank you for your understanding.

Page 14

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

DIALOGUE continued from Page 3 contractor had been sub-par but that the board was waiting for the contract to expire.

“Why [didn’t] you publicize that?” said Bill. “Put out a little note that says, ‘You’re all concerned, we’re aware of the problem, just wait until the contract is up.’ But that didn’t happen, and that never happens around here.”

Champagne also critiqued Catherine King’s response to concerned tenants.

“Catherine told me that these people doing this are just troublemakers,” he said. “Since then I’ve found out that’s a lie. They’re not

troublemakers. They have legitimate concerns. How do I react to that? They’ve got pictures, they’ve got everything. We need some resolution to this—there are people with pokers, putting powder on their floor.”

Kirkwood expressed disbelief that any tenants are so afraid of illegal entries that they have knives and pokers around them, and asked Champagne to tell him who was doing so.

Susan Gibbard-Welsh stood up a short time later.

“I am the person who complained,” she said. “I have a heavy large brass lamp stick, and I sleep with it beside the bed.”

Gibbard-Welsh’s apartment was the one that Kirkwood admitted superintendent Mike Fairman entered without permission.

Gibbard-Welsh alleges that Fairman was in her apartment without proper notice on other occasions, one of which was corroborated to the Voice by an eyewitness.

“I am also leaving, and God help me I can’t get out of here fast enough,” said Gibbard-Welsh. “I am not subsidized. I can’t afford to live anywhere else. But my children do not want to see me afraid to be in my home.”

Ralph Beamer raised the matter of general governance with Kirkwood.

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“We like our apartment.

No problem with the building as far as how it’s kept.

It’s spotless,” began Beamer.

“But there should be more people on the board.”

Beamer applied to be on the board last year, only to be rejected for “reasons of conflict.” According to Beamer, Kirkwood could not provide an example of such a conflict.

“I’m really disappointed that you won't [have a tenant on the board],” said Beamer.

Kirkwood said that there are currently four board members, and another prospective one. He refused to answer when Beamer asked him who the prospective member was.

Upon learning that there was to be a new board member, tenants told Kirkwood that the board position had not been advertised.

“Yes, we advertised,” said Kirkwood. “We’ve put out press releases asking for people.”

The Voice was unable to find evidence that the board had advertised for new members. Kirkwood did not respond to the newspaper when asked where and when such notices appeared.

“We find [it] very difficult to get people to give their time to service organizations,” said Kirkwood.

But when asked by tenant Helga Hall why the board rejected former Town of Pelham Councillor Sharon Cook, who served on the board for ten years and who has applied twice to rejoin, Kirkwood refused to answer.

“I don’t think it’s up to me to discuss personal business in a meeting such as this,” said Kirkwood.

Tenant Gayla Kingston told Kirkwood that he wasn’t directly answering any of the questions asked of him.

Many tenants in the room did appear to be supportive of the board, according to some present.

“It’s been done, it’s been over with. Why does it have to be re-hashed,” said Bonnie Puhl. “Oh, this happened, and that happened.

They got compensated for it.

As far as these accusations, so-called, that’s nobody’s goddamned business.”

Puhl was apparently referring to building manager Catherine King’s personal relationship with superintendent Mike Fairman.

Bill Champagne told Puhl that the tenants’ concern was that Fairman reported to King, meaning that their relationship could affect the way that King dealt with tenant complaints about him.

Tenant Brian Hunt called for neighbours to stop fighting with one another, and to unite for a stronger tenants association that could bring all concerns directly to the board.

Kirkwood repeatedly told tenants that their comments would be taken into consideration by the board. Elaine Champagne told Kirkwood that the meeting had resolved nothing.

“This is just a pat on the head. This won’t work for us

now,” she said. “The invasions have to stop. The abuse has to stop. The bullying has to stop. We have to have a follow-up. Let us know. I don’t threaten, but I never break a promise, and we will be moving forward.”

Niagara Falls Regional Councillor and Niagara Regional Housing board member Selina Volpatti told the Voice that she intends to raise the governance issues at Pelham Non-Profit at the next NRH board meeting.

While NRH does not oversee the building, it does have a contract to supply subsidies for 20 rent- geared-to-income units.

Though Volpatti acknowledged that NRH will likely be unable to force Pelham Non-Profit to hold open board meetings or to release its by-laws, she said that she would be looking at NRH’s options for having such governance requirements in future contracts.

“I will certainly be raising that at the next board meeting,” she said.

Volpatti said that the board shouldn’t have absolute power, “with the tenants left out to dry.”

“It’s terrible,” she said, saying that she intends to consult with Pelham Regional Councillor Brian Baty before the next NRH meeting, scheduled for May 25.

Baty expressed his concerns about the tenants’ situation in the Voice’s original reporting, while Pelham’s other Regional Councillor, Mayor Dave Augustyn, declined to comment.

Features that flow Landscapers specialize in water feature design

BY VOICE STAFF

OWNER/OPERATED SINCE 1987 IN THE OAKVILLE AREA, SINCE 2008 IN THE NIAGARA AREA. Specializing in Ponds, waterfalls, pond-less water features, Wooden Decks, Gazebo's, Trellis, Paver and wall install and landscaping.

For a no obligation quote, call 905-932-8400 or email at naturalescapes@live.ca Web site: www.natural-escapes.ca

Natural Escapes, a landscaping company founded in 1987 by Fenwick resident Jason Dillon, has evolved over its 30 years.

“We started off doing a lot of interlocking brick, retaining walls, decks, pergolas—that sort of thing,” said Dillon. “But in the last decade, we’ve really started to focus on water features.”

Dillon said that he has always loved the soothing element of backyard ponds and waterfalls, and so was pleased to transition his company to focussing more on this element of landscape design.

“We’re a small business with a very small crew. We pay attention to detail and really value our customer relationships,” he said. “I’ve managed a bigger crew, and I know the challenges that come with that. There are scheduling issues, and timing—you have to be off a job on Friday to get to one on Monday. We downsized so we don’t have to do that.”

Dillon started the business in the GTA and moved it to Pelham ten years ago, after which re-establishment was difficult.

“It’s a different clientele here. Before we were doing a lot of very high-end projects, with massive budgets,” he said. “But we love it here.

I just love building and creating with water and wood.”

Jason Dillon.

Every project by Natural Escapes is a custom design.

“For a twenty-by-twenty pond with a waterfall, we will be on site with five guys for two weeks,” he said. “That’ll have fifty thousand pounds of granite, lots of digging, plumbing, and electrical work.”

For boulders up to 600 pounds, Dillon said that a crew of four will move them by hand with blankets.

“People don’t understand just how much time it takes for a job, they think it’s just a one-day sort of thing. But they understand after they see us do it,” he said.

Dillon explained that a pond will begin with an outline on the ground, in which his crew will dig a foot down. Then another outline will be drawn inside, then another, then another, until typically there are several shelves.

“Then we put a felt lin-

VOICE PHOTO

ing over the whole thing, to protect from roots, and then a rubber lining,” said Dillon.

Then extensive plumbing and electrical work, for fountains, waterfalls, and lights, must be installed. Ponds will be lined with rocks before being filled with water.

“We want it to look like it’s completely natural,” said Dillon. “That’s why we’re called Natural Escapes.”

Dillon said that he enjoys working with water because it offers so much potential for new designs.

“I want my business to be fun. We’re very innovative,” he said, adding that he still enjoys doing wooden structures as well, which are also custom-built for each project.

Dillon noted the handful of awards won by Natural Escapes, though said that customer satisfaction is his main objective.

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

Page 15

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Page 16

The Voice of Pelham, May 9 2018

TENDERS continued from Page 1 responsible for the tendering process for work done in East Fonthill.

“All Requests for Tender are to be issued by UCC to selected contracts on an invitation to tender basis,” reads the contract. “There shall be a minimum of three Requests for Tender issued for each of the services tendered. All bids received in response to the Request for Tender shall be opened in the presence of representative of UCC, the Town, and Fonthill Gardens…A successful bid must have the approval of both Fonthill Gardens and Council of the Town of Pelham prior to the award of the contract.”

Late last year, employees of a Niagara construction firm approached the Voice with concerns about this tendering process. According to these employees, whose names the Voice has agreed to withhold, neither they, nor any acquaintances of theirs in the construction industry, had the opportunity to bid on the projects.

COLUMN SIX continued from Page 1 For a moment, I was speechless. Was this really happening?

“The gates are open!" I shouted.

I pulled into the parking lot slowly, not really believing my luck would continue. After all, my destination was not really the parking lot, but rather what lay one additional gate beyond: the Speedway.

My brother laughed aloud as he realized my plan. I wanted to complete a lap.

I drove towards the racing area, and inhaled sharply. Was it fate? The gate to the track was thrown wide, welcoming me in with open arms.

I was seized by panic.

"I can't do it!" I yelled, and turned the car back towards the safety of the road.

After all, this wasn’t like

Instead, they asserted, one firm—Alfred Beam Excavating— has done all the work.

After these sources came forward, the Voice filed a series of FOI requests. In early February the newspaper requested copies of all tender requests and corresponding bids for work done in East Fonthill.

There are supposed to be at least three bids for each project.

The newspaper also requested copies of Council resolutions approving each of these bids, approval which is required by the contract.

None of these documents have been provided to date.

FOI requests must be responded to within 30 days. On March 7, Town Clerk Nancy Bozzato informed the Voice that the Town would be exercising a clause in the freedom of information act that allowed it an additional 30 days to respond. Bozzato asserted that the Town needed time to review records, and required the newspaper to deposit $75 dollars.

More than 60 days since Bozzato’s letter, the Town still has not complied with the FOI request

me. I’d had a few minor rebellious moments in the past, but in my heart I was always a rule-follower.

“A pleasure to have in class,” my report cards would read. “An excellent listener.”

While my brothers were inciting mild-mannered teachers to fling chalk across the classroom, I was at my desk, head down, quietly getting my work done.

An unsanctioned lap at the Speedway was way out of my league.

As we neared the road again, I felt a deep sadness and frustration. I’d dreamed so often of this moment, and here I was, unable to act upon it.

My brother sensed my hesitation and immediately took up the cause of my repressed wild side. He begged and pleaded and reasoned and cajoled to the very best of his abilities. Finally he

and has produced neither the tenders nor the Council resolutions approving the awarding of contracts.

A former Town Hall staffer familiar with how Town records are kept, said that documents are generally stored on computers and are easily accessible.

“They would only have to go to the folder and press 'print,'” said the former staffer. “It should take about five minutes.”

Though Bozzato is ostensibly responsible for FOI requests, the former staffer asserted that in practice it is CAO Darren Ottaway who controls the flow of information.

“They are just pushing everything off to the election.”

UCC’s Jason Schooley, who, according to UCC’s Adam Keane, handled the tendering for the Town, did not respond to or acknowledge questions about the tendering process.

The construction firm employees who came to the Voice asserted that the apparent absence of tendering for the projects runs contrary to standard practice.

loudly proclaimed, "You’ll never get this opportunity again! You will regret this forever!"

That did it.

I turned the car around again and drove directly toward the still-opened gate.

Entering the track area, I felt a tremendous rush of adrenaline, and a new awareness of my surroundings came over me. The June air carried the smell of newly-turned dirt, which mingled nicely with the green freshness that would soon be stifled by the summer heat.

The track was not deserted as we had thought.

At that moment it was being groomed by some sort of contraption pulled behind a tractor driven by a middle-aged man. Busy with his work, he did not notice as my 1989 Plymouth Caravelle drew closer to the track.

I ambled the car onto the

www.thevoiceofpelham.ca

They would only have to go to the folder and press 'print.' It should take about five minutes.

“There’s no checks or balances on the pricing,” said one. “This is information that you should be able to get at the counter [in Town Hall]. It should be available on the website—it should be public. You shouldn’t have to pay for it. They are hiding something. You don’t just pay all that money without a paper trail.”

The two said that they don’t understand why these projects weren’t open for bidding from more contractors.

“Why would you ever want [to have fewer bids]?” they said, explaining that competition between firms ensures that the Town has work done at lower prices.

long straightaway, furthest from the bleachers.

Though in my daydreams I'd always travelled counter-clockwise just like the cars on race night, I found myself now travelling clockwise, as the tractor was, to put off our meeting as long as possible. He was rounding a corner and would soon be facing our direction.

Right away I noticed that the dirt, which I'd imagined would be packed down hard and smooth, was actually more like a freshly plowed field.

My car was decidedly not a race car and did not take well to this new terrain. I felt us fishtailing as I struggled to navigate through the dirt.

My future, only moments ago bright and full of promise, was already being rewritten in my mind. I could see my car, stuck on the

“When we put in a proposal for a project, we come to a [price]. Then we take a little off. Then we look, and take a little more off, and hope that we can get it,” they said.

“We’re not just bitter construction people upset we didn’t get a job. We don’t get every job. That’s how things go. But we always have a chance—that’s the way it’s supposed to work.”

They said that without seeing the projects they couldn’t provide an estimate for the work done, but said that the budgeted figures approved by the Town seemed high.

“There’s something wrong here—that much work and no tenders."

track, as I sheepishly asked the angry tractor driver for a tow. I saw myself in handcuffs, being deposited into the back of a police car, while my brother vehemently denied any willful participation, insisting that he had tried to stop me.

“She just wouldn’t listen to me,” he’d tell anyone who asked. “She had this gleam in her eyes.”

I was moments away from being locked in my new cell when back in reality my car found some traction and started moving more easily.

I imagine every car has its own optimum speed for navigating a dirt racetrack.

For a 1989 Plymouth Caravelle, that speed was no more than 30 kilometres an hour.

We sped along at this breakneck pace until about the three quarter mark, when we heard a shout. It was the man on the trac-

RENOVATE

tor, standing up and wildly waving his arms in the air.

"Does he look...proud of me?" I asked my brother in a hopeful tone.

"Just keep driving," was his telling reply.

We made our way back through the parking lot and onto the road. As I came down from my racer’s high I couldn’t believe what I’d just done. I’d taken a chance, I’d seized the moment, I’d… probably added an extra 20 minutes to that poor guy’s day.

It isn’t exactly my proudest moment, though I don’t regret it. The whole incident took less than five minutes, but still, 10 years later, the recollection remains as fresh as a newly groomed race track. ◆

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