The Voice, October 26 0222

psychic for what ails you

in our Halloween spooks series

BY HELEN TRAN Special to the Voice

Haunted by flu, cough, and infection shortly after the conclusion of my previous ghost-hunting adventure in Brantford, this week’s amateur paranormal sleuthing was relegated to the confines of my townhouse and backyard.

A fairly recent build, my home was unlikely to be haunted by anything other than the spirits of unfolded laundry (my undoing), the odd monstrous hairball (my cat’s doing) or the ghosts of forgotten chicken nuggets slowly mummifying under the dresser (thanks, kids).

While the Dr. Gauss EMF detector sat quietly on my front entryway table, waiting patiently for my recovery, I took advantage of my convalescence to sort through some old photos on my computer.

took in hundreds of images:

My

of my children as

scanned black-and-whites of my

in Vietnam,

COLUMN SIX

Darcy

Pelham Mayor Marvin Junkin won reelection Monday, beating challenger Frank Adamson. Supporters, family, and friends joined Junkin for a victory celebration at the Fonthill Legion. Grandson John Boss offered his special congratulations. Look for more coverage in next week's edition.

DAVE BURKET

We held back only the

of the

Therefore

Former CannTrust execs plead not guilty

BY JOHN CHICK Voice Correspondent

know

NRPS impaired driving charges

mer executives have nothing to do with the current iteration of the company.

but I don’t. But that won’t stop me from

a guess or two. On the Mayoral side, incumbent Marvin Junkin likely beat challenger Frank Adamson, although the margin may not have been as high as our polls

fact, it may have been much, much closer than Junkin's supporters assumed going into the home stretch.. I never quite believed Adamson’s asserted reason for running—that it was a lastminute decision, that a Mayor shouldn’t be acclaimed—and from what I heard, many of you didn’t buy it either. Adamson was too well prepared, his campaign evidently planned well in advance. For Regional Council, Diana Huson wins, hands down. For the school boards, Beamer retains her public seat, but Fucile puts in a good showing. On the Catholic board, the incumbent Paul Turner wins relatively easily. Finally, in Pelham’s Ward 2, the only ward contested, John Wink is an easy first-place finisher. As for number two, and therefore the ward’s other councillor for the next four years, I’ll go with Brian Eckhardt based on yard signs and chatter on the street. Colin McCann simply didn’t campaign effectively. Carla Baxter is relatively well known and likely came third. Turnout was good but not great Monday morning at my polling station, but if the early poll turnouts were any indication, we may still be on track to match 2018...Speaking of council: This is why John Chick makes the big bucks. It’s short but oh so sweet— both the meeting and the story. Don’t miss his council report this week, p.3...Columns to consider: Similarly, both Michael Coren (p.6) and John Swart (p.18) turn in excellent pieces, each concerning our health and survival, in their different ways... Cheep-cheep: Who knew that backyard chickens would be the next big thing to blow up—three letters this week. Over the 20 years that we lived on and off in Indonesia, just south of Jakarta, various neighbours always had chickens, and there were a few roosters in there too, given the crowing at dawn. This was in an urban environment, mind you. The occasional clucks blended into the background. That said, the background was already pretty loud, with traffic 24/7, and in later years an outdoor futsal court that was particularly annoying at night—basically soccer on a hard surface. (Think pickleball is loud? Hah!) Anyway, surely the Town can come up with a bylaw that allows for a sensible compromise between zero chooks and teeming flocks of them...Trivia Night is back: See the Library's ad, p.10, but please, mask-up and don't make it a superspreader event...Country Fall Fair: This Saturday, at Vineridge Stables (ad p.15)...Episode 2 is here: Killer on the Kame continues (p.13)...See you in November: By which I mean next week. Get your shots! Stay safe! 4

Three disgraced former CannTrust executives pleaded not guilty in a Toronto court Oct. 17 to charges related to unlicensed cannabis growing at the since-renamed company’s Fenwick facility.

Former CEO Peter Aceto, director Mark Litwin and board chair Eric Paul are facing charges ranging from fraud to authorizing, permitting or acquiescing in the commission of an offence, as well as insider trading charges.

The trio were charged in 2021, two years after a former employee of CannTrust blew the whistle to the Voice and other media outlets about illegally grown cannabis at the Fenwick site. The RCMP and the Ontario Securities Commission alleged that the executives were aware that roughly half of the cannabis growing in the facility at the time was not licensed by Health Canada. None of the charges have been tested in court.

All three individuals were either fired by CannTrust or resigned between 2019 and 2021. After filing for creditor protection and seeing its stock delisted from two major North American exchanges, the company has since been sold and renamed Phoena—which continues to operate the Fenwick site.

A Phoena PR spokesperson told the Voice that the for-

“Over three years ago the former CEO was dismissed with cause by a special committee of the board of directors, and the chairman of the board was forced to resign at the same time,” Hill+Knowlton’s Jane Shapiro said. “The former company was not charged. Phoena has no interest in these matters.”

The not-guilty pleas came on the fourth anniversary of the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada. On the same day last Monday, the Cannabis Council of Canada — a group of industry producers — held a news conference in Ottawa to state that the industry is faltering due to high excise taxes and a lack of law enforcement of the unregulated cannabis trade.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that, unfortunately, all businesses of any size in the production and processing side of the cannabis industry today are systemically absent income,” Tantalus Labs CEO DAN Sutton said, according to reporting by the Toronto Star. “This is an industry that cannot pay its own bills and cannot make ends meet.”

Also last week, food delivery app Uber Eats announced it would begin delivering cannabis products to consumers in the Toronto area from a handful of local stores.

What's That SIREN Pelham Fire Department Weekly Calls

The Pelham Fire Department responded to 12 calls for assistance from Friday, October 14 to Friday, October 21.

Friday, October 14

Motor vehicle collision, Line Ave., Station 1

Medical assistance, Station 3

Saturday, October 15

Medical assistance, Station 1

Medical assistance, Station 2

Sunday, October 16

Medical assistance, Station 1

Medical assistance, Station 2

Arcing hydro lines, Haist St., Station 1

Monday, October 17

Odour investigation, Kunda Park, Station 1

Tuesday, October 18

Tree fire, Haist St., Station 1

Thursday, October 20

Medical assistance, Station 3,

Medical assistance, Station 1

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 90-Day 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.

Scott C. TURPIN, 59, St. Catharines

Ruslan IULTASHEV, 34, Welland

Briar M. CLUTTERBUCK, 23, St. Catharines

Tristan R. BAUMGARTNER, 23, Fort Erie

Jamie I. HISCOE, 46, Thorold

Kayden D. MITCHELL, 19, St. Catharines

Muhammed KHAN, 37, Niagara Falls

Jeremy R. SCHMIDT, 43, 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.

(905) 892-8690

Find the Voice at these locations:

Indulgence Bakery Pelham Street Grille

Peter Piper’s Pubhouse

DeVries Fruit Farm

Beamer’s Hardware Pelham Libraries

Bob’s Boys Antiques PharmaChoice Pharmacy Fonthill Fitness

Fenwick Pie Company McDonald’s

Duffin Appleworks 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

Boggio's IDA

Sobeys South Pelham Grill on Canboro Shell on Hwy 20 Circle-K

by Dave Burket

TOWN COUNCIL NEWS

Kore uncertain whether family picks fruit, declares conflict

BY JOHN CHICK Voice Correspondent

The final Pelham Town Council meeting before Monday’s municipal election was a short affair last Monday, Oct. 17, highlighted by outgoing Ward 2 Councillor Ron Kore declaring on three separate occasions that he did not “run away.”

The first proclamation came during council’s usual Indigenous land acknowledgment statement, which rotates between members at the beginning of each virtual meeting.

Mayor Marvin Junkin assigned the task to Kore, who appeared surprised.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t notified,” Kore said. “I just want to make sure for the record I wasn’t afraid to do it, but you know how …. misinformation we get.”

That drew a laugh from several members of council, including a hearty one from fellow lame duck Ward 3 Councillor Lisa Haun.

“And I didn’t run away,” Kore added cryptically.

The land acknowledgment assignment appeared to be a mistake on Junkin’s part, and the statement was then read by another outgoing member, Ward 1 Councillor Marianne Stewart.

Shortly after, council was asked if they had any pecuniary interests related to the agenda.

Kore declared a conflict on a DeVries Fruit Farm application to host a Christmas farmers market. Asked the nature of his conflict of interest by Town Clerk Holly Willford, Kore said he would disclose it

when the matter arose.

“I’ll wait until that comes up, and this time I won’t run away like someone said I did,” he said.

Kore seemed to be referring to his declaration of a conflict at a Sept. 6 meeting, in which he departed the gathering before disclosing a pecuniary interest related to his twin brother, and failed to submit that information to the Town Clerk in the timeframe specified by the Municipal Act.

This time, Kore divulged his conflict when the matter arose.

“I deal with DeVries [Fruit] Farm on a regular basis, I deal with them on a weekly basis. And I’m not too sure any of my family members pick fruit for them. So, I’ll probably find out next Tuesday if any of my family members pick fruit for them,” he said.

“So, I will have that report on your desk Holly on Friday,” Kore added, referring to submitting documentation of his pecuniary interest to Willford.

“And this time I didn’t run away, thank you.”

With Kore’s Del Shannon/Real McCoy/Kanye West routine (depending on one’s musical generation) complete, he temporarily departed the meeting and council unanimously granted DeVries the application to host the market on Dec. 3 in Fenwick.

Odds and ends

 Ward 3 councillor Bob Hildebrandt moved an amendment to receive a full cost impact of soil investigation and foundation design for the new Town Hall addition by council’s Dec. 5 meeting. Engineers have noted that the soil out-

side Town Hall may have a lower than expected bearing capacity, and that additional foundation work could tack about $85,000 onto the cost of the project, which is mostly covered by a grant. Hildebrandt voiced concern that the grant is dependent on progress by February. Public Works Director Jason Marr said a report was already being prepared.

 Stewart moved her motion, announced at the last meeting, to improve the student crossing on Canboro Road near Wellington Heights school. It was supported by all members. Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Olson voiced concern about motorists’ speed on the stretch of road.

Covid surge ahead

Hirji urges flu, booster shots, masking indoors

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

Dr. Mustafa Hirji, Niagara Region’s Acting Medical Officer of Health, appreciates that most people are tired of hearing about the Covid-19 virus, but ignoring booster shots, and other preventative measures such as masking in public places, is a mistake, he cautioned.

On October 19, Hirji spoke at a Niagara District Council of Women meeting via Zoom, on the topic Covid-19 and its variants. The virus is again gaining ground in Niagara, and has become the third leading cause of death in Canada, behind only cancer and heart disease.

“Covid-19 spreads like other respiratory illnesses, such as influenza and pneumonia,” he said.

R“We need to clean our air with ventilation and filtration systems indoors, so that what we’re breathing won’t be passing infection on to us. The easiest thing we can do is to have as many as possible activities outdoors. We’ve had lots of success having outdoor patios at restaurants the last couple

o u n

Pelham Town Council meets virtually on Monday, Oct. 17

TOWN OF PELHAM / YOU TUBE

Unfortunately, it has been difficult for the medical community to keep up with the demands of treating this terrible Covid virus. While vaccines help to minimize the spread and severity of this pandemic, there are still dangers lurking despite of these serums.

Sadly, there are many downsides regarding this pandemic. I choose to use this space just to make note of two of them.

One of these dangers is the ability of Covid to mutate. Medical researchers advise that the longer it takes to neutralize this current strain, the next mutation will appear and likely be more resistant to treatment. The next strain will be stronger than the previous version and have more serious impacts on its victims.

Researchers in the field of education report that the virus has seriously impeded the learning of students. The reading, writing and math skills of elementary school children have noticeably declined during the period of this pandemic. That decimated learn-

ing curve will be extremely difficult to overcome and could mean these current learners may suffer lifelong deficiencies. Educators will have to unite with parents to design and implement extracurricular learning exercises to remediate this gap in the learning curve.

The term for this type of impact is referred to as long Covid. The list of these long term impacts grows almost daily.

The next topic I choose to write about is a humane one. It is an appeal to those who chose not to wear a mask while in public spaces. Frankly, the wearing of a mask is not the be-all cure to end this pandemic.

However, the practice does reduce the spread of this virus. Also, it is an ethical contribution each person can make with very minor inconvenience. A recent study has shown that a person who contracts the virus may contaminate up to fourteen others. That statistic shows the magnitude of harm that one unmasked person can have. Remember, the longer the virus is allowed to live among us, the stronger and more serious will be its

effects.

It is going to be very difficult to know the short and long term effects on those who contract this virus. Some of those who contract the disease will have lifelong deficiencies. Others will seemingly avoid any overt impacts. It continues to be an unwise gamble to suffer the disease as an individual and especially selfi sh if as an unvaccinated person contracts the disease and invariably contaminates others who may suffer an even worse episode.

There seem to be few, if any, legitimate reasons to avoid getting vaccinated. The healthcare system has made significant efforts to make the vaccination as safe, painless and convenient as possible. If you care not to bring harm to others, such as the school children referred to earlier, then commit to wearing a mask in public and visit a nearby vaccination clinic as soon as possible. 4

When the ducks arrived on the street there were four, now there are six. If ducks are anything like geese, take a look at what they have turned Spencer Smith Park into, in Burlington. Once a lovely park on the lake to enjoy, now you can’t walk in it because of droppings. They procreate too.

Prior to the ducks' arrival I had never see a rat in my backyard, which is not the wildlife I enjoy seeing on a hot humid day. Which can really get gamey in the heat of July.

Will our tax base be based on the agricultural scale? There is a lot of space in the country, if you want to raise poultry, go to the country.

You won’t bother your neighbours with the smells and the attraction of unwanted wildlife.

Joan Eby Fonthill

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

Member of Provincial Parliament Electoral District: Niagara West Sam Oosterhoff, MPP 4961 King St. East, Unit M1 Beamsville, ON L0R 1B0 sam.oosterhoffco@pc.ola.org 905-563-1755

Members of Niagara Regional Council Councillor Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 905-658-2987

Councillor Diana Huson diana.huson@niagararegion.ca 905-324-3094

Town of Pelham 20 Pelham Town Square P.O. Box 400  Fonthill, ON L0S 1E0 905-892-2607

Mayor of Pelham Marvin Junkin mjunkin@pelham.ca 905-658-2986

Members of Pelham Town Council

Ward 1

Councillor Marianne Stewart mstewart@pelham.ca 289-821-0840

Councillor Wayne Olson wolson@pelham.ca 905-933 6033

Ward 2

Councillor Ron Kore rkore@pelham.ca 905-933-3805

Councillor John Wink jwink@pelham.ca 905-892-4475

Ward 3

Councillor Lisa Haun lhaun@pelham.ca 905-892-5877

Councillor Bob Hildebrandt bhildebrandt@pelham.ca 905-892-5647

an agricultural man, personally believe that, “There really isn’t an excuse to have poultry in the urban area.” Many municipalities, many of which are much larger than Pelham, have decided Urban Agriculture is good for everyone involved. It’s good for food

and good for kids growing up to have an eye into where food comes from. Even Toronto, which as you know is Ontario’s largest city, is running a pilot project that allows for four hens.

rethink the blanket ban of backyard poultry. Consider limits on hens and bans on roosters, like many larger municipalities. Pelham is going against the trend, and frankly the wrong way, on this one. We at Minor Bros. fully support urban food production. Connecting with the land is good for everyone,

Brian Fader General Manager

Minor Bros. Country Living

Religion in schools, and handguns

The Voice’s Contributing News Editor Don Rickers is a good reporter but I disagree with his viewpoint in his op-ed commentary of Sept. 28, in which he opposes the banning of handgun sales in Canada. He feels that the core of Canada’s problem with guns is the smuggling of handguns into the country.

Notwithstanding that most handguns in Canada were smuggled in from the USA, few handguns in the USA were smuggled into that country. Yet, according to Pew Research Centre Data for the US in 2020, (a) “…handguns were involved in 59% of the 13,620 US gun murders…[In contrast]… Rifles…were involved in 3% of firearm murders…Shotguns were involved in 1%...” (the remaining murders were listed without noting the type of firearm used); and (b) “…45,222 people died from gun-related injuries…[including murders, suicides, and accidents].”

These data suggest to me that the smuggling of handguns is not at the core of Canada’s gun problem. Possessing handguns—however acquired—is. I support banning handgun ownership in Canada.

Shifting to religion in schools, separate school board candidate Irma Ruiter was quoted in her recent interview as saying, “The purpose of Catholic education is to imbue all subject areas with the Catholic faith.” [Oct. 12, p.17.] She is further quoted as saying that “The Catholic Church has been integral to the development of science,” then when challenged on this point she countered with a sanitized version of the Galileo story.

For anyone who’s interested in the real story behind the

See GALILEO Page

How about testing the pols?

Ontario’s EQAO tests are a waste of time and money as well as a source of huge stress for some students. Their main use now is to compare different schools and different districts, which is in violation of the promise that they would not be used to do so. Such comparisons are a source of great delight for teacher-bashers, who know nothing about education and teaching. Politicians love them as well, since they can claim a “crisis” in education and promise some sort of fi x.

The release of assessment results on October 20 prompted Ontario’s Education Minister, Stephen Lecce, to blame “teachers’ strikes” as one of the causes of poor results. He is being either deliberately misleading or he lacks the very skills that he claims our students are deficient in. There have been no full-blown teacher strikes since 1997, and the occasional one-day strikes in the Province are likely on a par with time lost to snow days.

I would like to see some sort of equivalent for ranking politicians. Perhaps PQAO: Political Quality and Assessment Office.

David Fowler Wainfleet

Lack of Adamson ethics rebutted

In response to the letter from Pam Young published in the October 19 issue of the Voice, criticizing the ethics of Mr. Frank Adamson and calling into question the actions of the president of the Tenants Association [at 45 Town Square, Fonthill], I need to point out that Pam Young never comes to any coffee hour, meetings, or get-togethers, so anything in the letter that she sent is all hearsay and gossip.

[Editor’s note: Actually, all of the facts set out by Ms. Young in her letter are corroborated in this response.]

Yes, after receiving an inquiry from Mr. Adamson, he was invited to our coffee hour. He showed an interest in talking to us and yes, he brought us coffee and cookies. He told us right at the outset he was a member of the board of directors for

this facility. We didn't know that, but it didn't make any difference to us. We are not involved in politics. We just wanted to know what he had to say. If any other candidates would have contacted us, we would have welcomed them. I believe all candidates for Ward 2 came knocking on our apartment doors after first contacting Catherine King, the property manager, who had no problem letting them in. Also, in response to Mr. Junkin, we are a Tenants Association, and as such are not interested in running for council or mayor. He is! It was up to him to let us know if he was interested in talking to our little group. He would have been warmly welcomed.

Helga Hall Tenants Association President 45 Town Square, Fonthill

Act of kindness

I wish to thank the lady who paid for my Husband's haircut at Great clips on October 13. He could not find his card and this kind person paid for the cut. Fonthill may be growing rapidly but it still has small town kindness. This was a very appreciated gesture.

Carol Kitchen Welland

Get it right about backyard poultry

I would like to address Pelham Town Council about the recent article regarding poultry in urban areas [Backyard chickens cannot come home to roost, Oct. 12, p.3]. There are a lot of misconceptions about poultry in urban areas that I would like to address.

• To the best of my knowledge and research, the avian flu and poultry illnesses are not passed to humans. So before making that one of your bases for a decision, I would plead that you to check with experts.

• By permit only, could ensure cleanliness and distances are adequate. Most people would be surprised that with fresh bedding and daily scooping, coops do not smell bad at all! You have to pretty much put your head in the coop to smell anything. No comparison to the smell from cannabis establishments! In the US, there is a new animal bedding product that keeps coops smelling downright heaven- ly. Like walking into a coffee shop. It is made of used coffee grounds that are processed to remove all the caffeine.

• With or without backyard poultry, people in urban areas will always feed wild birds, put garbage out at curbs, drop bits of food, use corn gluten meal for weed control, use bone meal for fertilizer, etc., that inadvertently feed wildlife. With a permit system that ensures owners keep feed contained in a wildlife-proof area, poultry feed does not have to be added to this list.

• Although these animals are often found fault with, a pet dog, neighborhood cat, wild foxes, and traps are all great at keeping rodent populations down. If complaints are made about rodents, they should be dealt with and questions asked. Are other possible sources considered before blaming all backyard poultry? Are suggestions made to homeowner so they can fi x the issue? Does the complaint come from one neighbour out of spite? Or legitimately from neighbours with proof? If the latter, it is time to enforce a law.

• Roosters are loud, there is no denying that. But there is no one wanting to keep a rooster anyway. Other types of poultry are not as loud. Hens for example, generally only

that

Polievre is one of them, or even that he’s especially religious. I can’t say for certain but I’d be extremely surprised if it were otherwise. But I do believe that he gives these people oxygen, has their support, and does absolutely nothing to dissuade them. This is irresponsible and short-sighted. In case you wonder at who they are, we see their signs at protests and rallies, and saw them

in abundance during the Ottawa occupation. Misplaced, sometimes misspelled, Bible quotes, calls for the “restoration of the kingdom of God,” pictures of rosaries wrapped around offensive right-wing statements, and prayer meetings held by people who proceed to wish death on Justin Trudeau, and use obscene language about their opponents. Not the nicest people you could hope to encounter.

Apart from the obvious horror and nastiness of it all, it’s such an imploding idea. Christian nationalism is an inherent contradiction, an oxymoron, in that Jesus stood in direct opposition to nationalism —both that of his own people, and as a wider concept. The essence of his teaching is that he came for all, irrespective of race or nation, and that one person could not have two masters. A Christian nationalist is merely a nationalist trying to disguise nastiness behind faith and religiosity. Perhaps they’re naïve,

perhaps they’re trying to mislead, perhaps they’re a combination of both.

In that the Gospels preach love, tolerance, gentleness, forgiveness, and equality, there is absolutely no connection at all between Christ and this latest aberration; or, if you like, this latest heresy. Jesus said you change the world by changing your heart, Christian nationalists say you change the world by shouting at and insulting people. Very different creature indeed.

But there’s more going on than this. Not only is Canadian Christian nationalism not Christian, it’s not Canadian or patriotic either. The roots of this perverted idea are found in a specifically American notion of exceptionalism, the idea that the United States was and is chosen by God to be a light on a hill, distinct, special, and better. America, runs the ideology, has a God-given right and duty to shape and lead the world, and anybody who opposes

this isn’t truly American. Inevitably, this leads to a whole stew of repugnant beliefs. It may even lead to something resembling fascism. If you doubt me, observe what happened when an enraged mob stormed Washington DC.

It also reveals a colossal misunderstanding and twisting of scripture, in that when God chose a people or a particular person it was often to show grace and courage during suffering, not to bathe in triumphal splendour. The idea has its foundations in the theology of the Puritans who settled America in the 17th-century, and took with them a Calvinist interpretation of the Old Testament, with a boast of predestination and national blessing. One of the reasons they left England and Holland was that they wanted a stricter, more rigid observation of the Bible.

That led to a variety of problems, and while Canada has its own birth defects and ghosts with which to deal, this country was

established on radically different definitions of religion, state, and purpose. So, it’s darkly ironic that Canadian arch-conservatives should embrace a quintessentially American value, and throw it around as they wave the Canadian flag, often upside down of course.

This sad aping of crude American politics and Trump-adoration is eating away at popular discourse and even civilized democracy. It leads directly to the mob scenes we’ve witnessed, to journalists being abused and threatened, and talk of violence and revolt. That the word “Christian” should be linked to it in any way at all disgusts me.

The British writer GK Chesterton once said that no true patriot would ever dream of saying, “My country, right or wrong.” It would, he continued, be like saying, “My mother, drunk or sober.” Canadian Christian nationalists seem to be drunk out of their minds, but on something far, far worse than mere alcohol. 4

Rev. Michael Coren

Ward 1 acclaimed candidate Kevin Ker on the term ahead

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

KEVIN KER QUICK FACTS

Running for: Acclaimed as Ward

Occupation: Retired agricultural researcher

consultant resides: lifelong resident of Fenwick

Wife Jina,

He’s got to be the most educated agriculturalist in Pelham. Kevin Ker, an acclaimed candidate in Pelham’s Ward 1—meaning he will automatically be seated as a member of the new council, given a lack of other candidates this year—holds Bachelors degrees in agriculture and education, and both a Masters and PhD in science, earned through studies at the University of Guelph and at Brock.

Farming comes second nature to Ker, since his family has been tilling the Fenwick soil for over a hundred years.

“My family had 35 acres, 20 of which are now the Cherry Ridge subdivision,” he said. “My current house is on ancestral land. I grew up with cherries and peaches, and we had hogs in the winter, but it was never the sole source of income for the family. I thought of farming as a career, but it didn’t take me long to figure out that the

economics were not great. But I went to university and got my aggie degree from Guelph, just like my dad had done.”

Ker was hired by the Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food as a specialist on pesticide reduction, and after working in the London area for three years he returned to Niagara, assigned to the Vineland Research Station. He also taught at Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute (CCOVI) for 20 years, and had a consulting business monitoring orchards and vineyards.

“I left a well-paying, full-benefits government job and went out on my own, and it’s worked to my advantage, allowing me to travel all over the world, working with all kinds of different university people in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, China. So my life experience has been quite broad.”

Ker graduated from E. L Crossley, but attended Pelham District High School for his first three years of secondary school, where his father, Edgar “Bud” Ker, was the principal. The elder Ker clearly had a strong influence on his son.

“Dad taught from the 1950s right through until Pelham DHS closed,” said Ker. “But before he got into education, he was a fighter pilot in WWII at 20 years of age. He did his flight training in Dunnville. My mom and dad got mar-

ried on the thirtieth of August, and on the first of September, he was overseas. Dad used to joke that Mom honeymooned in Fonthill, and he honeymooned in Europe.”

Ker said that his father flew 16 different aircraft in the war, including six versions of the Supermarine Spitfire.

“Dad was a squadron leader who won the Distinguished Flying Cross on the sixteenth of September in 1942, when he shot down two ME109s [Nazi Messerschmidt fighters]. Eighty years to the day later, I was at the Mount Hope Airport’s Warbird Heritage Museum, flying in the passenger seat of a WWII Harvard trainer aircraft,” he said, beaming.

The flight, a tribute to his father’s heroism, was a birthday gift from Ker’s wife, Jina.

Encouraged to run by many constituents in Ward 1, he said, but with no political experience under his belt, Ker doesn’t come to council with any particular agenda, and

is facing all issues with an open mind.

“I bring professional knowledge and long-term experience in research, along with a familiarity with agricultural and environmental issues,” he said. “I’ve been a specialist accepted by the Ontario Superior Court, and an expert for the National Research Council and the National Energy Board. I know all the fundamentals of agriculture, but also a lot about water and soils in the environment.”

Ker said that what he brings to the council table is “perspective and experience, having lived through the development of agricultural property, seeing urban development and its impacts. But what are the secondary potential impacts? Having worked on a broad variety of projects, I think I bring a unique skill set, being able to speak to the issues and ask the right questions. I offer a different viewpoint.”

Development requires infra-

structure to properly support it, noted Ker, adding that residents should be aware that “adding more houses has never reduced taxes.”

An oft-used buzzword is “affordable” housing, but we have to look at “attainable” housing, said Ker, acknowledging that many residents are reluctant to see development in town. He remembers seeing subdivisions built proximal to where he grew up, on prime agricultural land.

“I was apoplectic, seeing that farmland go,” he said. “It’s deep sand, perfect for tender fruit, and it’s covered in houses. And then we have clay fields left untouched, which are not as productive for agriculture. I know that [Mayor Junkin] is advocating for an agriculture committee, and obviously I’d be very interested in that.”

Having observed the evolution of Pelham, replete with “good decisions, and not-so-good decisions,” Ker said that “there are big things coming in the future that we still have to make decisions about. Future projections for population in the municipality are around 29,000, and we need to ask ‘from where we are now, how are we going to get there?’ For example, are we going to be a car-centric community or not? When I traveled through New Zealand and Australia, it was evident that if you lived near the urban centres, owning a car was a luxury. People depended on a mass transit system. Now look at the condo developments around the MCC, where the Planning Act allows 1.2 parking spaces per home. It’s obvious that there will be parking overflow on the roadways. People are going to have to start thinking about not having a second vehicle in that environment.”

Acclaimed in Ward 1, Kevin Ker

DON RICKERS

Anything but the ordinary for These Architects

The decision to undertake a new build, renovate an existing home or build out a commercial space can be an extremely daunting process. Many consultants are required and it’s often difficult to know where to begin. Many people start with a builder so that they can understand how much it is all going to cost. Howev er, how can a builder know what you are planning or put a price tag on the ideas in your head? Architects can translate your needs and desires into thoughtful, and well-designed spaces. They can decipher these needs and create the spec ifications for a builder to ac curately price the project. This helps ensure that there are no unpleasant surprises and that the project finishes on budget.

These Architects Inc. is a bespoke architecture studio dedicated to the collabora tive art of building residential and commercial projects in the Niagara Region and be yond. We are committed to working with our clients to deliver exceptionally tailored buildings and spaces.

The unparalleled, respect ful, knowledgeable and hon est service we provide is the prime reason our clients choose to do business with us. With over 25 years of ex perience, we earn our clients’ confidence through innova tive design that’s grounded in collaboration. We devise an expert design team with at tention to detail, that is foun dational to the successful completion of our projects. Build the right team before you build your project.

Some of the residential work we undertake is rooted in the surrounding context of the Niagara region. “House in the hill” is holistically de signed as a three-storey home, located in the town of Pelham, Ontario. This private residence for a large family is sited on a property in the Carolinian woodland forest. Finding the embodied story of the home, this became the guiding principle directing ev ery last detail in the design of this exceptional home, from the largest exterior gesture to the last custom interior detail.

A unique coffee shop was de signed around these core ide als: Real farmers. Real roast ers. Real baristas. Central to the concept of the Font Coffee Bar café, is the connection of the coffee plant to the farm, and the rural context of the fruit belt of Niagara. The im portance of coffee authenticity became the defining idea be hind Font Coffee Bar, located in Uptown Square, Fonthill. The popular café has endured through COVID as a communi ty hub for all, including a space for local artists and artisans to showcase their work. As a fully accessible space, this café has served the community well in cluding families, students, cy clists, and the elderly. A gath ering space for many groups and people. Its importance as a true community touch down space has allowed it to endure through troubled times.

Hospitality commercial proj ects also form a large part of the body of our work. Other hospitality spaces include cafés, bars, and restaurants scattered throughout the Ni agara Region from Hamilton to Niagara-on-the-Lake. Cur rently underway is a restau rant extension in downtown Fonthill.

With thoughtful consideration of materiality and site, These Architects Inc. endeavour to create interior and exterior spaces distinct to each proj ect, making for a uniquely personalised experience. While our work is aesthet ically diverse, our projects are linked by a focus on en hancing human relationships through an architecture that is poetic, creative and en gaging.

“build the right team before you build your project”

“from the largest exterior gesture to the last custom interior detail”

Quality produce available at Niagara Fresh Market

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

Peter Glasbergen has farming in his blood. He’s the third generation of Glasbergens to work the Fenwick soil since his grandfather bought the property in 1955. The farm on Foss Road has nine acres, with three occupied by greenhouse structures, while the second farm, at the corner of Weber Road and Church Street, has 22 acres, with nine dedicated to greenhouses.

“We’ve always had a little roadside stand, where we sold primarily cucumbers and tomatoes,” said Glasbergen. “When Covid started, and all the shutdowns happened, a lot of my farmer friends started to bring some of their produce here. And it just kept expanding, such that we now have a huge variety available here at our Niagara Fresh Market, at 760 Foss.”

The market has cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and gourds from Pineview Farms and Johnson Farms, sunflowers from Slappendel’s, garden mums from Greenfield Greenhouses and Floral Dimensions, meats from Big Red in Thorold, dairy products from Hewitt’s in Oshweken, chocolate from Marshfield in Wainfleet, and White Meadow syrups and sauces, said Trevor Van Hoffen, Glasbergen’s son-in-law, who manages part of the operation.

Fruits such oranges and bananas are also available, which of course are not grown locally.

Baked goods, eggs, canned goods, and pre-made boxes of produce are also listed on the market’s website.

“We deliver to all of Niagara and Dunnville, three days a week,” said Van Hoffen. “It’s free on purchases over $50. Customers can go to our website, niagarafresh. ca, fill their cart with produce, pay by credit card, and their order gets delivered the next day.”

Business was brisk for Niagara Fresh Market during the pandemic, with seniors and those without easy transportation especially eager to have food delivered to their door.

“We’re trying to maintain the momentum, bringing in new products, and attracting new customers,” said Van Hoffen. “People are very accustomed to buying online these days.”

Glasbergen said that they are price-competitive with supermarkets. In fact, he now sells some of his home-grown produce to some local grocery chain locations, and is developing a list of restaurant customers as well.

“As a larger-scale business, we deal with about 70 grocery stores

in southern Ontario, direct-tostore,” he said.

The market is open year-round, with a seasonal garden centre. Pumpkins and mums are popular in October, while Christmas urns dominate in November and December. Christmas trees are

brought in from Sloan Nurseries in Bothwell, near London, and poinsettias are sourced from Spring Valley, in Jordan, and Slappendel’s in Fenwick.

Niagara Fresh employs two fulltime and four part-time staff, including a delivery driver. The farm

operation involves about 60 workers, many of them migrant workers from Mexico, living on site.

To place an order, see the website at www.niagarafresh.ca, or call the roadside stand at 905380-0771.

Trevor Van Hoffen, left, and Peter Glasbergen

DON RICKERS

Career educator turned councillor

Shellee Niznik will represent Ward 3 on Pelham Town Council

BY DON RICKERS Contributing News Editor

school principal, Shellee Niznik is ready to jump into the local political arena.

“This is my second fall not hav ing to go back to school,” said the retiree with a smile. “I’ve been a Pelham resident since the age of ten, and attended A. K. Wigg and E. L. Crossley. All my children at tended schools here as well. I think I have a good grasp of the commu nity dynamic.”

Niznik has established her prior ities for her first term at the council table.

“First of all, we need to work to create a council that's a little more collaborative, trusting, collegial, and supportive than in the past,”

she told the Voice. “I think that the Town needs to do a better job of celebrating some of the terrif ic things that are happening, that have sometimes gone unspoken. We have great family events here, like Summerfest, the Fenwick Li ons Parade, and the Canada Day celebrations. There were many great ideas brought forward in the last strategic plan which have been accomplished over the past four years. We also must continue to really watch our tax dollars, and make sure that the reserves get rebuilt. The focus should be on our ‘needs,’ and not necessarily our ‘wants’ at this point.”

Calling Pelham a “wonderful place to live and raise a family,” she believes that maintaining its uniqueness is important.

“We need to manage our urban growth, making sure we have the infrastructure in place for good sewers and roads, while at the same time maintaining green space, and assets like playgrounds for local kids in new developments.”

Council needs to fight the battles it can win, said Niznik, noting that going to court with developers at Ontario Land Tribunal can cost the

municipality money if the appeals are lost—as 97 percent of them have been across Ontario so far this year, according to reporting by the Niagara dailies. Achieving a bal ance between development and the natural environmental is critical.

“Looking at the candidates who are running, I think this council is going to work really well togeth er,” she said. “I'm excited about it, and I now have the extra time to serve the community. I’ve always been more of a doer than just a watcher.”

Niznik reflected back on her fond memories of growing up in Pelham, “riding our bikes to hang

out in Fonthill, down Canboro Road to Fenwick, the Comfort Ma ple, to the fields by the nursery. My mom was actually born right in downtown Fonthill, and still lives in the condos across from Lookout Ridge. My grandparents owned a farm and a butcher shop down in the hollow.”

Given that she was acclaimed in Ward 3, Niznik decided not to de velop a candidate website or bro chure, but is eager to listen the concerns of residents, and encour ages them to email her at shellee. niznik@gmail.com.

She is looking forward to her fall orientation sessions with Town

staff, a “political boot camp for new recruits,” and has formed a good impression of those working for the Town over the years.

“I think they're doing a great job,” she said. “I've always had re spect for Town staff.”

Niznik appreciates that serving as a Town councillor is not a getrich-quick proposition, and knows that pouring over copious docu ments and correspondence prior to meetings is a requirement of the job, as is fielding questions from constituents at all hours of the day.

“I’m confident that serving on council will be a positive experi ence. I can’t wait to get started.”

Acclaimed in Ward 3, Shellee Niznik

DON RICKERS

OBITUARY

Edith May Waldron

1924- 2022

Edith May Waldron (Morrison) of Port Colborne and formerly of Wellandport died October 15, 2022. She was born in Wolverhampton, England 98 years ago to the late George and Helen (Canning) Morrison. She is predeceased by her husband, Eric (2005), sister Muriel Cutler and granddaughter, Nicole. Edith is survived by her daughters, Jane (Dennis Cartier) of Blenheim and Ann of Port Colborne, sons, Clive of Fenwick and Ken (Debbie) of Esquimalt, B.C., grandchildren Michelle (Andrew) Stewart and Jackie (Kenny) Waldron, Karen (Aric) Stoner and Shawn (Rebecca) Cartier and great-grandchildren Grace and McKinley Stewart, Samantha Bennett, and Scott, Colin and Evan Stoner. Several nieces and nephews also survive. Edith was the last family member of her generation being predeceased by sisters- and brothers-in-law Frank Priest, Wilf Cutler, Maisie and Leonard van der Hooft, Pearl and Bryn Thomas and Shelagh and George Lynham. Edith served Christ Church, Wainfleet well over the years as Sunday School teacher, Vestry Clerk and Organist. She received the Order of Niagara in 2015. Although she had no formal training, she was in demand as a soloist for various functions over the years and enjoyed being a member of the Centennial Choir. A Funeral service was conducted by Rev. Nirmal Mendis at Christ Church, Wainfleet. Donations in Edith’s memory may be made to Christ Church, Wainfleet or Community Living Port Colborne-Wainfleet. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Lampman Funeral Home, Fenwick, Ontario.

Letters continued

Here’s one when you got to shake your head and say, “What was the Town of Pelham thinking?” I’m referring to the cold, spring-fed Twelve Mile Creek on a low lying, narrow property that borders on two sides of the creek.

Most town folk know that the Twelve Mile Creek was flooded badly back in 201415, and the creek became a rushing river that carved and took away half the width of Sulphur Springs Drive, the west end off of Effingham Street. This same flood washed away large chunks of the creek bank, this time at the east end of Sulphur Springs, and hastily built rock cages were erected to try and preserve the road.

Now to my point of picking up my pen. A narrow slip of property that banks on the Twelve Mile has property taxes owed to the Town. No house is on the very low lying lot, and it’s most definitely in a flood zone. Ignoring this crucial fact, the Town

from Page 5

machinations of Galileo with Pope Urban VIII and others in the Catholic church, read Chapter 6 of Dr. Jacob Bronowski’s book, The Ascent of Man. It’s a masterful piece of work. It sets the record straight. It is clear that the locus of scientific thought moved from Mediterranean countries to northern Europe at least in part because of the church’s obstructionism towards science.

No religious organization has been inte-

OBITUARY

Patrick “Paddy” Mallen

It is with a shattered heart that we announce the death of Patrick (Paddy) Mallen on October 21, 2022. His 13-year fight with cancer has concluded. Loving hubby to Cheryl for 42 years of marriage. Devoted Father to Bob Mallen (partner Emily Bommarito) and Sarah Mallen (partner Ben Monck) and Gampa to the incredible Zoe and Connor Monck. Beloved brother of Karen and Don. Dog-daddy to Cooper. Life offered a special opportunity for a family connection with Tom Bowers (Tanya, Sydney, Morgan, and Brooklyn). Additionally, Adel Mansurov (Krystal Leonov) added to extend the family. Connections with multiple wonderful family members and incredible friends are forever appreciated. He has donated his cornea tissue. Cremation will take place. Private funeral arrangements. In lieu of flowers, a donation to your local food bank or youth sports team would be appreciated.

5

REID, Ernest Arnold

Feb. 8, 1954 – Oct. 13, 2022

The family of Ernie Reid is shocked and devastated by his sudden passing. For anyone who knew him, it was evident how devoted and loving he was to his family. He will be deeply missed by his wife Mary (Enns); his children, Matthew (Julie-Anne Frank), Karen (Neil Brown), and Julie (Keith McLean); and his nine grandchildren, who are his living legacies; Andersen and Everett Reid; Lydia, Kassie, Jansen, and Felicity Brown; Evan, Grace, and Christian McLean.

He will be greatly missed by his sister Linda Addario and his extended family of brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, many friends, GM brotherhood, fishing buddies and neighbours.

After the loss of his own parents, Arnold Reid and Marion Hill, he knew how precious life was and always prioritized his family. He stated it beautifully that “The hole that was left in his heart was filling up with the birth of each child and grandchild.”

goes ahead and auctions off this lot. The new property owner sent a crew in and they chainsawed down trees, limbs and shrubs— without a permit. The property owner was told to stop any further development, but ignoring this order the owner sends in two large dump trucks filled with large gravel and this gravel is poured onto the clear cut without a permit once again. The police are called in, the bylaw officer and the NEC are all involved. A needless headache! And sadly yet more trees and shrubs have been cut down near the Twelve Mile Creek because of this sale.

All this could have been avoided by the Town’s paid staff and elected officials, if they simply examined closely the properties that they put up for auction and determine which lie in flood zones and which don’t.

Lynncy Powell Ridgeville

gral to the development of science.

Much can be said of the church’s sometimes tarnished role in education, citing the operations of residential schools in Canada, for example, or even the theocracy that now rules Iran and marginalizes women.

In my view religious indoctrination of any kind is not a proper role of any school system. Ruiter’s interview was well done but disturbing. Ruiter should not be elected to become a school board trustee.

Tom Crawford Fonthill

make an “egg song” for a couple minutes during the day after they lay an egg, or during the day if something scares them. Most of their day is filled with gentle clucks and murmurs that are quite relaxing. At sundown, they fall asleep until sunrise. If poultry are housed at certain distances from neighbours, their vocalizations would not be heard much louder than road traffic or wild birds. To be fair, most Town bylaws only have noise enforcements after certain hours, when chickens are fast asleep! This summer a house in Pelham sandblasted their pool for eight days. The neighbourhood had to wear earplugs when in their yards, to prevent hearing loss. It was that bad. Complaints were made to the Town but were not acted on because no noise bylaw was broken. My conclusion would be that a hen’s egg song would not break any bylaw either!

• Hens and most poultry are small. About the size of a wild rabbit, or dog or cat. The view of what is considered a farm animal is based on what? Dogs, cats, and rabbits all use to be considered farm animals.

• Wild animal populations and habitats fluctuate all the time. In years past, it was common to see nine squirrels at a time under our oak tree. This year, only a couple. Very similar for wild rabbits. The foxes we have been seeing are coming into our yards to eat the bounty of squirrels, rabbits and any other scraps we leave be-

Ernie was living out his retirement dream, spoiling and creating memories with his grandchildren. In warmer weather, you were likely to find him working on his boat or out on the water fishing. He loved to connect with people and share stories. He touched the lives of many during his years of coaching his kids in hockey and soccer.

He will forever be remembered by the chuckle in his laugh, the twinkle in his eye, and the kindness in his heart. As a tribute to Ernie, Donations can be sent to Agape Valley (https://store.agapevalley.ca/ donate)

hind. Urban spread also has pushed them into our town. Foxes do not normally attack humans or pets. We are told to co-exist and do not feed wildlife. I know some do. Permits could ensure poultry are strictly kept in predator-proof areas. Easier to control than the people who feed wild foxes.

• If there are other misconceptions, I would be happy to address them. There are always naysayers. Do we live in a world that denies all simple pleasures because of them? Do we say, “If you want to swim, go to the lake! No pools allowed, because they are drowning hazards and noisy!” We found a permit system that for the most part works!

So, what is the reasoning or justification behind a councillor saying, “Want eggs or free-range meat, go to a farm?” As any other enjoyable amendments that are added to yards, poultry can provide mental happiness for those who love them.

Poultry can give lessons in self-sustainability in uncertain times. I am not in any way saying that everyone or situation should be allowed to have them.

It could be on a case-bycase basis, by permit only.

Forward-thinking communities such as Guelph, Waterloo, Kitchener, and Toronto have pilot programs

and permanent bylaws with allowances for urban poultry.

When we were thinking of getting chickens, my husband called Town bylaw to ask what rules were. He was told that technically chickens are not allowed but many do have them anyway. As long as your neighbours do not complain, Town does not have to enforce, we were told. Bylaw went on to give tips for building a coop! Because of a faraway neighbour who takes pleasure in hurting others, we are now being forced to part with our beloved hens. The rest of our neighbours are as heartbroken as we are. These “girls” are much loved, as you would love any pet. Their eggs are shared with our neighbours.

On a final note, I want the Town of Pelham to know, as you set your sights on enforcing zoning laws, you are leaving a trail of broken hearts that will not soon be forgotten. All of council has an open invite to visit us before our girls are re-homed, to see firsthand what they will be voting on in January.

Pam, Coop Cleaning Lady John, Treat Provider Mason, Yard Monitor Jack (Russell), Rodent Ridder Peep and Dumpling, Respected Coop Representatives

Hey, Town. Don't sell properties in flood zones.

The street sweeper was getting close enough that they had to raise their voices over the brushing. The truck started a wide turn around a parked car.

the

comes across a

Lofthill.

Matt, that it’s the same man

she

she tells

came to

insulation. Matt remembers the man acting oddly in their basement. On a hunch, Matt takes a sledgehammer to the basement floor and discovers a buried toolbox filled with

day before,

Then the doorbell rings. It’s the police.

Matt hurriedly put the laptop to sleep. “Get rid of them.”

“It’s the cops, Matt, we can’t just get rid of them.”

The doorbell rang a second time. Milo ran down the hallway and back again, baying like he was in beagle nirvana.

“Okay, go answer the door, I’ll be right there. Don’t let them in.”

Emma walked quickly down the hall, but by the time she got to the entryway she was starting to get mad at Matt. Who the hell was he to be barking orders? She caught her breath and opened the door.

It was just one cop, young, late twenties probably, wearing the black Niagara Constabulary Service uniform, and Emma thought she recognized him from the crime scene earlier. She said, “Yes?”

“Good afternoon, ma’am. I’d like to ask you a couple of questions if you have a moment.”

Milo kept barking. Emma bent down and grabbed his collar.

“Okay, okay,” she said to the dog. “Okay,” she said to the cop.

“Yesterday a man was going door-to-door in the neighbourhood, asking about the insulation in the houses. Did he come here?”

Milo stopped barking but Emma stayed bent over, holding his collar.

“No.”

“Were you home all day?”

Emma took a couple of seconds. She was wondering where Matt was, why he wasn’t beside her by now, and then she said, “Yes, all day.”

The cop smiled. “You didn’t go out at all? Not even to walk the dog?”

“Oh right, I did take him out a couple of times. But my husband was home.” She looked up at the cop. “He works from home.”

“Is he here now?”

Emma nodded and turned her head, calling, “Matt, you there?”

The cop waited until Matt got to the entryway and then said, “I’d like to show you a picture.”

Matt assumed Milo containment duty and Emma released his collar.

“Okay,” said Emma.

“You may find it disturbing.”

“I think I’ll be okay.”

The cop held up an iPad. “Would it be okay if I came in? Might be easier to see it.”

Matt said, “Yeah, sure, of course,” and moved aside a little but stayed right by the door so the cop could step just

By John McFetridge

inside but no farther. He let go of Milo’s collar saying, “Be good now.”

A street sweeping truck turned the corner and headed toward them.

The cop swiped the screen.

“All right, have either of you ever seen this man?” He held up the tablet.

Emma started a little but she was sure the cop didn’t notice. The man’s face had been cleaned off but there were still traces of blood and dirt, and his eyes were closed unevenly, one eyelid askew. Emma was surprised by how freaked out she was.

“It’s okay,” said the cop. “It’s always shocking to see a dead person.”

“Yes.” Emma took a breath and said, “No, I’ve never seen him before.”

Matt said, “Nope, never seen him either.”

“He didn’t come to your house yesterday?”

Emma looked at Matt. “Not while I was walking Milo?”

Emma couldn’t take her eyes from the dead man’s face. His skin was so white that it was nearly translucent. Whiter than Matt, the whitest white man Emma had ever met. They used to joke that he needed sunscreen just to walk to the mailbox in winter.

Matt was shaking his head. “Nope, didn’t come here.”

“Okay, well, thank you for your time.” The cop swiped again at the iPad. “Friendly beagle you have there.”

“What’s that?” asked Emma.

“Friendly dog,” half-shouted the cop.

“He is,” Emma said. “Wish we could be of more help.”

The cop nodded with a businesslike smile and left. The street sweeper rumbled past, the driver exchanging a little wave with Emma.

After the door closed she let out long breath and said, “Wow, that was so weird. Look at me, I’m shaking.”

“It’s fine,” Matt said, “We’re good. What do they call it in the TV shows—canvassing the neighbourhood? That’s all they’re doing.”

“I’ve never lied to a cop before.”

“Sure you have,” Matt said, “You told that cop on the QEW you didn’t know how fast you were going and you knew perfectly well you were doing one-twenty-five.”

Emma laughed. “This is so different.”

“Not really,” Matt said. “All right, let’s find out how many of those bars we’ve got.”

He walked down the basement stairs and Emma followed. She was a little impressed at how cool he was but also a little surprised. And she was really surprised at how much she liked it.

Detective-Sergeant Janice Cleary sat behind the desk in the Mobile Command Center, the RV the Niagara Constabulary Service had recently bought and kitted out with advanced communications equipment and riot gear, and said, “Our dead guy. His name was Leonard Bouchard. You think he went by Len or Lennie?”

She looked up at Detective-Constable Trent Frayne, who was still standing by the door he’d just come through. He thought for a second.

“Old friends still called him Lennie, but he didn’t like it.”

“He just got out of Joyceville in September.” Cleary tapped a pen on the desk. “How do you go from a prison cell in Kingston to dead in a Lofthill field in a month.”

Frayne sat down, rubbing his hands. He was surprised Cleary didn’t have the heater going against the chill. The trick-or-treaters were really going to have to bundle-up this year. He nodded at her. “What was he in for?”

Cleary read from the monitor, “Theft over five thousand dollars.”

“B and E?”

“Construction equipment.”

“That’s quite a bit over five thousand.”

Cleary scrolled down.

“A couple guys he was arrested with were charged with theft over two hundred thousand.”

“That’s more like it.”

“They’re still inside.”

“Too bad,” Frayne said, “would have been a good place to start.”

Fonthill Baptist Church presents:

Frayne arched an eyebrow.

“I

think we’re supposed to say that anymore.”

She liked Frayne all right, but she didn’t like to let him know that. He was barely thirty, a little over half her age, and on first impression he was just another guy who didn’t make it past junior hockey and fell into police work because it looked less boring than working a call centre or selling Toyotas, but she thought he might actually get good at it. Then she remembered that’s what she thought about her ex-husband, when they were both working uniform, and yeah, turned out she was wrong about him.

She said, “Okay, how’s the canvassing going?”

“They’re just getting started.”

Cleary looked at the computer monitor.

“His parole officer says there’s no next of kin, father is deceased and mother’s whereabouts are unknown. He doesn’t have a vehicle registered in his name, and he didn’t rent one with a credit card in his name.” She doodled “Bouchard” a few times on her notepad. “He had to get here somehow.”

Frayne nodded at the window. “Niagara Transit has those minivans at the community centre here, it’s a hub. What was his last known address?”

“Toronto.”

He gave a little smile.

“Of course. Maybe he was working with a partner and they had a fight. Bouchard got left behind.”

“That’s the most likely,” Cleary said, standing up. “Too bad the partner didn’t take the body with him back to Toronto and dump it there.”

“Or her,” Frayne said.

“Of course—or her. You’re Mr. Feminist today.”

Cleary headed for the door. It opened just as she reached for the lever.

Media Relations Specialist Jason Ridolfi hopped up the metal step and said, “Big crowd out there.”

Cleary looked past him, “Still? The body’s been gone for an hour.”

“Anything for me?”

“You’re the Media Relations creative,” Cleary said. She could smell Ridolfi’s splash of cologne. That and the hair product and the elevator shoes left it evident that Ridolfi liked playing his part with the press, especially the female press. Well, he did have to look decent on camera, Cleary conceded, though it was known in the service that reporters weren’t overly fond of his abrasiveness.

“I heard you had an ID.”

“That sounds like an unsubstantiated rumour.”

Ridolfi tilted his head and said, “That’s funny. He had an ID on him, did it check out?”

Cleary shrugged.

“Not officially. His ID said Leonard Bouchard and the database said someone with that name and date of birth has been arrested a few times and just got out of prison. I emailed a picture to his parole officer who says it’s him but you can’t say that.”

“I know. What about cause of death?”

“Did you see him?”

Ridolfi frowned. “You want me to say a brick was halfway embedded in the back of his skull?”

“That’s not official yet. Talk to Dr. Geffen.”

“So he was killed somewhere else and the body was

dumped here?”

“Waiting on forensics.”

Ridolfi shook his head. “So nothing?”

“Investigation is ongoing, information will be provided at a later date. The usual copy-and-paste.”

Frayne studied his nails, staying out of it.

“I heard he was going door-to-door with some kind of scam?”

“You’re not going to put gossip in this statement are you.”

“I thought someone in the crowd this morning identified him, said he was selling something. Trying to sell something, anyway.”

“Not officially.” Cleary paused and then said, “But yes, that’s what it looks like. Yesterday afternoon he knocked on some doors, looked in some houses. Mentioned insulation.”

“One of the homeowners killed him?”

Cleary pointed a bingo finger.

“People get fed up with these scammers. They snap.”

Ridolfi stared and Cleary sighed. “No, Jason, it seems unlikely a homeowner beat a man to death with a brick just because he tried to sell them insulation they didn’t need.”

“You never know.”

“Now that’s true.”

Ridolfi checked his watch.

“We’re going to have to release a statement before five. That gives us three hours.”

Cleary held open her hands. “Come back and see me. I’ll give you what I have then.”

“The Chief is going to want us to get out ahead of this as much as we can.”

Cleary’s smile was tight. “We all understand how important media relations are to the Chief.”

Ridolfi started to say something but stopped. Then he said, “I’ll call you in a couple of hours.”

Frayne bent slightly to watch through the window in the RV’s door as Ridolfi headed back across the street.

“Who did he piss off to get stuck with this job? Wasn’t he a reporter at one of those local stations— Windsor maybe?”

“I’ve heard it suggested that he didn’t have sufficiently ‘TV hair,’” said Cleary. “Plus he was an asshole to work with.” Cleary didn’t add that Ridolfi’s uncle happened to be senior NCS brass and greased his nephew into the position.

Frayne popped a knuckle. “If I had that receding hairline I might be a little bitch too.”

“Right,” said Cleary. “Your vocabulary is improving. Let’s see how the canvassing is going.”

They stepped out of the command center into the crisp afternoon. Frayne put on his sunglasses against the autumn sun, low and orange beyond the community centre. A Legion sandwich board promoted a fish and chips night.

“Guess rain is on the way,” said Cleary.

Frayne shielded his eyes and looked at the sky.

“How do you figure. Not a cloud around.”

Cleary twirled a finger. “True, but feel the breeze. And hear that?”

Frayne turned his head and paused. A distant wail was just audible over the traffic from Royce Road and Highway 20.

“The train horn? So?”

“Folk wisdom down this way. When you hear those horns from CP’s switching yard, south of the river, weather is headed up from the States.”

“Couldn’t it just be a little wind from over the lake?” Cleary put on her own sunglasses. They walked toward their car.

“Obviously. But throw that tidbit into conversation with a farmer out in Farnwick and suddenly you’re not just a city slicker cop, you’re practically family.” Cleary shrugged. “Well, not really, but you get the point.”

“I do. Anything to establish rapport.”

Cleary nodded. “You’ll deserve that badge yet. So, where are we on Leonard Bouchard’s movements.”

“The person who said she recognized him, the older lady with the Labradoodle? Said she didn’t let him in her house?”

“Is that a question?”

“The uniforms started the canvassing at her residence— it’s in a new subdivision, maybe three years old. Doesn’t look like he went to all that many houses.”

“Maybe he went to other subdivisions. There are a lot of them around here.”

“We’re knocking on a lot of doors,” Frayne said. “Not getting much response.”

Another train horn moaned in the distance.

“Now we know how Bouchard felt.”

M

att leaned back, jotting a final mark on the envelope. “It’s a million dollars.”

They were in the basement, the bars neatly piled now in stacks of ten on top of the laundry table. There were more in the toolbox than they thought at first. A lot more.

Emma took a breath. “No way.”

“There’s five hundred of them,” Matt said. “At twenty-two hundred each that’s one million, one hundred thousand.” He was using the calculator app on his phone.

“But we won’t be able to get that for them. That’s what those places charge, that’s retail.”

Matt shrugged. “Even if we only get two grand, that’s still a million. A very cool million.”

“But they’re stolen, they have serial numbers on them, we wouldn’t get close to that. We’d probably get arrested trying to sell them.”

Matt nodded. “That’ll affect the price, for sure. Hell, even if we get half the retail price, eleven hundred each, or even a grand, that’s still half a million.”

“Doesn’t the price of gold go up?”

“I guess so.”

“So we hold on to them, just sell a few now, say ten,” said Emma.

Matt considered it. “For a thousand each.”

“That’s ten thousand dollars,” Emma said. “That would buy a lot of fancy coffee beans.”

“And then when we need to sell more they’ll be worth more.” Matt smiled and said, “I guess you’re okay at project management after all.”

“But who will we sell them to? We can’t just look up ‘gold dealers who accept stolen gold.’”

“Why not?” Matt typed on his phone. “That guy in Toronto who’s always yelling about how he buys your gold, look, he got arrested once, didn’t he?”

“How does that help us.”

“Oh wait,” Matt said. “Not him, it was a different I-buyyour-gold guy, and he was arrested for taking out a hit on another gold guy. Huh.”

“That’s not good.”

“But it’s also not bad—it means the business is full of crooks who won’t care about serial numbers.”

“They might.” Emma was looking at her own phone. “There are a lot more places that buy gold than I thought.”

“Maybe we should try Buffalo,” Matt said. “Or Detroit.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea, we should drive to Detroit and try to sell stolen gold bars. That’ll work.”

“Why not?”

Emma said, “You’re serious?”

“We just look for the shadiest dealers, the ex-cons.”

“You think a guy who’s already been arrested for buying stolen gold will buy more?”

“No, you’re right,” Matt said. “I’m sure the prison system offered excellent rehabilitation programs and retraining in a different field.”

“Don’t be a jerk.”

“I’m sorry, okay, I’m nervous, too. But come on, there are all kinds of gold bugs out there.” He held up a couple of bars in the light coming through the window.

“Look at it, it’s hypnotic.”

“It’s dangerous.”

Matt stared at the bars for a few more seconds and then

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of summers, and I think we should absolutely double down on this.”

The pandemic has demonstrated that infection rates spike in January because of seasonal social engagements in December around Christmas time, which significantly spread the virus, and indeed have necessitated lockdowns, said Hirji. However, he said that this past August was the deadliest month of the pandemic in Niagara since February 2021, and that 2022 could set a record for deaths from the virus across Canada.

Infections have increased during the fall wave, with some 800 active cases reported by Niagara Public Health. Covid-19 has claimed the lives of 610 Niagara residents since the pandemic was declared.

Using a selection of charts to underscore his analysis of the data by age group, Hirji defended the strict posture he has advocated in handling the pandemic.

“We’ve absolutely saved lives of people, compared to what we saw in the United States and the United Kingdom, where they didn’t address the pandemic nearly as rigorously as us,” he said. “I think this is a clear illustration that people’s lives were saved by the actions we took here in Canada. The outcome was over 1500 people are alive in our community because we took those difficult steps. And I think we should all remember that when we look back at those hard years,

that the sacrifices weren’t for naught. It made a real impact.”

Hirji said that the pandemic response in Canada was “unified,” unlike in the United States, where the pandemic became a heated political issue.

“In Canada, people on both sides of the political spectrum, by and large, got vaccinated and took the pandemic seriously,” he said. “Because we have local public health systems here in Canada, we were able to customize the response somewhat to address the local risks.”

Forget about herd immunity as a salvation at this point, said Hirji, because the virus is mutating so quickly that vaccines become less effective. Currently, the infection prevention rate of vaccines is between 20 and 40 percent.

“But the point to highlight is that over 90 percent of hospitalizations and deaths are still prevented by the boosters,” said Hirji. “I think almost everybody agrees vaccinations absolutely have to be part of what we do. If you haven’t gotten a booster dose this fall, if you’re age 12 or older, absolutely go out and get it, since it’s your best protection for the coming wave that we’re going to see this fall, and is protection against those new variants that are arriving.”

Hirji said that vaccines are going to continue to be part of a baseline level of protection, but that a societal adaptation is required, involving masking in congested areas, moving events outdoors, staying home when sick,

said, “Okay, we don’t have to do anything today.” He started packing the gold back into the toolbox and nodded at the floor. “We need to fi x that.”

Emma said, “I don’t know. It’s pretty deep. Do we just put cement over it?”

Matt started up the stairs and Emma followed.

“Easy enough to find out. Thank god for Google.”

Lofthill’s main business street was like those in a lot of small towns in southern Ontario since the exodus from Toronto really started to kick in a few years before— architecturally a mix of warm heritage and cold modernity. It was also hard to tell sometimes if a business was brand new and just opened by over-inked millennials trying to fake the retro, or if it had really been in the same spot since before one or both world wars.

The dry goods and hardware store had been there for generations. It was one of the first places Matt and Emma had walked into when they’d moved to town, and they loved it. The plastic tubs of bolts. The off-brand spray paints. The Whirlpool skyline of bright white appliances ranged along the wall. They weren’t sure if they loved it ironically or just appreciated that the store almost always had what they needed and the people working there knew what they were doing—and actually seemed happy doing it. Cheeriness was in short supply lately.

But now the guy behind the cash was saying, “I don’t know where you’d go for that, not around here,” and this surprised Matt. He looked at Emma and smiled a little.

The customer, a middle-aged man Emma recognized from their street, said, “I can get it online, I guess, I just didn’t want to wait.”

He turned and walked out, the little bell jingling as the door closed, and Matt said to the guy, “I’m pretty sure you have what I need—a bag of pre-mixed concrete.”

“That we have. What’s it for?” He led the way to the back of the store and Matt followed.

“Just a patch job.”

“Outdoor, indoor?”

“Indoor,” Matt said. “Basement floor.”

“Old house?”

“Not that old, three years.”

“These new houses are just thrown together. They need to be fi xed more than the old ones.”

Matt said, “That’s for sure,” and then listened while the guy explained about the different kinds of mixes.

Back at the register Emma pulled a box of mint Girl Guide cookies from the stack and put it on the counter with the concrete.

When they were paying the guy said, “It’s crazy how much prices have gone up.”

Matt had no idea how much a bag of concrete mix —or Girl Guide mints— used to cost, but he said, “Like everything else,” and that was true enough.

Emma nodded toward the door as she opened the cookies and offered them to the men. “What did that other guy want that you didn’t have?”

A shriek came from outside. They turned to see a group of tweens walking along the sidewalk. A blonde girl laughed loudly as she flirted with a shorter boy.

Matt took a cookie while the hardware guy nodded no.

“Oh, it was weird. A metal detector.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’ve never had anyone ask for one of those before and now that was the second time today.”

Emma barely tasted the cookie as she chewed.

Matt said, “Really?”

The guy pushed the cash register closed. “You heard about the body they found over by the community center?”

“I was walking our dog,” Emma said, “I saw all the police.”

and providing sick leave for all, in order to minimize the negative impacts of viral mutations and infections.

Asked which brand of vaccine booster is “best,” Hirji responded that “the more important message is that it doesn’t matter which one you get. Both Moderna and Pfizer have come out with a booster dose that addresses the Omicron variant. I chose to get the Moderna shot, because during the pandemic it has performed a little bit better, but the Pfizer dose is absolutely a good choice as well.”

As far as possible government mandates around masking and future lockdowns, Hirji said “the sense I get is that governments around the world are tired of dealing with the pandemic and all its costs, and they’re hoping that if they don’t do anything, we’ll kind of muddle through, and make out not too bad. My view is that we’re seeing a society that is less healthy, less equal. Our healthcare system is less sustainable, and we are less economically prosperous because we’re still allowing Covid-19 to spread. I don’t know why government isn’t taking more action.”

Seniors and those with compromised immune systems are most at risk from Covid-19, and Hirji was asked whether the oral antiviral medication Paxlovid should be considered for use by this segment of the population.

“Paxlovid can have side effects like muscle aches and fatigue, and can be quite harm-

“They say the dead guy was looking for something, going through the houses in the new development—”

He handed the receipt to Matt.

“—with a metal detector.”

Matt folded the receipt carefully. “The cops said that?”

“I don’t know anything about the cops, but apparently the guy went through a few houses and you know the way people talk. Now everybody wants to figure out what he was looking for, maybe find it themselves.”

Emma looked at Matt. “That’s so bizarre.”

The guy tapped the counter. “Sure is.”

E

As they walked back to the car, Emma glanced at Matt.

“What are we going to do?”

“What do you mean? Nothing.”

“Everybody’s looking for what he was looking for.”

Matt opened the Mini’s hatch and dropped in the bag of cement. “So, let them look.” He slammed the hatch and stepped close to Emma. “They’re not going to find anything.”

“A fresh patch in the basement is going to look pretty suspicious.”

“We already talked to the cops, there’s nothing to worry about.” Matt jingled his keys. “So we put down a throw rug. It’s going to be fine.”

Emma looked at her reflection in the car’s rear window. “I don’t know.”

“Come on, we’re out here with the countryfolk now, there’s nothing to worry about. We stay cool.”

Matt walked around the car and got in behind the wheel, and after a moment Emma walked to the passenger side.

Down near the pizzeria more shrieks came from the tweens who had walked by before—and then, suddenly, real screams.

The group scattered—some pushing inside the pizzeria, the rest running back along the sidewalk toward Matt and Emma. Two skinny dogs loped behind them.

“Emma,” Matt yelled from inside the Mini, “Get in the

Vineridge Stables

COUNTRY FALL FAIR

ful to the liver and kidneys,” he said. “Your doctor has to do some blood testing before prescribing this medication. But for those at higher risk, it absolutely does prevent people from dying.”

Brock University immunologist and Associate Professor of Health Sciences Adam MacNeil, commenting in a recent Brock News article, supported Hirji’s perspective on containing viruses. MacNeil advocates that people be vaccinated against Covid-19, and also get a flu shot, explaining that the immune system recognizes the influenza and SARSCoV-2 viruses as being two distinct entities.

“Flu and Covid vaccines do not overlap, and people should strongly consider getting both, especially if they have vulnerable immune systems,” said MacNeil. The latest Covid vaccine is “bivalent,” which means the booster targets the original strain plus subvariants arising from the Omicron strain.

Unlike the flu, Covid-19 can cause problems in tissues and organs that may persist after infection—“long Covid”—and can cause inflammation of the blood vessels, affecting the brain and heart, he said.

“To give yourself the best possible protection against the expected surge in influenza and SARS-CoV-2 this fall, do yourself and your community a favour, and get both vaccines as soon as you are eligible, wear a well-fitting N95 respirator when in crowded indoor locations or when ventilation and air filtration is poor, and practice distancing,” MacNeil said.

car.”

As the kids bolted past the hardware store something slipped from one of their hands—a cellphone. It hit the concrete with a sickening crack, breaking the screen. The dogs stopped to sniff it. Then Emma realized they weren’t dogs. They were coyotes.

Two mangy coyotes, just fur and bones, one with a limp.

And now they fi xed their attention on Emma, still standing next to the Mini.

Matt blasted the horn. “Emma—get in!”

The coyotes didn’t move. They tilted their heads a bit as they watched Emma, their nostrils quivering. One, then the other, inched forward.

She couldn’t believe how intelligent their eyes were. They didn’t blink, and neither did she. They were calculating the odds. She’d seen the news lately about aggressive coyotes in Niagara, even in the GTA. Constantly getting bolder.

Matt cracked open the passenger window. “Emma, for chrissake, what are you doing.”

She looked down at her hands and saw the cookie box as if for the first time. Now the animals were ten feet away. How far could a hungry coyote jump?

Careful not to aim directly at them, Emma threw the box over their heads. It split open as it hit the sidewalk.

They pounced on it, snarling and snapping at each other as Emma got into the Mini. She pressed the door lock, and fastened her shoulder belt.

Matt stared at her.

“What was that?”

She wasn’t sure why or what, but Emma realized she understood something, something she maybe didn’t want to know just yet.

“You said it was going to be fine, to stay cool,” she said, watching the coyotes chew through the box.

“I was practicing being cool.”

Keys Safe!

If

after

time in

Episode 2 of 10. Continued next week.

quite stone-faced and deadpan as she sat in her chair, fanned by her servant. She would call out dispassionately, acknowledging no one, and accepting none of the gifts herself. The crowd supplied the emotion, and the servants collected the money.

After an hour, the Medium abruptly declared that the spirits had left, and that it was time for a nap. She stood, bowed to us, then shuffled back into her house, and the crowd dispersed as quickly as it had gathered. Sophie and I stood in front of the house for a moment, taking in what we had seen.

“What a bunch of hokey,” Sophie snorted. “What did you think?”

BALANCED LIFE

continued from Page 18

which we use in our household, is a perfect example of a food that is touted as natural and ethical, yet is ultra-processed. The original structure of the oats used in its manufacture has been significantly modified, and multiple additives have been used to improve its nutritional value, consistency and taste.

Current food labeling regulations allow oat milk to be presented as a nutritionally balanced and healthy product, which may indeed have applied to the original ingredients. But as consumers we have no idea of the extent of processing that was involved in producing the product, or how our body might react to such significantly altered foods. Recent food research confirms the importance

continued from Page 19

ans a bit of Anne of Green Gables (although I’m sure Thomas never thought of that). The company slogan “We don’t cut corners” was symbolized by their square burgers.

The

“I thought it was weird,” I agreed.

In my teenage opinion, the whole thing had been rather anticlimactic. We were both aware that our relatives saw psychics from time to time, preferring to visit the more ambiguous ones living in back alleys and in distant villages.

“Psychics can make a lot of money here,” Sophie explained to me once we had gone home. “My dad told me that there’s a psychic in another city who was gifted with a house, and a car.”

The whole encounter was quickly forgotten, as we were more interested in allotting our next day’s allowance to more adventures (of the shopping and dancing sort).

At the end of the summer, I would return to Canada, and Sophie remained in Vietnam. We

of this part of the equation.

Our body can react to the same food in different ways, depending on how it is processed. Whole oats, for example, are a low-glycemic carbohydrate, meaning they are slow to stimulate changes in blood sugar production. However, when oats are finely ground, as in bread, their glycemic rating soars, resulting in a quick glucose spike, then dip, causing increased hunger and inflammation. Our body reacts to the structure of food as well as its ingredients.

Dr Sarah Berry, a cardio-metabolic health nutrition expert at King’s College in London, England, has extensively researched food-induced inflammation, and its relationship to UPFs. She suggests that our body reacts to food that has lost its natural structure, as happens in UPF production, as if it were encountering an infec-

His lifelong causes Two causes were close to Thomas’ heart. The fi rst was education. He founded the “Dave Thomas Education Center” and began to make “Stay in School” commercials to encourage youth to fi nish high school. Just because he became successful (though a drop-

never saw each other in person again, but over the years we would exchange the odd email or Facebook message. We never referenced our encounter with the Medium, instead laughing over the time we were almost arrested simply for dancing after dark, and sharing photos of our weddings, and eventually our children. Our minds had relegated that specific encounter to the file in our brains labeled “unbelievable,” and “unimportant.”

Do you think it is possible to communicate with ghosts or spirits, or to predict the future? Have you ever visited a psychic, or do you know someone who has spoken with one? If you went (even if you did not believe), what would you want to ask? Ultimately, questions are entertained because the answers, or possible answers, are hard to resist.

tion. This reaction triggers our defence mechanisms, and increases inflammation, one known cause of various cancers.

A study of more than 200,000 American men and women and their diet found a link between UPFs and colorectal cancer in men.

Those that consumed the highest quintile of ultra-processed foods had a 29 percent higher chance of developing colorectal cancer (the third most diagnosed cancer in North America) than those in the lowest quintile.

A 2018 study of 20,000 Italian adults and their diet by Marialaura Bonaccio, an epidemiologist, took research into nutritionally poor diets versus diets high in ultra-processed foods a step further by comparing groups of each category. The group with poor diets high in sugars and trans or saturated fats and the group

out), he didn’t want that to become a bad example for others. When Thomas trained his employees he called it his MBA program. It stood for “Mop Bucket Attitude” which reflected his strong work ethic.

His second cause was “The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption” which

Much of our experiences are lost to time. Our memories slumber, only waking up when triggered. If I had not happened to glimpse my old blurry photo of a motorbike in Vietnam, I would not have thought of my longago friend Sophie, or remembered our encounter with the Medium.

In his book “The Cloud Atlas,” Liam Callanan writes that, “We’re all ghosts. We all carry, inside us, the people who came before us.”

The answer we reach, to any question either big or small, depends on how our minds interpret (or want to interpret) the information.

If we were to follow the words of Callanan, this means that ghosts are memories. If ghosts are memories, and everyone has them—then we are all, for better or for worse, haunted. 4

who consumed more UPFs both independently increased their risk of an early death. However, a comparison of the two groups to see which caused the greatest risk found that 80 percent of the foods weak in nutrition were also ultra-processed, causing higher white blood cell counts and other inflammation markers.

Bonaccio concluded, “This suggests that increased risk of mortality is not due directly or exclusively to the poor nutritional quality of some products, but rather to the fact that these foods are mostly ultra-processed.”

A multitude of studies over the past decade have confirmed that chronic, low-level inflammation can be a silent, hard-to-detect killer. The link to ultra-processed foods as a cause of chronic inflammation is recent, as is the shift in emphasis from concern

he established in 1992. Since then, thousands of adopted children and their parents have been helped. Thomas never forgot his roots and the part that his parents and grandmother played in his formation.

Thomas was married to Lorraine for 47 years and had five children (four

over UPFs’ lack of nutrition to their detrimental effect on how our body reacts to the processing itself. Either way, there is little upside of value to consuming these foods.

UPFs are everywhere—in many of the hamburgers, pizza, french fries and ice creams we consume and enjoy from fast-food joints, to the time-saving cakes, processed meats, pre-packaged soups and sauces, and ready-to-eat meals found on mini-mart and grocery shelves.

Food labelling can’t and doesn’t tell the complete story, proving again that the key to our health is often in our own hands. “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance,” is a quote ascribed to Thomas Jefferson. In a world of ultra-processed foods, “The price of good health is eternal vigilance” might be equally apt. 4

girls and a boy). They lived most of their lives in Ohio. He died in 2002 at age 69 from cancer. At that time there were over 6000 Wendy’s restaurants in North America. His friendly, grandfatherly face and manner shone through in the over 800 commercials he made (more than any

other company founder). Dave Thomas—adopted physically and spiritually—made an impact for good in his generation that went well beyond hamburgers.

4

Rob Weatherby is a retired pastor.

FAITH LIFT

These

require a new

to be displayed on the front of

foods that are high in

fats, sugars

Manufacturers have until January 1, 2026, to change their

comply with the new requirement,” announced the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Federal Minister of Health in June of this year.

This action is simply too little, too late, in our world of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and misleading food labeling. This is not a column designed to discuss how excess dietary salt,

sugar and fats can lead to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, or that we need to eat more veggies. We all know this already.

What we may not know is how insidiously UPFs are labeled and marketed—that it is beyond the simple salt, sugar and fat content that is significantly more dangerous to our health, and why.

UPFs as a food class was first proposed in 2009 by Carlos Monteiro, a professor of Nutrition and Public Health at University of Sao Paulo, in Brazil, when he developed a food classification system based on the level of processing which foods undergo called NOVA.

Group 1 includes natural, unprocessed or minimally processed foods in which their vitamins and minerals are still intact. Minimal processing could include cleaning, removal of inedible parts (seed shells, for instance), drying, fermenting, or freezing and boiling—all processes that add no new ingredients to the food.

Group 2 is oils, fats, salt, and sugar, an acknowledgment that we sometimes flavour our food with “processed culinary ingredients.” In this context these are products obtained from natural foods through pressing, grinding, pulverizing and refining that are used in minimal quantities for seasoning, without upsetting the primary food’s nutritional balance.

Group 3 is processed foods, those usually made

commercially by adding salt, various oils and sugars, and other Group 2 substances to improve taste and palatability, yet are still recognized as versions of the original food. Canned fish and vegetables, fruits in syrup, and fresh bread, are examples of this category. Most Group 3 processed foods have two or three ingredients.

Group 4 is ultra-processed foods, those industrial formulations in which Group 1 natural foods comprise only a small portion, or are completely absent. A quote from the abstract of a United States National Institute of Health study called, “Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them,” is unintentionally (or intentionally) exquisitely graphic in its description of UPFs.

“The manufacture of

ultra-processed foods includes the fractioning of whole foods into substances, chemical modifications of these substances, assembly of unmodified and modified food substances, frequent use of cosmetic additives and sophisticated packaging. Processes and ingredients used to manufacture ultra-processed foods are designed to create …. hyper-palatable products liable to displace all other NOVA food groups, notably unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

A practical way to identify an ultra-processed product is to check to see if its list of ingredients contains food substances never or rarely used in kitchens (such as high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated or interesterified oils, and hydrolysed proteins), or classes of additives designed to make

the final product palatable or more appealing (such as flavours, flavour enhancers, colours, emulsifiers, emulsifying salts, sweeteners, thickeners, and anti-foaming, bulking, carbonating, foaming, gelling and glazing agents).”

That is scary s**t. I wouldn’t lubricate the chain on my bicycle with some of these ingredients, let alone eat them.

Yet according to Heart and Stroke Canada, 50 percent of Canadians and 58 percent of American’s caloric intake is from ultra-processed foods, defined back in 2010 by Monteiro as, “industrial formulations with five or more ingredients.”

Vegans, especially those consuming fast-food meat or dairy substitute options, are not immune. Oat milk,

ARIES – Mar 21/Apr 20

This should be a very interesting week, Aries. Money matters will be at the heart of it. Figure out what you want to do with the extra cash that you have accumulated.

TAURUS – Apr 21/May 21

Treat everyone with a bit of caution, Taurus. Some person in your circle may need a little extra support this week, and your calm and even approach could be just what’s needed.

GEMINI – May 22/Jun 21

Gemini, this week has the potential for a few bumps in the road that could be avoided if you simply slow down a bit. Think things through or you could trip yourself up.

CANCER – Jun 22/Jul 22

An exciting few days lie ahead, Cancer. You may be tempted to spend much more than you usually would. Have fun, but keep track of your finances.

LEO – Jul 23/Aug 23

Leo, even if you have plans to hang out with friends, something at home could crop up that will need your immediate attention. Be flexible and at the ready.

VIRGO – Aug 24/Sept 22

Virgo, find balance where you feel out of sync. Maybe you have been having relationship woes or seem out of touch with family. Make an effort to respond to these feelings.

LIBRA – Sept 23/Oct 23

Libra, even if your best plans do not work out, that doesn’t mean you have to scrap everything and sulk. Make the most of what worked and build on that.

SCORPIO – Oct 24/Nov 22

Scorpio, you may find yourself in a situation that tests your levelheadedness in a big way this week. It could throw off your equilibrium when your plans go awry.

SAGITTARIUS – Nov 23/Dec 21

Sagittarius, focus on communication in the days to come. The ability to communicate effectively will be a true asset as you work more with others.

CAPRICORN – Dec 22/Jan 20

A problem that arises may initially seem insurmountable, Capricorn. But you’re more than capable of overcoming this obstacle. Look to Pisces for help.

AQUARIUS – Jan 21/Feb 18

Are you ready to take action and get to work, Aquarius? An unexpected home project has fallen into your lap, and it will take some effort to get it all done.

PISCES – Feb 19/Mar 20

You could wind up learning something simply by lett ing the wind take you where it will, Pisces. Firm plans are unnecessary this week.

FAMOUS BIRTHDAYS

OCTOBER

by John Swart

by Pastor Rob Weatherby

a Wendy’s restau-

opened in Fonthill! (No, I’m not getting a commission.) But it is the third most popular hamburger chain in America (after McDonalds and Burger King). So, where did the name come from and who is the familiar face behind it all?

Adopted once Rex David (Dave) Thomas was born in 1932 in New Jersey during the Depression. His parents (Sam and Molly) weren’t married, which was a big thing back then. They put their baby son up for adoption and Rex and Auleva Thomas became his new parents.

Sadly, Auleva died when Dave was only five and his father had to travel to fi nd work during those difficult years. So, Thomas was raised by his grandmother, Minnie Sinclair, who instilled in him the values of service, hard work and respect for all. These would later serve him well in his business career.

Thomas then made “the worst decision of my life” by dropping out of school to take a restaurant job. He would eventually graduate from high school in 1993 at age 61 (never too late).

During the Korean War in 1950, Thomas joined the U.S. Army and became a mess sergeant, feeding 2,000 soldiers a day.

Adopted twice After the war, Thomas began working for Colonel Harlan Sanders of the “Kentucky Fried Chicken” chain in the mid 1960s. Sanders was a committed Christian and mentored Thomas both spiritually and professionally. This was Thomas’ second adoption — not by Sanders but by God.

Scripture teaches that when a person becomes a true believer he or she is adopted into God’s family. The apostle Paul wrote, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

Later Paul continues this theme, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem (save) those under the law, that we might receive adoption to

sonship.“ (Galatians 4:4-5)

In 1969, Thomas founded “Wendy’s Old-Fashioned Hamburgers” with his fi rst restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. His goals were high quality and good value. He named the restaurant after his 8-year-old daughter, Melinda Lou (say what!). As a child, Melinda couldn’t pronounce her name correctly and it came out as “Wenda.” Thomas tweaked it to “Wendy’s” and the rest (as they say) is hamburger history.

The well-known image of the red-headed girl with pigtails reminds Canadi-

Dave Thomas, the man behind Wendy's

Remembrance Day displays set for libraries

BY ROSEMARY CHAMBERS and CAROLYN BOTARI Special to the Voice

This year, the Remembrance Day display at the Maple Acre Library branch, in Fenwick, will feature a treasure trove of correspondence found in a beautiful wooden box at Fenwick United Church.

In March 1944, The Official Board of Fenwick United Church decided to send letters to the men and women of the church as a measure of respect and tangible evidence that they were being remembered and prayed for.

The box contained copies of letters Rev. James Hampson sent out to members of Fenwick United Church, Salem United Church, and Fork’s Road United Church, as well as correspondence received from veterans stationed throughout Europe, including in Italy,

Belgium, France, and Holland.

Also included was a poignant letter from Margaret Tuck regarding a memorial service for Jack, a newspaper clipping of Flying Officer Byard Boyes’ recounting his adventures after being forced down in Albania, the obituary of Flight Officer Paul Tokar, and a Commission for Flight Sergeant Edward W. Ker.

The collection will be on display at the Maple Acre branch until the last week of November.

Meanwhile, in Fonthill, a whole different animal, so to speak.

They were messengers, spies and sentinels. They led cavalry charges, carried supplies to the front, and died by the millions during World War I. And for decades the horses, mules, dogs, pigeons, camels, elephants, and other animals were overlooked and

forgotten for the vital roles they played in the war effort. Some 100,000 dogs, 200,000 pigeons, 10 million horses and mules—more than 16 million animals in total were enrolled in the war effort.

The Pelham Historical Society has put together a display at the Fonthill Library to recognize the role animals played in the Great War.

The display also features information on the Purple Poppy Campaign. First issued in 2006 in the UK, the purple poppy was designed to replicate the red poppy and commemorate the service of animals during wartime. The purple poppy campaign is a complimentary poppy to the red poppy of the Royal Canadian Legion. It is a way for people to recognize the significant loss of animal life during war that is not represented in symbol or ceremony of the red poppy.

Voice RECIPE OF THE WEEK

Black Magic Cake

Black Magic Cake

8 to 10 servings

2⁄3 cup vegetable oil, plus more for greasing

pans

1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (or any

powder if on hand)

1 cup boiling water

2 cups granulated sugar

1-3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour (see cook’s note)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Filling and Frosting:

1-1⁄2 cups heavy cream

3⁄4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted

8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 teaspoon espresso powder

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Pinch fine salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1⁄3 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

Decoration:

2 cups mini marshmallows (about 4 ounces) Cooking spray

1 or more candy spiders or two candy eyes for decorating

For the cake:

Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 F.

Line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment and crease the parchment and the sides of the pans with oil.

Stir together the cocoa powder and boiling water in a small bowl and let sit to bloom for 5 minutes (this step intensifies the chocolate flavor in the cake).

Whisk together the granulated sugar, flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the bloomed cocoa, oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Pour the cocoa mixture into the sugar mixture and stir until smooth (the batter will be thin). Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans. Bake until the cakes bounce back when pressed in the middle and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely in the pans on a rack.

For the filling and frosting: Heat the cream in a double boiler over low heat, whisking occasionally, until it begins to steam. Whisk in the cocoa powder, chocolate, espresso powder, vanilla, and salt until the mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the butter until melted. Whisk in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated. Let the frosting cool completely.

To assemble: Put one cake, bottom-side up, on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread about 1 cup of the frosting over the top but not all the way down the side. Top with the other cake, bottom-side up, and frost the top and sides with the remaining frosting.

For the spider web or mummy decoration: Microwave the marshmallows in a microwave-safe medium bowl until they swell and are soft enough to stir, about 1 minute. Let sit a few minutes until cool enough to touch. Spray your hands with cooking spray.

For a spider web, pick up a tablespoon-sized blob of the melted marshmallow and stretch it over and around the cake; repeat so that the strings of marshmallow crisscross one another in many directions. Continue until you have what looks like a spiderweb.

For a mummy, stretch the marshmallow so that all the strings on the top of the cake run in the same direction, leaving a small gap between strings for the mummy’s eyes to peak out. Garnish with a candy spider or several candy spiders for the web cake or candy eyes for the mummy cake.

Cook’s note: The candy directions are a nice touch, but the cake will be fun and delicious without them as well. When measuring flour, spoon it into a dry measuring cup and level off the excess.

Regional Councillor for Pelham, Diana Huson, accepts congratulations from a supporter for her win on Monday evening JOHN CHICK

At Peter Piper's, Pelham Town Councillor John Wink celebrates his reelection to his Ward 2 seat JOHN CHICK

Pelham Town Councillor-elect Brian Eckhardt celebrates his win in Ward 2 quietly at home in Fonthill with family

DAVE BURKET

Mayoral runner-up Frank Adamson, left, is joined by former councillors John Durley and Catherine King, and former mayor David Augustyn BRIAN GREEN