Letters & Op-Ed, March 9 2022

Because I loved and respected my mother for the 86 years I was part of her life I have followed her teachings as they impact most everything I say and do, She passed away at 104 but her words of wisdom still live on. Therefore what I learned in those formative years has kept me on a peaceful, productive path for nearly 90 years. I now would like to share one of her thoughts as it pertains not to Ron Kore, Pelham Town Councillor, but to Ron Kore, Sobeys franchisee. My mother always said, “Take others as you find them. Do not judge them by what some people have to say.” We were not all raised by the same set of parents. Our values, our beliefs, our formative years may indeed have led us down a different path. Ron Kore in his role as Town Councillor is one concern. Ron Kore at Fonthill Sobeys is another. He has shown nothing but kindness and compassion to me and to my family both before and during Covid, during my bout of cancer, my husband's trips to hospital, my inability to drive or to shop personally at his beautiful, well-kept, well-managed store. Ron and his staff made sure we were well looked after during this endless battle we all have fought. When you decide to use his establishment not for shopping, but for political or other reasons you are also hurting the many local people he employs. Yes, we are all entitled to our freedom of speech but when it is detrimental to the livelihood of others it becomes a mean-spirited, malicious judgment of others. My mother often said, “Choose your battles.” We have such a variety of choices today. Let's concentrate on the sad state of our world. That truly needs our rapt attention.

Shirley Lazareth Fonthill

Thank you for this balanced and nuanced assessment [“Capture the flag,” Column Six, March 2, p1]. For myself, I know that I will never look at the Canadian flag the same way again. It has been tainted by extremists whose ignorance is matched only by their gullibility. This is a mob that can be conned into believing anything. Literally anything.

Now they have descended on Fonthill. Last Friday around noon there were big, loud pickup trucks roaring along Highway 20, their absurdly giant Canadian flags snapping in the wind. It turned out they were headed to a public park close to the residence of Niagara’s Acting Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hirji, a man who has done nothing but his best to protect public health for the last two years.

Real babies are being killed by a madman bombing Ukraine and these crybabies are still screaming about…about what? What is left to protest? The mandates are being lifted. Soon (too soon) the mask mandate is probably going to be gone as Ford looks to placate his base ahead of the election. So what’s left?

It’s becoming clear that these rebels without a cause are deeply ignorant about more than just Covid. Their references to “First Amendment rights” would be funny if they weren’t so indicative of how US right wing media has brainwashed them. Then they complain about being mocked and talked down to when called out for their QAnon craziness.

Well, folks, when you strut around braying like donkeys, expect to be called donkeys. The rest of us have had enough. We’ve had enough of being held hostage by angry small men with backwoods beards in big trucks, whining about how their “freedoms” have been taken away.

(Those loud mufflers are evidence enough that these man-children are antisocial at their core.)

We’ve had enough of people (some of whom are clearly mentally ill) harassing our elected officials and calling for the overthrow of Canadian democracy. We've had enough of anarchists who don't care if they burn everything down because their lives suck.

Please, you want to fight for freedom so bad, go get on a plane and fly to Ukraine. Vent your tantrums at a real enemy, not your fellow Canadians.

Chris Patterson Via Voice website

“Freedom Convoy” crap here’s your chance. I’ll give you a pellet gun and you can go to the Ukraine. Front line. Let’s see how your freedoms are taken away. Of course you cowards wouldn’t go. Hell, you wouldn’t even take a little needle prick to protect others.

Terry Mikolacek Fonthill

In the article, “Condo battle zone” [March 2, p. 9], resident Patrick Leblanc is quoted as saying that the condo board chose a replacement board member “illegally.” Respectfully I would suggest that that is not at all true.

A condo board has three options when a board member resigns in mid term: (1) They may do nothing, leaving the position open until the next Annual General Meeting; (2) They may appoint someone whose abilities would be helpful to the board till the next Annual General Meeting; or (3) They may appoint the person with the next highest vote.

It is up to the board to decide which of the three options to choose — any one is acceptable. It appears that the board at the time chose option two and there was nothing about this which was illegal.

George Dewar Past President Lookout Village Board, NSCC#12

Let me assure you that Mr. Patrick Leblanc’s effort of vindication is invalid. My husband and I have lived at Lookout Village Condominium for 32 years. A better place to live would be hard to match. Great responsible residents, a wonderful ambiance, always a most responsible board and good superintendents, including the current couple, who unfortunately suffered some harassment these last few years.

I could go on and on, but I am so very happy for the condominium right now and enjoy the thoughts of it returning to normal.

Goy Smith Via Voice website

Ms. Mary Ann Fee died last week. Those of us taught by Ms. Fee at E.L. Crossley during her long tenure in the math department will never forget her. Ms. Fee had the unenviable job of teaching a subject that most of her students wished to be struck from both the curriculum and life itself. But she lived and taught with an enviable degree of patience, kindness, and understanding. As long as she was physically in the school, her classroom door was open, and I never saw her turn away someone who needed help, no matter what time in the day it was or how many other things she had to do. She would draw on your page, write on the board, and speak as slow as the equation needed to be said, all based in her conviction that her subject was not for the rarefied few but for anyone who cared to learn. Years after I left Crossley and was preparing for an exam that included math problems, she invited me into her classroom for after-school tutoring with high-schoolers. She was as generous with me then as she had been a decade earlier.

On the bulletin board outside her room, Ms. Fee had a small sign that read: “Average minds discuss people. Good minds discuss ideas. Great minds discuss mathematics.” Ms. Fee cared about all three. And she was more than great because of it.

Samuel Piccolo South Bend, IN

We’re in this important moment in which it is fair for people to think that virtually everything is changing. It’s accurate to say this current public health crisis has occurred in the midst of a global pandemic, which was on top of a climate crisis, which was on top of a gender equality crisis, which was on top of a racial equity crisis, which was on top of a liberal democracy crisis. And now we have an unjustifiable war that threatens us all.

It must appear to some that change is the most common element in the universe and, further, it might be concluded that conflict is Nature’s inevitable way of creating change. In this new era where people have far, far more power and influence than they did even five years ago, how is it that individuals feel so powerless and isolated?

In a recent poll taken in the European Union, 93 percent of the population believed that incivility is a problem. In public opinion polling, getting nine out of ten people to agree to anything is remarkable. We just don’t disagree: there is a terrible accompanying tension. There are things dividing us and that’s because we’ve been practicing wedge-issue politics for a long time now, and as a result we have divided societies.

There is another remarkable statistic from a survey that the World Economic Forum conducted relatively recently. Among the conclusions was the fact that 86 percent of people want the world to change significantly and become more sustainable and equitable, and they don’t want to go back to the way it was before the Covid-19 crisis. It is relatively unequivocal that people are open to change— hopefully in a direction based upon a refreshed and shared sense of idealism.

We could make a good start to more civility by suspending our judgments and listening with more generosity. There is no useful purpose in declaring that some of our friends and neighbours are a fringe group or a minority. That’s telling folk that their sum of experiences, life learning, disappointments, instincts, and methods are not relevant and deserve to be ignored. It’s a very dangerous practice to declare that someone is irrelevant. It is also very dangerous for the minority rights that the majority must defend.

There are any number of things that the population actually wants to see changed, in particular the millennial Gen Z group—those born between 1993 and 2011— which is 45 percent of the North American population. Today, Gen Z is hitting a point of electoral power where they are starting to be able to put into office the people that they see as bringing about the change they want to see in the world. They have access to information in a way that no previous generation did and social media importantly allows them to magnify, amplify and organize very quickly.

People are making their frustrations known. They have little time for those who manipulate and spin and they have learned that those in power can be overthrown. The next way to win will be founded on a pattern of listening, empathy and civility. When human beings care about something, they contribute more. If society can be seen as an agent of civility, people will get behind it. That’s how you can win hearts and minds in this new era of unfettered access to information and social media. ◆

Even at the best of times one could watch the news or read the headlines with a modicum of disgust. Now, even the briefest exposure to some world events can induce a bilious attack of the most discomforting sort.

The other evening a newscast from the Ukraine reported the Russian siege was launching serious mortar attacks on so many women and children of that once beautiful country. With modern technology one gets up really close and personal on the bodily harm being inflicted by the inhumane Russian war machinery. Tragic to see small body bags being removed from bombed out residential complexes.

A number of analysts are suspicious of President Putin’s current mental condition. While his motives are suspect and indefensible, his mental state could become even more of a concern for world order.

One of the sidebars to the news was concern about young Russian soldiers ordered to commit heinous and inhumane acts against little children and their families. There is some suggestion by psychoanalysts that these young warriors may be reluctant insurgents. If that be so, they are likely to have lifelong mental health issues due to the atrocities they are being forced to commit. It is well known that after being exposed to warfare many, soldiers will suffer from lifelong illnesses such as PTSD.

It is unfortunate that NATO-aligned countries and especially the US cannot become actively involved in stopping the Russian attack. Such an involvement could trigger the start of another world war. Fortunately, many countries—but not including China—are providing humanitarian assistance and armaments to those valiant enlisted and volunteer defenders of Ukraine. If such allies were to become directly involved in the conflict, it is probable that the ensuing warfare could escalate to the use of nuclear weaponry. President Putin has already made that threat more probable by ordering his nuclear arsenal to be on standby, a very alarming thought from what some believe may be an unstable man.

Another news sidebar that could be encouraging are reports that some Russian people are demonstrating against the attack on Ukraine. These protests are surfacing in spite of the fact that the Russian government does not countenance public protests against the regime. These protesters know full well that they will be subject to arrest and jail for their activities. Reportedly, there have been thousands of these protesters arrested to date. It is heartening to see that some Russians have the fortitude to exhibit a moral and humane code of conduct in opposition to their government’s lack thereof.

While it is difficult to stand by and watch this current atrocity, it is possible to contribute to the many charitable organizations that are offering aid to the people of Ukraine. Hopefully, the people of Canada will actively seek out these organizations and give generously to these worthy causes.

May the people of Ukraine be soon relieved from this abominable Russian aggression. ◆

On Tuesday, March 1, the mayors of all the Region municipalities held a Zoom meeting (what else?) to discuss the rescinding of the emergency order that these same mayors along with the Region had put in place on March 15, 2020. Hard to believe it has been in place that long although some days it feels like it has been decades! Some cities have already taken this step, notably Guelph, and Brantford. After some discussion, it was decided to leave the order in place for now with the intent to revisit and likely lift the order in two weeks. This time frame allows everyone to look at the numbers for another 14 days, making sure that the virus is still in decline. More importantly this two-week period will allow municipal and Regional governments to continue to move unionized workers throughout their respective work places without needing their labor union’s approval. Once the emergency order is rescinded this will no longer be permitted without union approval.

On March 4, through email, a parent with children in the public school system informed me that just that morning they were informed by her school board that the mandatory mask mandate for junior and senior kindergarten had been lifted. This parent wondered if there were any Region meetings that had taken place resulting in this decision. There had been no meeting but the parents and teachers themselves had carried out a campaign to write in their complaint to the powers that be, which seems to have been the tipping point that won the day. With this ruling the Region joins the rest of the province in its masking requirements for its schools.

The province’s top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, remains optimistic that our mask mandate for most indoor settings will be lifted by the end of the month. With the steadily declining Covid numbers he is also suggesting that most restrictions for hospitals and LTC homes will be lifted at the same time. Of course, if individuals feel more comfortable to continue wearing a mask they should feel free to do so.

On the Pelham front, Town staff are continuing to put in place events that the residents can participate in during Earth Week. We will be selling rain barrels at a reduced price of $40. There will be a limit of two per household, with orders being taken now. Pickup of the barrels will take place on April 23, at the MCC. These barrels are handy for watering your lawns and gardens from the rain runoff, saving money on your water bill. Also with these rain barrels we a hoping to reduce the amount of water going into our storm water ponds which in turn reduces the water going from the ponds into nearby streams. Over the past several years, the city of Guelph has sold some nine thousand of these barrels, which collectively have the holding capacity of a million litres. That’s a lot of water!Additional information can be found on the Town’s website. There will be other events coming up that I will mention in future columns.

Please keep in mind that Wellspring Cancer Support Niagara has their Garden Fest fundraiser coming up from April 1 to 3. They will be offering great deals on fertilizer, grass seed and compost materials. On April 2, a barbecue will take place from noon to 5 PM. These fundraising activities will all take place in the rear parking lot of Holy Rosary Hall, 35 Queen Street South, in Thorold. For more information go to wellspringniagara.ca ◆