West Prince Graphic Columns and Opinions

Special meeting held. Sorry you're not invited

I have covered town council meetings regularly for the past three years. One thing I have noticed is you better bring your ears and your notepad or you’re bound to miss something. There are quite a lot of things happening behind the scenes that nobody else, unless you are part of council, is aware of.
Month after month, I sit down in the long row of chairs reviewing minutes and correspondence about to be covered in the council meeting, I see a disturbing trend. Several unannounced, unscheduled, and uninvited “special meeting” reports.
Not just one, but usually several special meetings usually reveal a select few of the councillors and the mayor made motions of issues that many people in the town would find interesting.
Whether it was to discuss newly proposed playground equipment or the review of contracts that will never see the light of day, the meetings are still kept secret until they are over.

No county for young men

Here’s my problem.
As a young fellow, I really appreciate an outing with other young fellows. It’s been my mantra since leaving high school that I live in places empty of youth. Why is that, you wonder? It’s largely because I’m a rebellious youngster, and I refused to give in to the allure of the city, with its fancy lights, big theatres and numerous fast food joints. I prefer the country. That’s in part because I get more enjoyment from a talkative game of pool or a ferocious game of ping pong than I do from a night at the club, a place that’s cruel on the ears, and where conversation is reduced to sound bites you have to shout into your friend’s ear.

Don't text and drive

Recently, on CBC radio, a RCMP officer was telling listeners how serious texting while driving is. We have to be told?
As a friend said about texting and driving, “why not just drive with your eyes closed – same thing.” The officer and program host wondered what would it take for people to learn texting and driving can have serious consequences.
I am a supporter of zero tolerance for drunk drivers. Why not the same rule for texting drivers?
Automobile accidents resulting in death in West Prince has had little or no effect on some drivers. Losing demerit points from license doesn’t seem to provide any incentive not to drink and drive. Losing your license for three months means nothing.

South Kildare School district votes against the Running of Automobiles, 1913

“At a meeting held in the South Kildare School on Wednesday, 7 May 1913 the taxpayers of the district voted a resounding 16-1 against the running of automobiles in their vicinity or anywhere in the Province. A copy of the decision was sent to the Premier.” “The Pioneer,” 17 May 1913.
One month later, a resident of Cascumpec wrote a letter to “The Pioneer” which expressed his opinion against the automobile and its cost of operation. “Mr. Editor: much has been said through the press against the auto, and as yet, little has been related to the public concerning the cost of running expenses of same. This part, cost, some of the Island papers, auto boosters and agents across the water have kept silent on, they have tried to picture, in alluring words, what an economical and convenient machine the auto would be.”

Common training mistakes

If your goal is to lose some body fat there are some very efficient ways to do it. We all know it takes exercise and nutrition but it is so easy to make mistakes in your training if you are just getting started. Weight training is a very efficient way to lose weight as it burns calories, maintains lean muscle mass and can actually increase your metabolism. Here are some common training errors that are made which can slow the weight loss process. Are you making any of these?
Doing the wrong exercises in the gym. The exercises that burn the most calories are the ones that use the most muscle while executing. Compound exercises which work the muscles as a group are more effective than isolation exercises that work specific areas of the muscle. Stick with the basics like squats, presses, rows, chins, lunges, dips, etc.

Public meeting for everyone not just for the squeaky wheels

Lately West Prince has been plagued with various controversial issues. An unstable health care system, the livelihoods of the local fishermen and farmers being toyed with, and now an extensive proposal to incorporate a large sprawling area into one.
An incorporated area has many people scrambling to learn what all the hub bub is all about.
Rumblings around town have been that of disbelief and confusion. Disbelief that something this huge which will affect such a large number of residents in West Prince who claim not to even know about the proposal. Utter confusion to what incorporating several rural areas into one large governed zone really means.
A proposal of this magnitude did not happen over night. Organizers have been offering public information meetings for the last two years. So where was everybody then? Why now are people interested in this proposed change?

Yes to arts, no to new town hall

Montague is a town in a slow but predictable decline. While it is still a regional centre for services, it faces the same challenges as other rural communities: an aging population, youth who see their future in larger centres, and an eroding level of services provided for a high level of taxation.
Montague’s Main Street used to bustle with independent shops but is now stagnant with at least 12 buildings sitting empty, many in search of a buyer.
The local economy, reliant on fishing, farming and to a lesser extent tourism, has tossed and turned, dependent on the price of potatoes or lobster. Federal jobs and their premium salaries are being cut as the Harper government targets for closure both the employment insurance centre and national addictions research centre.

Budget cuts mean cut this, preserve that, but don’t exclude us from uniqueness

“ ... Island studies at the University of Prince Edward Island has become one of the university’s leading centres of expertise. UPEI’s focus on islands is now recognized around the world, with research activities of the Institute of Island Studies (IIS) leading the way.” ... UPEI website.

It is difficult to think of anything more appropriate to an island existing as a self-contained political unit within a greater federation, than to be the home of an institute dedicated to the study of things that make islands and their residents unique in the global scheme of things.
So here’s the question for today: how in the name of all that’s holy could the supposed seat of high intelligence on this island, do something so bloody stupid as to do away with the Institute of Island Studies?
This, gentle folk, is perversity at its absolute apogee.

The missing bridge

A rural mail courier record Hard to Beat, 1950

“Mr. Alphie J Arsenault of Nail Pond, near Tignish Prince Edward Island, has served as Rural Mail Courier for a total of thirty-seven consecutive years and is still operating. His route is twenty-eight miles long and at 306 trips a year he has amassed just over a total of 317,000 miles! During all these years in fair and stormy weather, summer or winter, Mr. Arsenault has, with the possible exception of a very few days, went over his rural route and supplied the box-holders, without ever a complaint being lodged against him.” “Summerside Journal,” 27 December 1950.
“His mail route is over all dirt or gravel roads and he has used many horses, wagons, sleighs and harness, while the enormous distance he has travelled and the fine service he has given during all those years are records which are not easily surpassed.”

Staying lean for the summer

Everyone who trains on a regular basis knows that good nutrition makes your training much more productive. Eating right will help you to maintain a healthy bodyweight and will make your training much more productive.
Summer can present both new challenges and opportunity when it comes to healthy eating. Backyard barbecues, cottage living, dairy bars and summer parties can all put the pounds back on that you were so successful in losing over the other seasons. Here are some tips on how to enjoy it all and still stay lean.

Returning to your roots You may be in for a surprise

Recently I made a solo trip back to where I was born and raised. After a grueling 15 hour drive back to Ontario, I made it. Not before I realized I did not have quite enough songs on my iPod to last the entire trip.
You learn a lot about yourself when you take on a trip like this.
One thing I realized quickly, the more tea stops one makes, the more unscheduled pit stops will soon follow. Secondly, make sure to find a rest stop before pumping gas. You get some pretty strange looks when you’re dancing around while filling the tank full of fuel.
I managed to get to Montreal before rush hour. However there came a time that I thought to myself if this isn’t rush hour I would hate to see what was. Where did all those people come from? And where were they going in such a hurry?

All the Febreze and Air Wick in Christendom won’t clear the air in the Nation’s Capital

“Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest.” ... Henry 11, by William Shakespeare.

It was considerably easier to get rid of troublesome priest/politicians like Thomas Becket them times. You just got them killed. Nowadays the process is more prolonged and painful to the body politic in democratic societies and not nearly as effective.
For instance, “while recognizing that Senator Duffy owns a residence in PEI and spends considerable time there, in particular during summer months, his continued presence at his Ottawa residence over the years does not support such a declaration and is contrary to plain meaning of the word ‘primary,’ and to the purpose and intent of the provision of living allowance.”
So reads the draft report on the bogus expense claims of Michael Duffy, based on his insistence that the Cavendish cottage is his principal residence.

Film flashback

So there I was, wearing a very large, very tight, very fashionable gas mask, with a pair of safety goggles awkwardly fighting for their fair share of my nose. In front of me were four buckets, each with it’s own colour of liquid. There were also two rubber gloves and a role of film between me and the buckets.
“Ready?” asked film enthusiast Ryder White.
I nodded, and the lights went out. The room was perfectly dark, and I mean perfectly. The film was so light sensitive during the first stage of the process that no light, at all, could be in the room. Ryder and I waited there in the dark, allowing our eyes to adjust. If any light spots showed themselves, we would have to cover them, even if they were the faintest glow.
“I think we’re good,” Ryder said. “Now unspool the film into the water.”

Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Finest Force, 1923

“Perhaps no organization of either soldiers or policemen has a finer or in most cases as fine a record as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Romance and adventure are in-separately associated with the Royal Mounties. “Island Patriot,” 8 December 1923.
“The members of the force which had several of its first recruits from Prince Edward Island among its numbers have had many splendid compliments paid to them, but none that were not richly merited. Their wonderful service to Canada cannot be over-estimated or over-stated, and few Canadians or institutions outside perhaps of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, have done more to advertise the Dominion of Canada than have this wonderful organization, much more widely known as the North West Mounted Police, than under its new name the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.”

The convenience of protein powders

Getting fit and healthy is a combination of training and nutrition. If you are practicing both the results will be so much better and faster. With nutrition it can be a challenge some days to eat small frequent meals and take in both carbohydrates and protein with each one. This is where protein powders can make your eating habits easier. It is usually easy and quick to ingest carbohydrates but the protein can be a bit more of a challenge.
Protein sources are meat, poultry, seafood, dairy products, eggs, beans, nuts and some vegetable combinations. If you are trying to eat three meals and a couple of smaller snacks each day consuming protein with each one takes some innovation. Another option that can make this easier is protein powder supplementation.

Duffy achieved one thing; uniting us in anger

In the end it was not a conspiring media or vengeful political opponents who brought down Mike Duffy. The only person to blame for the Senator’s downfall is the Old Duff himself.
Duffy’s spectacular flameout from Conservative insider, cherished by Harperites for his acidic attacks and fundraising prowess, now finds himself a political pariah, responsible for taking the prime minister’s chief of staff down with him and punching a potentially fatal hole in the public’s perception of the Harper government.
It is rare to find public unanimity in politics, but Mike Duffy’s abuse of the public trust and repeated attempts to mislead has infuriated Tories, Liberals, NDP and ordinary folk from coast to coast.