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by Fred Kirby                              November 7,  2007

It is November 11 – Remembrance Day.

Once more they march to honour their dead,
Fewer now, some bent over, proud still.
No muscles ripple on the bren, no one deafened by their guns,
No hands, white-knuckled, grip the yoke on their last run.
No one chops the threatening ice, while death lurks quietly below.

Old now, they stand in solemn thought of comrades who lie forever at:
Dieppe, Sicily, Gold Beach, the Scheldt, Ortona,
Comrades who fell from murderous skies, screaming for home,
Comrades who rest on the bottom of the cold, gray ocean,
Debris of a killing field we call the Battle of the Atlantic.

Let the young today honour the dead, for they too were young
With hearts bursting with love and heads brimming with dreams.

Tell them who make war to cease, for it is the young who pay the butcher’s bill.
Tell them,”Never more.”
In death there is no glory, just fading memories.

Then the bugle sounded – it is the end.

November 14, 2007

I read where Max Ryan has surfaced again with a new proposal. This time it is a request to convert a former “retirement home” at 731 Princes Street into apartments. It has been my understanding if an object looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and walks like a duck, then the chances are that it is probably a duck. So, when Mr. Ryan wants to convert 28 residential units in a retirement home into 28 apartments with no adequate parking for occupants or guests, the bird begins to look very much like the dead duck that tried to build a nest on Huron Terrace. The leases should tell us the shortest period one can rent one of these rooms. The notice of the public meeting to discuss Mr. Ryan’s proposal says that Mr. Ryan is acting on behalf of Bulet Holdings Inc, but does not tell us what or who Bulet Holdings is. I could find no reference on the web but then that might be the result of my limited search skills. No offence intended to Mr. Ryan, but I become uneasy doing business with anyone who represents money whose source is unknown. When it involves municipal business, should citizens not have the right to know whom Mr. Ryan actually represents?

Princes Street has many fine examples of Victorian and early 20th century houses interspersed with well-kept more modest homes. The two historical churches, United and Presbyterian lend a sense of dignity and timelessness to the street and what commercial enterprises exist, blend quietly into the mix. It was not long ago that the application for a much smaller multiplex building on Princes Street South was denied.

There is nothing that I see in Bulet Holdings’ plans that remotely fits into this picture. Changing the zoning to permit this development to proceed would be expedient, but would do nothing to meet long-term planning needs.

If Bulet Holdings wish to meet the needs for housing for workers at Bruce Power, and there is a need, then perhaps the company could work with Bruce Power to provide the required housing closer to the plant. Considering the basic design as shown in the current plans for the retirement home, utilizing the design in a new or existing building should be a straight-forward task.

I have no quarrel with development but development should be socially responsible, adding not just to the physical aspect of a municipality, but to its quality of life. If Princes (Princess) Court were redesigned and creative programming put in place, the building could become a model for low rental housing.

Say no to Max Ryan and Bulet Holdings; it is the right decision.

November 21, 2007

When planning began for the new Kincardine Community Medical Centre, a cast of thousands, representing a cross-section of citizens, came together eager to make their contribution.

The goals were clear: the clinic would be adjacent to the hospital but not physically attached to it, allowing doctors to move with ease between the hospital and the clinic; a new clinic would permit doctors to move from their current over-crowded offices to one where there would be ample room plus space for expansion; and, being a new state-of-the-art facility, it would be a major drawing card for the recruitment of new physicians.

So, what went so wrong? When did they lose sight of the goals? To attempt an answer in one column would be unfair to all the participants and to those who donated money to the project. There will be more interviews and more reading as material becomes available. More importantly, I invite those many volunteers, each with a different perspective, to be in touch with me and share their observations. Though each may have only a small part of puzzle, together they can make it complete.

On occasion I will make observations that may be incorrect or only partially correct. I invite those who may know the truth to correct the record. Three such pieces of information come to mind: (1) the day following the signing of the contract with the architect, he returned to say he could not do the job for the money agreed upon; (2) the original drawings by the architect did include a full canopy; (3) the original entrance did not face the prevailing winds.

This brings me to the architect. He has been much maligned but was it all justified? It would be interesting to see his original drawings followed by subsequent revisions and to know who ordered the revisions. Was it the architect’s decision to locate the archives in the electrical room? Is he to blame for making a corridor connecting two sections inaccessible to a person in a wheelchair, the implications being that no one using a chair would ever be hired by the clinic?

Remember - it is your clinic and your money.

November 28, 2007

Council, we are not mushrooms! We are citizens with the right to know; we elected you and we pay your salaries. We did not elect lawyers and consultants; we elected you to govern this municipality.

When you decided not to speak to the citizens of Kincardine regarding the planning and building of the clinic, when you decided not to tell us what your plans are for a future clinic, you demonstrated extraordinary arrogance coupled with a lack of integrity. A lawyer may have advised you but the decision was yours; at the moment of truth Council failed the test miserably.

You may say you issued the gag order to protect the municipality, but was covering your backsides not at the back of your minds? I was surprised that new Council members and the usually indomitable Gord Campbell went along with the order not to speak to anyone. Citizens deserve to know what makes the order legal and what the sanctions for breaking it are. It is a sad day when the basic right of free speech and the right to know can be squashed so easily.

Then there is the issue of the clinic itself. Is it now three months since I heard that work on restoring the clinic’s operation would begin immediately? Where is Council now in cleaning up its mess? Has Council shared its decisions with the doctors or are the doctors, too, being hung out to dry? The doctor recruitment strategy is a thing of the past. Will medical staff we stay under these conditions? Of course, if the hospital itself keeps giving up services to other area hospitals, why should anyone stay? Kincardine prides itself on being a 21st century nuclear energy municipality, yet when it comes to our medical services, we cannot keep services nor build a decent clinic.

We know the problems with the clinic began with the original planning committee, the architect they chose, and their losing focus of the primary goals. It was all done before the first spade was put in the soil.

Starting over will end much the same unless the new clinic begins with a new location. Buy the needed land adjacent to the hospital, the original site for the clinic was no bargain, build a clinic that will attract doctors and keep them. And for a change, listen to the doctors. The citizens want strong medical services in which they can take pride; they do not want another laughingstock.

Members of Council, we are not mushrooms and you should not behave as dumb sheep.