SOUTH DUNDAS — Cornwall City Clerk Helen Finn will report to city council at Monday’s meeting that council meetings should recite the oath of office at the start of each meeting, followed by three deep breaths. This would replace starting each meeting with reciting a prayer.
Three deep breaths? What’s next, yoga before meetings or maybe during meetings? Given the stress levels at some council meetings, some restorative yoga poses such as “Legs-Up-Against-the-Wall Pose” or “Child’s Pose”?
It may sound tongue-in-cheek but is this the pressing issue that council and administration should be dealing with? No. There are far more important issues in Cornwall to deal with. Jobs, economic development, promotion, tourism, just to name a few. What prayer, or any prayer, that should start a council meeting is not one of them. Adding three deep breaths is just plain silly.
North Dundas right, South Dundas wrong on wind turbines
Wind turbine operator Invenergy battled .500 with municipalities in Dundas County. Invenergy would like to build 25-30 wind turbines near the existing EDP Renewables wind farm near Brinston. South Dundas heard a deputation from them at the May 19th meeting, having heard a deputation from EDP previously.
North Dundas on the other hand, refused to hear from a deputation from Invenergy. Both North and South Dundas are marked as “Not-Willing Participants”. Here is where actions speak louder than words in supporting policy. While South Dundas council hears out all the companies and ideas for wind production, North Dundas sends them packing. How “not-willing” is not willing? If the municipality is stated as a “Not willing participant”, then they should not even participate in hearing out what the energy company’s plans are. Period.
North Dundas council gets this right, South Dundas does not. South Dundas could learn a thing or two about standing up for policies passed, with actions, not just words.
Plowing common sense
SD&G County Engineer Ben de Haan proposed at County Council this week to pay municipalities to plow some county roads as part of their snow clearing strategy. What a refreshing dose of common sense. It has been suggested for many years, even in this column, to have the county and municipalities work together on rationalizing some of the routes. Now the first step towards this. Common sense in municipal government, who would have thought it?
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