Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen

How much are economic barriers between provinces affecting us. If you want to buy a French wine at the LCBO here, there is little problem beyond ordering it in. However, try to get a Merlot out of British Columbia and the task becomes impossible. Ontario would much rather import wines […]

It is a magical transformation. One day our stores are dressed in Remembrance. The next day stores metamorphoses to Christmas. Garlands and lights surround windows. Christmas banners hang from ceilings directing shoppers to Christmas specials. Christmas music plays in the background. Suddenly Christmas bazaars and teas are flourishing throughout the […]

In Grade 8, our classroom teacher, Claude Stewart, challenged the class to learn great pieces of poetry. By the end of the year, our class could recite from memory more than 30 different pieces. I can’t remember them all but the piece by John McCrae still rings true in my […]

The plane was quiet on the trip home from Toronto. The reality was setting in. The adrenalin that coursed through the veins of the district delegates for a day-and-a-half had dissolved. The delegation had made its case to transfer the Crossroute Forest away from Resolute. The two opposition parties, meanwhile, […]

How much freedom should we relinquish following the two attacks on soldiers in Montreal and Ottawa last week. The House of Commons always has been known as the place where the people could be heard and the people of Canada could watch their elected officials participate in shaping the country. […]

An old friend explained to me that growing up in Fort Frances was the most fortunate thing that happened to him in his education. I hadn’t given much thought to growing up in a rural area of Ontario before. But in his telling of the things we learn in our […]

I have been travelling the last six days—firstly across North Dakota and Montana along Highway 2 to Shelby, and then back east on the Trans-Canada. On both routes, you travel at 118 km/h so you do make good time. The travel distance to Calgary is very similar. The highways are […]

The leaves are falling from the trees around my home. Already one maple is bare and half the golden leaves from the birch trees now sit upon the grass. Water has been drained from my system at the lake and a fond farewell was said to the cabin as I […]

I have written about doom and gloom and the issues facing councils across the district. To be sure, some of the financial issues facing councils this year are not pretty. This week, though, I would like to talk about what challenges municipal governments will face should both the mill here […]

Last weekend was my annual fishing weekend with my brother-in-law, Tom Foster, and his son, Ben, here on Rainy Lake. My son, Brendan, who came in from Calgary, joined them. Tom and Ben live in Waterloo while Tom has a cottage on Healey Lake (near Parry Sound), which has more […]

There is something about the smell of wood smoke in the fall. We arrived at the cabin Friday night and the temperature inside read barely 10 C. It was chilly and called immediately for a fire. Stored in an old trunk was the kindling created by my brother-in-law this past […]

We are going to have a municipal election here in Fort Frances. As of early Monday morning, there were two candidates for mayor and 13 for the six seats on town council. The election will be interesting to say the least. Mail-in ballots will be distributed early in October and […]