The sun finally is shining again, and the early forecast for the Victoria Day long weekend is calling for fair skies and gradually warming temperatures. In other words, ideal conditions to kick off the “summer” season. Unfortunately, the picture is much more gloomy for area tourist operators, who must be […]
Editorials
Kudos to the local chapter of Canadian Parents for French for refusing to let the French Immersion program here fall by the wayside without a fight. It’s the parents themselves, however, who now have to carry the ball. And that must start by attending a “town hall” meeting on the […]
Like every federal budget since Confederation, the first one tabled by Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government yesterday afternoon was greeted—predictably—by cheers and jeers alike. On the one hand, individual Canadians should be seeing more money in the pockets thanks to the various tax breaks unveiled by Finance minister Jim Flaherty—most […]
Stephen Harper has been described as a control freak—and several actions he’s taken in his early days as prime minister certainly reflect that. But ordering that the caskets of fallen soldiers returning from Afghanistan be shielded from public view is way out of line. Seeing a steady stream of flag-draped […]
Someone, somewhere, must have a logical explanation as to why it would be better to route U.S.-bound traffic down Mowat Avenue instead of Central Avenue, as is currently the case. It clearly must be more logical than having U.S. traffic—particularly on those summer weekends when the line-up stretches to McDonald’s—inching […]
It’s easy, sitting here, to say Canadian soldiers should be fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan—putting their lives at risk in order to make our world a safer place. It may be another matter entirely if it was our sons or daughters who didn’t know when a suicide bomber will strike […]
We all knew—deep down—that Fort Frances was not immune to the woes gripping the forest industry of late. It was a matter of when, not if. The shoe finally dropped over the past week with word Abitibi-Consolidated was laying off a large number of its salaried staff here (the company […]
When Fort Frances hosts a major event, like the Ontario Scott curling playdowns back in late January-early February and the all-Ontario boys’ high school hockey championship last week, it’s only natural to sing the praises of the organizing committees and volunteers who ensure their success. Often lost in the shuffle, […]
Will the magic of 1989 be repeated? That’s the big question on everyone’s mind this week as the all-Ontario boys’ hockey championship got underway here this morning. After all, even though it’s been 17 years, no one among the 3,000 fans packed into the old Memorial Arena (now the ’52 […]
After years of trying to pay for services downloaded from the province, especially policing, Pickle Lake council threw in the towel this week and basically invited the McGuinty government to take over its affairs. The mess Pickle Lake faces certainly isn’t because the township has been fiscally irresponsible or that […]
At the last meeting of Fort Frances council, Mayor Dan Onichuk declared a conflict of interest in the application by Loblaws to rezone a piece of property located in the west end of town between Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart. The mayor noted he was a minority shareholder in the corporation […]
The tug-of-war over who controls Rainycrest is heating up again fast as the year-long takeover by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is set to expire in just over two weeks. That’s precisely why a cool-down period is needed, which is what the ministry basically asked for on Friday […]
