Editorials - Dec. 8, 2023

A misplaced marsupial was lucky to have a happy ending to her bid for freedom last weekend. A kangaroo on her way to a zoo in Quebec made a break for it during a rest stop at a roadside zoo in Oshawa and eluded her handlers for three days. Police were asking for the public’s help in tracking down the wayward animal. The kangaroo had a lot going against it, as it is not a creature equipped for winter in Canada, and it had happened to escape during the kickoff to the annual R.I.D.E. program. Imagine the confusion during R.I.D.E. stops in Oshawa when police were asking, “Have you been drinking? Have you seen any kangaroos?”

 

Luckily, police and zoo personnel were able to safely apprehend the kangaroo on Sunday, after it decided there wasn’t much to do in Oshawa.

 

Advocacy groups are using this as an example of why there needs to be better laws and regulations around the keeping and transporting of captive wildlife. This time it was a kangaroo, but next time it could be a lion, a tiger or a crocodile. Following the most basic protocols of a double perimeter fence could have safeguarded this kangaroo, but there are no mandatory protocols. In fact, zoos in Ontario are not required to have any kind of licence to display or transport exotic animals. It’s high time that there are some kind of standards set down to ensure the health and welfare of these animals. Or, with the advent of high resolution video and virtual reality bringing nature to our screens, maybe the time for roadside attractions featuring wild animals has finally passed. – DS

If you love yelling loudly, persistent arguing and threatening to kill people, it was a big week for you and others of your ilk.

That’s because Baseload Power has pulled a proposal for a battery storage facility in the eastern Ontario community of Elizabethtown-Kitley in the face of intense pushback, an alleged death threat and what Baseload President Jonathan Sandler called “way beyond reasonable” behaviour. This was all part of a public meeting that got out of hand.

 

Now, this editorial board is not speaking in favour of such projects, which currently sit with many questions that need answers, but against adopting this kind of behaviour to get one’s way. While this proposal going away will be viewed as a victory by those who opposed it, the decision also stands as a victory for those who yell, curse, interrupt, insult and hurl death threats when they don’t get their way. Furthermore, this will show people that if you yell and threaten enough, for fear for their safety, your opponents may just recede.

 

While many contentious meetings have remained civil of late here in Huron County - the Seaforth battery project meeting and the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance amalgamation night - others, like North Huron Council’s meeting to discuss recreation fee changes, have descended a little further into madness than some would like.

 

“If you scream the loudest, then you get to make the decisions,” said Sandler to CBC. This is unfortunately true in many aspects of life, but it doesn’t have to be. Keep calm and don’t threaten to kill anyone. – SL 

North Huron scheduled its first 2024 budget meeting for Dec. 8. There are many urgent areas of concern, so it makes sense to start early, ahead of the festive avalanche of holy happenings and family fun. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, distractions, and eggnog, are inevitable.

 

Council recently touted the completion of its strategic plan for the next four years. The aspirational document describes values like “service excellence”, “engagement”, “integrity”, “respect”, “accountability and transparency”. Earnest and worthy goals are prioritized, including the desire “to be a fiscally sustainable, transparent, and forward-thinking municipality that works with its residents and stakeholders through communications and community engagement.”

 

North Huron’s previously announced 2024 budget meeting is now rescheduled for Dec. 19 at 9 a.m. Staff say more time is needed to pull the budget together. Fair enough. A budget is an essential document for a municipality to position itself for a successful year, decade and/or forevermore. Better not rush it; the eggnog will have to wait.

 

Back in April, Councillors Chris Palmer and Mitch Wright argued, unsuccessfully, in favour of deferring the vote on adopting the 2023 budget until some lingering questions about the recreation department could be answered. Former Director of Recreation Vicky Luttenburger said the numbers she submitted were altered. Treasurer Chris Townes was absent from that meeting. Luttenberger retired in August and no successor has been named. With varying degrees of civility, community members expressed their dissatisfaction with North Huron’s recent decision to drastically raise some municipal fees and charges, with a particular emphasis on the recreation department. Clearly, communication could have been improved here, but credit where credit is due - the community was undeniably enraged engaged. 

 

Let’s hope for more eggnog transparent accountability in 2024. – SBS