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Freedom. A whiff of freedom is in the air, as those who have been double-vaccinated experience a feeling of cautious relief for perhaps the first time in almost 18 months. News of other parts of the world moving to their own freedom–meaning a lifting of all COVID restrictions–is making us feel more hopeful. But there

We talk about oversight. And in an interesting turn of phrase in the English language, this word can refer to supervision, as well as something being missing, or even a mistake. Sometimes, organizations exist because they have a clear purpose and when that purpose is fulfilled, they close up shop. But a few organizations dwindle

It is no wonder that we have a bit of an identity crisis in our region. With our dual-language status, our population which is currently somewhat older than other parts of Ontario, combined with our rural-urban landscape, let’s just say we have a lot going on. Thus far, we have managed to retain our rural

The weighted vote system used by the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (UCPR) council where mayors receive a number of votes based on their municipality’s population has been criticized as unfair. It puts more power in the hands of mayors of municipalities with larger populations, while the mayors of smaller municipalities may be out

While strategic plans, mission statements, vision statements, objectives and goals are all wonderful things, there are times when even the most tuned-out politico must be thinking: do we really need to say that we value quality and efficient services? Do hospitals need to spell out that they will put patients first? Do school boards need

We prepare to cringe when we see or hear criticisms of the media. These days, everyone loves to call out the media and even if most of us believe there is a need for responsible media, few of us have stopped to think about what that really means. To you, the media may seem like

May 24 was Tax Freedom Day in Canada this year, according to the Fraser Institute’s annual declaration. Tax Freedom Day takes into account the tax burden on Canadian families by including federal, provincial, regional and municipal government taxes as well as income taxes, payroll taxes, health taxes, sales taxes and fuel and carbon taxes. According

Local politics can be … painful. As if dealing with a pandemic and its inherent restrictions and concerns doesn’t create enough pressure on local politicians, our report on the latest integrity commissioner’s report to come out of the Town of Hawkesbury is a sign of even deeper distress. We just made our way through an

Citizens are being asked to write to their MPs and MPPs to let them know that you want broadband improvements to serve your needs today and into the future. That request, which is in the form of a letter to the editor, is from the Eastern Ontario Wardens’ Caucus, the Eastern Ontario Mayors’ Caucus and

We have not kept them all — nor have we digitized them, but we have have this in common with local elected officials: we have read our fair share of studies, reports, assessments and strategic looks at our future. What is noteworthy about many of these initiatives is that there always comes a time for