Kudos on the New Boardwalk

Most of my communications in this forum regarding Council and the County have been, to be fair, critical of the way decisions have been made. It is often easier to complain than to compliment. I am sure 99 percent of the emails to Councillors are complaints. This is one exception. Kudos to the County and staff for the remarkable effort they have made in transforming Picton Harbour!

And credit also goes to Port Picton Homes, which provided the capital and vision to make this new boardwalk happen.

For many decades, the inner harbour was a forgotten backwater. There are still issues surrounding the quality of water, with frequent blue-green algae blooms caused by contaminants; but the recent opening of the boardwalk along the shore of the Port Picton Homes development, adjacent to the Claramount, is so well done. It’s inviting not only to visiting boaters but also to tourists and locals who can now stroll from the Town boat ramp all the way to Brick Kiln point .

I am hopeful that with more people interacting with this valuable addition to our harbour, more attention will be given to cleaning it up.

Victor Lind, Prince Edward County

Sitting in your Car Idling your Engine is Illegal

I need two hands to count the number of cars I pass on a daily basis, going about my errands, that are parked with the windows shut and the engine running. You can feel the heat emanating from the car as you pass by. The person in the car is usually on their phone chatting away while adding heat to an already hot and steamy day. I thought that idling in your car was not legal in summer or winter but nothing ever seems to happen.

K. Doheny, Picton 

[Editor’s note: Prince Edward County does have an anti-idling law, enacted in 2020, which prohibits idling for more than three consecutive minutes, with specific exceptions. By-Law 214-2020: to Prohibit Excessive Idling of Motorized Vehicles and motorized Watercraft In the County of Prince Edward.]

Reform of Children’s Aid System Urgent 

As a retired veteran of the child welfare system, I have been following closely the Toronto Star investigation 

regarding children and youth in our province who are suffering and literally dying as a result of a lack of resources to meet their complex needs.

The findings reported by the Ontario Ombudsman (“Parents forced to give up kids to Province”) comes as no surprise; sadly, it is years too late for many young people. Tragically, it will not

spur sufficient change to prevent further deaths and suffering for young people and their families.

As citizens and taxpayers of Ontario we must demand better. This is not a single Ministry problem,

it is multi-Ministry. The agents of those Ministries (the Children’s Aid Society, Children’s mental health providers, teachers, police, and judges) are responsible for the mandate provided by their Ministry. As in any work place,

those responsible require support. Good leaders collaborate to change the system to enable progress

and goal achievement. Multiple reviews that reveal similar outcomes, reports and recommendations that get shelved, and threats to further reduce funding are seldom, if ever, effective.

I was proud to serve the children and families of my community as part of the child welfare system for

many years. In my roles, I advocated strongly for systemic changes. It takes courage and commitment to be part of change. It requires leadership. In my experience government is intolerant of risk and, therefore, unable to implement effective change. It requires all levels of leaders to work toward one goal. The children need to be the center of the thinking rather than the ones bearing all of the risk — and dying for change.

The members of the village we call Ontario cannot accept one more statement of these deaths being tragic and someone else’s fault. We need to expect better. We need accountability and a clear plan for improvement, beginning now.

Tami Callahan, Retired Executive Director, Highland Shores Children’s Aid