I take note of the meeting of six councillors, Adam Goheen and Mayor Ferguson with with Rob Flack, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing during the ROMA Conference in Toronto, as per the Gazette (When in ROMA, News, January 28).
One red flag presented when I read that Mayor Ferguson urged the Ministry to begin property tax assessments in Ontario. I do not think he is advocating for Ontario because his bailiwick is PEC, which means he is attempting to increase the property values of those who have lived here prior to the commodification of housing and the County’s overselling of whole home and home STAs, creating a housing crisis.
Homes here are no longer affordable to rent or buy. Corporations bought multiple licenses as well as real estate dealers and wealthy individuals from outside PEC.
Add to this the migration of those who wanted a second home during Covid. The cost of housing here soared as a result. Bidding wars were commonplace.
Now the Mayor wants to challenge the welfare of those who have lived here a very long time and who do not have deep pockets. House prices are seriously inflated; imagine the impact of new municipal property tax assessments on farms.
Truth be told, Mayor Ferguson’s actions present him as a municipal official who does NOT care about affordable housing for those who live here.
Perhaps it is better to look at the increase in municipal Sunshine List employees under his watch, and the spending of significant monies on a tourism organization, Visit the County, meant to generate more tourists, that apparently keeps no accounts. It now has to be audited by the County, at the County’s expense.
Then add the joint fiascos of the Picton Terminals lawsuit that was secretly rescinded, and the Picton Marina lawsuit that was secretly launched.
Barbara Dahlman, Prince Edward County
Re: Letters (January 28). I would like to clarify a comment in last week’s Letter to the Editor from Penny Morris. It states Doug Ford is responsible for “closures of programs at Loyalist college,” which is not correct. A program requires tuition from at least 15 students to cover costs of instruction and overhead.
If the students are not attracted to what is offered, then the program is either suspended or closed down.
Look at the Sunshine List and see the salaries and perks paid to college and university presidents and managers, many of whom make three times the salary of our Premier, who is responsible for millions of Ontarians, while they are only managing a few 10’s of thousands (in Loyalist’s case 2,500).
Then you should ask their Board of Directors why educational institutions been allowed to spend such funds on capital projects and management salaries without planning for any calamity such as an unforeseen reduction in enrollments.
Provide the courses that students need in order to find well paying jobs, and they will come.
Peter Wheeler, Milford
I am writing to thank the Gazette for helping us to advertise the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser for the Picton United Church Food Bank. So far, we have 104 walkers signed up and they have generated thousands in donations for the food bank.
In fact with almost three weeks to go — the walk is February 28 — they have raised 92 percent of our $30,000 target — almost $28,000! I may have to raise our target.
It’s great to see the community respond because the food bank certainly has been busy this past January. It takes $75 to feed our average visitor for a week and we saw more than 600 visitors in January, a 40 percent increase year over year.
Hunger in Prince Edward County is at an all time high. About 6,000 of our residents are challenged by food insecurity. Of those, 1,500 will visit foodbanks while the other 4,500 presumably go without. This is not a new issue but it has become more prevalent.
All the best and sincere thanks for your support!
Mark Houghton, Prince Edward County
See it in the newspaper
-1° Light Snowshower
