About 70 people, most of them favouring the proposed Witless Bay Town Plan that was overwhelmingly selected in a recent plebiscite, attended a Public Hearing last week on the document.
The event was held in the Knights of Columbus Hall. The audience also included a small contingent of environmentalists from outside the community who were apparently attracted to the event by a propaganda campaign designed to whip up opposition to the development of three private building lots between Mullowney's Lane and Ragged Beach.
Witless Bay resident Ron Harte took pains at the start of the hearing to make Commissioner Wayne Thistle clarify that all testimony offered during the meeting had to be done under legal oath, thereby putting an onus on all speakers to make truthful remarks. Harte and other residents were incensed by some of the claims circulated in the days ahead of the hearing by a few local protestersincluding Noel O'Dea, who sent out an e-mail circular with a form letter attached asking his contacts to notify the Department of Municipal Affairs of their opposition to the proposed Town Plan. O'Dea's circular contained a two page letter in which he claimed up to 400 houses could be built at Ragged Beach, and a 33 page "information" package that included a photoshopped depiction of a large fence barring access to the East Coast Trail with the caption 'What Ragged Beach Could Look Like In The Future.'
O'Dea didn't attend the hearing, but his e-mail campaign drew the ire of speakers who felt his claims, and efforts to stop two local families and another private land owner from building homes on their privately-owned lots, were outlandish. There were also a number of references to O'Dea's large, glass walled gazebo, which sits right on the beach below his property at Gallow's Cove, as well as stacks of used tires built into the coastline to act as a retaining wall below his land. A couple of speakers also pointed out that under both Town Plans that went to the plebiscite, O'Dea is getting four acres of his own land rezoned to qualify for residential housing development.
The first speaker before the Commissioner was land owner Anne Marie Churchill, who along with her husband Gary, bought 1.5 acres of land below Mullowney's Lane several years ago in the hope of building a house to live out their retirement.
Churchill said she and her family came home for Christmas in 2009 and went for a hike along the trail near Ragged Beach. Struck by the beauty of the area, she immediately started looking for land and found an ad from a family in Witless Bay looking to sell their property on Kajiji. Churchill said she offered to buy it pending a check with the town council to see if it would allow a house there and a check by a lawyer to see if they could obtain clear title.
Clear title was available, she added, and the council offered its support to zone the land to allow a building lot. But she was warned that a group in the area was opposed to any development near Ragged Beach. Churchill said she flew back from Ottawa to meet with members of the group and outline her family’s plans, but was told she would never be allowed to do anything with the land. "We wanted to compromise," Churchill said. "We were told, "We're not interested, We're only going to stop you.'"
The Churchills decided to buy the parcel anyway. "We're not wealthy people, contrary to what people write on social media," she said. "We're not wealthy developers from Ontario... There are three landowners in that area with private property. We are not interested in Crown Land. We simply want to build one house on 1.5 acres, one house in the woods."
Churchill said she and her family are avid hikers and support the East Coast Trail and their house would not interfere with the trail or be near the beach. Churchill said her family has tried twice to meet with the East Coast Trail Association. "There is no way we would block the trail, even if we could," she said.
Churchill said the former council approved Rural Residential zoning for her land, but when the new council came in, it changed the Town Plan to make the land Recreational, without informing the land owners. That meant the Churchills would not be allowed to build. "They sucked the value out of the land, behind our backs," said Churchill. "We get tax bills every year. We pay our taxes."
Churchill pointed out the irony of her family's situation is that the backbone of the opposition are people who own large houses and property in the same area.
"It's ironic that one of our opponents is getting four acres of land rezoned to Residential," Churchill said. “And he's fighting us and Ronnie Harte and Wayne Williams. There are only three of us left... I've been so impressed by the people of Witless Bay… the numbers that came out to that plebiscite to stand up for private land owners, and I hope that their wishes are going to be respected. They voted for Plan A... I think that should be respected."
Churchill's remarks drew enthusiastic applause from most of the people in the hall. But not resident Colleen Shea. "I'm here to speak for the ‘puffin whisperer’ and the trail walkers and all the other people inside and outside Witless Bay who actually use that area," she said.
Shea noted that in 2011, some 1,400 people e-mailed and faxed the council opposing development at Ragged Beach. However, the weight of that claim was weakened later in the meeting when resident Barbara Carey, who was a member of council at the time, pointed out that nearly all of those "letters" was a form letter.
Carey said she hadn't planned to say anything at the meeting, but felt compelled to do so after hearing some of the environmentalists from outside the town who think the residents don't care about the ecological reserve and that the town is rezoning the East Coast Trail and Ragged Beach.
"That's not what's happening at all," Carey said. We're talking about three private citizens who want to build homes out in the woods that won't be visible to the birds... A lot of the propaganda that is going around is fear mongering. It's making the people of Witless Bay afraid that there's a 400 lot subdivision going down there and that there's a developer coming in going to make $25 million. We're not talking about rezoning the whole coast. It's an area close to the area that is already residential. Just three little plots of land. That's all these people are asking."
Developer Blair Paul told the Commissioner that "many misconceptions and half-truths" have been made by the people opposing development in the town, with the statements even being circulated internationally. "Unfortunately the facts have become blurred in an effort to gain public support."
Paul said the rumours of a 400 lot subdivision at Ragged Beach are simply untrue. "It's the height of hypocrisy," he said. "Mr. O'Dea... is the only person in Gallows Cove who owns enough land to construct a subdivision... This man, who claims to promote ecological conservation, is the only member of the community with a private gazebo on a public beachfront bordering his vast personal estate. A St. John's millionaire, who has his land zoned and developed exactly as he wants it, is now fighting to limit others from doing exactly what he has done."
Paul said the subdivision that is being proposed, is located on the highway near the Mobile Arena, quite a ways away from Ragged Beach. "This subdivision will not produce negative ecological repercussions for the Witless Bay (Ecological) Reserve," he added, "but will contribute more than $180,000 to the municipality of Witless Bay in property taxes alone.”
Paul argued that O'Dea and his supporters are using the public's sympathy for conservation to strip away the property rights of land owners in the town.
Paul's father, Fraser Paul, addressed the Commissioner later in the meeting. He said the 49 acre subdivision he and his son have been proposing since 2010 is located three kilometres from Ragged Beach. Some 19 acres of the land is private property, he said, while the rest is publicly owned. Paul said he has already spent some $672,000 on the proposal over the past two years, though none of the 87 lots have been developed yet. Paul said his subdivision will have proper environmental safeguards.
Mayor Sébastien Després broke the usual convention of council members staying neutral at Public Hearings by offering a lengthy warning about the dangers of over development on the town's water table. Councillor Albert Murphy told the Commissioner Després was not speaking for council. Harte interposed to warn the mayor, "Remember, you're under oath."
Després told the Commissioner the two "iterations" of the Town Plan put to the plebiscite "was very confusing for a lot of residents."
That's despite both of the 250 page plans being almost identical with the only significant difference pertaining to efforts by the new council in the second plan to stop Churchill and Harte from developing their land. The other difference involved minimum lot sizes in Rural Residential areas. Plan A called for three quarter acre lots, while Plan B specified a full acre.
Després said Witless Bay residents are potentially facing millions of dollars in additional taxes to pay for the installation of water lines if the drinking water in wells gets ruined by development.
"There are many threats to this town in terms of future liabilities that we could incur, but none greater than poorly planned development," Despré said. "We have to be very careful... Witless Bay is not a magical unicorn. It's a beautiful place, but it will fall prey to the same problems as any other space in the province if we're not careful of development."
Després maintained Witless Bay is under "very large pressures" from a "great number of proposed subdivisions, and these proposed subdivisions are all very, very, very large scale projects."
He added most of the proposed subdivisions would be located in Rural Residential areas in higher elevations of the town. If those subdivisions go ahead, he said, both the Town's Planner and "every professional that council has spoken to about this issue" feels that "public water will become a necessity in the Town of Witless Bay... We cannot bury our heads in the sands and pretend this will not happen... Installing 40 or 50 kilometres of water lines in Witless Bay will bankrupt the community."
Those remarks, along with some of the other claims, drew former mayor Derm Moran to the microphone. He lamented the scare mongering. "Why are they putting so much fear into the people of Witless Bay?" he asked. "There is no need of this. Witless Bay was a nice community. People worked together with each other. They enjoyed each other's company. There was none of this - the lies, the deceit."
Moran said people outside Witless Bay are being given the wrong impression of what's happening in the town.
Moran was followed by several environmentalists, including Bill Montevecchi of Portugal Cove - St. Phillip's, who studies the seabirds at the reserve, and Fred Windsor of St. John's, who said he was representing the Sierra Club. They made general remarks about the value of the reserve and urged residents to prohibit development near Ragged Beach.
Resident Dena Wiseman, a former councillor who along with Després caused the uproar that eventually led to the plebiscite by retracting the new Town Plan and amending it to stop Harte and Churchill from building ontheir land, said her opposition is based on ecological grounds.
Wiseman said she objects to lot sizes in Rural Residential areas being less than a full acre, because of the danger posed to the water tables below. She added she opposes development at Ragged Beach because of the area's proximity to the East Coast Trail and the ecological reserve.
Fraser Paul pointed out to the commissioner that Wiseman is in a conflict of interest pertaining to the Town Plan. He added she is getting her own land rezoned to accommodate half acre lots.
Former councillor Joan Tobin, who developed the first subdivision in the town back in 2007, countered the earlier claims made by Després. Tobin said the previous council, in 2009, passed a regulation requiring all developers to pay for an aquifer study by an independent engineer with expertise in hydrology before council will consider any subdivision.
Tobin said such a study costs some $50,000 to $60,000 and can take as long as a year to conduct. "If you fail that aquifer study, that's it, your subdivision is dead in the water, you don't get to build if the hydrology of the area doesn't support the water tables," she said.
Tobin noted she paid for such a study for her subdivision and offered to show it to the mayor, but he has never taken her up on the offer. The results, she said, based on a study of 150 wells in the community, concluded Witless Bay has a sustainable aquifer. "There are no issues with aquifers," Tobin said. "That is fear mongering at its best by the mayor."
Tobin said there has been a sustained campaign using social media, "designed to entice social outrage” against the several private land owners who want to build houses off Mullowney’s Lane.
“There are no subdivisions on the record, nor proposed, for this area of Ragged Beach,” Tobin said. “There are no applications for sizable chunks of Crown Land in this area... There are three land owners in this area with privately owned land that want to build a single family home. The public trails and the beach area will continue to be utilized and enjoyed by visitors and residents as usual."
Tobin said besides being a trained intensive care nurse, she is a marine biologist with a degree in geography and earth sciences and a post degree program in coastal and ocean management. "I know these three houses will not affect the ecological reserve," she said.
A number of other residents also addressed the Commissioner about how the Town Plan will affect their properties. Thistle said he hopes to submit his report in about a month’s time.
CBDC Celtic reports on efforts to nurture local business growth
The Celtic Business Development Corporation marked the conclusion of another successful financial year at its annual general meeting held in the Bay Bulls Regional Lifestyle Centre last week.
Chairperson Evelyn Reid said the role of the community lender is to help communities build capacity and individuals to "shape their own future."
During the fiscal year ending March31, 2015, Reid noted, Celtic CBDC approved 22 loan applications and disbursed some $1.58 million to eight new business startups and five existing businesses.
"What this really means to the bottom line here on the Irish Loop is the number of jobs that it represents," she added. "It's all well and goodto have businesses, but you really want to have people working in those businesses to better the financial situation of our region."
To that end, the loans disbursed last year helped create 34 full time jobs and maintain 38 others, Reid said.
All told, Celtic CBDC has 55 loans in its portfolio with nearly $3.3 million outstanding. Reid said that's money that is "going to work everyday" to help people further their businesses.
The loans are approved by a volunteer board of directors composed of Reid, Lana O’Neill, incoming chairperson Sharon Topping of Trepassey, Secretary-Treasurer Susan Sheehan of Renews-Cappahayden, business owner Bertha Rousell of Trepassey and retail sales manager Mary Raymond of Renews - Cappahayden. Long time board chairman and director Dan McDonald of the Goulds retired from the board last year, as did fellow directors Mary Fleming, Lil Hawkins and Derrick Thompson.
Reid, who lives in Admiral's Cove, said the CBDC supports a variety of businesses in the region. Loans have been given to businesses in agriculture, the arts, food services, construction, the fishery, manufacturing, real estate and various services.
"We don't only approve loans," Reid said. "We offer services such as training... Training is always something I encourage for people and it's been our privilege I think to offer this kind of training."
Some 33 people received training in the last fiscal year, she noted, in fields ranging from sales to marketing through social media. Not only does the CBDC offer group training sessions, but it also provides individual training to businesses looking to increase the abilities of a worker or staff in marketing or financial management.
The Celtic CBDC also helps people with the federal government's Self-Employment Assistance Program, assess the viability of business ideas, and last year, helped six young people start their own businesses through the Youth ventures program.
Reid said the Celtic CBDC is able to do such work not only because it has an effective board, but also a dedicated staff led by executive director Loretta Ryan. Other staff members include business development officer Gertie Molloy, accounting clerk Anita Sullivan and office administrator Judith Walsh. "We could not realize success without them," Reid said.
This current fiscal year, which ends next March, is also looking good, Reid observed. "We invite you to participate in that success," she said.
Councillor given ultimatum to attend 'Friendly Hearing'
Witless Bay councillor Kevin Smart has been given a final ultimatum by most of his fellow councillors: Show up to the next 'Friendly Hearing' concerning an alleged conflict of interest or be fired from council.
The move came in the form of a motion by councillor Ken Brinston. Since being elected in a by-election this past February, he has been trying to get council to deal with the various natters of alleged conflict of interest that have been dogging the town's business for more than a year.
Smart was accused by developers and private land owners of violating conflict of interest guidelines when he voted to amend the proposed Town Plan and eventually adopt the document in full. They contend he was in a conflict of interest because the plan rezones some property he owns allowing it to be developed for housing. Smart has maintained that he made no request to have his land rezoned and so he did not break the rules.
Councillor René Estrada expressed frustration at the way the matter has dragged on.
"One of the things we have to take into consideration is the advisement from our lawyer," said Estrada. "Kevin was asked to attend a Friendly Hearing on four different occasions. The first time on Tuesday, August 4, he didn't show. On Thursday, August 18, once again he did not show. On September 3, neither he attended, nor the mayor. September 22 neither the mayor nor Kevin showed. Under advisement from the lawyer we were told to give Kevin one last opportunity to show at a Friendly Hearing... If he does not show then his seat will be vacated."
Estrada said Smart's failure to show up has put an imposition on the rest of council. "I have come right from work, left early, to be here for these Friendly Hearings only to find out that he hasn't shown," he said. "Now whatever we may think, or whatever we may decide, will be decided on fact, not on emotion."
Brinston pointed out that at a September 15 privileged meeting, a similar motion was passed and added he was prepared tonight to vote on the matter. Brinston said he changed his mind after contacting an official at the Department of Municipal Affairs who advised that because Smart wasn't informed that council was ready to dispose of the matter at its next meeting whether he showed up or not, "it would be in the best interests to give him one more try. This is one more try."
Smart sat in his chair throughout the discussion and did not comment. When it came to the vote on setting a date for his next Friendly Hearing, Mayor Sébastien Després told him to leave the room. That hearing will be held Oct. 22. Smart will be sent a letter advising him of the date and that his seat will be vacated if he doesn't attend.
"This has gone on long enough," said Brinston. "It has to be taken care of. A decision has to be made."
Meanwhile, on another issue of alleged conflict of interest, which saw husband and wife councillors Ralph Carey and Dena Wiseman booted from council this past summer, Mayor Després said the town has not heard back from its lawyer regarding the pair's appeal of their eviction.
Wiseman and Carey are looking for an apology from council and to be given their seats back, arguing that while they did discuss snow clearing on a private road leading to their property, it was not during a formal council meeting and so they did not break conflict of interest rules. The road in question, Pond Path, leads to property that Wiseman and Carey are having rezoned for residential development in the new Town Plan.
"The town's lawyer was away for a week or so, so no progress was made in the past week," the mayor said. "We're waiting on the town's lawyer for his further directives after council has given him its decision, I guess."
Bay Bulls Mayor aims to silence the public gallery
Some of the changes forced upon Bay Bulls council last month by councillor Joan Luby and members of the public were put into effect Tuesday, but it was clear Mayor Patrick O'Driscoll wasn't pleased about it.
At September's public council meeting, Luby put forward motions that the town's monthly spending report be included in the agenda for public viewing and also asked that cel phone use by councillors be banned during council meetings. She made the latter request based on having witnessed a councillor taking a text message from another councillor who had left the chamber because of a conflict of interest, she said. Members of the public, meanwhile, complained that at nearly every public council meeting, Mayor O'Driscoll closes the session during the middle of proceedings and orders a privileged session, in some cases leaving the public waiting outside the chamber door for as long as an hour for the public session to resume.
At Tuesday's public meeting, council held its privileged session ahead of the public meeting - and also included the list of accounts detailing where the town spent taxpayers' money in the past month. But there was also a printed warning left on every seat in the public gallery warning people they are not allowed to talk or engage with council during meetings.
That was followed by a verbal warning from the mayor once council entered the chamber to start the public proceedings.
"Before we start I want to advise those in the audience there will be no discussion from the gallery during any part of the meeting,” O'Driscoll said. "Unless I address you or have got a question based on your application or whatever you've got on the agenda, we're not going to allow any discussions from the gallery... The last few meetings we've gotten out of hand and it's not going to be tolerated going forward. I ask for your cooperation. If I don't get it you'll be asked to leave ... we'll get the RCMP and they'll escort you out. We need to get through the meeting and the audience is not supposed to influence the discussion of councillors."
No other councillor addressed the mayor's statement. Luby was absent from the public meeting, as was councillor Madonna Hawkins.
The ban on public speaking includes the use of cel phones during meetings. But they can be used in emergency situations, O'Driscoll said.
Boundary expansion
In other council business, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Keith Hutchings, has responded to the town's request to expand its boundaries by writing back and asking for more information and a letter outlining council's rationale for the expansion, O'Driscoll said.
"I'll make a motion to ask our Town Planner Reg Garland to do up the map for that and council can provide the letter giving the rationale," he said.
Deputy Mayor Harold Mullowney seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Road work concerns
Council has received a petition from residents of Track Road Extension about the upgrades that were done on the street this past summer. Mayor O'Driscoll said the residents have concerns about the "work that was done."
Councillor Jason Sullivan noted the town's engineer has compiled a list of deficiencies to be taken up with the contractor, Weir's Construction.
Councillor Rick Oxford asked if any of the holdover money has been paid to the contractor.
"There's been no monies paid," said the mayor. "Basically our engineer is working with their's to negotiate the issues. When a plan is in place we'll be advised."
O'Driscoll made a motion that a letter be sent to the residents advising that the engineer has been on site to review the work and is working with Weir's to address the concerns.
Community makes no mistakes with UNESCO bid
When he first got the e-mail from his bosses at UNESCO with the subject line "Mistaken Point," Dr. Mohn Shafeea Leman thought someone was trying to tell him to correct an error.
The Malaysian geologist eventually learned he was being asked to come to Newfoundland to inspect some of the world's oldest fossils as part of a bid by community organizers and the provincial government to obtain UNESCO World Heritage Status for the ecological reserve situated on the lonely, fog strewn coast between Portugal Cove South and Cape Race.
Once he got here, Leman, who said he learned in school that Newfoundland was famous for fishing, liked what he found.
"It's a pleasure to do this job and to come here," said Leman, who inspected the area with George Green of Parks Canada, and the geologist whose research brought the fossil bed to international attention, Dr. Guy Narbonne of Queen's University.
All three experts were given an enthusiastic reception September 30 in Portugal Cove South's community hall. On hand to welcome the delegation were Premier Paul Davis, Ferryland MHA and Municipal Affairs Minister Keith Hutchings and Dan Crummell, the minister responsible for Environment and Conservation.
The evening's events, which included presentations by local writer Pearl Coombs, plays and skits performed by students of Stella Maris Academy and songs performed by musicians Judy Brazil, David Warr, Rachel Coombs and Marsha Kenny, was emceed by Loretta Ryan, the chairperson of Mistaken Point Ambassadors Inc., the local group spearheading the drive for UNESCO status.
Leman gave the residents some hope that their efforts may be rewarded next fall when UNESCO unveils its latest list of World Heritage Sites during a meeting set for Istanbul, Turkey.
"It's a very nice place," Leman said. "I've enjoyed myself very much... If you want to do something, just believe in it and maybe in the end you can achieve it."
Greene thanked the community for the initiative and work that residents have put into preparing the bid and for the reception accorded the guests. "It's very humbling and it actually makes you proud to be a Canadian," he said. "I just want to say thank you very much for opening your homes and your hearts to us... We are of the view that this submission is poised to join a very elite group... We are looking forward to next year with great anticipation and hope that we will have a successful inscription onto the World Heritage list."
Premier Davis joked that while there was some fog outside Portugal Cove South that evening, there was a bright star shining over the hall itself.
Davis said he was inspired by the hospitality he received that day and the large crowd on hand for the reception. "I know it's really reflective of your community," he said. "And I want to congratulate you."
Davis said he was especially touched to see the involvement of the young people in the community in the project. "When you come to a community and you have such high involvement from all ages... and taking a lead and protective role in it, it speaks volumes for the community and the effort that's happened here."
Hutchings said the night was special for him too. "I was elected in 2007," he said. "One of the first things I did was be part of the opening of the (Mistaken Point) Interpretation centre here, with (MP) Fabian Manning at the time and provincial and federal funding... At some point I went to Mistaken Point with Kit Ward and if you want to talk about ambassadors in the community who drove this and recognized it early on for what it was and what it needed to be, and to protect it, Kit Ward exemplifies all of that and we should recognize her."
From those early encounters, Hutchings said, he worked with the community and some great volunteers to tackle the challenges along the way, including the state of the gravel road leading to the fossil bed. Over the years, in cooperation with the federal government, improvements to the road were made, including the replacement of bridges.
"It's been a pleasure for me," Hutchings said. "It's politics, but it's more than that. I fell in love with the whole thing at some point along the way. It could be related to my son Eric. I remember in 2008-2009, he was nine or 10 years old. We came up and went out to the site with Valerie Sullivan. He did a heritage project on Mistaken Point, he won his heritage project and it was special. And it's still very special for me and I just want to say congratulations to everybody along the way."
Hutchings said he is looking forward to UNESCO's decision next year. "I'd love to be here to be part of that with you," he added.
As part of the evening's ceremonies, Mayor Clarence Molloy and one of the community's most respected citizens, Mike Coombs, signed a proclamation indicating the town's support for the UNESCO bid. Environment Minister Crummell said the province could not have completed the application without the support of the community. "What you have here is just so special," Crummell said. "I've got a special feeling about this."
Liberal candidate has 20 plus years of municipal politics on resume
He has a comfortable lead going into the October 19 federal election, but Liberal candidate Ken McDonald would be the last fellow to take it for granted that he will win Avalon riding.
Instead, the self-employed appliance repairman and mayor of Newfoundland's largest town is employing his usual, below the radar, but well-planned and steady campaign of door to door canvassing to earn support one vote at a time.
The plain-spoken, easy going 56 year old has had a career of highs and lows when it comes to politics, and life for that matter. The past few years have laid opportunity before him. McDonald is fully appreciative of how far he has come.
A lifelong resident of the riding, McDonald started his appliance repair business in 1986. It taught him a lot. "I can remember times when I had to keep my paycheque in my pocket for a few days just to make sure the money was there," he admits. "You'd write it out, but you wouldn't cash it."
Eventually McDonald grew the company to the point where he could employ a couple of others, giving them an extra week's pay each year at Christmas as a bonus.
In 1993, he took a stab at municipal politics in his home town of Conception Bay South. At the time one of the fastest growing communities in Eastern Canada, CBS was making a tough transition from a rural way of life to a suburban one as a bedroom community of St. John's. The councils of the day were frequently embroiled in controversies and imbroglios caused by the rapid pace of growth and a scarcity of funds to keep up with the infrastructure to accommodate it.
McDonald resigned from council in August of 1996 when his fellow councillors refused to abide by all the changes recommended following an Auditor General's examination of the town's practices. A month or so later, the Minister of Municipal Affairs dismissed the entire council. McDonald was later acknowledged as the only councillor who didn't run afoul anywhere in the AG's findings.
But it wasn’t enough to get him re-elected in the following election. He ran at-large instead of as a ward representative.
"In hindsight I was lucky I didn't get elected," McDonald admits. "In July of 1997, Christine was diagnosed with cancer."
McDonald's wife died of the disease three years later leaving him a single father of their son John, who was then 13. He has since married again.
In 2005, McDonald took another shot at municipal politics. He ran for mayor against three big names in the community. He placed second to Woodrow French.
"After that election, I knew what I was going to do," says McDonald. "I was going to run to get on council at the next available chance."
That came with the next election in 2009, when McDonald returned to the chamber as a ward councillor. Before the next four years were up, he started canvassing to run against French again, who was by this time a provincial personality as well as a local one. "And that was my intent from day one," McDonald says. He won handily.
McDonald says he was drawn to municipal politics because it’s a way to help people, something he has enjoyed since his days as a member of the Lions Club. "You saw firsthand at that level how you can help people," he explains. "Whether it be giving a scholarship to a student or contributing to a wheelchair for someone who needed it. It really gave you a feeling that you were doing some good in the community. There are lots of organizations out there, whether it be the Lions Club, Rotary or Kinsmen who do absolutely fantastic work but I don't think any of them blow their own horns enough, because many people don't realize the good that they do in the community."
McDonald is blessed with a folksy way of getting on with people. He attributes that to his upbringing. "As a family we were no different than anyone else," he says. "We had lots to eat, but we didn't have lots of everything else. There no big luxuries. We didn't have a ski doo or a quad by the side of the door. We grew our vegetables, raised a pig or a bull and that's how we survived. We grew enough vegetables in our garden to do us from one year to the next; we never had to buy a potato. I think it showed you the value of things that you move on with in life."
McDonald says he was confident he would win the mayoralty when he ran in 2013. It came, he says, from having done a lot of work on council during his previous four years, returning calls, taking the time to attend events. "From the get go I knew it would be a hard battle to win it," he says.
McDonald also took stands that didn't always endear him with the rest of council, such as the time he fought to stop the town from ordering a man to tear down his new house because it was built three inches over a certain regulated boundary line.
"All that people expect of council is that you will try to help them in some way," McDonald says. "Some things you can't do... but for the most part people are respectful if you try to help them and that's what I've done from day one."
He sees no big difference in taking that approach to a federal level. "The issues may change," he says. "It may not be an issue of a ditch not being cleaned out or a pothole on a street, but it will be an issue of someone's unemployment getting cut off unnecessarily or a pension cheque gone astray... And bigger issues. It will be bigger issues but it will still involve people. And as I said it in my speech way back when I announced I was running for mayor, the one thing that you should never forget is that you're elected to serve the people. You are not elected to serve the corporates, you're not elected to serve even the leader of a party or to follow party policy on certain issues when it affects the people you are elected to represent."
McDonald says he agonized over the decision to run federally just two years after being elected mayor. “I was happy as anything being mayor and if I end up going back to being mayor on October 20th I’ll still be happy because I truly love the position of being mayor,” he says.
McDonald says he would like for his parents to still be alive to see how far he has come. “Growing up, the mayors of the day were notable people in the community,” McDonald says. “I'm thinking, I came from nowhere and can be mayor of the second largest municipality in the province. It goes to show that anyone can do it. You don’t have to have a university education, you don’t have to be a doctor or a teacher or own a big business or be a CEO of a big company; anybody can do this. You just have to be committed to the job that it entails.”
Conservative candidate wants to rebuild bridges
Under normal circumstances, Lorraine Barnett would have a pretty even chance of winning the federal election as the Conservative Party candidate in Avalon Riding - assuming she won have gotten the nomination over the usual line of pretenders who might otherwise have sought it.
But there has been nothing normal about federal politics in Newfoundland since 2007 when then Premier Danny Williams launched an Anything But Conservative campaign against Prime Minister Stephen Harper, scorching the earth of any chances of the Conservatives electing a member in this province for years afterwards.
With nearly 10 years working in the federal minister’s Newfoundland and Labrador Regional Office and years behind her before that working with the Fish Food and Allied Workers Union and a development association on the Cape Shore, nobody in this election is better placed than Barnett to know the details of federal-provincial files and projects.
Reached by telephone in Trepassey where she was campaigning, Barnett said the election has been a great chance to reconnect with people she has met throughout the riding during her career.
But with the Big C for Conservative on her chest, Barnett knows she is facing a tough battle.
“It has been tough,” she allows. “But for me it’s about leadership, it’s about balanced budgets, low taxes and more money in the pockets of families. It’s campaigning not on running deficits but steady as she goes in tough economic times.”
Barnett says it’s important to have someone at the table in Ottawa. According to most polls, if the election was held this week the Conservatives would return to power with the most seats, though slightly behind the Liberals in terms of overall vote count. That leaves the prospect of Newfoundland going another four years without anyone to speak for it in the federal government.
“I don’t think we’ve been forgotten about,” Barnett says, reflecting on the lack of a political representative in the government for the past seven years. “I think what’s lost are the good things we are doing. The media has a tendency to report the negative stuff. I’m talking about the new CAT 3 instrument landing system at the airport that the federal government invested in that will make accessibility go from 93 per cent to 99, investments in Marine Atlantic, the new Canadian Coast Guard headquarters that is going to be built on the Southside in St. John’s to open in 2018, the loan guarantee for Muskrat Falls, the New Horizons for Seniors program, the funding that we get through ACOA. On a daily basis I see what is coming to this province. I think what is missing is someone at the table not only to push for more, but who can let people know we are doing okay. We could be doing better, but we need a voice at the table.”
Barnett says it’s impossible for Newfoundland to be best served by having a regional minister from another province.
“We need to have our voice heard,” she says. “Not only that but to rebuild that bridge between the province and feds. We need to rebuild our relationship, that’s very important. And I think if we got the right person, someone like myself – I’ve seen the tough times, I’ve lived through the tough times with the ABC - I know I can rebuild the relationship between the federal government and the provincial government and that needs to get done. Nobody is gaining anything from the way that this relationship has transpired.”
Barnett is hoping people realize the consequences of potentially going 11 years without a voice in the federal cabinet. “That’s my message at the door – it’s very important to have a Conservative elected,” she says. “And Avalon has a good chance to do that. I’m not a voice of inexperience. I know the files, I know the Avalon, I’ve lived here all my life, I know the people, I could be a good representative at the table.”
Barnett proved at the CBC Radio candidates’ debate that she isn’t the type to be pushed around. By many accounts she was the strongest performer during the event.
Like the frontrunner, Liberal Ken McDonald, Barnett comes from a humble background and has lived in the riding all her life. A single mom who went on to carve a career in economic development and government administration, she grew up in Patrick`s Cove on the Cape Shore, has lived in Holyrood and now makes her home with her husband in Paradise, which is also in the riding.
“I knowwhat it’s like to live in a rural community, where jobs are scarce and very seasonal,” she says. “I know what it’s like to be a single parent, struggling and trying to make ends meet. I know what it’s like to have the ear of ministers and to get things done. I’ve come up through the system, I know how things work.”
If the Conservatives are not re-elected October 19, Barnett’s job as the head of the regional minister’s office is gone. There is also no guarantee that she will get it back if they win and she is not elected. “There is no guarantee,'” she says. “It’s at the discretion of the next regional minister... I haven`t been promised one thing, nor would I want to be promised anything. I want to look people straight in the face and say at the end of the day I’m not being taken care of or compensated.”
Barnett says if she is elected she will be a voice for the people of Avalon and will be visible. “People first, government second,” she says. “But you don’t have to be stupid about it.”
Barnett admits she was disappointed to see Danny Williams emerge again to attack Newfoundland Conservatives. Williams made a public plea this week for people not to vote at all rather than vote Conservative.
“It was very disheartening,” Barnett says. “People have fought and died for the right to vote. I am asking people to vote for me, I would love for them to vote for me, but if they choose not to, at least get out and vote. Don’t let anyone dictate to you that you shouldn’t vote.”
Gaskier council, resident differ over approach to cleaning up delinquent property
The town council in Gaskiers – Point La Haye is wrestling with a way to make a former resident clean up a dilapidated property in the community, but the action won’t come soon enough for Shannon Critch.
Critch and her husband John recently returned to the community after 22 years on the mainland. Their plan was to start a new business and build a new house. The first has worked out. Unfortunately for them, the second part is being affected by the land next door which has an abandoned house trailer with a yard and shed strewn with materials ranging from a bike and building supplies to vehicles and oil tanks.
“It is in a horrible state,” said Critch. “There is debris all over the property, along with it being blown on neighbours’ property. I approached council a year ago to try to have it cleaned up. They refused to take action.”
That isn’t true according to Mayor Pearl Kielly. Council has tried a number of times to reach the former resident, including sending registered letters, she said. The town has also consulted a lawyer and called in an official from the Department of Environment.
Kielly said the Environment official inspected the tanks and found they are safe, but advised the council to make contact with the owner to rectify the situation.
Kielly said she and council are trying. “We really can’t seem to get in touch with him,” she said.
Keilly explained that while the property owner is two years behind on his taxes, council’s policy is that it won’t confiscate property until the non-payment reaches five years. But council is looking at making an exception in this case, she said.
Still, council is being careful, she allowed. It doesn’t want to take action only to be sued by the owner afterwards for interfering with his property. The town has sent one more letter to the last known address for the man in St. John’s giving him two weeks to reply. After that, council will decide its next move, which could include demolishing the trailer and cleaning up the grounds, she said.
“It’s a sticky situation,” said Kielly. “You’ve got to be careful… I’m here (on council) 18 years and I’ve never run into this kind of situation before.”
Critch meanwhile, said she is having trouble getting council to respond to her. “I have contacted (Placentia – St. Mary’s MHA) Felix Collins and he has spoken to council also. I have no idea what else can be done. We have turned to social media if for nothing else but shaming council into cleaning up this property. This property is a hazard and eyesore for sure. Given how many tourists travel the Irish loop, it's an embarrassment to our little community.”
Local architecture inspiration for art exhibit
David Aylward had no idea when he was working construction jobs in St. John’s and Edmonton that one day the knowledge he was absorbing about building and architecture would find a place in his art. Indeed, Aylward didn’t even know then he would be an artist.
The fruits of what he learned though are evident in a haunting collection of paintings and models that the Witless Bay artist will exhibit at the Five Island Art Gallery in Tors Cove starting October 4.
Aylward, 28, says he had no idea why he gravitated towards the Fine Arts program at Grenfell College. He graduated from the four year degree program in 2013.
There was always some “family art” around the house when he was growing up, Aylward says. His aunt Sheila Harvey is a well-recognized and accomplished artist and a great aunt, Lol, also painted. But Aylward didn’t know he could draw or paint until around the age of 22.
“I’ve had a few jobs in my life,” he says. “I went to school in St. John’s for a while, I worked construction for a while, I worked out in Edmonton at a printing press and nothing was really hitting. Then one day I decided to give it a shot and I really liked it, the school over there was great and the people were great and I stuck it out.”
Aylward credits his fellow students at Grenfell for encouraging him to work in different mediums and styles, which helped him figure out what he wanted to do. By his fourth year, he struck on a style that his peers agreed was working for him.
The exhibit being prepared for the gallery in Tors Cove is an extension of that, a depiction of Newfoundland houses and scenes that seem to shimmer in their own light. Aylward’s traditional Newfoundland frame houses almost beg the viewer to step inside to see what’s been lost.
“I think it’s an accumulation of everything I’ve been doing,” Aylward explains. “I worked construction a lot locally and up around Edmonton, building new houses and restoring old houses. I think it gave me a perspective and an appreciation for that aspect of Newfoundland.”
Alyward says he a strong interest in environmental issues and the effect of development, subjects he explores in his art. And while he has travelled a fair bit and explored these themes in other parts of the world, the houses depicted in this series are uniquely Newfoundland, capturing traditional forms of architecture.
“I really like the old style and representing the symbolism of what they might have,” Aylward says. “A new house has so much attached to it, but an old house has so much more, there’s more story behind it, there’s more feeling and emotion behind an old style house. I think it evokes more story and more imagination for the viewer.”
Not only are the materials different in older houses, Aylward points out, but in many cases so was the way they were built, often times with family and neighbours helping with the construction whereas today the process is more industrial.
The two model houses Aylward constructed for this series are based on houses that used to stand in Witless Bay. One was located across the road from where he grew up. He always liked looking at it, but never got a chance to see it inside until just before it was torn down a few years ago. “I snuck in there one Christmas and I got to see everything,” Aylward says. “There were old pictures on the walls and there were curtains still hanging up and the house still existed. It was really haunting. And from that moment I decided I was going to stick with that (idea) and I built a sculpture of it and I tried to represent the idea of what was inside the house from looking at it from the outside.”
Aylward made a conscious decision not to include an environment of land, or fields or ocean around the houses in this series. “I want the viewer’s imagination to kind of take over,” he says. “I find that if I put an environment around the house, that might take over instead of the architecture itself. But I have been told there is a ghostly, haunting, transparent look (to the work). I guess one of the main themes that I do want people to think about is development and history and family so maybe on some kind of subconscious level I’m trying to get that idea out.”
This new exhibition grew out of Aylward’s participation this past summer in a show at Five Island Gallery involving a number of artists called ‘Between the wind and the water,’ which was about resettlement. Aylward had a few pieces accepted for the exhibit.
Aylward has a great fondness for the gallery itself because of its architecture – an old Newfoundland school house lovingly restored by the Coultas family. He also likes dealing with the curators, Laura, Bill and Frances Coultas.
“I went up there (the first time) and I was really nervous,” Aylward says. “I brought some work with me and was figuring I would have to sell myself to them. But after a few minutes they were like, ‘Oh no worries, we’re going to take your work, we’re going to give you a show, we just want to speak about the details.’ There was no question in their minds that they were going to give me a show, which was really awesome of them.”
Aylward’s larger pieces sell in the $400 to $600 range, while the smaller water colours go for $200 to $350, depending on how they are framed. He also has smaller works available at lower prices. And the model houses, that will be part of an installation including a projector and light show? “I have no idea, because I am so emotionally invested in it,” says Aylward. “There’s about five months of work behind it. It’s going to be on the higher end of the scale. It’s probably going to be an amount that no one is willing to pay, so if they decide they will pay it I won’t have a problem selling it to them.”
The model houses look good enough to warrant display at The Rooms or even Canada’s National Art Gallery in Ottawa. Aylward is flattered by that suggestion. He would like to exhibit at The Rooms someday, he admits. “I’m working on designs for two more houses, so if I get a bit more exposure I might be able to get another show or two and maybe hook something there. The Rooms is a really nice art gallery,” he says.
Aylward is grateful for the support, including funding, he received last year for his work from both the City of St. John’s Grants for Artists Program and the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council.
Trepassey area economic development group defies the odds
One of the oldest economic development groups in the province is celebrating 40 years of service this month.
The Southern Avalon Development Association, based in Trepassey, is also one of the last of its kind.
In the ‘70s and ‘80s, the province was littered with such groups, all established with the goal of picking up the local economy in rural communities and regions. In the early 1990s, the Liberal government of Clyde Wells stopped funding the associations, diverting the money to Regional Economic Development Boards (REDBs), a brainchild of the Economic Recovery Commission headed by sociologist Doug House. The REDBs lasted about 20 years with all but a couple closing their doors two years ago when the provincial and governments stopped funding them.
Through all that change and government flip flopping, the development association in Trepassey has managed to soldier on, serving the nearby communities of Portugal Cove South, Biscay Bay, St. Shott’s and St. Vincent’s-St. Stephen’s-Peter’s River in addition to Trepassey.
Last week, SADA officials celebrated the association’s 40th birthday during the Annual General Meeting. About 35 people attended the event at the association’s Opportunities Complex, where it also stages a dinner theatre, one of many activities undertaken by the board to create work for local people.
The association’s daily activities are managed by coordinator Yvonne Fontaine, who took on the job in 2009. She’s the seventh person to fill the role and has been faced with some of the toughest challenges yet.
Fontaine noted the association has also had only seven different presidents in its 40 years, one of the longest serving being the late Ray Molloy of St. Shotts. Another St. Shottsman, who went on to create Emerald Sods and serve as a mayor in his community, Pat Hewitt, was one of the earlier co-ordinators.
Fontaine says one of the things that saved SADA in 1992 when the province stopped supporting development groups was that it owned its building. SADA managed to rent office space to the entity that was supposed to replace it, the Irish Loop Development Board, headed by Bay Bulls councillor Harold Mullowney, who took a broader view of the value of development associations than did the agency which created his board.
“So for 16 years the Irish Loop Development Board rented space in our building,” said Fontaine, “and that was a really good revenue stream.”
An Employment Services Office, funded first by Ottawa and later by the provincial government, also rented office space. The province pulled funding from those offices a couple of years ago too.
“If we didn’t have this building we probably wouldn’t be around today,” Fontaine allowed. “It was a great revenue source. But now the zonal boards are all gone and Employment Services are all gone. The last few years have been really challenging trying to maintain the building and pay staff and create economic development at the same time. It’s hard.”
Depending on the number of projects it’s able to get going during the course of a year, SADA can have as many as 40 local people on the payroll, making it the biggest employer in the region. The jobs are generally not high paying and only temporary. They are also dependent to a large extent on government grants. But the bang for the economic buck is several factors times higher than equivalent amounts of money the two levels of government might spend within their own line departments.
The projects often also support local businesses in that they attract visitors to the area who spend money while they are there. A good example is the local dinner theatre.
“We’re in our third season now,” says Fontaine. “It’s a struggle because when you can only sit 50 people you don’t have the numbers (to make big revenues).”
But SADA uses it to boost local businesses by offering theatre guests a chance to visit the ecological reserve at nearby Mistaken Point, eat in one of the local business and stay in the local motel or bed & breakfast, and even get a massage. It also partners with the local Lions Club selling 50/50 tickets during the show with half the proceeds going to the Lions’ Sick Fund, which helps local people with medical expenses and the rest split between the Dinner Theatre operation and the Lions Club.
The Dinner Theatre is uniquely local. The play is written by Portugal Cove South writer Pearl Coombs and performed by five local actors, who also cook and serve the dinner to the guests during the play. About 40 other local people, including some artists, musicians and artisans, also volunteer their services, performing for free and helping to serve dinner and clean up afterwards.
Fontaine said the food that goes into the preparation of the meals is purchased from local stores.
“We’ve had over 700 people through (to the theatre) so far and we have three more shows to go,” she notes. “A majority of them are from outside the area. We’ve had them from all over – Trinity Bay, Bonavista Bay, different countries.”
SADA has also managed to survive by taking on the administration functions for groups that can’t afford their own full time paid staff, including the Mistaken Point Ambassadors and most recently, the Irish Loop Chamber of Commerce.”
Fontaine also applies for, coordinates and manages funds under the provincial government’s Community Economic Enhancement Program, a small fund designed to help rural workers top up their hours to qualify for Employment Insurance benefits. SADA does the same when it comes to student employment programs.
“You’re always trying to come up with ways to create economic development and create employment for people,” Fontaine said.
“A lot of people don’t know what we do,” she admitted. “When you’re so busy you don’t have time to toot your own horn… But we do do a lot of work behind the scenes that nobody can see.”
She credits SADA’s success to its volunteers.
“I hope we’re making a bit of a difference,” Fontaine said. “We’ll keep plugging at it. We’re here for the long run.”
