Letters & Op-Ed, February 9 2022

My name is Iseak Boucher and I’m an Afghanistan combat veteran. I’m totally disabled from the service to this country. I want to take a moment to express my displeasure that the Voice failed to mention one word about the men and women currently fighting for our freedoms across the country. Many of us residents stood shoulder-to-shoulder on the overpasses of the QEW in support on the convoy for freedom 2022. I feel it’s my duty as a veteran to stand up for all those who didn’t make it home in sacrifice to Canada.

Iseak Boucher Fonthill

EDITOR'S NOTE We acknowledge the letter writer's service. Last week's want of a single word, we hope he agrees, is more than made up for by this week's red-hot torrent of verbiage. Between Column Six, a commentary, and four letters (not including the above), there are 2257 words on the topic.

I am fed-up with a small minority of truckers trying to tell us that they are fighting to get their freedom back.

I checked the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to determine which freedoms they claim to have lost. We have Democratic Rights, such as the right to vote; Mobility Rights, such as the right to take up residence in any province; Legal Rights, such as the right not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained; Equality Rights, ensuring that we are all treated equally under the laws of Canada, as well as other rights. I can find no Charter Rights that have been removed from the protesters.

I was also disgusted, but not surprised by my MP’s wishy-washy stance on the situation.

Dean Allison’s statement that “the truckers’ message of freedom is resonating” is a clear message of support, and his assertion that “Canadians want their lives back” is inane and banal.

His criticism of the way the media reports the story is simply whining. He has criticized PM Trudeau for condemning the actions of some of the protesters. Does this mean that Dean Allison actually supports the actions of those demonstrators that Mr. Trudeau rightly deplores?

David Fowler Wainfleet

Dean Allison was elected to represent the taxpayers. But the taxpayers he represents appear to be those supporting a convoy of protesters.

This group is supported by Pastor Henry Hildebrandt of the Church of God in Aylmer, Max Bernier, and West Lincoln Mayor Bylsma’s followers. It is also funded with US dollars, attempting to create more dissension in our politics.

Allison voiced his support for the Ottawa occupation publicly. He appears to support the anti-vaxxer movement, the anti-government factions, and the disinformation spreaders.

He does not support Niagara residents who would like to feel safe with the vaccines, or support respectful conduct for those striving to keep our health system operational.

He does not represent me.

Does he represent you?

L. Morgan Fonthill

EDITOR'S NOTE Asked directly whether the MP supports the convoy demonstrators in Ottawa, Dean Allison’s office neither answered nor acknowledge the Voice’s request for comment.

Eureka, the solution to our problem has washed over me like an overpass of malcontents!

A GoFundMe page for convoy supporters has been widely reported on in the public media, and raised an incredible amount before being shut down for violating the website’s terms of service.

The amount obviously came from less than 13 percent of Canadians.

How about the other 87 percent?

Come on folks—let’s get together and see if we can gather enough to buy an island where these poor downtrodden folks can get away from all the restrictions that our democracy binds them to, so they can be truly free!

Let them shed our hospitals, schools, roads, and safe places to dine and share all they have in common with like-thinking people. I’m sure that they will then find true freedom and happiness—and so will the 87 percent of Canadians that are willing to put up with what democracy has given them!

Oh, I almost forgot. We should also pick one that can access the internet, in case they need medical info, ideas for choosing a ruler, and other things they abhor here in Canada!

Tom Airth Burlington

From September 1927 to June 1974, the Village of Fenwick was home to Pelham High School. Located on the corner of Canboro Road and Balfour Street, it accepted (until 1958) students from Fenwick, Ridgeville, Fonthill, North Pelham, Effingham, Wellandport, Wainfleet, West Lincoln, parts of Welland and Thorold.

Things changed after 1958, when Thorold/Fonthill High School opened (site of the present-day Glynn A. Green Public School) and students from the eastern areas went there. Then E. L. Crossley opened in 1963 and this was the beginning of the end for Pelham High.

We were a rural school in a rural, agricultural community. A large number of students came from farms and did chores in the morning before coming to school. They could not stay after school for extra-curricular activities because they had to get on the bus and go back home to do those chores again. Many students had an hour-long bus ride to school and back home. Many students struggled to buy books or gym suits, many had to quit school at 16 so they could go to work and help support the family. Most of us, as a school community, recognized these facts and perhaps this is one reason that we all had a strong bond with each other and have maintained friendships over the years.

We were fortunate to have a group of dedicated teachers and principals—E.L. Crossley, T.D. (Doug) Wallace, and E.A. (Bud) Ker who expected the very best from us.

We “Panthers” are a bunch of champions. It all started in 1934 when the girls’ basketball team won the COSSA championship. The war years saw our boys and girls go and fight. Some did not return but one in particular, E.A. “Bud” Ker came back with a Distinguished Flying Cross for extraordinary bravery as a skilled fighter pilot. He returned to Fenwick and Pelham High as a teacher, then V.P. and then Principal.

Our alumni were involved in all walks of life but some have truly excelled. Marlene Stewart Streit is our celebrated golfer. Then there are our Olympians—Jane Haist, Tom Guinn, and Steve Bauer. The local airport is named after Dorothy (Wetherald) Rungeling, one of the original students at Pelham High. Let’s not forget the mayors of the Town of Pelham: Marnie (Stains) Collins, Ralph Beamer, and our present Mayor Marvin Junkin. It’s no wonder we are proud Panthers—you know we are the “original” Pelham Panthers with lots of glorious memories.

Ten years after the school closed, a group of us got a reunion together. In 1984, about 3,500 people came. These included students, teachers and support staff. We had our tenth reunion in 2018, when 350 people came. We had planned to have one in 2020, but then Covid hit and we had to cancel. So, since we are proud Panthers, a bunch of winners (which takes persistence and lots of patience to try to negotiate around this virus) we have scheduled our eleventh reunion.

Sunday, June 12, 2022 from 1 to 5 PM is the date and time. The Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 613, 20 Hwy., Fonthill, is the place. Registration is $15 cash at the door. Please have correct change. This will include coffee, tea, punch, an extensive array of finger foods, and dessert. Alcohol is available for purchase at the bar. Cash, debit or credit is accepted by the Legion.

Of course, plans are still dependent on Covid so we will update here at the Voice, on our Facebook page, and by email through Pelham High Reunion.

Let’s all do what we need to do to stay healthy. Hopefully, it won’t be long and we can greet each other face to face—one more time.

Vilma Moretti Fonthill

In the Feb. 2 edition of the Voice, Pastor Weatherby argues for “a universe designed by God.” [Faith Lift, “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist,” p.15.] He quotes Dr. Werner von Braun, a famous German rocket scientist (1912-1977), saying, “the scientific method does not allow us to exclude data which lead to the conclusion that the universe, life and man are based on design.”

A rather tenuous argument and formulated well before the critical role of DNA data in explaining human evolution became clear.

On the other hand, the scientific method does allow us to include overwhelming data which lead to the conclusion that life and mankind result from an evolutionary process driven by natural selection.

It is humbling to acknowledge that the Omicron virus and mankind (Homo sapiens) are both the consequence of evolution. The Omicron variant evolved from the Delta variant; and Homo sapiens evolved from Homo neanderthalensis, a primate which became extinct approximately 40,000 years ago. Coronaviruses evolve much faster than primates because their generation time is very short, and are subject to multiple mutations during viral replication. Mutations which confer a reproductive advantage are required for evolution by natural selection to occur.

The common ancestry of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis is indicated by DNA data. People owe roughly two percent of their DNA to their Neanderthal ancestors.

Alan Bown Fonthill

The so-called “Truckers' Freedom Convoy” now occupying several cities in Canada is espousing the view that the freedoms of Canadians are being unlawfully curtailed by vaccine mandates for truckers and others. Many non-truckers with similar sentiments have joined or in other ways supported the trucker protest.

The Canadian Constitution, particularly our Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees our rights and freedoms, but the freedoms are subject to reasonable limits as set out in Chapter 1 of the Charter.

Perhaps those who feel that our freedoms are being violated should challenge the offending measures in our courts, as was intended by law. Doing so through protests and demonstrations that morph into civil unrest should not be tolerated in a democratic society.

To me it is offensive to suggest that our leaders should be expected by any of us to negotiate a “solution” with a group such as the truckers, part of which exhibits the offensive and unlawful behavior of a group of ignoramuses.

Tom Crawford Fonthill

Our Legion is working on Banner applications and Military Recognition Book applications for 2022. These applications are to be vetted and approved by the end of March 2022.

Applications are available at the Legion from 12:00 to 9:00 PM or by calling Rick Hatt at 905-892-6100 or email [email protected]

Please take time to ensure that our veterans are recognized and remembered. If there are any queries about these programs, please call Rick Hatt.

LEST WE FORGET

Royal Canadian Legion 613 Fonthill

Encouraging headlines continue to appear in the online news releases relating to diminished Covid restrictions. “Europe nears ceasefire on Covid as it continues to do away with restrictions,” proclaimed an NBC news article. This story quoted Hans Kluge, the WHO’s director in Europe, that he foresees a “plausible endgame for the pandemic in Europe thanks to three factors coming together, which are the coming of summer, so most people will be spending the majority of time outdoors; the low severity of illness from the variant Omicron; and the high degree of immune protection thanks both to strong vaccination rates in many countries and Omicron’s profuse spread.” Of course the take-away from this story is these three factors also exist in Canada.

With the diminished protocols comes the debate as to when governments will rescind the emergency proclamations. The next date to review the provincial restrictions that just came into effect will be February 21. Although this date may be too soon, it is not completely out of the picture to think of March 14 as the day the emergency measures are eliminated. This of course in pure speculation and the decision will be made based on a steady lowering of hospitalizations. Countries that have dropped all of their restrictions are not looking at new cases, because of the relatively mild nature of Omicron but are instead concentrating on the number of people in hospitals.

Pelham received yet another deluge of snow last week, with the majority of the snow falling Thursday night into Friday morning. As an errand took me to some subdivisions Friday afternoon, I was amazed at how much the snow is accumulating in yards and how high the piles are on each side of the sidewalks. It is because of these snow walls piling up by our sidewalks that the contractors are now using snow blowers to remove the snow instead of the ploughs. Because of this, it is taking somewhat longer to get all of the sidewalks cleared. Of course this means Town trails will be cleared last.

Last week saw the arrival of February, the month that an optimist refers to as early spring! It’s nice to see the days getting noticeably longer! ◆