Letters & Op-Ed, October 20 2021

Kudos to Pete Dove's letter about speeding in Pelham and disregard for stop signs [“Speeding is a town-wide issue,” Letters, Oct.13, p.5]. Regarding speeding I have sent my concerns in to the Mayor and council who have forwarded them on to Niagara Police.

To date I have seen no police presence in the Pelham Street north area. My husband and I walk our dog frequently and it has become a source of entertainment to observe how many drivers actually stop at Station Street and Hurricane. When they see us there they will grudgingly slow down. When we are out walking we are still cautious with Covid about passing someone directly on the sidewalk. We usually go out on the road. However, if it is Pelham Street we are not sure which is the bigger risk with the speeders!

I will close by repeating how Pete Dove closed: “Are we waiting for a major incident to occur before changes are made?”

Debbie Caldwell-McLellan Fonthill

The Royal Canadian Legion Fonthill wishes to thank our partner, the Town of Pelham, for again this year placing our banners on poles in the town. This is our Remembrance celebration of veterans to never forget their sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you in particular, to Dave and Leah.

“Lest we forget.”

Rick Hatt Legion Br. 613 Fonthill

Today Canada now houses a diversified population in their thoughts and wants. First Nations, in 2013, they began their exclusive right to hunt in the smallest provincial park being Short Hills Park and since yearly.

Other white Canadians detest the once peaceful park six times a year turned into a blood field. In 2020 there were many horrific stories circulating and photos of deer parts such as unborn fetuses left for the public to view.

The local humane society motto states, “We speak for those who cannot speak for themselves,” and the white tailed hunted deer of Short Hills Park do need this help now. How fair is it that deer used to people are suddenly slaughtered by a boat-load of hunters equipped with heavy bows and arrows resulting in some deer suffering for days.

Do the First Nations now intend forever more to hunt the park just to show others that it is their exclusive right with no regard for the feelings of white Canadians opposed to the hunt?

In my estimation it is so sad it has come to this and the saddest part of all is the gentle deer that just wants to probably care for its young and live in peace.

Faye Suthons Wainfleet

Pelham taxpayers need more information to contribute views on the future of regional transit. More data required such as present ridership, where pick up and drop offs are most frequent, hours of most usage, projected routes, frequency, costs.

With new home construction, what is the estimated population? How many taxpayers are there presently in Pelham as opposed to residents?

Taxpayers are already dealing with huge debt for the community centre. Our reserve funds are still scant.

The on-demand transit offers inclusion certainly. Cleaner air and retaining residents are both goals to strive for, however consider the cost based on real data not simply statements such as “residents and transit users only pay for services they directly receive.”

L. Morgan Fonthill

October 17 - 23 is Ontario Public Library Week. Help us celebrate public libraries by visiting your Pelham library location and receive a free raffle ticket to enter into a daily draw for a new book. This is our way of saying thank you to our community for supporting library services — our success is all because of you!

As students are getting back into the swing of a new school year, our library launched a new Tutor.com program. This program connects students at their time of need to one of some 3,000 highly vetted expert tutors. With instant access to one-to-one homework help and tutoring, students can lower their anxiety and raise their confidence about their schoolwork.

Tutor.com provides online, on-demand academic tutoring, homework help, and test preparation to kindergarten through Grade 12 students, plus early college students and adult learners. Any Pelham library cardholder can connect for free with a highly qualified, expert tutor in a safe and secure online classroom. To access the service, cardholders simply visit the library’s website at www.pelhamlibrary.on.ca and click on the Tutor.com link on the Programs/Research page.

To address the needs of those who do not have access to high-speed internet services at home, Pelham Public Library will soon introduce a new Wi-Fi hotspot lending program which will allow our cardholders to borrow a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to two weeks. At the same time, we will be launching our Chromebook lending program which will allow cardholders to borrow a Chromebook to use outside the library. Look for our dual launch date sometime in November.

We are planning a partnership with the St. Catharines Game and Fish Association for their Tackle Share program. Next spring you will be able to go to a Pelham library location to borrow a fishing rod, tackle box, and a personal flotation device. This is an excellent way to introduce kids to a safe fishing experience without the investment into the initial cost of equipment.

We have a new streaming app called Kanopy. Enjoy critically acclaimed movies, inspiring documentaries, award-winning foreign films and more. This service provides thoughtful entertainment to your preferred device with no fees and no commercials. Log in with your Pelham library card and enjoy a diverse catalogue with new titles added every month.

Getting back to normal, next month we are looking to increase our service hours. We will announce our expanded hours soon on the library website and via social media.

Don’t forget to visit the library all week. Each visit to either Pelham branch during Ontario Public Library Week will give you a chance in a daily draw for a new book. Two books will be drawn each day: one adult, one child/youth. Stop by more often and increase your chance to win. For more information on the exact books and days of the drawings visit the library website www.pelhamlibrary.on.ca ◆

You probably have adopted a routine of arranging your schedule in order to recharge your phone and other electronic devices that you have come to rely on. Well, get ready for the next recharging routine. The battery driven automobile is just around the corner.

You may have noticed recently that the price per litre for gasoline has skyrocketed. According to the experts in that area of the economy, those numbers are destined to increase in the coming years. Those prices and the pollution caused by the internal combustion engine are contributing to the urgency of the introduction of electrically driven conveyances.

So far, these battery driven vehicles have limits to the distances they can be driven before requiring a recharge. And, so far, recharging stations are as scarce as hen’s teeth.

While we have become accustomed to refilling our gas tanks in just a few minutes, recharging the batteries in electric vehicles can take considerably more time to “refill.” Recharging time depends on a number of factors but think in terms of hours. As of this time, there appears to be some advancements in the technology that will provide for “fast-charging” stations.

So, travelling some distances will require some preplanning. Travel time will need be broken up into several intervals. What roadside recharging stations will look like remains to be seen. Will there be dining and other types of lounges where travellers can spend their time while waiting for a recharge? Presumably, hotels and motels will provide recharging stations for their overnight guests.

The range in distances travelled may vary due to driving conditions, speeds, load factors, size of battery and other variables. However, ranges in the area of 200 kilometres for a fully charged battery seem to be about average. That is a little more than a return trip between Niagara Falls and Toronto with some few kilometres to spare.

As the number of electric cars and charging stations increase, so does the need for more electric power generation. That need also has an impact on the issues of global warming and air pollution. Hopefully, the balance will be a favourable one and these threats to our lives will be somewhat ameliorated as we move away from vehicles powered by internal combustion engines to battery powered ones.

To put some timelines to this changeover, the federal government has set these ambitious sales targets for electric vehicles; a 10 percent share by 2025, 40 percent by 2030, and 100 percent by 2040.

There remains much work to be done to accommodate the increasing number of electric cars. Shopping malls, apartments, condos residences will be required to install recharging stations to accommodate this growing demand.

As more and more technology is applied to this area, we might expect additional advancements to influence the transition to electric vehicles. For instance, Sweden is investigating electrified roadways that recharge the batteries while transiting on these new roadways.

Happy motoring is about to take on a whole new charge. ◆

Last Friday, the U.S. Center for Disease Control made the announcement that people who were vaccinated with two different Covid vaccines would qualify as being fully vaccinated when the U.S. opens its borders to Canada and Mexico on November 8 for non-essential travel. This same agency has formerly made proclamations that it would not recognize these people as being fully vaccinated, so it had become a worrisome item for the 4 million Canadians, including your truly, that were vaccinated in this fashion. It is hard to believe that the border between Canada and the U.S. has been closed to non-essential travel for 19 months, which must have seemed longer for all the families with members located in both countries.

Also on Friday, the Ontario government announced that Ontarians would be able to download the QR code certificates which when scanned will be an individual’s proof of full vaccination. Anyone who is unable to download the certificate themselves can contact the Provincial Vaccine Contact Centre to have it mailed or emailed to them. These enhanced certificates are not mandatory and residents can continue using their current vaccine receipt if they wish. The number of Ontario residents that are fully vaccinated currently stands at 83 percent.

On the local/regional front, as of Oct. 15 Pelham had one active coronavirus case, and the Region’s number was 164. Pelham’s case was self-isolating at home, whereas the Region currently had 11 hospitalizations.

Regional councillors received sad news last Monday morning when we were informed of the passing of our fellow councillor, Sandie Bellows. I had many conversations with Sandie, and was always impressed with her strong commitment to the residents of the Region. She was a fierce victim’s rights advocate, and addressed many government and law enforcement agencies on their behalf. In recognition of her work in this area, Sandie was invited by P.M. Harper to the Victim’s Bill of Rights ceremony in 2015. Her insight and contributions will be missed in the council chambers. My condolences to her family and close friends. ◆