Hidden in plain sight: DuPont Provincial Park

The four portables at St. Mary- St. Cecilia Catholic School in Morrisburg will be replaced with a permanent addition to the existing school. 

This project, part of an Ontario government announcement made January 17.

The Ministry of Education announced that Ontario is building and renovating 87 schools across the province.

Thirty-nine new schools are being built and another 48 are receiving additions or retrofits. Ontario is investing $700 million in these projects.

“We are making the necessary investments in our schools to ensure that our students have safe, modern and accepting places to learn and grow,” said Minister of Education Laurel Broten. “Investing in our schools is critical to helping every student reach his or her full potential and succeed.”

Along with replacing the school portables at St. Mary-St. Cecilia, the addition to the school will also support the government’s full day kindergarten program.

“As Catholic educators, we strive every day to deliver the best possible Catholic education for our students. These facility upgrades will help achieve that goal and be a positive contributing factor to student success for many years to come,” said Wm. J. Gartland, director of education with the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario. 

“The need for these additions is a positive statement about enrolment in these schools, and it is appropriate for us to move ahead and build permanent classrooms to meet the needs of our students,” said Brent Laton, board chair.

The CDSBEO will also get an addition to replace portables at Notre Dame Catholic High School in Carleton Place.

As part of the same government announcement, the Upper Canada District School Board will get funding for new elementary schools in Cornwall and Kemptville.

In Cornwall, East Front Public School and Gladstone Public School will be replaced with one, new school. Kemptville Public School, which is currently using space in the former North Grenville District High School to accommodate its grades 4-6 students, will be replaced with a new school. 

“We have been waiting for this funding for some time, so we are grateful for the approval,” said UCDSB trustee David McDonald.

The UCDSB projects are each anticipated to be 420 pupil places in size and cost approximately $8.5 million. UCDSB officials speculate that the new schools will open in January 2016. 

[…]

If the International Border Caucus is unsuccessful, Canadians will have to pay a fee to visit the United States via “air or sea” beginning November 5th.

Ontario Senator Bob Runciman’s office shared a release from U.S. State Senator Patty Ritchie’s office entitled: “Border Senators oppose ‘visitor tax’ on Canadians.”

According to the release, “New York State Senators who represent districts along the 450-mile US-Canadian border joined together to urge Congress to repeal  a new $5.50 visitor fee that they say will hurt small businesses who rely on Canadian tourists, cost New Yorkers their jobs, and further damage relations between the two nations.”

“The 11 members of the State Senate’s bipartisan International Border Caucus signed a letter to both US Senators from New York, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, urging them to fight for a repeal of the new fee.”

Included in the letter, “We urge you to join us in working together to remove this tax on our Canadian friends that will hurt our economy and cost jobs across New York State.”

Runciman, the Border Caucus’ Canadian co-chair, agreed with the U.S. senators saying, “This fee, depending on how it is implemented, could be extremely damaging. I’m particularly worried about the impact on the boat cruise business if they are not granted an exemption.”

He went on to say that he’s “grateful for the support of the International Border Caucus on this issue. It’s exactly the sort of cross-border cooperation we hoped for when Senators Patty Ritchie, Joseph Griffo and I decided to put together a binational group of legislators who serve border communities.”

The “visitor fee” is actually a clause in the U.S.-Colombia free trade deal which removes exemption from the tariff for travelers from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Canada and Mexico have been exempt from the tariff since 1997.

The Leader spoke with Senator Runciman’s Executive Assistant, Barry Raison, asking whether Canada has a similar tax for Americans visiting Canada. “I’m not aware that we do,” he said.

Raison confirmed that “the (Canadian) government is working to convince them (U.S.) it’s not the right thing to do.”

As for who is affected by the tax, Raison reported “we’re trying to clarify” that, but it appears that the tax does “not apply to recreational boaters.”

How will this tax situation affect Canada and Canadians? As Raison said, “we’ll have to wait and see.”

[…]

With a new snowmobiling season about to commence, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs (OFSC), thanks the Government of Ontario for its support of winter tourism and snowmobile trails.

Thanks to the McGuinty Government and Michael Chan, Minister of Tourism and Culture, Ontario snowmobilers, along with snowbelt communities, local residents and businesses, will experience the benefits of the many upgrades and improvements to the OFSC trail infrastructure that will help boost winter tourism during the coming season.

With 229 community based clubs and 168,000 family members, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs is a volunteer led not-for-profit association, which through strong leadership, provides a wide range of quality programs and services to, and on behalf of, its member organizations. Our 34,262 kilometre provincial network of organized snowmobile trails connects Ontario communities, providing responsible riding experiences that are safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sustainable.

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