Key staffers added to township payroll

Stuart McLean is a nationally known radio broadcaster, humourist and author. 

During his outstanding career, McLean has won an ACTRA award, the Rooke Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Writing, Trent University, the Canadian Authors Association Best Non Fiction Book, 1993, the Canadian Author’s Association and Jubilee Award, 2004, and three Stephen Leacock Memorial Medals for Humour, 1999, 2001 and 2007. 

But Stuart McLean is probably best known, and loved, by generations of Canadians, for creating Dave and Morley, characters whose zany misadventures are often featured in his long-running CBC production, The Vinyl Café.

This January 28-29, 2012,  Stuart McLean is bringing his hit CBC Vinyl Café production to Upper Canada Playhouse, according to artistic director, Donnie Bowes.

Stuart McLean and his crew will be taping two live programs at the Playhouse in front of two sold out audiences. 

McLean, in his very distinctive voice, during the show, will narrate tales of Dave (who makes a living running the Vinyl Café in Toronto), his wife Morley, their children Stephanie and Sam, their friends, and the people in their neighbourhood. 

Dave keeps a juke box in his living room and the motto of his  record business is “We May Not Be Big, But We’re Small.” 

Each story performance by McLean is a complete tale in its own right, affectionate, often nostalgic,   gently humourous, as Dave and Morley cope with the quirks of daily life. 

These stories on air, and their appearance in a series of books and audio books, have won McLean millions of fans since the characters’ premiere. 

The Vinyl Café features essays, fiction and music. McLean is noted for introducing new Canadian musicians. Café episodes often begin with McLean reciting a description of the venue and the community in which he is appearing (Morrisburg) and end with his signature signoff “I’m Stuart McLean, so long for now.”

Which stories he will be sharing during his taping in Morrisburg are not yet confirmed, but audiences can hope that some of McLean’s beloved seasonal tales, Dave Cooks the Turkey, Christmas with Rasheeda and Ahmeer, Morley’s Christmas Pageant and Dave on the Roof may be in the line-up. 

While tickets are currently sold out for the The Vinyl Café, contact Upper Canada Playhouse at 613-543-3713 for additional information. 

[…]

South Dundas council passed a by-law on February 7th to enter into a Site Plan Control Agreement with D.E.S. Environmental Services Inc.

According to paperwork submitted by Manager of Planning & Enforcement Don Lewis, the landowner wanted “to construct a building which will alter the current site plan.”

Council members were told that the Ministry of Environment had already given their approval.

D.E.S. Environmental Services Inc. is located in Iroquois.

[…]

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.”

[…]