Paper ballot a pursuable promise

 

Dr. Paul Simoncic joined the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic Group this month.

The McGill educated doctor will work out of the Morrisburg office three days a week, the Ingleside office two days a week and has a regular rotation at the Winchester District Memorial Hospital.

Simoncic, who has lived his whole life in Toronto and then Montreal, was looking to come back to Ontario to practise family medicine. He said that he is a little older than most new doctors because he first completed his Ph.D. at McGill in Biochemistry and Immunology, and worked in the research field for a couple of years before going to medical school. 

It was during his time in research that he worked with a rheumatologist who sparked Simoncic’s interest in medicine. So, he decided to go back to McGill for medical school. 

Simoncic did a couple of rotations at Montreal hospitals, which he enjoyed. But, what he enjoyed most was his time at a small rural hospital, Cotes des Neiges, in Quebec. 

“I wanted to come back to Ontario and I wanted to work in a smaller community,” said Simoncic. “I really like the large variety of patients you get to see in a small community,” he said explaining that as a doctor here you see patients in the clinic, in the hospital and in long term care facilities.

“You really get to build relationships with your patients as you follow them through the years,” said Simoncic. “When we talk about continuity of care, this is it.”

“I really like that we are so close to major centres like Ottawa here,” said Simoncic. “That’s really good for referrals.”

When Simoncic started looking for a practice to join he met with Doctors Coolican and Domanko and learned about the SLMC and the communities it serves through them. He visited several places but decided on the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic. His first visit here was in February and this month the joined the SLMC group.

“This place had all the characteristics I was looking for,” said Simoncic. “I really like that it’s on the river, has such a relaxed lifestyle, offers all kinds of unique and outdoor activities and is close to all the major centres.” He plans to move into the area once he is settled into the practice.

Of the SLMC Group, Simoncic says that all the other doctors have been very supportive and welcoming. “It’s great as a new doctor to be part of a group. There’s always advice available close by to ensure that patients receive the best care possible in a timely manner.”

Simoncic. who is 38 years old, has a great interest in emergency at the hospital, and said that the Winchester District Memorial Hospital is beautiful and provides a great environment with wonderful personalized care that results in a great level of patient satisfaction. 

Simoncic is accepting new patients.

[…]

 

Upper Canada Village is devoting the entire weekend of June 22-23,  to a celebration of ‘all things fibre’ at the Fantastic Fibres and Quilt Show. 

Quilt guilds from across Eastern Ontario will gather at the Village to showcase an amazing array of contemporary works in the Family Activity Centre.

 A special selection of quilts from Upper Canada Village’s museum collection, some dating back to the 1800s and some of which have not been on display for many years, will be featured in various buildings throughout the site.  

Upper Canada Village’s 50th anniversary quilt, made in 2011 to mark the Village’s first 50 years, will also be on display.  This quilt is made up of squares representing patterns from quilts made each year by Village quilting staff from 1961-2011.

 Judy Lyons a specialist in the appraisal of traditional and non-traditional quilts will be at the event as both a speaker and as a certified quilt appraiser. 

Judy will speak on the subject of “What Quilts have survived from the period of 1800 – 1825” at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. 

She will be available to appraise quilts at half hour intervals from 10 a.m. until noon, 12:30– 1:30 p.m., 3-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. It is recommended that appraisal times are reserved in advance by contacting Margot Dixon at 613.543.3704 extension 2332 or margot.dixon@parks.on.ca.

 Thirteen entries in the 2013 Quilt Challenge commemorating the Bicentennial of the Battle of Crysler’s Farm will be on display in Christ Church as well as a quilt by Upper Canada Village’s Margot Dixon.  The quilt named “By Plunder of the Enemy”, was inspired through research done by Dixon into civilian losses due to the War of 1812.  

The 2013 Quilt Challenge is sponsored by International Textiles Limited of Richmond, BC. All event entrants will receive a package of fat quarters from Judie Rothermel’s Civil War prints in the Marcus Fabrics collection.

At Christ Church, the Ontario East British Home Child Family will have a quilt on display to commemorate British Home Children. Loucks Farm will be the venue for a Fibre Artists display.

A crowd favourite last year, the ‘Knit-a-Bit’ Challenge will return. 

Knitters of all ages and skill levels are invited to participate in a timed competition to produce a length of plain knitting. Knitting needles will be provided for participants. 

Three age categories are under 12 years of age, 13-18, and 19 years and older.  Sign up and you can compete anytime between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. 

Other areas not to be missed include the Woollen Mill where you can see wool transformed from fleece to blankets.

The Asselstine Mill is the only operating 19th century woollen factory in North America.  In the McDiarmid House, flax will be transformed into linen – a time consuming process, but well worth the effort as it produced a durable household fabric.

[…]

 

Several local people are out hundreds of dollars thanks to a recent cold call scam involving non-existent computer viruses.

Recently, local computer technician, Michael Prunner of MP Computer Services reported several incidents to the local police involving clients who had received calls.

In fact, Constable Peter Robertson, Media Relations Officer for the SD&G OPP, said this will be Crime Stoppers “Crime of the Week.”

Prunner said the people calling most often say they are from Microsoft and “they tell you that you have a serious problem with your Windows. One even told the customer that their Windows had expired.”

Here is an example of a typical cold call: “Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Microsoft Support Team. Your computer is sending error messages to us, which tells us that you have viruses and some corrupted files. I can help you fix that now.”

“They sit you down in front of your computer telling you that you have bad stuff on your computer and they need to work on it. Basically, they use all free cleaners and they charge you 10 times more than it’s worth,” informed Prunner.

According to Royal Canadian Mounted Police Inspector Kerry Petryshyn, this is what is called “deceptive marketing.”

What this means is that the person calling is from a “legitimate” company of sorts, but has nefarious intentions in terms of charging you for something you could have gotten for free, charging you for something you don’t need, or charging you much more than necessary for something that may or may not be useful.

The best option for dealing with this sort of scammer is to contact the Competition Bureau of Canada. Petryshyn said, “they deal with companies that are deceiving clients.”

As with other “viruses,” the “computer scam virus” has many different strains. Petryshyn said, “there’s a few potential possibilities that can occur as there’s a variety of anti-virus scams coming out.”

According to a release from the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre (CAFC), “the virus scam has grown to epidemic proportions in Canada, now accounting for between 70 and 80 per cent of frauds reported daily to the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre.”

“This dramatic increase means the scam is working – more and more Canadians are being targeted by the virus scam.”

“Allowing a third party to download software or remotely access your computer carries a number of serious risks.”

“Malicious software can be installed to capture sensitive data such as your online banking user names and passwords, bank account information and your personal identity information.”

“Your computer can also be converted to a bot-net, which means criminals can use it without your knowledge or participation. It can then be used to spam other people, spread viruses to your friends or overload computer networks.”

“Getting your credit card information is the second important part of the virus scam. Once a criminal has that information it can be used to make purchases without your consent.”

The CAFC also warns that “not all virus scams are conducted over the phone. Many CAFC callers report being scammed after responding to internet pop-up ads for anti-virus software.”

As for Microsoft, they do not cold call customers. An employee of Microsoft Ottawa pointed out that it would be almost impossible to do so because of the immense number of users all over the world.

For those who may have already given a scammer access to their computer, Petryshyn has some advice: “If you think somebody’s had access to your computer, I wouldn’t be going back on the Internet until I’ve gotten the problem solved. It’s like opening the door again.”

He advised that anti-virus and anti-spy programs do not check for peer-to-peer applications. For this, “you may need a technician to check your system.”

Peer-to-peer applications are those that give someone else remote access to your computer and files. 

Petryshyn uses a house metaphor to explain the situation more clearly: allowing someone to install peer-to-peer software, giving them remote access to your computer, is basically the same as giving “the bad guy” a key to your back door. They can come in whenever they like, invited or not. 

As for credit cards, Petryshyn advises checking with your bank or credit card company right away.

For questions, or to report a scam incident, contact the Canadian Anti Fraud Centre via email at info@antifraudcentre.ca or via the telephone at 1-888-495-8501.

[…]