Editorial: Thank you Guy

January 31, 2019 Editor Opinion

This past Saturday Guy Lauzon announced his upcoming retirement as member of Parliament for this riding.

Guy has been a tireless advocate for Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry for 15 years. Always a welcome face at events throughout the riding including here in South Dundas, Guy has criss-crossed the riding hundreds, if not thousands of times, attending any and every community event he could manage.

His parliamentary accomplishments are large. During his time on the Hill, he served on parliamentary committees, and for seven years was national caucus chair for the Conservative party. Guy’s biggest accomplishment however is as a cheerleader for this riding. When there was any issue of importance to SDSG, everyone on Parliament Hill knew about it.

Even while serving on the opposition benches, Guy got things done. Most recently, he spearheaded the bipartisan and unanimous support for motion M-133, declaring each September 28th as British Home Child Day.

In the midst of an electoral campaign, he represented his party well, earning five back-to-back victories; four of them with more than 50 per cent of the popular vote. Once the election was over, Guy represented everyone in SDSG equally. Political stripes did not matter.

He has always been accessible to everyone in the riding. In an era of gotcha website operators and social media spouting, Guy has never shied away from the press. As many journalists in the riding can attest, if you called Guy’s cell phone, he was always the one to answer. Guy opened satellite offices to increase accessibility to all citizens, no matter where they lived in the riding. From passport clinics to helping people with disability paperwork, Lauzon was nonetheless one of the best cheerleaders for, and supporters of, this riding.

Admittedly not a perfect individual, Guy has been genuine, even in talking about his own personal struggles with alcohol addiction. In typical Guy fashion, his self-published book has raised money for the Cornwall Community Hospital’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

After 15 years of public service, his retirement is well deserved. Thank you Guy for truly representing this riding. Well done.

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Opinion

Perspectives by Rev. Sue McCullough

November 23, 2011 Editor Opinion

One Wednesday morning, not that long ago, I was sitting at my desk early in the morning. As I peered out my window, I noticed that it was a bit foggy outside – not a usual thing for mid November. 

While I was working away, I heard the distinct sound of fog horns. The timbre of the horns sent a wave of melancholy through me. I had a sense of aloneness but not loneliness, like I was the only person awake in the world at that point in time, yet God was hovering near. It felt like one of the “thin times” between me and God. The sound seemed to travel for miles and miles, almost like an echo. 

I am not certain how far along the Seaway the ship was before I couldn’t hear the sound of the fog horn any longer but it sure seemed like quite some time had passed.

Later on in the day, I was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of tea, and I heard the clear sound of a helicopter flying over. For some reason, that I have yet been able to figure out, I am fascinated by the sound and sight of helicopters. So I rushed outside to look for it. 

There I saw a very large chopper flying west. It wasn’t one of the recognizable orange helicopters that indicate someone being air-lifted to a hospital. It appeared to be a military helicopter that might well have been heading to CFB Trenton. 

As I looked up, I wondered about the people who were in that aircraft, marvelled at the fact that such an odd shaped machine could actually stay up in the air, prayed that they travelled safely to their destination and gave thanks that it wasn’t someone being flown to a hospital.

Sometime that afternoon, I was walking across the lawn returning home from the church when a small flock of geese flew overhead. There were only about eight or 10 birds flying and only one of them was honking as they flew. 

It wasn’t the noise of the call of that one lone bird that caught my attention so much as the sound of the air rushing through their wings. It sounded like a swoosh with every beat of their wings. The sound from such a few birds was quite loud so I can only imagine what it would sound like with some of the larger flocks that I see in the sky from time to time. Swoosh.

. . .that reminded me of how I thought Holy Spirit would sound when I was a little girl. The presence of God was evident to me once again that day.

As I think back on that day, I am reminded that we are blessed in so many ways. Being blessed with the ability to hear those sounds is something that I give thanks for because there are so many people in our world, our community, who cannot hear these things. 

Each time I was drawn away from my own thoughts to the world around me and I found myself entering into a time of prayer, drawing closer to God – marvelling at all of creation. The sounds of this November are not something that I will forget any time soon. Thanks be to God!

 

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