BILL 64: ONTARIO'S COSMETIC PESTICIDES BAN ACT
by K. Jean Cottam
Before the 2008 spring session of the provincial parliament was
prorogued for the summer, Ontario MPPs passed Bill 64 intended to update
the regulations pertaining to cosmetic use of pesticides throughout
Ontario. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment had provided a
questionnaire on its website welcoming comment on the matter by the
general public.
Terry Colfer
Accommodation For Seniors
When I volunteered to write an article on accommodation for seniors in the Ottawa region I began with the vivid memory of my sister, brother and me attempting to find suitable accommodation for our father in the Montreal area. This happened a few years ago when, at 88 years young, it was time for our dad to move from his apartment to a seniors’ residence. Quite frankly, it was a challenging and frustrating task. Amongst other things, we had trouble finding the appropriate material so that we could properly identify the options.
Fred Dixon
If you are reading this and you have never been affected by a computer virus you should consider yourself lucky. With so many computers connected to the Internet, and with so many computers running Microsoft Windows, if you don’t take any precautions against getting a computer virus, it’s only a matter of time before you get one. I’ve been working with computers for almost 25 years. For the past two years, I’ve been helping friends and relatives remove viruses from their computers. Getting a virus is like getting sick, it’s usually easier to prevent than to cure. In this column, I want to offer in an ounce of prevention
Written by Craig MacDonald
Former FSNA Ottawa Branch President
The Federal Superannuates National Association is the national not-for-profit association of retired federal employees, their spouses and survivors, as well as future pensioners (working employees). With more than 130,000 members and 83 branches across Canada, FSNA is recognized by the Government of Canada as the major representative of pensioners from the Canadian Forces, the Public Service of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and of federally appointed judges. The Association maintains a National Office in Ottawa with a small core of paid staff. The executive of all 83 branches and National Officers are unpaid volunteers. Association policy is set at triennial conventions by members delegated by branches.
Felicity Garrard
“ A candle loses nothing of its light when lighting another”. Kahlil Gibran
The word “volunteer” is derived from the Latin voluntas - “free will” and, according to the dictionary, has a range of meanings from a part-time soldier… to an uninvited plant in the garden! However, the French translation “bénévole” is much more specific in suggesting the compassionate aspect of volunteerism – the act of helping others without regard for monetary reward. The desire to help one’s fellow man, or at least to lend a hand when a need arises, is a universal human trait, probably harking back to a time when survival depended on a high level of cooperation with the tribal group or pack.
Jacques Dufault
Pierre Beemans
One of the things about living overseas is that you are able to see your country through slightly different lenses when you return – sometimes more depth of field, sometimes more peripheral vision, and some times with less (or perhaps just different) distortion. In our case, when we returned from India after a couple of years away, I was struck by how much the demography of Ottawa had changed.
Tom Macdonald
A Covid Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, but Covid was here,
So we all had to stay extra cautious this year.
Our masks were all hung by the chimney with care
In case Santa forgot his and needed a spare.
With Covid, we couldn't leave cookies or cake
So we left Santa hand sanitizer to take.
The children were sleeping, the brave little tots
The ones over 5 had just had their first shots,
And mom in her kerchief and me in my cap
Had just settled in for a long winter's nap.
But we tossed and we turned all night in our beds
As visions of variants danced in our heads.
Gamma and Delta and now Omicron
These Covid mutations that go on and on
I thought to myself, "If this doesn't get better,
I'll soon be familiar with every Greek letter".
Then just as I started to drift off and doze
A clatter of noise from the front lawn arose.
I leapt from my bed and ran straight down the stair
I opened the door, and an old gent stood there.
His N 95 made him look pretty weird
But I knew who he was by his red suit and beard.
I kept six feet away but blurted out quick
" What are you doing here, jolly Saint Nick?"
Then I said, "Where's your presents, your reindeer and sleigh ?
Don't you know that tomorrow will be Christmas Day? ".
And Santa stood there looking sad in the snow
As he started to tell me a long tale of woe.
He said he'd been stuck at the North Pole alone
All his white collar elves had been working from home,
And most of the others said "Santa, don't hire us!
We can live off the CERB now, thanks to the virus".
Those left in the toyshop had little to do.
With supply chain disruptions, they could make nothing new.
And as for the reindeer, they'd all gone away.
None of them left to pull on his sleigh.
He said Dasher and Dancer were in quarantine,
Prancer and Vixen refused the vaccine,
Comet and Cupid were in ICU,
So were Donner and Blitzen, they may not pull through.
And Rudolph's career can't be resurrected.
With his shiny red nose, they all think he's infected.
Even with his old sleigh, Santa couldn't go far.
Every border to cross needs a new PCR.
Santa sighed as he told me how nice it would be
If children could once again sit on his knee.
He couldn't care less if they're naughty or nice
But they'd have to show proof that they'd had their shot twice.
But then the old twinkle returned to his eyes.
And he said that he'd brought me a Christmas surprise.
When I unwrapped the box and opened it wide,
Starlight and rainbows streamed out from inside.
Some letters whirled round and flew up to the sky
And they spelled out a word that was 40 feet high.
There first was an H, then an O, then a P,
Then I saw it spelled HOPE when it added the E.
"Christmas magic" said Santa as he smiled through his beard.
Then suddenly all of the reindeer appeared.
He jumped into his sleigh and he waved me good-bye,
Then he soared o'er the rooftops and into the sky.
I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight
"Get your vaccines my friends, Merry Christmas, good-night".
Then I went back to bed and a sweet Christmas dream
Of a world when we'd finished with Covid 19.
Alan Bowker Dennis Pitt
"We lose ourselves in books. We find ourselves there too." Anonymous
Dennis Pitt is a bookworm. He admits it. As a student, he annoyed his teachers by reading books in class. But Dr. J. A. Milliken, a Queen’s medical professor who was his prime role model for entering the field of medicine, was also an avid reader who had a library in his home. This was not a trait widely shared among busy physicians. As a practising surgeon and professor at the University of Ottawa, Dr. Pitt was appalled to find that most of the books in the library of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons appeared never to have been opened. He believes books are not just for show. They are to be read, they should have worn bindings, the pages should be dog-eared and pencil-marked. And if they are lent and never returned, so much the better, because it means they are being read by more people.