Opinion

As predicted, new provincial legislation designed to reduce red tape is making it easier for aggregate companies to get licences and permits, and harder for communities to oppose them. And while aggregate is an essential material, what if the destruction of over-mining outweighs the beneficial [...]

It was a day in early September, 1927. On board the train slowly making its way to Avening was Miss Audrey Thompson of Kincardine, age 19, a recent Teachers’ College graduate and newly hired by S.S. #14 (Avening) school board. She was tired, having been travelling since 5:30 a.m. As train [...]

by Tim Armour At RVH he’s Doctor Veitch. His foe is carcinoma. If tumours lurk within his reach They’re dead or in a coma. His master craft is medicine. His field’s oncology, Whereas my streak of Edison Goes t’wards ontology. An alchemist with alkaloids, He’s toxins’ top technician. This [...]

It’s been a decade since Canadian farmers’ landmark mental health study quantified the undercurrent of anxiety and depression facing producers. So, over the past 10 years, has the situation improved? Become worse? That’s what new research aims to find out. Prof. Andria Jones of the University [...]

Editor: I would like to thank Clearview Councillor Robert McArthur for advocating for better communication between farmers and “people from the city”. In last week’s article, Council votes to strike ag committee, Mr. McArthur noted, “Farmers and city people, there’s a real lack of communication [...]

by Jacquie Rushlow On Jan. 30, the Federal Court of Appeal finally reaffirmed what so many Canadians, scientists and environmental leaders have understood for years: single- use plastics have no place in a healthy future. After legal challenges (mostly from big oil industry) and confusion that [...]

Avening has become just a quiet little place and often gets no more than a nod by the busy weekend traffic. There was a time when things were different. At one time it almost rivalled Creemore for size and activity. There were various mills, a cheese factory, a population of 300 and stores and [...]

Let’s start off the New Year right by recognizing the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations’ declaration that 2026 is the International Year of the Woman Farmer. Such declarations are a time of celebration. FAO says women have a central role in household food security [...]

Book review: Helm by Sarah Hall “Helm isn’t feeling Helmself.” And it’s thanks to humans – or “up-monkeys,” as Helm calls them. Human waste pollutes the air: “burger wrappers, testicle deodorant, lip plumpers.” It feels “insidious, sneaky, infectious,” like a “toxic waft when you’re asleep.” [...]

It’s not often that a snow storm brings with it a great streak of good luck but that is what the New Year’s storm of 1949 brought me. First, however, I must explain a few things. When we awoke the morning of New Year’s day, 1949, we discovered that a large amount of snow had […]