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Agenda, By-Law, Capital Investment, DBA, Elections, Infrastructure, McDougall, Official Plan, Parks, parry sound, Planning, Rezoning, School, Seguin, Town Council, Town Dock/Big Sound Marina, Trails
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Is there anybody out there?
While it’s the middle of the summer there are still interesting/important topics on the upcoming Town of Parry Sound council meeting agenda. I want to remind people that I abridge the agenda presented below to exclude items that I think are neither controversial nor particularly interesting. Always refer to the full agenda at the Town’s website for the full agenda and the accompanying agenda documentation.
The top items on the agenda this week as far as I’m concerned are the following:
Closed Session c) – a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land for municipal or local board purpose, (potential property disposal), (2 potential property purchases)
Closed Session e) & f) – litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board, (municipal election court application update), (contractor services). The receiving of advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose (municipal election court application update), (conflict of interest opinion), (servicing agreement). There may be more of an issue here than I had ever imagined.
9.1.6 – Exemption Received from Provincial Approval of Official Plan Amendments. Direction. That the report be received for information purposes. This is a big ‘issue’. The Town is now able to approve items that are in conflict with the existing Official Plan without requiring Province of Ontario approval. It is possible that the Town may take advantage of this new power to approve items that are in conflict with the Official Plan and at odds with the wishes of impacted businesses and residents. It will make the approval process much quicker and hopefully promote more ‘appropriate’ development. Residents and businesses will still be able to contest any approvals by appeal to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal. There will be recourse through the Tribunal but there presumably won’t be any appeal to the Province on the basis of a conflict with the Official Plan. Overall, I guess it’s okay.
9.4.1 – Big Sound Marina – Floating Breakwater and Dock C replacement. (Direction or Resolution?) That the Council for the Town of Parry Sound authorize staff to develop a Request for Design Build services in conjunction with Tatham Engineering for the replacement of the floating breakwater and Dock C at Big Sound Marina; and further further that staff release an RFP for replacement of the Floating Breakwater and Dock C as a Design Build project. Okay, I have a big issue with this item. It proposes to look into an upgrade to Big Sound Marina that would cost on the order of $1.3 million. The are dire warnings of “imminent failure” of the breakwater without further explanation or reasoning for this investment. This would be about the third upgrade we’ve made to Big Sound Marina in the past 10 years and I estimate total costs with this new improvement would bring the expense up to $2.5-$3 million. This is to support transients with their 30-, 40- and 50-foot boats for a period of about two months. In theory the season is longer than that but in June and September we see less traffic and the marina is never filled to capacity, so there is no extended need for dockage. Yet we can’t find $150,000 to invest in a splash pad for the kids. I think before going and requesting engineering proposals, which will also be expensive, the Town should present the financial benefits of making this upgrade and the proposed payback. Is the Town itself making any money with Big Sound Marina? The contract with the operators is confidential so we have no idea who is benefiting financially from the upgrade. Full disclosure: my brother-in-law owns and operates Sound Boat Works. The proposed investment in Big Sound Marina from what I understand will neither benefit nor damage his business. Nonetheless, I’m sure he would be delighted if the town were to invest $1 million in his business so that he can better serve his customers who also come to Parry Sound, spend money in Parry Sound, and come back year after year. They are certainly not transients.
Let’s get information on the financial benefits for making this investment. Assuming a 10-year amortization for the $1.3 million suggests that our taxes will need to go up by about 1.5-2% for that period. Or equivalent services will need to be cut.
Yet Council quibbles and debates about $150,000 for the kids and people who can’t afford these half million dollar boats. Where are our priorities?
10.4.1 – Rezoning Application – Z/19/08 – 1 College Drive (Canadore College Board of Governors). By-law 2019 – 6949. Being a Temporary Use By-law to amend By-law No. 2004-4653 (The Zoning By-law), as amended, for 1 College Drive (Canadore College Board of Governors and Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l’Ontario). Staff is proposing that Canadore be permitted to host the French language school for one year. After that, who knows. Given that it is the middle of August I’m glad some accommodation has been reached. Not ideal, but it seems reasonable.
10.4.2 – Lease Extension Home Hardware Reciprocal Lease for Fitness Trail By-law 2019 – 6950. Being a By-law to Renew a Lease with Home Hardware Stores Limited until December 31st, 2029 for lands known as the Rotary Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail and Town Owned Lands. Well this was news to me. The Town doesn’t own the trail that runs by ‘Beaver Lumber’ but does own land that runs through the lumber yard. The two entities have been swapping access rights for the past 20 years and the agreement is up for renewal. It seems to be a win-win with the bigger win for McNabb Lumber Home Building Centre. I was totally confused reading the agenda item summary until I read the supporting documentation.
Closed Meeting
c) a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land for municipal or local board purpose, (potential property disposal), (2 potential property purchases);
e) litigation or potential litigation, including matters before administrative tribunals, affecting the municipality or local board, (municipal election court application update), (contractor services);
f) the receiving of advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose (municipal election court application update), (conflict of interest opinion), (servicing agreement);
n) a position, plan, procedure, criteria or instruction to be applied to any negotiations carried on or to be carried on by or on behalf of the municipality or local board, (potential property purchase), (boundary negotiations).
Public Meeting
2.1 – Official Plan Amendment No. 3 and Zoning By-law Amendment – Z/19/6 – Smith Crescent (YMCA/Wickman).
Correspondence
4.1a – Peter Scully. Request for traffic calming sign on Church St. at McMurray.
4.1b – Peter Scully. Appreciation for traffic calming sign on Church St. at McMurray
4.2 – Barbara O’Brien. Advocacy for Splash Pad
4.4 – David Coles, Chair, Downtown Business Association. Advocacy for Reinstatement of Waterfront Advisory Committee
4.5 – Dave Coles, Chair, Downtown Business Association. Request Town’s assistance in helping keep downtown clean and beautiful.
4.6 – Dave Coles, Chair, Downtown Business Association. Request Town`s assistance in addressing safety in the downtown area.
4.7 – Georgian Bay Forever. Responses to Council questions raised at GBF June 4th, 2019 deputation.
4.8 – Indigenous Services Canada. Wasauksing Swing Bridge – Public Consultation on future operations.
4.9 – Michelle Sims. Request for 4-way stop at James/William/Rosetta intersection.
Deputations
5.1 Vince Kulchycki – Chief Operating Officer, and Jennifer Montpetit – Advanced Planning and Communications Lead, Lakeland Holding Ltd. SPEEDIER and DEMOCRASI projects as part of ToPS-Lakeland solar agreement.
5.2 – Linda West, Hands Off Our Trees. Potential loss of trees along Fitness Trail as a result of proposed development.
Resolutions and Direction to Staff
9.1.1 – Civic Scholarship Award. Resolution. That upon the recommendation of the Scholarship Committee, Council awards the 2019 Scholarship to Nicole Babcock-Ritchie in the amount of $500.00.
9.1.2 – Parks & Recreation Master Plan: Letter of Invitation to Participate. Direction. That staff send the invitation to the Municipality of McDougall & Seguin Township to participate in an Area Parks & Recreation Master Plan (or update) per Schedule A.
9.1.3 – Market Square Park – Public Wi-Fi Hours of Service. Direction. That Council direct staff to contact Vianet and have the public Wi-Fi hours in Market Square Park amended to be available from 7am – 7pm daily.
9.1.4 – Memorial Bench & Tree Policy. Resolution. That Council approve the combined Memorial Bench & Tree Program, per Schedule A.
9.1.5 – Appointments to Library Board and EMS Advisory Committee. Resolution. That Resolution 2018-142 appointing individuals to various Boards and Committees, be amended by ratifying Parry Sound Public Library Board appointments of Tom Lundy representing the Township of The Archipelago, Susan Murphy representing the Township of Carling, Lynne Gregory representing the Municipality of McDougall; and that Colleen O`Hare be appointed as a member at large instead of representing the Town of Parry Sound; and
That Resolution 2018-143 appointing members of Council and staff to various Boards and Committees be amended by removing Dave Thompson from the Parry Sound District Emergency Medical Services Advisory Committee, as Mr. Thompson is a staff resource person, not a Committee member.
9.1.6 – Exemption Received from Provincial Approval of Official Plan Amendments. Direction. That the report be received for information purposes.
9.4.1 – Big Sound Marina – Floating Breakwater and Dock C replacement. (Direction or Resolution?) That the Council for the Town of Parry Sound authorize staff to develop a Request for Design Build services in conjunction with Tatham Engineering for the replacement of the floating breakwater and Dock C at Big Sound Marina; and further that staff release an RFP for replacement of the Floating Breakwater and Dock C as a Design Build project.
9.5.1 – Deposit/Return Program for Single Use Plastic/Aluminum/Metal Drink Containers. Resolution. (Introductory text removed.)
THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the Town of Parry Sound endorses the Corporation of the Town of Halton Hills’ Resolution 2019-0141 calling upon the Province of Ontario, through the discussion paper entitled “Reducing Litter and Waste in our Communities”, to review and implement a deposit/return program for all single use plastic, aluminum and metal drink containers; and further
THAT that the Province of Ontario review current producer requirements and look for extended producer responsibility for all packaging; and further THAT a copy of this motion be sent to the Premier of Ontario; the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks; the Minister of Municipal Affairs; the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and all municipalities in the Province of Ontario.
9.5.2 – Opposition to Changes in 2019 Provincial Budget and Planning Act. Resolution. BE IT RESOLVED that Council for the Corporation of the Town of Parry Sound, accepting the facts and sentiments expressed in the City of Stratford’s resolution attached as Schedule A regarding opposition to Changes in the 2019 Provincial Budget and Planning, does hereby request a meeting with MPP Norm Miller, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, and other related ministries on the effects of downloading onto municipal governments; and
THAT this resolution be forwarded to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), to initiating municipality the City of Stratford, and to all other municipalities in Ontario.
By-laws
10.1.1 – Agreement: Nipissing-Parry Sound Student Transportation Services. By-law 2019 – 6948. Being a by-law to execute an agreement with Nipissing-Parry Sound Student Transportation Services for the provision of a school bus transfer site at the Kinsmen Park.
10.4.1 – Rezoning Application – Z/19/08 – 1 College Drive (Canadore College Board of Governors). By-law 2019 – 6949. Being a Temporary Use By-law to amend By-law No. 2004-4653 (The Zoning By-law), as amended, for 1 College Drive (Canadore College Board of Governors and Conseil scolaire public du Nord-Est de l’Ontario).
10.4.2 – Lease Extension Home Hardware Reciprocal Lease for Fitness Trail By-law 2019 – 6950. Being a By-law to Renew a Lease with Home Hardware Stores Limited until December 31st, 2029 for lands known as the Rotary Algonquin Regiment Fitness Trail and Town Owned Lands.
No comments
August 10, 2019 at 2:51 pm
The Big Sound Marina is operated by the Town of Parry Sound for the Province of Ontario Tourism and any major upgrades should be funded by the Province. The Province foisted responsibility for this infrastructure onto the Town as did the Federal Government do like wise with the Town dock and the Salt dock. The Province should pay full cost of repair to the break water.
August 10, 2019 at 2:59 pm
Ah yes, but the Town is trying acquire the marina. I believe it may be federally owned and the Feds are trying to divest it. We paid for the last upgrade to Docks A & B. Oh what a wicked web we weave when we don’t have a plan, and if we do we don’t tell the tax payers what it is. I have asked but been told that the information is not available. That’s often a cover for them not knowing what they are doing.
August 11, 2019 at 8:06 am
I was on Council when we got sucked in to be the operators of this new piece of Ontario Tourism infrastructure. It was a necessary link in the chain from Port Severn to Little Current for wealthy boaters
August 11, 2019 at 11:11 pm
Jo…with respect to the proposed zoning changes to allow the French Language School to operate in the context of Canadore college your comment about this being a reasonable compromise reveals an uncharacteristic lack of understanding of the issues at stake. The French School Board and Canadore administrators from North Bay have not acted in good faith. There is little or no opposition to the establishment of a French Language School in Parry Sound. One of the significant issues is the degree to which adult educational opportunities in Parry Sound will be compromised by this arrangement undertaken with very limited public consultation. Over 1000 adult students have attended and graduated from this campus. Among many programs the Personal Services Worker Program and Nursing programs have provided many individuals with employment opportunities right here in Parry Sound. This campus provides many citizens (often single parents) with the opportunity to gain skills and improve the quality of life for themselves and their families right here in this community. This has been of great benefit to the Long Term Care Homes and residents of those homes in the area. The Parry Sound Canadore site is a community resource (funded in part by the TOPS) that should not be compromised. The parents advocating for this location have been told that the revenue from the French Board will make this campus viable. No financial evidence has been provided to support this assertion. The rental agreement is not public, the cost of renovations and who is responsible for those costs is not clear. Interestingly enough renovations to the existing campus are currently underway despite the pending decision by Council. It is my understanding that up to four classrooms, office space and other areas of the campus will be removed from adult education programs to accommodate this arrangement.The projected enrolment is 30 students. By my calculation that could result in their bing approximately 7 students per classroom. This is unlikely as students will be not be evenly distributed across grade levels likely resulting in lower numbers in some classes. There is well founded speculation that the long term outcome will be for Canadore Administrators in North Bay to compromise the campus to such a degree that selling the property to the French Board will seem like the only option. Your comment about the late date is interesting given that those negotiating this arrangement were or should have been aware of the impact of the timeline on any public consultation process. In my opinion the timeframe has always been designed to impact any well considered opposition to compromising the campus.
August 12, 2019 at 11:29 am
Ron please see my response to Ryan which addresses both your comments.
August 12, 2019 at 9:17 am
I agree, Jo, it’s surprising to hear you call the canadore decision reasonable. Are you aware of the extent of the renovations (already! How presumptuous!) Taking place? I think you have to be either naive or deliberately seeing what you want to see to think this is going to be a one year gig. At the end of the first year, the permission to extend will be obtained just as easily as the permission to start apparently was.
And the result will be the loss of at education in Parry sound. And that is also a fact. Sure, those in North bay, who stand to profit off of this, promise that won’t be the case, but why on earth would you believe them over those instructors and staff within the college right here in Parry sound who are pointing out the opposite? Surely the staff who actually teach the programs would know better than bureaucrats in North bay, no?
Make no mistake, this is absolutely a decision between adult education in Parry sound and a French school. And I’m bewildered why council is so enamoured with the latter. To me it’s in the same category as their inexplicable deference to the rich boat owners you mention.
And the kicker is, it does not at all need to be such a binary choice. The French school is committed to coming to Parry sound and there are several other suitable locations. If council denies their take-over of canadore, they won’t give up and leave town – they will surely just find another location! We could, therefore, easily have both. So why are we choosing the way which leaves us with only one? That doesn’t seem reasonable to me.
August 12, 2019 at 11:28 am
Ron and Ryan, you seem to have similar concerns, so I’ll provide my thoughts in a general sense to address your comments.
I really didn’t imagine that there would be as much ’emotion’ as there is. But it is what it is. I guess that the many lawn signs should have clued me in. Please take your complaints to the folks that made the decision. That actually isn’t even Parry Sound Town Council – it’s Canadore North Bay. Council was perhaps endplayed. With three weeks until school starts there was no way they could have credibly said no. Council has limited the rezoning to a year. Let’s see where that goes.
You are both aware of the current situation in Ontario regarding education. I was speaking to a couple of high school teachers. One is recently retired and the other will be in the next couple of years so they are not at risk with regard to the proposed changes. I was told that high school students would be required to take online courses. That seemed to be reasonable, I guess. I then found out that the schools these teachers work at really doesn’t have the appropriate ‘computer lab’ to support this requirement, and not all students have computers at home. But the kicker was that these courses would cost the students, actually their parents, $800 each. What? The system is not only reducing teachers, increasing class sizes, but they are asking families to subsidize their children’s education. I understand it is private companies that will be providing these courses, so there is a for-profit element in this.
These decisions and actions by the Provincial Government are not going to win them many votes. If they are willing to put this type on pressure on a very ‘public’ institution that impacts more than 2 million children imagine the pressure they are putting on higher education institutions such as Canadore College. Unlike the public school system, they need to balance the books every year and depend on government funding. We have seen how Provincial funding for the Town has dropped over the past decade.
Perhaps Parry Sound can’t support a college. What happened to Georgian College in Parry Sound? In the ‘good old days’ they offered a number of valuable courses targeted to our local trades that were not replaced by Canadore College when they arrived. Well Georgian College is still very active and operating out of seven campuses, the closest being in Bracebridge. The fact that they retreated from Parry Sound may be telling us something, something most people don’t want to hear.
Education is still available, it might just be a little more inconvenient than people would like.
If there were equally suitable locations for the French School I’m sure one of those locations would have been selected. The Canadore College option is perhaps the least appropriate in terms of publicity, assuming that there will, with time, be a dedicated French School in the area. Perhaps the French Board is waiting until the McDougall schools are closed, as planned. Perhaps the big plan is to take over the Canadore campus and convert it into a dedicated French School.
My point was that school starts in three weeks and everybody needs a decision, even if it is only temporary.
I’ll ask everyone to look inward a little and think about how they feel about French language education, and the role of French culture in our society. I grew up the child of immigrants, neither of them francophone, outside Ottawa in a farming community that was far from bilingual. I went to a high school that had a relatively large francophone community and I worked 15 years for a French firm. My French is weak but workable in a need to speak situation. Je parle français comme une vache espagnole. I am not a Francophile, but I am also not threatened by it.
Let’s look south and go back sixty-five years to Brown v. Board of Education. Integration required sacrifices from many parties, even those who presumably were the major beneficiaries. Not all the complaints came from a concern about logistics. Parry Sound is a rather homogeneous community. I wonder if people are not feeling a little bit threatened by a French School.
I am comfortable suggesting that if Canadore College were operating on a break-even basis the whole suggestion of providing space for the French School would not have gotten off the ground floor. There would not have been the space or the will. It’s possible that Parry Sound just can’t provide the ‘bodies’ to support a college or any other institution of higher education.
But then again, I could be wrong. I stand by earlier two or three sentences stating that I’m glad things are moving forward at this late date. Split the baby.
August 12, 2019 at 2:01 pm
Jo,
I can grant your point, I’m sure, about the profitability of the Parry sound campus – (Though I would suspect that Georgia’s all-out had more to do with them simply focusing their investments on other nearby markets – have you seen the money they put into their Bainbridge campus?) As has been noted, the campus here has never been full to capacity.
But there are always multiple paths to profitability, and so profitability alone cannot be enough to justify one particular path over another. Canadore North Bay has other options open to it which could increase profitability in Parry sound. Selling out to the French school was simply the easiest for them. But that doesn’t mean it’s the best plan for us – for the town.
When a company has multiple options for profitability, I think it is reasonable for a community to entice or even require them to select the one which also best serves the community.
One more note – Jo, I don’t think any human being on earth is immune from bias, so I don’t mind you asking about mine, though in this case I think I’d disagree, since I’ve enrolled my children in the French program at p.s. public school. If I could return the question though, is it possible your bias diminishes the sympathy you might have for blue collar trades education? You wouldn’t be the first ivy-league educated white collar to find nothing unreasonable in cuts that primarily affect the working class.
August 12, 2019 at 3:44 pm
Ryan, it’s tough running an organization, especially one that operates at a loss and depends on government funding to break even. The current government seems to be focused on cutting costs for public services and that makes it even tougher. Non-profits aren’t allowed to show an accumulated gain or loss in any year, that means they have to beg for a handout if they fall short. At the same time, they can’t show an accumulated ‘profit’ and bank the excess in any given year to handle the lean years. That makes it tough, and leads to tough decisions. The French School Board may well be seen as a savior by Canadore.
I served on a large non-profit organization for four years and saw the pressure on staff and board members to meet the needs of the community being served, treat their staff fairly, and still not lose money. It wasn’t easy even with a government that was more sympathetic to public service needs.
You may wish to volunteer on a board like this if you haven’t already so you can take a look at the challenges and options they face. It’s too easy to offer a prescription for a problem if you are not responsible for taking the medicine, much less paying for it.
I’m glad to see you have your kids getting the benefit of French language education. I know that is also a priority for my kids and their kids. But, not all share that celebration of diversity.
Regarding education, I have no association with Ivy League schools. I spent grades 2 through 5 in a one room school house with 8 grades in total. Grades 6 and 8 were in four room school with two grades per class. The first two months of grade 8 were spent at a race track because a school renovation wasn’t complete. High school was a public institution and a more than 30 km bus ride each way.
University was Carleton University where I lived at home. Not quite one of the Canadian Ivies. Graduate school was a public U.S. university where I supported myself on research and teaching fellowships. All-in-all not a blue-collar education, but not particularly privileged.
I like to think I comment on all segments of our Parry Sound community when I feel things are not reasonable, as a result of unreasonable expectations or unreasonable treatment.
A simple comment that I was glad to see resolution was reached with the French school has led me to take a closer look at the local post graduate education opportunity situation. I believe there are issues that will take money to solve. I don’t see where the money will come from. If people want an education they often need to make a sacrifice, sooner or later.
August 12, 2019 at 4:44 pm
Apologies, Jo, for over-stating your collar! In fairness, I think this old post could easily give the impression you went to Princeton:
https://parrysounds.com/2014/05/
Meanwhile, I’ll grant you the kinds of pressures these types of institutions are under, and though I disagree with their decision here, I’ve met the big cheeses in North Bay and don’t for a second think their motives are malicious or uncaring. Mr. potter they are not.
But I also know that even the best people often need more than a nudge in the right direction. When we find an easy solution that works, how many of us would keep looking for a better one? Not many, I suspect, unless we are forced.
I’m reminded of a documentary a few weeks ago on the CBC about the history of Sudbury. As the story goes, the pollution from the smelter stacks had killed all the vegetation to the extent that NASA literally did use Sudbury as a training ground for the Apollo moon missions. The public pressured Inco to do something to curb their pollution, but Inco cried that there was simply no way to do so while remaining profitable. It wasn’t till the government finally mandated action that, surprise!, Inco was able to, after a little effort, come up with the “super stack” which captured toxic pollution while still allowing them to remain profitable after all.
Bottom line, businesses often cry wolf, er, I mean poor, and say this or that right thing just wouldnt be profitable. Yet when forced to do the right thing, it’s amazing how they manage to find another path to profitability after all.
Bottom line, I still think canadore is being allowed the easy out on this one, and the consequences will be negative for our community.
August 12, 2019 at 8:13 pm
Ryan, I don’t want to drag this on but I will. Does any young person really want to come to Parry Sound for their education if they can get it in Bracebridge or Barrie or … It’s hard to find a place to live that is affordable and even somewhat livable. There is no public transportation. The only way in and out of Parry Sound is on the bus or owning a car, or having a friend with a car. I imagine there is no nightlife beyond the Kip, sorry I meant the Brunny.
Parry Sound is a decent place to raise your kids and provide a professional service – lawyer, chiropractor, accountant, …, although the public school education is a bit of a concern given the area achievement scores. (Despite this I know of several people who went to school in Parry Sound and have been successful professionally, albeit not in Parry Sound.)
Georgian College in my memory offered the kind of courses that enhanced the knowledge of the trades. My father-in-law taught a marine mechanics course for at least one winter semester. This was not full time studies but rather diploma or certificate type accreditation. It seems that Georgian nibbled around the edges and offered what was wanted and needed with local faculty who largely did the teaching for little of nothing. As things developed they obviously decided that there was no reason to make an investment on the scale of Canadore College.
I respect the local leadership of Canadore College but they don’t have the population basis to support full time courses especially if there are ‘better’ options in Bracebridge, Barrie and Orillia, or even the Canadore campus in North Bay.
It’s not clear what is going on but the French School rather than ‘killing’ Canadore may actually have provided Canadore a lifeline.
August 13, 2019 at 9:15 am
We’ll have to agree to disagree, Jo.
I was recently at Georgian in Bracebridge, and saw one of their programs. Compared to the same program here at Canadore, it was huge. It was fully equipped with excellent tools and resources. It had 3 full time faculty.
But why was it so much bigger and successful? Their larger size was not pre-ordained a by the gods. It was not a foregone conclusion of history. There once was a time when they were small, and at that time whether they got larger or not was an open, fully contingent question. It could have gone either way.
But it didn’t. They got larger. And why? Short answer: they did the things that would make them grow. They did the things that would cause an increase.
Now, we can argue about what those things are (industry, public transit, capital investment, etc…), but I’m sure we can agree that one thing that all the “things which cause growth” have in common is that they are not “things that cause decline” . And while reasonable people can and will disagree on the finer details of the things that cause growth, I think everyone should pretty much be able to agree when they’re looking at one of the opposite class.
With that in mind, what do you make of the article in today’s north Star?
https://www.parrysound.com/news-story/9546265-parry-sound-college-staff-displaced-as-french-school-moves-in/
Do those sound like actions that will cause growth in the adult education programs? Or do they sound like actions that will cause the opposite – decline?
Far from saving canadore, the French school stands a much better chance of killing it.
I notice as well that the article says they’ve already signed a two year agreement.
August 13, 2019 at 10:13 pm
If you’ve ever been in business or caught in a survival situation sometimes it’s better to cut off the arm to save the body.