The Eganville Leader - Wednesday, May 22, 2024
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Postal Agreement # 40005333
122nd Year - No 45
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Crack down on impaired motorists
Toronto -- The province is cracking down on impaired driving by introducing legislation that will impose stiffer penalties for those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs – including a lifetime licence suspension for those convicted of impaired driving causing death. Additionally, anyone convicted of impaired driving will have to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle and undergo mandatory remedial education and treatment for first and second-time alcohol and drug-related offences respectively. The proposed legislation would also increase immediate roadside licence suspensions for first and second-time alcohol and drug-related offences. aIn response to increasing instances of cannabis-impaired driving, the government will also work to provide additional tools and training to help police officers detect drug-impaired driving and launch a province-wide campaign to highlight the dangers of drugimpaired driving, with a focus on cannabis and young drivers.One in three roadway fatalities in Ontario involves impaired driving. A 2022 roadside survey found one in five drivers tested positive for drugs, alcohol, or both. The percentage of drivers killed while under the influence of cannabis more than doubled between 2012 and 2020.
Three moose collisions in Algonquin
Opeongo students qualify for EOSSAA Opeongo High School Senior Boys Gavin Recoksie, left, and Mykola Luty, speed out of the blocks in the 200-metre race at the Renfrew County high school championships in Pembroke last Thursday. Recoskie earned second in the 200 and 400-metre events. See Page B1 for story and more photos. Photo: Alex Lambert
Algonquin Park – A collision between a vehicle and amoose in Algonquin Park early Sunday morning sent one person to hospital with lifethreatening injuries and another with non-lifer-threaqtebning injuries. The collision occurred just after 1 a.m. on Highway 60 near Tea Lake. Ontario Pr5ovgincvial Police at Killaloe said that after the car struck a moose, it left the roadway and then struck a tree. The two occupants of the vehicle were residents of Quebec. They were transported to hospital in Huntsville and then the more critically injured person, a 40-year-old woman, was transferred to a Toronto traumka centre. The 45-year-old male remained in Huntsville in stable condition. A second collision occurred when one of the two Muskoka Paramedic Service ambulances responding to the scene also collided with a moose. It was extensively damaged, but no injuries were reported in that collision. Highway 60 was closed in the area to allow for the investigation by an OPP Collision Reconstructionist and members of the Technical Collision Investigation Team. Officers responding to this collision had just fished investigating another collision between a car and moose with no serious injuries.
Second attempt to oust councillor from committees fails By R. Bruce McIntyre
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Renfrew – Conflict between Renfrew council’s two senior members of council and five newly-elected councillors was on full public display again last week when Reeve Peter Emon’s motion calling for the removal of Councillor Clint McWhirter from all committee assignments was tabled for debate. The motion was defeated at the May 14 meeting by a 4-2 vote and the two sides continued a pattern with Reeve Emon and Mayor Tom Sidney consistently voting together on issues and the five councillors forming a voting block in opposition. Reeve Emon’s motion called into question Coun. McWhirter’s “desire or intent to ignore the sound advice of staff” as the reason for his removal from committees. In a recorded vote Mayor Sidney supported it while four of the five new councillors (Jason Legris, Kyle Cybulski, John McDonald and Andrew Dick) voted against. The divisive trend began after a third party review of the Ma-te-Way expansion project was released on March 21. Among the findings, the authors were critical of all members of the previous council for their collective lack of oversight and the
failure of all to protect taxpayers’ money. That lack of oversight contributed to out of control and unregulated spending that left Renfrew taxpayers on the hook for a $17 million debt for a project that went from a budget of $18.9 million to somewhere between $35 to $36 million. That debt will be paid over a 30-year period including an added cost of $15 million in interest payments. Although Reeve Emon issued a public apology relating to his role in the Ma-te-Way project, council reconvened for a meeting on March 26 and the five councillors voted to remove both he and Mayor Sidney from all committee assignments. The motion was introduced by Coun. McDonald. They also passed a motion requesting the mayor resign, and for the second time in less than two months, he refused. Previous Motion Demands Equal Treatment One month after being stripped of all committee assignments, Reeve Emon introduced a motion at the April 26 meeting that sought the support of council to remove Coun. McDonald from all committee assignments. He said when Coun. McDonald introduced a motion to remove Reeve Emon from all committees at the
March 26 meeting, he accused the councillor of “misleading council and it reflects poorly on all of coun-
cil and the corporation.” Reading from a prepared statement, the reeve accused the coun-
Renfrew Reeve Peter Emon’s motion calling for the removal of another town councillor last week failed to pass as did his first one.
cillor of providing false or inaccurate information that questioned the reeve’s integrity. That was in addition to Coun. McDonald’s statement that Reeve Emon exhibited poor judgement as chair of the HR committee and showed poor leadership in terms of protecting taxpayer’s money as one of three members of the Ma-te-Way Ad-hoc committee. Reeve Emon read aloud some of Coun. McDonald’s statements that included an accusation the reeve threatened the financial stability of the town when he was the chair of the HR committee. He claimed that as chair, Reeve Emon’s role in the wrongful termination of former Fire Chief Guy Longtin resulted in a lawsuit against the town in the amount of $103 million as part of his wrongful dismissal claim. Coun. McDonald said Reeve Emon failed to reign in a “renegade former director” who went on to enjoy two-year’s salary as part of his retirement package when he resigned from the town. He also said the reeve’s actions left taxpayer’s on the hook for the former director’s financial settlement with the town. Reeve Emon addressed all the accusations levelled against him by Coun. McDonald and provided a summary for each accusation listing
the details of each event citing what he described as inaccuracies made by Coun. McDonald. He said his reputation and character was publicly attacked. He said the accusation regarding Mr. Longtin’s lawsuit and suggesting the reeve was responsible for a $103 million lawsuit was false. He provided documentation that listed the lawsuit at $1.3 million. He also referenced a January, 2019 news release announcing the town and Mr. Longtin reached an agreement and the monetary amount was settled for an undisclosed amount. He quoted the release saying, “Mr. Longtin acknowledges that the Town’s decision to terminate his employment was carried out in good faith and in accordance with the Town’s understanding of its legal obligation to protect the safety of the community.” At the time, Mayor Sidney spoke in favour of the reeve’s motion to remove Coun. McDonald from all committee assignments. He said all members of council must be treated equally in terms of disciplinary actions and council set a precedence when they voted in favour of removing himself and the reeve from their committee assignments one month earlier. See Page A2