It appears that issues related to housing, food prices, energy nationalism, and tariffs have been supplanted – if only temporarily – by a group of Conservative MPs, including Elgin-St. Thomas-London South MP, Andrew Lawton.
The hot-button issue of late appears to be religious freedom, and Lawton has been busy appearing at and hosting town hall meetings across the country, including an event this week in Saskatoon.
Some MPs, particularly in Ontario and BC, are pushing back against Bill C-9, an Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda, hate crime and access to religious or cultural places.)
Some religious leaders believe the bill could remove a key legal protection for people of faith. Bill C-9 has been amended to remove religious defence under the Criminal Code. See the item below from David Goodwin.
Tag Archives: Horton Farmers Market St. Thomas
Joy Dawdy’s swimming lessons earn a reprieve; however, some conditions will apply
The days of treading water for the owner of 21 Philip Street are over, at least for the time being.At Monday’s meeting of city council (Dec. 8), members unanimously agreed to direct staff to design a temporary bylaw, allowing Dawdy to continue offering swimming lessons in her backyard pool, likely for a period of three years.
Something she has done for more than three decades.
Staff were not recommending Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments in a report to council from Michelle Knieriem, Manager of Planning Services.
She concluded, “Staff understand and appreciate that the swimming lessons provided by the applicant are valued by many members of the community. While this value is noted, staff recommend refusal of the Official Plan and Zoning Bylaw Amendment applications due to issues of compatibility.
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Industrial growth in the city? ‘The majority of it is reinvestment by companies that have shown that they care about St. Thomas’ – EDC CEO Sean Dyke
All factors considered, “2024 was a pretty good year for St. Thomas.”That was the assessment of Sean Dyke at the city council meeting this past Monday (June 9).
As CEO of the St. Thomas Economic Development Corp., Dyke is a front-line worker when it comes to the city’s overall fiscal health.
He presented an economic scorecard to council members on Monday, highlighting the EDC’s relatively new vision statement.
“It is to cultivate a community that people fall in love with, where businesses thrive and prosperity blooms.
“It sounds flowery on purpose,” conceded Dylke. “We’re trying to suggest that we’re doing a lot of work behind the scenes to really help people enjoy being here in St. Thomas, whether it’s from a business or residential perspective. Tourism, of course, also.”
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The Horton Market: Getting it right in a ‘COVID-19 2020 world’
After enduring a painful three months of coronavirus cancellations, curtailments and closures, this has been an extraordinary week for positive, time-to-move-forward announcements.
Let’s begin with Monday’s (June 8) meeting where council revisited its May 19 split decision to leave the tables empty this summer at the Horton Market.
Five members of council – Mayor Joe Preston and councillors Jeff Kohler, Gary Clarke, Joan Rymal and Mark Tinlin – reconsidered their previous non-support which resulted in a unanimous vote to proceed with opening the popular market on June 20.
The market board of directors submitted a revised plan of operation with enhanced COVID-19 restrictions which assured all members of council the health and safety of both vendors and customers would be a top priority.
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Virtual farmers’ market: shop local, support local youth
It is being billed as your online, one-stop, mid-week shopping solution offering an amazing selection of fresh, locally grown produce.
But, that is only half the story.
While you shop at CULTIVATE Virtual Farmers’ Market, you are supporting the young people at the Talbot Teen Centre in St. Thomas.
Vicki Asher, teen centre manager, says the virtual market is an opportunity for local youth to learn and build valuable life skills by being involved in the day-to-day operation of a small business while connecting them to local farmers.
She explains the participating vendors will set up the stores within the website as if they had a stall at a typical market.
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The Horton Market: An event or a shopping experience?
City hall is the battleground this week in a growing controversy.
Literally.
The central player in all of this is the Horton Market and whether it should be allowed to open at the end of the month to provide a sales venue for area fruit and vegetable growers, among others.
On Tuesday (May 19) city council, by a 5-4 margin, defeated a motion to provide a letter of support for plans to be submitted to the health unit allowing the popular Saturday market to open for the season under COVID-19 restrictions.
We’ll break down that vote in a few minutes.
It didn’t take long for the controversy to flare up, not unlike the divisive environment associated with debate around the city’s twin-pad arena and the new police headquarters.
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The Horton Farmers Market is a wonderful success story – now let’s build on that momentum
The following guest editorial is from Bruce Stewart of Troy Media. The original version can be found here
A community guide to creating jobs . . . all it takes is one old building of a reasonable size with a number of merchants to share the space
Shelley Holmes, chairwoman of the board for the St. Thomas Horton Farmers’ Market polishes up their sandwhich board for the season opening of the market this Saturday at 8 a.m. until 12 noon. The market operates every Saturday until the end of October.
TORONTO, ON – “Where are the jobs?” That’s a comment you can hear over coffee from one end of Canada to the other. We look at our children and wonder where they’ll work. We look at those of us forced into early retirement because of closures and layoffs and wonder the same for ourselves.
A little creativity is all that’s required, and we’ll have lots of work for everyone.
Major employers are nice to have: it’s why town and city councils constantly vote to provide incentives to attract them. The trouble is that major employers don’t have the same commitment to the community and its future as local employers do. So how do we make more local opportunity?
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