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The Lindsay Post is running a weekly series of questions, with answers by both the "Yes" and "No" sides of the issues.
Question #3:To what extent should the area's history (heritage) determine the outcome of the referendum?
Victoria County: 1861 - 2000. The people of Victoria County have a proud heritage. Cenotaphs in her towns and villages list the names of those who died fighting for their country, their way of life, for democracy and against tyranny. The voters in Victoria County value their heritage, and will vote "Yes" in the referendum to preserve it.
But these people do not live in the past.
Many farmers tend land which has been in their family for generations. But a century farm is not a museum. The land continues to feed and provide for families, regardless of whether it is deemed "prime" or "marginal" farmland by bureaucrats.Rising taxes and "city" regulations threaten to drive these people from their land, their heritage, and their livlihood.
The towns and villages have a rich history. Bobcaygeon (1877-2000) was founded by Thomas Need who settled there in 1832. The first lock in Bobcaygeon was built in 1834 The Bobcaygeon Fair was established in 1858. Fenelon Falls (1875 - 2000), originally known as Cameron's Falls, had just celebrated its 125th anniversary when it fell to the Kitchen Commission. The first Town Council of Lindsay (1877-2000) met on July 20th of 1877. Lindsay still advertises "put a little town in your life", but their little town was swallowed up by the "City" in 2000. As were Woodville (1884-2000), and Omemee (1874-2000).
Yes, their history is important, but these are also living towns, villages and townships filled with people who want to make a future, not just dwell in the past.They don't want to be quaint locals for visiting tourists to photograph at "Feast o' Fall" or "Symphony of Spring". They see empty store fronts, and fear the "City" is turning their home towns to ghost towns. They want existing businesses to flourish, and new businesses to be welcomed, and they want local control to ensure that their work, and their taxes benefit their own communities.
One of the first decisions of Council was to endorse the name "City of Kawartha Lakes", despite pleas from delegation after delegation to keep the name "Victoria". There are still plans afoot to eliminate duplicate street names within the "City" (temporarily shelved, but these things have a way of re-appearing. Remember the Special Events Bylaw, which re-surfaced in another guise, and the Ross Memorial donation, which passed after being rejected twice by Council). Duplicate street names purportedly cause confusion in 911 calls. Obviously call display can determine if a call originated from Queen St. Bobcaygeon or Queen St. Lindsay (or, for that matter, Queen St., Port Perry). Can people be blamed for suspecting that this is just another move to separate them from their history?
Has amalgamation helped to preserve our history? Ask the museum boards and cemetary boards. For generations people have given their time and money to preserve the history of their communities. Now they are supplanted by City staff. Does history belong to a community or to all of society? Both. If local communinities are allowed to retain their own heritage, it will be preserved for all of society. Anything that can be done by a one-tier "City" can also be handled by the County and individual municipalities.
If anyone doubts the importance of their heritage to the voters in this referendum, let me quote a gentleman who spoke at one of the first VOCO meetings. He and his wife had raised their children on the family farm where he himself had grown up. Now his wife had just passed away. It was a comfort, he said, to know that "at least she died in Victoria County".