Review-Mirror

Boat traffic during the Rideau Canal's 2016 navi- gation season increased 1.2 per cent with 59,301 vessels locked through compared to 58,583 in 2015 The number of vessels follows the dramatic jump in 2015 when traffic increased 13.4 percent over the 2014 season's 51,651. Boaters benefitted from many sunny weeks and weekends this summer which ultimately turned to a drought condition affect- ing reservoir lakes and water levels in the south- ern sector. While numbers were up slightly overall this sea- son, southern sector num- bers dropped by three per cent from 30,961 last year to 30,021 in 2016. Most of that drop came when the southern section suffered from low water conditions. The number of boaters of Ontario origin dropped slightly from 39,115 to 38,424, a trend also reflected in Americans which dropped from 5,114 in 2015 to 4,823 this year. There were gains in the number of Quebec boats this year with 15,448 boats compared to 13,769 in 2015. The number of moor- ings barely budged with 11,389 overnight stays, compared to 11,435 in 2015. As seen on the chart above, the Narrows was the busiest lockstation on the system, followed by Newboro, Chaffey's and Davis Locks. The Narrows did drop from 2015, locking through 5,891 vessels, compared to 6,208 last year. Newboro also dropped, from 5,355 last year to 5,017 this year. Chaffey's locked through 3,760 vessels, down from 3,868 in 2015. See page 3 for more. Rideau Canal traffic up 1.2% over 2015 By Margaret Brand The Review-Mirror Sweet's Corners Public School's School Council is planning on taking a mea- sured approach to the school's potential closure after it was identified in a UCDSB accommodation review report. The scenario in the report is that students would be bused to attend school at South Crosby Public School in Elgin if and when that school was expanded to accommodate them. Rideau Centennial in Portland is among 16 schools board-wide that could close in June 2017. Sweet's is in a group of 13 other schools that could close once receiving facil- ties are expanded or re- built. The Sweet's Corners council met for a special meeting last week along with ward township coun- cilors and representatives from the community development groups in Lyndhurst and Seeley's Bay. "I think our parent council has chosen not to overreact and be alarmist- partly from our collective experience," said School Council chair, Angie Kell- man. At last week's school council meeting, also attended by UCDSB Trustee John McAllister, parents acknowledged they had been through a similar process with the school board. During the Boundary 20/20 review, Rideau Family Grade 7 and 8 students were moved from elementary schools to the high school and French immersion was moved to South Crosby. "Everyone was opposed to it and there were a lot of meetings put into its opposition. Every- one sort of felt like they were being patted on the head," said Kellman. "I don't think that is the case this time. I think the board is putting the stu- dents first," she said. Amy Webb has been appointed to the board's Accommodation Review Committee with Kim Goodman as an alternate. The group is anticipating making a presentation at a public meeting in January. Kellman acknowledged the facility is one which is highly valued for its green space, its track and its playground along with the number of specialized rooms the school has been able to create outside of the regular classrooms. "We are just going to focus on what our school has to offer and why our school should continue to offer that," she said. The first of two meet- ings for the Rideau Fami- ly of Schools will be Nov. 16 at Perth and District Collegiate. The second will be Jan. 30 at Smiths Falls District Collegiate. The same two meetings also cover Smiths Falls, Perth, Almonte and Carleton Place school groups. Both are at 6:30 p.m. The board will be mak- ing a final decision on the changes at their March 2017 meeting. CUPE gearing up for fight over school closures Education workers with UCDSB have also jumped into the fray, gearing up for a fight to preserve the quality of education in the region and quality of life in smaller communities. Education assistants, custodians, school admin- istrators and other support staff with UCDSB warn of serious negative conse- quences for students, fam- ilies and communities if the closures go ahead, in a press release Tuesday. They are organizing with allies to call on the provincial government for changes to schools' fund- ing formula so that schools can be protected as valu- able community assets. "We understand the financial pressures that have led to these proposed Mirror The Review Thursday, October 27, 2016 Serving North Leeds and area since 1893 Vol. 125, No. 43 $1 incl. tax Canada Post Contract No. 40021501 Sweets parents begin plans for opposing school closures •Continued on page 6 Mon.-Fri.: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat. & Sun.: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Westport Village Pharmacy 3 Church St., Westport, ON 613-273-2922 westportvillagepharmacy@gmail.com NOW AVAILABLE NOW AVAILABLE The Narrows Lock, seen here over the Labour Day weekend, is perennially the busiest lock station on the Rideau Canal System. 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