Review-Mirror

Township of Rideau Lakes council has post- poned any approval for the fire and rescue service to obtain Naloxone kits, an antidote which can be administered in the case of an overdose. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care announced last week that the lifesaving drug will be made available to police and fire services at no cost, but members of Rideau Lakes Council aren't taking them up on the offer. Firefighters respond to medical calls if an ambu- lance is delayed in coming or if there is respiratory distress, unconsciousness or a cardiac case. Of last month's calls 14 out of the 40 were medical calls, a percentage which is continually increasing with ambulances often in the wrong place at the wrong time, to respond to a Rideau Lakes call. "Clearly this is not a local responsibility, this is the thin edge of the wedge. The ambulance is out of your district and then you start adding these medical calls and then you start adding this drug issue," said South Elmsley Councillor Arie Hoogen- boom. "I would like to recom- mend that we see what is happening with the province before we decide this too quickly. I'm not saying we shouldn't do it. We should be reimbursed for it," said Mayor Ron Holman. The province does not compensate municipalities for medical calls while ambulance services are a provincial responsibility. "The more we intro- duce to the volunteers, the more they are asked to leave whatever their employment is, leave their weekend, their holidays or whatever the case may be. It's something we have to keep the lid on. "We should not be doing the work that our paramedics are trained to do and are responsible for in the province of Ontario," said Holman. New Ontario data is showing a continued increase in opioid related deaths. There were 336 opioid-related deaths in Ontario from May to July 2017, compared with 201 Thursday, December 21, 2017 Serving North Leeds and area since 1893 Vol. 126, No.50 $1 incl. tax Portland area residents will get the opportunity to express their interest in a variety of options which could be pursued by the municipality for public space in the village. Next month a meeting, organized under the Port- land Community Hall Board umbrella by resi- dents, will give Township of Rideau Lakes staff and politicians some insight into what the community feels is important. The township has expressed interest in the purchase of Rideau Cen- tennial Public School as part of the first phase of Upper Canada District School Board's regulatory requirement for the dis- posal of the property. The municipality, along with other school boards, child and youth mental health agencies, LHINs, boards of health, indige- nous organizations and the provincial and federal governments are on a list of preferred entities which had 90 days to respond to a call for expressions of interest. The potential purchase price of the building nor its appraised value isn't known by the parties. "They won't share the market value of the prop- erty as determined by their appraiser," said Rideau Lakes CAO Mike Dwyer. The township will need to submit a purchase price and the proposed use for the building which could include its repurpose for a variety of organizations and activities. "We want to hear what the residents would like to see happen," said Mayor Ron Holman whose coun- cil is also mulling the future of the Portland Community Hall. The building needs a new roof, doesn't have air conditioning and will need renovations to meet new accessibility standards. "Repair it? Maintain it? What the community has to look at is do they need two floors? Would they like to see it in the school or have the existing build- ing replaced? It will be a new council's decision," said Mayor Ron Holman. "We want to hear from the community as to the options which they would like to see. Council needs some direction from the community. We don't want to make a decision which isn't conducive to what the community wants," he said. Portland residents to have their say on future of community hall, Rideau Centennial u sh Get your Don't go viral. eet (613) 273-2922 h Str c 3 Chur .A. estport Village I.D W ca ot. al.ca vir dontgo Mirror The Review Rideau Lakes turns down Naloxone offer for now Canada Post Contract No. 40021501 St. Edward Catholic School Parent Council sponsored a special Christmas dinner last week for parents and grand- parents with turkey and all the trimmings prepared and served by Neil Kudrinko and Stella Hodgins. Chrissy Heise hosted some games that filled the gym with laughter and cheers. Photo by Trish Purdon •Continued on page 3 Shop Local. Spend Local. Eat Local. See pages 2-4 Christmas Special NO PAYMENTS FOR 6 MONTHS... Plus, Scratch & Win up to $2500 pre-paid Visa card Town & Country Kerry Ryan 613-464-1460 Duncan ' s APPLIANCE SALES & SERVICE Call 359-5660 53 Main St., Elgin Continuing a 30 year tradition serving North Leeds LOTS OF LAST MINUTE DEALS AT DUNCAN'S Thank you for your patronage in 2017 Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year Christmas Greetings Edition Page 7-16 Review-Mirror holiday schedule This week's edition is the final one for 2017. Our next edition will be Thurs., Jan. 11. We will be closed this Fri., Dec. 22 at noon and re-open Fri., Jan. 5 at 9 a.m. Have a happy and safe Christmas and new year.

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