In Full Flight
Last year I had the pleasure of speaking with you to request the inclusion of a mention in On The Bay of the 25th anniversary of our Collingwood Flying Club. We also admitted to an additional goal: the pursuit and promotion of new members to replace a natural attrition and “aging out” of our current membership. Today, as a direct result of your excellent feature article (“The Collingwood Flying Club Turns 25,” Summer 2024), I am very pleased to report that our membership complement is now full, at 14 members.
Interestingly, all of our members, both current and new, fit the classic local profile of being retired, or at least semi-retired. As such, we not only get to enjoy the array of extraordinary pursuits available to all residents of our beautiful Southern Georgian Bay area, but also have the added privilege of an aerial perspective.
Thank you again for your enthusiastic support!
Peter Glen,
Collingwood Flying Club
The Rock Revisited
Thank you for your thoughtful response to my letter about the name of Kimberley Rock (“Old Baldy is Baldly Wrong,” Winter 2025), and for your helpful advice on correcting the name. I’m not sure I’m up for a full-blown crusade on this right now, but I’m going to look into the paths you propose and will keep you advised. I admire the way you’ve turned your letters section into an in-depth examination of the issues.
Peter Ferguson,
Kimberley
To Overreach His Own
Mr. Klein, firstly I want to support letter writer Mirella Taiariol completely (“Save the Venom for the Bumper Stickers,” Winter 2025). Promoting a conspiracy theory undermines democracy. Secondly, you do not need to be a Liberal voter to find that F#*k Trudeau signage is hardly civil debate, degrades our democracy, abuses freedom of speech and reveals appalling ignorance. As far as the question of the Emergencies Act is concerned, your use of it as an example is an egregious and dishonest cherry picking of the facts. The failure of the Ottawa police to protect the citizenry, which resulted in chaos and considerable personal suffering and led to the resignation of the police chief, was finally and handily dealt with by the temporary enactment of that law. That law is on the books for a reason. In addition, I might add that the “convoy” received verbal support from Donald Trump, an apparent fan of illegal acts. I may need to change my name in the event that I am mistaken for the local fascist.
Roger Stein,
Collingwood
Thank you for email, Mr. Stein, not to be confused with Mr. Klein to be sure. Yours is one of three critical letters we received regarding my response to Mirella Taiariol’s letter to the editor and my example of the Trudeau government’s overreach. Steven Smith wrote to us to say that my “definition of peaceful protest was different from most Canadians.” He went on to describe how the citizens of Ottawa suffered during the protests there and why he felt the government’s use of the Emergencies Act was reasonable and justified. Shelly Burmister from Ravenna wrote to say my response was “unnecessarily condescending and patronizing.” Thank you all for your correspondence. I gladly accept these criticisms, they go with the territory. I’m grateful that we are free to share these points and counterpoints in a public forum.
—Roger Klein, Publisher
Thank you for telling the truth about Prime Minister Trudeau imprisoning Canadians who disagree with him. As a veteran journalist and former CBC investigative reporter, I commend your adherence to the journalistic standards Canada was once known for.
In addition to the 30 days served for breach of probation, a charge which was later stayed after her sentence was already served, Trudeau also had Tamara Lich assigned to solitary confinement in an Ottawa jail for 19 days on suspicion of mischief. This punitive action reminded me of my days as a CTV News correspondent covering the dictatorial governments of China, North Korea and Syria.
Solitary confinement in Canada is normally reserved for prisoners who are a danger to themselves or other prisoners, not for those who disagree with the government of the day. Any thinking person can see this was punishment for a political enemy. One that was both humble and powerful because her protest was supported by millions of Canadians, evidenced by the $20 million she raised in only four weeks, $50 at a time. This act of political vengeance, and this prime minister alone, has made Canada appear more like Iran than America on the world stage.
For printing this simple truth in these pages, On The Bay has restored my hope for Canadian journalism.
Rodney Palmer,
Collingwood
Sound Off!
I read your recent article covering the Owen Sound cultural scene and how the town is undergoing a reformation (“Owen Sound Rising,” Winter 2025).
As the president of Owen Sound’s longest-serving classical music program, the Georgian Bay Symphony, I was bemused to note that your article omitted the GBS completely. Not only no mention of the 53-year history of the orchestra, but no mention of the 761-seat auditorium that houses our performances, no mention of the youth scholarship programs that are funded by generous donations from the community and from government-led initiatives, and certainly no mention of the fact that we are the only community-funded orchestra in Ontario that managed to survive the COVID pandemic.
The GBS was fortunate to enjoy the company of 618 patrons for our 2024 Christmas concert, plus a further 350 for our family Christmas concert. The Roxy Young Company and the Keppel-Sarawak Elementary School Choir joined us for the latter performance. We are extremely close to our pre-pandemic audience levels, and that is a statistic to be proud of.
I would urge you to be more comprehensive in your analysis of and commentary on the Georgian Bay cultural scene to ensure you don’t miss one of the stalwarts. I read your article some three hours ago and I already have a number of patrons asking why you chose to ignore such a venerated Owen Sound institution.
Ruth Woolmer, President, Georgian Bay Symphony
Owen Sound
Thank you for the letter regarding our story “Owen Sound Rising.” I can assure you that, as partners of The New Classical 102.9 FM and proud supporters of classical music in the region, we did not forget the Georgian Bay Symphony (GBS). Our goals are to shine a light into all of the recesses of the communities we inhabit while drawing attention to the gems that often get overlooked. However it’s inevitable that somebody or something will be left out. We often do this with purpose because the stories would become too voluminous. As in this case, and with future issues of On The Bay magazine in mind, we look for the bigger stories to circle back on such as the GBS. Certainly an organization as grand as the GBS deserves a stand-alone feature. It is our intention to follow up “Owen Sound Rising” with a fulsome feature on the GBS at a time that best serves the organization and the ongoing presence of classical music in the community.
—Roger Klein, Publisher
We were pleased to see Boon Bakery mentioned by Kristine Moran in the wonderful article written about Owen Sound. I would like to thank Anya Shor for her delightful article highlighting some of the fantastic aspects of Owen Sound life and culture. It is all too often that I hear negative talk about downtown Owen Sound in particular. As a business owner here, I do not see Owen Sound that way and have always loved living here. Therefore, it was refreshing to see something positive said about Owen Sound for a change!
Maegan Cookson, owner,
Boon Bakery
Owen Sound
