In June 1992 Montague Council held a special meeting to gather the public's views on whether the town should continue to use RCMP coverage or establish its own municipal police force.
The subject has been bandied about among various councils for decades and now the matter is on the table yet again.
However there's a large difference between then and now.
Twenty years ago council realized the importance of public opinion, after all it's the residents' town. But the present day council waited until the last minute to rally taxpayers for their opinions on whether or not to cancel the town's RCMP contract and to top it off there's uncertainty about alternate plans.
One resident who has expressed concern over the idea to cancel the police contract is former mayor Patricia McGowan, who shares her views on the subject through a letter on page 5 of this week's Graphic.

Canadians are getting closer and closer to being saddled with enormous debt as the bill C10 makes its way through parliament.
The crime bill, which includes changes to many different parts of the Criminal Code has had a lot of opposition from many different parties that will be affected by the changes. Initially the tough on crime path the bill is promoting was compared, by The Toronto Star, with the system in the US and that report showed a flawed US system where there are overflowing prisons and a huge lack of rehabilitation.

It's a gut wrenching feeling that too many residents in the Town of Souris have felt before.
The local fish plant, a major employer in the seaside community of just over 1,000 people shut down close to one year ago and the Newfoundland-based company has no plans to re-open it.
The consequences? Employment Insurance benefits are running out and some of the people who have worked in the plant for decades are looking down that proverbial tunnel but regrettably the light at the end of it appears to have gone out.
Some are now forced to squeeze pennies because there are is no prospect of a regular pay cheque in the future. And in the wake of their misfortune are the businesses who depend on those people's financial support.
It doesn't make the current situation look any brighter but this isn't the first time Souris folks have come face to face with the gloom and doom of a bleak future.

The time tested tradition of extending a hand in friendship may have turned on some Islanders. They may in fact feel bamboozled rather than gratified for good deeds offered to a group of strangers over the past couple of years.
The story starts innocently enough. A family of four from Alberta claiming to be living under the open skies because they are homeless attracted the attention of a CTV reporter last week. Cameras rolled and the public as expected responded with sympathy and support.
The ending should have been a happy one. But the family, who turn out to be Kevin and Candace Green asked that their last names not made public in the TV news report.
No reason was given for the strange request and the tinkling of alarm bells were barely audible.

The province's decision to close the purse strings on the study of student drug use and addiction is an injustice not only to young people who participate in it but to parents and caregivers across the Island.
It's sad when the wellbeing of young peoples' futures is influenced by dollars and cents.
This isn't just a study of young drug users, it also covers the purchase of lottery tickets and even sex among teenagers.
An Eastern Graphic story from last summer shows the number of suspensions among students at Montague High School had risen dramatically over the previous three years and the school had the highest rate in the Eastern School District.
If it needs to be spelled out to the people in control of the study's financing this means Montague High isn't the only school that is dealing with the issue.

Since when is the onus on the public to watch over our roads to keep them safe from individuals who 'choose' to get behind the wheel and drive drunk?
Some people with a conscience, such as Tignish/Palmer Road MLA Hal Perry, volunteer their time periodically to hopefully keep individuals who have imbibed too much to reach their destinations safely.
Drunk drivers obviously aren't intimidated by the law so why would they take advantage of a free ride from the sober public?
To his credit Mr Perry offered his services on New Years Eve past and a handful or two of revellers took advantage of it.
Mr Perry's concern for the welfare of the general driving public is worthy of applause but neither he, nor anyone else, should be expected to provide that type of safety net to drinkers on weekends or any given day of the week for that matter.

Sports pundits from across the nation have pretty much used all the clichés in reporting action from the world juniors but two words the Village of Murray River will never tire of hearing in relation to all that action is Brandon Gormley.
Brandon comes from a small community with one rink that has produced a number of big names in the sport of hockey. Not bad for a population of fewer than 500 people.
But opportunities don't abound for players from those smaller arenas. Sacrifices must be made to earn a spot on a national team and it takes a great deal of determination to get there.
But here he is: Brandon Gormley is playing for his country in front of a world-wide audience.
Brandon is proud of his roots and takes every opportunity to tell people he's from Murray River, a small village in the smallest province in Canada.

It's a sorry state of affairs when students, not yet even in their teens, are compelled to lobby for equal educational facilities.
The province has forced these students' hand.
And with that, students at Montague Intermediate School are circulating a petition in the hopes of mustering support that will pressure government into seeing good on a promise it has made and broken for a number of years.
The promise was an expansion to their school to accommodate a growing number of music students and an acceptable and safe space for the school's industrial arts program.
Surely their request isn't too much to ask when you consider students in the city, which are also part of the Eastern School District, don't have to campaign for equal opportunity.

The countdown to Christmas is into the single digits and during a recent conversation about the increasing cost of gift giving my 12-year-old nephew added his two cents worth. "It doesn't really matter about the presents, as long as everyone is together," he said.
I'm proud of this young man any time of the year but his offering was unexpected, not because he's a child who has his every wish granted, but because I didn't expect those words to spill out of the mouth of a soon-to-be teenager.

Yet another parable from the mind of a provincial leader has left us to wonder if Islanders get any credit at all for having common sense, logic or any brains of their own for that matter.
In its infinite wisdom government, Health and Wellness Minister Doug Currie to be more specific, has decreed new guidelines will be put into place for tanning salon owners, operators and users on PEI.
This doesn’t sit especially well with some operators who are already well versed on the use of tanning beds and have existing guidelines to keep their patrons informed of any dangers of misuse, over use or any use at all.
Currie’s concern that there's a connection between sun beds and cancer is plausible. No one will argue that and the fact that PEI has one of the highest rates of Melanoma in the country is worrisome. Melanoma is the third and most deadly type of skin cancer.