march 2012 issue

Incorporating St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce

Your business: Your business: Who controlsWho controls the Internet? the Internet? Your home:Your home: What’s forWhat’s for dinner? dinner? Your health:Your health: Don’t let theDon’t let the bed bugs bite bed bugs bite

Your business: Who controls the Internet? Your home: What’s for dinner? Your health: Don’t let the bed bugs bite

Traci KennedyTraci KennedyRailway City Diva Railway City Diva Cover story: page 3Cover story: page 3

Traci KennedyRailway City Diva Cover story: page 3

Volume 2, No. 7 March 2012 FREEVolume 2, No. 7 March 2012 FREE

Special feature:• Income Tax SeasonSpecial feature:• Income Tax Season

2 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H March, 2012

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March, 2012 E L G I N T H I S M O N T H 3

Carroll PublishingPresident

Terry CarrollSecretary-TreasurerNancy Kelly Carroll

Elgin This MonthPublisherTerry CarrollEditorDorothy GebertSection EditorBusiness Beat – Bob Hammersley

Graphic Design / ProductionJim McHargSales RepresentativeGreg MinnemaOffice ManagerLaura Bart

Published monthly by Carroll Publishing, 15 St. Catharine Street, St. Thomas, ON N5P 2V7 519-633-1640 www.theweeklynews.ca/etm

Railway City DivaCountry singer Traci Kennedy gives back

Not many people have the opportunity to pursue a dream and get asfar as Traci Kennedy has. The Aylmer native grew up listening to coun-try music and thought of herself as a closet singer. But it wasn’t untilshe took a trip to Nashville with her family when she was 18 and madea demo tape in a tourist recording booth, that she discovered she couldsing – and sing well.

“When I played the tape for my parents, they didn’t believe it wasme,” Traci remembers. That was when the singing bug hit her and shebegan entering competitions to get exposure.

In 1999, she won the Canadian Open Country Singing Contest inthe female category. The award gave her the opportunity to go toNashville and record a single in a professional studio. “And it put mein the hands of people who knew people,” Traci says, which in the fol-lowing years opened the doors to 10 more singles and her first albumcalled ‘How Many Hearts’ in 2006. She also opened concerts for coun-try music stars, such as Sawyer Brown, Charlie Major and Lone Star.

Traci now calls St. Thomas home and continues to perform andrecord. Her latest project is to develop another album, but this timemade up entirely of songs she has written herself.

And because she feels so many people helped her when she was start-ing out, “I’m always looking at up and coming talent,” she says, “andshowcasing a new artist in each of my concerts.” And she is planning anew project this fall called ‘Railway City Divas,’ giving local singers thebenefit of her experience.

But Traci’s ultimatedream? “I have shared thestage with many peoplewhom I’ve admired,” shesays, “but I would love todo a duet with Vince Gill.”

Cover Story

by Dorothy Gebert

Cover photo by Philip Bell,Shutter Studios

PUBLISHER’S LETTERThe business side of traditional book publishing by Terry Carroll ..............................page 4BUSINESS/COMMUNITYEconomicsGearing up for the future by Serge Lavoie ..............................page 5TechnologyWho controls the Internet? by Peter Atkinson ..........................page 6Your BusinessParadigm Shift, Part 1 by John Regan ................................page 7AgricultureEternally optimistic by Janine Lunn ..............................page 8

BUSINESS BEATFront PageOutlook 2012 ................................page 9Legal BusinessExhausting the people’s court by Monty Fordham ......................page 10Chamber NewsWhite named 2012 Chamber Chair ......................................................page 11Pro TextIs an IPP right for you? by Darren Reith ............................page 12Member NewsNow see this! ................................page 13Positive ExposureFeeling good together by Allan Weatherall ......................page 14ViewpointA Canadian first ............................page 15New MembersWelcome New Members ..............page 16

MARCH BREAK IDEASTravelTravel tips for a smooth March Break ......................................................page 18

INCOME TAX SEASONEstate PlanningPrepare your will with taxes in mind ......................................................page 19Tax PreparationNeed an expert on your side? ........page 20Financial ManagementWhy your debt should retire before you doby Ellen Luft ................................page 21HOMESTYLEDecoratingThe language of columns by Renée Carpenter ......................page 22At Home in ElginHelp wanted by Brian Lippold ..........................page 23DINING & ENTERTAINMENTWine & FoodWhat’s for dinner? by Jamie Quai ..............................page 24Savour ElginThe Windjammer Inn by Kate Burns ..............................page 25HEALTHY LIVINGEveryday HealthHow to deal with back pain by Dr. Greg Johnston ....................page 26Personal HealthDon’t let the bed bugs bite by Catherine Preete ......................page 27LIFESTYLESThat’s LifeOf cats and kids and conservation by Elizabeth VanHooren ..............page 28Self DevelopmentAre you happy in your work? Part 2 by Sharon Lechner ........................page 29Time On My HandsMaintaining a fantasy by Duncan Watterworth ..............page 30

Elgin This Month is a monthly magazine focusing on business andlifestyle issues and includes BusinessBeat, the St. Thomas & DistrictChamber of Commerce newsletter.The publication is available forpickup at no charge at news standsand other locations around ElginCounty, as well as distribution tobusinesses and selected households.


P U B L I S H E R ’ S L E T T E R

It was a high point of my life whenBeverley Daurio from The MercuryPress let me know that she was veryinterested in publishing my firstnovel. After nine years of writing,rewriting, sending out the manu-script, getting it back, rewriting,sending it out – you get the pattern– the book had finally found a home.

As with most beginning writers,and I was not a kid when this hap-pened, I was under the impressionthat the novel would be reviewed inThe Globe & Mail and that I wouldimmediately be interviewed by PeterGzowski (then the most influentialbroadcaster on CBC Radio). Thebook would become a bestseller inCanada and would go on to sell verywell in the U.S. and England beforebeing translated into, I don’t know,Japanese.

Things worked out a little differ-ently, but along the way, I learned acouple of things about the bookbusiness, or what, in the world of e-books, we might now call the busi-ness of publishing traditional books.

The first is that small publishers likeThe Mercury Press stay alive in twoways (or they used to, in the heydaysof traditional publishing). They earn50 percent of the cover price ofbooks that sell. And the first printing(typically about 1,000 copies) is sub-sidized by the Canadian and Ontariotaxpayers under our cultural grantingsystem. Second printings are risky –no subsidies. So it’s not an easy thingfor a small publisher to become abigger publisher (although JackDavid of ECW Press who summersin Elgin County appears to have

done a good job of it).Writers don’t gross a lot from each

book sold. The publisher makes 50percent (see above), the bookstore 40percent, and the writer 10 percent.So if a traditional trade paperbacksells for $17.95, the writer gets$1.80.

A challenge for all book publishers,but small publishers in particular, isthat traditional books shipped to

bookstores may be returned at anytime. So a small publisher may havehundreds of books on shelves acrossthe country, but those books couldbe returned by bookstores at anytime, with no revenue. Talk aboutcash flow that is difficult to predict!

Back to writers. By the time mysecond and third crime novels werepublished by The Mercury Press, Icottoned onto a couple of other rev-

enue sources.One is this. With The Mercury

Press, when a writer sells a book di-rectly to a member of the public, thewriter gets the bookstore’s usual 40percent plus the writer’s 10 percentroyalty for each book sold. So withour $17.95 example, the writer’sshare goes up to $8.98 per book.This is somewhat lucrative when abook is first launched, and the writerhas the best chance of selling severalbooks locally.

Also, the Public Lending RightCommission distributes annual pay-ments to Canadian authors who havebooks in libraries and who registerwith the Commission. With threebooks in the library system, I usuallyreceive a cheque for a few hundreddollars a year. (I’ll wager that mostCanadian taxpayers aren’t awarethey’re helping me out.)

I write this with the full knowledgethat e-books are changing every-thing. Beverley Daurio is windingdown The Mercury Press and haslinked up with another individual toform a company focused on literaryworks in e-book and print-on-demand formats.

C’est la vie, as our French Canadianfriends say.

The business side of traditional book publishingMost writers are not in it for the money

by Terry Carroll

Terry Carroll isthe publisher ofthe St. Thomas/Elgin WeeklyNews and ElginThis Month.

Second printings are

risky“

“


Increasingly, economic develop-ment is caught in a debate about thefuture of our regional economy. It’sbecoming divisive and the liveli-hoods of thousands of displacedworkers and their families hang inthe balance.

The argument goes something likethis: manufacturing in our region,indeed in Canada and the USA, is onthe decline due to emerging jurisdic-tions that can do it better andcheaper. As a result, we need to trans-form our economy to somethingbased on knowledge and creativity.Our economic development invest-ments should focus on research, in-novation and high value-addedproduction in all sectors from agri-culture to clean technology.

During this transformation, weshould retrain our displaced manu-facturing workers to enable them toadapt to the new realities. Organiza-tions such as the one I work for, theSouthwest Economic Alliance, existto promote that view.

The other side of the argumentrightly points out that the pace ofmanufacturing loss in our region isfar exceeding our ability to manage asmooth transition. This is leading tomassive disruption of families andthe communities they live in. Re-cently released census figures bearthat out; people are leaving the re-gion and following the jobs that fittheir skills, largely out west. As ourpopulation levels off, our ability tofund communities and programs ischallenged.

There is a third, perhaps more dis-turbing thread to this argument. Itstates that manufacturing may not beleaving North America after all and,in fact, what we lost may come backto some extent. There is even a namefor that phenomenon: in-sourcing.As the price of energy climbs, astransportation costs climb, as wage

rates in developing markets increaseand as global instability progresses,companies find it more attractive tobring manufacturing jobs backhome, essentially in-sourcing ratherthan out-sourcing.

The catch to this development,however, may be that those jobs willexist at much lower rates of pay thanwe are accustomed to. That wasdemonstrated clearly during theElectro-Motive/Caterpillar shut-down in London. Whatever yourviews on how the union or companybehaved in that situation, the realityis that most of those jobs didn’t leaveNorth America. They were re-created

in a nearby jurisdiction where therules of the game were different andwhere workers were ready and will-ing to take the jobs for less compen-sation (however reluctantly).

Depending on your position, thismay or may not be fair, but it is thereality. That reality won’t change anytime soon. Our neighbour to thesouth is actively pursuing a ‘Made InAmerica’ policy designed to bringback jobs and re-engage workers dis-placed after years of a manufacturingexodus. Clearly, their gain will in-creasingly be our region’s loss unlessthe competitive environment equal-izes between our two countries.

In Canada, our national policydoesn’t mirror that approach andlikely won’t for some time, if ever. In-creasingly, resource extraction andexport is the Canadian focus. Thisapproach has clearly created jobs andwealthy economies in our westernprovinces.

That leaves Ontario, and South-western Ontario by extension, to re-think its own position and strategy.

Does it set a policy to get back intothe manufacturing game, recogniz-ing that the rules have changed to de-mand much lower production costsacross the board? Does it decide tokeep only the higher value manufac-turing sectors, with higher knowl-edge content, higher productioncosts and perhaps lower employmentcontent?

Perhaps it should continue forwardon the path to a knowledge-based,creative economy that will addressthe future prosperity of our kids andgrandkids. Or maybe it should takethe lead from the western provincesand focus more on resource develop-ment, in our case forestry and min-ing.

As always, this column has set outsome points without advocating oneover another. There’s no shortage ofstrong opinions in this debate. Anyof these options create winners andlosers in the short term, a tough po-litical choice for sure.

Lack of a clear and consistent planisn’t an option. As time progresses,we have less population, less moneyand fewer tools to work with.

B U S I N E S S / C O M M U N I T Y

Serge Lavoie ispresident of theSouthwest Economic Alliance. The views expressed are his own.

ECONOMICS

by Serge Lavoie

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However you feel about politics,whether it’s Rick Mercer getting stu-dents to vote or people promotingtheir agenda at Occupy protests, it’sclear that the Internet is a powerfultool. As a result, governments inmany countries, including our own,are taking some disturbing steps tocontrol how the Internet can be used.

Take just two examples of well-in-tended legislation (SOPA in the U.S.and Bill C-52 in Canada), which areostensibly aimed at stopping Internetpiracy but would also have broadernegative consequences. As one Oc-cupy protester’s sign read, “It’s nolonger okay for politicians not to un-derstand how the Internet works.”

These bills also include a provisionto bypass ‘innocent until provenguilty,’ one of the foundations of ourlegal system. Internet access is fast be-coming as essential as electricity andrunning water. Imagine if a neighbourcould get those utilities switched offsimply by filing a complaint againstyou.

If you think this sounds ridiculous,the U.S. recently passed the omi-nously-named National Defence Au-thorization Act, which includesprovisions to detain people accused(not charged, just accused) of terror-ism indefinitely and without trial. InCanada, we have an omnibus crimebill that even conservative Texas law-makers say won’t work. (I would saywhen the Texans and the statistics areagainst a crime bill, one might recon-sider.) But the Minister in charge, VicToews, has asked the Senate not to beswayed by facts. (You can read this on-line. I’m not making it up.)

The Big Three (Bell, Rogers andShaw Cable) are constantly workingto tighten their control over our In-ternet access. Rogers has recentlypromised to stop ‘throttling’ or assign-ing different download speeds to dif-

ferent types of traffic – which meansthey’re monitoring the traffic. Andnot to pick on Rogers, but they’ve alsofiled a claim that being forced to useaccurate data in their advertising in-fringes on their free speech (again, I’mnot making this up). The CRTC hear-ings don’t get a lot of press, but theywill shape our future.

In short, a lot of very powerful in-terests are trying to gain as much con-trol as they can over your Internetaccess and, as my father used to say,“They’re on their side.”

One citizens group, OpenMedia.ca,has already been successful, using on-line petitions to present the view ofaverage Canadians to the CRTC. Youcan visit their website for more infor-mation and to make your voice heard.Michael Geist’s blog is another greatresource.

You might not be interested in theseissues. You might believe the saying,“If you have nothing to hide, youhave nothing to fear.” But the oppo-site is true as well, so you’ve got towonder why a bill would skip dueprocess and why these efforts aren’tgetting more attention.

The larger risk goes beyond the In-ternet. These initiatives set very dan-gerous precedents that can be appliedto the offline world as well. Politiciansand police are human and subject tothe same temptations as the rest of us;anytime we remove oversight, we in-crease the risk of misuse.

Let’s not leave this too late.


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Peter Atkinson isE-Services Consultant at theSt. Thomas Public Library.

Who controls the Internet?Some thoughts on a disturbing trend to limit our online access

by Peter Atkinson

I’m notmakingthis up“

“



It is a fact of life – computers andinformation technology have becomean important aspect of our lives.They are not only changing our lan-guage and how we communicate,they are changing how we work andhow we do business. A paradigmshift is happening. A paradigm shiftis a change from one way of thinkingto another; a transformation drivenby agents of change.

The signs are all around us. Busi-ness technology and technology toolsare advancing rapidly and have trans-formed the business world and itsculture. Technology in business is anintegral factor in the success of for-ward-thinking businesses competingin our multi-faceted economy.

So why does technology matter toa small business?

1. It is a competitive market. Smallbusiness owners must find ways ofkeeping existing clients while reach-ing out to new ones. Are you usingsocial networks? Your clients andprospects are. You need to be wherethey are. Today, it is all about con-necting and engaging clients to fol-low you.

2. It is a recession. When businessis slow, you need to ensure that thetools you need to do your businessare cost-effective and time-efficient.It is not all about doing more withless; it is about doing things smartand fast. Take advantage of the manyfree web tools, which provide a pro-fessional standard that in the pastonly large businesses could afford.

3. It is a global marketplace. Yourclients and prospective clients can beanywhere and you need to have apresence everywhere as well. Tech-nology enables companies of all sizesto do business all over the world.

4. It is a time of change. Don Tap-scott, a Canadian business executivespecializing in business strategy, in-novation, and the role of technologyin business and society, published"Grown Up Digital: How the NetGeneration is Changing YourWorld.” It is something that cannotbe ignored if you want your businessto survive. As marketing undergoes arevolution, even the 4 Ps of the mar-keting mix (Product, Place, Price andPromotion) are being remodelled tofit the changes brought about bytechnology and social media.

So how can a small business be

more competitive in a recession, takeadvantage of the current technologyand technology tools, and keep pacewith the changes in the marketplaceand marketing strategies? Read Part2 of this article in next month’s issue,where we will discuss the technologytrends that will give you a start inyour technology planning. What weknow is that change is here and morechange is coming. Small businessesmust be ready and prepared to com-pete.

JOE PRESTON, M.P.ELGIN-MIDDLESEX-LONDON

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YOUR BUSINESS

Paradigm shift

How technology trends can help small business Part 1



AGRICULTURE

EternallyoptimisticDespite the challengesof the weather and theeconomy, farmers seethe positive side

One would think that the odds ofoutdoor skating during a Canadianwinter would be fairly good. So withthis optimistic outlook, my husbandgathered supplies and set aside timeto build a small outdoor rink for ourfamily. The time, the place and thelittle skaters – all the ingredients werethere – but the weather did not co-operate. If I know my residentfarmer at all, I’m willing to bet he’llsay, “Well, at least we have the equip-ment ready for next year,” even if allthat effort only results in a few hoursof skating. It seems to be this waywith so many projects in farming –so much thought and planning, butall it takes is one element out of ourcontrol and we’re out of luck untilnext season.

Although I haven’t done an officialopinion poll on this topic, it seemsthat farmers are secretly optimistic.Although you wouldn’t know it fromthe way they sometimes talk – doomand gloom in the markets, equip-ment breakdowns and the rightweather at the wrong time usuallytop the charts of farming woes. Andyet, despite the struggles, they con-tinue on. It seems counter-intuitive,doesn’t it? But if you look a littlecloser, or ask the right questions,you’ll find that farmers are very pos-itive people. What else could they bebut optimists, to tolerate the risk ofuncertain prices, unreliable weatherand thankless hours of labour?

I think it takes an optimist to run

any type of business. A leap of faithis involved, even if it is an establishedfamily business, to make the decisionto take the bull by the horns andplan for the future. What else but op-timism could fuel the planning in-volved in selecting the ideal time andplace and seed for planting, only tobe at the mercy of the next rainfall?And certainly walking through thedoors of the bank to apply for a loanfor that new tractor or barn renova-tion requires confidence in a positivefuture for the business.

In any given operation there arebound to be times of frustration andfailure that leave us struggling to findthe silver lining. Farmers often recallyears of drought, crippling interestrates or barn fires with a mixture ofpain and pride, as if these events inone way or another served to makethem stronger. Sometimes the hard

years can bring families together asthey focus on the simple things thatmatter, finding creative ways to liveand do business while hoping forbetter years ahead. And those whohave lived through a barn fire alwaysmarvel at the instant support they re-ceive as the community rallies toshelter surviving animals and feedthe clean up crew.

I wonder if farmers sometimesshow their pessimistic side, whilekeeping their inner optimist secret,as a layer of protection against theperiodic failures they meet along theway. They have plenty of opportuni-ties to see everyday miracles, even ifthey do tend to blend into the rou-tine after a while. It must be thosetimes that go perfectly according toplan – the birth of a healthy animalor hay finished just before the storm

– that fuel their optimism to take onanother day.

And so if I had to guess the oddsfor next year, I’d say there will still bechallenges in amongst the successes,but the rink will be resurrected, andthis time there will be ice.

Because as any true farmer will sayupon reflection, “There’s always nextyear.”

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Business Beat Table of ContentsExhausting the people’s court ............page 10White named 2012 Chamber Chair ..........page 11Is an IPP right for you? ..................................page 12

Now see this! ............page 13Feeling good together page 14A Canadian first ........page 15New members ............page 16

Business After 5

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give me a call at 519-633-1640 (ext. 22)

or email me at [email protected] Edition Advertising Deadline is March 12th

Greg Minnema,Advertising Sales

The Chamber will hostour annual Outlook eco-nomic forecast luncheon onTuesday, March 27. Thisyear, we’re pleased to wel-come back BMO FinancialGroup’s Managing Directorand Deputy Chief Econo-mist, Douglas (Doug)Porter. Our event is madepossible thanks to the gen-erous sponsorship by BMONesbitt Burns – The BerrySmyrnios Group, andBMO Bank of Montreal.

Doug Porter has analyzedand written about trends inthe Canadian and globaleconomies and financialmarkets for over 25 years.He helps formulate BMOFinancial Group’s macro-economic, interest rate andcurrency projections. He isco-author of BMO CapitalMarkets’ weekly Focus pub-lication and contributes tothe department’s variouspublications. Doug givesnumerous economic pre-sentations to institutionalclients and private investorsand is no stranger to theLondon / St. Thomas re-gion, having been raised inLondon and graduatedfrom UWO. In addition,he is a regular commentatoron economic and financialtrends to the media and hasmade numerous presenta-tions to Chamber audiences

across Canada. He is partic-ularly known for bringingto light what StatisticsCanada said was its mostserious error on record (onthe Consumer Price Index),

and for highlighting thelarge price gaps on manyconsumer goods betweenCanada and the UnitedStates.

Before joining BMO

Capital Markets, Dougheld positions of economistand country risk analystwith other financial institu-tions in Canada and alsoworked in the research de-partment of the Bank ofCanada.

Doug earned a Mastersdegree in Economics fromthe University of WesternOntario in 1984 and holdsa Chartered Financial Ana-lyst designation. He hasbeen on the Board of Direc-tors of the Toronto Associ-ation of BusinessEconomists since 1996 andhas been a member of theC.D. Howe’s MonetaryPolicy Council since 2008.

Outlook 201211:30am – 1:30pmTuesday, March 27, 2012St. Anne’s Centre, St. Thomas$25 per person, advancesales only(reserved seating with singleorders of 4 seats or more)Sponsored by: BMO Nes-bitt Burns & BMO Bank ofMontreal

Wednesday March 14, 2012St. Anne’s Centre20 Morrison Drive

St. ThomasSponsored by ElginBusiness Resource

Centre

Doors open at 5pm. Sponsor remarks and prizedraws start at 6:15pm. Freeadmission for anyone froma business organization that

is a Member of the St. Thomas & District

Chamber of Commerce.

Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and yourfavourite beverages.

• MARCH 2012 •Outlook 2012 – Tuesday March 27

The Aylmer Express conquered the ice and allcompetitors, winning the 11th annual ChamberCurling Funspiel. (From left) John Hurley, MikeSawatzky, Shelley Prong and Rick Cooper.

Curling Winner

Douglas (Doug) Porter, BMO Financial Group’s Managing Director and

Deputy Chief Economist will speak at Outlook 2012.

In Ontario, the Court system is di-vided into courts of civil and courtsof criminal jurisdiction. These courtsare further vertically divided intohigher and lower courts of jurisdic-tion. In criminal matters, accusedpersons are tried in either OntarioSuperior Court of Justice or thelower Ontario Court of Justice. Gen-erally, the seriousness of the charge,combined with the relative complex-ity of the evidence and legal issues,determines the choice of court.

In civil matters, up until a few yearsago, what is now the Superior Courtof Justice was the forum in whichany civil claims of any magnitudewere adjudicated. Originally calledthe Small Debts Court, the SmallClaims Court handled moneyclaims, usually arising out of someform of commercial transaction, and,after several increases in monetary ju-risdiction over the years, was re-stricted to claims of $10,000 or less.That changed in January of 2010,when, as a result of a report preparedby Mr. Justice Osborne, the limit was

raised to $25,000.Compared to the costs of bringing

a proceeding in the Superior Courtof Justice, the cost of suing in theSmall Claims Court is far less. More-over, it has generally been assumedthat the process is less formal and far

less technical than in the highercourt. As a result, paralegals, law stu-dents and even individuals on theirown behalf were the majority of par-ticipants in Small Claims Court ac-tions. It was actually rare to seesenior lawyers pleading cases in the

“people’s court” as it had come to beknown. Further, claims which couldtake years to resolve in the SuperiorCourt could be finished in months.

Now, as we all know, lawyers are avery popular group in society, and welike to see them involved whereverpossible in every aspect of our lives.They just weren’t needed in the SmallClaims Court. That seems to havechanged with the increase in mone-tary jurisdiction. Apparently now itis not uncommon to see not onlyjunior lawyers, but also very seniorcounsel from large firms in atten-dance in the Small Claims Court.The reasons for this seem to betwofold.

Obviously, as the amount of theclaim increases, the stakes becomehigher. It becomes more reasonableto hire litigation specialists to in-crease your chances of success. How-ever, in addition, as a by-product ofthe increased monetary jurisdiction,the claims being brought before thecourt are increasingly more complex.As one might imagine, the legal is-sues involved in collecting a civildebt are in no way similar to thoserelating to personal injury or libel. Inthe case of a simple debt the ques-tions are: does he owe the money? Ifso, does he owe all or part of themoney?

In more complex legal claims, is-sues of burden of proof, standard of

care, fair comment and many othersarise. The layperson is simply nottrained to navigate through theseconcepts. Many lawyers are not ei-ther. And to further confound theprocess, judges in the Small ClaimsCourt are often not actually judgesin the conventional sense. The Supe-rior Court appoints what are calleddeputy judges who are, for the mostpart, practicing lawyers, althoughsome may be retired judges orlawyers. Will the deputy judge hear-ing your complex libel suit begrounded in the applicable law, orwill he or she be practicing in a com-pletely different field?

Finally, as more and more lawyersshow up in the people’s court (aslikeable as they may be), the wholeprocess begins to bog down. The re-sult is delay in the court process foreveryone, even the guy who is simplysuing his brother for the money helent him. Perhaps one solutionwould be to divide the Small ClaimsCourt not just on the basis of theamount of the claim, but also on thecomplexity of the claim. This wouldallow the simple collections to pro-ceed with dispatch, while allowingproper focus on more convolutedcases.

The end goal would be to speed upthe process and avoid unnecessarydelays. For we all know what justicedelayed becomes.

LEGAL BUSINESS Legal News and Issues for Business

Lawyer Monty Fordham prepares thismonthly column for the St. Thomas &District Chamber of Commerce andour Members. Monty is also a volun-teer serving on the Chamber’s Boardof Directors. Questions, commentsand suggestions for future columns arewelcomed by Monty at his Law Office,4 Elgin Street, St. Thomas. Telephone519-633-4000, FAX 519-633-1371or e-mail: [email protected]

BUSINESS BEAT

Exhausting the people’s courtby Monty Fordham

President & CEO Bob HammersleyMember Services Coordinator Mike VecchioAccounting Coordinator Susan MundayMember Services Wes Bailey

Chair: Jason White Steelway Building SystemsPast Chair: Linda Sawyer BMO Bank of MontrealTreasurer: Mark Lassam, CA Kee, Perry & Lassam Chartered AccountantsDirector: Beth Burns K & K LocksmithsDirector: Renee Carpenter Jennings FurnitureDirector: Pete Charlton Charlton’s Quality MeatsDirector: Monty Fordham Monty Fordham Law OfficeDirector: Jeff Kohler Presstran IndustriesDirector: Debra Mountenay Workforce Planning & Development BoardDirector: John Regan Elgin Business Resource CentreDirector: Darren Reith Reith and Associates Insurance & FinancialDirector: Paul Smith P.J. Smith and Associates Director: Allan Weatherall St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital FoundationDirector: Laura Woermke St. Thomas Elgin Public Art Centre

Published by Carroll Publishing Inc. and delivered to businesses in St. Thomas and Elgin County

For complete information on the St.Thomas and District Chamber of Commerce, reach us at:115-300 South Edgeware Rd., St. Thomas, Ontario N5P 4L1Telephone: 519-631-1981 Fax: 519-631-0466E-Mail: [email protected]: www.stthomaschamber.on.ca

2012 Board of Directors


It was rare to see senior

lawyers pleading casesin the people’s court“

“


Steelway Building Systems Co-President JasonWhite has been elected Chair of the St. Thomas &District Chamber of Commerce 2012 Board of Di-rectors.

Jason has served on the Chamber’s ExecutiveCouncil for three years, most recently as first Vice-Chair, and will work as the Chamber’s senior vol-unteer for the balance of this year.

A firm believer in free and fair enterprise, he hasworked at Steelway since he was 14 years old. Steel-way was founded in 1976 by his father, the lateGlen White. Glen also had a lengthy history ofservice and volunteer support to the St. Thomas &District Chamber.

We find it interesting to note a unique first forthe White family in the provincial and nationalChamber network as Jason’s brother and the otherSteelway Co-President, Bryan White, is simultane-ously serving as the volunteer head of the Aylmer& District Chamber. We know of no other time inhistory of the Ontario or national Chamber net-work that two brothers have shared equal leader-ship duties in adjacent Chambers.

Jason’s role at Steelway focuses on external rela-tions. His day-to-day duties concentrate on directlinks with customers and suppliers and all relatedpurchasing, marketing and sales activity for thecompany. He has previously been directly involvedwith IT, purchasing and facility management activ-

ities and has been part of the management team forseven years. Steelway operates from two locations:the original site on Springwater Road and theirnewest facility on Progress Drive in Aylmer. Thefirm employs over 200 people and is an interna-tionally-known designer and manufacturer of steelframe buildings such as arenas, aircraft hangars andcommercial/industrial structures.

Jason has a strong belief that community serviceand participation are high-value elements. In addi-tion to work with the Chamber, Jason served as Co-Mayor of the 2010 International Plowing Matchsite and is now chairing the Legacy Committee thatdisburses earnings from the huge event. He hasbeen involved with Junior Achievement and has re-cently assisted the St. Thomas Elgin General Hos-pital Foundation.

Speaking on his goals with the Chamber for2012 he observes that the start of his term co-incides with the Chamber launching a newStrategic Planning process that will focus onChamber volunteers, staff, programs andproducts and how each is aligned with theneeds and expectations of the Memberswe serve. Jason says, “It is an exciting yearfor the Board as the new Strategic Planwill provide us direction and ideas thatwe can implement to further meet theneeds of our membership.”

CHAMBER NEWS Events and News of Interest to our MembersBUSINESS BEAT

White named 2012 Chamber Chair

With new laws that took effect Jan-uary 1, all Ontario businesses have toensure new standards are met to serv-ice customers and potential customerswith disabilities.

1.85 million Ontarians have disabil-ities and, across Canada, the spendingpower of people with disabilities ismore than $25 billion per year.

As an employer, manager or busi-ness owner, are you aware of whatyour business needs to do to complywith Ontario’s Customer ServiceStandard?

Join us for an Accessibility Work-

shop on Tuesday April 3.Our event includes a full buffet

breakfast and tickets (by advance saleonly) are just $20 per person plus tax.

Our event takes place at The Way-side Dining Lounge in Talbotville andwill feature a presentation by LouieDiPalma, leader of the OntarioChamber’s Accessibility Works initia-tive.

To register, call the Chamber officeat 519-631-1981 or email us at:[email protected]

For more information, see this web-site: AccessibilityWorks.ca

Accessibility and customer care

45 Metcalcalfe Street, St. Thomhomas 5s 519.631.9393 3 Fax: 5x: 519.631.256345 Metcalfe Street, St. Thomas 519.631.9393 Fax: 519.631.2563

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Don’t get weatherbound this winter.Spend the Winterwith us. Metcalfe

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At Kee, Perry & Lassam we ensure our clients recievethe service and expertise they need to succeed.

Please make a call to our office your first step on theroad to success.

15 Barrie BoulevardSt. Thomas, ONCanada N5P 4B9519-631-6360519-631-2198 fax

• Accounting• Auditing• Business Plans• Tax Services

• Cash Flow Preparation• Management Consulting• Small Business Services• Bookkeeping Services

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PRO TEXT Business Management News & IssuesBUSINESS BEAT

Are you over 40 and earning a six-figure income? Why not considerlooking beyond a Registered Retire-ment Savings Plan (RRSP) to buildyour nest egg? For the right person,Individual Pension Plans (IPPs) cangenerate significant tax advantagesbeyond those provided by an RRSP.Additionally, an IPP can also pro-

duce higher pension benefits.An IPP is a defined benefit pension

plan – if you are a business owner orsenior executive, an IPP offers bothmaximum tax relief and a maximumretirement pension. The result? Youwon’t have to rely solely on yourRRSP’s performance to provide along and happy retirement. That’s

because IPPs also offer guaranteedlifetime income. Any surplus in theplan belongs to you. This is an ad-vantage IPPs have over other pensionplans where any surplus stays in thefund and is used by the company topay for benefits for other members ofthe plan.Do you qualify for an IPP?

“If you are in your 50s, runningyour own incorporated business andearning a six-figure income,” saysLouise Guthrie, Assistant Vice-Pres-ident, Manulife Investments Tax andRegulatory Services, “you’re in a fi-nancial position to seek a more ag-gressive tax deferral arrangementthan exists with your RRSP. If yourun the business with your spouse,you could be ideal candidates for atwo-person IPP.”

To qualify for an IPP, you must:• Have employment income re-

ported on a T4• Be an employee of an incorpo-

rated company; and• Be age 40 or older and earn an in-

come of at least $75,000 from thecompany sponsoring the IPP.What are the advantages of an IPP?

• Employees over the age of 50enjoy an annual maximum contribu-tion that is at least $6,000 higherthan the maximum contribution foran RRSP.

• Pension benefits are protectedfrom creditor under pension legisla-tion, unlike most RRSPs.

• Guaranteed lifetime income – theIPP offers a predictable retirementincome. An actuary determines thecurrent annual funding requirementsof the future retirement income.

• As you age, contributions to theplan increase. The amount dependson your salary, age and years of serv-ice with the company. If past serviceis being provided and you have con-tributed to an RRSP after 1990, youmust transfer your RRSP funds tothe IPP.

• The company then pays the bal-ance of the cost to provide for past

service from 1991.• IPP contributions and expenses

are fully tax-deductible to the busi-ness. If you borrow money or amor-tize the past service cost, you candeduct interest charges.Are there disadvantages to IPPs?

While an ideal savings vehicles formany, IPPs are not for everyone. It’simportant to remember IPPs are de-fined benefit pension plans and notRRSPs with higher limits. At retire-ment, or if you leave the company,or decide to wind up the plan – anysurplus that is not required to pay forthe promised benefits is paid to youin a lump sum and is fully taxable.You must also pay for actuarial andadministrative services as well asprovincial filing fees that don’t applyto an RRSP.

Most actuarial firms will changethe same to administer an IPP as anyother type of defined benefit plan. Inaddition to the actuarial and admin-istration fees, other fees could in-clude annual provincial filing feesand trustee fees, where applicable.Your advisor will guide you to an ac-tuarial firm that best reflects yourneeds.

“Before making any decisions,speak with your financial advisor andbe sure you understand all the bene-fits and drawbacks to IPPs,” saysLouise Guthrie. “To make the mostof your IPP, you’ve also got to have along-term financial plan in place aswell as a firm handle on your incomeflow.”

The information contained in thisarticle was provided by Manulife In-vestments for information purposesonly. It is not intended to provide spe-cific legal, accounting or tax adviceand should not be construed as such.Individuals should consult with theirprofessional advisors to ensure that anyinformation provided is applicable andappropriate to their specific situation.

by Darren Reith

This column appears regularly in Business Beat and has been submittedby Darren Reith, a principal of Reith& Associates Insurance and FinancialServices Limited, 462 Talbot Street,St. Thomas. Darren is also a volun-teer serving on the Chamber’s Board of Directors. Questions and commentson this column are welcomed by thewriter and 519-631-3862 or viaemail: [email protected]

1.59% 1.64%6.9¢

Is an IPP right for you?


MEMBER NEWS Events and News of Interest to our MembersBUSINESS BEAT

If you’re looking to brighten up your golfwardrobe, or you have ever wondered where PGATour Pro John Daly finds such colourful attire, alittle Loudmouth Golf clothing could be just yourthing. The Loudmouth line, as seen worn by PGATour Pro John Daly, has arrived in St. Thomas atGgolfs.

Ggolfs is one of St. Thomas newest businesses,launched last year by Grant Gulych. Grant is amaster golf teaching pro based in St. Thomas. Hisinvestment locally started last spring offering golflessons at Major Park Drive. Even before the firstlesson was given, a second location was firmed atThe Bluffs Golf Club in Port Stanley. One monthlater, a third location opened in Port Dover atLynn Meadows Golf & Country Club.

Grant told the Chamber, “The 2011 season wasgreat with over 800 lessons given between thethree locations!” Over the winter he has openedan online pro shop (www.ggolfs.com) with offer-ings that include over 60 different grips byLamkin, Winn and the largest grip manufacturer,Golf Pride. Canterbury belts are also available forboth men and women online in numerous coloursand styles to comple-ment any golf attire.

To start the 2012 sea-son, the highly visibleLoudmouth Golf cloth-ing line will be an exclu-sive feature with Ggolfsas the only authorized re-tailer of the products inand around St. Thomas.

www.jobselgin.ca

Employment Services Elgin400 Talbot St., St. Thomas

P: 519.631.5470Mon-Thurs

8:30am-6pm • Fri 8:30am-4pm

Aylmer Community Services25 Centre Street, Aylmer

P: 519.765.2082Mon-Fri 9am-4:30pm

Tues 9am-6pm

West Elgin Support Services160 Main Street

West LorneP: 519.768.0020

Mon-Fri 9am-5 pm

This Employment Ontario program isfunded by the Ontario Government

Use the VIP code today

Now see this! Grant and Sharon Gulych show a sampling from the bold and bright

Loudmouth Golf clothing line they havebrought to St. Thomas.


POSITIVE EXPOSURE Doing Public Relations RightBUSINESS BEAT

“A life lived for others is the onlylife worth living.” - Albert Einstein

As I look back over the initial weeksof 2012, a time of year many mightview as quiet, I see anything but aquiet time. In the Chamber’s sched-ule, we have had two of the monthlyBusiness After Five events that I al-ways try to attend. We also hadsomething new with St. Thomas’ firstRandom Acts of Kindness Day. Per-sonally, I took on new duties asChair of one of the Chamber’sStanding Committees - the PublicSector Liaison (PSL) committee.They are all, in their own way, publicrelations and communications in ac-tion.

It always amazes me what value itis to attend the Business After Five,sponsored and hosted by a wide va-riety of Members of the Chamber ofCommerce each month and held invarious locations in and around St.

Thomas. The number of contacts I’vemade at these events is remarkableand the value of the ‘mini-meetings’that can occur is quite somethingtoo. If your business or organizationis a Chamber Member and you arenot a regular attendee, maybe youshould start coming! It is the bestform of communications – face-to-face.

February 1 was Random Acts ofKindness (RAK) Day, an idea gener-ated by Carrie Houston and pickedup by Allan Hughson of WilliamsFuneral Home, who co-Chaired theday with myFM Radio’s generalmanager, Rob Mise. The pair securedsponsors, including other ChamberMembers such as the St. ThomasElgin Weekly News and Tim Hor-tons, who collectively formed aunique pool of community re-sources. Among their accomplish-ments, distribution of an amazing20,000 RAK Day promotion cards.

Subsequently, about ten days afterthe event, Gillian and I were out forbreakfast ... went to pay the bill and,lo and behold, it had been paid. Itwas a fantastic feeling! Then later thesame day, on one of the few snowyand blustery days we had this winterthus far, I revved up our trusty snowblower and did our driveway. Didthe neighbours, too, and then no-ticed a single mother down the streetstruggling with the knee-deep snow,and I did hers as well. Speaking overthe engine noise, I just told her topay it forward! She smiled andwaved, and I’m sure she will. Thenthere was the record-breaking 25people in-a-row in line at a Tim Hor-ton’s drive-through who ‘paid it for-ward’ by picking up the tab for thedriver behind them. They sure knewhow to do it, too! Our Member ofParliament Joe Preston even spoke inthe House of Commons about thekindness of our community.

Looking it up on Wikipedia… “Arandom act of kindness is a selflessact performed by a person or peoplewishing to either assist or cheer upan individual person or people. Thephrase may have been coined byAnne Herbert, who claims to havewritten "Practice random kindnessand senseless acts of beauty" on aplace mat at a Sausalito restaurant in1982 or 1983.”

For a few years now, I have servedon the Board of Directors of the St.

Thomas & District Chamber ofCommerce. My Chamber volunteerduties started when I joined the Pub-lic Sector Liaison Committee notlong after moving to St. Thomas in2005. Serving on the Board and thisCommittee is definitely a comple-mentary way to ‘pay it forward’ as weonly get out of a community whatwe put into it! Incidentally, my bap-tism under fire as Chair this year wasreally something to observe as at pre-vious PSL Committee meetings wenormally had several things to con-sider. On my first day we had whatseemed like ten, and they were allmajor ones too. The Committee – allvolunteers, of course, with busy pro-fessional lives – is a solid example ofpeople taking the time to help ourcommunity in just one special way.We all learn from others no matterwhat our age and experience, and wecan all play a role in helping!

Doing a random act of kindness re-ally does something special for yourinner soul. And it makes me curiousabout others so, when I see you at aBusiness After Five or at anotherChamber function or just out in thecommunity, tell me how you recentlymade someone’s day by passing on anact of kindness. Feeling good is great,but feeling good together is even bet-ter!

This article has been prepared for theChamber and our Members by AllanWeatherall, B.A., CFRE, APR – Executive Director of the St. ThomasElgin General Hospital Foundation.He received accreditation (APR) fromthe Canadian Public Relations Societyin 1993 and a CFRE (certifiedfundraising executive) in 2000. He welcomes your comments via emailto: [email protected] or telephone519-631-2030 extension 2247.

Your Business Needs VideoYour Business Needs Video

Feeling good together

by Allan Weatherall


Apple is innovative, Wal-Mart haspresence and the CBC engages thecountry. But if you want to knowwhat the most influential brand inCanada is, turn to Microsoft.

In the first ever Ipsos InfluenceIndex Study, one of the leadingCanadian opinion and researchfirms, Ipsos Reid, asked Canadians torate 100 leading brands on a wide va-riety of attributes. The data revealedsix dimensions that define influenceand determine the most influentialbrands in the lives of Canadians. Asunveiled by Ipsos at the end of Janu-ary, the six dimensions of influenceare: Leading Edge, Trustworthy, Rel-evant, Presence, Corporate Citizen-ship and Engagement.

“For a brand to succeed it needs tohave some measure of all these fac-tors, but for a brand to exert influ-ence on our daily lives takes time andextraordinary effort,” said Steve Levy,President with Ipsos Reid in Toronto.“While relatively new brands likeGoogle, Facebook and YouTube geta lot of buzz and hype and havemade their presence felt on our list,it was the tried, trusted and true Mi-crosoft that rose to the top as themost influential brand in Canada.That’s not something that can bebuilt or bought overnight, and cer-tainly not a position Microsoftwould be willing to relinquish.”

Levy presented the study findingsduring Toronto’s annual AdvertisingWeek, a five-day event featuring in-sightful, thought-provoking discus-sion and presentations by some ofthe leading minds in advertising,marketing and brand management.In his presentation, introducing andexplaining the findings of the IpsosReid Influence Index, Levy revealedthe Ten Most Influential Brands inCanada:

1. Microsoft2. Google3. President’s Choice4. Apple5. Wal-Mart6. CBC7. Facebook8. Visa9. YouTube10. Air MilesTechnology and media brands

dominate the list, demonstrating theincreasing influence these sectorshave in the daily lives of Canadians.The list further highlights the grow-ing convergence of the two sectors,as companies such as Microsoft,Google and Apple continue to blurthe lines between media and technol-ogy.

“It shouldn’t come as any surprisethat media and technology compa-nies claim six of the top ten spots onour list,” says Levy. “Both industriesplay enormous roles in our dailylives, and more and more, thesebrands are influencing how we gatherinformation, how we connect withone another and how we share ourown stories with the world.”

Of the top ten, three are made-in-Canada brands: Loblaws’ private

label retail food brand, President’sChoice; Canada’s national publicbroadcaster, CBC; and, loyalty re-wards specialist, Air Miles. The trioscored high in trustworthinessamongst Canadians, proving thattheir respective brands’ understand-ing of Canada and Canadians paysoff.

“It takes time to build an influen-tial brand. Wal-Mart came toCanada in 1994, President’s Choicehit the shelves a decade before that,Bill Gates has led Microsoft since the

1970s, and the CBC celebrated its75th anniversary just last year,” addsLevy. “But if brands want to buildand maintain their influence, theyhave to build on these six factors – aleading edge position, trustworthi-ness, relevance, presence, corporateresponsibility and engagement withtheir consumers. And if our index isany indication, the greater your in-fluence, the greater your bottom-linesuccess stands to be.”

The findings of this Ipsos Reid pollare the results of research conductedbetween November 23 and Novem-ber 30, 2011. This online surveymeasured opinions of 1,013 adultresidents of Canada and the resultsare based on a sample where weight-ing was employed to balance demo-graphics and ensure that the sample'scomposition reflects that of the ac-tual Canadian population accordingto Census data. A survey with an un-weighted probability sample of thissize and a 100% response rate wouldhave an estimated margin of error of+/-3.1 percentage points, 19 timesout of 20.

For more information on this studycontact Steve Levy, President, IpsosReid East at 416-324-2900 [email protected]

VIEWPOINT Events and News of Interest to our MembersBUSINESS BEAT

A Canadian first – “The Influence Index”

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The St. Thomas & DistrictChamber of Commerce ispleased to welcome the following businesses and individuals as our newest Members. The staff and man-agement of the organizationsshown below were accepted asregistered Members from January 16 to February 15, 2012.

The Arts & Cookery Bank242 Graham RoadWest Lorne, ON N0L 2P0 Phone: 519-768-9986 Email:[email protected] Website: www.theartsandcook-erybank.com Contacts: Grace McGartland,Chair; Sheri Martin, Events Coor-dinator

Buyer’s Guide Category:Agencies & Associations Products & Services: The Arts &Cookery Bank is a regional cul-tural and heritage hub in theheart of rural Southwestern On-tario. It celebrates the local foodeconomy and river-to-lake her-itage through creative “Food &Foto” programming.

Core Security Structures4 - 85 South Edgeware RoadSt. Thomas, ON N5P 2H7 Phone: 519-913-4555 Ext: 227 Fax: 519-637-7863 Email:[email protected] Website:www.coresecuritystructures.com Contact: Caven Kuhn, PresidentBuyer’s Guide Categories: Build-

ing Contractors; Manufacturers;Products & Services: Core Secu-rity Structures specializes in man-ufacturing advanced panelsystems and the installation ofjails and correctional facilities.

Match-Co Enterprises Ltd.32 Massey DriveSt. Thomas, ON N5R 5M6 Phone: 519-913-1581 Fax: 1-866-579-6673 Email: [email protected] Website: www.match-co.com Contact: Wade Coombs, Presi-dentBuyer’s Guide Categories: Busi-ness Information Services; Com-puters – Sales; Supplies &Service; Computers – Training;Office TechnologyProducts & Services: Match-Co

Enterprises is a business systemconsulting service company at itsheart. It helps businesses realizeand achieve great successthrough design and implementa-tion of successful business sys-tems.

Specialty Combustion Inc.13932 Imperial RoadAylmer, ON N0L 2J0 Phone: 519-765-1600 Fax: 519-765-1601 Email:[email protected] Website: specialtycombustion.caContact: Rose Marie Rochon,PresidentBuyer’s Guide Category: GasAppliances; Industrial Equipment& Supplies;Products & Services: With morethan 30 years experience work-ing on Industrial Process Equip-ment, Specialty Combustionprovides maintenance and repairof industrial production equip-ment, including gas appliancesand oil burners. Licensed GasTechnician (G1 - OBT1).

Save 3.5¢/litreChamber members qualify for Esso’sDirect Billing Program; you pay3.5¢ off the posted retail pump pricewhenever you fuel up.You may also get a convenient, detailedmonthly invoice and also qualify forSpeedpass®. For an application, contact:

Wellington Roadat St. George St.519-633-0002

LynhurstESSO & Variety

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• Voice/Voice Mail• Data Communications• CCTV Video Surveillance• Security• Sound/PA Systems• Business Phone Systems

Residential • Commercial • IndustrialP.O. Box 20155, St. Thomas (519) 633.0080 • [email protected]

Rob Blaxall: President

“Our customers are not just satisfied...“Our customers are not just satisfied...they’re impressed!”they’re impressed!”“Our customers are not just satisfied...they’re impressed!”Now offering voip business systems

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES DIRECTORY

Save 3.5¢/litreChamber members qualify for Esso’sDirect Billing Program; you pay3.5¢ off the posted retail pump pricewhenever you fuel up.You may also get a convenient, detailedmonthly invoice and also qualify forSpeedpass®. For an application, contact:

Wellington Roadat St. George St.519-633-0002

LynhurstESSO & Variety

be heardbe seen

belong!St. Thomas and District Chamber of Commerce

Become a ChamberMember!

Call Mike Vecchio,Member Services

Coordinator @ 519-631-1981, ext. 523

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“ “

The networking opportunitieshelped grow my business.

Brian GilesCo-owner, Briwood Farm Market1030 Talbot Str. E.St. Thomas519-633-9691Briwood Farm Market has been a registeredChamber Member for 14 years

We strive to participate in ourcommunity and being part of the

Chamber of Commerce allowsus to build relationships with

local businesses.

“ “Chamber membership is a must ifyou’re serious about your business.

J. Stuart HarperPresident, H.I.R.A. Ltd.63 Gaylord RoadSt. Thomas519-633-2670www.hira.on.caH.I.R.A. Ltd. has been a registered ChamberMember for 40 years

The Chamber of Commerceprovides an essential Forum thatenables Businesses and Individ-uals the opportunity to relate to

each other for Mutual, and Municipal, benefit and growth.“ “

Rob MiseGeneral Manager, MyFM Radio300 Talbot St., lower level, unit 2St Thomas519-633-6936myfmradio.caMyFM has been a registered Chamber Member for 1 year.

I enjoy the camaraderie and appreciatethe leadership the Chamber

demonstrates as a united voice for thebusiness community. Interacting with

fellow chamber members allows us tostay on top of trends affecting business.

We’re committed to the Chamber mission & vision.

“ “

I like what the Chamber doesto promote our area.

Marcy PearceManaging Partner, Wendy’sRestaurant1063 Talbot St.St. Thomas519-631-8410www.wendysintl.comWendy’s Restaurant has been a registeredChamber Member for 28 years

The Chamber really is our voiceof business. If we didn’t have a

healthy active Chamber, St. Thomas would be a lesser

place.“ “

We belong because we believein the business community.

Phil AmbroseOwner, Millcreek Plumbing55 Progress DriveSt [email protected] Plumbing has been a registered

Chamber Member for 23 years

Strong communities have one thingin common - a strong Chamber. We

know that investing in membershipis a really affordable way to keep

jobs here.

“ “

I like being active in thegrowth of the community.

David KarnVice President, Dowler-Karn Limited.43841 Talbot LineSt. Thomas519-631-3810www.dowlerkarn.comDowler-Karn Limited. has been a registeredChamber Member for 72 years

I like the Chamber because it’sabout people. It brings togetherpeople who share our desire to

build business and improve our community.

be heard

Joining the chamber provides you one of the best opportunities to de-velop your business. You can take advantage of the great benefits weoffer to help you not only grow your business but also to grow your net-work, increase your exposure, build your customer base and make a

direct impact on the business community. You will be entitled to some of the best savings, but in addition to savings programs, monthly newsletter, and special offers, your membership will entitle you to enjoy many more learning and networking opportunities. Call Membership Coordinator Mike Vecchio at 519-631-1981 to talk about how you can join over 700 community business in growing business and community.

be seenbelong!

St. Thomas and District Chamber of Commerce


(NC) An old adage is that whereveryou are going on vacation, take twicethe money and half the luggage.While it may not be a bad startingpoint, there's a whole lot more togood vacation planning.

Preparation is the key to having anenjoyable spring vacation. Whethernovice or seasoned, most travellersknow to pack the right attire, cancelthe newspaper and set the housealarm before they leave. However, inthe busy planning process, the sametravellers will often overlook someimportant elements to help ensure astress free vacation.

Keep the following tips in mind

when you travel during MarchBreak:Put your health and safety first

Travellers should always put theirhealth and well-being first. Vacationsare a break from routine but notfrom sensible practices. Whethertravelling by air or car, you should:

• Confirm well in advance if anyinoculations or medications areneeded before visiting the destina-tion;

• Check for government issuedtravel advisories for the country orregion you are planning to visit;

• Carry sufficient prescription med-ication and allergy treatments in your

carry-on luggage;• If driving, check weather and

road conditions and listen to localadvisories; and

• Share travel and destination infor-mation with loved ones in the eventan emergency arises.Have key documents with you atall times

When travelling outside of thecountry there are papers that Cana-dian vacationers should not leavehome without.

• A valid passport is needed for alltravellers, including children and in-fants, with limited exceptions forchildren under 16 crossing at land

border points.• Additionally, Canadian children

need appropriate documentation totravel abroad when taking a tripalone or with only one parent, suchas a consent letter, birth certificate orcitizenship card. Check destinationrequirements before departing.

• If travelling outside your homeprovince, carry provincial healthcards and drivers licenses.

• Travellers should also carry theirinsurance wallet card to call for assis-tance at any time.

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Travel tips for a smoothMarch BreakEnsure a stress free vacationby keeping safety in mind

Preparationis the key“

“


I N C O M E TA X S E A S O N

ESTATE PLANNING

One of the main reasons for draw-ing up a will is to make sure your as-sets are distributed according to yourwishes after you die. However, youcan also take steps to minimize taxeson your estate. Here are some tipsfrom Chartered Accountant GeoffGravett, a partner with MillardRouse & Rosebrugh LLP in Brant-ford.

Understand what taxes may applyon death

“Estate administration taxes arebased on the size of the estate that isrequired to be probated,” saysGravett. “In Ontario, probate ratesare calculated at a rate of $5 per$1,000 for the first $50,000 of assetsrequired to undergo probate and $15per $1,000 for assets in excess of$50,000 that are required to undergoprobate.”

Tax may also apply to registeredplans, such as Registered RetirementSavings Plans (RRSPs) and Regis-tered Retirement Income Funds(RRIFs).

“Registered plans are generallydeemed to be included in income ata rate of 100 per cent,” says Gravett.“For example, an RRSP with a valueof $100,000 at the date of deathwould result in $100,000 beingtaxed as income on the deceased’sfinal return. However, in certain cir-cumstances, the registered plan maypass to a qualified beneficiary on atax-free basis. The most common ex-ample of this is where a spouse isnamed as the beneficiary. In this case,the value of the plan wouldn’t betaxed until the death of the survivingspouse.”

At the time of death, you aredeemed to have disposed of all ofyour assets at fair market value. “Forassets with accrued capital gains, thismeans that the capital gain becomestaxable at the time of death. These as-

sets could include things like non-registered investment portfolios,shares in private companies and realproperty. Any gains on your princi-pal residence are not taxed,” explainsGravett.

At the time of death, 50 percent ofthe accrued gain on assets subject tothese rules would be included in thetaxable income on the deceased’sfinal return. “As with registered as-sets, a tax-free spousal rollover isavailable at the time of death. In thiscase, the accrued gain would not betaxed until the death of the survivingspouse.”

Determine what taxes wouldapply to your estate

“Prudent tax planning would in-volve looking at all of the various tax-ation impacts that would arise in the

event that you die today with yourexisting will, or without one,” advisesGravett. “You can then examine thevarious alternatives that will achieveyour objectives while reducing taxes.”

Take steps to defer or minimizetaxation of your estate

“Planning techniques can include awide variety of strategies,” saysGravett. These include, but are cer-tainly not limited to:

• Transferring the ownership of anasset prior to death

• Taking advantage of income-split-ting opportunities

• Using the tax-free rollover rules,as applicable

• Making sure beneficiaries arenamed on registered plans and lifeinsurance policies

• Making specific charitable be-quests

• Using a variety of trust structures,including spousal trusts, that are al-lowed under the Income Tax Act

• Using secondary wills for assetsnot requiring probate

• Estate freezes, using privatelyowned corporations

Talk to a professional“I would always recommend that a

lawyer be involved in the actualdrafting of your will,” says Gravett.“A Chartered Accountant can addsignificant value to the process byworking with your lawyer to outlinethe current tax consequences to theestate in the absence of planning.Your CA can then work on a varietyof planning strategies to minimizethe taxation impact, while makingsure your assets are distributed ac-cording to your wishes.”

Are your books up to date? Have you had your Annual Financial Review? Don’t stress...

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Prepare your will with taxes in mindTips to defer or

minimize taxation ofyour estate


(NC) As tax deadlines quickly ap-proach, many businesses are on thehunt for great accountants. To helpyou with your search, the CertifiedGeneral Accountants of Ontario hasprepared a list of important ques-tions to ask prospective accountants.Asking these questions will go a longway towards developing a solid rela-tionship based on mutual trust:Does the accountant have priorwork experience with your type ofbusiness?

Does the accountant make com-ments and suggestions that indicatean understanding of your business?Will the accountant provide thenames of clients in a similar or re-lated line of business? If so, verifywith those clients as to whether theaccountant is accessible, meets dead-lines, and completes work within thecost estimate.Who will do routine work, the ac-countant or other staff?

Whether your accountant will bepersonally responsible for routinework may depend on your businessneeds, the size of the accountant'sfirm, and the nature and number ofthe accountant's clientele.Is the accountant open to the ideaof using other experts?

An accountant dealing with

smaller, privately owned companiesshould be willing to seek outside ad-vice if or when specialized businessaffairs warrant such action.What is the accountant's standardbilling procedure?

An hourly fee is the norm when en-gaging a professional accountant.Once the nature and requirements ofyour business are communicated,can the accountant provide an esti-

mate?How was the personal “fit”?

At the end of the interview, askyourself how comfortable you felt.You want an accountant with whomyou can speak freely. Someone whohears what you say and who can ex-plain their advice clearly. Compati-bility is essential when selecting aprofessional accountant.

How do we find the right expertisefor our needs?

A CGA is the right place to begin.Trained to offer professional ac-counting insight and services that gobeyond tax and audit, these profes-sionals are expected to adhere to acode of ethical principles. They alsoparticipate in mandatory, continuingprofessional development to ensurethat high professional standards aremaintained.


TAX PREPARATION

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How to interview a prospective accountant for your tax returns

Need an expert on your side?



FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

The less debt you have, the moreyou can focus on saving and invest-ing. In other words, getting rid ofdebt is one of the best things you cando to help save more for retirement.

Yet there is evidence that manyCanadians aren’t making the connec-tion between paying down debt andaccumulating retirement wealth. Arecent poll by a major Canadian fi-nancial institution showed that justone in five baby boomers aged 45 to64 sees a connection between payingdown debt and saving for retirement.

And while 42 percent see debt as anobstacle to achieving their financialgoals, one-third of baby boomers 55or older have not paid off their mort-gage and three-quarters carry debt.

Even more disconcerting is the in-creasing trend to carry debt into re-tirement. A survey by a differentfinancial institution found that 44percent of retired Canadians are car-rying debt, up from 39 percent theyear before.The benefits of retiring debt-free

The sooner your debts are elimi-nated, the more your savings can beaccelerated. If you choose to carrydebt into your pre-retirement and re-tirement years, you face a number of

potential risks:• You may be compelled to delay

your anticipated retirement date.• You may find you have to return

to work, whether full-time or part-time, in order to cover your expenses,including debt repayment.

• You may have to sell assets to freeup the cash flow you need to live on.

• You may have to alter your retire-ment lifestyle, in order to reducespending.

Retiring debt-free can help youenjoy greater financial security by re-lieving you of the stress of debt re-payment — a stress that increasesanytime interest rates rise.Where to start?

Unless the interest costs are tax-de-ductible, your highest interest debtsshould be the area we target first.These typically include credit-cardbalances and unsecured personalloans or lines of credit. These debtsare costing you the most on an an-nual basis, so paying them off firstwill have the greatest effect.

If you aren’t carrying any high-in-terest-rate consumer debt, we mightlook at your mortgage next. It is typ-ically the largest debt Canadianscarry and poses a barrier to maximiz-

ing retirement savings for many.Although mortgage rates are low

today, they could rise in the future,meaning higher payments. Paying offyour mortgage can free up significantcash that can be funneled into yourRegistered Retirement Savings Plan(RRSP) each month to build tax-de-ferred savings.

Regardless of your level of debt andproximity to retirement, we can rec-ommend a plan to pay it and helpensure a comfortable, worry-free re-tirement for you.

Taxation Advisory Services

www.grahamscottenns.com

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We share your viewpoint ontax: pay as little as you can. But most business decisionshave tax implications, and taxlegislation is complex and always changing—you needgood advice. The Graham Scott Enns LLPapproach is integrated, forwardlooking and tailored to you.

MARK A WALESCHARTERED ACCOUNTANT

Mark A. WalesJENNIFER WHALLS TAMMY SLOTA

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Why your debtshould retirebefore you doThe sooner you debts are eliminated, the more your savings can be accelerated

Ellen Luft is an Investment Advisor withDWM SecuritiesInc. in St. Thomas.The views expressedare her own.


H O M E S T Y L E

DECORATING

The languageof columnsIt’s all about scale,proportion and detail

From high-end luxury homes tothe most basic spec-built home, itseems that a traditionally designedhouse has to have at least one col-umn based on designs from antiq-uity.

About 2,500 years ago, the Greeksinvented what have become knownas the classical orders. These orders(Doric, Ionic and Corinthian) wereadopted by the ancient Romans,who simplified the Doric to maketheir own order, the Tuscan. The Ro-mans also combined the Ionic andCorinthian to form the Composite.Each order had a distinct meaning.A building designed using one orderwould have been quite different intone than a building designed in an-other order. The same holds truetoday. While a grand palace maywarrant the Corinthian order, Tus-can might be more appropriate for asmall home.

Here are some ideas to help yousort out how, as a homeowner, youcan use a column, with the rules forscale, proportion and detail.

Tuscan: Simple and clean.Tuscan-style columns are the most

popular classical order since theColonial era. Developed by the an-cient Romans as a simple, clean and"virtuous" order, it's no surprise thatthe colonials would use the Tuscanto add style and tradition to theirbuildings while maintaining thosepuritanical sensibilities.

Whether used on the exterior orthe interior, the Tuscan order adds atouch of classical formality and tra-ditional "always been there" feel,without the overall stiffness of theDoric or the exuberance of theCorinthian. Placing the columns atan opening between rooms makesthe transition from one to the otherall the more special.

The Tuscan can be livened a littlewith the addition of fluting andpedestals. Paired up, these columnsare used as points defining functionalareas in what appears to be one largeroom.

Doric: Distinctly classical. The Doric was the simplest as well

as the most masculine of the originalGreek orders. There are minimal

decorative elements and, in its origi-nal form, no base. Certainly theDoric order wasn't devoid of decora-tive embellishment. Fluting of thecolumn shaft as well as some decora-tive elements at the capital can softenwhat can be a plain and almost se-vere design.

Ionic: Large scale, high style. The Ionic is a bit more luxurious

than the spartan Doric and Tuscan.As such, it's best used where a littlemore polish, high style and biggerscale is warranted. Also, Ionic capi-tals visually ease the transition fromcolumn to pediment. The way thecapitals flatten and stretch out makefor a nice transitional element.

The scale of the column should alsobe in tune with the scale of the over-all architecture. More often than not,classically inspired columns are toothin, making them look like sillytoothpicks rather than the robust re-minders of antiquity they are.

When in doubt, adhere to the2,000-year-old rules for scale, one ofwhich is that the column heightshould be seven times the column di-ameter.

In rooms with richly appointed fin-ishes and details, such as a wall withsconces and larger architecturalmoldings and trim, using a simpler

Doric or Tuscan column would seemout of place. The Corinthian wouldbe out of place here as well, as its ex-uberant richness would detract fromthe elegance of the space.

Corinthian: Rational exuberance.The most exuberant and luxurious

of the orders are the Corinthian andComposite. Seldom used in modesthomes, these orders are richly de-tailed with plant-like capitals, flutedshafts and richly detailed bases.

The Corinthian is the appropriateorder in a room that exudes an intri-cacy of surface detail and a richnessof finish.

The bottom line – if you are usingcolumns, adhere to the 2,000-year-old rules. Truly, nothing can cause ahome to look more out of balancethan use of the wrong column order,or worse yet, the wrong scale. If indoubt, ask!

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“

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H O M E S T Y L E

AT HOME IN ELGIN

My parents both attended univer-sity and it served them very well overtheir professional careers. Naturally,they wanted the apple to fall close tothe family tree and have their sonenjoy similar successes to what theyhad. However, when I was in highschool, all of the career opportunitieswere not explained to me. Neithermy parents nor the university-edu-cated guidance counselors exploredthe options of youth apprenticeshipprograms or employment-focusedcollege programs, despite my interestin construction or my orientation to-ward working with my hands. In

fact, I was completely unaware thatsuch programs even existed.

Despite these early barriers, I even-tually found my way into the con-struction industry anyway. But forstudents nowadays, the next fewyears may offer the best opportuni-ties to get into the skilled trades field.

Economists and demographershave long warned of a decline inCanada’s manufacturing sector. Inthe early 1990s, well-known demo-graphics expert, David K. Foot, fore-casted a shift from manufacturingjobs to skilled trades and service-ori-ented employment in Canada. Thismay be due to the fact that we enjoy

such a high standard of living in thiscountry, unlike many developing na-tions whose labour force has muchlower earning expectations. As a re-sult, being able to remain competi-tive in a global marketplace hasbecome an insurmountable challengefor most manufacturing sectors.And, locally, we have really felt thesting of this decline.

However, our future is not allbleak. If we begin to pair opportu-nity with education and targetedtraining, our next generation can bestrong and gainfully employed!

Where are those jobs? They can befound in skilled trades. Recently,during a tour of Sheridan Insti-tute of Technology and Ad-

vanced Learning in Oakville as partof his “200,000 Skilled Trades JobsTour,” Ontario PC leader TimHudak said, “According to DaltonMcGuinty’s own Minister of Fi-nance, Ontario faces a shortage of upto one million skilled trade workerswithin ten years.” In order to encour-age skilled trades training and

growth of industry jobs, the PCParty is pushing the provincial

government to reform On-tario’s 1970s-era apprentice-

ship system.If you are a student or a

parent, give some thought to themyriad of employment opportunitieswithin the construction industry. Infact, the construction sector isamong the three largest employers inthe country, offering promise to blueand white collars and men andwomen alike. From engineers to gen-eral labourers, the sky is the limit. Itis also an industry where one canwork one’s way to the top with deter-mination, hard work and a willing-ness to learn.

Just a few of the rewarding careersin the construction industry include:architectural technologist or techni-cian, engineering technician, brickand stone mason, construction man-ager, interior designer, electrician,surveyor, plumber, framer, roofer,HVAC sheet metal technician, gastechnician, municipal planner or in-spector and countless other relatedoccupations.

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Helpwanted

Careers in skilled trades jobs are set to take off


Every spring we kick off our popularevents calendar at the winery with aseries of intimate dinners in our barrelcellar. We call them the Winemakers’Dinners and I have to confess thatthese evenings, for me, are perennialfavourites. The premise is simple – wepartner with amazing local chefs andserve a multi-course meal with differ-ent wines with each course. People areable to converse with the chef whocreated their meals, and I personallyserve the wines and answer all thequestions about the pairings.

For this season’s dinners, the fea-tured chefs have sent me their menus,and while looking them over, I got tothinking about food trends. Since Iconsider these chefs to be an accurate

barometer for quality food tastes, Ibegan to wonder what their menuarrangements suggest that people arelooking for in the coming season?Four things stood out to me:

Using locally sourced ingredientswas the obvious theme that emergedfirst. The ‘local’ movement shows nosigns of losing momentum. Whereverpossible, our chefs are choosing to useingredients that were locally grown.However, ‘local’ should never beblindly considered as synonymous forthe pinnacle of quality, lest ‘local’ be-come a valueless marketing term. Thebest chefs not only use local ingredi-ents, but seek out the best that theirsurroundings offer. With just a littleextra attention to the origin of youringredients, there is no reason that thefreshest and best local foods cannot

make it into your meals, especiallywith spring presenting a plethora offresh ingredients.

Another trend that emerged issomething I’ve come to refer to asglobally/local. Several of the dishesthe chefs are preparing are traditionalfare from other countries. It is cer-tainly not unusual to see restaurantsdefine themselves by national associ-ations (such as Italian style or Frenchinfluenced). But the trend I’m notic-ing is much more multicultural, suchas an Asian rice dish served along sidea Spanish meat dish. Fusion is theterm that gets thrown around withthis style. I prefer globally/local sincethis ‘United Nations’ approach tofood usually coincides with using thebest locally produced ingredients. Goahead and be creative.

Slow cooking is a trend I have no-ticed that is making big gains. Withcertain food dishes, a little preparationgoes a long way, such as tomato saucemade well enough in advance to allowthe flavours to integrate or well-cooked meat that has been marinatedfor days, not minutes. Slow cookingcould probably be branded as ‘theanti-microwave movement.’ I want tocover the incredible style of SlowFood in another article, but suffice itto say, all the effort and time areworth the wait.

The final trend I noticed is a returnto family favourites. Our AprilWinemakers Dinner is inspired en-tirely by recipes handed down for gen-erations. Looking around the foodworld, there is a sense that peoplewant their comfort foods back. Theywant those safe-choice dishes that re-mind them of less stressful times. Thebeauty of this is that almost everyonehas a favourite family recipe or at thevery least knows where to get it. Thosetraditional family fares also coincidewith the gathering of those closest toyou. What could be better?

We have some tremendously tal-ented chefs in our midst. With localingredients, global tastes, a stronglegacy and the time to do things right,you have the opportunity to explorethe gastronomic splendour that ElginCounty offers!

D I N I N G & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

WINE & FOOD

What’sfor

dinner?

Jamie Quai is head winemaker at Quai du Vin Estate Winery in ElginCounty.

Menus from local chefs show patterns of upcoming food trends in Elgin County

by Jamie Quai


D I N I N G & E N T E R TA I N M E N T

SAVOUR ELGIN

On the beaches of Lake Erie rests theWindjammer Inn where to dine is totaste a small piece of culinary heaven.

Owner Kim Saunders’ story is one ofa food-loving farm girl who moved tothe city and came back a chef. An avidequestrian and animal lover, she set hersights on veterinary college or othermedical profession after high school.The lure of the big city took her to theUniversity of Toronto and a series ofrestaurant jobs, which eventually tookher down the hospitality path for good.

Having had her hand in a number ofsuccessful restaurant ventures inToronto, including Mistral, Verveineand Barrio Lounge, Kim returned toSouthwestern Ontario as a chef in 2006and purchased the Windjammer Inn.

The Inn, formerly known as the Shep-ard House, was built by Samuel Shep-ard in 1854, a prominent businessmanand grain merchant. It was said thathis Windjammer ships were the finestships to grace Port Stanley’s harbourat the time.

Kim sources all of her foodfrom the expanding farm net-

work in Elgin County. In addi-tion to buying straight from the

farm, Kim grows many of her own

herbs, heirloom vegetables and edibleflowers in the gardens surrounding theInn.

The Windjammer Inn features a sea-sonal menu and specials with local fish(perch and pickerel) always on handwhen in season, joined by fruits andvegetables, artisanal cheeses, hand-made breads, local meats and, ofcourse, Kim’s pastry creations. Freshlyprepared, from preserves to pastry, eachbite tells of the passion and care thatwent into it.

A summer meal is best spent on thepatio with the Lake Erie breeze brush-ing your cheek, an oasis from the bustleof everyday life.

Kim’s newest creation is The Wind-jammer Pantry, which she opened justbefore Christmas.

It’s a shop full of hearty meals and de-licious treats, from the Windjammer’skitchen to your dinner table. ThePantry is well stocked with ready toHeat & Eat meals, with favourites likeChicken Pot Pie, Shepherd's Pie,Tortiere, Apple Crumble & Torte,Scones in four varieties, Chutney andPreserves. The Pantry is located at 172William Street in Port Stanley, stepssouth of the Windjammer.

Recommended in “Where to EatCanada” for four years in a row, theWindjammer Inn also boasts threecomfortable rooms in the Inn and twoseparate suites next door, begging you

to stay for breakfast the next day.You are invited to dine at the Wind-

jammer Inn where global inspirationmeets local sensibility!

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Kate Burns is thebusiness develop-ment coordinatorat the County ofElgin.

The Windjammer Inn is a member ofSavour Elgin. Savour Elgin is a pro-gram with a goal to promote and en-

hance culinary tourism in ElginCounty and St. Thomas. The SavourElgin trail is a route through ElginCounty that visits some of the best

restaurants, farms, wineries, and otherculinary attractions that focus on food

and drink that’s local and unique toElgin County and St. Thomas. For

full trail information visitwww.savourelgin.ca.

The Windjammer InnWhere global inspiration meets local sensibility

by Kate Burns


If you’ve been a regular reader of thiscolumn, you will have seen that chi-ropractic involves much more thanjust back pain, but back pain is defi-nitely one of the most importantthings that chiropractors treat.

Some important factsBack pain is a very prevalent health

problem in our society. It is secondonly to upper respiratory infections(common colds) for lost work hoursand as well as for visits to the familydoctor. Eight out of ten people willsuffer at least one relatively severebout of low back pain in their lifetimewhile approximately 20-30 percent ofthe entire human population is suffer-ing from low back pain at this verymoment. It is commonly acceptedthat back pain is essentially misman-aged by traditional medicine as evi-denced by the present epidemic insociety.

Approximately only 2 percent ofback injuries actually require surgery.Most back injuries resolve in sixweeks, those that don’t account for75-90 percent of medical costs associ-ated with back injuries. Chiropracticmanagement of low back injury andpain has been proven through scien-tific evidence to be the most effectiveand safest form of therapy for acutelow back injuries. Unfortunately, it isstill underutilized.

AnatomyThe back consists of the spinal col-

umn, which includes the individualvertebra, the intervertebral discs, spe-cial joints called the facet joints, thesacroiliac joints, spinal nerves, bloodvessels, muscles and connective tis-sues. All of the structures listed can

cause pain. Most spinal pain is the re-sult of irritated joints, particularly thefacet joints. These joints become irri-tated for many reasons including pos-tural strain, lifting and bending, aswell as many others. The irritationthen sets off an inflammatory re-sponse leading to muscle spasm even-tually causing what is called apain/spasm cycle. Basically, paincauses more spasm, which causesmore pain, which leads to more spasmand so on and so on. This cycle pre-vents the body from healing.

TreatmentThe pain/spasm cycle is where the

chiropractor comes in. Chiropractorstypically employ something calledspinal manipulative therapy, alsoknown as an adjustment, to treat thiskind of mechanical back pain. The ef-fects of the adjustment are compli-cated, but suffice it to say that thereare a number of reflex mechanismsthat break the pain/spasm cycle,which allows the body to start thehealing process. The adjustment alsoallows you to start moving more nor-

mally and naturally in your daily ac-tivities, which is also important in thehealing process.

Along with the adjustment, the chi-ropractor will prescribe certain reha-bilitative exercises as your conditionimproves to help speed the healingprocess and ultimately help preventsimilar future episodes from happen-ing.

Emergency back care procedureIf you suffer a back injury, follow the

procedure listed below:1. Immediately stop what you are

doing. The problem will not go awayif you ignore it.

2. Apply ice. Ice is your best allyagainst inflammation. Applying iceimmediately can have a significantimpact by reducing healing time. Icefor 10 minutes, remove the ice for atleast 30 minutes and then re-apply.Try to do this several times over thefirst few days.

3. Assume a pain-relieving position,commonly on your back with yourknees drawn up or bent and your feetflat on the floor.

4. Get to a chiropractor. Scientificstudies, government inquiries androyal commissions have all found chi-ropractic to be the safest and most ef-fective therapy for acute low backpain and injury. The earlier you begincare the better the outcome.

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World travel and overuse of pesti-cides has contributed to the spread ofbed bugs to just about every city inthe world. Being embarrassed abouthaving bed bugs can prevent somepeople from reporting the problem,which only makes the issue worse.We all need to take action and bepart of the solution. Here are threesteps to successfully control this pest.

1. PreventRegular inspection and cleaning

can help prevent infestation. Don’tgive bed bugs a place to live in yourhome. Vacuum your mattress often.Clean up clutter. Seal cracks andcrevices with caulking. Inspect usedfurniture or clothes before purchas-ing. Never bring discarded bedframes, mattresses, box springs, up-holstered furniture or electronics intoyour home. Inspect luggage and be-longings upon returning from a trip.

2. IdentifyBed bugs are the size of an apple

seed, brownish in color, oval shapedand have no wings. In a one-year lifespan, a female can lay 200-400 eggs.Use a flashlight to look for bed bugs.A hair dryer set on high, can be usedto force them out of hiding spacesand cracks. Check along the seams ofmattresses, inside box springs andbed frames. Look in cracks andcrevices in and around the bed and

check around furniture and base-boards.

Bed bugs don’t spread disease buttheir bites can be itchy and look likered welts. To reduce allergic reactionsand inflammation, anti-histaminesor itch creams are often used. Con-sult with a doctor if bites become in-fected.

3. ActionIf you find bed bugs in your home,

talk with your landlord, buildingmanager, Health Unit or licensedpest control professional. You willneed to vacuum your mattress, bedframe, baseboards and sleeping areadaily, and make sure you clean thevacuum filter with warm water orhave it replaced. If the vacuum has abag, dispose of it immediately. Washclothing, linens, mattress pads andpillows in hot water and place in thedryer on the highest setting for 30minutes. Remove clutter where bedbugs can hide. Seal cracks in furni-ture, floors, walls and baseboards.Remove peeling wallpaper andtighten loose light switch covers. Sealopenings that come into your home(i.e. pipes, wires).

To make sure you don’t pass bedbugs along to others make sure oth-ers don’t take home items you’vethrown out.

It is important to remember thatgetting rid of bed bugs successfullyinvolves the tenant, landlord and a li-

censed pest control worker. Each per-son has an important part to play ineliminating the bugs. The tenantmust take the necessary steps to en-sure the home or apartment is pre-pared prior to treatment.

At Elgin St. Thomas Public Health,we have a number of resources andvideos on our website that can behelpful in identifying bed bugs,preparing your unit and getting ridof bed bugs. We include a checklistso you can ensure that a unit is prop-erly cleaned before a pest controlprofessional comes to the home, aswell as a quick list of pest controlservices in the area.

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L I F E S T Y L E S

Most mornings I feel like a refereerather than a mom.

Pretty much anything can start theboys squabbling. They both want tostand on the stool to brush their teethat exactly the same time; someone elsewants to get dressed first, not second.In a competition to “help mom,” theyrace to get the cereal box out of thecupboard. The victor hands the tat-tered box to me with a satisfied grin.The loser is left in a sobbing heap onthe floor.

Usually I can restore calm by assign-ing specific tasks to each boy. Who-ever didn’t manage to get to thecupboard first can regain his sense ofpurpose by getting the spoons.

But on this particular morning Ifound my two redheads at logger-heads over the cat’s food. Each onewas determined to scoop the food.Squatting nose to nose with the bagbetween them they tugged the bagback and forth. The hunger-strickencat looked at me not knowing what tomake of the scene or the noise.

And then it happened. The bag, tautwith tension, tore apart, cat food ex-ploded everywhere and two boyslanded on their bums. The cat didn’tmuch care that not any of the foodhad landed in her dish. She ate it offthe floor faster than I could sweep itup.

The boys on the other hand were de-jected. Each sat with their legs pulledup to their chins, backs against oppo-site walls. They watched with tear-stricken cheeks as mom swept the lastof the cat food off the floor and put itwhere it belonged in the cat’s dish.

As I drove to work that morning I

was a bundle of stress. Usually withinthe ten-minute child-free drive towork I find the clarity I need in mylife. But this morning I was thinkingabout cat food and composing a lec-ture on “how to get along” in myhead. So that by the time I got towork I had almost completely forgot-ten that I had expected to hear the re-sults of a substantial funding proposalthat day.

The news wasn’t good. Our proposalhad been denied.

In the current economic environ-ment, not-for-profit agencies such asKettle Creek Conservation Authorityare often in competition with like-minded agencies for an ever-decreas-ing pot of funding dollars. In order toplant 100,000 trees per year and sup-port landowners in stewardship effortssuch as wetland creation, fencing of

livestock from watercourses and ero-sion control, KCCA is constantlywriting funding proposals and ap-proaching donors for support.

The news was disappointing. I sat atmy desk and re-read the proposalwondering what word or section hadfailed us? What could we have donebetter? What agency had been suc-cessful? Why them, not us?

As I anguished, the images of themorning resurfaced – a hungry catand two willing caregivers fighting forthe right to feed her. The fact is the catdidn’t care who won the tug-of-war;she just wanted her breakfast.

And my mood brightened – just alittle. A cat doesn’t care who feeds her,as long as she is fed. A tree, a fish or awetland is the same. It doesn’t matterwho saves them as long as they aresaved.

As a mother I’m determined to teachmy children how to become betterpeople by looking for ways to worktogether. Perhaps the best way that Ican do that is to become a better rolemodel myself.

I set aside the denied applicationand re-focused not on another appli-cation or project but on whom Imight work together with to save afew wetlands, trees and fish.

THAT’S LIFE

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cat food exploded

everywhere““


L I F E S T Y L E S

SELF DEVELOPMENT

This is Part 2 of my interview withbest-selling author Nick Williams.He has published seven books in-cluding The Work We Were Born ToDo and is co-founder of www.in-spired-entrepreneur.com.

What do you think the numberone reason is that people hesi-

tate to make a career transition?I think resistance is always thebiggest obstacle we face – all re-

sistance is fear, but resistance showsup in so many subtle and often un-recognised ways. It can seem sensibleto keep ourselves busy, procrastinateuntil the economy picks up, waituntil we have more in the savings ac-count. We wait until we feel readyenough, confident enough, ade-quate. We keep scaring ourselves byfocusing on the worst that mighthappen rather than the rewards andexcitement. But we never quite act.That is resistance at work. Add intothe mix that we also worry that wedon’t always know “how” and we canstay stuck for years.

Deep down though, I think greaterthan our fear of failure is our fear ofsuccess, of having things be toogood, too exciting, too happy. Mostof us know how to handle misery,failure and suffering, but would needto learn how to handle more happi-ness, joy, love, appreciation, fulfil-ment and financial success. It’s theidea that “Our greatest fear is notthat we are inadequate, but that weare powerful beyond measure.” In-deed, I believe that the more impor-tant an action or project is to us andour evolution, the greater the resist-ance we are likely to experience. I getpeople to see their resistance as apointer.

Do you think a career transi-tion can be made gradually?I think it must be a transition. Iknow of very few people who fin-

ish one career and start a new busi-ness in a fully formed way. I don’tthink it should even be that way. Iam a great advocate of creating tran-sitions, and transitions that may takeyears. I think we all create success bybeing willing to take baby steps, bydoing small things regularly and thensucceeding and failing, learning andgrowing. We reclaim and recover ourcreative and entrepreneurial spirit astep at a time.

I like the idea that running yourown business is the best personalgrowth seminar on the planet, so thegrowth and learning are always on-going. All success is created throughbaby steps. Trouble is, our mindoften thinks that baby steps are un-sexy. “I am a grown person not achild anymore, this won’t get mewhere I want to be, so what is thepoint?” Too often as adults we areafraid to be beginners again. Wewant to be masters, but we forgetthat mastery comes from being rub-bish to begin with.

Can you describe what a Port-folio Career is?Many of us have multiple inter-ests and multiple passions and

we find the idea of trying to squeezeall of them into a single job or outletunpalatable. I have a mantra: “Thereare lots of things I love doing, butnone of them would I want to doevery day.” I love the solitude of writ-ing at times, I love the buzz of speak-ing to 200 people live, I love theintimacy of a one-on-one coaching

relationship, I love being on theradio, I love creating products andprogrammes. And one of the joys ofmy life is that I get to do all of thosethings and more, but only some ofthe time.

I also talk about being a renaissancesoul – there were times in historywhen it was a normal and natural todo a number of things and be goodat them, and no one told you to goand get a “proper” job. Doing severalthings need not make you a jack-of-all-trades – it can make you ex-tremely interesting.

Do you have any live eventsscheduled for 2012 in North

America?At present, I have really cut backon foreign travel so no, at the mo-

ment, no plans to be in North Amer-ica – but I am doing my first globalstreaming event in on January 26 tolaunch my latest book, Resisting theSoul, so I am giving a live talk inLondon, and people from aroundthe world can join in and participatein it live from wherever they are.

What is your biggest goal for2012?To create a community of spiritu-ally intelligent entrepreneurs –

mainly in London to start with, andthen potentially in other locations.And to a write book about what itmeans to be a spiritually intelligententrepreneur.

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Aby Sharon Lechner

Are youhappyin yourwork?Q&A with best-sellingauthor Nick Williams

Part 2

Q

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Q

Arunning your own business is the best personal

growth seminar on the planet

““

Contact Nick at [email protected]

or Twitter: @nickwilliams1

Sharon Lechner isa certified masterlife coachand owner ofReach for the StarsEmpowerment in St. Thomas.


TIME ON MY HANDS

My mother wants a new wheel-chair. It’s up to me. I might say “No.”

She is 91, in a nursing home, andtotally bed-ridden since she fell outof her wheelchair and broke her leg16 months ago. Her eyesight andhearing are poor, and her world isvery small. On her left is the nursecall button, and on her right is herphone, with both sons on speed dial.Now she wants a more specializedwheelchair – one she won’t use.

She has always tried hard to keepon rolling. When she gave up her dri-

ver’s license and Mustang sports carin 2002, she said, “Two things awoman hates to give up – her heelsand her wheels.”

Three and a half years ago, after twobroken hips and an unsuccessful hipreplacement surgery, she ended up ina nursing home. From a wheelchair,she could watch TV and slowly makeher way to the dining room.

Then, the broken leg. After tenmonths of lying in bed, the surgeonsaid my mother could try sitting in awheelchair again. It seemed like achance to turn back the clock.

The old chair was no longer suit-

able, so a more specialized chair wasarranged on a trial basis. If it didn’twork out, mom didn’t have to buy it.For fear of her brittle bones, brokenleg and non-functioning hip, it tookthree staff, including the physiother-apist, to transfer mom from her bedto the chair. Twice a week was sched-uled. But when the team showed up,mom usually said, “Not today. It’snot a good day.” The long months inbed had taken their toll.

Five weeks slipped by with the chairunused. We had to either buy it orreturn it. The decision was to bemade at a meeting with my mother,brother and the professional staff.The day before the meeting, momsaid to let the chair go. But at themeeting, she was adamant aboutbuying it. Even if she didn’t use itmuch, she said, she would like tokeep it available. And perhaps mybrother or I could use it some day.She also said, looking right at me, “Ifyou can go on a trip to Morocco,then I can have a wheelchair.” Ouch.A couple of days later, she told methat, even if she didn’t use the chair,letting it go would be like admittingher life was over.

To my surprise, the store gave usmore time to make a decision. Nowtwo more months have passed. Thechair sits unused in her room. Mom

can’t remember much of the discus-sions, or even whether she boughtthe thing or not.

Aging is the extending of the list ofthings we can’t or won’t do anymore.But when it’s time to add anotheritem, we might not admit it or evenrealize it. Wishful thinking might beinvolved or plain old denial.

Now I must decide for my mother:Does it make sense to drop $2,500to prolong her fantasy of returning toa wheelchair?

One of the difficulties of watchingmy mother decline is the regular re-minders that I am on the very samepath. Three years ago I bought a newkayak. I have only used it once. I stilluse my tripping kayak, but the newone is more of a creek boat and itnow seems those days are behind me.

Now I have to do something aboutthe wheelchair – and the kayak.

Duncan Watterworth is recently a retireeand emptynester in St.Thomas.

L I F E S T Y L E S

Should we face up to our“can’t do” list?

by Duncan Watterworth

Maintaining a fantasy -

at what price?

Wishful thinking might beinvolved or plain

old denial“

“


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