Editorials

Among the many differences between the Canadian and U.S. political systems, one of the most glaring will be in full view tonight when U.S. President Barack Obama takes the stage with Republican hopeful Mitt Romney in the first presidential debate leading up to the Nov. 6 election.

As the population ages across the Rainy River district, it is becoming more evident that seniors will require a new type of housing.
Today, many of the district’s senior citizens are choosing to move away from the community to find new accommodations. In most cases, their move is to a community that some of their children already live in.

Word that one-in-four Grade 10 students with the Rainy River District School Board failed to meet the provincial standard for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test is troubling news.
Overall, the success rate of 75 percent declined by five percent from a year ago and continued a downward trend from the 82 percent who passed back in 2010.

Canada is not immune to protests that get out of hand, whether it’s over a G8 conference, the recent “Occupy” movement, or students railing against tuition hikes.
And, sadly, there always will be idiots who take to the streets and trash everything in sight when their sports team loses the title game.

With the loonie again hovering above parity vis-a-vis the U.S. greenback, coupled with higher duty-free exemptions now in place at the border, local businesses have their work cut out trying to convince consumers to spend their money here at home.

The clock is ticking on the province’s looming showdown with teachers and it remains anyone’s guess as to whether it plays out with an imposed contract, a court challenge potentially costing taxpayers millions, or perhaps even an election over the issue.

Canada fell short of its goal for a top-12 finish and only came home with one gold medal, but to consider the 2012 Summer Olympics in London as somehow a national failure completely misses the mark.

Would you ever read a book while driving? How about walk through an intersection wearing a blindfold?
The issue of texting being a dangerous distraction both for drivers and pedestrians is making headlines frequently these days and with good reason.

It was a seemingly innocuous paragraph at the end of an article listing items on council’s agenda for its July 23 meeting: “•authorization for the Fort Frances Power Corp. to prepare and deliver presentations on the matter of consolidation of Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) as proposed by the province.”

It will be hard to match the Olympic fever that swept across Canada when Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Games.