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Letters: Paris feels growing pains

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Paris feels growing pains

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The medical condition growing pains refers to “pains in the limbs during childhood and youth, thought to be caused by growing and rapid stretching of the body, nerves, muscles and bones”.

Paris, though definitely not in its childhood, is today experiencing growing pains. For many residents our roads and downtown are straining under the number of cars and people using them and new residential developments or infrastructure improvements are everywhere.

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Paris is rapidly growing and being stretched. Growth is being driven by provincial edict and an accelerating movement of people from larger urban centres.

Recall your own childhood/youth – growing up physically takes some years, personalities develop, interests change, mindsets are challenged and change, and experience is gained. As residents of Paris we need to accept that Paris will also take some years to grow up and we will experience further growing pains.

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We cannot live in the past but we can work to preserve and protect our heritage going forward and expect solutions to growth that reflect our small town character and alleviate undue stress on our systems. The county must bring forward creative and thoughtful solutions, the community must learn to accept change, and collectively we must work to sensibly grow Paris, incorporating community input but also recognizing the continuing importance of tourism and industry to our local economy.

The proposed downtown master plan, when executed, will build on and retain Paris’s natural charm whilst increasing safety, functionality and the sustainability of the downtown. A variety of plans and studies, again when executed, will address such things as flood protection, better traffic and servicing infrastructure, and more recreational, healthcare and cultural facilities – all of these will make for a better served Paris and county. But it can’t be done overnight.

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Let’s demonstrate tolerance and patience as we grow while equally expecting measured progress and strong municipal leadership. Let’s also accept that continually looking backwards will not address the future of Paris.

Let’s accept our growing pains – “no pain, no gain” – as the saying goes.

John Bell, Paris

Problems started before pandemic

Re: Ontario Liberal leader meets with local business leaders

The Liberal leader states he heard “heart-breaking stories” about long-term care residents and staff left with no support because of the pandemic, yet many of these same problems were reported numerous times in this very same newspaper before the pandemic.

Considering all the years this province was under the so-called leadership of previous Liberal premiers McGuinty and Wynne most of the complaints were never addressed.

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It was also under the Liberals that physiotherapy and chiropractic visits were removed from OHIP, which put a further strain on many seniors’ health and financial situations.

Steve Whines, Brantford

Freedoms eroded

Our democracy is a joke. When was the last time you heard public debate about the COVID measures and their disastrous impact on our society and economy? It’s not COVID that has crippled us, but the government’s response to it.

Where is the official opposition to the outrageous trampling of our rights and liberties by all levels of government – federal, provincial, and municipal?

The point is it doesn’t exist. It has been muzzled along with the mask-wearing citizenry.

This makes our democracy a sham. Freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and even freedom to earn our daily bread are now history.

But there’s not a peep of protest, only mindless compliance as we hurtle toward the cliff’s edge and tumble into outright dictatorship.

Werner Broschinski,

Princeton

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