PROBUS CLUB OF KINGSTON October 2014 Newsletter Issue No. 198 P.O. Box 2255 Main Post Office Kingston, Ontario K7L 5J9 President Albert Clark 389-1276 Vice-President TBD Past President Mike McKeown 547-6568 Secretary Peter Barnett 530-3592 Assistant Secretary TBD Treasurer Peter Shragge 389-7465 Membership Chair Doug Hamilton 389-9628 Newsletter Editor Brian Rook 634-2510 Member-at-large Bill Patterson 546-4421 In the absence of President Albert, secretary Peter Barnett opened the first meeting of the new season at 10:00 a.m. on September 10, 2014 to an audience of approximately forty-five (45) members. After his morning smile, Peter announced that because the speaker had a later appointment in Toronto, he deferred the business part of the meeting until after the fellowship break to enable him (the speaker) to give a complete presentation. He then asked Mike McKeown to introduce our speaker, John Gerretsen. John began his talk by saying that having a career in politics is not the same as in other professions. First and foremost, you must be in the right place at the right time and have the right kind of support to succeed in the profession. He continued by saying that his political career began in the early 1970s, at the municipal level. He was elected as a Kingston Alderman in 1972, and remained on the City Council until 1980. John was elected Mayor of the city in 1980, being re-elected twice more before stepping down in 1988. After retiring from municipal politics, he served as the Chair of the Ontario Housing Corporation (1989–1992) and was a Deputy Judge in the province's Small Claims Court (1993–1995). He also became active in politics at the provincial and federal levels. John was an Executive Member of the Ontario Liberal Party's Kingston and the Islands riding association from 1989 to 1993, and was President of the Liberal Party of Canada's federal riding association from 1993 to 1995. John was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995 representing the riding of Kingston and the Islands. The election, however, was won by the Progressive Conservatives and he entered parliament as a member of the opposition, serving as Opposition Critic on Municipal Affairs and Housing and Chief Opposition Whip. In 1996, he ran to succeed Lyn McLeod as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. He was placed fifth out of seven candidates on the first ballot, and dropped out after the second ballot, giving his support to Dalton McGuinty, the eventual winner. (Continued on page 2) IMPORTANT NOTICES 1. Please note that the yearly fee of $50.00 is now due and payable. 2. The last date for payment of this fee is October 31, 2014. -1- John was re-elected in the 1999 provincial election. Although the Progressive Conservatives were again victorious across the province, he continued as Opposition Whip, and remained a vocal Liberal MPP for the next four years. The Liberal Party won the 2003 election with 72 seats out of 103, and John was re-elected in Kingston and the Islands with more than 60% support. He was named Minister of Municipal Affairs with responsibility for Seniors. John was the primary spokesperson for the McGuinty government in its controversial decision to permit further housing expansion on the Oak Ridges Moraine, despite an election promise not to do so. After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, the responsibility for Seniors Issues was transferred to another government minister. John was retained as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. In the 2007 election of October 10, 2007, the Liberal party won 70 seats to form another majority government, and John won re-election in Kingston and the Islands, with just less than 50 per cent support. He was reappointed to the Ontario Cabinet as Minister for the Environment. Soon after his appointment, John, a staunch environmentalist, brought about legislation that imposed fees on products sold in Ontario that could be recycled, rather than have them disposed of in landfill sites. On October 25, 2013, John announced that he would not be standing as a candidate in the next provincial election, bringing about more than forty (40) years of public service. In his closing remarks, John said that his crowning glory was to force through construction of a new hospital to replace the aging St Mary's of the Lake Hospital in Kingston. An interesting question and answer period followed the presentation. Peter thanked the speaker for an interesting talk and presented him with the customary book. He then called for a fellowship break. After the break, Peter announced that Mo Daniel would be retiring from the management team to which he had made an invaluable contribution. He took over the presidency in November 2011 for a period of one year, followed by a year as past-president. Since then he has been a very supportive member-at-large. Peter continued by saying that the club owes him a strong vote of thanks and stressed that we are now searching for a volunteer to replace him. Mo thanked the club for their support, adding that the management team would welcome new blood. Peter then asked the membership chair, Doug Hamilton, to report on the current state of the membership. He showed that the numbers have declined substantially over the last several years. He said that we must try to reverse the decline and asked every member to recruit a friend. Mike McKeown added that we must take Doug’s request seriously or risk the possibility of disbanding the Club. Peter followed by saying that the management committee believes the membership question is so serious that he had been asked to approach another club to suggest an amalgamation. Before closing the meeting and in a lighter vein, Peter gave two one-liners from this year's Comedy Fringe at the Edinburgh Festival: (1) I've decided to sell my Hoover . . . well, it was just collecting dust. (2) I was given some Sudoku toilet paper. It didn't work. You could only fill it in with number 1s and number 2s. NEXT MEETING Our next meeting will be held at 10.00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at the Travelodge Kingston LaSalle Hotel, 2360 Princess street (west of Sydenham road) Speaker: Dr. Robert Siemens Topic: Prostate Cancer -2- PROBUS CLUB OF KINGSTON SPEAKER PROGRAMME Name Topic Month Dr. Robert Siemens Prostate Cancer Oct. Dr. Robert Kisilevsky The Importance of Curiosity Research Nov. NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING The next committee meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, October 1, 2014 at the Cooke’s-Portsmouth United Church, 200 Norman Rogers drive, Kingston. PASSING OF MEMBER ALEC STEWART It is with sadness that the Club announces the passing of Alec Stewart. Alec was a longstanding member of the Club. He passed away peacefully on July 28, 2014 at the Kingston General Hospital at the age of 89. All Club members send their condolences to his family members. A HISTORY OF SPEAKERS AND TOPICS DURING THE 2013-14 SEASON Date Speaker Topic Sept 4 Louis Delvoie India: an emerging world power? Oct. 9 Dr. Duncan Sinclair The Canadian Healthcare System Nov. 13 Mr. Peter Milliken A Speaker’s Tale Jan. 8 Dr. R. Kerry Rowe Antarctic Environmental Clean-up Feb. 12 Douglas Knapp Hiking Trails in the Kingston Area Mar. 12 Meeting cancelled due to inclement weather ------------ April 9 Brigadier General Labbe NATO/Afghan Experience May 14 Ms. Peggy Plunket and Ms. Barb Kovach Hearing Loss and Solutions June 11 Dr. Sylvain Leblanc Computer Security PICK-ME-UP-FOR-PROBUS Members living east of Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, requiring a ride to Club meetings are asked to call Mike McKeown at 547-6568. Members living west of Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard, requiring a ride to Club meetings are asked to call Bob MacMillan at 389-8757. PROBUS WEBSITE For those who are on-line, go to the website www.probus.org and learn more about the PROBUS organization. SUBMISSIONS TO THE NEWSLETTER The editor welcomes submissions to the newsletter. To submit an article for publication, contact the editor at the telephone number shown on page 1 or by email at [email protected]. Please note that for submissions to be published in the next edition of the newsletter, they must be in the hands of the editor no later than the first Tuesday following a Club meeting. The editor reserves the right to change the text of any submission to fit the requirements of the newsletter. ***** -3-
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