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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.
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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
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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
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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 blrook1@cogeco.ca. 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.
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