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08_V1_WAT_Aug31 8 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • Th ursday, August 31, 2017 Serving your community since 1856 WATERLOO CHRONICLE 630 Riverbend Drive, Unit 104 Kitchener, Ontario N2K 3S2 519-579-7166 Fax: 519-579-2029 www.waterloochronicle.ca Donna LUELO PUBLISHER EDITORIAL Bob VRBANAC EDITOR ext. 2305 bvrbanac@waterloochronicle.ca Adam JACKSON REPORTER ext. 2308 Twitter: @KWAdamJ ajackson@waterloochronicle.ca Samantha BEATTIE REPORTER ext. 2229 Twitter: @Samantha_KB sambeattie@waterloochronicle.ca Joy STRUTHERS REPORTER ext. 2308 Twitter:@struthersjoy jstruthers@waterloochronicle.ca ADVERTISING 519-579-7166 SALES LEAD Michelle STEVENS, ext. 2232 mstevens@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Cassandra DELLOW, ext. 2306 cdellow@waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Aaron MURRAY, ext. 2304 amurray@kitchenerpost.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVE Paula GARCEAU, ext. 2303 pgarceu@kitchenerpost.ca CLASSIFIED 1-800-263-6480 CIRCULATION 519-894-3000 Canadian Publications Mail Sales Publication Agreement Number 40050478 International Standard Serial Number ASSN 0832-3410 Audited Circulation: 31,292 The Waterloo Chronicle is published each Thursday by Metroland Media Group Ltd. ONTARIO PRESS COUNCIL The Waterloo Chronicle is a member of The Ontario Press Council, which considers complaints against mem- ber newspapers. Any complaint about news, opinions advertising or conduct should first be taken to the newspaper. Unresolved complaints can be brought to: Ontario Press Council, 2 Carlton Street, Suite 1706, Toronto, ON., M5B 1J3. COPYRIGHT The contents of this newspaper are protected by copyright and may be used only for personal non-com- mercial purposes. All other rights are reserved and commercial use is pro- hibited. To make any use of this mate- rial you must first obtain the permis- sion of the owner of the copyright. For further information contact Bob Vrbanac, Managing Editor, Waterloo Chronicle, 630 Riverbend Drive, Suite 104, Kitchener, Ontario N2J 3H8. LETTERS POLICY Letters to the editor must contain the writer's full name, address and tele- phone number. Addresses and tele- phone numbers are used only for veri- fication purposes. Names will not be withheld. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject any contribution for brevity or legal purposes. Letters may be submitted by email to editorial@water- loochronicle.ca. Suburban Newspapers of America VIEWPOINT WATERLOO CHRONICLE CHRONICLE EDITORIAL One of the things I did on my recent trip to the east coast was visit the grave sites of my wife's ancestors. Th at's where we found out- Tara's family had started their Canadian journey in P.E.I. before eventually settling in South Branch in New Bruns- wick. There was talk that one of her ancestors, Ebenezer War- ren, might have jumped ship while serving in the British army during the War of 1812. The more likely explana- tion was that he was an United Empire Loyalist who stayed true to the crown during the Revo- lutionary War in 1776 and was granted land for his fealty. When the farming proved tough on the island, and New Brunswick and Nova Scotia off ered incentives to settle land on the continent, he apparently jumped at the chance. We'll never know for sure what his true motivations were, but one thing we know from his grave maker was his timelines that put the War of 1812 story to rest. While we were having those discussions with the family his- torian, Jeff , we were also snap- ping photos of the gravestones to keep a visual document. In total, we visited three cemeteries , including one with my wife's Irish Catholic ances- tors that let us surmise their entry into Canada came around the same time as the Irish Pota- to Famine from 1845 to 1852. The Markeys were appar- ently related to everyone else in the cemetery, including a distant Robertson cousin who was recently interred. We took multiple pictures of those head- stones to establish timelines and family links with the hopes of piecing them together some- day. I couldn't imagine what we would have done if the munici- pality or church authorities insisted that we get their per- mission to take photos before visiting. We would have never thought to ask, since we were only visiting family and only had about a half a day to do it due to our schedule. Th at's exactly what the City of Waterloo was asking people to do with a little item slipped into their cemetery bylaws ear- lier this summer. People would have had to ask cemetery officials for per- mission to photograph or video tape before visiting the site. Th is struck a lot of people as particu- larly bureaucratic considering that no one on council or on city staff could recount any com- plaints or concerns raised. And obviously the dearly departed have failed to raise any qualms. If they did that would have been a whole other story. Thankfully, common sense prevailed Monday night as council tweaked the changes to read city managers can respond to concerns raised about deco- rum. People mourn in mysteri- ous ways, but this restriction seemed beyond the pale. Plus the dead don't seem to care as much as long as the living keep visiting. No cemetery paparazzi ban derailed There are many of us who have enjoyed the conges-tion-free rides to work this summer and noticed that we're probably getting to where we're going earlier than normal. That's about to change after the Labour Day weekend when the back to school rush is in full force and the kids are on their way to class by foot, bike, bus or the good old reliable mom and dad chauff euring them around. Th at will add to the traffi c and the general business that most motorists experience. We're asked by local police and safety offi cials to readjust our summer driving habits and take a better look around, Be aware of the fact there are more children on sidewalks and at crossings and crosswalks. Most kids should know the rules about crossing, but as responsible motorists we should make sure we do our part and give them ample time and room to get through. Bicycles are allowed on our roadways and in fact munici- palities are bending over backwards to make sure that most regular thoroughfares are accessible to cyclists. Th at means giving them a metre-and-a-half cushion where you can, and waiting patiently behind them if you can't. Th e only ones that lose by your misjudgment of how much space you are leaving, are the people who aren't travelling in thousands of pounds of aluminum and steel. Buses will also make a more frequent appearance on our streets, and we have to yield to let them in and stop when the safety arm is out on the yellow school buses. A video of how many near misses we had last year prompted regional offi cials to investigate if they should include cameras on all local school buses, but costs derailed the plan. Just because somebody isn't watching doesn't mean that drivers should be extra vigilant themselves. Leave early and give yourself more time to get there. It could save a life. Back to the safety routine BOBBY'S WORLD BOB VRBANAC