October 2024 Should Canada have mandatory voting? Well, that depends on whether we can better inform voters or not. Voting, whether it’s mandatory or not, rarely comes to any good if the voter is clueless to the important issues and the track record of the political candidate. Arguments have been made that getting to the …
Category Archive: Original Writing
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Park re-named in honour of young Provincial Constable killed in the line of duty
October 2024 On 27 December 2022, 28-year-old Provincial Constable Grzegorz “Greg” Pierzchala, a rookie member of the Ontario Provincial Police, Haldimand detachment, was shot and killed while responding to a report of a vehicle in a ditch near the Town of Hagersville. It was nothing short of an ambush attack, with Pierzchala not even having …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/park-re-named-in-honour-of-young-provincial-constable-killed-in-the-line-of-duty/
A tunnel under Highway 401 could work if done right
October 2024 Re: 401 tunnel study must not be an afterthought (Jay Goldberg, Toronto Sun, 5 October): While the proposed Highway 401 tunnel may be an obnoxiously expensive project for our already heavily-indebted province, one that has already shown itself unable to keep budgets and timelines in order, Premier Doug Ford’s tunnel idea could work. …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/a-tunnel-under-highway-401-could-work-if-done-right/
The ghosts of Century Manor – Victorian Gothic manor in Hamilton faces uncertain future
October 2024 It’s a striking Victorian Gothic manor, the only remnant of the long-closed Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital on Hamilton Mountain. Century Manor was built in 1884, originally as the East House for what was then called the Hamilton Asylum for the Insane, a provincial facility tasked with housing the criminally insane, like murderers, serial killers …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/the-ghosts-of-century-manor-victorian-gothic-manor-in-hamilton-faces-uncertain-future/
As You Like It, or Truth and Reconciliation hypocrisy
October 2024 I debated writing this column as I didn’t know if everyone would get the point I’m making here, but here it goes anyway. Now that the National Day for Insincerity and Hypocrisy, otherwise known as 30 September, is over, can we have an honest conversation about why this day is pretty much a …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/as-you-like-it-or-truth-and-reconciliation-hypocrisy/
Wilson’s Hill Cemetery – The final resting place of some of Simcoe County’s earliest pioneer settlers
September 2024 Cemeteries are like a window to the past and a reflection on the temporary nature of life. From peaceful gardens to majestic sculptures, cemeteries are only the final resting places for the deceased, but also sites of great architectural beauty and cultural significance. Walking through the rows of gravestones, you can see the …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/wilsons-hill-cemetery-the-final-resting-place-of-some-of-simcoe-countys-earliest-pioneer-settlers/
From agricultural to industrialism – The demise of Barrie Bell and the Barrie Carriage Company
September 2024 The southern Ontario city of Barrie has never been known as an automobile manufacturing city, unlike Detroit or Oshawa, but it was in Barrie that the short-lived Bell Motor Cars Company located on of their assembly plants. Bell Motor Cars Company was an automobile company, based in York, Pennsylvania, that operated from 1915-1922. Bell …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/from-agricultural-to-industrialism-the-demise-of-barrie-bell-and-the-barrie-carriage-company/
Ghosts of Hurleyville – The remains of the NYO&W Railway in the Catskills
September 2024 Prior to the automobile, and more so before improved roadways, the New York, Ontario and Western Railway (NYO&W) was the principle way to get to the Catskills. The Catskills resort and Bungalow boom, starting in the 1930s was made possible in a great way by the railways. The NYO&W was a regional railroad …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/ghosts-of-hurleyville-the-remains-of-the-nyow-railway-in-the-catskills/
Sullivan County’s historic bridges – The Stone Arch Bridge in Kenoza
September 2024 Arch bridges have been used for several thousands of years, going back to the Roman Empire. While true arches were known by Etruscans and ancient Greeks prior to their use by the Romans, it was the latter who realized their usefulness for bridge construction. Over the centuries, arch bridges have been built out …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/sullivan-countys-historic-bridges-the-stone-arch-bridge-in-kenoza/
A lone grave in Niagara’s countryside – The sad story of Mary Misoner
September 2024 In a rural area of Niagara Falls, Ontario, not far from the roar of water rushing over the iconic natural wonder, is a grave dedicated to a young pioneer woman who died not long after arriving in what was then Upper Canada, over two hundred years ago. Her grave is not hard to …
Permanent link to this article: https://militarybruce.com/a-lone-grave-in-niagaras-countryside-the-sad-story-of-mary-misoner/

