Bill Payment was born and raised in Cornwall and attended St. Lawrence High School in the 1950's. The retired Chartered Commercial Mediator of more than 20 years has lived in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and most notably Vancouver - but now lives back in his hometown of Cornwall. Bill will be making regular contributions to OurHometown.ca on topics such as politics, local happenings, sports and the good old days. For those of you who know Bill, you know that he is never shy on opinion.

Mar. 7, 2012: There has been a lot of justified concern about "bullying" especially in the schools and "social networks". Generally, the schools have been taking heat about it but I picked up a story recently about a school and especially a Principal who handled it so well it bears repeating. FULL STORY

Feb. 20, 2012: The comments by Vic Toews in Parliament this week - "You either stand with us or with child pornographers" is such a bonehead redneck remark it makes your head spin! Even worse he was angry when he said it. I guess if you don’t agree with me you are on the side of the bad guys. FULL STORY

Feb. 11, 2012: A lot of talk about changes to Old Age Security (OAS) lately and all it has done is scare the bejesus out of we seniors. The people who need this money - and they number in the millions - need this to get by not to go to Florida in the winter. FULL STORY

Jan. 31, 2012: I have been pretty open about being a small 'c' Conservative, but the true stripe of the Reform Party now in power is starting to come out. Stephen Harper is starting to reveal his ideology on a lot of things. Ideology be damned just take care of my business. If conservatism is now being defined by the Reform Party, than I am done. FULL STORY

Jan. 17, 2012: A short comment on this big pipe line debate. Now it would be nuts not to acknowledge that preserving the environment is very important and putting toxins in the air is unacceptable. What is happening now is there a strong group saying that the pipeline has to be killed because it MAY have a spill and do some damage. No kidding! FULL STORY

Jan. 4, 2012: It looks like the Occupy people were on to something when you see in recent news that the average earning level for Canadians is $44,000.00 and change and the average CEO makes $8.4 million. By noon Tuesday, the CEO had earned what the rest would earn in a year. FULL STORY

Nov. 27, 2011: What set me off this time is the news that the control freaks in the PMO are now requiring the RCMP to vet news releases through their office for approval. The power of the PMO and Stephen Harper is way over the line and we have to do something to get the action back to the local ridings. FULL STORY

Nov. 9, 2011: This probably a waste of breath but I see severance packages and pensions for elected officials has reared its ugly head again. All that aside it may surprise you to know I am in favour of both pensions and severance packages. Folks, we owe them a package. FULL STORY

Oct. 27, 2011: Well another year of CFL Hall of Fame inductions and still no Moe Racine. Trying to make contact is pretty well impossible, so I can't tell you how or who does the selections. Getting on to their website I was able to see that Moe's was on the list of eligible as of March 2011. FULL STORY

Oct. 9, 2011: My docter agreed to arrange a referral to the Shouldice Hospital in Toronto which was recommended to me by at least six people. The letter said I would not be accepted until I got my weight down to 190lbs. Well well thats 40 lbs away. I emailed back and explained at my age [70s] that was not possible. FULL STORY