Free Press Advocate makes provincial debut
with rallying cry                                                                         
                                                                                                                        September 16, 2004
By Karen Secord
Ottawa Valley News

Rural residents from across the province of Ontario have a new place to vent their frustrations.

The Free Press Advocate made its debut in mailboxes along rural routes in much of Ontario over the past week. The West Carleton Rural Association (WCRA) alone delivered nearly 3,500 copies. And a network of supporters from groups such as the Rural Council, the Lanark Landowners Association, Voice of Central Ontario, and the Glanbrook Freedom Train distributed thousands more.

“There is a critical need for this province-wide rural voice of the Free Press Advocate to provide a rally point to enable the rural communities of Ontario to come together and push back at the growing threat of government,” says a statement from the WCRA.

According to editor Doug Clark, the Free Press Advocate is a monthly paper with one objective – to revive “informed consent as a forum for political dissent for those denied a voice in how they are governed.”

“Good people doing nothing is more dangerous than even the most blatant abuses of power-mad autocrats,” notes Clark in his inaugural editorial.

The effect of “myopic” urban policies, a sewage pipeline the Richmond Village Association says is environmentally unsound, de-amalgamation, and provincial water regulations are all topics tackled in the first issue.

Seed money for the venture has been augmented by $50 subscriptions to get the project up and running.

The paper is produced in North Gower. The introductory issue can be viewed at www.freepressadvocate.ca

Ottawa Valley News