As winter desperately hangs on for another day, it seems appropriate to reflect on what was a very busy news week in Greater Sudbury.
Last week’s public meetings were held on the Kingsway event centre and the Gateway casino projects. The meetings brought out mostly opponents. It’s the nature of beast. I’ve been to dozens and dozens of these over my career. They’re built for criticism, not kudos. That said, I was impressed with the level of criticism that was brought to bear. It was intelligent, thoughtful, at times amusing.
Regardless your opinions on where an arena should go or whether the Nickel City really needs an expanded casino and all that that entails, Sudburians are engaged with this issue in a big way.
There is a long way to go, and the legal battle has yet to begin as opponents prepare to take their fight to the next level. If you’re already suffering event centre/casino fatigue, the next several months to a year are going to feel exceedingly long.
I want to commend city hall/political affairs reporter Darren MacDonald for the series of casino stories he prepared and which we published last week. MacDonald spent months researching and writing, and his exploration of the impact (both good and bad) casinos have on host communities is, we think, a valuable resource for the public and for decision-makers on what the best economists who study the issue have discovered through their work. If you missed the series, you can find all of the stories on Sudbury.com.
There’s a streak of antipathy to downtown Sudbury among some who would like to see the arena moved to The Kingsway. Many people feel averse to the visiting the core, citing homelessness issues, crime and violence, while those of us who live and work downtown don’t see the city centre the same way.
That aversion was buoyed on Sunday evening when Greater Sudbury Police officers opened fire on a man allegedly threatening people in the downtown transit terminal with a pair of knives. It’s unusual for city police to draw their weapons, let alone use them. We still know very little about the suspect or what precipitated the incident.
While the Special Investigations Unit looks into the shooting, most people who saw the cellphone video we published or who were at the transit terminal during the incident commended local police for their restraint in attempting to diffuse the situation without violence.
Criticisms of how police dealt with the man have been made, as should be expected. There’s commonality of opinion among those who feel police acted appropriately: police could have used deadly force, but didn’t; from the video police appeared to have few options but to shoot; had this incident occurred in the U.S., the suspect would be dead right now, not in hospital.
Unfortunately, incidents like these, unusual as they are (and this incident is quite unusual), re-inforce the idea in some people’s minds that downtown Sudbury is dangerous.
As well last week, Health Sciences North may or may not have cut 30 or so jobs. Another local media outlet ran a 30-second newscast and three-paragraph story that HSN cut some management jobs as it attempts to rein in a $10-million deficit.
Health Sciences North CEO Dominic Giroux would neither confirm nor deny jobs were cut. Numerous people have messaged Northern Life/Sudbury.com saying their job was cut or the job of someone they know was cut, but still, despite repeated attempts, the hospital simply refuses to answer questions about it.
Reporter Carol Mulligan, who began covering the hospital for Northern Life about a month ago, has been digging into the story. There’s some speculation HSN is waiting until later this month when the hospital board of directors is expected to approve the 2018-2019 budget before talking job cuts.
HSN is far from the only Ontario hospital struggling with its budget. Inadequate community resources, particularly in homecare, coupled with an aging Baby Boomer generation consuming more and more health-care services, means pressure on Ontario hospitals ramps up year over year. Ontario has been taking steps over the past four or five years to modernize the health-care system, but that’s like trying to turn an ocean-liner: it takes time, planning and a lot of room.
Ontario’s struggling hospitals can’t wait much longer though. Something has to give.
And one final note, this weekend local Legions, cadet corps, combat veterans and other officials will be honouring the 101st anniversary of Battle of Vimy Ridge. That event is being held Sunday afternoon, starting in Memorial Park (yes, downtown).
The parade will form up at 1:30 p.m. in Memorial Park. There will be a wreath-laying by the Parade Commanding Officer, Parade Commander and the Sergeant-At-Arms at 1:45 p.m., after which a pipe band will lead the parade and participants to the Church of the Epiphany for a service. The church service begins at 2 p.m.
The public is welcome.
You can find more details here. Hats off to those soldiers, their families and to all past and current servicemen and servicewomen for all they do, have done and will do.
Mark Gentili is the editor of Sudbury.com and Northern Life.
