Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Friday morning.
Mayor urges Montpellier to reach out to the police in alleged bribery
The allegation Ward 3 Coun. Gerry Montpellier was offered a “financial conflict of interest” to support the Kingsway Entertainment District is “very concerning,” Mayor Brian Bigger said. “These are extremely serious allegations,” Bigger said in a written statement that came in response to an interview request. “I urge the Councillor to reach out to the police so that this matter can be investigated immediately." Greater Sudbury integrity commissioner Robert Swayze confirmed Wednesday that he has received a complaint about the situation but hadn’t gotten to it yet so didn’t have anything further to say at that time. In a Facebook post last weekend, Montpellier alleged that he did not vote on the location for a new municipal arena in 2017 due to an “offered financial conflict of interest.” The councillor went on to write that he was “approached in person twice by Mr. A--- on behalf of the developer, and once by Mr. K-- who represented Gateway. “Being familiar with my business involvement and participation with Ontario and Michigan casinos, both suggested the opportunity to personally profit by supporting the Kingsway location,” he wrote. “This for myself as a city councilor is clearly unethical and cause to abstain.”
Kirwan calls for the city’s integrity commissioner to resign
Declaring he doesn’t think he has “ever felt as betrayed by anyone” in his entire life, Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan has called for Greater Sudbury’s integrity commissioner to resign. In a document he labelled as a guest column, Kirwan also asked for Swayze to retract a report to city council concerning his and his wife’s online activity and for Swayze to issue a public apology to his wife. “Mr. Swayze has committed a gross miscarriage of justice with his allegations against my wife and I,” Kirwan said, pledging to “provide proof of multiple false and misleading facts and statements being presented by Mr. Swayze in his report” during Tuesday’s city council meeting. The report in question references a complaint made to Swayze’s office that a fake account was created using the fictional name of “Jessie Timmons” to post on the Valley East public group Facebook page, which Kirwan moderates with his wife, Valerie.
Three charged after aggravated assault on Murray Street
Greater Sudbury Police are reporting that shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, they received a call regarding an assault in the area of Murray Street in the city’s Flour Mill neighbourhood. Information provided was that individuals could be heard fighting and that someone had been stabbed. Upon arrival, officers located a 43-year-old woman who had sustained what appeared to be stab wounds and a 43-year-old man who had sustained injuries as a result of being punched and kicked. Both individuals were transported to hospital by City of Greater Sudbury Paramedic Services with non-life-threatening injuries. Just after 10:40 p.m, officers located the three individuals in the area of Bond Street and Percy Street and arrested them. A 19-year-old and two 21-year-olds have been charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose in relation to this matter. ll three individuals were held in police custody overnight in order to attend Bail Court on Sept. 9 to answer to the charges.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation won't be an Ontario provincial holiday
The Ontario government says the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day will not be a provincial public holiday this year. The federal bill creating the federal statutory holiday to commemorate the tragic legacy of residential schools in Canada received royal assent in June and made Sept. 30 the first annual national day for truth and reconciliation. The statutory holiday will be for employees in the federal government and federally regulated workplaces. A statement from the province said Ontario is “working in collaboration with Indigenous partners, survivors, and affected families to ensure the respectful commemoration of this day within the province, similar to Remembrance Day.” Employers and employees could agree to treat this day as a statutory holiday, the statement added.
Porter and Air Canada Rouge return to the skies months after COVID-19 groundings
Porter Airlines and Air Canada Rouge flights have resumed for the first time in months after being grounded by COVID-19 public health and travel restrictions. Porter flights to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Thunder Bay are the first to restart, followed by other Canadian destinations such as Halifax, Quebec City, St. John's and Moncton, N.B. within the next 10 days. Boston, Chicago, New York and Washington return Sept. 17 while other year-round destinations will resume Oct. 6. The Toronto-based airline is recalling hundreds of workers as the resumption of operations accelerate following a nearly 18-month grounding. Porter says it has enhanced its health standards with high levels of sanitization to protect passengers and employees. Employees must be fully vaccinated or present negative COVID-19 tests administered within 72 hours of the start of their shift. Air Canada's leisure airline, Rouge, resumed service on Tuesday with flights between Toronto and Las Vegas, Orlando and Regina, with other southern destinations being added in September.
Michael and Luna on coast-to-coast journey to revive Scottish forestry
Michael Yellowlees, a Scottish man and walking enthusiast, is trekking coast-to-coast across Canada by foot. It has taken him six months to walk to Sudbury from Tofino, B.C., but he still has a ways to go until his final destination: Cape Spear, Nfld. He’s not doing it alone either; his faithful canine companion Luna is joining him on the journey. And he’s doing it for a cause. Through a JustGiving fundraising campaign, Yellowlees is raising money for Trees for Life, a rewilding charity based in Scotland. ‘Rewilding,’ as described by the organization Rewilding Europe, “is a progressive approach to conservation. It's about letting nature take care of itself, enabling natural processes to shape land and sea, repair damaged ecosystems and restore degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.” “Scotland is my home land and I do a lot of walking back home and it’s actually a very sad landscape, a very broken ecosystem. Actually in the last five or six years I found out that Scotland used to be forested. From coast to coast, it used to spread all over Scotland,” Yellowlees told Sudbury.com in an interview. To follow Michael and Luna for the rest of their walk, visit the Facebook page here.
New salads kits sold in Central, Eastern Canada added to recall
Curation Foods is adding to an ongoing recall of Eat Smart Chopped Salad kits due to a possible Listeria contamination. The recall covers a number of different varieties and sizes ranging from 283g to 680g, with a best before date of Sept. 10. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the salad kits were sold in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec, and possibly nationally. There have been no reports of any illnesses linked to the product. Food contaminated with Listeria may not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick. Symptoms can include nausea, fever, muscle aches, severe headache and neck stiffness, and in some cases even death.
A mostly sunny day in store for the region
Expect a mostly sunny day in the Nickel City for your Friday. Fog patches will dissipate over the morning. Today’s high will be 19, with a UV index of five, or moderate. The forecast calls for increasing cloudiness early in the afternoon, but clearing in the evening. There will be fog patches overnight and a low of 11.
