Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to get you started on this Friday morning.
Indigenous land acknowledgment being drafted for Greater Sudbury city meetings
An Indigenous land acknowledgment could soon grace the beginning of all Greater Sudbury city council and committee meetings. During Tuesday’s city council meeting, Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre introduced a motion to have a land acknowledgement drafted alongside Indigenous partners before the end of the year. The brief statement is expected to be read before meetings in the new year and, according to Lapierre’s motion, will “provide a time for reflection and demonstrate recognition of Indigenous lands, treaties and peoples.” “There are quite a few municipalities that have adopted this,” Lapierre said during Tuesday’s meeting. ”When I read some of their wording it didn’t quite have the same … meaning that maybe our partners here, our Indigenous people locally around Sudbury, would like to work with.” Ian Wood, the city’s executive director of Strategic Initiatives, Communications and Citizen Service, has been charged with reaching out to Indigenous partners to draft a statement. “I want this to be meaningful,” Lapierre said. “I don’t want this to be just another process that we do.”
Wahnapitae First Nation chief hopes Sept. 30 will be a day of reflection, prayer
Sept. 30 marks the first National Truth and Reconciliation day in Canada, adding to the celebration of Orange Shirt Day that has been a part of the day since 2013. But it may be a different celebration for Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people. For one, it is about reflecting and acknowledging the past and changing the future. For Chief Larry Roque of Wahnapitae First Nation, it is a day to come together. “Personally, I see this day as an opportunity to come together to honour the children and pray for those who suffered through the difficult times of residential schools,” said Roque, “and to pray for those who lost children to the residential schools.” Roque told Sudbury.com that with the rising number of remains, both of children and adults, at residential school sites across the country, the day is even more important. “With the numbers rising it makes it even more important to honour the children who survived the residential schools and to remember those who didn’t, '' said Roque. “It is a day to raise awareness of the residential school experience and to ensure Every Child Matters.” For non-Indigenous Canadians, Roque sees the day as an opportunity for learning. “Ideally, it should be a day to learn and acknowledge the history of Canada’s Indigenous people,” said Roque. “It should be an opportunity to read the treaties and learn about the realities of the residential schools. At the end of the day, Canadians should have a better understanding of and respect for our beliefs, our culture and our way of life.”
Legal costs associated with the KED have cost the city approximately $850K
Legal challenges associated with the Kingsway Entertainment District have cost the City of Greater Sudbury approximately $850,000 to date. This, city solicitor Kelly Gravelle clarified at Tuesday’s city council meeting, does not include an ongoing legal challenge by the Minnow Lake Restoration Group, which has come at a cost of approximately $5,000 to this stage of proceedings. The city’s legal expenses perhaps most notably includes a legal challenge that reached the Local Planning Appeals Tribunal, which dismissed all appeals of the project late last year. "It's ended up exactly how I felt it would and should end up,” Mayor Brian Bigger said at the time. “So basically none of the appeals raised against the KED in either Superior Court or the LPAT appeals were valid." Gateway Casinos & Entertainment and the developer have also enlisted their own lawyers, whose associated costs are separate from whatever the city has paid.
Northern doc banned from issuing vaccine exemptions, prescribing unproven COVID treatments
Northern Ontario physician Dr. Patrick Brian Phillips has not yet had a formal disciplinary hearing into allegations that he is spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccination process, but the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) has put some hard restrictions in place that will affect Phillips' medical practise. Phillips lives in Englehart and has practiced medicine in Englehart, Kirkland Lake and Nipigon. Phillips was named by the CPSO for allegedly engaging in social media communications between August 2020 and September 2021 regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and related issues such as public health measures and vaccines. Phillips has been ordered to respond to a disciplinary tribunal, which will be held at some point in the future. Besides accusing health-care professionals of assault for recommending people be vaccinated. The college has also ordered Phillips to stop issuing vaccine and mask exemptions, and to cease prescribing unproven COVID-19 treatments like the anti-parasitic drug Ivermectin.
Deal struck for federated university employees also owed money by LU
A “consensual resolution” has been reached regarding how money owed to employees of the former federated universities and other third parties enrolled in Laurentian University’s retiree benefits plan should be calculated. In August, a methodology was approved for compensating the estimated 1,200 current, former and retired university employees owed money as a result of the university’s insolvency and restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA). However, that approval set aside a certain subsection of the employee group, as there was a dispute related to how what they’re owed would be calculated. Besides the Laurentian employees, also owed money are current and former employees of certain third-party entities — such as Thorneloe and Huntington universities, and the University of Sudbury, and SNOLAB. The RHBP was terminated April 30 as part of Laurentian’s restructuring, thus the money owing to past and present employees of both Laurentian and the aforementioned “third party” participants. Ernst & Young, the firm that’s acting as the court-appointed monitor of Laurentian’s insolvency, addressed the situation in its latest report, filed Sept. 28. The matter is expected to be dealt with in an Oct. 1 court hearing.
Video: Newcomers are bringing new flavours from uncommon veggies to Sudbury
A new project at Collège Boréal’s Applied Research Centre for Biodiversity could change the way Sudburians, both newcomers and long-time residents, will enjoy vegetables in Northern Ontario. Johnny Kashama is the manager of an applied research project at the Boréal greenhouses growing vegetables that newcomers enjoy that may not be available here, as well as new ways to eat existing vegetables — just different parts of the plant. The hope is to not only offer new opportunities to farmers, like the chance to grow and sell a more diverse range of vegetables that will often fetch a higher price, like okra and amaranth, but also to use new parts of plants that they are already growing in their fields — like the very delicious bean and pumpkin leaves featured in the video above. Kashama hopes to offer training in the best growing conditions and even harvesting to local growers and will be creating videos and recipes to help Sudburians add new ingredients to their favourite dishes, without needing a new pantry to do so. Join host Jenny Lamothe and videographer Eden Suh as they visit with Kashama and learn (and taste) the uncommon vegetables he's growing.
Ontario COVID-19 modelling examines long-term effects of virus
Ontario’s latest COVID-19 modelling shows that hospitalizations and ICU occupancy are stable as officials examine how the long-term effects of the virus will vary in certain people. Ontario’s Science Advisory board says high vaccination rates remain integral in control over case growth and continued public health measures. Further, the science table says vaccine coverage is growing slowly, with a higher cumulative number of vaccinated individuals over a seven-day average. “About 1 in 10 individuals with COVID-19 infection will continue to have symptoms lasting more than 12 weeks (estimated 57,000 to 78,000 individuals in Ontario based on data up to August 2021),” the science advisory board writes. The most common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, pain, anxiety and depression, trouble thinking and concentrating, also known as brain fog. The science table says vaccines reduce the risk of infection by 85 per cent and diminish the chance of developing “Long COVID-19” in breakthrough infections by about 50 per cent. They also say that residents who contract the virus and produce long-term effects could lead to an increased incidence of new chronic conditions, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease and the “severe impairment of home-life and day to day activities for some individuals.”
Some sun possible today and a high of 20
Expect a mainly cloudy day for your Friday with the sun peeking through occasionally. Fog patches will dissipate over the morning. Wind will be out of the southwest at 20 km/h late in the morning. Today’s high is 20 with a UV index of four, or moderate. Tonight, expect some showers with an overnight low of 12.
