Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your weekend.
Hundreds gather to support truckers’ convoy as it passes through Greater Sudbury area
Offering messages of love and support, hundreds of people gathered today to wish Convoy to Ottawa 2022 the best as they made their way through the Greater Sudbury area. A group of a couple hundred people came together at Jeremy’s Truck Stop at Nairn Centre west of Sudbury to cheer on the convoy, while others gathered at other locations along its path. Passing trucks were cheered on while an Indigenous drum circle of women from various area communities offered participants their prayers. The convoy is made up of truck drivers and their supporters who oppose vaccine mandates, particularly those in place at the Canada/U.S. border. Holding a sign that read “Thank U / Peace Love,” Sudburian Louise Grise said that she’s someone who likes to be positive and that the division happening in society is not working. “You just have to let people do what they want to do,” she said, adding that all this piling on one another isn’t doing anyone any good.
Laurentian says it will ‘comply with all of its legal obligations' after Speaker’s warrant decision
Laurentian University says it will “comply with all of its legal obligations” following a court decision on the Speaker’s warrant released earlier this week. The university declared insolvency and filed for creditor protection and court-supervised restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) nearly one year ago, on Feb. 1, 2021. Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz, the judge that has heard most matters related to LU’s insolvency over the past year, released his decision Jan. 26 regarding Laurentian’s request for a stay of a Speaker’s warrant issued by the Ontario legislature last month. The Speaker’s warrant compels Laurentian to produce a long list of documents, including privileged documents, by Feb. 1, or next Tuesday. Morawetz denied Laurentian’s full request for the stay, but did grant a limited stay related to certain documents related to LU’s insolvency restructuring that are covered by court orders. This limited stay “is in effect pending a determination of whether the issuance of the Speaker’s Warrants” as related to certain documents covered by court orders “falls within the scope and extent of the Legislative Assembly’s parliamentary privilege,” said Morawetz’s decision.
Warming centre plagued with disorganization, lack of leadership and resources, outreach workers say
While those in charge of the warming centre at 199 Larch Street do not wish to comment on a recent Sudbury.com story about the conditions there, the outreach workers who have interacted with the centre are backing up the claims of staffing issues, and the potential for unsafe situations for both staff and guests. Earlier this month, Sudbury.com visited the warming centre, which is located in a lower level of Tom Davies Square (and funded by the city while being operated by the Sudbury Action Centre for Youth, a.k.a SACY). Several sources in the outreach community shared their concerns with us that the facility had problems. In particular, we were told of issues with staffing, cleanliness and access to Narcan (a medication that stops an opioid overdose), issues that were putting the safety of centre staff and clients at risk. After efforts to arrange a visit didn’t pan out (several messages went unreturned), this reporter visited the centre unannounced at night. Our sources said the warming centre was a far different place once the sun went down. You can read about that visit here. In short, what Sudbury.com witnessed during our visit supported what our sources said. Now, we’ve gone back to those sources to share more of what they’ve seen at the SACY-operated warming centre.
Financial help coming for property owners to remove lead pipes
In an effort to remove a financial barrier to the public’s health, the city is launching a lead pipe removal incentive program in the third quarter of this year. Although the city removes what few lead pipes they discover underground as soon as they’re uncovered, the private side of the equation is up to property owners who oftentimes do not replace their lead pipes with a safer material. Lead toxicity is now known to cause “reduced cognition, increased blood pressure and renal dysfunction in adults, as well as neurodevelopmental and behavioral effects in children including reductions in intelligence quotient (IQ) scores,” the report says, noting there are no safe levels of lead. “At this point, we haven’t had a record-keeping system that’s able to quantify the number of lead services currently still in the ground on the private side,” Beam said, adding that despite this, it doesn’t appear to be a “significant issue.” Even so, the incentive program, which was unanimously approved by city council during 2022 budget deliberations last month, strives to help remove whatever lead pipes remain on private property that are pumping drinking water to Sudburians. The program will include a grant of up to $3,000 for private service replacement, a loan of up to $10,000 repayable over 10 years and an option for property owners to benefit from both of these incentives.
Ontario to begin resuming non-urgent surgeries on Monday
Some surgeries paused due to a surge in COVID-19 cases in Ontario will start resuming next week, when businesses shuttered by public health measures can reopen their doors, as the province's top doctor sends a message about learning to live with the virus. Non-urgent surgeries were put on hold in early January to preserve hospital capacity, affecting an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 procedures a week. But with public health indicators now suggesting the Omicron wave is cresting, the procedures will be allowed to resume in stages. The first phase will include pediatrics, diagnostic services, and cancer screenings. It takes effect Monday, the same day social gathering limits will increase and businesses such as restaurants, gyms and cinemas can reopen with capacity limits.
Don't hoard, don't panic: any food shortage is very temporary, says expert
You might have noticed an inconsistent shortage of some items in grocery stores recently, where store A is missing one product and store B is missing another. There’s no reason to panic, says Simon Somogyi, a University of Guelph professor who studies food business and value chain management. He said the shortages of items are a result of many factors at play that include weather and trucks. Finding the product you’re looking for could be as simple as going to another store, he said. “We're not going to go to a period of mass shortages of a lot of products. It's going to be specific products over a time frame of a number of weeks,” said Somogyi, director of the Longo's Food Retail Laboratory and Arrell Chair in the business of food at the U of G. “We are just compounded by this perfect storm of bad winter weather and Omicron absenteeism in stores and food processing as well. So there isn't a huge amount that we can do in the short term. I think as consumers we just have to be smart about what we buy.” He said the recent cold weather and snowstorms slowed the supply of food to local stores.
Read the full story on the Sudbury.com homepage.
Chilly weather for the last weekend in January
Saturday there will be a mix of sun and cloud. Wind up to 15 km/h. High of -13 C. Wind chill -40 C in the morning and -19 C in the afternoon. Frostbite in minutes. UV index 1 or low. Saturday night expect increasing cloudiness, with a low of -18 C. Sunday will be cloudy with a high of -11 C. Sunday night there will be cloudy periods with a low of -17 C.