Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Halloween 2022.
PPC’s Maxime Bernier talks populist politics in Sudbury
People’s Party of Canada founder Maxime Bernier spoke to a group of about 60 supporters in Sudbury on Saturday evening as part of a two-week tour of Northern Ontario. Bernier touched on many subjects during the two-hour event held in a small conference room at a local hotel, presenting a speech and then answering questions from audience members. Subjects addressed during the event included the PPC’s stance on COVID-19 health restrictions and vaccinations, transgender issues, climate change, abortion, multiculturalism, cryptocurrency, the war in Ukraine and more. Many supporters were kitted out in purple party merchandise purchased at the door, although one was spotted in a red “Make America Great Again” hat, and another in an anti-vaccination t-shirt. Bernier, a former Conservative Party of Canada MP, ran unsuccessfully for the Conservative party’s leadership in 2017. He then founded his own party, the People’s Party of Canada, in 2018. Read the full story here.
Education workers give official notice of potential province-wide strike
The union representing about 55,000 Ontario education workers has given five days' notice of a potential province-wide strike. The Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents staff including educational assistants, custodians and early childhood educators, says a strike could start as soon as Friday. A union spokesman says education workers will fully withdraw their services if a deal isn't reached with the provincial government. Two Ontario school boards have said they will close schools if education workers go on a full strike. Negotiations between the union and the province are scheduled to resume on Tuesday after sessions with a mediator last week broke down with both sides still far apart on wages. Learn more here.
Have lots of free time? Want to serve on Laurentian’s board?
Have you ever had a burning ambition to serve on Laurentian University’s board of governors? If that's the case, the board might entertain your offer. With only half of the board’s voting member positions currently filled, there are quite a few seats up for grabs right now, and the board is recruiting. In early 2021, Laurentian declared insolvency and filed for creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), making widespread cuts to its programs and employees in April of that year. The university hopes to exit the CCAA in November after creditors voted in favour of a debt plan. There has been considerable shake-up on Laurentian’s board since December, when 11 members stepped down as part of a provincial financial package, and five others were appointed. Several more people have left and joined the board since that time. Earlier this year, provincial changes to the Laurentian University Act reduced the number of voting members on Laurentian’s board from 25 down to 16. Laurentian currently only has eight voting members sitting on its board. Read the full story.
Poppy boxes distributed throughout Greater Sudbury
It’s poppy season, with the Royal Canadian Legion launching its annual poppy campaign throughout the country on Friday. Branch 76 in Minnow Lake hosted a ceremony on Friday marking the occasion, at which a poppy flag was raised and members were given their orders to distribute poppy boxes. Boxes will be planted at approximately 150 locations throughout the Minnow Lake and New Sudbury neighbourhoods alone, while other Legion branches will distribute boxes elsewhere. “People will be able to find our boxes at a lot of different locations,” poppy chair Bernadette Lamirande said, listing off various locations encompassing a wide variety of businesses. Members will be stationed at some locations with poppies spread throughout a table to reduce points of contact for COVID-related concerns, and local cadets will assist during the campaign’s second weekend. Those who pick up a poppy are expected to drop in a donation, with last year’s effort raising approximately $56,000 toward various causes, including Meals on Wheels and Cancer Care at Health Sciences North. A big goal coming up will be sponsoring a room at Maison McCulloch Hospice, which relies heavily on donations for its operations. Learn more here.
Area First Nations receive donations of used hockey equipment
Hockey-loving kids who live in First Nations communities in the Greater Sudbury and surrounding areas won’t be lacking for equipment this winter thanks to the Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive. Graham McWaters, a hockey dad from Richmond Hill, Ont., got the idea for the hockey equipment drive back in 2015. He was speaking to families from Beausoleil First Nation at a hockey tournament in nearby Midland, and learned they could use better equipment. After reaching out to his son’s hockey team for donations, they were able to pass on eight bags of equipment and numerous hockey sticks. The equipment drive has expanded from there, and over the past year, more than 1,000 bags of equipment, 150 sets of goalie pads and 500 sticks have been donated. They will be distributed to 40 First Nations communities. Each piece of equipment is looked over before it’s passed on to make sure it’s in good condition. “If we don’t think a helmet is safe, we throw it away,” McWaters said. For the first time, the Indigenous Hockey Equipment Drive giveaway has expanded to the Greater Sudbury area. McWaters was on hand at Northern Hockey Academy on Kelly Lake Road Saturday morning, handing out 150 bags of hockey equipment and 150 hockey sticks. Among the area communities receiving equipment were Henvey Inlet First Nation, Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, Wahnapitae First Nation, Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Taykwa Tagamou Nation (in the Cochrane area). Learn more here.
Halloween weather forecast:
Halloween day will be mainly cloudy. Clearing late in the morning. Fog patches dissipating near noon. High 13. UV index 3 or moderate. Halloween night there will be increasing cloudiness. Fog patches developing in the evening. Low 6.
