Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Thursday morning.
MPP’s West, Gélinas table anti-scab legislation for 16th time
The Ontario NDP party announced today they are reintroducing legislation to ban the use of replacement or ‘scab’ workers. It is the 16th time they have tabled such legislation. Led by Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas and Sudbury MPP and Labour Critic, Jamie West, union representatives and workers spoke to the issues of replacement workers at a press conference on March 29. “The reality is that scabs prolong strikes and they prolong lockouts,” said West, adding that scab workers give employers little incentive to reach a fair deal. He said “98 per cent of labor disputes are resolved at the bargaining table, 98 per cent of labor disputes are resolved without any work stoppage at all, and bringing in scab replacement workers artificially lengthens an even smaller portion of the two per cent of labor disputes that have used them.” West also spoke of his time as a striking worker in 2009. “I know what it's like to be on strike, I spent a year of my life on strike. And I know what it's like to have our labor dispute unnecessarily extended because of the use of scab replacement workers,” he said.
Province invests $730K to upgrade education equipment in Sudbury
Ontario said it is spending $730,000 for Cambrian College and NOSM University to provide upgraded equipment and infrastructure to help ensure those schools have the most modern equipment and learning tools "so students receive the high-quality education and training they need to succeed in the workforce.” Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, who is also the Ontario minister for economic development and job creation, made the announcement March 22 “This support will ensure students at Cambrian College, and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine University’s Sudbury campus have access to the latest instructional tools and equipment to meet business and industry standards,” said MPP Vic Fedeli. “By investing in the renewal and modernization of post-secondary infrastructure, we are supporting the growth of the economy right here in Sudbury and ensuring students get the knowledge and skills they need to get good-paying jobs.”
City development charge hike of almost 10% ‘harsh,’ says Leduc
With the city’s development charges scheduled to jump by 9.9 per cent effective July 1, Ward 11 Coun. Bill Leduc said he’d prefer to see a much lower price hike. “I find that increase harsh,” he told his colleagues during Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting. “I don’t want to stall our construction industry.” The development charge hike follows last year’s increase of 17.2 per cent, creating a two-year total increase of more than 27 per cent. Last year, Leduc put forward an unsuccessful motion to limit that year’s increase to 4.4 per cent. He spoke up against this year’s increase as well, but didn’t introduce a motion on Tuesday. “I was hoping to get some support last night,” he told Sudbury.com after the meeting, adding that when it became obvious this year’s attempt would again fail, he didn’t bring forward a motion. “We’ve got to look at all our bylaws, because this is what’s preventing us from doing a lot of things that need to be done.”
Wolves lace up Thursday for Round 1 of the OHL playoffs
The Sudbury Wolves are sharpening their fangs to take on the Peterborough Petes in Round 1 of the OHL playoffs. The Wolves went 7-4-1 to cap off the season in March and move themselves up the standings. The best-of-seven series against the Petes gets underway this week. The Wolves have a season record of three wins and one loss against Peterborough this season. The schedule for the series is as follows: Game 1: Thursday, March 30th, 2023 at 7:05 PM at Peterborough; Game 2: Friday, March 31st, 2023 at 7:05 PM at Peterborough; Game 3: Tuesday, April 4th, 2023 at 7:05 PM at Sudbury, and; Game 4: Wednesday, April 5th, 2023 at 7:05 PM at Sudbury.
Cul-de-sac snow clearing proves challenging for city crews
Cul-de-sacs aren’t the easiest streets to clear snow from, with almost 100 people complaining about snow removal on the circular streets in January. This is roughly double the 2018-2022 January average for complaints, prompting Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent to raise the issue during this week’s operations committee meeting. A cul-de-sac resident himself, he said the city does a decent job of snow-clearing in his community, but that some residents have contacted him “repeatedly” with concerns. “It seems to be a very popular choice for developers, obviously cul-de-sacs are very marketable,” city Growth and Infrastructure manager Tony Cecutti said. “From an operational perspective, they’re not the nicest thing to have to deal with. If I had my choice we would ban the use of cul-de-sacs if my only priority was operations.” There’s little room between driveways, which he said “leaves very little choice for maintenance operations of locations to put the snow, so we do have policies that require us to go in twice, which is another challenge.”
Memory Lane: Ripping around the speedways of yesteryear
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! It’s time to race back in time for another trip down Memory Lane. Let’s buckle up and take a ride in our Delorean (sorry Doc and Marty) to take a look at the stock car racing scene that existed in the Sudbury region for more than 50 years in the middle of the 20th century. Over a span of approximately 55 years, the Sudbury sport racing scene was graced with the appearance (and unfortunately, disappearance) of four racing tracks. They satisfied both the racing enthusiasts’ need for speed, but also the spectators desire for fast-paced spectacle. In the 1920s, the Sudbury Racing and Driving Track was established at the Southeast corner of Notre Dame Avenue and Garson Road (now Lasalle Boulevard). This track was used as a venue for both horse trotting (like Sudbury Downs) and motorcycle races. Attending the races at the Sudbury Racing and Driving Track became an important summertime ritual for many area residents with the local newspaper advertising 50-cent admission for all (children under 12 free with an accompanying adult).
Windy day with a high of 1
Expect the skies to clear over the morning, then a mix of sun and cloud with a high of 1. The wind will be southwesterly at 30 km/h gusting to 50 in the morning, bringing a -19 wind chill before the noon hour. The UV index today is four, or moderate. Tonight, expect cloudy periods with a 60-per-cent chance of flurries and a low of -5.
