Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Tuesday morning.
Repairs to the Skead fire station expected to begin next week
Repairs to the Skead fire station building are expected to begin next week and be completed by the end of October. Prompted by Ward 7 Coun. Natalie Labbée, city corporate services general manager Kevin Fowke offered an update during Tuesday’s city council meeting. The work, he said, is being handled by the city’s insurance company. The Skead station has not been in operation since early 2022, when a vehicle damaged the building by backing up into a pillar located between its two garage doors. The city decided at the time to not repair the hall until an emergency services infrastructure review had concluded, arguing there’s little sense in repairing a building that might be permanently closed.
Poll: Two-thirds say Doug Ford should resign over the Greenbelt scandal
Two-thirds of Village Media readers voting in an online poll said that Ontario Premier Doug Ford should resign over the Greenbelt scandal. Now-ex-housing minister Steve Clark resigned on the Labour Day weekend after the province's integrity commissioner found he had broken laws for MPPs concerning conflicts of interest and the distribution of insider information. Ford's approval rating is at a five-year low, an Angus Reid poll shows. In a province-wide poll in late August, a majority said the decisions leading up to the Greenbelt decision were 'corrupt.' and almost three-quarters said the RCMP should investigate.
Ontario elementary teachers hold strike votes between today and Oct. 17
Teachers in Ontario's public elementary schools are set to start voting today on whether they want to give their union a strike mandate. The Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario is holding in-person strike votes for its members between today and Oct. 17, with teachers in various regions voting on different days. ETFO has filed for conciliation, citing what it calls the "unacceptably slow pace of bargaining," but has rejected a government proposal to leave any outstanding issues to be decided by an arbitrator. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation has tentatively agreed to negotiate with the government until the end of October and then move to binding arbitration, which would eliminate the possibility of a strike.
Big oops: Sudbury man arrested after leaving gun in a taxi
A Sudbury man is facing a baker’s dozen of charges after a taxi driver in Oro-Medonte made a call to police on Sept. 16. Ontario Provincial Police Orillia Detachment officers were dispatched to a weapons complaint from a taxi driver on Highway 400, near Mount St. Louis Road, in Oro-Medonte on Saturday evening just after 8:45 p.m. “A male en route to Sudbury demanded to be let out of a taxi,” the OPP states in a news release. “The male subsequently got out on the side of the highway, however left a quantity of cash, as well as a firearm in the rear of the taxi.” The firearm prompted the taxi driver to call police. The OPP dispatched an Emergency Response Team, a Tactics and Rescue Unit, a canine unit and York Regional Police Service Air Support to find the man. Police report shutting down Highway 400 in both directions while they searched for the man.
Sudbury hosting region’s first summit for lung cancer patients
Lung cancer patients in Sudbury and other parts of Northeastern Ontario have been invited to a special event this week that will be the first gathering of its kind in Northern Ontario. The event is the lung cancer patient summit. It happens Tuesday evening at the Shirley and Jim Fielding Northeast Cancer Centre, beside Health Sciences North. The summit is a free event and participants are invited to register online here. Sudbury oncologist Dr. Lacey Pitre will be one of the speakers and said this event will be different from other medical summits because it will be focused on the patients. There will be discussion on treatments, what drugs are helpful, clinical drug trials and shared experiences among patients. Organized by the Northeast Cancer Centre and Lung Cancer Canada, Pitre said it’s about bringing all members of the team — from patients to family members to health professionals — together in one room.
More than $1M in federal funding for United Way agencies
Canada's Community Service Recovery Fund has come through with more than $1 million in funding for 25 community projects, most of them in support of the United Way Centraide North East Ontario. The funding announcement took place Friday morning at the Meals On Wheels venue on Bancroft Drive in Sudbury where community leaders gathered along with United Way officials and board members. United Way executive director Mary Lou Hussak said she was pleased with the federal funding, which was provided to help several community organizations in Sudbury and other parts of Northeastern Ontario. "It is intended to help them become more sustainable in their operations by developing programs, transitioning to new ways of program delivery, purchasing new equipment, hiring staff, or opening or renovating so that they continue to do their work, to deliver programs to support individuals and families in our community recover from the effects of pandemic," she said.
