Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Ornge expansion in Sudbury ‘will transform’ air ambulance service
The Ontario Government announced Nov. 7 it will be spending more than $100 million to expand the Ornge air ambulance fleet with the purchase of four new airplanes. Health Minister Sylvia Jones made the announcement at Greater Sudbury Airport and said the investment will ensure that Ornge, the provincial air ambulance service, can continue to provide essential transportation services to rural and remote communities across the North. Jones said the announcement is all part of Ontario's Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care. “Our government recognizes the important role Ornge plays in providing patients with timely access to care, no matter where they live in Ontario,” said Jones. “Investing in new, state-of-the-art planes is another way we are making it faster for Ontarians in rural and remote communities to connect to the care they need, when they need it, for years to come." She reminded the audience at the Ornge hangar at the Sudbury airport that she was in the city earlier this year to announce the creation of three new health teams, to make access to health care closer and more convenient for Northerners.
Greater Sudbury’s annual infrastructure gap estimate hits $130M
Like clockwork, the annual municipal budget cycle has brought with it a public refrain of “taxes are too high.” It might feel true on an individual level, but not when it comes to the city’s infrastructure challenges. Looking at the city’s infrastructure gap in isolation, municipal taxes are far too low. The city’s latest, full estimate, brings their annual infrastructure deficit to $130 million. This, city manager Ed Archer explained to Sudbury.com, is above and beyond what is currently in the city’s annual capital budgets. “If we could have an unlimited budget to address all of our infrastructure needs in one year, you would be raising current taxes by about 39 per cent,” Archer explained.
Robinson Huron Treaty Week kicks off in Sudbury
Robinson Huron Waawiindamaagewin (RHW) Treaty Week got started today, Nov.7, at the University of Sudbury, a chance to reflect on treaty relationships and rights, as well as to learn the responsibilities that come with being a treaty relative. Ontario passed legislation making the first full week of November treaty week, and the RHW initiative got started in 2020. RHW uses the week to educate students as community members, speaking of both what the treaty means for the past, and for the future. RHW is a “treaty-level body” capable of addressing the issues of the 21 First Nations of the treaty; issues that until the body was created were addressed with Canadian government-created agencies and systems of governance. The first day of events, Nov. 7, saw an education session about the history of the treaty, as well as an opportunity to learn more about Ontario’s appeal of the Stage 1 and Stage 2 Robinson Huron Treaty Annuities case decisions, which began in 2021 and is now being heard before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Pursuit: A special cross-country window closes at Lo-Ellen Park
“Race as one; compete as a team.” At some point over the course of the recent OFSAA experience or before, the Lo-Ellen Park Knights senior boys crew came across this poster. For a group that has collectively achieved more than pretty much any other group of individuals in the long and storied history of Lo-Ellen cross-country excellence, the words resonated with them. “I found that really embodied what the cross-country team sport is,” said Shiloh Sauvé, a 16-year-old Grade 11 athlete who was part of the roster for the first time this year, a year younger than the 2023 quartet he raced with on the weekend. For the record, “the group” (2021 to 2023) would include three-timers Owen Dobson, Nolan Kuhlberg and Jacob Barney, double-entry Sam Rice, as well as Shiloh Sauvé, Russell Joiner, Kaeden Ward and Liam Lacroix. Starting at OFSAA 2021, the core group of runners from the current graduating class of Lo-Ellen senior boys put together a three-year run that was the most successful of any team in Sudbury cross-country history at OFSAA. Their achievements are as follows: gold medal winners at OFSAA in 2021; fourth place in senior boys at OFSAA in 2022; fourth place in senior boys and just five points off the podium at the 2023 OFSAA cross-country final on Nov. 4 in Etobicoke.
Teen charged after car after going 152 km/h rolls over
A 16-year-old from Greater Sudbury is facing multiple charges after a speeding vehicle filled with youths rolled over on Skead Road on the evening of Oct. 7. Police said the investigation found that the vehicle was travelling west on Skead Road when the driver lost control and the vehicle left the road. The vehicle rolled several times, causing injuries to the occupants. Five people were in the vehicle at the time of the collision. Four of the individuals were transported to hospital by City of Greater Sudbury Paramedic Service for medical treatment. Two of the individuals transported to hospital had suffered serious injuries. As a result of the information gathered from the search warrants and the evidence from the scene of the collision, the 16-year-old driver has been arrested and is facing multiple charges.
Ontario expanding role of nurses to prescribe medications
Ontario is giving more responsibility to registered nurses to prescribe and administer more medications in a bid to expand their scope of practice. This should also connect more Ontario residents with faster and easier medical care. The Ontario government announced Monday that the role of registered nurses is being expanded to allow nurses to prescribe medications, after meeting specific requirements, for certain conditions such as contraception, immunizations, smoking cessation and topical wound care in a variety of settings close to home, including long-term care homes and retirement homes. “Our government continues to take action to ensure Ontarians have faster and easier access to the care they need, when they need it,” said Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones in a news release. “By making changes to allow qualified registered nurses to provide more care and administer the medications they prescribe, people will have more convenient access to safe care close to home, while helping to further reduce wait times at our community clinics and hospitals."
