Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Wednesday morning.
Tiny homes for the homeless in Sudbury: Could it work?
Will tiny home communities help the homeless or is it better to invest the money into affordable housing? Can municipalities do both? Often seen as a temporary and costly solution to the homelessness crisis, tiny home communities are popping up around Ontario, a potential solution to the growing number of people who are living without shelter. But they are often regarded as a Band-Aid solution, a temporary fix that won’t solve the issues, or would create new ones. However, Tony Stortz, who has worked with several of the burgeoning communities told Sudbury.com, “When you're bleeding out, and the hospitals are three hours away, you need a bandage to get there.” He said it’s about emergency care. “Permanent, sustainable, affordable housing, even with record levels of investment, is going to take years. We need bandages, because people are bleeding right now and their lives matter.”
Ontario Hospital Coalition slams Ontario's lack of health spending
Ontario hospital unions, currently negotiating for a new contract, are demanding that Ontario Premier Doug Ford should inject new money into the collective bargaining process so that employees will be able to continue working in the health care sector. OCHU/CUPE, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor have banded together in the wake of the Auditor General's report last week that harshly criticized the Conservative government for not adequately taking action on the shortage of health workers, many of whom are leaving hospitals and long-term care homes to take more lucrative contract jobs with nursing agencies. "There were over 200 temporary emergency department closures in the past year due in part to a lack of a comprehensive provincewide strategy to maintain staffing levels," said part of that report. Similar criticisms came from the Ontario Hospital Coalition (OHC) which reported that hundreds of closures have occurred at emergency rooms, maternity and obstetrics units, outpatient laboratories and intensive care units, all because of the shortage of staff. The hospital unions — OCHU/CUPE, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor — representing more than 70,000 hospital workers in Ontario, said in a news release that provincial underfunding has been used as an excuse by the Ontario Hospital Association during current negotiations, saying there is little room to address the decline in working conditions and patient care.
Cut down your own Christmas tree at this Whitefish farm
Going to the CR Trees and Boutique Christmas tree farm in Whitefish is more than an exercise in buying a tree. Tree growers Bernie and Craig Thompson have created a Christmas tree family experience there. The recently opened facility in rural Whitefish is a 25-minute drive from downtown Sudbury, but Bernie Thompson said it's a unique experience of a lifetime especially for young people who may have never had the fun of visiting the farm, picking out a live tree, cutting it down and taking it home. She said she and her husband bought the retirement property nearly 20 years ago, a little oasis of peace and quiet in the country, on land that was once an active farm. Thompson said she and her husband Craig had worked at clearing the property over the years and the idea hit them. "And it was just one day, we were just like, you know, why don't we plant Christmas trees? Because it sounded like a good idea at the time," she said.
Families invited to a Sensory Santa Event in Garson this week
A special Santa Claus event is happening in Garson this weekend for families of children for whom the mall Santa experience might be too stimulating. The Sensory Santa will be visiting the Sudbury Respite Care Centre (RCC), 190 Church St., Garson, on Sunday, Dec. 17 from 12-3 p.m. It will be free for parents to bring their children to the event. The Respite Care Centre describes this "as a stress-free" event where youngsters can meet Santa before Christmas and pose for a photo. RCC is an inclusive play space that caters to all children and their diverse needs. It provides an environment equipped with engaging activities, sensory toys and supports to make it fun for children of all ages and abilities to play and learn together, said the RCC website. This is a free event and RCC is encouraging friends and supporters to spread the word with other families whose children might enjoy meeting Santa.
Cambrian plans to increase degree offerings to four
As long as it gets the go-ahead from the province, Cambrian College will soon increase its roster of degree programs to four. The Sudbury college’s expansion of its degree offerings follows an announcement last year that gives Ontario colleges, which mostly deliver diploma programs, the ability to grant more degrees. In April 2022, the Ontario government announced public colleges would be able to develop new three-year degree programs and additional four-year degree programs in key sectors to address gaps in the province’s labour needs. The cap on degree programs that colleges can offer was raised by five per cent for all publicly assisted colleges. This means degree cap limits of 10 per cent at most colleges, and 20 per cent for Institutes of Technology and Advanced Learning. Cambrian’s board of governors approved the creation of a Bachelor of Applied Computing three-year degree program at their Dec. 7 meeting.
NORAD Santa Tracking a family affair for mission commander
The Voodoo Flight crew in the Sgt. David L. Pitcher Building at CFB North Bay is preparing for arguably the most important mission of the year. The 21 Aerospace Control and Warning Squadron based here in North Bay, is training for December 24, when they will play a significant role in assisting and escorting Santa Claus across Canadian airspace. Canadian and American members of NORAD have been tracking Santa’s Journey for the past 68 years from various locations in both countries. For Capt, Adam Murray, mission crew commander, this mission is a family affair. As a child, Murray says his father was a fighter pilot who worked the NORAD mission. "When I was growing up at 8 or 9 years old, we used to sit around and watch the NORAD Tracks Santa with my dad if he was home or perhaps he was on duty that night so he could not be there with us because he was hoping to guide Santa Claus across Canada. So it is very special for me as a second generation to continue on the mission to see it from a new perspective here at 22 Wing behind the scenes with the controllers and surveillance folks," explained Murray.
