Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Tuesday morning.
Year in Review: In memoriam, Sudburians we lost in 2023
Another year is gone, and as is the case every year, 2023 has seen the passing of Sudburians who have made a mark on the city or on the wider world in their own unique way. Every year, we also use this list to mark the deaths of one or two people who didn’t live in Sudbury, but nonetheless made valuable contributions to the Nickel City in their own way. Our condolences go out to everyone who has lost a loved one over the past year.
Year in Review: Robert Steven Wright has his day in court
The brutal murder of a young woman, the largest investigation in Sudbury police history, and finally, after 25 years, a courtroom to determine the truth. This year, Sudbury was gripped by the trial of Robert Steven Wright, whose court appearances and guilty verdict dominated the news in spring of this year. And though the trial came to an end in March, new charges in December means Wright will remain in the headlines for some time. On Jan. 27, 1998, Renée Sweeney was working at a video store, located in a plaza just off Paris Street. She is seen on camera making a bank deposit that morning; she spoke with a few people, handled a few transactions, and then, she was dead. Stabbed 27 times and left on the floor, she was found by two customers. Those customers opened the door to the video store, and before they could enter fully, were brushed by a young man running quickly past them, carrying something blue, and in a flash, he was gone. Now, 25 years later, his identity is known.
Year in review: Five homicides in Greater Sudbury in 2023
The year 2023 saw five homicides reported in the Greater Sudbury area. That’s a much more typical figure for this area than the number of homicides reported in 2022, when Statistics Canada confirmed there were 10 homicide victims in Greater Sudbury. Greater Sudbury Police also reported in 2022 two vehicular manslaughter cases in the city, which are considered to be homicides, although those cases do not appear to be included in the Statistics Canada figures for last year. In the past 10 years, Statistics Canada reported one homicide in both 2013 and 2014, two in 2015, zero in 2016, one in both 2017 and 2018, three in 2019, five in 2020 and six in 2021, showing an increase in homicides in more recent years. The figures provided by Statistics Canada only go back to 1981, and in that more than four-decade-long window, the largest number of local homicide victims in a single year is reported to be 11 back in 1987.
Year in Review: Laurentian spent 2023 in recovery from CCAA
Having passed much of the years 2021 and 2022 undergoing court-supervised insolvency restructuring, Laurentian University spent 2023 recovering from that challenging period in its history, while still feeling the ricochet effects. To recap, on Nov. 28, 2022, Laurentian University exited insolvency under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (or CCAA) after 22 months. Following its exit from insolvency, Laurentian is bound by the terms of the plan of arrangement voted upon by its creditors in the fall of 2022, which include rules surrounding how creditors will be paid out, among other items.
Year in review: Game-changing year for Robinson Huron signatories
It was a game-changing year for the 21 First Nations under the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850, with the provincial and federal governments proposing a $10 billion dollar settlement in the historic annuities case ongoing since 2014. The settlement is a result of the Robinson Huron Treaty Litigation Fund team, and their filing of an Annuities Statement of Claim, a claim for resource revenues. When settlers arrived on the territory of the First Nations, they were driving economic growth that did not belong to them, encroaching on traditional lands. In order to ensure that the lands were shared equally, a treaty was signed in 1850. Under the treaty, the Crown promised to pay a perpetual annuity of £600 ($2,400), which in 1850 worked out to approximately $1.60 per person. But the Crown provided an additional incentive for the Anishnawbek communities to sign the treaty.
Year in Review: Opioids, fewer deaths in 2023 but crisis continues
As the numbers go, the opioid crisis in Greater Sudbury in 2023 was not as deadly as in previous years, but the crisis continues in the sense that on a per capita basis more people in Sudbury and other cities in Northern Ontario are struggling with addiction than in other parts of Ontario. And people continue to die from drug poisoning (formerly overdose). This is based on the Opioid Surveillance, which is a webpage published by the Community Drug Strategy in Sudbury, with regular updates on overdoses, emergency room visits and paramedics responses for people with addictions. The community drug strategy organization is made up of Public Health Sudbury and Districts, Greater Sudbury Police Service, the City of Greater Sudbury and other social agencies. The first warning of the year came in the second week of January when there were reports of an increase in the number of overdoses in Sudbury
