Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Friday morning.
Protesters disrupt open house at Tom Davies Square
The widely refuted 15-minute city conspiracy theory fuelled another disruptive demonstration by local members of the Freedom Convoy movement this week. A group of approximately 40 protesters targeted an open house at Tom Davies Square the city hosted on Wednesday afternoon. This followed a series of Freedom Convoy disruptions during town hall-style meetings Mayor Paul Lefebvre hosted last year, and a Feb. 27 city council meeting during which several people were expelled for persistent interruptions in protest against the city taking climate action. Wednesday’s open house was intended to centre on the City of Greater Sudbury’s Nodes and Corridors Strategy, which Freedom Convoy members say is linked to the 15-minute city conspiracy theory. The international conspiracy theory alleges that governments are aiming to control residents’ movements to the extent they are unable to leave their home communities and will become isolated from friends and family who live outside their 15-minute bubble.
Arson triple homicide: Witnesses and firefighters at arson trial
Further details of the events of April 11, 2021, fatal fire were heard in Superior Court in Sudbury on March 20, as the surviving tenant of the Bruce Avenue fire finished testimony and the jury heard from the neighbor who called 911, another who broke down a door to the unit, and two Greater Sudbury firefighters who were on scene. They also heard a recording of that 911 call, and frantic witness Melissa Bergeron asking for fire trucks before saying, “They are burning alive in there!” Liam Stinson is currently on trial for his alleged role in the arson that killed three people and severely injured another. Stinson is facing arson charges as well as three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Jasmine Summers, Jamie Rose, and Guy Henri. The man who was severely injured that night, David Cheff, testified March 19 that he only survived because he jumped from a second-floor window. He told the court the harrowing story of the night of the fire that killed his three roommates, often moved to tears throughout. Cheff was cross-examined by defence counsel Joseph Wilkinson, beginning the morning of March 20. Wilkinson asked about Cheff’s relationship with Stinson.
Greater Sudbury city council members Benoit and Brabant sworn in
Eric Benoit and Michel Guy Brabant are officially members of Greater Sudbury city council. Both newcomers were officially sworn in at the start of Tuesday’s meeting, with Benoit taking over Ward 2 and Brabant taking over Ward 3. “We are looking forward to working with you as we advance the City of Greater Sudbury’s agenda of growth and prosperity for all residents,” Mayor Paul Lefebvre said during the meeting. “I wish you much success in your new roles as councillors.” Their swearing in and the passing of an associated bylaw made official city council’s March 8 decision to appoint them to their respective roles.
LU president praises employees for response to cyber attack
The chaos caused at Laurentian University following a cyber incident affecting the university’s IT system last month was outlined by LU interim president Sheila Embleton at a March 19 meeting. She thanked university employees for going above and beyond in making sure crucial tasks were still completed, despite the IT outages, which affected systems including campus wifi, the teaching software D2L and the university’s website. Many of these systems have since been restored. (You can view the status of Laurentian’s IT systems online here). “It's really a testimony to everybody on campus, I think,” she said. “I think of those processing three payrolls within days of the attack, of those who made sure our most important bills were paid, of those who made sure our admission offers went out on time, of those who got the T4s and other tax-related forms out by mail, of those who got transcripts out by mail, of the calls for paper, envelopes, printer cartridges and printers that could work without being networked – things we thought we had abandoned a long time ago.”
HSN’s economic impact on the Northeast is more than $1B, CEO says
With Sudbury's Health Sciences North (HSN) being the largest single employer in the city, the hospital's new CEO said it is no surprise the hospital has become a significant economic driver in Northeastern Ontario. David McNeil was the keynote speaker at a meeting of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce president series luncheon held Thursday. It was the first major public speaking event for McNeil since he was appointed as CEO last October. McNeil said the hospital, the largest in Northern Ontario, has an annual operating budget of $721 million dollars. McNeil said while that budget is indeed significant, the monetary impact of HSN goes beyond that. "But you know, that doesn't include all of the other income that's generated, for lack of a better term, for those people who are working in health sciences," he said. McNeil said that all the nearby physician buildings and medical services they provide are not included in that initial budget number.
Nearly 300 Ontario patients moved to LTC homes they didn't choose
Nearly 300 people in Ontario have been moved from hospitals to long-term care homes not of their choosing under a law the government implemented over a year ago. The law can see those patients placed in homes up to 70 kilometres away — or 150 kilometres if they are in northern Ontario — without their consent and requires hospitals to charge them $400 a day if they refuse the transfer. It is aimed at moving so-called alternate level of care patients — who can be discharged from hospital but need a long-term care bed and don't yet have one — in order to free up hospital space. If there are no spaces available in long-term care homes a patient has put on their preferred list, they can instead be transferred to a home selected by a placement co-ordinator at the hospital. The Ministry of Long-Term Care has not previously publicly disclosed the numbers of patients moved under those new rules, but Long-Term Care Minister Stan Cho's office now confirms to The Canadian Press that 293 alternate level of care patients were admitted to homes they didn't choose between September 2022 and January of this year.
