Good morning, Greater Sudbury! Here are a few stories to start your day on this Thursday morning.
Spotlight on leaked documents spurs city review of salary policy
Following last week’s news of unreported 2023 wage hikes for City of Greater Sudbury non-union managers, the city’s elected officials passed a resolution to review the policy that allowed these increases to take place. The vote came during Tuesday’s finance and administration committee meeting of city council, and received unanimous support. The evening meeting followed approximately three hours of closed meetings, including one that postponed a preceding audit committee meeting to discuss “an incident in the corporate services department,” and another to discuss “a performance review.” Tuesday night’s motion resolves that city CAO Ed Archer review the city’s salary administration policy for non-union positions, and that the report be tabled with the city’s elected officials by September. Per the motion, the review is to assess the suitability of comparator municipalities, the method for determining how positions are compared and include clearly defined principles that guide the policy’s scope.
Cyber attack delays launch of Laurentian 2024-2029 strategic plan
More than a month after Laurentian University’s board of governors approved the university’s 2024-2029 strategic plan, the university officially launched the plan March 27 during a town hall meeting. Interim president Sheila Embleton, speaking on her second-last day on the job at Laurentian before LU’s new permanent president, Lynn Wells, begins her role, said this is due to the Feb. 18 cyber attack on Laurentian. The university’s IT systems still have not fully recovered following the cyber attack, which occurred just two days after the strategic plan received final approval from the board. “It feels a bit sort of after-the-fact in some ways, (but) it's actually not that much more than a month since all of this was passed,” she said.
Arson triple homicide: Mother says accused threatened her family
The jury in the arson triple homicide trial of Liam Stinson trial heard emotional testimony from the mother of one the victims, who told the court the man accused in the trial had made death threats against her and her family. In Sudbury Superior Court on March 26, Christine Wright, mother of Jamie-Lynn Rose, wept as she detailed the last conversation she had with Rose two to three weeks before the fatal Bruce Avenue fire on April 11, 2021. She testified she asked her daughter to come home on every call, and did so again this time. Wright testified Rose told her she needed to wait a few weeks, until things “cooled down.” Wright said Rose told her Stinson had threatened to kill Wright, Wright’s husband, and Rose’s two children should she leave Sudbury.
Robert Steven Wright in court today still awaiting disclosure
Robert Steven Wright made another court appearance March 27 for an update on his case. Wright, convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Sudbury woman Renée Sweeney, is facing charges of criminal harassment, forcible confinement and two counts of sexual assault from incidents in North Bay predating his Sudbury murder conviction. Wright was charged on Dec. 14, 2023. He is already serving a life sentence, with parole eligibility after 12 years. In court Feb. 28, a representative of Wright’s lawyer Joseph Wilkinson, said the defence has yet to receive the complainant’s statement. That was the same complaint of counsel at Wright’s March 27 hearing. Wilkinson’s representative, Liam Thompson, told the court “this matter was adjourned to this day because we are still waiting for the statement of the complainant in this matter,” said Thompson. “ I don't believe it has been disclosed to date. I'd be grateful if my friend could provide an update as to when that may be forthcoming.” Crown Attorney Terri Regimbal replied that she could not open the necessary file, but she spoke with the assigned Crown on the case, Sharon Tysick.
Clear garbage bags dominate council’s solid waste discussion
Clear garbage bags were a key topic of discussion during Monday’s operations committee meeting of city council, during which some elected officials expressed concern. On the table were 18 options Dillon Consulting partner Betsy Varghese presented as part of the proposed Greater Sudbury Sustainable Waste Strategy, which will establish goals for the city’s 10-year horizon and is slated to be tabled later this year. The requirement that Greater Sudburians use clear garbage bags was Option No. 3, and at 50-per-cent support received the lowest public backing of any of the 18 options. (This public survey should be taken with a grain of salt because it was opt-in and not randomized so is not statistically relevant to the general public.) “I don’t think we’re going to be anywhere near there with the broader population,” Ward 5 Coun. Mike Parent told the committee, adding, “It’s going to be problematic to get the support.”
Go-Give Project donates $3,000 to downtown clean-up program
The Downtown Sudbury clean-up program is getting a boost from a local outreach group, the Go-Give Project. Their donation of $3,000 will “significantly bolster our efforts in maintaining the cleanliness of our communal spaces and providing invaluable opportunities to our community's most vulnerable residents,” reads a press release from the Downtown Sudbury BIA. The Downtown Sudbury clean-up program is a partnership between the Downtown Sudbury BIA and The Durham Street Y, part of the YMCA of Northeastern Ontario. The program aims to ensure downtown spaces are clean, and offer barrier-free opportunities for vulnerable community members to earn an honorarium and “contribute meaningfully to their community.”
