Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Finance Committee green lights business case for $59 million build at Pioneer Manor:
Pioneer Manor got some big news recently when the province announced its plans to upgrade and modernize long-term care facilities. Ontario's Long-Term Care Modernization Plan is a $933 million plan that will fund 80 new long-term care projects creating thousands of additional new and upgraded long-term care spaces across the province. For Pioneer Manor in Sudbury, the plan will allocate 38 new beds and 122 upgrade spaces to create a 444-bed home, which also includes the construction of a new building. That new building was the topic of discussion during the city's finance and administration committee meeting on Tuesday night, as the committee approved a business case during budget discussions for a $59 million project that will build a new 88,000 square foot, five-story wing at the back of Pioneer Manor. Each storey will include 32 beds per home area, as this is the recommended industry best practice for operation efficiency and provision of care. The new wing will be attached to Pioneer Manor and continue to receive existing services (i.e. environmental, laundry, housekeeping, maintenance and dietary services). The older section of Pioneer Manor that currently houses the 149 beds was built in the early 1970s and is now an outdated design standard. The project will come at zero net impact to the tax levy, as money from expiring long-term financial commitments from the city to Health Sciences North and Maison McCulloch Hospice will be redirected to Pioneer Manor in the amount of $1.25 million annually starting in 2026. Thanks to the redirected funds and a 25-year construction subsidy from the province, along with a one-time construction grant from the province, the city will only be drawing $169,011 from its capital reserves annually until 2046. Full story here.
City councillor’s Facebook group back in the news after hundreds of users banned for emoji use:
Ward 5 Coun. Robert Kirwan’s Valley East Today Facebook group created a firestorm of online controversy (and more than a few memes) this week, after dozens and dozens of people were banned for what the city councillor said was inappropriate use of the ‘crying laughing’ emoji. So far, more than 200 members of the Facebook group — which is operated by Kirwan and his wife, Valerie — have been blocked for what he calls “bullying.” Over the weekend, Kirwan posted a message to the Facebook page criticizing members who were “misusing” the ‘crying laughing’ emoji in posts. He said in his message most of the people are using the emoji are trying to mock people, to make people feel less than, or to frustrate people with a different opinion. If you are unfamiliar with the symbol, it is a traditional yellow smiley face, with its eyes closed while tears stream down its face. “It is being used as a weapon by trolls or people who are simply in the group to cause dissension or disturbances,” Kirwan wrote. The internet being what it is, blocking group members for using the emoji resulted in a backlash from a number of commenters on the page. Find the full story here.
National concerns raised over opioid crisis mirrored in Sudbury overdose cases:
Too many people have died in Canada from opioid overdoses, according to the latest news release from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), which is advocating a more lenient approach to drug users in an effort to bolster support for more harm-reduction strategies. The issue was discussed in a recent joint statement from the co-chairs of the Special Advisory Committee on the Epidemic of Opioid Overdoses. Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer and Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick's Chief Medical Officer of Health, spoke out in a statement issued March 24 to say the opioid crisis is worsening partly because of the "increasingly toxic illegal drug supply," but also because of the "heightened feelings of isolation, stress, anxiety and depression, and greater barriers in accessing health and social supports.” The national report also showed increasing numbers of opioid overdoses across the country, especially in the period between January and September 2020. The overall increases were mirrored in statistics released earlier this year by the Sudbury Community Drug Strategy, which is made up of Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD), Greater Sudbury Police Service, Health Sciences North and the City of Greater Sudbury. Also, recent numbers released by the group show that in January and February this year, emergency department visits for suspected overdoses were up in January, when compared to 2019 and 2020. That number took a big drop in February. No reason was given, but the overdose visits in February 2021 were roughly half the visit numbers of 2019 and 2020. Read more on this story here.
Sudbury Health Unit reports a new death and 32 new cases of COVID-19 for March 30:
Sudbury's health unit is reporting 32 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death for March 30. Public Health also said there are now 344 active cases being monitored. Also, since the health unit began tracking COVID-19 cases just over one year ago, there have been 1,429 total COVID-19 cases confirmed locally. PHSD also said 1,085 of those cases have been resolved. With respect to the death reported by PHSD, no additional information was provided by the health unit. With respect to where the new cases might have occurred, the PHSD daily update page reported that 31 of the new cases were found to have occurred within the Greater Sudbury Area. One new case was reported from the Manitoulin district. With respect to possible causes of the new cases, PHSD reported no new numbers. No information was provided at all with respect to possible causes. On the provincial COVID-19 register Tuesday, the Ontario government daily website reported 2,336 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province.
Sudbury residents 75 and up encouraged to book now for COVID vaccine appointment:
Sudbury residents aged 75 and older in this calendar year are being encouraged to book now for their COVID-19 vaccine before the vaccine appointment process is opened up to younger residents. Public Health Sudbury & Districts (PHSD) said booking for the 75 and older group "is going well," but soon enough the booking process will be opened up to those in the 70 and older category. Sometime soon, within "the coming days" said PHSD details will be revealed on when younger residents will be allowed to call in to book an appointment. "Public Health Sudbury & Districts wants to ensure those 75 and over have an opportunity to book before opening up appointments to younger age groups," said a news release from PHSD. PHSD said it continues to receive doses of COVID-19 vaccine on an ongoing basis and the province provides health units with vaccine doses based on population. There are some limitations, said PHSD. It said it can only book appointments based on "the exact number of doses it has for each clinic", and the supply of doses is subject to possible fluctuations in the supply chain. "For example, if Public Health has 800 vaccine doses, only 800 appointments are booked at a scheduled vaccine clinic. Once a clinic is full, we schedule eligible individuals at future clinics," said the news release. The eligibility list is open to limited groups at present, said PHSD. Find out how to book your vaccine appointment here.
Ontario's education minister says April break to go ahead as planned:
Ontario's education minister says that spring break for the province's schools will not be postponed again. Stephen Lecce says the break scheduled for the week of April 12 will go ahead as planned while the government continues to follow advice from the province's top doctor. He also says the government is planning to step up safety protocols when students and staff return to in-class learning on April 19. Lecce's comments come a day after Premier Doug Ford told reporters that he couldn't give a direct answer on whether the break would be postponed or altered. More on this story here.
CN sells Algoma Central Railway:
CN has reached a deal to sell the non-core lines and assets from the company’s Soo Subdivision, which includes the Algoma Central Railway. CN and the purchaser, the Pittsburg, KS-headquartered transportation company Watco, made the announcement in a March 30 news release. It marks the culmination of a sale process that began last July. The deal includes 250 miles (402 kilometres) of track that runs between Sault Ste. Marie to Oba, as well as 650 miles (1,046 kilometres) of branch lines of Wisconsin Central Ltd. in Wisconsin and Michigan. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. “In Ontario, Watco will continue freight operations as well as the Agawa Canyon Train Tour,” the companies said in the release. The train tour is one of Sault Ste. Marie’s premier tourist attractions, running visitors 114 miles (183 kilometres) into the Agawa Canyon to view the changing fall colours through September and October. Work is ongoing to upgrade the attraction, including the construction of a new station on the former grounds of the St. Marys paper mill, which is being led by Sault entrepreneur Tony Porco.
Wednesday Weather:
The up and down weather continues for Greater Sudbury, with snow in the forecast today. Mainly cloudy with a 60 per cent chance of flurries this morning. Daytime high will only get up to 1 for Wednesday. Cloudy into the evening with a 40 per cent chance of flurries. Overnight low is going to drop all the way to -10, feeling like -20 with the wind. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
