Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
Municipal election: Need help with e-voting? Here's where you can get answers in person:
The voting period for the 2018 municipal election begins today in Greater Sudbury. Not everyone is comfortable with the electronic voting system the city has instituted this year. This will be an entirely paperless election, which might be better for the environment, but does make some voters nervous. If you are one of those people who are uncomfortable or unsure about e-voting, the city has set up voting help centres at locations across the city that will be open during regular business hours from Oct. 15 until Oct. 21 (Sunday). Find out where to find a help centre near you by clicking here.
Where Do They Stand? Can local waterbodies be protected while encouraging development?
Monday's instalment of Where Do They Stand focuses on the health of local lakes, waterways and watersheds. Sudbury is blessed with more than 300 lakes in the municipality. The city needs to encourage to development to grow, to broaden our tax base and to make life more affordable for all Sudburians. But as we do that, the health of the natural environment, particularly waterbodies, must be protected. How can we do both? Can we protect the waterbodies, encourage development and prevent using protecting lakes as a tactic to stop unpopular developments? Find out what your mayoral candidates had to say in our latest edition of Where Do They Stand, here.
Where Do They Stand? Ward 7 candidates lay out their priorities:
Sudbury.com's Where Do They Stand series continues with questions for candidates in Ward 7. All three candidates responded to our three questions, incumbent Mike Jakubo, and challengers Frank Mazzuca Jr. and Deborah Swyer-Burke. The questions we asked were about the Kingsway Entertainment District, Downtown and the urban-rural divide, and issues specific to Ward 4. Find each candidate's answers here and be sure to check back daily for more of our Where Do They Stand series.
Election recap for Oct. 15:
Greater Sudbury mayoral candidate Dan Melanson suggests using the Cecil Facer youth correctional facility, which is underutilized, to assess mental health and addictions patients currently brought into Health Sciences North's emergency department by Greater Sudbury Police. "Officers cannot simply leave these people at the door of the emergency room," he said. "They must stay with the individual until they are examined and then admitted for treatment or released back to police for incarceration." In an update to the tradition of driving people to the polling station on voting day, Mayor Brian Bigger says he has volunteers lined up to help anyone uncomfortable with electronic voting. For the first time in Greater Sudbury, the Oct. 22 municipal vote will be done entirely online. Voters can cast ballots any time (www.greatersudbury.ca/wheretovote) between now and next Monday from home, at any citizen service centre, library or on the city's mobile transit voting bus. “The new voting format has really changed the way that we vote here in Sudbury and the dynamics of the campaign,” Bigger said Monday at a news conference at the Ambassador Hotel. “We've gone digital. The days of making your mark in pencil beside the name on a ballot is no longer and the new way of voting will be quicker, cleaner and more efficient." Greater Sudbury mayoral candidate Patricia Mills says it's “time to stop the madness in spending and get back to ensuring we do the basics like roads and water, and investments in the future in a manner that we can afford.” She criticizes how the Kingsway Entertainment District and the Junction — the shared arts facility — started out as grassroots projects, but the vision has substantially changed and become more expensive. “Originally envisioned as a private-public partnership, the Kingsway Entertainment District is now arbitrarily being fully-funded by the city through borrowing. The community was not given the opportunity to consider other financing options being proposed,” she said in an open letter. “The Junction does not even closely resemble the recommendation of a group of volunteer citizens who have worked for many years to create a unique performing arts and convention vision. That was again a top-down decision. “As Mayor, I would not act without consultation, disregard the hard work and ideas of our citizens, and move forward with an alternate agenda. Instead, I would look more closely at private-public partnerships, rather than arbitrarily deciding to borrow $300 million on the backs of taxpayers to go it alone. I will not commit our taxpayers to a legacy of debt.” Greater Sudbury mayoral candidate Ron Leclair, who has dubbed himself the “The People's Mayor,” said he has a good reason for giving the mayoral debates a hard pass. “The constant back and forth bickering between mayoral candidates goes nowhere,” he said. “I speak to people face-to-face daily, to hear for myself what changes people want to see being made.” He invites people to visit his Facebook page for more information about his platform. You can get caught up on all your election news at Sudbury.com's election page.
Inquest into 2013 Lake Wanapitei boating tragedy underway:
An inquest into three boating deaths on Lake Wanapitei five years ago got underway in Sudbury on Monday. The inquest is being conducted in tandem with an inquest into a 2014 death near Ottawa. Both cases exposed problems with Ontario's 911 emergency call system. “While the circumstances of these two incidents are different, the commonality shared among the four deaths concerns Ontario's 911 communications system,” said a press release from Dr. Dirk Huyer, Chief Coroner for Ontario. “The Coroners Act permits a joint inquest where two or more deaths appear to have occurred in the same event or from a common cause.” The inquest will examine the events surrounding each incident with the aim of enhancing understanding of the 911 communications system and the coordination of emergency responders. The tragedy took place during the Canada Day long weekend in 2013. Matthew Humeniuk, Stephanie Bertrand and Robert Dorzek spent the day at their friend Michael Kritz's camp on Gavin Island, at the northeast end of the Lake Wanapitei. The night of June 29, 2013, the group boarded a boat Humeniuk was operating to attend a party at the other end of the lake. Shortly after midnight, Humeniuk crashed the boat onto a small island. Get the full story here.
Wolves score just once in second straight home game in loss to IceDogs:
Two goals over two games for the Sudbury Wolves isn’t going to get it done, as Sudbury fell 5-1 on Sunday to the Niagara IceDogs. The Wolves came into the weekend on a five-game win streak and have now dropped to 6-4 on the season with the two losses. The team now turns to a big week of practice before welcoming the defending OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs to town next weekend.
Tuesday Weather:
Mainly cloudy Tuesday with a 40 per cent chance of flurries or rain showers in the afternoon. Today's high will only get up to 5. A few rain showers this evening ending near midnight then cloudy with 40 per cent chance of flurries. Overnight low will be sitting right at the freezing mark. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
