Good morning, Greater Sudbury.
Here are some stories to start your day.
In with the old: Finance committee votes to reinstate museum curator position:
Greater Sudbury city councillors were unwilling to turn their backs on the city's history and heritage as they voted to reinstate the curator position for the four museums in the area. The finance and administration committee picked up their budget discussions once again on March 3, digging into the guts of their $630 million operating budget. The city's executive leadership team has been tasked with shaving $14 million from the budget in order to realize a tax increase of 3.9 per cent, and one of the proposed savings in the draft budget was to cut the curator position from the city's four museums at a savings of $156,023. Ward 2 Coun. Michael Vagnini tabled a motion to reinstate the money into the budget through one-time funding fromn the tax rate stabilization reserve, and to have staff return with a report to council by the third quarter of 2021 outlining the future of museum services and alternatives for council's consideration. "It draws the people not only from their heritage, but also to their families," said Vagnini. "To see the size of the events that go on (at the museums) at a minimal cost because there are more volunteer hours that go into this, but we need the direction of the curator to keep it in a position going forward that's going to make it effective for the whole city." The funding to offset reinstating the curator position would be drawn from the tax rate stabilization reserve on a one-time basis, a reserve that had around $977,000 in it as of November 2020. Get the full story here.
Public Health Sudbury reports 18 new COVID-19 cases, possible variants for March 3:
Public Health Sudbury and Districts (PHSD) reported that there are 18 new cases of COVID-19 in the area on March 3. This is 97 new cases in the past week, since Feb. 25. The health unit is also reporting six cases have screened positive for variants of concern, up from 25 cases Tuesday. PHSD said there are now 112 cases being actively monitored, the highest number of active cases since PHSD began tracking a year ago. Since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, there have been 698 total COVID-19 cases reported to the Sudbury health unit. PHSD said 586 of those cases have been resolved locally. On the provincial COVID-19 report Wednesday, the Ontario government daily website reported there were 966 new confirmed COVID-19 cases across the province.
Sudbury MPP: Why is province ‘refusing to take action to save Laurentian?’
Sudbury MPP Jamie West spoke out about the situation at Laurentian University during Question Period at Queen’s Park last week. Laurentian University announced last month it is insolvent, and is undergoing restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA), with a deadline of April 30. Doug Ford and the minister of colleges and universities must provide immediate funding to prevent the gutting of Sudbury’s university, West said. The premier and his minister knew about Laurentian's financial situation for half a year, and yet did nothing, he added. “Laurentian University is a cornerstone of Northern Ontario,” said West. "While everyone in Sudbury was shocked by the decision of Laurentian’s administration to seek CCAA creditor protection, this government and the ministry clearly knew what was happening and allowed it to happen. “Maybe it’s because they knew their $700 million in cuts to universities only made things worse. The minister said he knew six months ago about the financial problems of Laurentian. Why did he do nothing?”. West wrote to the Ford government in June and July of 2020, calling on the minister of colleges and universities, Ross Romano, for emergency financial support for Sudbury’s colleges and universities, including Laurentian. Romano never replied, West said. More on this story here.
Tampon Tuesday 2021: Learn how you can participate in Sudbury:
Sudburians are invited to take part in the Tampon Tuesday initiative this month. “Nobody should have to choose between feeding their family and being able to afford menstrual hygiene products,” said a press release. “Yet far too many individuals – especially those living in poverty – simply can’t afford them. UWCNEO (United Way Centraide North East Ontario) in partnership with the Sudbury and District Labour Council are excited to host the 5th annual Tampon Tuesday initiative in Sudbury." This year’s gathering will be virtual. A Zoom celebration is being organized for March 9. Details are still being finalized. There are several ways to take part, find out how here.
Gélinas pushes to have health minister intervene in Lifelabs:
Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas continues to raise concerns about what she says is the unacceptable level of service from Lifelabs, the privately owned medical lab service that operates several locations in Sudbury. As the NDP health critic in the official opposition role, Gélinas brought the issue back to the Ontario Legislature on March 2. She rose during Members' Statements at Queen's Park to comment on what she termed the "poor performance" of the company. Despite having several locations in Sudbury, it is still the only medical lab service available to the public. "LifeLabs is the only lab provider in all of Sudbury and Nickel Belt. It is a private, for-profit lab. Their poor performance is having a ripple effect on our entire health care system,” Gélinas said. “Specialists do not want to discharge patients from our hospital, and many patients have to reschedule their long-awaited specialist appointments because of problems with LifeLabs." She added that the company website was not always reliable, nor was the company call centre. More on this story here.
Snow the Love: Build a snow sculpture for a chance to win a prize for your neighbourhood:
Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury is inviting residents to celebrate their neighbourhoods and one another with “Snow the Love.” “It’s March and though we have to be COVID careful, we can still have some fun with the snow. And a bonus; your neighbourhood might win a small but mighty prize,” Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury said in a press release. Find out how you can take part and "Snow the Love" here.
Thursday Weather:
Sunshine returns Thursday, bringing some chilly temperatures with it. Mostly sunny today with the daytime high sitting at -8. It's going to feel like -28 with the wind chill this morning. Clear skies into the evening with the low getting down to -16. Overnight low is going to feel like -25. For current weather conditions, short-term and long-term forecasts visit Sudbury.com's weather page at www.sudbury.com/weather.
