An area native leader is heaping scorn on Indian Affairs for extravagant spending. Anishinabek Deputy Grand Chief Glen Hare is angry INAC was a part of the 125 million dollars spent by civil servants on extravagant trips over 4 years. He says the money could have been spent on Aboriginal education.
Keith Hobbs will officially become the Mayor of Thunder Bay Monday. Hobbs will be sworn in Monday night and says he'll be giving a short speech outlining his game plan. Hobbs says he's excited to get everything started.
Nine Thunder Bay residents have passed what is considered one of the most challenging professional entry examinations in the world. The future chartered accountants passed the Canada-wide Uniform Evaluation. Successful students must possess knowledge, professional judgment, ethics and the ability to communicate.
The Acting President of the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association is applauding both levels of Government for extending the deadline to complete key infrastructure projects. Dennis Brown says reaching the March 31st deadline was just not possible because of the region's short construction season. Brown believes Municipal lobbying efforts played an essential role in having the date changed to the end of October.
A registered Nurse is now working along side the Superior North Emergency Medical Services team. Chief Norm Gale says the nurse will ease pressure for paramedics. The nurse will take EMS patients from paramedics, so they can deal with other calls instead of waiting for a doctor to take the patients. Gale says the nurse will be on call eight hours a day, seven days a week, up until March 31st of 2011. The position was funded by the Ministry of Health.
Northerners living in the unorganized area received a shock in the mail when they received their final property tax bills on November 30th. The bills included a due date of December 3rd for the first instalment and December 17th for the second instalment. Kenora-Rainy River MPP Howard Hampton blames the office in Thunder Bay, which was given the contract to look after all of the bills. Hampton is asking for the deadline to be extended into the New Year without penalty to homeowners. The deadline has since been extended to the end of the month.
Thunder Bay will soon have an office for the Ring of Fire project. Coordinator Christine Kaszycki says they recently posted a director's position in Thunder Bay. They hope to have an office set up and someone in the position by January. Kaszycki was in the city on Wednesday to give an update on the Ring of Fire.
Thunder Bay's incoming City Councillor is already hard at work. Paul Pugh is in Toronto meeting with a variety of organizations about the Bombardier TTC contract. Pugh says he plans to speak with city councillors. Pugh says he's going to express to Toronto council that canceling the contract will mean millions of dollars in fees. Pugh adds there's no point in talking to Ford because it's a waste of time.
The Nishinawbe-Aski Nation will welome a new Police Chief in January. Claude Chum is the incoming Chief and says he wants to work on community policing initiatives. Chum adds he plans to continue to crack down on illegal prescription drug use.
Northwestern Ontario's labour force has a hard time retaining post secondary graduates. That's one of the findings in a report created by the North Superior Workforce Planning Board. Author Livio Di Mateo says the first step is to create a graduate survey. The report also recommends retention incentive programs and employer surveys.
There's a lot of concern that Bombardier's contract to build light rail cars may be torn up by the new mayor of Toronto. A report from Toronto says that Rob Ford wants the Toronto Transit Commission to put the brakes on the LRT plan. Premier Dalton McGuinty says he plans to meet with Ford to find some common ground on the issue. It's widely believed if the 1.8 million dollar contract is torn up there will be a penalty to pay. Our mayor-elect Keith Hobbs says he wants to meet with Ford to tell him how important that contract is to the economy of Thunder Bay
Ontario Power Generation says work to convert the coal-fired plant in Atikokan is well underway. It's to burn biomass fuel by 2013. CEO Don Mitchell says part of the work includes developing an energy supply agreement and seeking pricing bids for fuel. Mitchell says a number of bids were received in their call for bids.
A Thunder Bay MS Society official understands the desperation of some MS patients. However, Board Chair Linda Adamson says the Government should hold off on putting money on the table for the controversial Liberation treatment. Adamson feels it would be in everyone's best interest to wait for the results of research on the treatment to be released. The NDP is calling on the Liberal Government to commit funds and the exact amounts for the treatment.
It may be another month before the acquistion of Bearskin Airlines is completed. Winnipeg-based Exchange Income announced its intentions to purchase the Northwestern Ontario airline back in September. President Michael Pyle says the deal is moving along but notes it may be another 30-days until its finalized. Pyle notes they are waiting on a number of things to happen, including Government approvals, but he doesn't anticipate any problems. Airline officials were hoping to have the deal completed the first week of December.
Winnipeg's Greg Arason is the newest member of the Thunder Bay Port Authority board. The Federal government appointed Arason to a three year term that starts January 1st.
A local political science teacher is weighing in on the most recent Federal By-elections. The Conservatives gained two new MPs and the Liberals just one in the Winnipeg North riding. Gary Munro is the Chair of the Political Science Department at Lakehead University and says it's interesting to see Julian Fantino elected. Munro notes Fantino was heavily involved in policing which ties into the Conservative Government's crime platform. Fantino claimed a former Liberal riding, and the Liberals knocked off an NDP incumbent.
Kakabeka Falls is ready to fight a proposed new extension of Highway 17 that would bypass the community. The ministry of Transportation has released 4 proposed routes for the extension from the Shabaqua Corners to Kakabeka falls and all include a bypass. There will be a public information meeting held tonight at 7 at the Redeemer Lutheran Church.
Narcotics police are reporting a drug bust at the Greyhound bus terminal Tuesday. They say that a man from Quebec was found with cocaine, oxycodone, heroin and marijuana. Total value of the drugs seized is almost 35 thousand dollars.
Highway 11 near Beardmore is now open to traffic. It was closed for several hours because a tractor trailer carrying a load of cars completely caught fire...that included all the cars that were in the load. Police say there were about five of them, none new. No one is hurt.
Shaw Cable and Satellite TV providers have new competition in town. TBaytel has finally launched its highly touted digital TV service. It was unveiled over the weekend almost 2 years after receiving CRTC approval.
Thunder Bay Police have released photos of the suspect involved in Friday's robbery of the Apple Credit Union. A man armed with a hand gun ran off with an undisclosed amount of cash last Friday afternoon. Photos of the suspect can be seen around this story.