Report targets NW LHIN

An Auditor General report shows the Northwest Local Health Integration Network paid for consultants. The three LHINs studied spent anywhere from 224 thousand dollars to 1.4 million per year on consultants. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says she isn't surprised. The report also states the LHINs didn't have an adequate process in place that would ensure consulting services were planned for.

No delays for waterfront development

Preparations are in place for the city's waterfront development project as winter approaches.  Manager Katherine Dugmore says they've already set the stage for how they'll handle the colder temperatures.  For instance,  building construction has been timed so that all the indoor work can take place during the harsher winter months.  Dugmore says the development remains on schedule.

Casino cut inches to 600 K

The city's latest cut of the casino revenue works out to almost 600 thousand dollars. That's close to 6 thousand dollars more than what was given to the city in July and almost 30 thousand more than the spring dividend. Every three months the city gets 5 per cent of the revenue from the slot machines at the government run gambling casino.

Special Olympics are coming together

Thunder Bay is just 90 days away from hosting North Western Ontario's first ever Special Olympics Winter games. Games Manager Julie Tilbury says things are really shaping up but they are still short of their fundraising goal. She says one way people can donate is by sponsoring an athlete.  Chair JP Levesque says they have raised about 3 quarters of their 800 thousand dollar fundraising goal.

Habitat for Humanity is going to school

Habitat for humanity is getting a huge helping hand from Confederation. Students are volunteering to build the latest Habitat house and will get some hands on experience. Habitat's Dianne Mitchell says its a great partnership for the organization because it will help ensure the house is completed in time for the family to move in by Christmas.  Student Michael Kehler says there is no better way to learn than to actually get your hands dirty and build.  

Thunder Bay 2nd in country in murder rate

McLean's Magazine has pegged Thunder Bay as the 23rd most dangerous city in the country.  The real bad news for the city came in the murder rankings where we ranked 2nd in the country behind only Abbotsford BC.  Thunder Bay also ranked 12th in robberies. 

Community Safety debated

Thunder Bay ranks as the 23rd most dangerous city in Canada and second highest for murder according to McLean's magazine.  That was one of the topics buzzing around the mayor's debate last night.  Keith Hobbs feels one way of making our community safer would be to restructure the police.  Lynn Peterson says the restructuring process is not in the police service board's hands.  Peterson also feels a detox centre and the crime prevention council will improve community safety.  Hobbs disagrees and feels they can play a role.  Hobbs would like to change the police officers shifts from 10 hour to 12.   Around 300 people attendend the last mayors debate before the municipal election.

Horizon lawsuit tops debate chatter

No surprise what the hot topic at council was at the final mayor's debate. Horizon Wind's 126 million dollar lawsuit was fresh on everyone's mind. Incumbant Lynn Peterson says the claim is unfounded. Meanwhile, Frank Pullia says the city did its due dilligiance. Collin Burridge called the lawsuit foolish. Keith Hobbs says he was against the turbine sites from the beginning. Jeff Irwin feels if the city was run like a business we wouldn't be facing a lawsuit. Horizon's claim has not been proven in court.

City responds to Horizon

The City is dissapointed Horizon has decided to file a lawsuit against them. In a press release, City Manager Tim Commisso says they've read the news relased issued by Horizon, but have yet to see any statement of claim. Commisso feels the lawsuit is unfounded and once they have received a statement of claim, they will respond.

Horizon Wind Sues City over Wind Farm

Horizon Wind is suing the City of Thunder Bay for 126 million dollars.  They've filed a statement of claim against the City, in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto.  Horizon feels the City has breached it's option agreement for the wind farm.  The claim has not been proven in court.

Court cases move on

On the court beat...A Manslaughter trial is underway at Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Camelot Street. 24 year old Mervin Spence is charged in connection with the death of 44 year old Scott James in December of 2007. In a separate case, a Thunder Bay woman is now committed to stand trial in connection with a fraud case involving money that went missing from the Polish Hall on Court Street. Officials say they found about 100 thousand dollars missing from their accounts over a two year period

Border Cats aren't going anywhere......yet.

The Thunder Bay Border Cats are sticking around for another season. However owner Brad Jorgenson says they need to have more fans show up next season.   They are hoping to increase average game attendance to 1 thousand from last season's average of just over 600.   Jorgenson stopped short of saying the baseball team will leave the city if the objective isn't met.

No one hurt in early morning fire

There were no injuries after an early morning blaze tore through a 3 story house this morning.  Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue officials say the fire started around 6 o'clock this morning on the fire escape of the Villa street residence.  Officers say the fire spread to the roof but luckily all the tenants of the building escaped free of harm.  Officials say the fire is being investigated but no cause has been released.

Council approves lease agreement, but four turbines need to be pushed back

City Councillors have voted in favour of signing the Horizon Wind Lease agreement, but only if four of the wind turbines are moved back.  Council passed a resolution last night just after 2:30 in the morning dealing with turbines 8, 9, 10 and 11.  Brian McKinnon feels the city is in its rights.  McKinnon says the City decided to move the four turbines because of the view.  The final vote was 8 to 4.

City approves bus contract

The City has unanimously approved the contract for the amalgamated transit union.  Councillor Frank Pullia says he's glad they settled and averted a strike.  The contract is retroactive from July 1st, 2009 to June 20th, 2012.  Employees will see a two percent wage increase in 2009, a 1.75 percent increase in 2010 and another 1.75 in 2011.

City works on being more accessible

The City of Thunder Bay continues to work towards making the community more accessible.  Council provided 120 thousand dollars towards accessibility improvements set out in the 2011 capital and operating budgets.  The accessibility committee provided an update to council last night and released the city's 8th accessibility plan.

Underground Gym no longer needs City funds

The Underground Gym is no longer looking for bridge funding from the City of Thunder Bay. The gym had asked for 15 thousand dollars from council, but has since received the funds from an anonymous sponsor. Councillor Rebecca Johnson took the time during the meeting to thank that person for their contribution to the Underground Gym.

Thunder Bay Police review complaints

Thunder Bay Police have released a quarterly review of complaints they've received from July to September of this year.  The local police force received 12 complaints over that time period.  Only 3 will continue to be investigated, seven were not accepted, and two are awaiting word from the Office of the Independent Police Review Director.  The list of complaints range from excessive force, deceit, harassment, conduct, neglect of duty and exercise of authority.   The report is being presented Tuesday morning at the Thunder Bay Police Services Board meeting.

OPP Copper Theft

Thieves continue to target copper wire as a source of easy money. OPP say that three men were arrested in connection with the theft of the metal in the region. They say a probe uncovered 14 hundred pounds of copper wire stolen from the CP Rail line east of the city.

Library launches $ campaign

The Thunder Bay Public Library is trying to raise a quarter of a million dollars in the community. The campaign is in support of the new Mary J-L Black Branch. Chief Librarian Gina La Force is confident residents will step up.  The money raised will be used to help furnish the new branch.  The Friends of the Public Library kicked the campaign off with a donation of 50 thousand dollars. 

Retired General says scandal will not taint the forces

A retired Brigadier General in Thunder Bay doesn't think the Williams scandal will shake confidence in the military. Colonel Russell Williams has pleaded guilty in a Belleville court  to killing two women, sexually assaulting two others and a string of break-ins. Thunder Bay's  John Litt admits, there will be a few who see this as a stain on the forces, but others should see the crimes committed by Colonel Williams as ones performed by an individual.   Litt doesn't agree with stories that say the incident has shaken the military to it's core.

Waste Reduction Week kicks off in Thunder Bay

The City is teaming up with EcoSuperior this week for waste reduction week. EcoSuperior Spokesperson Karen Copeland says the week will include a number of events including a bunch of talks with local school students. Copeland says its a great opportunity for people to learn more ways to reduce the amount of waste they produce.  One of the highlights is a workshop this Saturday at Intercity Mall.

New Ornge facility

Ornge Ontario unveiled a new air ambulance facility in Thunder Bay yesterday.


Ornge CEO Tom Lepine says the facility brings different parts of the organization together under one roof.

According to Lepine, Thunder Bay is the organization's busiest airport for transporting patients. He says the new facility will help Ornge deliver better patient care and cut down on response time.

The facility will also serve as an educational hub to train Ornge paramedics around the region.

YPN debate a success

The Young Professionals Network is calling last week's mayoral debate a success.


A straw poll conducted at the beginning and end of the event showed that minds were changed by the candidate's responses. Keith Hobbs had a six percent drop in support among the crowd by the end of the debate while Lynn Peterson had an 85 percent increase from where she started at the beginning of the night.

YPN says around 175 city residents attended the event.

Bruce Hyer heads to China

Bruce Hyer is going to China. The Thunder Bay-Superior North MP leaves today to be part of a joint federal-provincial trade mission to promote Canada as a tourist destination. Hyer calls China a real tourism priority and says the number of potential visitors is huge. 45 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad last year, a number that's expected to increase to 100 million by 2020.

Transit union votes in favour of contract

Last night transit workers voted to accept the contract offered by the city. The vote was 78 percent in favour, according to union president Charlie Brown. 

Transit workers retain their current benefits and gain a pay increase under the new three year contract.  While transit workers are getting a bump in pay. Brown says city transit workers are still below the provincial average.

The contract also adds protections to prevent bus surveillance cameras from being used to monitor job performance, Brown says the cameras are there for the safety of drivers and passengers and should only be used for criminal matters.

Brown voted against the contract although the union recommended a vote in favour and called the negotiation process the most "dysfunctional" he's ever seen in his time as union president.

Brown says the contract will be up for negotiation again in 18 months.

Strategic plan update

City councillors will hear Monday about how well they're doing to implement the strategic plan.

City Spokesperson Karen Lewis says they'll be giving an outline of their progress and of plans 92 initiatives. Lewis says 75 of the initiatives are either complete or have major aspects complete.

Lewis adds they'll be recommending council put in a corporate review process to look for ways to make the city more efficient.

Monday's council meeting is the last before the municipal election.

Local RN's recognized

100 select Registered Nurses at the Health Sciences Centre now have their skills recognized. They've been able to obtain a certification from the Canadian Nurses Association. The hospitals Chief Nursing Executive Rhonda Crocker-Ellacott says it's a great achievement.  Crocker-Ellacott says it helps create a higher level of excellence for the hospital.

Local woman to get M.S. Liberation Therapy

A Thunder Bay woman with M.S. is going to Egypt next month for the controversial Liberation Therapy.  39 year old Elizabeth Tambakis has had the disease for several years and is getting progressively worse according to her husband Nick Tambakis.  He's upset the treatment isn't available in Canada.  It involves an operation to unblock blood veins in the neck

Virtual Tour of Waterfront

The City of Thunder Bay is providing a look into the future of the finished Prince Arthur landing.  A virtual tour is available on the city's website .  Waterfront Development Manager Katherine Dugmore says they're also showcasing the video at an open house this afternoon at Pier 3.  Another video is expected to be released at Christmas and looks at the finished public buildings.

Foundation kicks off raffle

The Regional Health Science's Foundation is back with it's yearly raffle. Spokesperson Tracie Smith says it looks to be another good year for the fundraiser. The winner gets 10 thousand dollars as does the foundation. To date the raffle has netted the Foundation 95 thousand dollars. The draw takes place December 23rd

60 year old dies in highway collision

One man is dead after a two vehicle collision near Geraldton.  James O'Brien of Bowmanville died when his pickup truck collided with a commercial vehicle on highway 11 just before 5:30 yesterday afternoon.  The driver of the commercial vehicle is charged with driving without a license and having an expired insurance card.

City police run vehicle safety blitz

Thunder Bay police have taken 18 vehicles off the road after a vehicle safety blitz.  Officers targeted commercial vehicles Tuesday and Wednesday and inspected more than 50.  Officials say 13 charges were handed out two including suspended drivers.  With winter coming officers say they will shift their focus to inspecting "Winter Beaters".

Crime dominates talks in mayoral debate

Crime continues to dominate discussion in the Mayor's election race.  Colin Burridge says the city needs to enforce a curfew in the evening and offer more foot patrols.  Frank Pullia feels the city needs to address the social issues and notes having more police doesn't necessarily help stop crime from happening.  Meanwhile, Lynn Peterson feels the crime council will help reduce the city's crime rate. Keith Hobbs, and Jeff Irwin also took part in last night's mayoral debate. 

YPN Debate tackles doctor recruitment and youth out migration

Keeping doctors working in the city was one of the questions posed last night at the Young Professional Network's Mayoral debate.  Colin Burridge feels if we improve our tourism industry we'll retain more doctors.  Meanwhile, Frank Pullia says the answer lies in quality of life. Another topic of discussion included how the city can stop youth out migration.  Lynn Peterson, Keith Hobbs and Jeff Irwin also took part in the debate.

YPN Mayoral Debate welcomes young and old

The Young Professional Network's Mayoral Debate saw a mix of young and old in attendance. Jeff Irwin, Colin Burridge, Lynn Peterson, and Keith Hobbs took part in one of the last debates before the municipal election.  A pundits table discussion of how each candidate responded was held after the debate.

Bombardier unveils "The Rocket"

The public got a glimpse of the new Toronto Transit Commission subway cars known at "The Rocket". They were built by Bombardier in Thunder Bay. Company General Manager Claude Gingras says this contract has meant security for the plant and for the local economy. The unveiling took place at the Downsview subway station in Toronto.

Chamber is election ready

The Chamber of Commerce is helping you stay informed about the municipal election.   It's posted the results of it's candidate survey on the Chamber website.   President Harold Wilson says neither he nor the chamber will be endorsing any candidate.   He says however, he is disappointed some candidates didn't participate.

NOSM strikes back

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is making it's offer to it's striking employees public. School officials say that they are disappointed the OPSEU staff voted to reject a tentative agreement this week. Dean Roger Strasser says the negotiating team is confused about the reason the members had for turning thumbs down to the deal.  NOSM has posted the offer made to the workers on the school's website NOSM.ca

City may regulate student room rental

The first steps are being taken to start licencing home owners who rent rooms to students.  The city's By-Law Enforcement Manager Ron Bourret says they want to have some sort of regulations placed on the practice.    Bourret says in addition to a licence fee, there would also be surprise inspections.  He hopes to have a draft by-law before council by the spring.

College welcomes Chinese educators

Confederation College is getting a stamp of approval from a school in China it's partnering with. Con College is offering it's Hospitality program to 400 students there. President Pat Lang says as part of the process they are hosting a couple of Chinese school officials.  Lang says it's a chance for them to examine the program where it originates.

Transit vote will go tomorrow

We'll find out tomorrow if the Amalgamated Transit Union will accept the city's tentative contract.  Two ratification votes will be held at the CEP Hall at 10 o'clock and again at 7 Friday.  Union Spokesperson Charlie Brown says they are recommending members accept the deal. 

Lac Des Iles Mine reopens

Almost 200 people are happily back at work at the Lac Des Iles mine.  After sitting idle since October 2008 the operation was recently restarted and the miners and various other contractors are back at work.  North American Palladium held a grand reopening event yesterday.

McFadden takes a shot at the MTO

Thunder Bay's airport manager is complaining about the road construction around the airport entrance. There will be some intensive work taking place there this week during daytime hours. However Scott McFadden says he would have preferred that the Ministry of Transport conduct the work when the airport isn't so busy. As it stands, the current construction means travellers will be facing delays getting to the terminal

Province loans local developer 1.8 million

The province is providing a 1.8 million dollar loan towards converting the old McKellar Hospital.   MPP Bill Mauro says the new 100 unit McKellar Place seniors home is designed to ease the pressure on other facilities in the city including the Regional Health Sciences Centre.  He says the demand for long term space is so great that  75 of the 100 beds at the future McKellar Place are already spoken for.Thunder Bay's Habib Enterprises is doing the work on the project.

Horizon to move quickly on wind farm

Work could start as early as 6 months from now to erect the new wind turbines on the Nor' Wester Mountains. Horizon spokesperson Nhung Nguyen says now that the city has approved the lease agreement they are confident the provincial approval process will move rapidly

Council votes in favour of lease with Horizon

City Council has decided to sign a lease option with Horizon Wind.
The final vote was seven to five in favour of the wind farm project.
Councillor Rebecca Johnson voted for the project and says it's about the City's future. Neebing Ward Councillor Linda Rydholm says it's in the Provincial Government's hands, and notes no work can occur on the mountain until the Provincial government gives its approval. Linda Rydholm, Frank Pullia, Aldo Roberto, Joe Virdiramo and Mark Bentz voted against signing the lease. Norwester Escarpment Protection Committee President Irene Bond says they're disappointed, but they're not giving up the fight.  Meanwhile MPP Bill Mauro is taking a hands off approach when it comes to the project. While he says he has never fully agreed with the site for the proposed farm, he says his hands are tied because it was a private deal made by the city with city land.  Mauro says the environmental process is the next step and has to be honoured.  He adds that the process won't be politically interfered with.

NOSM pickets back to hold up traffic

The picket lines are back up at the main entrances to Lakehead University. Striking workers from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine are there again after they rejected the school's contract offer. Local union leader Yuk-Sem Won they'll be holding up traffic for a while longer. Won adds that the workers understand the issues better now.

More $ for building renos

A financial boost for the 2.3 million dollar upgrade to the Finlandia Hall. The provincial government is providing an additional 300 thousand dollars from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund. Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle says it's a valuable asset to hang on to.  This installment brings the total contribution from the provincial government to 800 thousand dollars