Group of First Nation Communities band together

A number of Northwestern Ontario First Nation communities are banning together to work towards improving infrastructure.  The group of 5 First Nation communities signed the agreement that will help in the development of an East-West Corridor in the Ring of Fire.  The communities want to work together to capitalize economic benefits from the mining industry.  Officials say the ultimate goal of the agreement will be to develop an infrastructure, transportation and service corridor for the Ring of Fire.  Chief Harry Papah says ownership of this corridor would give his people new opportunities for training jobs and business.

Ring of Fire alliance formed

Area First Nations are still demanding more decision making involvement in the Ring of Fire mining development. That's why the Aroland and the Marten Falls First Nations have formed an alliance. Aroland Chief Sonny Gagnon says they don't want to watch from the sidelines anymore, they want to "take ownership, take partnership" over what will happen in the Ring of Fire. Gagnon calls the alliance a pro-active move.

Mix up could have led to users death

The Regional Coroner says that one person somewhere in Northwestern Ontario is dead in a case related to the end of Oxycontin. Dr. Michael Wilson says the unexpected death may have been the result of a prescription mix-up.  He says the medication had been prescribed to replace the Oxycontin, but it appears it was prescribed at a higher rate than he usually was on, meaning he may have died due to a drug overdose. As a result, Dr. Wilson says he's recommended there be better communication between doctors and pharmacists.

Fire in group home

No one is hurt after a small fire at a group home on Sequoia Street.   A fire official says it happened just before eight o'clock this morning after one of the residents accidentally lit a bed sheet ablaze with a lighter.   St. Joseph's Care Group runs the home which has five residents and two staff members.

New school for Attawapiskat

Relief for the troubled Attawapiskat First Nation. The Federal Government has awarded the construction contract to build a new school to Manitoba-based Penn-Co Construction. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan says Penn-Co has extensive experience working with remote First Nation communities on the construction of large facilities.The 58-hundred square-metre school will accommodate 540-students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 and is scheduled to open during the 2013-2014 school year.

Greenstone launches website and survey

The Municipality of Greenstone is hoping for big results from its new look website.  The site, http://www.investingreenstone.ca/, is designed to help businesses and investors get the information they need on the community.  The website also helps to promote mining and exploration in the region.  Included in the site is a survey which is a coordinated industry effort to encourage graduates, skilled workers and others remain in the Greenstone region and possibly attract skilled workers back.

Declare, Declare, Declare

People continue to lie about their purchases at the Pigeon River Border. Two Canadian residents are in trouble after importing a vintage car that was purchased online. The importer swore they paid 8 thousand dollars for the vehicle but after closer examination border agents found they actually paid 12 thousand. The man was forced to pay over 2 thousand dollars in penalties. Had he declared the vehicle at its proper value he would have only paid around 200 dollars in taxes.

KI rallies in Toronto today

The Big Trout Lake First Nation are rallying in front of the world's leading mining convention today.  They'll have 100 supporters in Toronto today.  They claim God's Lake Resources proposed gold mine will desecrate their sacred burial

Impaired driving collision

Thunder Bay Police are charging a man with impaired driving and various traffic act offences after a bumpy ride this morning.  Witnesses say the vehicle was travelling at a high rate of speed, crashed through some construction pylons, went through a hole dug by a road crew, over a snowbank and struck a building on Simpson Street.  He's also charged with dangerous driving.

2012 Budget is in the books

This year's city budget increase is a bit lighter than what we were expecting.  Council approved the budget last night but after Councillor Marc Bentz put forward a motion that prevented the hiring of 5 full time city employees.  The savings should amount to a bit more than 200 thousand dollars and dropped the tax increase from 2.67 to just under 2 and a half.  Councillor Trevor Geirtuga says its time the city decided whether they want to invest in infrastructure or invest in human resources.  The average home will now pay just over 60 dollars more this year in taxes.  

New Master Transit plan is in the works

The city has a new Master Transit Plan in the proves.  Council approved in principal the 3-5 year plan that calls for a major transit terminal in the intercity area that comes with a price tag of around 7 million dollars.  The plan also will keep using the Water Street terminal unless future development forces the closure of that terminal.  There will also be 3 major transfer points in the south core, Lakehead University and Confederation College.  The consulting firm who helped develop the plan, predicts a 25 percent increase in ridership over the next 5 years.  The plan will also call for the end of HAGI transit and instead it would become part of City Transit.  It will come back to council June 4th.

The city will be holding on to the Whalen Building

Our Municipal Leaders have decided to hold onto and improve the Whalen building. Council voted in favour of a recommendation that will see the city spend over 9 million dollars over the next 20 years in capital improvements to the building. Councillor Rebecca Johnson voted against the plan saying that money could be better spent on other projects instead of propping up a 100 year old building. Administration predicts that keeping the building will bring profits to the city through taxes and leasing out office space.

Council approves changes to waterfront deal

Despite a deputation speaking out against the proposed changes, City Council has approved the changes to the waterfront deal with the developers.  One woman spoke out against the deal saying council is treating the developers differently than others in town.  She referenced the proposed Marriott Hotel near the Superstore which will pay for its own parking lot while the waterfront hotel will now see the city pave the parking lot there and then lease it to the developer.  Administration said the difference is the Marriott is on private land while the waterfront is on city owned land.

City hands out Green Awards

The City handed out the municipal Green Awards at Monday night's meeting. The awards were handed out to the Regional Health Sciences Centre, Superior Collegiate, Ecole Catholique Franco Superieur and the OLG Casino. The winners were recognized for successful waste reduction and other environmental successes.

Clement talks robocall and summer student job office

FedNor Minister Tony Clement is sticking to the party line when it comes to the Federal Election Robocall scandal.  Clement was in the City today and commented on Elections Canada investigating the local office of Responsive Marketing Group.  The local call centre is linked to misleading calls to voters tellling them their polling station locations had changed.  Meanwhile, he's also defending his government's decision to cut funding for summer student job offices saying teens would rather get their information online.

Clement makes funding announcements

FedNor Minister Tony Clement is rolling out funding for Tornado Medical Systems.  Clement was in the city today and provided over 363 thousand dollars towards a device that will analyze breast tumour tissue.  Clement also announced over 300-thousand towards Lakehead University's North American DNA database project.

Rescue on the harbour

Two people are safe after they were spotted on the breakwall Monday afternoon. Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue took their air boat out to the site after they were spotted walking on the rocks. It turns out it was a couple of tourists from Quebec who were sight seeing and didn't realize it was against the law to be out on the harbour ice.   They were not charged.

Another bizarre court appearance for Barry McQuaker.

Barry McQuaker remains in the legal system as he looks to gain his freedom.  The 55 year old McQuaker is serving a short sentence for threatening and assault and was in court today to deal with a peace bond which would put extended restrictions on who he is allowed to see and where he can go. As was the case with his last court appearance in February, McQuaker didn't have a lawyer and displayed an erratic behavior. He came precariously close to justice Dino DiGuiseppe finding him in contempt of court. McQuaker is due back in court April 20th. He spent time in jail in the 1990's after admiting to cremating and buring the remains of his 12 year old son Jason.

Public school board pans rankings

The Lakehead Public School Board is less than thrilled with the latest Fraser Institute rankings of elementary schools.  Director of Education Cathy Seminieuk says they're not investing in the ranking system.  Seimieuk takes issue with the fact that the Fraser Institute didn't include all of their elementary schools in their rankings.

Mathieu Da Costa exhibit on now

City hall just got more colourful.  The Mathieu Da Costa Exhibit is on now and the 16 works of art were created by youth from across the country.  The City is one of 8 in Canada that were selected to host the art exhibit.  The free exhibit will be in the City Hall lobby until Friday.