Monday, October 5, 2009

Mental Health Week

Mental Health Week is being celebrated across Canada this week.

In Northwestern Ontario, the Canadian Mental Health Association will be promoting the services its provides.

Spokesperson Debbie Baldwin says they want to clear up misconceptions about mental illness.

"The biggest issue that we find is the stigma associated with mental illness," says Baldwin, "the variety of mental illnesses. It keeps people from accessing the services that can help them lead a more productive and fulfilled life."

This year's theme is "invest in yourself."

Warm September

September proved to be a warm one in the Fort Frances area.

Environment Canada says the average temperature for the month was 15-point-5 degrees, the warmest since 2004.

Climatologist Geoff Coulson says temperatures nearly match those for August.

"If we look back the average August temperature for Fort Frances is 17.4 degrees Celsius," says Coulson. "We we're a little big cooler for a standard August but our temperature were a little closer for August than what they should have been for September."

Coulson says temperatures were also nearly 3 degrees higher than normal for September.

Layton Visits Northwest

NDP Leader Jack Layton took his campaign for Employment Insurance reform to northwestern Ontario.

Layton was in Thunder Bay on the weekend to meet with local workers and ask them what they need from the Employment Insurance system.

Layton also discussed the possibility of a harmonized sales tax, saying the tax will result in job loss because people will have less money.

American Boycott Withdrawn

Canada's majors cities are withdrawing their threat to boycott suppliers from the United Sates in retaliation of the Buy American laws.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities says it won't enact a resolution passed in June because municipal leaders see progress in talks between the two countries.

Federation president Basil Stewart says the mayors want to give negotiators in the talks the time and space to reach a successful conclusion.

Grassy Narrows Case in Court

The Ontario Superior Court in Toronto will start hearing evidence today in the Grassy Narrows First Nation's fight against logging.

The northwestern Ontario First Nation is challenging the province's right to give industrial logging the green light when Grassy Narrows says the logging interferes with its treaty rights.

AbitibiBowater pulled out of the Whiskey Jack Forest north of Kenora last year, saying it couldn't wait for the province and the First Nation to agree on logging practices.

Missing and Murdered Native Women Remembered

Vigils were held across Ontario and the country yesterday honouring the 520 known missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls.

It was organized by Sisters In Spirit.

The main objective of the Sisters In Spirit initiative is to address violence against Aboriginal women.

In Northwestern Ontario, events were held in Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Thunder Bay.

Greyhound and Ontario to Meet

Talks are set to go this Wednesday to help save Greyhound services in northwestern Ontario.

The company and Ontario Transportation Minister Jim Bradley will meet to work out a solution.

Greyhound vice-president Stuart Kendrick says he would like to see a leadership role from provincial and federal ministers for a short-term, $15-million break-even subsidy, that would give both sides 12 months to look at a long-term plan.

Greyhound has set December 2nd to withdraw service in northwestern Ontario unless a deal can be reached.

Gas Tax Program Working

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is bestowing the virtues of a federal program that gives a portion of gasoline taxes back to cities and towns.

AMO says nearly half a million dollars from the program was spent on about 40 infrastructure projects in the Rainy River district over the past year.

Program manager Judy Dazell says that would not have happened without AMO's intervention.

"When the federal government first came out with this program," says Dazell, "they were actually looking for allocations based on transit ridership. AMO had to remind them that they're not just transit systems that need to be addressed by the infrastructure program."

Dazell says road reconstruction, new sideways and a waste water study are some of the projects where local gas tax allocations have gone towards.

Gun Bill in the House

A Conservative bill to end the long-gun registry in Canada received a first reading in the House of Commons last week.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River M-P John Rafferty, who is supporting the bill, says it could return to the house within the next few weeks for another vote.

"I don't know what the timing is on it," says Rafferty. "It's really up to the Conservative government to see this bill through the House of Commons and into the Senate. I'm anticipating sometime in the next three weeks it will come back for its second reading and ultimately its first vote."

Rafferty supports the bill because it focuses solely on long-guns.

Bear Concerns

The Ontario government says complaints about a growing problem with nuisance black bears in parts of the province won't bring about a return of the spring bear hunt.

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters says problems with bears coming into contact with people have been growing steadily since the spring bear hunt was cancelled in 1999.

However, Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield says there's no evidence to support the claims of more nuisance bears in northern and central Ontario.

Cansfield says the government's Bear Wise program, which encourages people to call a hotline to report problems with bears,is the reason the number of occurrences has been increasing.

She says the government has no plans to reinstate the spring bear hunt, and believes the real issue is the economic loss of the spring hunt, not the number of bears.

The government estimates there are between 75,000 and 100,000bears in Ontario, and doesn't think the problem of nuisance bears has gotten worse since the spring hunt was cancelled 10 years ago.

The Northwestern Ontario Sportsmen's Alliance says more cubs are being orphaned now because of the problems with nuisance bears than before the cancellation of the spring hunt.