Friday, January 22, 2010

Comuzzi Appointed Chair


Just days after being appointed to the International Joint Commission, former Thunder Bay MP Joe Comuzzi has been named chair of its Canadian Section.

Comuzzi is no stranger to the IJC.

During his six terms as a member of Parliament, Comuzzi chaired several federal subcommittees that had direct dealings with the IJC that resolves disputes over boundary waters between Canada and the U.S.

Casino Rama Ruling Upheld

The Ontario Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim by a native group that they don't have to share Casino Rama revenues with other First Nations.

The Chippewas claim that under an original deal with the province to build Casino Rama on their land, they are entitled to a 35 per cent share of gambling profits.

More than 133 other First Nations fought the Chippewas claim and won a lower court ruling, which was upheld today by the Court of Appeal.

Scam Warning Issued


Officials with TruStar Federal Credit Union are issuing warnings about a nationwide scam that's reached some residents in the International Falls area last night.

A computer-voiced telephone message, targeting residents with a 2-4-0 prefix and a 2-1-8 area code, asked them to enter personal identification to activate or confirm their debit or ATM cards.

The credit union believe the callers are randomly dialing numbers in an attempt to reach its customers.

Neither the credit union nor its members have been financially impacted by the calls.

International Falls Police, along with officials from TruStar, CUNA Mutual and Shazam, are investigating.

Local Sports for Friday January 22

Fort Frances Canadians Midget AA hockey team defeated the International Falls Broncos junior varsity team 6-1 last night at the Ice for Kids Arena.

Brad McDonald with a pair, Dillan Grinsell, Tyler Fontana, Chris Bobczynski and Brandon Sinclair scored for the Canadians.

They'll travel to Baudette today for an exhibition game against the Lake of the Woods Bears Junior Varsity team beginning at 5 p.m.

Tomorrow they will travel to Grand Rapids.


International Falls Broncos girls' basketball team made it two in a row with a 57-37 win over the Eveleth-Gilbert Golden Bears.

The Broncos continue action tonight in Two Harbours.

Elsewhere, the Broncos boys' basketball team is in Proctor.

The Broncos boys' hockey team will host Virginia - 7:30 at Broncos Arena - and the girls' hockey team travels to Silver Bay.

Alzheimer's Fundraisers

It's going to be a busy weekend for the Alzheimer's Society of Kenora-Rainy River.


Executive Director Margaret Schonewille says they'll kick it off with the annual Penny for your Thoughts" fundraiser.


"Friday night and Saturday night we'll be doing our 'Penny for your Thoughts' weigh-in at Canadian Tire," says Schonewille. "You don't have get weighed. You don't get on the scales only your pennies do. They don't have to be rolled, you don't have, but if you want to roll them that saves me work on the other end."


This will be followed by the “The Linda Johnston Memorial Alzheimer Dinner to Remember.” in Rainy River and Sunday's Chefs' Charitable Dinner and Auction at the Adventure Inn.

P.L.A.Y. Launched


(Back Row: Chief Norm Hardisty of Moose Cree First Nation, Robert Witchel of Right to Play, Minister Brad Duguid, Minister Chris Bentley, Grand Chief Stan Beardy of Nishnawbe Aski Nation. Front Row: Darlene Isaac, Aurora Delaney, Olympic and World Champion Sami Jo Small and Adrian Delaney gathered at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto to launch P.L.A.Y.)
A new partnership between the Government of Ontario and Right To Play will promote a healthy and active lifestyle for Aboriginal youth through sport and recreation.

Promoting Life-skills for Aboriginal Youth (P.L.A.Y.) is a pilot project being developed by Right To Play.
It will first be offered in Moose Cree First Nation before brought to other first nation communities.

The program uses sport and recreation to develop leadership skills and provide youth with opportunities that may not otherwise be available in their community.

It is based on similar sport and play programs run by Right To Play.

Schools Join in on Fundraising

Area school are getting behind fundraising efforts for Haiti.

Crossroad's School's Kids Care Club and and its student council have organized a fundraising drive for next week that seeks to collect funds for the Free the Children organization.

At Sturgeon Creek, the school will hold a "Soup for Haiti" fundraiser next Wednesday.

The Rainy River District School Board office is also collecting monetary donations its staff.

"Dalton Day" Up in the Air

Ontario labour leaders say they remain uncertain whether "Dalton Days'' are on the horizon.

Yesterday, about 20 union representatives met with Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to discuss the next provincial budget, but says it's not clear if government workers will have to take unpaid days off and wage freezes to help the government fight its unprecedented deficit.

Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan says all options are being considered by the Finance Minister,

Rickford Fights Back


The war of words over the HST continues in the Kenora riding.

Federal NDP accuse the Conservative M-P Greg Rickford of misleading constituents by saying it's not a federal issue, but Rickford says its the NDP who are not telling the whole truth.

"They have certainly gone a long way to confuse the issue," says Rickford. "This is squarely a provincial issue. The federal government's involvement in this is to respect the province's autonomy in taxation."

Rickford says Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Bruce Hyer, who was in Dryden and Sioux Lookout, should be spending more time in his riding speaking to his constituents about real issues of concern.

Hyer and Thunder Bay-Rainy River MP John Rafferty have been calling on the federal government to cancel a $4.3 billion dollar payment to help Ontario with merging of the provincial sales tax with the federal good and services tax this July.

Cattle Markets Discussed


An official with the Ministry of Agriculture says a new abattoir to open next week in Emo will put the district's cattle producers in a good position to help sell their products to local consumers.

Barry Potter a livestock specialist says by building a brand, local producers can actually take advantage of a local market that's somewhat distant from others in the country.


"So there's an opportunity for local producers to connect with local consumers and supply them with food," says Potter. "Certainly there's a lot of interest from consumers in knowing about where there food comes from and connecting with local farmers"
Potter says the Ministry has established a number of programs to help cattle farmers establish those brands.
Establishing a stronger local market is one of the ways officials say can help offset losses due to difficulties entering the United States market.
Matt Bowman, northern Ontario's representative to the Ontario Cattlemen's Association, says a number of factors are at play that's making it increasingly difficult to market stateside.
"Country-of-origin labelling caused us some issues this past year," says Bowman. "We're beginning to understand how it that's going to effect us in the bigger term. Older cattle is still an issue. The disparity of regulations between the two country also hurts. We have a few more stiffer regulations than they do so that adds a few dollars to our cost of production here."
Bowman says the federation has activity lobbied government for assistance and feels they have been making some progress.

Board of Health Elections Today


Board elections top the agenda at today's meeting of the Northwestern Health Unit in Dryden.

Fort Frances councillor John Albanese is seeking another term as chair.

OPP Seeking New Recruits


The help wanted sign is being posted by the Ontario Provincial Police.

Sergeant Darryl Wilson has been recruiting prospective members to the O-P-P for the past decade and says they're are always looking to replenish the ranks.

"A a large organization we are continuously looking for the competitive and suitable candidates," says Wilson, "because were always faced with officers retiring. Yes it's hard times, but we still need to be replacing those who are leaving."

About a dozen individuals attended a recent recruitment session in Fort Frances, but Wilson says they'll always had difficulties convincing people from northwestern Ontario to consider a career in policing.

"I never seem to have the numbers. If a class if going through of the full class a full dozen would be coming to northwestern Ontario. The numbers from the north that started living in the north might be only eight."

Wilson says some feel their age is a deterrent, but notes the last graduating class include a student who was 48-years old.