Friday, November 5, 2010

Angler Survey

The Ministry of Natural Resources is looking to hear about anglers experiences in 2010.

Spokesperson Helen Ball says they'll be sending out surveys in January that look at a variety of aspects of fishing.

The survey is conducted every five years and will be sent out to 15 hundred anglers.

The Royal WInter Agricultural Fair has strong Northern Ontario Involvement

As the Royal Winter Agrigultural Fair, the largest indoor fair is set to start it's 88th year in Toronto, Director of Marketing Scott McConnel, says the fair boasts a very heavy involvement from Northern Ontario.

"This will be the 10th year that we have a Northern Ontario Pavillion at the Royal," says McConnel. "And it's something that we're very excited about. It's a huge exhibit and features almost 50 exhibitors from all accross Northern Ontario and there are at least nine districts represented."

The Royal Winter Agricultural Fair starts today and runs until Sunday November 14th at Exhibition Direct Energy Place in Toronto.

National Health Food Month

November is National Health Food month and nutritionists are encouraging parents help their young children boost, fuel and maintain their overall health.

Jane Dummer, a registered dietician, says it can begin by increasing the consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids, such as DHA.

"Fish is a great source of natural DHA," she says, "However fish is not a food that every young child likes nor is it an everyday food in the home. Fortunately there are kid friendly Omega 3 DHA rich foods that can be found in the dairy aisle such as milk, yogurt and cheese."

Dummer also encourages parents to ensure their children start the day with a healthy breakfast and enjoy healthy snacks.

Soaring Hydro Rates

The Provincial NDP is continuing its attack on the McGuinty Liberals over the issue of soaring hydro rates.

The McGuinty Government has rejected an NDP Motion to take the HST off of hydro.

At Queen's Park Tuesday, leader Andrea Horwath raised the concerns of two area residents.

"They just can't make ends meet anymore," she said. "They're just unable to have a positive outlook for the future because costs are just too high. And we're saying to the government there's an easy straight forward way of addressing this where people don't have to jump through hoops applying for tax credits and things. You can make some real impact on their monthly bills by just taking the HST off of their monthly hydro bills."

Horwath noted that families are seeing their hydro bills skyrocket now that winter is fast approaching.

Boosting Tourism in Northewestern Ontario

The Ministry of Tourism is currently reviewing eight projects that could boost tourism in Northwestern Ontario.

Paul Pepe, a member of the transition team for the new Northern Ontario Tourism Zone, said a variety of initiatives were received.

"Not just marketing, but things like product development and training," Pepe said. "The industry needs training, needs customer service training, needs web marketing training. So there will be dollars allocated to those sort of initiatives."

Other projects include a big-game hunting proposal, motorcycle tours and marketing strategies into Manitoba and the northern U.S.

Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship Adopts new format


The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is adopting a new format for 2011.

It includes dividing the 120-teams on the final day into three fields based on total catches from the first two days. Weights are then wiped clean with winners determined in each field based on catches in the final day.

In a four-page release outlining the format, newly-elected president Gord Watson said it's based on angler input and gives all anglers an opportunity to earn money with more prizes awarded each day.

The championship is also capping the teams at 120.

Early Learning in the Rainy River District


The Rainy River District School board plans to accelerate implementation of the third year in the province's early learning program.

Education Director Heather Campbell said an additional class will be established at Robert Moore School in Fort Frances where earlier learning starts next year.


"We have to absord some of the costs for year two," she said, "But it's minimal overall impact to the board as far as far as the actual costs of it's full implementation in year two."


Campbell noted that the move also meets certain Ministry of Education requirements for the program.