Province Get Input on Infrastructure P

Municipal leaders are getting their say in how a new provincial infrastructure program will work.

The $100-million dollar fund is specific to northern Ontario.

Infrastructure minister Glen Murray their input will help get the program launched this fall.

Murray says the fund will be especially vital to communities that don't have the tax base to self-fund large infrastructure projects.

East-West Transmission Line Work To Begin

The process is now underway for the construction of a new transmission line to provide electricity between northwestern and southern Ontario.

The Ontario Energy Board's Vanda Wall says a company has been chosen to begin the initial design, the environmental assessment and land acquisition.

Wall says it could be up 18 months before this stage is complete.

Hudak Get Federal Minister's Support

Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak is getting some very high profile support to help fend off challenges to his leadership from within the party.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird predicts Hudak will become the next premier.

Some Tories are asking  for a leadership review after the party won just one of five by-elections last week.

Drowning In Minnesota Wilderness Area

A man from Denver, Colorado has died after jumping from a cliff into a lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Authorities pulled the body of 29-year-old Chase Winkey from Makwa Lake yesterday near the cliff that he and another person jumped from while swimming the day before.

Makwa Lake is located on the Minnesota side of the border,  just south of Quetico Provincial Park.

Ombudsman To Investigate Policy Policy

Ontario's ombudsman says he's launching an investigation into the government's guidelines for police on how to de-escalate conflict situations.

The announcement follows a fatal shooting in downtown Toronto that left an 18-year-old man dead that prompted public outrage over police use of force.

New Face Carving

 There's a new face in downtown Fort Frances.

For this one you're going to have to look up a tree.

Local carver Joe Kneisz says a dead tree gave him the inspiration to carve a face into its trunk.

Kneisz completed the carving in just a couple of days and received plenty of positive response from people who stopped to watch.

Union Heads Stepping Down

The presidents of two Canadian unions merging as one this fall are stepping down.

Communication Energy and Paperworkers President Dave Coles says neither he nor Canadian Autoworkers President Ken Lewenza will seek leadership of the new union, named Unifor.

Both indend to endorse senior CAW official Jerry Dias to lead Unifor when it holds its first official gathering in September.

Disgruntled Tories Told To Take A Deep Breath

Disgruntled Progressive Conservatives calling for a leadership review are being told to take a deep breath.

Some Tories want the review of Tim Hudak after the party lost in four of five by-elections last week.

Party president Richard Ciano says they should realize the party made a huge breakthrough in Toronto by winning in Etobicoke-Lakeshore.

Hudak  is vacationing this week and unavailable to comment.

Liberal Collect Big In By-election Campaigns

Ontario's governing Liberals may have lost three of five provincial by-elections last week, but they raised the most money by far of any party during the campaign for the August 1 votes.

Preliminary figures from Elections Ontario show the Liberals raised just under $1 million.

The Progressive Conservatives raised $245-thousand.

Figures for the NDP had been posted at $68-thousand in July, but removed at the party's request because of a problem with the way the money was allocated.