Pension Bill Proposed

A northwestern Ontario MP is looking to protect workers pensions.

Thunder Bay-Rainy River's John Rafferty has introduced a bill in the House of Commons which would secure underfunded pension plans.

"The workers have invested in their retirements," says Rafferty, "and been expecting certain retirement income after working several for many years at mills. In the last few years especially, mill workers say to themselves 'I always though they were secure' but they're finding out they're not."

Rafferty says the recent issue surrounding pensions for workers with AbitibiBowater convinced him for the need to bring forward a private members bill.

Minimum Wage Hike

Minimum wage in Ontario is up as of today.

It now stands at $10.25 an hour.

Northern Development Minister Michael Gravelle says the reason for the increase is to help those in need.

"It's part of our poverty reduction strategy in the province of Ontario," says Gravelle. "We want to find the best ways we can to help those people who are most vulnerable be able to manage their lives in a better way."

The minimum wage in Ontario has increased almost 50 per cent since 2004.

Man's Death Investigated

The Northwestern Health Unit confirms it’s looking into the death of a Fort Frances man to determine if it’s linked to a rare form of Creutzfeldt- Jakob's disease.

Director of Health Protection Arlene Lesenke says this form of disease is not linked to a another form contracted by eating tainted meat from cattle.

The unidentified man died last week.

No Decision Yet on Extra Trustee

The Northwest Catholic District School Board will wait until April to decide where an extra seat on the board will go.

The board received approval in February to expand its number of trustees to eight this fall and was to discuss the issue at its meeting on the weekend.

The board requested the additional trustee following the amalgamation with the Atikokan Roman Catholic District School Board last fall.

New Tennis Courts Proposed

The Northwest Catholic District School board is giving its support behind the proposed development of new tennis courts in Fort Frances.

The board has agree to enter into a joint venture with the town of Fort Frances and the Rainy River District School Board that would allow the courts to be developed at St. Francis Sportsfield.

The Catholic Board would provide the land while the town and public board would split costs of development, estimated at $400-thousand.

The pubic board has yet to formally discuss the proposal.

Retirement Home Regulations

Ontario is moving to regulate retirement homes for the first time ever.

Gerry Phillips, the minister responsible for seniors, says new legislation will create a regulatory authority with the power to license and inspect retirement homes.

Unlike Ontario nursing homes, which receive government funding to provide medical care to elderly patients, retirement homes are privately operated and until now have not been regulated.

Burning Restrictions

The fire danger in Minnesota has prompted an expansion of burning restrictions in some parts of the state.

No burning permits were being issued Carlton, St. Louis, Itasca, and Aitkin Counties while permits are being allowed only under special circumstances in Koochiching and Pine Counties.

There have been more than 280 fires in the state this year.

Weather Records

A twenty-year-old weather record was shattered in Fort Frances yesterday.

A high of 19.7 degrees C eclipsed the old record for March 30 of 15 C set back in 1990.

The warm temperatures also led to records in Dryden and Red Lake.

Fire Ban Imposed

(Ministry of Natural Resources Photo)

A ban on burning is being imposed by municipal fire services across the Rainy River district.

Fort Frances Fire and Rescue Service's Fire Chief Gerry Armstrong says an early drying trend is pushing up the fire hazard in the district.

"The next few days the prediction for weather is warm, windy and very dry," says Armstrong. "Our recent experience in the last couple of day, from the Fort Frances area west, there's been a number grass and brush fires that we've had to control."

Armstrong says burning permits previously issued are also being temporarily cancelled.

Early Start to Fire Season

(Ministry of Natural Resources Photo)

The official start of the Forest Fire season is Thursday, but fire crews with the Ministry of Natural Resources have already been busy.

There have been four fires in the Rainy River district over the past week.

Fire Information Officer Debbie MacLean says conditions are right for more fires to occur.

"Because we haven't got any new green grass or growth or vegetation," says MacLean, "so its basically dry and dead vegetation. Compound that with the dry winter that we had and that the fact the we have pretty well snow-free conditions right now, we can say any source of open flame can be the potential of a wild fire."

The MNR has not imposed a burning ban of its own, but is recommending people not burn until conditions are more favourable.

Sioux Lookout Youth Dead

A 17-year old youth has been killed in a snowmachine accident in the Sioux Lookout area.

Police say Cody Gale of Sioux Lookout was driving a snowmobile Saturday night on Pelican Lake when his machine broke through the ice.

An OPP Marine Unit and Emergency Response team located his body the next day.

Police say Gale and two other youth were snowmobiling on the lake when two of them decided to enter open waters to try their hand at "water skipping."

Thin Ice

Ice conditions on Lake of the Woods continue to deteriorate.

Conservation officers with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources say travel on the lake is becoming increasingly dangerous in places.

They report a number of ATV's breaking through the ice, but no injuries were reported in any incident.

U.S. Man In Custody

A U.S. man is in custody in Thunder Bay after he was stopped in an alleged quest to buy a five-year-old boy.

Thunder Bay police arrested 56-year-old Patrick Molesti of Georgia on Friday at the Greyhound Bus terminal.

Georgia police says they were acting on an anonymous tip that a man was trying to buy a five-year-old boy over the Internet.

Molesti faces one count of sexual exploitation of children.

CCAC Deal

Worker with NorthWest Community Care Access Centre have a new contract.

The members of the Canadian Auto Workers union voted 80 per cent in favour of accepting a new three year deal.

It will see them get a total wage increase of six per cent and improvements in benefits.

Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the workplace will be the focus of a workshop today in Fort Frances.

It's being hosted by the Fort Frances Chiefs Secretariat.

Spokesperson Lincoln Dunn says it's an opportunity for participants to discuss how diversity impacts their organizations.

"It's going to be an opportunity for them to explore diversity within their own organizations," says Dunn, "and to increase their awareness how attitudes and believes of other employees have value and worthy of respect."

Dunn says the workshop will also discuss the importance of having a diverse workforce.

Roller Derby Team Planned

A local resident is looking for people interested in being part of a new women's roller derby team in Fort Frances.

Crystal Caul, who skated with a team in Thunder Bay, says it's something that's open to anyone over the age of nineteen.

"There's lots of women in their fifties who play roller derby," says Caul. "Women in their early twenties and all play as a team. You can be 98 pounds or 250 pounds. There's a position for every body type and every age."

An information session for those interested will be held Saturday, April 10 at the Super 8 Motel beginning at 6:30 p.m.

McGuinty Request Wage Freeze

Premier Dalton McGuinty is urging police officers and fire fighters to step up and help the province climb out of the red.

Last week's budget spelled out plans to freeze the wages of more than one-million Ontario public-sector workers.

McGuinty says municipal workers should also have their wages frozen.

But labour experts and municipal leaders say because unionized workers have a right to go to arbitration, a wage freeze is unlikely.

Welfare Rules Change

Ontario's social services minister is tweaking welfare rules in the wake of outrage over the elimination of a Special Diet Allowance in last week's budget.

Madeleine Meilleur says the rule changes are being made ''to show good faith'' and that the government has listened.

In the budget, the Liberal government ended a program that provides up to 250-dollars per month for some people on social assistance.

Passport Compliance

The close proximity to the border may be a factor in many Fort Frances residents heeding the call to get a passport.

A study by the Toronto Star reveals almost 79-per cent of area residents had a passport six months after new U-S passport rules went into effect - the highest among northwestern Ontario communities.

Just 60 per cent of residents living to the west of Fort Frances have passports, while the number falls to 52 per cent in communities east of town.

Lake of the Woods Water Quality Study

A new water quality project is being launched for Lake of the Woods.

A number of First Nations communities around the lake are working together on the project.

Spokesperson Ryan Haines says they're now trying to secure the necessary funding.

"Funding from Lake of the Woods Sustainability Foundation would roll out this fall," says Haines. "This coming winter would be spent looking at existing water quality data, looking at aerial and satellite photos identifying high priority areas."

Haines says also they're hoping to secure funding from municipal and federal sources.