Far North Act Passes Third and Final Reading

Business leaders in northern Ontario are joining First Nations in expressing disappointment with today's passage of the Far North Act.

Harold Wilson, chief operating officer of the Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce, says the bill will make it harder for companies and First Nations to do business in the north.

Some First Nations leaders have warned of unrest and uncertainty in the north because of the passage of the Far North Act, which they say violates treaty rights.

Broncos face Kildonan East in WHSFL

Another big test for Beaver Brae's Football team.

The Broncos are at home today against the Kildonan East Reivers.

Beaver Brae still has an unblemished 2-0 record in the Winnipeg High School Football League, and is in a three way tie for first place.

The Reivers meanwhile, have a 1-1 record.

Game time is 3:00 this afternoon at Pete Fair Memorial Field.

Natural Gas Prices going up?

The cost of natural gas is coming down, but Union Gas customers in northwestern Ontario may still an increase on their bills next month.

The cost of a cubic metre of natural gas will drop 3-cents beginning October 1st.

But the Ontario Energy Board says customers bills may go up four to seven dollars over the next year because of the price difference for natural gas paid by Union Gas over the last three months and the price it expects to pay in the next quarter.

Tourism Changes in Store for 2011

There will be a bit of a change to the city's tourism landscape next summer.

The main tourism information outlet for Kenora will be the new Discovery Center on Cameron Bay.

The building is just under construction and is slated to be open by next spring.

The Discovery Center will replace the old tourism bureau on Highway 17 east.

The City also plans to operate the Thistle Pavillion as a secondary tourist information bureau next summer.

City council endorsed the changes at a special meeting held Wednesday morning.

AbitibiBowater Prepares to Exit Bankruptcy Protection

AbitibiBowater has achieved another step towards its exit from bankruptcy protection this fall.

The company says creditors in the United States gave its stamp of approval to a reorganization plan this week.

It received approval from Canadian creditors last week.

The plan still needs court approval in both the UnitedStates and Canada.

Second Career Expo Today

The first ever Second Career Expo is going to be taking place in Kenora today.

A total of 28 businesses and exhibitors will be setting up shop at the Best Western Lakeside Inn.

Dianne Schwartz-Williams is spearheading the job fair and says people looking for work should be able to find some good leads.

The Second Career Expo will run from noon to 7:00 this evening.

Environment Commissioner Lashes out at the MNR

Ontario's environmental commissioner says the government isn't following through on any of its environmental promises.

In his annual report, Gord Miller says environmental legislation the government has passed is being undermined by its inaction.

Miller says the ministries of natural resources is not given enough tools to get the job done.

Miller is critical of an oversight from the Ontario government allowing mining companies to illegally construct mining camps and airstrips in the far north.

Federal Long Gun Registry Survives Vote

The gun registry has survived a critical vote, but just barely.

MPs voted 153-151 Wednesday night to kill a Conservative bill to scrap the program.

Kenora MP Greg Rickford says the opposition parties missed an opportunity to get rid of a flawed program.

All three Northwestern Ontario MPs supported scrapping the registry.

Mayoralty Candiate's wife passes away

Kenora City Council paused for a minutes silence yesterday prior to its open council meeting.

It was for the wife of city councillor Jim Parson, who passed away Tuesday.

Patti Parson died after learning of a terminal illness last week.

Jim Parson had just entered the mayoralty race 10 days earlier, but had to shelve

his campaign plans so he could spend time with his ailing wife.

Parson's name will still appear on the October 25th ballot, but he says he will not

be making any public appearances.

NorWOSSA league results

A disappointing start to the season for Beaver Brae's boys volleyball and girls basketball teams.

They were in Dryden yesterday for their first league games and returned home without a win.

Both the Bronco senior and junior boys volleyball teams were beaten 3-1 by the Eagles.

In girls hoops action, the Beaver Brae Seniors dropped a 47-12 decision to Dryden, while the juniors lost 31-19.

Meanwhile, Thomas Aquinas took three of four games from Rainy River.

Both the junior and senior boys volleyball teams won in straight sets.

Saints senior girls nipped Rainy River 42-38, while the T.A. junior squad lost the only game of the day, dropping a 38-15 decision to the Owls.

Special Council Meeting This Morning

Kenora City Council may be considered a lame duck, but it still has some work to do before a new mayor and council are sworn in.

A special meeting will take place this morning to approve a number of last minute items.

Council has to finalize arrangements for a joint recycling program with the City of Dryden.  A total of 14 items are on today's council agenda.

The meeting will take place at 9:00 at the Second Floor Meeting room in the Kenora Rec. Center.

Candidate drops out of School Board Race

There will only be four eligible candidates for the Keewatin-Patricia District School

Board when the ballots come out in the next week or so.

Jon Sigurdson had filed his nomination papers prior to the September 10th deadline,

but has informed the city's returning officer that he will be moving out of the area.

That makes him ineligible to run for the school board.

Joanne McMillin says the ballots have already been sent out to be printed, meaning

Sigurdson's name will still show up on the ballot.

She adds that she's trying to advise as many people as she can prior to the election

that as of October 1st, he will not be an eligible candidate.

New Immigration Web Portal Working

The British are coming.

That's the hope of the new Northwestern Ontario Immigration Web Portal.

Spokesperson Kathy Woodbeck says they are actively targeting the UK.

Woodbeck says each day they have been receiving 4 e-mails a day from interested Brits looking to relocate.

Construction of new land ambulence base expected by spring

The Kenora District Services Board says it will likely be spring before work on a new land ambulence base can begin.

The board is just finalizing a deal with the City of Kenora for some property on 14th Street North.

Garry Parkes is chair of a committee that was given the job to find a new location for the land ambulence base and says its getting too late in the year to begin any work.

The Kenora District Services Board had set aside a million dollars for the project several years ago,

and Parkes says they will have to address the funding side when they set the new budget for

construction.

Nestor Falls Leads Ultimate Fishing Town Contest

Nestor Falls is number one.

At least for now.

The tiny community south of Kenora has put up huge numbers in voting

in the World Fishing Network's Ultimate Fishing Town Contest.

Nestor Falls took the lead this morning after trailing Port Alberni, British Columbia since the beginning of the contest.

Voting will wrap up one week from today.

The winning community will get a cheque for 25 thousand dollars.

New Fire Truck on Tour

Kenora's new fire truck is being shown off this week to a large group of interested by-standers.

The Metro Star Pumper is being show-cased at the national convention of the Canadian Fire Chiefs

in St. John, New Brunswick.

The new fire truck won't fit in the old fire hall on Second Street South, and can't be moved yet

into the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

So the company that sold the fire truck to Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department has asked if they could take the vehicle on a tour of Canada to show it off.

After leaving New Brunswick, it will head to Brandon, Manitoba before it arrives at its new home in
Kenora. 

More Funding for Skills Training

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is getting funding from the federal government to offer a skills training program.

The program will be offered in Kenora and Dryden and will help a number of young adults make the transition into the workforce or allow them to return to school.

190 thousand dollars is been promised through the Good Job Skills Training project.

Under the program, students will attend employability workshops and get on-the-job

training through work placements.

The funding will allow as many as 24 people to enter the program.

Another Public Information Center on Highway 17 Twinning

It looks as if a final route for the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway west of Kenora is

going to be delayed for a few more months.

At least two more public information sessions are planned before a final decision is made.

The next open house will be held on October 2nd at the Kenora Legion.

The consultant tasked with doing the route plan says the additional public information centers

have been arranged to deal with some of the concerns raised by residents in the Clearwater

Bay area.

A final route plan is expected to be presented at a fourth public information session sometime early in 2011 and the prelimiary design is scheduled to be unveiled by summer of next year.

DSSAB Accepts City Offer for Land Ambulence Base

The Kenora District Services Board has come to an agreement with the City of Kenora's on the location

of a new land ambulence base.

The two sides issued a joint release saying that the offer of land west of the new fire hall on

14th Street North has been accepted.

The city has offered the property at no cost to the Services Board.

Chair of the land ambulence committee, Garry Parkes says after 10 years of searching for a suitable location, they are now a step further towards construction of a new facility.

Once terms and conditions of the agreement are finalized, the Services Board is expected to

begin moving ahead with development of the new land ambulence base.

Catholic Board Pleased with most EQAO Results

The Kenora Catholic District School Board says there is still some room for improvement in the most recent grade three, grade six and grade nine standardized test results.

While there was improvement in grade three reading and grade six reading and writing, results for grade three math and math and grade six math decreased.

Assistant Superintendant of School Effectiveness, Mary Cunningham says they are looking at ways of improving their test results.

Cunningham adds that math results for grade nine students in both the applied and academic streams

were well above the provincial average.

Parson Curtails Campaign Appearances

Most candidates running in the October 25th municipal elections are just getting

their campaigns up to full steam.

But at least one person is being forced to curtail his campaign appearances.

Jim Parson is one of three people running for mayor, and says due to an illness in his family, he won't be making any public appearances over the next couple of months.

There are three all-candidate forums next week, but Parsons says he will not be able to attend.

He says his heart is still in the election race and won't be withdrawing from the mayoralty race.

Broncos win on the Road

Beaver Brae's football team is off to a promising start to the season.

The Broncos crushed Maples on Friday 28-6, improving their record to 2-0 in the Winnipeg High

School Football League.

Beaver Brae's next test is Thursday at home against Kildonan East.

The Reivers are also unbeaten after two games. 

Thistles see first action of the season

It was a good weekend for the Kenora Triple "a" midget Thistles.

The Thistles were in Beausejour for a pre-season tournament.

The Kenora Midgets finished the tournament with a record of three wins and one loss.

They wrapped up the tournament with a 5-2 win over the Interlake Lightning yesterday.

Thomas Aquinas win KIVT

The Thomas Aquinas Saints won the Kenora Invitational Junior Boys Volleyball tournament over the weekend.

The tournament was played at both Beaver Brae and T.A. Friday and Saturday.

The Saints finished the round robin with a 10-2 record, and beat Whitefish Bay in two straight games in the semi-finals.

T.A. met up with Fort Frances in the final, and managed to beat the Muskies two games to one.

Treaty Three Opposes Far North Act

Grand Council Treaty Three has joined the ground swell of opposition against the Far North Act.

Grand Chief Diane Kelly says she's worried the provincial government is taking away some of the decision making over their traditional lands.

Kelly says aboriginal commities are the only growing population in the north and wants the provincial government to recognize their jurisdiction in the region.

She adds that the Toronto-based discussions and consultations on Bill 191 are not  appropriate for decisions that affect the far north.

She sugges bi-lateral talks take place between the Province Ontario and Treaty Three.

Three All-Candidate Forums in three days

Candidates running for Kenora city council are going to be busy next week.

Three all-candidate forums for mayor and council will take place over three days.

One week from today, the Kenora and District Chamber of Commerce will be holding a forum at the Super 8 motel.

That will be followed up a night later with a all-candidates forum with the Local Young
Business Professionals group at the Rotary Room in the Kenora Rec. Center.

And on Wednesday the 29th, the Kenora Seniors Coalition will be holding its own forum for the candidates in the same location the next morning.

The official vote in the municipal elections is October 25th, but vote by mail
ballots should be in the mailbox by the end of next week.

Strike at NOSM continues

Contract talks between the North Ontario School of Medicine and

the union representing more than 150 workers have broken off.

OPSEU local 677 says the talks collapsed yesterday after four

days of mediation.

The union says a bit of progress was made, but there's no word when talks might resume.

Outstanding issues include contracting out, transfers to alternate locations, hours of work, overtime and wages.

The administrative, technical and clerical staff work at campuses at Laurentian University in Sudbury and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and satellite campuses in Timmins and Sault Ste. Marie.

OFAH weighs in Federal Gun Registry Vote

The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters is disappointed that a number of NDP Members

of Parliament have reversed their decision to dismantle the federal long gun registry.

A vote on the registry is scheduled to be held this week on Parliament Hill.

Greg Ferrant is a spokesperson for the OFAH and says the issue is becoming a bit of a

political football.

Ferrant says the vote is too close to call, and isn't willing to predict is the private members

will to kill the long gun registry will pass or not.

Rickford ready for new session of Parliament

Members of Parliament go back to work today after a summer on the barbeque circuit.

Kenora M.P. Greg Rickford says it looks like its going to be a busy session.

In addition to a number of government bills on the agenda, Rickford says he'll be speaking out against a private members bill by Toronto area M.P. John McKay on corporate accountability.

Rickford adds that the other major vote this week will take place on Wednesday on the

federal long gun registry.

He says at this point the vote is too close to call.

NAN continues lobby effort against Far North Act

Northwestern Ontario First Nations say they will not recognize the Far North Act if it's passed by the provincial legislature.

Nishnawbe-Aski Nation Grand Chief Stan Beardy says the voices of First Nations people in Northern Ontario are being ignored.

The bill would block up to 42-percent of Ontario's land mass from development, protecting 225-thousand square kilometres of boreal forest.

Nishnawbe Aski Nation represents 49 First Nation communities in an area covering two thirds of the province.

Passage of Far North Act Delayed

The contraversial Far North Act still hasn't been passed into law.

Bill 191 was supposed to be up for third and final reading Thursday afternoon

at Queen's Park.

Kenora-Rainy River M.P. Howard Hampton says the vote never took place because there were just too many people demonstrating against the legislation.

Hampton believes the premier will try to ram the bill through this fall.

Hampton suggests the premier will try to bring the bill back for final passage

just before the Thanksgiving long weekend, when there will be less attention

on Queen's Park.

Rafferty to Oppose Federal Long Gun Registry

Thunder Bay-Rainy River M-P John Rafferty is standing firm on his position on the long-gun registry.

In a statement issued yesterday, Rafferty reiterated his decision to vote in favour of a Conservative private members bill that proposed to scrap the registry.

Rafferty says he's following the wishes of his constituents by doing so.

Richards Ready for Training Camp

The leaves are starting to fall, so that must mean NHL training camps are getting ready to open.

Players begin reporting to their teams today.

Mike Richards is the captain of the Philadelphia Flyers and says while the teams made a number of upgrades on defense, they will be sticking with the same goaltending tandem that go them through the play-offs.

Richards says they expect to make another strong play-off run again this year, after

coming within two games of winning the Stanley Cup in June.

Junior Boys Volleyball Tournament this weekend

The Beaver Brae and Thomas Aquinas junior boys volleyball teams get their first real tests this weekend.

The annual Kenora Invitation Volleyball tournament will be taking place at both the Beaver Brae and T.A. gyms.

The Broncos see their first action of the season at 1:00 against a Fort Frances split squad.

The Saints play their first game an hour later at 2:00 against the other Muskies split squad.

A total of seven teams are entered in the two day tournament.

Bronco Football Team Hits the Road

The schedule in the Winnipeg High School Football League is about to get tougher for the Beaver Brae Broncos.

The Broncos are in Winnipeg this afternoon for a game against the Maples Marauders.

Beaver Brae Head Coach Chris Penner says they should be able to the play with the teams from Winnipeg this year.

The Broncos opened the season with a 27-0 win over Dryden last week, while Maples lost their first game.  Game time is 3:00 at Maples Collegiate.

Terry Fox Run Turns 30

The Terry Fox Run turns 30 years old this year.

The annual run for cancer research will take Sunday starting at Valleyview School.

Laurine Goertzen is one of the organizers of the Kenora run and says the

event has been very successful over the years.

The Terry Fox Run will start Sunday morning at 9:00, with a barbeque to

follow at noon.

Goertzen says they are expecting about 400 participants this year.

Organizers gearing up for 2011 Allan Cup

Organizers of the 2011 Allan Cup Senior Hockey Championships says the event will have a significant economic impact on the City of Kenora.

The official launch for the event took place last night.

Frank Bastone is the marketing manager for the event and says the championships should have the same impact on the city that the National Midget Championships did a couple of years ago.

Bastone says ticket packages for the week long tournament will be going on sale shortly.

There is also a new website with information about the the event at http://www.allancupkenora2011.ca/

Exhance Income Bullish on Bearskin

Winnipeg-based Exchange Income says its excited about the future of the airline industry in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.

The company signed a letter of intent to purchase Bearskin Airlines this week.

President Michael Pyle explains why they targeted Bearskin.

Pyle says the Company has no interest in amalgamating Bearskin with its Manitoba airlines.

New Fire Hall gets more money

Kenora's Fire and Emergency Services Department will be getting a bit more funding to outfit the new fire hall on Barsky's Hill.

Council recently approved 188 thousand dollars for the fit and finish of the new facility.

Fire Chief Warren Brinkman says they had initially budgeted about 138 thousand dollars to finish the new fire hall.

Brinkman says so far, the nearly six million dollar project is pretty close to being on

budget.

The only real change is to the roof, at a cost of about 24 hundred dollars.

Speed Racing on Highway 71

A 20 year old Nestor Falls resident has lost the use of his car for a week.

The OPP say they pulled over a vehicle over the weekend on Highway 71 for speeding.

Officers say the car was travelling more than 50 kilometers in excess of the posted speed limit of 80 kilometers an hour.

Under new provincial regulations, that's considered speed racing and police can impound the vehicle for a week.

To make matters worse, the driver was found to be drinking and has been charged

with impaired driving.

Tobacco Free Grant for Nestor Falls

The Town of Sioux Narrows/Nestor Falls is just the second community in northwestern Ontario to receive funding from a provincial anti-tobacco strategy.

More than 100 of the Play, Live and Be Tobacco Free Grants have been handed out across
the province.

Nestor Falls will be using the funding to help stage their annual Triple P race.

The race involves biking, running and canoing.

The inaugural Triple P fun race took place this past July at Bass Lake Park and attracted
participants and volunteers from across northwestern Ontario.

Organizers will get a cheque for 500 dollars for the event.

Americans Fined for Illegal Hunting

Two men from South Dakota have been fined a total of 34-hundred dollars for illegal bear hunting near Ignace.

John Gubbrud pleaded guilty to illegally hunting a black bear and providing hunting services to a non-resident without a licence.

James Walker was slapped with a 400-dollar fine for not carrying his hunting licence and failing to wear hunter orange.

Court heard that last September Walker harvested a black bear in an area for which his licence was valid.

A Conservation Officer learned that Gubbrud, who was working for an Ontario Tourist Camp, led Walker to the area, even though it was outside a legal Bear Management Area.

Victims of Crime Funding

A local agency is getting support to help aboriginal people who are victims of crime.

Weechi-ti-te-win Family Services is receiving 192-thousand dollars from the province's aboriginal victims support grant program to fund a variety of initiatives.
Lori Flinders is a director of the agency and says all of the programs are bases on community needs.

David Zimmer, Ontario's Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General, made the funding announcement during a recent visit to the area.

Wabigoon Chief Defends Two-Feathers

The Chief of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation believes they are nearing the final stages of the Two Feather Forest Products Value-added project.

Rueben Canton says its his hope that everyone involved can dot the I's and cross the T's.

Canton admits its been a long process.

Canton says were talking about a new project, with new ideas, and it takes some time for things to happen.

The project was first talked about in 2002 but really took shape in 2004.

Public School Board releases Strategic Plan

A comprehensive and aggressive Strategic Improvement Plan has been adopted by the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board.

The strategy holds students, teachers, staff, senior administration and the Board more accountable to student success.

Director of Education Jack McMaster says one focus is helping aboriginal students.

43-percent of the student population in the School District is aboriginal.

The Board also serves 1-thousand and 33 special needs students.

Bearskin Airlines Sold

A major announcement impacting the airline industry in Northwestern Ontario.

Exchange Income has signed a letter of intent to acquire Bearskin Airlines for 32.5-million dollars.

Bearskin has been a local fixture for over 47-years with service in several communities including Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Red Lake, Kenora, Fort Frances, Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

President Harvey Friesen says the timing was right.

Winnipeg-based Exchange owns and operates CalmAir, Keewatin Air, and Perimeter Air.

No changes in staffing or service are expected and the deal should close around December 1st.

Public School Trustees Disappointed with OSSLT results

The Keewatin-Patricia District School Board didn't beat around the bush last night in stressing that last year's High School literacy test results are real cause for concern.

31-percent of the 530-students writing the test for the first time failed the exam, while roughly 61-percent of the 293-students writing for a second time couldn't get the job done.

While Trustees were upset to see those numbers, they were shocked to learn that 36-percent of first time and second time writers didn't bother to show up for the test.

The results have been showing a steady downward trend the past 5-years.

Trustees stated that the Board may have to revisit their game plan to see what needs to be done.

While the numbers are sobering, a few bright spots came out of the report, primarily that the 4-year graduation rate of 78-percent and 5-year rate of 89-percent is right on line with other Provincial Boards.

Thomas Aquinas Opens NorWOSSA Season

A good start to the NorWossa Boys Volleyball and girls basketball season for the Thomas

Aquinas Saints.

All four teams are on the road this week.

Yesterday, the Saints were in Atikokan and swept the Voyaguers in all four games played.

Both the T.A. Senior and junior Boys upended Atikokan three sets to one.

In girls basketball, the Thomas Aquinas senior girls cruised to a 57-24 win.
Zoe Yeomans led the offense with 15 points.

The Saints junior girls also prevailed, 23-13 over the Voyageurs. Sami Burkhart
had 8 points for T.A.

Today, Thomas Aquinas court teams are in Rainy River.

Nestor Falls Second in Ultimate Fishing Town contest

The community of Nestor Falls is appealing to residents across northwestern Ontario to help it become Canada's Ultimate Fishing Town.

Nestor's Falls is second in the World Fishing Television network's contest behind Port Alberni, British Columbia.

Maureen Hanson of Hanson's Hideaway Lodge says they're want the entire district to vote for their bid.

WFN is handing out 25-thousand dollars to the winning community.