Crime continues to dominate debate talks

Crime continues to dominate discussion in the Mayor's election race. Colin Burridge says the city needs to enforce a curfew in the evening and offer more foot patrols. Frank Pullia feels the city needs to address the social issues and notes having more police doesn't necessarily help stop crime from happening. Meanwhile, Lynn Peterson feels the crime council will help reduce the city's crime rate. Keith Hobbs, and Jeff Irwin also took part in last night's mayoral debate.

YPN Debate tackles doctor recruitment and youth out-migration

Keeping doctors working in the city was one of the questions posed last night at the Young Professional Network's Mayoral debate.  Colin Burridge feels if we improve our tourism industry we'll retain more doctors.  Meanwhile, Frank Pullia says the answer lies in quality of life. Another topic of discussion included how the city can stop youth out migration.  Lynn Peterson, Keith Hobbs and Jeff Irwin also took part in the debate.

YPN Mayoral Debate welcomes young and old

The Young Professional Network's Mayoral Debate saw a mix of young and old in attendance.  Jeff Irwin, Colin Burridge, Lynn Peterson, and Keith Hobbs took part in one of the last debates before the municipal election.  A pundits table discussion of how each candidate responded was held after the debate.

Bombardier unveils "The Rocket"

The public got a glimpse of the new Toronto Transit Commission subway cars known at "The Rocket". They were built by Bombardier in Thunder Bay. Company General Manager Claude Gingras says this contract has meant security for the plant and for the local economy.  The unveiling took place at the Downsview subway station in Toronto.

Chamber is election ready

The Chamber of Commerce is helping you stay informed about the municipal election.   It's posted the results of it's candidate survey on the Chamber website.   President Harold Wilson says neither he nor the chamber will be endorsing any candidate.   He says however, he is disappointed some candidates didn't participate.

NOSM strikes back

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine is making it's offer to it's striking employees public. School officials say that they are disappointed the OPSEU staff voted to reject a tentative agreement this week. Dean Roger Strasser says the negotiating team is confused about the reason the members had for turning thumbs down to the deal.  NOSM has posted the offer made to the workers on the school's website NOSM.ca

The city may regulate student room rental

The first steps are being taken to start licencing home owners who rent rooms to students.  The city's By-Law Enforcement Manager Ron Bourret says they want to have some sort of regulations placed on the practice.    Bourret says in addition to a licence fee, there would also be surprise inspections.  He hopes to have a draft by-law before council by the spring.

College welcomes Chinese educators

Confederation College is getting a stamp of approval from a school in China it's partnering with. Con College is offering it's Hospitality program to 400 students there. President Pat Lang says as part of the process they are hosting a couple of Chinese school officials.  Lang says it's a chance for them to examine the program where it originates.

Transit vote will go tomorrow

We'll find out tomorrow if the Amalgamated Transit Union will accept the city's tentative contract.  Two ratification votes will be held at the CEP Hall at 10 o'clock and again at 7 Friday.  Union Spokesperson Charlie Brown says they are recommending members accept the deal.

Lac Des Iles mine back in operation

Almost 200 people are happily back at work at the Lac Des Iles mine.  After sitting idle since October 2008 the operation was recently restarted and the miners and various other contractors are back at work.  North American Palladium held a grand reopening event yesterday.