Local News from Across the Rainy River District
The availability of housing is one of the greatest challenges for many rural communities to attract workers, and so the Town of Fort Frances will take steps to support potential new out of town hires in the future. Fort Frances council tasked municipal staff in September to dig into staff […]
Fort Frances will dip into a reserve purse to cover extra funds needed to finish work on the fire hall. Municipal staff designed and tendered for the renovation of the Fort France Fire Hall through 2024 with initial tenders coming in well over the project’s budget. As a result, the […]
KENORA — A new study has found Indigenous people in Thunder Bay and Kenora report higher rates of discrimination in the health care system than those in southern Ontario. The data was compiled by Octavia Wong, a Toronto-based researcher. It noted that, among Indigenous respondents, 39 per cent and 37 […]
The federal government has not responded to requests for comment since Ontario Premier Doug Ford called for Canada to abandon its environmental assessment in the proposed Ring of Fire mining development. At an infrastructure funding announcement for Webequie First Nation last week, Ontario Premier Doug Ford publicly asked Prime Minister Mark […]
Kap Paper has received a $10-million investment from the federal government through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario (Fednor). The crucial funding supports the continued and future operations of Kap Paper, helping the company maintain operations, explore new production opportunities, and proceed with business planning, engineering, and development […]
THUNDER BAY — New Democrat MPP Lise Vaugeois says the government’s proposed changes to the Election Act are good for the governing Tories but bad for democracy. The government, for its part, says the changes would “strengthen and increase public trust in the province’s electoral system.” Among the reforms proposed this week […]
Visitors to the Rainycrest Long-Term Care Home are being warned of an outbreak of respiratory illness in the facility’s west wing. Riverside Health Care, in conjunction with the Northwestern Public Health Unit, declared the outbreak Thursday, immediately implementing visitor restrictions and masking protocols. Residents may only have two visitors or […]
Fort Frances is weighing whether or not to increase insurance deductibles, but at least one councillor believes a possible increase should be held off a little longer. During Monday night’s meeting of Fort Frances Town Council, Councillor Wendy Brunetta said council should reconsider the idea of increasing insurance deductibles. A […]
The Ontario government is spending $3.2 million to launch the next intake of funding applications under the Indigenous Economic Development Fund (IEDF). Applications for funding under the fund will be open until Dec. 1 and must be submitted through Transfer Payment Ontario at www.tpon.gov.on.ca. “Our government is continuing to make […]
TORONTO — Ontario’s premier and Indigenous affairs minister say support for mental health in First Nations is not tied to signing resource development deals. Doug Ford and Greg Rickford were among those on hand at Queen’s Park on Oct. 29 to sign a new partnership agreement with Webequie First Nation […]
THUNDER BAY – Without an increase in larger-scale housing projects, the city won’t meet its 2025 housing target of 675 units, according to the city’s director of development services, Joel Depeuter. “We are currently not on track to meet that target, though we expect to meet, to exceed last year’s performance,” Depeuter […]
TORONTO — Ontario’s mines minister says its new streamlined permitting process for the resource sector is necessary, but that’s not how North Spirit Lake Chief Brandon Rae sees it. To the contrary, he told a news conference Wednesday at Queen’s Park, “what it really does is weaken consultation” and silence […]
