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Amtelecom unveils $6.5 million ramp onto information
superhighway
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by Michael Erskine
MINDEMOYA---The official announcement of Amtelecom's new high
speed
data network last Friday heralds Manitoulin Island's entry into
the
forefront of 21st century communication.
The telecommunications project represents over $6.5 million of
investment in line upgrades and new switching equipment, which
now
enables Amtelecom to provide digital subscriber line services
(DSL)
to over 85 per cent of their local customer base.
"I am delighted to be here today to take part in this official
celebration for the introduction of Digital Subscriber Line
Services," said Assiginack Reeve Hugh Moggy, who spoke on behalf
of
Assiginack, Amtelecom's lead community partner in the project.
"I am
proud to say that we are also very pleased to have assumed a
'Leadership Role' throughout the application and administration
process of this very significant telecommunications
infrastructure
upgrade."
"DSL services will provide a cost-effective, scaleable data
bandwidth
on demand service for applications such as high-speed Internet
and
world-wide video conferencing to residents, business, hospitals,
law
enforcement and other emergency response services and
educational
facilities," said Reeve Moggy. "This technology will foster
wonderful
enhancements within many sectors including economic development,
education and telehealth. It will allow even the smallest
business
high-speed access to any business, market and resource globally,
truly, an exiting step forward for this part of Manitoulin
Island.
"This telecommunication project will provide business, the
general
public, the medical community, educational facilities and law
enforcement agencies within the five townships and two First
Nations
with high speed access to global markets and information," said
Algoma Manitoulin MP Brent St. Denis. "By supporting the efforts
of
area business, economic stakeholders and key tourism partners
through
its programs and services, FedNor continues to open doors and
build
futures for all residents of the North."
The partners in the project included the Municipality of
Assiginack,
Billings Township, Township of Central Manitoulin, Tehkummah
Township, the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands,
M'Chigeeng First Nation and Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve,
all
of which are either fully or partially served by Manitoulin Tel.
"Today marks the very first commercial rollout of a DSL product
by
Amtelecom anywhere in our serving territory," said Mike Andrews,
president of Amtelecom Communications. "The DSL project now
completed
is part and parcel with a $6 million, four year plan to upgrade
and
expand the telecom network within Amtelecom's service area on
the
Island.
The services which will be offered at the end of the four-year
expansion will include 100 per cent private line service,
gradually
phasing out the remaining 80 to 100 party lines in the Amtelecom
system; the introduction of advanced telephone services,
including
call blocking, name and number display, some of which are
already
available to Amtelecom customers now, while call answer services
will
be available later this summer.
The company will be offering Centrex services for businesses.
The DSL service has been expanded to over 85 per cent of
Amtelecom
customers through the installation of 15 remote switch
locations, all
connected with self healing fibre optic ring technology. The
addition
of three new stations later this summer will bring even more
customers into 21st century data communications technology.
Amtelecom is currently working on a second connection to the
global
fibre network to increase the fault tolerance of their system,
and to
provide security should a disaster cut the single current link.
Assiginack Economic Development Officer, Rob Maguire, was
universally
praised by every official and speaker at the unveiling, as his
drive,
determination and persistence was singled out as the key
ingredient
which made this project a success.
Mr. Maguire in his turn, gave credit to a large number of key
people
he said were central to the project going forward.
"We owe a big thank you to a great number of individuals for
their
help in bringing this project to fruition," he said. "They
include
Algoma Manitoulin MP Brent St. Denis for his ongoing support,
our
former and present reeves and councils, all of the former and
present
councils in the Manitoulin Tel serving area, Amtelecom
management and
network operations, Stig Puschel of FedNor, all of the
organizations
who have submitted letters of support for this project and
finally
Dave Wilson of Manitoulin Tel and Theo Noel de Tilly (FedNor
Communications Officer), who both provided invaluable assistance
throughout the development of this project."
A base $500,000 non-refundable contribution in FedNor special
project
funding was announced last year, and it complemented a $125,000
investment by Amtelecom as well as the $6 million in equipment
upgrades which are ongoing. By the time all of the investment in
service upgrades and equipment purchases and installations has
been
completed, the actual value of the investment in new technology
on
the Island from this project and its spin-offs should top $10
million, according to Mr. Wilson.
Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands Mayor, Ken Ferguson,
said he
was very excited about the prospects which the new service will
provide.
"I know a number of people who want to be able to work from
their
cottages or summer residences when they come up, and they would
likely bring a couple of people with them," he said. "I hope we
will
be able to entice others to come and do the same now. With this
technology, businesses will have a critical part of the
technological
support they need to stay connected to their office and to
global
markets as well, that can only be a good thing for our area."
Local partners in the provision and installation of DSL services
will
be Fred Peltier of Wikwemikong, who will be providing the
service out
of the Band Office in Wikwemikong and Manitoulin Island
Computers,
who will operate out of Jake's 2 in Mindemoya. Mr. Wilson
indicated
that other partners and vendors in the project may be
considered.
Amtelecom is celebrating 100 years of providing innovative
communication services to Manitoulin Island, and the continued
investment in technology reflects the company's commitment to
the
area. The DSL service now being offered through much of the
Island is
not available in some of the Greater Toronto area.
"When I first moved back to the Island, some of my friends in
the
south used to laugh when they found out we have our own
telephone
company here on the Island," said Central Manitoulin Reeve Mary
Nelder. "They certainly aren't laughing now."
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McAllister
memorial |
by Ruth Farquhar
MINDEMOYA ---Central Manitoulin Public School in Mindemoya held
a
special tribute on June 10th of this year. The graduating class
of
2002 dedicated a memorial garden to honour their late classmate
Bradly McAllister who passed away January 4th , 1996. CMPS
Principal Lynne Kulha welcomed everyone to the dedication and
two
grade 8 students told those attending about their memories of
Bradly.
Michelle Olacke started off saying, "When we were in Mr. A's
class, I
sat at a desk with Bradly, I remember when Mrs. Cranston Kay
left the
room I would help him finish his work. When she came back she
would
ask how he had finished so soon and Brad would always say, I'm a
genius. Brad always told us funny stories about his family and
friends. He used to always wave good-bye to his little sister,
Alicia, as she got on the bus and he would get a ride with his
dad.
Bradly was a great friend to have for everyone. He was caring
and
kind and will be held in our hearts forever."
Graeme Prescott said, "Our memories began in Kindergarten when
we
first met our buddy. At nap time he always wanted to go under
the
blanket and get a special smooch from Kelly. Brad and Jim were
the
best of pals, we remember when Jim used to push Bradly through
the
halls in the rolling garbage can. Brad always claimed that he
was a
race car driver because of his blue helmet and that he would
become
famous one day, just like Stomping Tom. Brad's favorite thing to
talk
about was the cool tree fort that was built for him. He always
told
stories about when he and Wayne would play in it every time
Wayne was
over. We miss you Brad, you were quite the guy. That childhood
friend that will never be forgotten."
Graeme concluded by saying, "On behalf of the graduating class
of
2002, we dedicate this garden of hope in memory of our dear
friend
Bradly David McAllister."
Fellow student Wayne Middaugh then planted a tree in honor of
Bradly.
Ms. Kulha said, "Each year the graduating class will plant
flowers in
his honor and we would like to thank Shelba Millette who
spearheaded
this project."
As well as the flowers, there is a stone with a plaque on it,
CMPS
council and students planted 200 red and jack pine trees along
the
school's back fence line and the Manitoulin District Association
for
Community Living will look after the maintenance of the garden.
This endeavor was part of the Early Life Matters Project and
according to Shelba Millette, "The project stemmed from good
intentions and the idea to try and meaningfully fill in the gap
between the informal and formal education processes. From this
simple idea the project grew into what you see here today. It is
obvious that the main ingredient in making this project a
success is
the strength of the community. People from all over the Island
selflessly gave up money and time or both in order to help us
make a
positive change, a change that I believe will make a significant
difference in the way we nurture and educate our children."
Ms. Millette feels that this type of project makes parents,
grandparents and community members "significant hands on
contributors
in the public school system."
Bradly's mother Brenda said following the dedication, "Keith and
I
would like to thank the students who chose to remember our son.
His
memory will live on with this tree and the plaque. Bradly would
be
proud to know he touched so many lives with his short life. We
would
like to thank all the people who participated today in the
garden,
all the staff at CMPS and the Association for Community Living
who
will be looking after the garden."
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Draft waterfront proposal to be sent
to Northeast Town council |
by Michael Erskine
NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN AND THE ISLANDS (NEMI)---Weeks of
discussion,
planning and debate on the draft of the terms of reference for a
study of the Little Current waterfront came to a conclusion
Monday
night, as the committee completed the first draft of its
recommendations to council.
Those recommendations will now be forwarded to NEMI town council
for
comment and review.
"It is probably a good idea to submit the 'thumbnail' proposal
we
have put together to council as a draft for their comments,"
said BIA
representative John Hodder. "If they are going to make any
suggestions or modifications it would be good to know before we
go
any further in fleshing out the details."
Some debate as to whether the committee should place the
proposal
before the public in a meeting or to leave that up to council's
discretion ensued, with the general consensus being that the
proposal
should go to council first.
"The normal thing is to report to council first," said Mr.
Hodder.
"The council shouldn't be reading about a public meeting in the
paper
before they have even seen the document in question,"
"We have a mandate to put forward a proposal to council," said
Al MacNevin.
"Before the document is finalized, there should be an
opportunity for
the public to comment on it," said councillor Ron Lewis.
"Changes
could be suggested at that time. A document which is discussed
in
public is far more acceptable than something that is not done in
a
public forum."
"I am in favour of proceeding, getting this on its way," said
BIA
representative Jib Turner. "It is a comprehensive and very large
document. The term focus has been used a lot, and council should
be
looking at focusing the study a lot more clearly than we have."
"Council in all likelihood will take it to a public meeting,"
said
Mayor Ken Ferguson. "If there is real friction, it may come back
to
this committee."
Public representative Siska Poenn said she had indicated she was
in
favour of sending the draft to council, with the understanding
that
it would be coming back with council's recommendations and
input.
The Monday meeting of the NEMI waterfront committee was held
with
Stig Puschel, of FedNor, and Glen Warren of the Ministry of
Northern
Development and Mines on hand to review and comment on the
committee's draft proposal. A previous set of terms of reference
for
the waterfront study had stalled at the Ministry official level,
when
officials expressed misgivings about the chances of success that
proposal had. The meeting with officials from both levels of
government was solicited by the committee to make sure they were
proceeding on the right track.
"This is a big project, a challenging project," said Mr. Puschel.
"I
think you have essentially covered all of the things you need to
have
covered. But, it is difficult for someone from the outside to
suggest
you might be missing something. Do you have community buy-in?"
Mr. Puschel said there was no point in talking about the numbers
until the committee had shopped around the proposal to a number
of
consultants to see what kind of price tag would be associated
with it.
"The first thing you need to do is to agree on what it is you
want,
find out what kind of price tag is associated with it, and then
put
together a proposal to the various funding agencies," he said.
"My two cents worth, for what it is worth, is to take a close
look at
the amount of detail involved, price it out," said Mr. Warren.
"You
could run up a half-million dollars easily on the study alone.
Where
do you want the focus to be? You originally focused on the
downtown
area. You could wind up spending a lot more on the periphery
areas
and have nothing left over for the downtown, or vice versa for
that
matter. Be clear on what you want to focus on."
The suggestion was made during discussion that a strong clear
proposal from a consultant could form both stage one and two of
the
proposal process for Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation
contributions, essentially skipping a step and speeding up the
process. FedNor funding does not follow a staged process, but a
two
part application would be likely there as well, with the first
proposal being for the study, and the second as part of the
project
flowing from the study.
Mr. Hodder asked if any study conducted should have
implementation as
its final goal as a requirement for funding.
"Absolutely," said the government representatives
simultaneously.
Both officials also said they felt the request for proposal
stage
should be completed in-house by the municipality.
"The expertise is here," said Mr. Puschel. "Make use of it
before you
go spending money on an outside agency."
After discussion of the progress of the committee to date, the
final
set of components were completed by the committee.
Component 12 recommended the consultant review the towns bylaws,
including zoning issues.
Component 13 recommended sending a general call for proposals in
the
selection process, which is the normal operating procedure for
the
town on large projects. Mr. Warren noted that the province now
stipulates that its projects are listed on the MERX website,
where
International consultant firms can download the project and
study for
a bid if they are interested.
Component 14 looked at limits on what the consultant will do,
with a
recommendation that the consultant complete the proposals down
to the
'ready for tender' stage, and provide timelines for the
completion of
stages of development.
NEMI council will likely hold a joint public meeting with the
waterfront committee to consider the draft terms of reference in
August, as the remainder of June and July will be taken up with
meetings on finalizing the budget, recycling and the new
landfill
site.
"Although if there is sufficient public pressure, we might be
able to
get it moved up," said Chair MacNevin. "Now we will determine
what
level of commitment there is from council."
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