March 12, 2003 ARCHIVE
 
 
 

Social Service board takes ambulance service in-house

by Michael Erskine
ESPANOLA---Ambulance services will be provided by the 
Manitoulin-Sudbury District Social Services Administration Board 
'in-house' in 2004, as the board decided to take over the 
administration from the private contractors who currently deliver the 
service.
Attitudes expressed by members of the Manitoulin-Sudbury District 
Social Services Administration Board (DSSAB) ran the gamut from 
strong support through ambivalence to staunch opposition, but in the 
final tally the decision was made to take over the delivery of 
ambulance service in the DSSAB cachement area by January, 2004.
"For the end-user it will have little or no effect," said DSSAB Chief 
Administrative Officer Gary Champagne, indicating that there is no 
anticipated change to the service as far as the public is concerned. 
"We are ultimately responsible for the service now, whether that 
service is delivered by a private contractor or by the board. The 
buck stops here either way."
The decision culminated a process which encompassed in-camera 
discussions through an entire day of meetings on March 5, and 
included an hour-long in-camera session before the March 6 meeting 
where the final motion was passed and a further 15-minute discussion 
just prior to the vote.
Divisions on the vote amongst board members were clear from the 
comments prior to the final recorded vote (called for by Chair Frank 
Gillis).
"I supported bringing this resolution forward to the board," said 
Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands Mayor Ken Ferguson, citing 
the great deal of effort which went into the proposal by staff and 
the sub-committee members. "But it has come to me that there is 
another route we should be entertaining."
Mayor Ferguson said he believed the current contractors should have 
been given an opportunity to submit proposals to the board and that 
perhaps a call for RFPs (request for proposals) should be made prior 
to a final decision.
"They have had plenty of opportunity to sharpen their pencils," said 
Mr. Gillis.
There was a meeting between the three private operators and the DSSAB 
in October, 2002, noted Dave Hill of Rainbow North Emergency 
Services, one of the contractors.
"But that centred on how to improve the service delivery," he said. 
"There was no discussion of funding costs."
Mr. Hill said that although there was some suggestion that some 
administrative staff would be offered positions within the new 
structure, and although the paramedics and other front-line staff 
would likely continue, the position regarding support and clerical 
staff was not as clear.
"Are they going to be expected to travel from here to Espanola?" he 
asked. "That is not clear at this time."
The proposal to bring the $5.1 million ambulance services contract 
'in-house' cited anticipated savings of a minimum of $100,000 per 
year.
"That is a conservative estimate," said Mr. Champagne. "We want to be 
sure it is realized."
The DSSAB ambulance services budget is $6.1 million in total, with 
$5.1 million going to three private contractors, Espanola Hospital, 
the Town of French River and Rainbow North EMS. The remaining $1 
million covers DSSAB administration costs and the supply of major 
equipment.
"It is important to remember that 90 percent of the budget goes to 
salaries and benefits," said Mr. Champagne.
Espanola Mayor Marcel Rancourt said he was in support of the motion 
on the general principal that medical service belonged in the public 
sector.
"In this case I don't think 'for-profit' is the way to go," he said, 
expressing the opinion that for the public and for employees, 
operation were more secure under a public entity. "The province 
created this issue, and they dumped it onto us," he added.
Les Gamble, of the Township of Sables-Spanish questioned the 
anticipated savings and suggested that in light of the satisfactory 
service delivered by the private contractors, the board's move to 
bring the administration in-house amounted to "stabbing them in the 
back."
"This board has not sat down and talked to them in the last three 
years," said Mr. Gamble. "I think we should be sitting down with them 
and asking them to help us out."
One representative said he took offense to the suggestion that the 
decision amounted to stabbing the private contractors in the back.
"There is a process here and we have followed it," said Jack Barr, 
representative for Sudbury's unorganized townships.
Many of the 19 municipalities served by the DSSAB had not had an 
opportunity to formally input on the decision, French River 
representative Vince Lacroix noted.
"They didn't get a say," he said.
Both Chair Frank Gillis and West Manitoulin representative Pat Best 
noted that they were of very mixed feelings on the matter. Ms. Best 
said she felt a number of her constituents fell on both sides of the 
proposal.
"This may very well be a good thing," she said. "But they didn't get 
the time to give their input. I wish they had more time to be 
included. I feel sorry for the small guy."
But not all members agreed that there was not enough time to make an 
informed decision.
"The committee has been working on this since last summer," said Ray 
Chenier. "All the member municipalities have a representative (on the 
DSSAB). They are not separate and to say they were not told is not 
correct."
There was nonetheless some concern expressed by Mayor Ferguson that 
as the discussions on the ambulance service were conducted in camera, 
little discussion could be held by DSSAB representatives with their 
constituents without danger of breaching confidentiality.
Janet Whissel, who represents Sudbury West, cited a need for 
stability as a principle factor in her decision to support the move 
and stated there was little point in delaying the decision any 
further.
"Health care is very, very important," she said. "We have had that 
before us for over a month. Today is the day to make a decision.
"The decision is to be made by the people sitting at this table," 
agreed Markstay-Warren representative Willy Leveillie, reiterating 
that the committee had considered three options: the status quo; 
consolidation of the contracts; bringing the administration in-house. 
"The decision is would we do it as well or better, could we do it 
cheaper? A lot of work was done on this, it wasn't done half-cocked."
A general perception of fairness and an admiration for the amount of 
work put into the process was almost universally expressed by the 
DSSAB members.
"The process was very fair," asserted Chapleau representative Earle 
Freeborne. "There were no pre-determined ideas, no pre-ordained 
goals. This decision is in our best interests."
"It was very well presented," said Dale Van Every. "I had some 
misgivings at first, I thought it would be much like the school bus 
issue for the Island. As the meeting on Wednesday progressed, I think 
a lot of people changed their minds on both sides of the question."



                     

              

      

        
        

          
                District Social Services 
                Administration Board

        

          by Michael Erskine

          ESPANOLA---The province will be picking up a larger share of the tab
          

          for delivering social service programs on Manitoulin Island and in 

          the areas surrounding Sudbury next year, as the agency which 

          administers those social service programs has gathered sufficient 

          support to make changes to the apportionment of costs paid by the 

          unorganized townships and the Township of Killarney.

          The Manitoulin Sudbury District Social Services Administration Board
          

          (DSSAB) passed an apportionment formula at its last meeting which 

          will see the unorganized townships portion of the assessed DSSAB 

          costs rise to 19.9 percent (from 19.2 percent) of the total budget.
          

          The change marks the third major tinkering with the apportionment 

          formula since the DSSAB was first formed in 1998.

          In order to make the changes to the apportionment formula, a 

          so-called 'double majority' of municipalities was required. A double
          

          majority is a majority of municipalities, which must also contain a
          

          majority of the electors in the cachement area. DSSAB Chair Frank 

          Gillis indicated a sufficient number of municipalities to meet the 

          double majority criteria had passed resolutions in favour of the 

          change.

          The new apportionment formula passed by the DSSAB will take into 

          account 'payments in lieu'(PIL) of taxes. PILs are paid to 

          municipalities by the upper levels of government for properties, such
          

          as radio towers or parks, on which the municipality cannot collect 

          taxes.

          The new apportionment formula will hit Killarney hard, the presence
          

          of two parks in the Killarney area will mean an apportionment 

          increase of more than $170,000, or around a 50 percent increase in 

          their DSSAB assessment. Although the municipality should receive a 

          Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF) adjustment in 2004 to offset the 

          increased levy, those funds are received a year later, leaving the 

          town scrambling to make up the shortfall in the interim.

          "They will be paying more in 2003, but then they should collect more
          

          in CRF funding in 2004 to make up the difference," said DSSAB Chief
          

          Administrative Officer Gary Champagne.

          CRF funding are payments which the province gives municipalities to
          

          offset any difference in tax base related to the redistribution of 

          social service responsibilities instituted by the province in 1998.

          The inclusion of PILs was implemented largely at the behest of the 

          Island municipalities, to better reflect the resources of communities
          

          by including all revenue streams.

          However, another somewhat related issue was not dealt with in the 

          apportionment formula, as municipalities which receive grants for 

          dams in their cachement area, such as Espanola, have been essentially
          

          'let off the hook.'

          "Those are not PILs," said Mr. Champagne. "The provincial government
          

          calls those grants."

          The technicality is not completely semantic, as the grants are 

          awarded from year to year and are not a guaranteed source of revenue
          

          for municipalities, nor are they set from a universally known 

          formula. The same complaint is often made by municipalities about CRF
          

          funding, however, as few municipal politicians believe the CRF 

          funding will continue indefinitely. Still, the province has issued 

          municipalities a booklet explaining precisely how CRF payments are 

          calculated, an action it has not done in the case of grants.

          The Manitoulin Sudbury DSSAB is one of 47 Consolidated Municipal 

          Service Managers (CMSM)s created by the province during 1998, and one
          

          of 10 DSSABs in Northern Ontario. The DSSABs have many of the same 

          responsibilities as Counties and Regions with regards to delivery and
          

          funding of social services.

          Unorganized townships are a distinctly northern issue, as no southern
          

          DSSABs include unorganized townships. The provincial government pays
          

          for all of the DSSAB apportionment allocated to unorganized 

          townships, which makes the new formula essentially a mechanism to 

          transfer .7 percent more of the DSSAB budget to the province. The 

          amount is equal to what the municipalities believed the province 

          would pay when they moved from the initial one-third formula to the
          

          provincial default in 2000.

 		
        

        

          
                

                  
Lake Huron boasts much ice 
                  for March

                

              

        

          
                by Neil Zacharjewicz

                LAKE HURON - Even the Canadian Coast Guard is impressed with the
                

                amount of ice currently on Lake Huron.

                "There is a lot of ice on Lake Huron," stated Ralph Hilchie, Ice
                

                Service Specialist with the Coast Guard. He said, in comparison 
                to 

                past years, there is quite a bit of ice for this time of year. 
                He 

                estimated Lake Huron is still 80-90 percent covered in ice.

                Apparently, the large amount of ice is not limited to Lake 
                Huron, 

                either. Officials with the Coast Guard indicated Lake Superior 
                is 

                completely frozen over.

 

        

          
                Little Current remembered

        

          
                by Cheryl Waugh

                NORTHEASTERN MANITOULIN and the ISLANDS (NEMI) --- Little 
                Current 

                will be remembered.

                The thoroughbred race horse, who died on January 19 at the age 
                of 32, 

                was declared the town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands
                

                (NEMI)'s most 'famous namesake' by council last Wednesday 
                evening. A 

                statue of the horse will be built somewhere in the community in 
                the 

                near future.

                Business Improvement Area President Marilee Hore and Jib Turner
                

                attended council to ask that Little Current be declared NEMI's 
                most 

                famous namesake. "I think this is an opportunity that we don't 
                want 

                to see go by," said Mr. Turner. "There has been quite a few 

                discussions about it, and there are quite a few people who are
                

                willing to jump on board."

                Mr. Turner noted that there is an ongoing effort to elevate 
                Little 

                Current into the Thoroughbred Race Horse Hall of Fame, based in
                

                Saratoga Springs, New York, and if that effort was eventually
                

                rewarded it would bring "some notoriety to the town as well as 
                the 

                horse."

                Little Current won both the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in 
                1974, 

                and was the champion three-year-old colt of that year. The fact 
                that 

                he missed out on capturing the Triple Crown - he lost at the 

                Kentucky Derby - is a bit of a sore point with Little Current's 
                most 

                ardent fans.

                Kevin Grace, who works with the Maryland Racing Commission, and 
                is 

                spearheading the charge to get Little Current into the hall of 
                fame, 

                said Little Current should have won the Kentucky Derby in 1974.

                "It was the year after Secretariat had won, and everybody 
                entered the 

                Derby. There were 23 horses in that race. No horse has ever had 
                to 

                compete with 22 other horses," said Mr. Grace.

                Little Current was blocked several times as he tried to make his 
                move 

                to the front of the pack, eventually he passed 16 horses, as he 
                moved 

                into fifth place. It was where he would finish.

                A few more lengths more, said Mr. Grace, and Little Current 
                would 

                have passed the winner.

                The next year, the Kentucky Derby instituted the "Little 
                Current" 

                rule that stipulated no more than 20 horses could run the race.

                Still, winning two-thirds of the Triple Crown is no small 
                matter, and 

                in the fall of 1974 Little Current's owner, John Galbreath was 
                given 

                a key to the town of Little Current. Mr. Galbreath had a cottage 
                in 

                the Killarney area and had named the horse after the north shore 
                town.

                Mr. Galbreath told the Daily Racing Form in 1974 that it was 

                'positively delightful' to have received the town's key. "They 
                gave 

                us the key to the town and everybody was pleased. The key was
                

                attached to a lovely piece of fine cedar and we were very 
                pleased to 

                have it."

                Now, 29 years later, NEMI will honour Little Current's memory.

                Mr. Grace said what the town was doing was a 'wonderful' thing. 
                "I'm 

                happy with what's happening there. It's a big honour." And, said 
                he 

                will keep plugging away at getting Little Current into the hall 
                of 

                fame. "I'm trying to educate folks about the horse. I can't 
                change 

                history, but I am trying to get him the notoriety he should 
                have."

                And, because of the famous race horse, the former town of Little
                

                Current, now incorporated into NEMI, has a legacy on which to 
                build 

                on.

                In a letter to NEMI Council, Ms. Hore pointed out that "the 
                publicity 

                surrounding the elevation of the horse bearing this community's 
                name 

                to the prestigious Thoroughbred Race Horse Hall of Fame in 
                Saratoga 

                Springs, New York cannot help but reflect positively on the town 
                of 

                Little Current and indeed all of Northeastern Manitoulin and the
                

                Islands."

                Mr. Turner said it shouldn't be too difficult to put a group 
                together 

                to come up with the capital to put a statute of the horse in the
                

                community. He noted that the statue could become another point 
                of 

                interest for tourists to NEMI. "It's stuff like this that when 
                I'm 

                travelling I wander off to look at," said Mr. Turner.

                Meanwhile, the hall of fame announces its inductees the week of 
                the 

                Kentucky Derby, which runs the first Saturday in May. Mr. Grace 
                is 

                asking supporters of Little Current to send letters to the 
                nomination 

                committee. Letters should be addressed to: NationalMuseum & 
                Racing 

                Hall of Fame, 191 Union Ave., Saratoga Springs, NY, 12866-3566,
                

                Attention: Ed Bowen, Nomination Committee.

                For more information on Little Current, see Mr. Grace's website 
                at 

                www.littlecurrent.net.