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MHC receives funds
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by Cheryl Waugh
MANITOULIN --- The Manitoulin Health Centre has received $400,000 in
funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to
upgrade facilities at both the Little Current and Mindemoya Hospitals.
The two Island hospitals will equally split the funding, receiving
$200,000 a-piece for various improvements and upgrades.
Jim Van Camp, chief executive officer of the Manitoulin Health Centre
(MHC), said he hasn't yet been provided with all the details
concerning what medical equipment the hospitals will get through the
funding, but said he anticipates that the Little Current hospital
will receive a cautery unit, stretchers, software for the lab, I.V
pumps, a scope washer and an ultrasound unit, which will replace the
old unit, allowing for more procedures and new images.
He said he expects the Mindemoya hospital will receive vital signs
monitors, non-stress tests for obstetrics, stretchers, I.V. pumps, a
defibrillator cardiac monitor, air conditioning in the clinic, a
storage garage, and the telehealth system, which will allow for
video-conferencing for both doctors and patients.
The above items were requested by the MHC when they applied for
funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC)
last May (2001).
The MHC funding was part of an $11 million "Mega Monday" series of
announcements in Sudbury this past Monday by Dan Newman, the Minister
of Northern Development and Mines. The NOHFC has spread the $11
million among 27 communities in Northern Ontario in order to create
jobs and improve the quality of life.
Mr. Van Camp said he was in Sudbury when the funding announcements
were being made. "I am elated that the government has funded us. The
equipment that we will receive because of this funding will be used
in all aspects of our operations," he said.
He said while he didn't know the final list of equipment the
hospitals would receive through the funding, he noted that any
equipment received that improves health care on the Island is
important. "This is really good for Manitoulin," said Mr. Van Camp.
Also getting funding on "Mega Monday" was the Lacloche Manitoulin
Business Assistance Corporation (LAMBAC). They will receive $178,000
to extend digital wireless and paging services on Manitoulin Island.
The project is expected to result in paging services throughout
Manitoulin Island, with the total cost estimated at $445,000.
LAMBAC has already received $222,500 from FedNor for the initiative,
while private enterprise will pick up the balance of the costs
($41,500).
"This is the final piece of the funding in place," said Marg Hague,
general manager of LAMBAC. The funding will be used to set up the
infrastructure of the paging service.
Ms. Hague noted that, for instance, in Gore Bay, pagers don't work
properly because the town is in a valley, surrounded by bluffs,
however, once the paging infrastructure system is set up, Gore Bay
residents can be properly served by pagers, along with the rest of
Manitoulin. The system is expected to help those in emergency
services, along with health and education providers.
Ms. Hague said the project is "a really good example of partnerships
at work. It's a win-win situation for everyone."
Mr. Newman said the investments announced on Monday will allow
northern communities to address local and regional priorities. "It
will also mean that economic and community development initiatives
from agriculture to training, from tourism development to
telecommunications can be enhanced," he said. "Ontario government
investments through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund focus on
activities that help strengthen, solidify and expand local economies.
This translates into new jobs and long-term economic benefits to the
entire north."
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Manitoulin
District bucks Northern population trend
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by Michael Erskine
OTTAWA---On the bare face of the reported numbers, the District of
Manitoulin has completely reversed Northern Ontario population
trends. Statistics Canada has reported a 7.9 per cent population
increase for the district since the 1996 census, far in excess of the
six per cent drop reported for Sudbury over the same period. Too bad
the numbers don't add up.
In a corrected version of the statistics, adjusting for those First
Nations which did not participate in the 1996 count, but who did in
2001, and removing the totally off-the-wall numbers reported for
Killarney, the statistics still show a positive trend for the area,
overall.
Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve posted the largest gain of any of the
Island communities with a reported population jump of 12.7 per cent,
while the Whitefish River First Nation showed the most precipitous
drop, losing a reported 13 per cent of their population since 1996.
Meanwhile, Killarney is reported as having a much larger drop of 42
per cent. Statistics Canada says Killarney had a population of 738 in
1996 and claims that number had dropped to 428 in 2001. Reeve Laurier
Lowe was very skeptical of the numbers, as are everyone else familiar
with the area.
"I have lived here all of my life, and I don't know where they are
pulling those numbers out of," he laughed. "I suppose the folks down
at Statistics Canada know their stuff, but we have 362 people in the
village of Killarney alone, and we sure haven't noticed droves of
people moving out, so I don't know where those numbers are coming
from. Maybe somebody just pushed the wrong buttons."
There is an inherent danger in applying the huge statistical numbers
generated in a gigantic head count like the Canada Census to small
rural communities, and with thousands of tiny communities having been
amalgamated and their borders redrawn, a few errors and omissions can
be expected, even if Statistics Canada is adamant boundary changes
from the 1996 census have been taken into account in the 2001 reports.
If the corrected figures for Manitoulin are any more valid than the
bare numbers given by the census folks, Manitoulin still comes out
bucking population trends across the North, perhaps even growing
slightly, with First Nation communities leading the way.
"We did have a slight drop in the riding, 2.3 per cent for the riding
total I believe, but, it was still one of the lowest drops in the
North," said Algoma-Manitoulin MP Brent St. Denis.
The whole question of rural population decreases is one which Mr. St.
Denis said he believes the government should take a close look at.
"But it is a little bit like trying to turn back a river," he said.
"It is a trend which has been going on for a very long time."
Mr. St. Denis said perhaps a lower investment bar for business
immigrants who locate to the North would help to reverse the trend,
while providing an economic and development boost to the North. "I am
just talking off the top of my head though," he said. "We would have
to study that a lot more before we went ahead with anything."
The question of immigration is a thorny issue, with recent polls
showing that over 54 per cent of Canadians say they believe
immigration numbers should lowered, while at the same time
economists, actuaries and other experts point out that unless working
population numbers are turned around, by the time the last of the
baby boomers retire there will only be two workers for every person
over 65, as opposed to the current four.
For the first time since the second world war, immigration has
out-paced natural reproduction as the engine of population growth in
Canada, and the four per cent overall population increase is the
lowest on record. Still, with the exception of the five per cent
population increase in the United States, Canada leads the major
industrialized nations in population growth.
Babies and families appear to hold less importance in the modern
industrialized world.
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Stewardship council
presses for cormorant control
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by Neil Zacharjewicz
GREAT LAKES - The Eastern Georgian Bay / North Channel Fisheries
Stewardship Council has issued a position paper in favor of cormorant
control.
The Eastern Georgian Bay / North Channel Fisheries Stewardship
Council was first formed in October of 2000 by the Ministry of
Natural Resources (MNR) with the support of the Township of the
Archipelago. The council makes recommendations to the MNR on issues
surrounding Georgian Bay and the North Channel, and were the group
responsible for making the recommendation for fish limit changes in
these areas which will come into effect on January 1, 2003.
The paper, released on March 11, 2002, states that the stewardship
council "is greatly concerned about the continued expansion of the
cormorant population in Eastern Georgian Bay, the North Channel and
beyond into our inland waters. Of greater concern are the known and
likely impacts the birds are having on the health and sustainability
of fisheries and the ecosystems that support them."
The paper highlights three main areas of impact which concern the
council, which include the impact of breeding colonies on vegetation
and other bird species, on localized water quality, and on fish
populations and fisheries.
The council also expressed concern stakeholders, which include the
First Nations, commercial interests, sport fishermen, and cottage
associations are growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of
action by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR). It pointed out
many stakeholders feel the MNR's plan to oil cormorant eggs does not
go far enough and is too limited to control the number of birds.
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recently released a draft
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for public review that will
guide development of a nationwide management strategy for
double-crested cormorants. The EIS analyzes various options for
managing rapidly growing cormorant populations to reduce conflicts
with recreational anglers, commercial aquaculture and other human
activities," the paper notes.
The council states while it understands the need to maintain healthy
cormorant populations, it also feels the current rate of growth of
cormorant populations threatens many terrestrial and aquatic
communities and the people which depend on them.
"As a result, the council recommends that the MNR immediately
undertake, or sanction selective cormorant controls on public and
private lands and waters where there is reasonable evidence that
double-crested cormorant populations are having a negative impact on
ecosystems and public resources," the paper states. "In addition, our
Provincial and Federal governments should re-classify the cormorant
similar to the common crow, thereby increasing total mortality
through hunting with the aim of stabilizing cormorant population
growth. Our government should remain responsible for monitoring the
cormorant population to ensure its health and sustainability. The
study and management of cormorant populations in the Great Lakes
basin should be undertaken in concert with American Federal and State
agencies."
"I am pleased people are speaking up and I hope the government is
going to listen," said Jim Sloss, president of the United Fish and
Game Clubs of Manitoulin (UFGCM). "It has been the same with everyone
we have contacted. The government is making a mistake if they think
the problem is going to go away."
Mr. Sloss noted a number of people from the stewardship council have
been working with the UFGCM on the cormorant issue, and were at
attendance during the organization's information meeting in Espanola
earlier this year.
Mr. Sloss also raised concern over the number of cormorant eggs
slated for oiling. He pointed out when the MNR posted its plan on the
Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), it suggested it would be oiling
eight to 11 percent of the cormorant nests. Looking at a 1997 report
from the predecessor of the Lake Huron Management Unit, it identified
that 40 percent of all the cormorants live in Lake Huron. There are
an estimated 350,000 cormorants now, and if 40 percent of the birds
reside in Lake Huron, then they account for approximately 160,000 of
the total population. As well, by only oiling 11 percent of the
nests, the MNR is only oiling less than 40,000 eggs. Mr. Sloss said
he does not believe the scientific data from this trial oiling would
be of any value.
Mr. Sloss suggested something must be done before the fisheries are
completely destroyed. He pointed out scientific figures suggest it
takes three generations of fish before a fishery is rehabilitated.
The life expectancy of an average perch is between 18-20 years, and
the life span of the average walleye is 28-30 years. Most species of
fish do not spawn until five years of age. At this rate, he said, it
could be between 15-35 years before the fisheries are able to
rehabilitate themselves.
"We are in a situation where the plan in place does not make sense,"
Mr. Sloss stated. "I may not even be around for the recovery."
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