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Central Manitoulin Fire Department
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by Tom Sasvari
CENTRAL MANITOULIN---Fire-fighters in at least two of the three wards
in Central Manitoulin have threatened to resign if township council
passes a by-law to hire a new fire chief from the Sudbury area.
However, Mary Nelder, Reeve of Central Manitoulin, is hopeful cooler
heads will prevail and that the fire-fighters will not walk out. In
case they do walkout, she said the township will put a contingency
fire plan in place.
"I handed in my pager, and other guys on the fire department are
following suit," stated Merv Gilchrist, District Fire Chief for
Mindemoya (Ward 2). "Basically, the township hired a fellow from
outside the area, even though they had qualified people here that had
applied for the fire chief position."
"They're going to end up with no fire department," stated John Reid,
Deputy Fire Chief of Ward One (Campbell). "We're all going to quit, a
bunch of us are. I know Merv (Gilchrist) and Keith Jewell (Captain
and Training Officer of Central Manitoulin) are going to be tendering
our resignations and I know a lot of the other guys (fire-fighters)
are going to resign too if council passes the by-law. That's
enough...they went out of the township to hire the last fire chief
and they did again this time."
Ms. Nelder told the Expositor that "the interview committee, made up
of members of council and the clerk-treasurer (Ruth Frawley),
conducted interviews and made a recommendation to the clerk who made
the ultimate decision. Council, as a lame duck council, is not in the
position legally to hire the new fire chief until after the next
election, but made the recommendation to the clerk based on the
interview selection."
"Brian Smith, who owns property on Manitoulin and Sudbury, has been
hired, although this has not been confirmed by a bylaw that will have
to be passed by council. He is retired and will be moving to the
Island once renovations are made to his residence on the Island,"
said Ms. Nelder.
Ms. Nelder explained the interview committee felt Mr. Smith "was the
best candidate. We were in the fortunate position of having five very
, very good, strong applicants and we were impressed by all of them.
It is a nice position to have five good candidates to choose from,
but it is also a hard position to be in as well. We hired who we
thought was the most qualified candidate."
She noted, "The hiring has been done by the clerk-treasurer who had
this authority delegated to her prior to September 26th. Ruth had the
authority to hire the fire chief, based on the recommendation made by
the interview committee."
"Council will be considering the bylaw in hiring Mr. Smith (at a
council meeting that was held Tuesday, October 14), naming him as the
fire chief. It's something we need to legally do (pass a bylaw),"
said Ms. Nelder.
In September, John McNaughton, the previous fire chief of Central
Manitoulin resigned after mediation talks between the Central
Manitoulin Township Volunteer Fire Chief and its fire-fighters broke
down.
Councillor Derek Stephens was quoted in the September 19, 2003
edition of The Recorder that the township council had received a
public letter from the volunteer fire-fighters for Central Manitoulin
expressing their concerns with the performance of the fire chief, the
lack of training and how things were being run, and had indicated
they had lost confidence in Mr. McNaughton.
"I understand he (Mr. Smith) has no experience as a fire chief,
although he has been a deputy fire chief and a captain," said Ms.
Reid. "After 20 years I've had enough. It's time to pack it in. I'm
not going to beat my head into the wall."
He pointed out he was among those that applied for the Fire Chief
position as did Keith Jewell and Merv Gilchrist. "If one of us had
got the job of fire chief we would have done some things differently,
including holding more regular meetings between the fire chiefs,
deputy chiefs and the fire-fighters, working together," continued Mr.
Reid. "Once some of us resign the ball is going to get going and from
there two of my captains are going to resign, and then other guys
will as well. I would bet all of the fire-fighters will end up
quitting. Right now , we'll go to fires, definitely, but once I get
my honorarium I'll be done. I've had enough," said Mr. Reid.
Keith Jewell, a Captain and Training Officer for Central Manitoulin,
added, "I guess the main problem is there were three eligible people
in the township that applied but council has hired from outside the
township. The new fire chief doesn't know the area, the rest of the
fire-fighters or the intricacies of the area and how things work.
They have hired a Master Trainer Facilitator, but as far as I'm
concerned he can be a master trainer facilitator but if you don't
know the intricacies of our area or the members of the fire
department it's useless."
"Yes, I'll definitely be walking out, depending on what council
decides," stated Mr. Jewell. "Definitely, we'll still respond to
fires. We wouldn't let the community down."
Ted Taylor, District Fire Chief for Ward Three (Sandfield), said, "I
don't want to make a statement at this point. We'll just wait until
the dust settles. I'm not terribly upset at this time. We need to get
a lot more information about what's going on," he said, noting that
at this time the Sandfield fire-fighters are not looking at holding a
walkout.
Mr. Smith "hasn't had experience as a fire chief, although I
understand he has worked for several fire departments in the Sudbury
area over a number of years," said Mr. Gilchrist. "The full intent of
amalgamating the fire department was so that we could all work
together," he said, indicating he understands that depending on the
decision township council was to make concerning the passage of the
bylaw on Tuesday (last night) of hiring Mr. Smith, that many of the
fire fighters would be resigning.
Ms. Nelder said, as of last Friday, Mr. Gilchrist "has turned in his
pager, and has said verbally he is resigning. But we have no written
resignation from him. No one has turned in their resignation.
Everything we have heard so far is hearsay, and I can't comment on
it. "However, if the fire-fighters do walk out (resign) we will have
to develop a contingency plan...if it happens. In conversations with
the (Ontario Fire Marshal) office if the resignations do occur, we
are still part of the Mutual Aid program and would have to rely on
our neighbours for a short period of time, and for the long term have
a contingency plan in place."
"All of this is conjecture, people say things in the heat of the
moment. I suspect cooler heads will prevail and everyone will deal
with this reasonably," she added.
"I am very disappointed with what has happened," said Ms. Nelder. "I
have a lot of respect for the fire department and the fire chiefs.
All of those who applied and the five interviewed are all excellent.
We had five very, very good candidates to choose from. I know some of
them were disappointed they didn't get hired (as fire chief). I can
understand their disappointment to a certain extent."
She pointed out Mr. Smith does not have experience as a Fire Chief,
but does have "a lot of fire fighting experience, and we were very
impressed with his qualifications."
"The fire team does their best for the community, that is why they
volunteer to join the fire department because they want to help the
community. I think once they have the chance to sit back and think
about why they joined the fire department in the first place they
will stay," continued Ms. Nelder.
Mr. Gilchrist stressed, "There definitely won't be a lack of fire
service between now and the council decision. The sad thing about all
of this is that I've enjoyed working for the township on the fire
department, and we are also concerned about the liability issue. But
it all falls back on the municipality and the decision they made."
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Tourism initiative becoming a reality for
Sheguiandah
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by Neil Zacharjewicz
SHEGUIANDAH - In nearly every sense of the word, the Roundhouse
project on the Sheguiandah First Nation is truly a community
project.
The Roundhouse project is the first phase of a tourism
initiative
undertaken by the band, Sheguiandah Chief Richard Shawanda
explained.
The second phase will include an interpretive centre and a tipi
village. The project has been community driven, Chief Shawanda
indicated, with band members contributing ideas to the project.
"The community members have really stood by the project," he
suggested.
A roundhouse, Chief Shawanda explained, was traditionally a
structure
erected for the gathering of different tribes, where chiefs
would
meet to plan things over the long-term. Ceremonies were also
held in
roundhouses.
"This is a more modern concept," Chief Shawanda explained. The
building, he indicated, will be used to host ceremonies,
workshops
and weddings. He noted the facility will be open to everyone,
not
just native agencies.
The roundhouse is being built along the lakeshore, providing a
view
of the archeological site across the bay, which denotes
Sheguiandah
as Manitoulin's oldest First Nations settlement.
"Two years ago, there was just cleared out ground there," Chief
Shawanda said, pointing to the site on which the roundhouse has
been
erected.
"We've had a lot of support from the neighbouring communities
here on
the Island, as well as on the North Shore," he said.
The Sheguiandah roundhouse will be designed to look like a
turtle,
Chief Shawanda said, and the band is currently attempting to
access
funds to build the "legs" and "head," which will be classrooms
and
workshop areas.
"The estimated cost of this project is well over a million
dollars,"
Chief Shawanda indicated, with the band kicking in approximately
$250,000. He indicated the project has been two years in the
making,
as negotiations had to be held with various funders and Indian
and
Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).
Chief Shawanda noted a steering committee was struck to
spearhead the
project, which included Elders, whose ideas were very important
to
the project. He added the best ideas were put forward to the
government for funding.
Also critical to the Roundhouse initiative are project
coordinator
Stephanie Rogers and Elder Gord Waindubence. Mr. Waindubence was
critical in teaching the workers how to harvest and mill lumber
right
from the reserve, which is being used in the construction of the
roundhouse. Chief Shawanda said the ability to mill the lumber
in
Sheguiandah is particularly of note because the building is
built
from cedar, which would have been an expensive proposition if
the
band had to purchase it.
"That alone saved the band thousands of dollars," Chief Shawanda
said.
Mr. Waindubence indicated the workers involved milled 40,000
board
feet of lumber, and noted they may yet have to mill an
additional
20,000 board feet before the project is complete. The structure
is
approximately 5,200 square feet, he noted.
"That's as big as I could get it. If we went any larger, we
would
have been required to use steel beams," he said.
One important feature of the roundhouse is that it features a
gravel
floor. Mr. Waindubence indicated this is because a cement floor
would
have eliminated the connection to Mother Earth, which is
particularly
important for ceremonies.
The fact that the workers are milling the lumber themselves also
illustrates the band's commitment to providing training. Chief
Shawanda noted ordinarily, the band would have had to hire
off-reserve to build the structure. Instead, the work is being
conducted entirely by band members, who are being trained as
they
work. Individuals from other communities have volunteered their
time
to help teach the workers specific tasks, such as shingling.
"It just goes to show, Anishnabe helping other Anishnabe, that
is the
goal of this community," he said.
Chief Shawanda said he knew there was a lot of people living in
the
community with the ability to do this sort of work. The
objective was
to convince the government that this was the case.
"It gives them self-motivation," the chief added.
By current estimates, Chief Shawanda said, construction of the
roundhouse should be completed in January. |
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Sheguiandah First Nation headed for the
polls |
by Neil Zacharjewicz
SHEGUIANDAH - Election fever is building on the Sheguiandah
First Nation.
Band membership is scheduled to head to the polls on October
20th,
where they will have their choice of three candidates for chief,
and
nine candidates vying for two council seats.
The candidates for chief include Orville Aguonie, Richard
Shawanda
and Georgina Thompson. The candidates for council include Evelyn
Aguonie, Andrew Aguonie, Max Assinewai, Jackie Kozeyah, Lisa
Sagutch,
Shawn Dale Shawanda, Lorraine Shawande, Ruby Thompson, and Pearl
Waindubence.
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First ever win for Wild! |
Tom Sasvari
The Expositor
LITTLE CURRENT - In a year of firsts for the Manitoulin Wild,
this
was their biggest yet!
On a classic goal by Brent Assinewai, the Wild tasted the first
victory their young history, with a 7-6 overtime win over Blind
River last Friday in front of the home crowd in Little Current.
And a
classic goal it was, as Assinewai stick-handled by four players,
deking Blind River Beavers goalie Brock Lees. Assinewai notched
the
winner 28 seconds into the overtime frame. It was also his
fourth
goal of the game.
"Our team doesn't stop. It's our motto, 'never quit' and do
whatever
it takes to win," stated an elated Wild coach Stephane Soulliere
after the win. I was really happy with the way Brent (Assinewai)
played, the way our defence played, and we really played the
left
wing lock very well."
The turning point of the game came after the Wild dropped behind
5-3
in the second period. The team bounced back after falling behind
by
two goals at the 15:06 mark, scoring four unanswered goals the
rest
of the period to go up 6-5 after the second stanza.
After a slow start to the game by both teams, the Wild took
advantage
of a bad clearing pass by Beavers goalie Brook Lees which went
right
on the stick of Larry Moniz, who potted the first goal,
unassisted.
Blind River struck back less than a minute later. After Wild
goalie
Matt George made a good pad save on a shot, Darren Rainville
took the
rebound, skated around the net and flipped the puck past the
sprawling George after a scramble in front of the net. The
assists
went to Drew Jarrett and Robbie Sandland.
Then at 12:02, on the power-play, the Beavers took the lead,
with
forward Robbie Sandland notching the goal, with assists going to
Billy Schill and Rainville.
Great penalty killing by the Wild, and a nice save by George
while
the Wild were two men short later in the first period kept the
score
at 2-1, until Brent Assinewai scored his first goal of the game,
on a
backhand, at 4:40 from Eldon Cheechoo and Ken May,
Once again, the Wild fell behind in the first stanza, with Blind
River getting a goal at 2:33. Thomas Laplante scored from
Kittredge
Hamlin and Billy Schill.
Despite being behind, the Wild had the better of the play,
evident by
the 18-11 shot advantage they held.
After sustained pressure on another power-play in the second
period,
the Beavers scored again with the man advantage to take a 4-2
lead.
The goal, at 15:06, was scored by Billy Schill, with assists
going to
Laplante and Rick Kahler.
The Wild got that one back at 13:50, on a power-play of their
own.
Eldon Cheechoo got his second goal of the game, putting the puck
in
after a beautiful pass off the stick of Arron Assinewai from the
left
faceoff.
Both teams had their chances on subsequent power-plays, however
it
was Blind River that garnered the next goal at 6:27 to take a
5-3
lead. Again, this was a goal they scored on a power play, with
Darren
Rainville getting his second of the game from Dustin McLeod and
Drew
Jarrett.
At 1:56 of the second period, the Wild began to take over the
game,
getting to within one goal, with Mike Moote scoring on a rebound
of a
shot by Eric Marineau. Just 54 seconds later, the Wild tied the
game
at five, when Brent Assinewai scored on a great wrist shot,
beating
the Beavers goalie high on the stick side.
Before the end of the second frame, the Wild struck again.
Carrying
the puck down the left side, on a two on one, Brent Assinewai
faked
the defenceman and the goalie, and feathered a pass to Eldon
Cheechoo
who flipped the puck in the goal for a 6-5 Wild lead after the
second
period. Ken May also notched an assist on the goal.
Indicative of their dominance in the second period the Wild
outshot
the Beavers 19-8 in the frame.
For the first five minutes of the third stanza, the Wild carried
the
play, but couldn't get the next goal past Kevin King who had
taken
over in net after the second period. Instead, Blind River tied
the
game with 3:58 left in regulation time. A bad bounce, past a
Wild
defender, by Rainville, allowed Frank Maddaloni to skate in on a
breakaway beating George to tie the game. Matt Quigley also had
an
assist on the equalizer.
Having pressed for the tying goal, the Beavers outshot the Wild
by a
13-7 margin in the period.
This lead to the overtime and the dramatic winner by Brent
Assinewai,
and the first ever win for the Wild, sending the crowd of well
over
700 people home happy.
"It was our first win of the season and the team played fairly
well
overall," said Mr. Soulliere. "We need to stay out of the
penalty box
better, but even after all the penalties, the kids bounced
back," he
said.
Both teams spent a lot of time in the penalty box, with Blind
River
sustaining a total of 40 penality minutes and the Wild 30
minutes.
The Wild were scheduled to play in Blind River against the
Beavers
last Saturday. They play in Rayside-Balfour on Thursday,
returning
for a home game in Little Current on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against
Blind River.
TEAM CAPTAIN CHOSEN
Forward Eldon Cheechoo has been chosen as the first captain of
the
Manitoulin Wild.
"He leads by example, not just on the ice but in the dressing
room,"
stated Wild Coach Stephane Soulliere in announcing Mr.
Cheechoo's
captaincy.
"Eldon doesn't have to yell to make his point, and everyone
understands his leadership traits," said Mr. Soulliere.
Along with Mr. Cheechoo as team captain, the Wild have four
assistant
captains, Samuel House, Steve Zwarich, Frank Desbiens and Nathan
Hookimaw.
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