Latest / North Shore News / April 2nd, 2025

Transcript

April 2nd, 2025 · North Shore News

• 0:07
  Welcome to North Shore News and Interviews on
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  Amherst Island Radio. Each week we keep you updated
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  on newsworthy events, happenings and conversations
• 0:17
  that we've had with people in the local community
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  and beyond. Greater Japanese Arts Advisory Committee
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  will be reintroducing their arts awards after
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  it had been shut down by the pandemic. The awards
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  will run every two years with the possibility
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  of moving to an annual event. Staff's report
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  noted the awards are to recognize the efforts
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  of local artists and those that support the local
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  arts and culture scene. There will be several
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  categories with submissions made and vetted by
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  volunteers. Winners will be selected by the committee
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  and awarded during a ceremony at Town Hall. In
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  the event the hall is not available due to renovations,
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  staff recommended making the conference area
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  at the Best and Bash Arena available for the
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  event. Town staff will participate in promotion
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  of the event and its winners. The report noted
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  the impact on staff resources is anticipated
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  to be four hours or less. Consideration may also
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  be given to broadening the awards initiative
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  in the future to include recognition of other
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  areas including Heritage. CAO Matthew Grant explained
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  how the town views the event and noted staff's
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  support. When I take a look at this particular
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  request and the mandate of advisory committees,
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  this would be a... corporate endorsed events
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  run by volunteers, but I would see this in the
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  vein as something that the municipality both
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  supports and encourages and would likely have
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  some of our branding on it as this is an advisory
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  committee that is advising the activities of
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  the town and staff is quite supportive of the
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  recommendation. Councillor Bob Norrie highlighted
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  the work of the committee. This has been discussed
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  since the start of this term. They're very passionate
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  about it. They started what they wanted, large
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  -scale ball and that, and they've realized that's
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  possible. So we're starting small. And they just
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  want to recognize local artists as best they
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  can, and they're coming up with some good ideas.
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  So I really appreciate this report, and I know
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  they'll be looking forward to working on that.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. The Great Bay of Quinte barbecue competition
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  is one final step away from getting official
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  approval by council. Once approved, the event
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  will take place August 23rd in Market Square.
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  Council noted they were finalizing the framework
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  for the town's new events policy and would need
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  to complete that before fully approving the event.
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  They mentioned the event seemed to fit within
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  the town's current policy and that no major changes
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  to the policy that would affect the event are
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  expected. The purpose of the policy is to set
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  a consistent procedure for staff to manage current
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  and future events. Donald Stokes, a volunteer
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  with the competition, mentioned the work the
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  group has put into this event. We've been working
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  long and hard on bringing the barbecue competition
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  here to Napanay based on the model that was done
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  in Western Canada. We've came a long ways. We
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  now have the counties on board for a fairly significant
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  financial... contribution. We have two out of
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  three categories fully sponsored. We have the
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  third category. It's just a question of what
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  form of whether it's going to be a sponsorship
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  or a donation. Stokes speaks about giving back
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  to the community. Being 100 % volunteer organization,
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  so to speak, everything that we do is giving
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  back to the community or everything is intended
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  with any surplus is to give back to the community.
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  Things that are approved assets to be able to
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  add to the to the town, be it a bike rack, it
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  could be a sign for a trail, it could be any
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  one of a number, maybe it's seeds for a soccer
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  pitch, but just things that are a legitimate
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  asset to the town. Stokes requested standard
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  event protocols take place on the day, such as
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  garbage removal, fire and safety measures, street
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  sweeping, and a road closure. He noted the volunteer
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  group would take care of providing restrooms.
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  We'll make sure that we have an adequate amount
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  of at least four porta potties, two of which
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  will be fully accessible. We'll also make sure
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  that we, you know, when it comes to it, that
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  we have full hand washing stations with proper
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  hand sanitizer to go and meet or exceed. any
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  grade when it comes to health and safety. Councillor
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  Mike Shank showed his support for hosting the
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  event in Napanee. I think it's an excellent idea.
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  We have a farmers market that now is going to
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  be established and here's another community event
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  that you're going to be doing and so I think
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  any way that the town can rally around this and
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  make it a, you know, how many times do you have
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  a barbecue event like something like that in
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  this town? Anybody contribute or help out or
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  any way possible? I think it's a great event
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  and hopefully the town rallies around it and
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  how often you get to go and watch a barbecue
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  competition. Stokes shared his hopes for the
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  town's new event policy and spoke about where
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  they are now. Our stated mandate is promote,
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  provide, inspire. Very, very clear and I hope
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  that that is somehow is encouraged as part of
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  the events policy but I'm really happy that we've
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  hit this point where this is beginning to go
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  forward. Mayor Terry Richardson noted he thinks
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  the event will be a success. I know that there
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  are lots of folks in this community that I think
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  would be very excited about being in the downtown
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  area and tasting some very good barbecued products.
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  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
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  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Council honoured members of the Greater
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  Napanee Fire Department with certificates of
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  recognition for their role in a water rescue
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  that took place at Springside Park on March 22nd.
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  Mayor Terry Richardson noted the risk taken by
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  staff. We don't see this every day and we may
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  never see it again. And as a result, our emergency
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  services persons, many of them that are here
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  this evening, put their own life at risk. in
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  order to save the person that was in the vehicle
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  and for that we are grateful and we thought it
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  would be only fitting if we shown our extreme
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  thanks for the folks that were there that evening
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  and you know things happen that none of us expect.
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  Fire chief Shawn Armstrong explained the incident.
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  The lone driver and vehicle plunged into the
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  river on Saturday evening about 6 47 p .m. and
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  the lone occupant in the vehicle floated down
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  the river and was wedged at the top of the waterfall
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  in the Napanee River. The car was obviously carried
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  by the swift current and the situation was dire
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  as the individual was precariously positioned
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  above the dam. The occupant of the vehicle, distressed
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  and suffering from cold water exposure, needed
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  their help. Through sheer determination, the
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  firefighters managed to reach the stranded driver.
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  The cold, swift moving water added to the challenges
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  that they were faced on that evening, but their
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  determination was unwavering for sure. Armstrong
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  went on to explain an issue that took place during
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  the rescue. During the rescue attempt, two responders
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  found themselves trapped beneath the top of the
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  falls and caught in the powerful currents of
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  the hydraulic current in the river. With remarkable
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  teamwork and bravery, the firefighters rallied
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  together to free their fellow firefighters. Their
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  coordinated efforts paid off and they successfully
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  rescued the two responders. from the treacherous
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  waters. It's a great honour to lead such an extremely
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  competent group of individuals and their unwavering
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  commitment and heroic actions. They deserve our
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  deepest gratitude. They're bravely in the line
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  of duty, not only safeguarded their lives of
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  others, but also strengthened the very fabric
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  of the town of Great Bernatham. And for that
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  I'm very grateful. Obviously a full debrief will
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  occur this week to find out what happened and
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  explore all the details of this incident with
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  an eye to improving our responses. Manager of
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  Legislative Services and Municipal Clerk Jessica
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  Walters read the names of those being honored.
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  Brad Nicol, Ken Meinke, Rob Hanna. Richardson
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  noted the positive outcome. It's always good
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  for an incident such as that to end in a good
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  way as opposed to a bad way. I've seen many,
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  many of them that haven't ended so well, so it's
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  always good to end on a good note. For Amherst
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  Island Radio and the Local Journalism Initiative,
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  I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore News. Lenox
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  and Addington County Council recognized the hard
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  work and achievements of the county's Emergency
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  Medical Services Department as they presented
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  their 2024 annual report. The report focused
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  on support for paramedics and the department's
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  partnership with Medavie Health Services. The
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  report noted that MediVee Health Services has
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  made significant progress over the past year
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  in alignment with the county's strategic plan.
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  The company is in the process of executing its
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  2021 to 2026 strategic safety plan, including
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  measures for the county. The strategic direction
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  focuses on the continuous improvement of health
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  and safety for patients and employees. Councillor
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  John Wise spoke about the success of the partnership
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  with MediVee. We did take a chance at going the
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  route we did with MediVee. And to see it paying
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  off, just the attitude that's coming through,
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  the enthusiasm is just really encouraging. Former
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  Interim Chief of Emergency Medical Services with
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  the county and current member of Medavie, Mike
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  Adair, noted the company's focus with the county.
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  We looked at efficient and best practices to
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  make sure that we're doing things well. We looked
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  at focusing on our paramedics and on our operations
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  and We also focused on the patient, of course,
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  in terms of how we want to advocate. Some of
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  the highlights, at least when I was here, was,
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  you know, evolving our leadership in paramedic
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  services to make sure that we learn, that we
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  reflect, and that we're accountable for our actions
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  and our behaviours and making sure that we are
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  role models for our paramedics. Emergency Medical
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  Services Chief and General Manager Craig Jones
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  spoke about leadership roles within the department.
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  We saw with our staff that there was an appetite
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  to be engaged in leadership and succession planning.
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  So we expanded the role of PTL. We expanded our
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  paramedic team leaders. So these are our union
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  members that actually step into a quasi -supervisory
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  role and allow them to learn whether this is
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  an avenue that they would like to explore in
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  the future. We invest in them. We invest in education.
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  We invest in time and training. So that's been
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  a great opportunity for our staff. Our last allotment
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  was approximately 12 individuals. that signed
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  up for that and thought they might be interested.
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  So we saw that as an opportunity to show our
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  employees we cared about them. We wanted to invest
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  in them and help them grow and become leaders
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  in the future. Jones highlighted the positive
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  financial impacts as well. Financial side of
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  the house, we've leveraged Metavie's bulk purchasing
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  power. Obviously Metavie is Canadian wide. corporation,
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  and we've been able to leverage the purchasing
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  power on medical supplies, uniforms, preferred
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  pricing on defibs, all of the equipment we use.
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  Because Medavie is able to secure those contracts
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  because they're buying for Canada wide, we've
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  been able to leverage that. So that's been an
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  amazing opportunity that's found efficiencies
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  not only financially, but human resource efficiencies.
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  Jones explained their focus on the patient experience.
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  We've ensured that you know, our patient experience
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  is our primary focus. How are the people we're
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  serving? How are we taking care of them, ensuring
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  that those gaps are filled and that they're getting
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  the care that they need? So our community paramedic
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  team has been able to integrate with the community,
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  identify gaps, work with partner relationships
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  and partner organizations to ensure that if there
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  is a hole in our community, we're there to do
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  everything we can to support those individuals
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  in filling those gaps and taking best care of
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  our community. Jones details how the department
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  supports the mental health of its employees.
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  We've engaged with an additional mental health
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  support. The paramedic services can be a challenging
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  job and so we not only have our peer supports,
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  we've invested with Breakwater to provide during
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  CME this year, so our continuing medical education
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  days, an additional mental health support for
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  them to better understand, protect themselves,
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  prepare themselves to serve as a paramedic and
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  if they identify struggles deal with them earlier
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  rather than later therefore preventing you know
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  a long -term illness and a PTSD type injury.
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  Jones spoke about an upcoming ceremony where
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  staff will be recognized. Something that staff
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  asked for in the identified things that they
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  were looking for was a long service medal. We
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  plan to have a ceremony including of the warden
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  this year to acknowledge those paramedics who
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  have worked 12, 20 and 30 years. Very important
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  to medics not many of us make 30 years but to
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  acknowledge that long service it is a tough job
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  and we want to you know reward those. Even if
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  it's just a small thing with a metal on their
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  chest, it means a lot to them and we're very
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  excited to be able to implement that within our
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  service. Warden Nathan Townand showed his support
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  for the department. Leadership is a term that
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  gets bandied around a lot, but it's really nice
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  to see what leadership truly looks like and the
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  results achieved in the short amount of time
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  is really quite astounding. Medavie Health Services
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  is Canada's largest contracted provider of emergency
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  medical services serving 3 million Canadians
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  across six provinces. They partnered with the
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  county to deliver comprehensive paramedic services
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  to residents through a performance -based contract.
• 13:55
  For Amherst Island Radio and the Local Journalism
• 13:58
  Initiative, I'm Ted Evans. This is North Shore
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  News. Lennox and Addington's Economic Development
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  Office is finalizing a two -prong approach in
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  response to tariffs on Canadian goods. The plan
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  includes supporting local businesses and a consumer
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  -focused marketing campaign to promote buying
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  local or Canadian. Director of Community and
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  Development Services Stephen Paul explains the
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  plan. We're really looking at a two -prong approach
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  of how we can support our businesses. The first
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  would be really down to the nitty -gritty of...
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  coaching, business coaching of how we can support
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  them. And I can say over the last month, those
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  numbers have dramatically increased. We're fortunate
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  that we have right now a part time business coach
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  who is extremely busy supporting. Our businesses
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  in many cases just answering questions and and
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  trying to make people feel as good as possible
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  with the the unknown That's there as well. So
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  we'll continue that we'll understand hopefully
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  soon what the tariffs truly mean Maybe we may
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  never know that but it's hard to react at this
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  point in time based on just new cycles So hopefully
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  has a little bit more clarity with regards to
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  programs that might be available in supports
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  It might be available and we'll do our best to
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  help businesses with those Paul speaks about
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  the number of exports that come from the area
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  and go to the United States. Regionally, from
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  an Eastern Ontario perspective, approximately
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  $42 .5 billion is exported annually from the
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  region. So we can't necessarily do the math and
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  know exactly what our exports are, but we know
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  they're significant, absolutely. And you're looking
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  at probably 70 % of everything that's made here
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  crosses the border. So again, we're at a point
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  that is making many of us, of course, extremely
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  nervous. Paul compared the process to the pandemic.
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  I hate to say that this is probably a similar
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  process to what we went through with the pandemic.
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  We're kind of dusting off some of those things
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  as well, but it's probably fair to say that it's
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  going to be a full court press of what we can
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  do with businesses to support them and make sure
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  that they thrive. And I think probably most importantly,
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  look at how they adjust their business planning,
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  who their customers are, because there's probably
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  not an end date with regards to this. It's now
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  kind of the next generation of our businesses
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  and where their customers need to be. I think
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  if it's anything that's happened with regards
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  to this, it's brought it very clearly to light
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  that we need to be broader based when it comes
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  to who we're selling to. And I think if we do
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  that properly now, that'll help us in the future,
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  too. County Clerk and Communications Manager
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  Tracy McKenzie noted resolutions that have come
• 16:38
  forward from Ontario and national organizations.
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  A resolution came forward from EOWC in early
• 16:44
  February and council did support that. Many of
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  them are quite similar. Some of them have just
• 16:50
  a little bit of a different edge to them. Some
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  are more about sovereignty. Some are about breaking
• 16:56
  down barriers for inter -provincial trade. Some
• 17:00
  are just encouraging the government to fight
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  the tariffs. Deputy Warden Jim Hagedorn showed
• 17:05
  his support for resolutions they've seen. I believe
• 17:08
  that for the most part the municipally led organizations
• 17:11
  such as the EOWC, AMO, ROMA and FCM and that's
• 17:18
  just to name a few that we've seen the motions
• 17:21
  come through. They're providing concise and effective
• 17:25
  motions which provides a unified voice as well
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  and I think that that's quite important. Councillor
• 17:32
  John Wise speaks about the severity of the situation.
• 17:35
  We are bound to follow international and national
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  trade agreements in our purchasing policy. And
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  yet the crisis that we're in is the result of
• 17:47
  a rogue president on the false premise of stopping
• 17:54
  fentanyl crossing the border and immigration
• 17:59
  problems. In fact, breaking the trade agreement
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  that we are supposedly legally obliged to abide
• 18:10
  by. I'm hoping that the national and provincial
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  leadership will find a way to suspend or modify
• 18:20
  those requirements based on the blatant violation
• 18:27
  by the Trump administration of those agreements.
• 18:31
  Warden Nathan Townand spoke about the importance
• 18:33
  of clarity in their message and noted other ongoing
• 18:36
  issues across the country. I think messages are
• 18:39
  always more powerful if they're clear and if
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  there's one voice and one message. I think, to
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  be honest with you, from my point of view, that's
• 18:47
  why we have AMO and ROMA and EOWC, etc. And that
• 18:51
  is not to disparage. you know, other individual
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  municipalities from feeling the need to do so
• 18:58
  themselves. I think we are in extraordinary times.
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  My concern is that we as the municipal order
• 19:04
  of government don't lose focus with what our
• 19:07
  responsibilities are in the sense that whilst
• 19:10
  I completely agree that we should support our
• 19:13
  other orders in defending our sovereignty and
• 19:15
  defending our economy. You know, it's our services
• 19:19
  that take care of Canadians and we take care
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  of our services and you know, we have a new government
• 19:25
  that was just sworn in with a majority mandate
• 19:29
  and their hands on the levers of power and There
• 19:32
  are issues that we need them to address. There's
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  still 80 ,000 homeless people in Ontario There's
• 19:38
  a primary care physician shortage There's a housing
• 19:41
  crisis The list goes on. We have a fiscal framework
• 19:46
  that doesn't work. So in terms of resilience
• 19:50
  of Canada in the coming challenges, there are
• 19:53
  lots of issues that are going to be on our plate.
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  And I think the public ought to be inspired that
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  we've got our finger on that pulse. And I'm happy
• 20:04
  to leave the nuances of international relations
• 20:08
  to the other orders. For Amherst Island Radio
• 20:12
  and the Local Journalism Initiative, I'm Ted
• 20:14
  Evans. This is North Shore News. This has been
• 20:19
  North Shore News and Interviews. If you have
• 20:22
  an idea for a story or want to create stories
• 20:25
  for the show, consider joining our 100 % volunteer
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