News BackgrounderA channel future could be decided his month
A decision could come this month that would go a long way in deciding the fate of Windsor’s private ‘A’ broadcasting station.....The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is expected to make a decision on a future economic model for private broadcasters that would have a profound impact on smaller markets like Windsor which have been struggling......CTV was all set to close the station last year after a deal by Calgary-based Shaw Communications to purchase A for $1 fell through. CTV kept the station alive for another year as a result of a CRTC decision to slightly increase the Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF) paid to broadcasters by cable and satellite operators, which carry the channels. But that lasts only one year while CRTC extensively reviews funding models......Regional CTV manager Don Mumford says the station remains “fully-staffed.” A CRTC decision was expected earlier this winter but the commission asked for extra time as they write the decision, now expected in the latter half of this month.....Mumford says the CRTC could keep the funding status quo, ”which I don’t believe is going to happen” or announce a new model to supplement insufficient advertising revenue in a “fractured” market given the large number of Detroit stations local viewers watch. Still, A has a 15 per cent audience share and has the top supper hour newscast......Possible solutions could be continuation of the LPIF or implementation of a so called “value for service” (also known as “fee-for-carriage”) fee where cable and satellite companies compensate broadcasters “for taking their signals and monetizing them”.....Mumford says that based on some “cryptic” comments from CRTC’s chairman he’s “optimistic” of a solution.....”CTV certainly wants to do whatever they can to keep that station open.” But if the CRTC doesn’t deliver “there remains a real possibility that station will close”.....Seventeen people work at A – mostly in news and editorial - and there are seven or eight in London that produce the early and late evening newscasts. WindsorOntarioNews.com March 11 2010 Law a "sop" to Lori Dupont Inquest
It seems few are happy with the so-called Lori Dupont provision. This is an amendment to workplace safety legislation in the wake of the Lori Dupont Inquest. Dupont was the Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital nurse killed by doctor Marc Daniel in late 2005......This past December Section 32.0.4 of Bill 168, became law. It states that “if an employer becomes aware, or ought reasonably to be aware, that domestic violence that would likely expose a worker to physical injury may occur in the workplace, the employer shall take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of the worker”.....Employers with five or more employees must also put in place a “violence assessment" by this June...... But, says an article in the current issue of Canadian Lawyer, nowhere in the legislation has “reasonable” been defined or how employers can codify “reasonable” in doing a violence assessment...... Says family law lawyer Ella L. J. Bernhard, “The bill has presented a situation that is so unregulated, undefined, that it appears that it has been introduced to prosecute employers, rather than reduce the risk of domestic violence in the workplace, which was what everyone was told what its aim was”..... Norm Keith a lawyer and co-author of the new book Preventing Domestic Violence, says the provision hasn’t provided anything which didn’t exist in law already. He calls it a “sop” to the Dupont Inquest and health care sector. He says the ministry
was “throwing them a bone just because there was a coroner’s inquest that required the government to do something.” Even the
Ontario Nurses Assoc., is dissatisfied with the bill because it doesn’t go far enough. The ONA’s Colin
Johnston says there is no “enforcement mechanism” against workplace harassment, just workplace violence. Yet Daniel had harassed Dupont months leading to the killing, the only occasion of physical violence. Johnston says the new provision also wouldn’t provide an avenue for complaints in such a situation “because he hasn’t physically assaulted her”.....
WindsorOntarioNews.com March 4 2010 Even more reasons not to build DRICFocus of Toronto meeting
The Ambassador Bridge might not be fairing very well in attempts to build a second span, the latest blow coming today from the U.S. Coast Guard..... But if environmentalists and transportation activists have their way the rival DRIC bridge won’t be built either. Activists are trying their damndest to prevent the new government-backed route, already under early construction (the roadway) in Windsor, from becoming reality......WindsorOntarioNews.com reported Jan. 17 how the Sierra Club has raised objections to DRIC because it promotes transportation using carbon fuels in an era of “peak oil” and “climate change”.....So too does Transport 2000 or its new name Transport Action Ontario (TAO).....President Natalie Litwin, in a letter to members of the Ontario and Michigan legislatures, says DRIC should not go ahead for a number of reasons: traffic is down 34 per cent since 1999, the Ontario economic downturn is “not short term” and the new economy won’t rely on manufacturing the way the pre-recession economy did. Also, the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia has less traffic than before its second span opened in 1999 and MTO “should promote” it..... It points to a DRIC consultant in 2005 who said that 44 per cent of commercial traffic across the
Ambassador is “divertible to intermodal rail.” Intermodal
freight would also consume 25 per cent less fuel....Meanwhile DRIC will take centre stage in Toronto March 27 at TAO’s annual meeting. Speakers are Dietrich Bergmann, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Albert Koehl, Ecojustice, Toronto Office, Paula Lombardi, Ambassador Bridge Company, Warren, Michigan, TBA, Sierra Club, Ontario, Dan Hammond and Natalie Litwin, Transport Action Ontario
WindsorOntarioNews.com March 2 2010 Even apartment dwellers got city's spiffy new 10 ward election mail-out this week
Windsor residents received a treat in their mail boxes this week......It’s a spiffy three-colour (red, black and green) glossy flyer introducing the city’s new Ten Ward electoral system......Voters Monday Oct. 25 (two months before Christmas, folks!) will, for the first time, vote to elect one councillor for each of the new 10 wards, not the two councillors for five wards that have represented the electorate since 1978.....City Council last year first resisted going to a 10 ward system despite dropping $50,000 on a study indicating it made more sense given the city’s shift in population with certain current wards having more residents than others. Wards 1 and 5 for example have seen more new housing developments over the years.....But after some public pressure council opted to go with 10 wards. God bless 'em!.....The pamphlet, with a design having a big number 10 in red over a green aerial map of the city, cost $8000. Canada Post began delivering it Monday to all city
residents. Even apartment dwellers weren’t
forgotten.....The pamphlet has a map showing the 10 wards, “so
that people can see right off the bat what ward they’re going to be in,” Chuck Scarpelli, the city’s manager of records and elections, said...... Not sure exactly where you reside? No prob. Scarpelli said the pamphlet also informs voters of a “neat” aspect of the city’s elections website,
www.windsorelections.ca
, where you can type in your street address to find your new or revamped ward. Now, if you can find your way to the polling station.....
WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 24 2010 Ojibway self-cleaning; Pancheshan heads both groups
It was interesting to read that Nancy Pancheshan is president of Friends of Ojibway Prairie, in a report about city council’s decision to axe garbage pick-up - and have visitors clean-up themselves - from the west side Ojibway park system, a naturalist enclave in the heart of industrial and suburban Windsor. That name struck a bell. Isn’t she?.....Yes, she is. Pancheshan is the same person who heads the Save Ojibway citizen protest group......The oft-described LaSalle stay-at-home-mom founded the group to fight a proposed big box retail development proposed by the Coco Group adjacent to Ojibway Park & Nature Centre......Pancheshan is worried the development could cause harm to the area, part of the wider Ojibway Prairie Complex. An OMB hearing, scheduled for last month, has been put off until later this year because of a flawed species-at-risk study done by the developer.....As reported by WindsorOntarioNews.com Nov. 29 the Save Ojibway group also has its sights set on the possible environmental impact of the nearby new DRIC Customs plaza in Brighton Beach and the connecting Windsor-Essex Parkway.....But for the time being, Pancheshan said, she has her hands full with the Coco development.....Make no mistake, the Friends of Ojibway Prairie and Save Ojibway are two distinct organizations.
The first is a civic committee that works “closely with the City of Windsor and Ontario Parks to provide assistance with educational programmes, special events and restoration projects” according to a city website...... The second is a protest organization formed to prevent the 450,000 square foot Coco retail development from being built.
WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 17 2010 Does film hold tonic for Windsor's woes?
Windsor might take a page out of Pittsburgh’s book. Or so suggests the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association..... On Feb. 26 the association is screening My Tale of Two Cities, a funny and inspiring movie about how Pittsburgh, which shares some of the same “mid life” problems as Windsor, looked to turn itself around...... It’s told through the eyes of screenwriter Carl Kurlander (St. Elmo’s Fire) who returns home to Pittsburgh from Hollywood to teach at a local university. But, looking around, he sees that his once great city has fallen on hard times......So he sets out on a “Don Quixote quest” to make a movie to help his city. He interviews Pittsburgh residents, from well-known ex-Steeler Franco Harris to Teresa Heinz Kerry, as well as lots of regular folk, about how the once U.S. steelmaking capital can re-invent itself. The film has been called “a funny self-help guide for cities looking at their future.” The BIA is showing the movie free at 7 pm at the Capitol Theatre. There will be a panel discussion afterwards. Carl Kurlander and
a panel of “local visionaries” will be on hand with an open mic. Tickets are available from various downtown locations. See the BIA’s website www.downtownwindsor.ca.....BIA director Chris Edwards says it's the first in the association's Re;Visioning Downtown Windsor series, quarterly panel dicussions about how to reinvogorate or "re;vision" the downtown..... WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 9 2010 "Phishing expedition" attacks Cogeco
Thousands of Cogeco Internet subscribers this week were victims of a phishing email asking for their personal identification....Cogeco spokeswoman Maureen Tilson-Dyment says the company is investigating the source and has posted information about the “phishing expedition” on its web site....Tilson-Dyment said other Internet Service Providers besides Cogeco were affected......The email comes from “info” not Cogeco and says, “Your email account needs to be upgraded to our new F-SecureR HTK4S anti-virus/anti-spam 2010 version. It tells customers to fill out their Cogeco email username and password “or your account will be suspended temporarily,” and is signed the “Cogeco Web-Administrative Team".....Tilson-Dyment emphasized Cogeco never sends such e-mails. “We do not send an e-mail to our customers requiring them to send us confidential information
regarding their account.” She said she couldn’t divulge how many customers were affected but “there are thousands.” She said “phishing expeditions” are looking for confidential account information so they can steal customers’ identities. Sometimes the source wants to take over a customer’s computer to distribute vast amounts of spam.
WindsorOntarioNews.com Feb 4 2010 $31 M for H1N1 ads worth cost - docs
An inquiry to the Public Health Agency of Canada found the government spent $30.8 million last fall on all sorts of advertising – print, broadcast, transit, Internet – as well as the wide distribution of brochures warning of H1N1.....From April to August it spent $5 million. From September to mid-October $3.8 million, and – when the disease was hitting its stride with infections - $6.4 million in October, and $14 million from November through this month......One million H1N1 Preparedness Guides cost $900,000 alone. The direct mail brochure that went to more than 10 million Canadian households cost $2.3 million......“Other” fees such as creative development and media planning cost $1.6 million......But according to local health professionals the money was well spent......Family physician Andrea Steen said immunization is a “tremendously important” part of doctor’s practice and H1N1 had been “unpredictable”.....She said $31 million might seem like a lot of money but “I think the message had to be delivered repeatedly to get everyone’s attention”.....Respirologist Deborah Hellyer said the media campaign was justified because doctors had an “uphill battle” convincing the public to take the vaccine......And family physician Albert Schumacher, former president of the Canadian Medical Association, said when the price of advertising is compared to the cost of the overall vaccination program, it was a great deal......He said a dose cost $8 so based on the overall doses the ad or public awareness campaign amounted to $1 a dose......“Most products you’d have a marketing budget much more compared to what the actual product cost,” he said.
WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 22 2010 What's behind local hospitals' money pitches to Essex County Council?
Essex County Council is being asked by local hospitals for some big bucks. Here’s a breakdown of what’s being asked for and why:
Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital: $3 million. This is towards $12.5 million in local funds, which triggers provincial monies, for the hospital’s new angioplasty and medical school wing. Yes, the medical school is based at the University of Windsor. But after students’ second year “they never walk into the university again” hospital spokeswoman Kim Spirou says. Instead their training is in hospitals. Proper teaching facilities have to be set up. The money will also be used to expand angioplasty services. There is only a “single table” on which to do the life-saving procedure “so we definitely have to expand and have more tables,” Spirou said. The overall expansion is three floors or 75,000 sq. ft. It will be located to the area immediately south of the hospital’s revolving door main lobby. Tenders have yet to be called. The project costs $78 mil. The province used to pay 70 per cent but now pays 90 per cent. “We’re raising the 10 per cent for construction plus equipment,” says Spirou. She says the last time the hospital went to the community for money “of any significance” was in the late Nineties in the Together in Caring campaign for reconfiguration from five to three hospitals locally. Spirou says the hospital will also go before city council as part of the current fundraiser. Private donors - many corporate - have already contributed $5.3 mil......
Windsor Regional Hospital has not asked for a specific amount. Spokesman Ron Foster says the hospital was asked by Warden Nelson Santos to come before council “because Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital had already done so.” He said the hospital “made it clear” the amount would be left up to council to decide. The money would be for its Western campus Redevelopment. This includes a new 65-bed mental health hospital, rebuilding of the existing Tower building for 60 rehab beds, and retro-fitting Malden Park Continuing Care Centre for 196 complex continuing care beds. Construction of the mental health hospital began last June by Bondfield Construction. The hospital’s local campaign aims to raise $5-$10 mil of the ten per cent local share. The province pays 90 per cent. The hospital has no plans to go before any other municipal council.
WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 18 2010 Get tough on crime laws die with Parliament's suspension
This might be a long shot. But it’s worth considering. It has to do with why Prime Minister Stephen Harper has prorogued Parliament...Law Times, a newspaper for Ontario lawyers, this week reported that lawyers are quite happy that several pieces of criminal get-tough legislation died on the order paper, meaning these won’t pass in the current Parliament... All the legislation dealt with matters that were considered highly popular with the public, such as ending the faint-hope clause, conditional sentences for certain crimes, and mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes... Of the 37 bills that died, the government has said it will only re-introduce its consumer safety bill and anti-drug law in their original forms... But more than a dozen other bills dealt with get-tough-on-crime issues... Bill Trudell, a Toronto lawyer and chair of the Canadian Council of Criminal Defence Lawyers, says that in justice circles, opposition to these bills was almost unanimous. “From Crown Counsel to police officers to corrections workers to social workers to judges to defence counsel (all) feel that these tough-on-crime measures are sowing the seeds for the implosion of the system.” ...Trudell said the legislation exploited the public’s misconception about crime and said, “Surely, the politicization of the criminal justice system has to stop.” He said there is already enough screening by judges, juries and the parole board before early release is granted under the faint-hope clause... And imposing conditional sentences would take away prosecutors’ leeway in proposing sentences and judges’ discretion in handing them down. The government already suffered heavy criticism after passing its bill to end the two-for-one credit for inmates in pre-trial custody... Opponents said it simply wasn’t true inmates try to delay their proceedings to earn double credit after being sentenced, thereby serving less time. And they said the legislation is putting more pressure on already overcrowded jails. WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 13 2010 What's that construction equipment doing alongside LaSalle's Sixth Concession?If you’re a LaSalle resident or someone who drives along LaSalle’s Sixth Concession between Huron Line and Howard Ave.,you may have been wondering what that construction equipment is doing in that open field on the road’s east side... There have been various rumours floating around about the site. One is that it will be the new location of the Trillium Court public housing project. The nearby existing Trillium site is in the way of the Windsor-Essex Parkway project. But municipal and provincial officials say no decision has been made yet on Trillium’s new site... Another possibility is that the equipment was simply being staged for some preliminary work on the Parkway itself. There was recent soil testing in the area... MTO spokeswoman Heather Grondin said no equipment has been amassed at any area along the Parkway route... But Paul Driedger, an architect with Windsor’s Glos Associates, says the site is being prepared for construction of the new Heritage Park Alliance Church. The church currently is on Talbot Rd. And has to be out of the present location by spring 2011 for Parkway construction... Driedger said the entire site eventually will be a subdivision, with homes surrounding the church.WindsorOntarioNews.com Jan 13 2010
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