Wawa Council Approves Provincial Funding Agreement to Support Drag Races

Wawa Municipal Council's approved a provincial funding agreement supporting the Northern Nationals Drag Race.

While the by-law passed by Council doesn't specify, Community Services and Tourism Director Alex Patterson explains the municipality had applied for funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation's Strategic Economic Infrastructure Program, hoping for support on two initiatives for the event.

Alex Patterson on Request For NOHFC Funding for Equipment

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Patterson says buying that equipment will save quite a bit in the future, as renting the equipment was quite expensive - some even coming from Toronto - and the equipment could also be used for other events, such as the Wawa Music Festival.

As for the second part of the application, Patterson's more coy - as it is intended to be a surprise for this year's drag races - saying only it's for a piece of equipment that is "a feature at a race that's very racing-oriented", and that he hopes people will be very excited to come see that feature.

More Details About Collision Near Wawa

More details are emerging about last week's collision near Wawa.

The collision happened the afternoon of Thursday, January 31st, on Highway 17 - just north of the Highway 101 or Wawa turnoff, along the "Goose Hill" - and involved a tractor-trailer and a car.

Superior East Ontario Provincial Police have confirmed the 22-year-old Windsor man who was driving the car has been charged with careless driving, but they are not elaborating.

While images of the car show severe damage to the front passenger side, only minor injuries were reported.

Deadline Nears For Input on Naming Wawa-Area Lakes

Time's almost up to give input as Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry considers naming a few local lakes after Canadian Armed Forces members who died in service.

At the centre of the discussion are seven lakes south of Negwazu Lake that the Ontario Geographic Names Board does not believe have names, with plans to name one lake after a Royal Canadian Infantry private who died during the First World War, another after a Royal Canadian Air Force navigator who died during the Second World War; two after Royal Canadian Navy seamen who died after a 1965 fire on the HMCS Nipigon; and three after Royal Canadian Navy seamen who died after a 1969 explosion on the HMCS Kootenay.

The deadline for a questionnaire posted on the MNRF website is tomorrow, Wednesday, February 6th.

Wawa Municipal Council to Hold February Regular Meeting

Wawa Municipal Council is set to hold their monthly regular meeting.

Included on the agenda are resolutions: confirming the schedule of meetings through June; confirming an agreement between the Wawa Public Library and Hawk Junction Local Services Board; approving the Regional Economic Development Officer Group collaboration agreement; and receiving monthly reports from department heads, as well as the annual report on last year's Northern Nationals Drag Race.

Council will also consider a by-law to amend the Zoning By-Law, with respect to land at 23 Mackey Street, and may also discuss a letter from multinational mining and resources company Rio Tinto, notifying of mineral exploration activity on the Lakemount Property about 12 kilometres northeast of Wawa.

There are also three "in-camera" items on the agenda: a legal issue involving an insurance claim; a personnel issue involving clarification of USW articles; and a personnel issue involving the search for a new CAO.

Aside from the "in-camera" portion, tonight's meeting is open to the public, starting at 6 o'clock in Council Chambers.

Sault Ste. Marie Woman Charged After Impaired Driver Tip in Wawa

A young Sault Ste. Marie woman's facing charges after a traffic complaint in Wawa.

Superior East Ontario Provincial Police say they were warned of a possible impaired driver shortly before 3 o'clock Sunday morning, with officers finding the vehicle on Superior Avenue - they performed a traffic stop and detected the odour of alcohol on the driver's breath, leading to her arrest.

The 22-year-old woman has been charged with operation while impaired by alcohol and drugs, as well as failure or refusal to comply with demand - she was also issued a 90-day automatic driver's licence suspension, while the vehicle has been impounded for seven days.

She's set to appear in Wawa court next month.

Ontario Energy Board Holding Chapleau Meeting on Chapleau Hydro Rate Proposal

Chapleau residents can voice their opinion tonight on a proposed rate increase for Chapleau Hydro.

The Ontario Energy Board's holding a community meeting, noting it wants to hear from Chapleau Hydro customers about the proposed rate changes.

In a recent email to JJAM FM News, the local utility confirmed it's asking for a rate increase for all classes - as part of a normal five-year review - noting their current rates are based on 2012 capital and operation costs with yearly inflation, even though they've added $238,000 in assets since then, while the change from a "virtual" utility to a traditional "utility" meant $450,000 more in assets previously owned by a now-defunct affiliate.

The O-E-B says Chapleau Hydro's application - if approved as filed - would mean a "typical residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours of electricity per month" would see a monthly increase of about $1.96, while commercial customers using 2000 kilowatt hours a month would see a monthly increase of $17.40.

That's lower than the numbers provided to JJAM FM by Chapleau Hydro, who stated that a residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours a month is expected to see an increase of $2.88 per month and a commercial customer using 2000 kilowatt hours a month would see an increase of $21.09 a month.

The OEB says utilities "rarely get all they ask for", with 38 percent of the more than 140 major rate applications reviewed since 2009 getting a smaller increase than requested.

The community meeting will be held at the Legion Hall tonight, from 6:30 to 8:30.

Some Details Provided About Collision Near Wawa Turnoff

Some details are emerging about Thursday afternoon's collision on Highway 17 near the Wawa turnoff.

Superior East Ontario Provincial Police have confirmed the collision - just north of Highway 101, along the "Goose Hill" - involved a tractor-trailer and a car, though only minor injuries have been reported.

Images of the car show severe damage to the front passenger side.

While police have confirmed the possibility of charges, they would not comment at this time as to what charges or who would be charged.

The collision didn't close the highway, but did reduce it to a single lane for a couple hours.

Dubreuilville Receives Provincial Support for Arena Renovations

Dubreuilville's arena will get some needed upgrades and maintenance thanks to some provincial support.

The local community is receiving $150,000 over twelve months from the Ontario Trillium Foundation - as part of $83-million being provided to 404 non-profit initiatives - with three parts to the project: upgrades to the lobby doors to restrict access when the upstairs is rented out; the removal, re-grading, and pouring of a new concrete pad for the ice resurfacer, as it has shifted to lean toward the building, causing water to move toward the building's foundation; and upgrades to the roof, adding insulation and waterproofing.

Leisure and Cultural Services Director Rejean Raymond explains the work is necessary to keep the arena functioning into the future.

Rejean Raymond Explains Funding for Dubreuilville Arena

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Raymond notes work will be done this summer, to minimize any impact to service - it should be complete by the end of August, just before the return of the local Strongman Competition and the start of ice season.

Wawa Councillor Looks Back at Recent ROMA Conference

A Wawa councillor's back from a major event: the Rural Ontario Municipal Association - or ROMA - conference.

While he says there were no meetings with ministers, Councillor Pat Tait does highlight speeches given by Premier Doug Ford and his Progressive Conservative government.

Councillor Pat Tait on ROMA Speeches

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Councillor Tait also touts ROMA as a "great place" to make contacts, hear about government plans to support rural communities, and learn about problems and issues in other rural Ontario communities, which he notes are similar to those in Wawa.

Maamwesying North Clinic Holds Grand Opening

A Wawa health clinic offering services for local Indigenous people celebrated its grand opening Thursday.

Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services - in partnership with Michipicoten First Nation - has opened its North Clinic at 3 Maple Street in Wawa, offering services for free for "on-reserve citizens and the urban Indigenous population residing in Wawa and the surrounding area".

Michipicoten First Nation Chief Pat Tangie calls the clinic "a wonderful opportunity" for not just the Indigenous community, but "all of us", adding that it is fulfilling prophecies.

MFN Chief Pat Tangie on Maamwesying North Clinic Opening

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

While Maamwesying is a network of primary health care services along the north shore of Lake Huron, Executive Director Gloria Daybutch says the services offered locally are based on need and what can be covered in the budget, including primary care with a nurse practitioner and more.

Gloria Daybutch Explains Maamwesying North Clinic Services

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Daybutch notes there may be the option for service expansion as needs are determined - and the budget allows - with Maamwesying providing what support it can, including connections within the health system.

Walk-in clinics are Thursday and Friday mornings, though the office is open Monday to Friday - the local team also travels to the Brunswick House and Chapleau Cree First Nations, and serves Chapleau Ojibwe members and those in Chapleau itself.

Michipicoten First Nation Chief Reacts to East-West Tie Project Movement

A local First Nations chief is expressing excitement as the Ontario government's given the go-ahead for the building of a major power line between Wawa and Thunder Bay.

Ontario Energy Minister Greg Rickford announced Thursday that NextBridge has been designated as the transmitter to built the 450-kilometre, double circuit transmission line known as the "East-West Tie Line", rejecting a proposal from Hydro One.

Michipicoten First Nation Chief Pat Tangie says - as one of six First Nations who've partnered with NextBridge on the project through the Bamkushwada Limited Partnership - Michipicoten is quite pleased with the news.

MFN Chief Pat Tangie on East-West Tie Transmitter Designation

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Tangie adds that NextBridge has done "a lot of work" on consultation and accommodation of the First Nations.

BLP had recently called on the provincial government to grant NextBridge leave to construct, arguing Hydro One hadn't carried out the constitutionally-required duty to consult and accommodate First Nations.

Ontario Energy Minister Designates Transmitter for East-West Tie Line

Ontario's Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines has given the go-ahead for the building of a major power line between Wawa and Thunder Bay.

A release from Minister Greg Rickford says the Progressive Conservative government's "taken decisive action to designate NextBridge as the transmitter to build" the 450-kilometre, double-circuit transmission line, known as the "East-West Tie Line".

NextBridge was originally awarded the project, but the previous Liberal government ordered a review of options after project costs jumped from $419-million to $777-million.

Hydro One submitted its own proposal, the "Lake Superior Link", which the utility argued would provide "significant cost savings" and minimize the "environmental footprint", including using their own existing corridor to take the line through Pukaskwa National Park - NextBridge was forced to plan their route around the park.

Minister Rickford says the Ontario Energy Board's review process "has taken longer than expected, putting the timely construction of this necessary project at risk and potentially increasing costs for electricity customers", adding "NextBridge is the right choice to quickly and efficiently complete" the project, having finished preliminary work for it, and gained the support of local communities and First Nation and Metis partners.

This comes less than two weeks after Bamkushwada Limited Partnership - a partnership of six First Nations along the line's route, including Michipicoten First Nation - had called for the provincial government to grant NextBridge leave to construct, arguing Hydro One hadn't carried out the constitutionally-required duty to consult and accommodate First Nations - unlike NextBridge - and they raised concerns that the Hydro One proposal would be built much later than NextBridge's.

Grand Opening for Maamwesying North Clinic

A Wawa health clinic offering services for local Indigenous people is celebrating its grand opening today.

Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services - in partnership with Michipicoten First Nation - has opened its North Clinic at 3 Maple Street in Wawa, offering services for free.

Integrated Care Manager Irene Armstrong says the clinic's intended for "on-reserve citizens and the urban Indigenous population residing in Wawa and the surrounding area".

Irene Armstrong on Maamwesying Service Availability

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

As for services offered, Armstrong highlights the staff of the local clinic.

Irene Armstrong Highlights Maamwesying North Clinic Staff

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Armstrong adds that walk-in clinics are Thursday and Friday mornings, though the office is open Monday to Friday.

The team also travels to the Brunswick House and Chapleau Cree First Nations, and serves Chapleau Ojibwe members and those in Chapleau itself.

The grand opening celebration runs from 11 to noon, followed by a community feast.

OEB Announces Community Meeting on Chapleau Hydro Rate Increase Proposal

Chapleau residents will be able to voice their opinion on a proposed rate increase for Chapleau Hydro.

The Ontario Energy Board's announced plans for a community meeting next Tuesday, February 5th, noting the provincial regulator does want to hear from Chapleau Hydro customers about the proposed rate changes.

In a recent email to JJAM FM News, the local utility confirmed it's asking for a rate increase for all classes, noting their current rates are based on 2012 capital and operation costs with yearly inflation, even though they've added $238,000 in assets since then, along with $450,000 in assets previously owned by a now-defunct affiliate of Chapleau Hydro.

The OEB says Chapleau Hydro's application - if approved as filed - would mean a "typical residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours of electricity per month" would see a monthly increase of about $1.96, while commercial customers using 2000 kilowatt hours a month would see a monthly increase of $17.40.

That's lower than the numbers provided to JJAM FM by Chapleau Hydro, who stated that a residential customer using 750 kilowatt hours a month is expected to see an increase of $2.88 per month and a commercial customer using 2000 kilowatt hours a month would see an increase of $21.09 a month.

The O-E-B says utilities "rarely get all they ask for", with 38 percent of the more than 140 major rate applications reviewed since 2009 getting a smaller increase than requested.

The community meeting will be held at the Legion Hall on Tuesday, February 5th, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Commercial Production Expected at Chapleau Mine Before Year's End

Commercial production is expected at a Chapleau mine before the end of the year.

In a recent release from Goldcorp on its fourth quarter 2018 milestones and 2019 production and cost guidance, the Vancouver-based mining company says it has obtained all permits for its Borden gold project, "advancing towards commercial production in the second half of 2019".

Set to be the world's first all-electric underground mine, Borden is expected to create 200 jobs in the Chapleau area - it received a $5-million boost from Natural Resources Canada's Clean Growth Program in October, to assist with the purchase of electric vehicles and equipment.

Goldcorp notes its other properties produced 630,000 ounces of gold in the fourth quarter of 2018 - exceeding guidance - for a total of 2,294,000 ounces over 2018 - 2019's guidance is 2.2 to 2.4 million ounces.

The update gives only a brief mention to plans for a merger with US-based Newmont Mining, announced earlier this month - Goldcorp says updated guidance for the combined company is expected after the merger closes, which it expects to happen in the second quarter of the year.

While directors with both companies have given unanimous support, shareholders must still approve the deal, as will regulators in multiple countries.

Six Michipicoten Island Wolves To Be Relocated

Half a dozen wolves could soon be removed from Michipicoten Island - destined for another Lake Superior island in Michigan.

The Duluth News Tribute is reporting the National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation has provided a $50,000 grant to help the US National Parks Service move six wolves from Michipicoten Island to Isle Royale - and to cover ongoing monitoring after that.

They'll join three Minnesota wolves brought to the island in western Lake Superior last fall, part of efforts to boost its native wolf population, which had dropped to a single male and a single female, unable to successfully mate due to inbreeding and genetic deformities.

Reviving that wolf population is also part of efforts to restore a level of predator-prey balance, as Isle Royale has about 2000 moose with no other predators.

Speaking with JJAM FM News, a representative of Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry confirmed the MNRF is working with the U-S parks service for the "translocation" of some wolves - hoping to do so this week, if weather co-operates - but declined to comment further.

The National Parks of Lake Superior Foundation is also offering the US Interior Department $55,000 to cover any National Park Service costs for ongoing island research conducted every winter since 1959 by Michigan Technological University researchers.

More Time For Input on Renaming Local Lakes

Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry is giving more time for input as it considers naming a few local lakes after Canadian Armed Forces members who died in service.

A questionnaire posted on the MNRF website originally gave until January 23, 2018 for comment - that was later clarified as a mistake, and that the date should have been January 30th, 2019, though the site now shows the deadline is February 6th.

At the centre of the discussion are seven lakes "south of Negwazu Lake in the District of Algoma" that the Ontario Geographic Names Board does not believe have names - two are in the "Geographic Township of Bernst", two in the "Geographic Township of Ashley", and the other three clustered in the "Geographic Township of Alanen".

Proposed names: "Singh Lake", for Royal Canadian Infantry Private Bukan Singh, who died during the First World War; "Gibbs Lake", for Royal Canadian Air Force Navigator Reginald Cuthbert Gibbs, who died during the Second World War; "Perrier" and "Pitt" Lakes, for Royal Canadian Navy seamen who died after a fire on the HMCS Nipigon in 1965; and "Stringer", "Galloway", and "Hardy" Lakes for three Royal Canadian Navy seamen who died after an explosion on the HMCS Kootenay in 1969.

Superior East OPP Suggest Precautions in Extreme Cold

Local police are recommending important safety measures during the extreme cold.

Superior East Ontario Provincial Police warn drivers who start their vehicle to warm it up before travelling to be mindful of criminals who target idling vehicles, and - if possible - keep doors locked while the vehicle warms up.

Emphasizing a buildup of snow or an iced over or foggy windshield or windows can drastically reduce visibility while driving, OPP warn drivers to ensure your vehicle's clear of snow with good visibility in all directions - or face Highway Traffic Act charges.

If your vehicle goes off the road or gets stuck in deep snow, police urge you to clear the area around the exhaust pipe to keep fumes away from your vehicle, and keep a window slightly open if your vehicle's still running, as fumes can still get into your vehicle from a clear tailpipe.

Police also recommend bringing extra warm winter clothing and providing a trip itinerary to a friend or family member so they can call for assistance if you don't arrive at scheduled destinations, particularly if you're out snowmobiling.

Chapleau Man Charged After His Vehicle Illegally Drives By School Bus

A Chapleau man's been charged after his vehicle failed to stop for a school bus late last week.

Superior East Ontario Provincial Police say officers received a complaint around 3:35 Thursday afternoon that a pickup truck had driven by a school bus that had its overhead red signal lights flashing and its "STOP" arm extended on Highway 129.

Officers located the vehicle and owner shortly after, charging the 30-year-old Chapleau man with fail to stop for school bus - owner.

OPP remind that vehicle owners can be charged for failing to stop for a school bus even if you weren't driving the vehicle at the time, with fines ranging from $490 to $2000 plus six demerit points for a first offence, or $1000 to $4000, six demerit points, and up to six months jail time for a subsequent offence.

It is illegal to pass a stopped school bus that has its overhead red signal lights flashing - whether or not its "STOP" arm is extended - and your vehicle must remain stopped until the bus moves or the signal lights stop flashing.

Wawa Ice Fishing Derby Seeking Volunteers

Just over a month ahead of Wawa's annual ice fishing derby, organizers are putting out the call for more people to help with the event.

Speaking with JJAM FM News ahead of the January 15th early bird deadline, Derby Chairperson Scott Popert noted a need for support.

Derby Chair Scott Popert Explains Need For Volunteers

Daniel Walker/JJAM FM News

Popert encourages anyone interested in volunteering to contact him.

The 28th annual Wawa Ice Fishing Derby will be held March 1st through 3rd.