'Not acceptable:' northern Ontario communities fight to save OPP detachment
CBC
Four small towns and a First Nation near Sudbury are trying to save their Ontario Provincial Police detachment after learning the police forces is considering shutting it down.
The OPP's detachment in Noëlville has been on the closure list for at least 12 years, according to French River Mayor Gisèle Pageau. Noëlville is within her municipality.
As recently as November, provincial police said there were no immediate plans to close the station. Recent rumours in the community, however, led Pageau to ask OPP for an update. She said the police told her they were working on a ministry brief, recommending the closure of Noëlville detachment.
"We were reassured that, before anything would even begin, that there would be some consultation with the municipality and the residents in each of the four communities that Noëlville services. And that didn't happen," Pageau said.
The Noëlville detachment is a satellite office from the main OPP detachment in Sudbury. It services the municipalities of French River, St. Charles, Killarney and Markstay-Warren.
The OPP has closed several satellite detachments in northeastern Ontario over recent years, including Still River, Manitowaning, Mindemoya, Warren, Matheson and Smooth Rock Falls.
The force has said its officers have enough tools to work out of their cruisers in many situations, rather than frequently returning to a detachment.
Pageau said losing the detachment would be difficult for French River. Despite the OPP's assurance that service levels won't change, she said she expected both the perception of policing, and the actual service levels, to take a hit.
She said 10 officers are based out of her community's detachment, and they've been given an option of reporting to either the Sudbury or West Nipissing (Cache Bay) detachments. That may pull them toward service calls in the larger centres.
"I don't buy it for a minute that ... two [officers] will be in our areas every day," said Pageau.
People living in the Noëlville detachment service area have begun circulating a petition that urges the province to keep the police station open. Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas has also supported that effort.
Pageau said it was worrying that, had it not been for the rumours, she may have been shut out of the detachment closure decision entirely.
"We would have been told what was going on, and we wouldn't have had a chance to gather our citizens, you know, and get them informed about what's happening," she said.
Pageau said French River's permanent population is about 2,600, but that number grows to around 10,000 in the summer, which means policing needs could be underestimated.
James Benesh was so interested in researching an online hockey draft, he ended up with one of the largest-known collections of hockey books and eventually being called a hockey historian.
A recent market and fundraiser showcasing Palestinian-owned businesses in Hamilton, including new start-ups by people from Gaza who now call the city home, was met with “incredible” support, organizers say.
This time next year, Joellah Fletcher plans to be prepping or taking her final exams to become a certified Red Seal carpenter.
East of the small village of Coutts, Alta., a stone’s throw from the border with the United States, Cindy Bosch’s day-to-day life looks much like it did a year ago.
For years, police have been on the front lines of mental health crisis calls in Toronto, but the city's police chief believes it's now time to rethink that approach.
One of Prince Edward Island’s last surviving Second World War veterans has died.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada has too much regulation and not enough investments in clean energy and technology — and he's making his most direct repudiation yet of his predecessor's environmental policies.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content, including racist, violent and antisemitic language.
A national Jewish advocacy organization is taking legal action against Manitoba's medical regulator over a complaint it made last year alleging a prominent doctor made antisemitic comments on social media.
A cat that went missing in a remote area of northeastern B.C. is finally back home with its family in Oklahoma, five months later.
It wasn’t clear trolleys would be a hit in Medicine Hat, but the Sunshine Trolley has wound its way into Hatters’ hearts.
More than 200 volunteers and politicians gathered in Etobicoke Saturday for the Daily Bread Food Bank’s holiday sort.
The rising cost-of-living has already made supporting a family difficult this year. But, the holidays can make staying on budget that much harder.