News
Copy by Lawrence Zwer
Bay of Quinte MPP Tyler Alsopp announced yesterday at Belleville Council that a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub is coming to Belleville. The announcement is part of a greater provincial announcement that will see 18 new so-called HART Hubs coming to Ontario, bringing the total number to 27. The province will be providing $6.3 million in funding a year for three years, and the announcement comes after a proposal that would see the Belleville Quinte West Community Health Centre, John Howard Society, Enrichment Centre for Mental Health, Canadian Mental Health Association HPE, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health, United Way Hastings & Prince Edward, and Grace Inn Shelter all working together to run the facility. The HART hub should be up and running around April 1st of this year.
High winds and blowing snow forced the closure of County Transit yesterday afternoon, as operators deemed it unsafe to make the last run of the day. The fixed route service normally operates between Picton and Belleville with five runs during the week between the hours of 6.15 am and 7.04pm
The City of Belleville appears to be in a good spot regarding space for future housing, but getting homes built continues to be a challenge. A Residential Land Supply report from city staff shows Belleville has more land available for housing in the next 20 to 30 years than population projections would make necessary over that time period. The city has enough land for almost 19,000 housing units in the long term and over 3,500 short-term units. The Residential Land Supply is a report that monitors the supply of housing land in Belleville and its purpose is to be compliant with the Provincial Planning Statement 2024. Councillors Chris Malette and Paul Carr did bring up the discrepancy between the land available and the actual residential units being built, with Carr suggesting that the private sector is sitting on land that’s ready to be built on in the hope that it increases in value first.
Canada Post bosses and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) squared off in an Ottawa hotel yesterday, the first day of hearings at the industrial inquiry commission convened by the labour minister. The commission is supposed to examine Canada Post’s financial situation, business model and workplace practices and produce a report in May. Canada Post and CUPW are no closer to resolving a workplace dispute that led to a four-week strike during the busy holiday season. On January 17th , the union said negotiations had broken down once again. The hearings began with Canada Post’s senior leadership laying out the dire financial situation and staffing structure that prevents it from pivoting. In return, CUPW accused Canada Post’s senior leadership of financial mismanagement.
Finally, according to an Abacus Data poll commissioned by the Toronto Star, the provincial Conservatives are well-placed ahead of the election Doug Ford plans to call tomorrow. The Abacus Data poll for the Star found Ford’s Tories at 47 per cent support, far ahead of Bonnie Crombie’s Liberals at 24 per cent, Marit Stiles’s New Democrats at 19 per cent. Abacus also asked respondents for their feelings about the election being called more than a year early, with a cost of at least $150 million. Nearly half of all Ontarians — 48 per cent — were “unhappy” or “very unhappy” at the expenditure, with 20 per cent “happy” or “very happy” and 32 per cent neutral. It’s expected that Ontarians will be going to the polls on February 27th. st your news here
Sports
We’ll kick things off with the PWHL. The New York Sirens travelled to Ottawa to face the Charge at TD Place. The Charge didn’t have any juice, losing 3-nothing on goals by Chloe Aurard, Alex Carpenter, and Jessie Eldrige, in front of just under 6,000 fans.
Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss Craig Berube spoke after the team’s outdoor practice in Toronto yesterday, suggesting that injured forward John Tavares could be back skating with the team later this week. Tavares was injured January 15th after getting tangled up with Chris Tanev during a power-play drill. While the Buds have gone 3-2 since losing their former captain to injury, he is second in team scoring with 20 goals.
Just two Canadian teams in action last night in the NHL – Conor Garland scored two to pace the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-2 victory over the St. Louis Blues, while the Edmonton Oilers took down the visiting Seattle Kraken 4-2, thanks in part to a goal and an assist from Conor McDavid in his first game back from suspension.
And, the Toronto Raptors won their 4th straight game last night 113-104 over the New Orleans Pelicans, thanks in part to a double double by Scottie Barnes. That’s also 6 out of 7 for the Raps, but they still sit third last in the Eastern Conference with a 13 and 32 record.
