Moose FM CHMT 93.1 - Timmins

Dear Editor,
The Second Annual Great Canadian Kayak Challenge and Festival is now behind us and by all accounts, the weekend was a success. Thousands of people came out to enjoy a fun filled weekend of competitions, art, culture, and entertainment. The weather Gods cooperated fully by providing sunshine and above average temperatures throughout the 2 day event. On behalf of the Steering Committee, we want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the event sponsors, donors, volunteers, participants and spectators for their generous support of this event.  We  also want to extend a “special” thank you to the media for assisting us with the task of building our brand and “creating top of mind awareness” of the Great Canadian Kayak Challenge & Festival. Your support has gone a long way at ensuring the event’s success. The Steering Committee will meet shortly to start planning the 3^rd Annual Great Canadian Kayak Challenge & Festival and hopefully, next year’s event will be bigger and better than this year’s festival..

Happy Paddling
Guy Lamarche & Jack Watson
Event Co Chairs
Great Canadian Kayak Challenge & Festival

Dear Editor,
Sept 1 signaled the end of the City’s 10 week Summer Concert Series celebrating 100 Years of Mining Production. This anniversary project was extremely well received by the residents of Timmins, many of whom attended each week to enjoy some quality, first rate, home grown talent from the TH&VS Pavilion at Hollinger Park.  An estimated 8,000 people, representing all age demographics, attended the weekly concerts that featured new artists and genres each week. The overwhelming support of this project shows that there is a huge appetite for this type of activity and it is our hope that we can successfully harness community and media partnerships again next year in our effort to bring more of the same as we continue to showcase our talented musical artists while entertaining residents and visitors alike.
This year’s edition of the Summer Concert Series was brought to you in large part by the generous support of Midnight Express, the City of Timmins’ 100^th Anniversary Committee, Northern Tel and the local media who promoted the weekly event through a generous contribution of $45,000 in support of the marketing plan and communication tactics including broadcast, print and electronic mediums. The many people who attended the last concert of the season showed their appreciation by bringing non perishable items or monetary donations assisting the Timmins Food Bank with their mission. Once again, the residents of Timmins showed their “hearth of gold” and generously answered the “call to action” with donations that exceeded the expectations of the Timmins Food Bank.
On behalf of the City of Timmins and the 100^th Anniversary Committee, we want to thank the musicians, sponsors, residents, visitors, and the local media for supporting and making the Summer Concert Series the success that it was!  Finally, a special thanks to Q92 and EZ Rock for providing a pool of talented MC’s week after week, (Mark Kinsman, Max Major, Michelle Lambert) not to mention the  many free giveaways of soft drinks, and Mister Freezes  coordinated by Amanda Dyer via the Summer Cruiser.

Sincerely,
Mayor Tom Laughren & Joe Torlone
Co-Chairs 100^th Community Anniversary Committee

At the Great Canadian Kayak Challenge a small wager between friends seems a great way to be competitive. So it was between Deputy Chief Des Walsh and Staff Sgt Rick Witty of the South Porcupine OPP. The wager – loser has to fly the winner’s official flag for a week. Now the OPP flag waves mockingly at the Timmins Police Service Headquarters. Chief Walsh was happy to honour the bet and boasted the show of collaboration between agencies. Walsh also warned that next year, there would be a TPS flag on the OPP’s lawn. In response Sgt Witty promised their support and their interest.

NDP Leader for Ontario Andrea Horwath stopped in Timmins on a tour of the north to hear the issues from the community. Horwath says the issues that are affecting the Timmins, Kapuskasing, Cochrane, and Iroquois Falls areas are very similar to each other. She says that none of these issues are new and she believes the government has ignored the needs of the North for far too long. It seems as though Southern Ontario is making decisions for the north but not based on any northern input. Horwath says just because there has been a lack of serious attention to northern Ontario over the past few years doesn’t mean that has to continue and she says the NDP is committed to that. She is going to carry the issues after her northern tour ends in the form of a platform the NDP will prepare for the next election.

Back in 1973 the Conservative government wanted to extend the provincial sales tax to heating and electricity rates. A group of about 500 northern citizens formed a tax repeal committee that petitioned with 24,000 signatures opposing the tax grab. At the time, North Bay resident Ed Deibel led the group and managed to get then Premier Davis to withdraw his proposal. Today a similar situation is reoccurring in the HST. And now NOHP party leader Deibel is promising to make as its cornerstone principle, the removal of the HST on oil, gas and electricity that heat northern homes and businesses and repeal the tax on fuel and gasoline. Deibel believes McGuinty and his cronies are fools to think Northerners will sit back and watch their heritage destroyed. He claims they will not be bought by a handful of crumbs and empty promises thrown by Queen’s Park.