THE
Vol. 119 – No. 49
TEMISKAMING
SPEAKER
www.northernontario.ca
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2025
Provincials are icing on the donut for Special Olympians. See Speaker Sports
$1.75 per single copy (H.S.T. included)
Armstrong receives notice its last bank is closing Darlene Wroe Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
ANGLING FOR A WINTER BREAK
Sonny Nadeau was preparing to fish on a sunny, brisk Saturday afternoon on Lake Temiskaming, almost within view of the family’s home in Haileybury. Ice fishing gets the family out of the house in the winter, he said, offering fresh air for the kids and friendly neighbours. “It’s its own small community out here,” he said February 1. (Staff photo by Diane Johnston)
EARLTON - At its regular council meeting February 5, Armstrong Township council members will be discussing the notice from Desjardins Ontario Credit Union that it has decided to close its Earlton branch location, effective at 4 p.m. February 21. A letter from the Sudbury office advising the council of the decision was dated January 21. Mayor Jean Marc Boileau commented in a telephone interview that the council has not yet had an opportunity to discuss the letter, and will be doing so during the February 5 meeting. He pointed out that the community experienced a similar loss when Scotiabank closed its doors on May 10, 2022. However, in that case the community had a six-month notice. In this case, the municipality has had only one month’s notice. “This is something that we will be talking about and we will write a letter back to the Caisse,” he said.
The letter directed to the council, and signed by Stéphan Plante, vicepresident of the Ontario member experience and retail banking of Desjardins Ontario Credit Union, advised that the New Liskeard branch is open and accounts will remain active. “This decision was made to make sure the credit union can continue to meet members’ needs while still ensuring its long-term success and growth. It follows a review of the credit union’s distribution network, which showed that members’ current banking habits and preferences changed the way they interacted with Desjardins. Currently, 96 per cent of transactions are self-directed, three percent at ATMs and one per cent over the counter. It is this change in our members’ transactional habits that motivated the credit union’s decision.” The letter noted that an Acculink® ATM is located at 50 4th Avenue, Englehart. The township’s regular meeting of council gets underway at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 5, at the township’s municipal hall at 35 Tenth Street in Earlton.
Tariffs could cause economic chaos in Northern Ontario Sue Nielsen Speaker Reporter
DISTRICT — The threat of 25 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods by the American administration could have far reaching effects for Northern Ontario. Perhaps a big sigh of relief could be heard across the country when it was announced the Trump tariffs would be paused for a month after conversations on February 3 between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and American President Donald Trump. What is going on in the United States with the tariffs has business leaders, politicians and others on
edge. The federal government had said if the tariffs were to come into effect that Canada will answer with tariffs of its own against billions of dollars worth of American goods. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said that if the tariffs came into effect, it will result in some tough economic challenges for Canadians and Ontarians. Ahead of the tariffs, Ford cancelled a $100 million deal the province had with Elon Musk’s Starlink internet delivery system. And he also said American wine and liquor products will be pulled off Ontario shelves. When contacted by The Speaker
Monday, Timiskaming-Cochrane New Democratic Party candidate John Vanthof said it is too bad that the province has been thrown into a provincial election that takes away from the need to fight the trade tariffs and look to what Ontarians are in need of. In terms of the $100 million Starlink service cancellation, Vanthof said his office has already received calls about who will be affected. “Current customers who are already singed up with Starlink will be okay,” he said. “The province promised 16,000 new customers in the spring of 2025 would be able to access the
service, but we don’t know where that customer base is.” Vanthof mentioned there will be far reaching effects for the Temiskaming region in terms of the tariffs that will affect the forestry sector and, later on, the agricultural sector. “We have suppliers here in the Temiskaming region that will be affected. Let this tariff issue be a lesson for us to diversify, to seek other customers for our goods. In the past we were friendly with the U.S. but that is no longer the case.” He said Premier Ford needs to focus on keeping the Ontario economy going rather than having people think about the provincial
election. “I wish we were not fighting a provincial election at this critical time.” Ontario Green Party candidate for the riding, Kris Rivard, said in an email interview, “We must still be ready as a province to counter any potential tariffs. We need a Team Ontario approach that puts people before politics, protecting our jobs, our workers, and businesses in Northern Ontario. The province needs to encourage and create incentives to buy locally.” Progressive Conservative candidate Tory Delaurier said the pause on tariffs “provides a crucial Continued on 6a
TMA backs Northern highway safety plan Diane Johnston Speaker Reporter
EARLTON – Temiskaming municipal leaders have thrown their support behind a long list of initiatives they hope will make Northern highways safer. At its meeting January 27, the Temiskaming Municipal Association endorsed 16 recommendations in a Northern highway safety plan. The plan was released last month by three Northern New Democrat MPPs – Timiskaming-Cochrane’s John Vanthof, MushkegowukJames Bay’s Guy Bourgouin, and
Thunder Bay-Superior North’s Lise Vaugeois. “It’s not that the solutions aren’t out there, that’s not the issue. The will to do it isn’t there,” said Vanthof to the TMA. Vanthof, who is running for re-election, had been booked to speak to the association prior to last week’s provincial election call. Highway safety in Northern Ontario, even on the TransCanada Highway, is “never going to be a moving issue in Queen’s Park unless we as a group move it,” he said. It’ll be even more important, he said, to continue pressing for action after the February 27
election, regardless of its outcome. “Accidents are going to happen, but here they’re expected to happen. That’s the difference, that’s wrong,” Vanthof said. A driver of a car registered in Temiskaming who is involved in a crash on a provincial highway is four times more likely to die than the driver of a car registered anywhere else in Ontario, he said. “No one’s going to tell me that that’s just a blip,” he said. LICENSING The report lists 16 actions that can be taken in the short, medium and long terms. Most relate to maintenance, training,
enforcement, equipment, and improvements to highway design and services. But if too much is requested at once, “we become noise, and it doesn’t get done,” Vanthof said. So he said they selected one that is “absolutely doable” – requiring that all new commercial drivers be tested and licensed by inspectors certified by the Ministry of Transportation, rather than thirdparty private companies. Vanthof said there are 100 companies in Ontario that can recruit, train and license their own drivers. He cited a 2018 report by
Ontario’s Auditor General. It found that, between 2014-15 and 201819, companies that could test their own drivers had a pass rate of 95 per cent. That contrasted with a pass rate of 69 per cent at Ontariolicensed DriveTest centres. That report also found that 25 per cent of the 106 carriers testing their own drivers under the driver certification program ranked among the worst one per cent of all carriers for at-fault collision performance. The government can easily make tests by MTO-certified inspectors mandatory, Vanthof said. Continued on 5a