College strike poll question, high speed rail, upcoming events

Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

Weather forecast from Friday, October 27, 2017 to Sunday, October 29, 2017

Today – Mainly cloudy. 40 percent chance of showers late this afternoon. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50. High 16. UV index 3 or moderate.

Tonight – Rain. Wind southwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 becoming light this evening. Low plus 4.

Saturday, October 28 – Rain ending near noon then mainly cloudy. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 late in the morning. High 9.

Saturday night – Cloudy periods. Low plus 3.

Sunday, October 29 – A mix of sun and cloud. High 10.

Sunday night – Cloudy periods. Low plus 5.

Poll: Is the Ontario college strike impacting your household?

More than 12,000 Ontario public college faculty are on strike, after talks between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council failed to produce a tentative collective agreement.

This move had led to the cancelling of classes at St. Clair College, Lambton College, Fanshawe College and the majority of the 24 others across the province.

More details, here.

The Premier of Ontario says her government will do everything it can to get college faculty and their employer back to the bargaining table, but so far her good intentions haven’t had the desired effect.

There has been so talks scheduled between both sides.

Over 113,000 people have signed a petition launched on change.org.

The petition by the students is demanding a tuition refund for each day missed in the Ontario college strike.

What are your thoughts on the issue? Let us know. You can e-mail the Sydenham Current at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca

Also, is the strike impacting your household? Let us know by voting below:

[polldaddy poll=”9861565″]

Upcoming events

– Phil’s Friend Marty returns to the James Street Eatery ‘stage’ on Friday night, playing acoustic covers and originals. The James Street crew will be serving up an ‘after hours’ menu, and a cash bar to go with the live music.

– The Pottery Barn is holding an open house show and sale on Saturday and Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. Handmade functional pottery will be for sale at the 17 Martin Park Road location in Wallaceburg. Call 519-627-5742 for more details.

– Tuesday is Halloween! The Chatham-Kent Police Service have offered some tips to ensure a fun but safe Halloween for all the trick-or-treaters: Bring a flashlight or glow sticks to provide extra visibility, make sure costumes fit properly, choose practical footwear, children should go trick-or-treating with a responsible adult, if older children go out as a group, remind them to stay together and set a time for them to return home, cross the street safely, walk and don’t run, and don’t eat treats that are not commercially wrapped.

– Edgar Allan Poe, Live In Chatham will take place at four locations in Chatham on Halloween. The event consists of a reading of the famous poem, The Raven, and the horrifying short story, The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar, together with a brief biography of Poe.

– The Wallaceburg and District Museum is holding another installment of their ‘Haunted Museum’ on Saturday. Cost is $3 to go through the haunted. However, a FREE movie will be playing in the Jeanne Gordon Theatre as well. The film being shown this week is Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

– The Wallaceburg & District Chamber of Commerce is holding their 20th annual Business and Community Excellence Awards on Thursday, November 2 at 6 p.m. This event recognizes businesses and individuals in the Wallaceburg and district area. Tickets are $60. They can be purchased online at www.wallaceburgchamber.com.

– The Wallaceburg & District Council For The Arts and the Glass Onion Folk Club are welcoming Canadian blues great Al Lerman to James Street Eatery in Wallaceburg on Thursday, November 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20. For more details, call 519-627-5978 or e-mail gardiner@kent.net.

– A Harvest Home event is being held at the Wilkesport Community Centre on Friday, November 3. A chicken and roast beef dinner and performance by the musical group Mercy will take place! Tickets are $20 for adults, $8 for children 6-12 and FREE for kids 5 and under. Call 519-892-3673 for tickets.

– CK Recreations Play Rangers are coming to Wallaceburg. It will be held on Saturday, November 4 at the Wallaceburg Kinsmen Community Centre from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. There is free admission and children of all ages are welcome.

– The South Wallaceburg Action Team is gearing up for a Community Awareness Day on Saturday, November 4. The event is featuring free food, a child fingerprint identification clinic, PAW Patrol, plus representatives from the Chatham-Kent Fire Department and Chatham-Kent Police Service. It will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the 4 Reaume Avenue Community Room. All are welcome to attend.

Job Seekers Symposium coming up

November is designated ‘Career Exploration Month’ in Canada, and the Chatham-Kent Employment Resource Centre together with the Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board want to help the community celebrate.

Students, job seekers, and everyone considering a career change is invited to attend a FREE symposium on Wednesday, November 8, 2017.

The event attendees will:

– Hear personal success stories of from individuals working in many different sectors

– Have an opportunity to network with community partners who can support them on their job search

– Learn from employers – first hand – about what they are looking for when they hire

– Have an opportunity to learn from Key Note Rebecca Summerfield tips to a successful job search

“I think one of the best things we can do is to educate ourselves – and the next generation – about the types of employment that exist here in Chatham-Kent,” stated Kristy Jacobs, project manager for the Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board, in a press release.

“When we arm ourselves, and our kids, with information we are all able to make better informed life decisions. I have been delighted, but not surprised, by the response of the employers while planning this event. They are wonderfully receptive to the idea of educating our workforce, and helping them prepare for success in their job searches.”

There is no cost to attend, but interested parties are invited to register for the event, here.

The Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board is committed to ongoing research to enhance local labour market planning in the Chatham-Kent region.

To learn more about the Chatham-Kent Workforce Planning Board and its activities in Chatham-Kent, visit their website at ckworkforcedev.com.

Ontario moving ahead on high speed rail with planning advisory board

Ontario is pushing forward with plans to bring high speed rail to the Toronto-Windsor corridor, with a stop in
Chatham-Kent, by establishing an high speed rail planning advisory board to provide strategic support on the landmark project.

Canada’s first high speed rail service will slash people’s travel times, providing a faster, greener travel option that creates new opportunities for workers, businesses and anyone traveling in this part of the province.

Premier Kathleen Wynne made the announcement in a speech to the Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to providing strategic advice on major business issues associated with the project, the high speed rail planning advisory board will engage with the private sector, stakeholders and Indigenous communities.

Government officials say the team members will bring a breadth and depth of expertise to the project, including in the high tech and innovation sectors; engineering, environmental sciences and transportation planning; and the financing and delivery of infrastructure projects.

Members will include the best and brightest in these fields from across Ontario and Canada.

“High speed rail will dramatically change what’s possible for people in Southwestern Ontario,” Wynne stated in a press release.

“Whether that’s giving people a faster, greener way to get to a great job in the tech industry, allowing family members to visit more often or helping people discover more of our beautiful province. Canada’s first high speed rail service will also help companies along the Toronto-Windsor corridor to continue to attract top talent and take their business to the next level.”

High speed trains between Toronto and Windsor would travel at up to 250 kilometres per hour on a combination of existing track and new dedicated rail corridors.

This could cut travel times between these major centres from over four hours to just over two.

By expanding Ontario’s Innovation SuperCorridor to Windsor, high speed rail will support and enhance opportunities for economic growth in Southwestern Ontario and across the province, government officials stated.

It will help businesses attract the best talent and boost their productivity, and help Ontario make the transition to a low-carbon innovation economy.

“High speed rail will have a transformative impact on travel in Southwestern Ontario, helping people to innovate, connect with each other, and travel for work, study and play,” stated Steven Del Duca, Minister of Transportation.

“This is just one part of our plan to invest in transit across the province — connecting communities and supporting growth in jobs and the economy.”

Investing in high speed rail is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

More details:

– In his May report, Special Advisor David Collenette recommended a phased approach to delivering high speed rail in the corridor, and establishing the high speed rail planning advisory board is part of the first phase towards delivering high speed rail.

– Ontario launched a website with details of what high speed rail will mean for people in Southwestern Ontario and across the province, and how people can provide feedback and input.

– Ontario will continue to engage with private and public partners, including Indigenous communities and municipalities, while the environmental assessment, design work and ridership forecasting are completed.

– The high speed rail line will serve a corridor that’s home to more than seven million people. The proposed stops are Windsor, Chatham, London, Kitchener-Waterloo, Guelph and Toronto Union Station, with a connection to Pearson International Airport.

– The corridor was selected because it is a hub for leading startups, research institutions, and the manufacturing and agricultural sectors, and the region is growing faster than its current transportation network can accommodate.

Photo of the day – Ronald McDonald House donation

Every year at the Woodstock Outdoor Farm Show, Country Farm Seeds Ltd. in Blenheim prints up t-shirts for a charitable organization and donates the proceeds from the donations to that group.

This year they picked the Ronald McDonald House Charities in London.

This years the theme on the shirts was ‘Families Helping Families.’

Over the three day period, Country Farm Seeds Ltd. accepted donations from the attending crowd for a total of $3,000.

The company recently made the donation to the Ronald McDonald House.

Recently, Grant Watson (left) and Blake Patterson (right), the company representatives for Country Farm Seeds Ltd., presented the cheque to Kelly Montfort, manager of development, for Ronald McDonald House in London.