Next weekend at the Jus Jordan Arena and Curling Rink is the annual Iroquois Falls Sports and Trade Show. This is the second year that town council’s special events committee is running the show, after being handed it by the Knights of Columbus.

Chair Betty Dupuis says the Iroquois Falls Storm will be there selling tickets for its sophomore NOJHL season in the Falls, and there will be all kinds of sports and recreation attractions, as well as contractors, renovators, and non-profits.  Some will be new to the show, others are returnees.

“If you didn’t fulfill your hours, you weren’t contacted, but the ones who were,” Dupuis outlines, “well we contacted them and they had first choice as to whether they would like to come or not. And then, I’ve been trying to sell booths since then.”

There are eight left.

The show is open from 5:00pm to 9:00pm Friday and 10:00am to 5:00pm Saturday.  Admission is $5.00 a day; kids six and under get in free.

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On Earth Day this past Monday, a Northern Ontario group was at Queen’s Park, presenting petitions with tens of thousands of signatures calling on the province to ban herbicide spraying in our forests.

Stop the Spray Ontario was founded by float plane pilot Joel Theriault of Foleyet.

“Stop the Spray Ontario has one simple goal,” he says, “and that goal is to end the use of non-essential chemical herbicides within Ontario’s forestry industry and do this organically like Québec has done since 2001.”

Theriault says the chemicals cause cancer in animals and humans. And a U.S. company has been found liable for producing the chemicals.

He says there are several problems with the provincial reasons for not banning them.

“The big ones that the government continuously goes into is to say it’s approved by the federal government, it’s safe, and the response is well, then, why is Monsanto paying out $11-billion in cancer settlements?”

The province has until May 15th to respond to the petitions.

There’s a lot more detail in the audio of our interview.

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Unless you’re up before 7:00am Sunday between Tenth and Nineteenth Avenues in Cochrane, you’ll have to make a Tim’s run for breakfast.

Northern Ontario Wires is shutting off your electricity for regular maintenance.

Part of that area is expected to be powerless until 8:00am; the rest until noon.

Check the map above.

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An icon in the NHL and behind a pulpit has been restored to a place of honour.

A statue of Father Les Costello that was damaged beyond repair at the Timmins Sports Heritage Hall of Fame has been replaced by an exact replica, done by the same sculptor.

“Father Les” left the NHL for the Catholic seminary in 1950. He went on to a life of service and charity with organizations like the Flying Fathers and the St. Martin de Porres Society.

Fellow Maple Leafs alumnus Paul Harrison says people have always asked about him.

“Dick Duff comes to mind,” he recalls. “Every single time I would see Dick Duff at any alumni event, the first thing he would say is ‘How’s the padre doing?’ and was genuinely interested in Les and what he was up to.”

Costello was never comfortable in the spotlight; and Harrison says it doesn’t matter who damaged the original statue -- things happen for a reason.

“This whole event and everything that’s transpired has brought us here today to re-celebrate and to honour his legacy, as it should be,” Harrison remarks. “He should be front and centre with people for so many different reasons.”

Father Les’s final parish was St. Alphonsus in Schumacher, a block over from the McIntyre Arena.  His funeral in 2002 had to be held at the Mac, because his church was too small for the 2,200 mourners.

Incidentally, the statues are the work of another Leafs alumnus, Gary Aldcorn.

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A spokesman with Kap Paper says the company needs more federal and provincial government funding help as it hopes to build a co-generation plant next to the GreenFirst Forest Products Mill.

Ken Munnoch says the feasibility study is complete and now about $2 million of additional support is required for the engineering and budgeting studies.

“We submitted a funding application to the Federal Government  on April 30^th,” he said. “That is the investment in the forest industry transformation funding stream. And we plan to submit another one to the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources their forest Bio-Mass program that will be the end of April.”

He says the study proves the importance of the co-gen plant.

“There is a sufficient abundance of wood residuals in and around the Kapuskasing region that can be used to burn this boiler,” he said. “There is certainly a demand in the province of Ontario on the electricity market for this power.”

The co-generation plant would burn wood waste to power the facility and sell to the province’s electricity grid.

Construction could start in 2027 creating 15 full-time jobs when completed.

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As award shows go, one in Cochrane on Saturday was pretty swanky and is being declared a total success.

The Cochrane Board of Trade staged the Business Achievement Gala for the first time. President Frank Louvelle promises it will be back every year.

“We definitely want to make this an annual event,” he states. ”It’s an opportunity to recognize the excellence in our local business and organizations and take time to focus on positives in the community, which we need to do more of.”

Louvelle adds that the awards themselves are all prestigious, and all the nominees are winners.

“The Business of the Year was Expedition Helicopters. They’re a great business, they do a lot for the community. People’s Choice was Girard’s Esso.”

COCHRANE BOARD OF TRADE 2024 BUSINESS AWARDS

• Business Of The Year: Expedition Helicopters
• New Business:  Saveurs Boréales (cheese store)
• Customer Service Award: Needleworks Studios
• Non-profit organization: Polar Bear Riders Snowmobile Club
• Workplace award: Cochrane Public Library
• People’s Choice: Girard’s Esso
• Lifetime Achievement: Christiane Bergeron (nurse practitioner)

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Wildland fire season is already in full swing in British Columbia and Alberta, but so far, so good in Northeastern Ontario.

Natural Resources and Forestry ministry fire information officer Evan Lizotte says there have been ten fires this season, but they’re all out.

“The hazard is currently low in the Northeast Region,” he adds, “with a small patch of moderate hazard in the Sudbury area.”

Precipitation during the week is expected to keep the fire hazard low to moderate.

“There will be some sunny but cool days later this week, which will be flowed by rain over the weekend,” Lizotte says, “so the hazard will most likely not bounce back this week.”

He reminds us that outdoor burning is only allowed between two hours before sunset and two hours after sunrise, and never in windy conditions.

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In Cochrane history from April, 1994: Construction had begun on a new water treatment plant.

As reported in the April 2nd Cochrane Times, construction was preceded by a day, by the official sod turning on Monday, March 28th.

Public Utilities Commission general manager Peter Murray said contractors were hoping to hire 20 workers locally, for jobs as labourers and carpenters, among others. Murray said there would be about 100 workers involved, with a maximum of 30 on site at any given time.

The $6.7-million project was expected to last for 64 weeks.

We couldn’t do our weekly history feature, without access to the archives at the Cochrane Public Library.

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The community garden in Iroquois Falls has one planter box left up for grabs. There’s a total of 28 in a fenced off area behind the sports complex, towards the tennis courts and ballpark.

Manager of recreation services Steve Bélanger says you can plant anytime, but most gardeners wait until after the May long weekend, so as to avoid frost.

“You can grow flowers, you can grow vegetables,” he notes, however “we do not permit the growing of marijuana, medical or recreational.”

You must provide your own seeds and plants, but gardening tools and water are available on site.

You can snap up that last planter box by calling the pool desk at 232-5230.

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The MPP for Temiskaming-Cochrane is the co-sponsor of an NDP bill at Queen’s Park called “The Right to Repair Act”.

John Vanthof says other jurisdictions have similar legislation, forcing manufacturers of electronic products, autos and farming equipment to provide access to manuals and spare parts, so that someone other than the manufacturer can repair them.

“The opposition are all onside. The government haven’t said that they wouldn’t support it,” he notes.

“We have stakeholders that are very big supporters, so the biggest farm group in Ontario, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture is very supportive.”

The bill has been introduced in the legislature and is now awaiting scheduled debate.

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