On Jan. 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed a day of general thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed, to be observed on the second Monday in October.

So once again, on Monday, Oct. 8 is Canadian Thanksgiving — a day to spend with family and friends, to stuff ourselves silly with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and other culinary delicacies from Canada’s multicultural mosaic.

With that said, Canadian Thanksgiving also suggests gratitude. It is a collective moment to recognize that the things we enjoy and which enable us to live life abundantly — clean water, fresh air, food, arable land, family, friends and a lot more — should never be taken for granted.

Further, it is a national day to recognize that the harvest of the land and sea, and the relationships that give meaning to our lives are not simply there for the taking. They are things that, in a sense, have been given to us for which we must be grateful.

Also Thanksgiving gives us a day off to reflect upon and express thanks for the fact that we are not independent, but dependent on our Earth, our native land, our family, our fellow citizens, animals, plants and faith.

Thanksgiving is also a time for caring, sharing and giving.

At Thanksgiving, there are many other ways and things we should give thanks to.

For example, I am thankful that Canada has accepted me. I am also thankful for the blessings of still good health, affordable food and living in a land of peace and opportunity which has always been provided to me and my children and their families, with the best care and attention.

I was raised in a poor family back home in Bohemia.

At Thanksgiving, we were thankful there was any food on the table to fill the stomach and no food was ever wasted.

We grow up happy and healthy just the same, and I am still around, fairly healthy and yes, happy too.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Karl Habla,

Timmins

The Bannerman Park Porcupine Concert Committee thanks all the people who attending the fabulous 2018 Concert Series.

The performers exhibited the excellent talents of local musicians. Carol Brunet, Paula and Jim Hoggett and Ursala Kowalskji, the volunteer gardeners, made this beautiful garden setting happen.

The Porcupine Art Club under the direction of Ted O’Connor and Cathy Cribbs organized painting to the music and invited people to demonstrate their talents on canvases.

Food was available from the McIntyre Catering Services and on one occasion from Radical Garden Acres of Green.

This summer we had enthusiastic Youth in Policing volunteers from Timmins Police Services conducting satisfaction surveys and assisting people.

James Toyota owner James Bazuik and Val Venneri provided the truck to collect the food donations and James matched the cash donations. Beneficiaries of the food and monetary donations are the food banks in South Porcupine and Timmins.

Q92 and KISS FM provided terrific MC services. We were especially pleased with the services of DJ Taz who provided the sound system. He kept the music flowing.

Also appreciated were the articles in the The Daily Press by Len Gillis. They attracted people to the park.

Our donors this year were: Rubino Petro Canada, South Porcupine Kinsmen, Porcupine Hardware, Stinson Funeral Home, South Porcupine Knights of Columbus, Tahoe Gold, Roztek, Norfab, Porcupine Gold Mines, Crevier East End Service, James Toyota and Giant Tiger.

The organizing committee wishes to sincerely thank Guy Lamarche of Tourism Timmins for his ideas and guidance.

Ron Moisan and Mary Gardner,

Bannerman Park Porcupine Concert Committee

A woman has been arrested following a disturbance at a shelter in the downtown core of Timmins.

The Timmins Police Service revealed, in a release issued Tuesday, that officers responded to a call for service in regards to a dispute at the shelter during the early evening hours of Friday, Sept. 21st.

Upon arrival at the scene, Timmins Police collected information that led to the arrest of a suspect.

It is alleged that a verbal dispute escalated to an assault against one of the shelter workers by a patron. The patron is further alleged to have broken a window and uttered threats against the shelter’s staff member.

The female suspect was eventually taken into custody.

Caroline Metatawabin, 53, of Timmins, has been arrested and charged with assault, mischief and uttering threats.

The accused was released from police custody on the strength of a Promise To Appear requiring that she attend at Provincial Court in Timmins on Nov. 6 to answer to the charges laid against her.

The South Porcupine detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police will be launching its fall seatbelt enforcement campaign this Wednesday.

“The OPP will be out on patrol and conducting seatbelt spot checks during the campaign,” said Staff Sgt. Dan Foy, the detachment commander for the South Porcupine OPP.

The OPP conducts provincial seatbelt campaigns every year to raise awareness of seatbelt use and their effectiveness in saving lives in the event of a collision.

“It only takes a few seconds to buckle up,” said Foy. “A properly worn seatbelt greatly increases your chances of surviving a motor vehicle collision.”

A driver can be charged and face a fine totalling $240 and two demerit points for seatbelt infractions, Foy explained. Demerit points remain on a driving record for two years from the date of the offence.

The seatbelt law enforcement campaign runs until Oct. 5

After a blistering attack on the City of Timmins planning department and the Committee of Adjustment (COA), it is possible that a Timmins couple might get permission after all to build their new family home in South Porcupine.

This is despite the fact the COA refused to give approval because the proposed home is considered too big for the lot.

Instead of covering 35% of the lot, their home would cover 41%.

Anna Feldman, dissatisfied with the committee’s decision earlier this year appealed the issue to the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), formerly known as the Ontario Municipal Board.

The appeal hearing was held Tuesday morning.

The unusual circumstance surrounding this hearing was that only one side of the application was heard and businessman Lorne Feldman slammed the Timmins planning department which he said “hijacked” his wife’s application to build a home this summer.

Presiding over the hearing was LPAT hearing officer C.J. Bryson.

Timmins councillor Joe Campbell attended the hearing as an observer.

No one from the city’s planning department or the COA showed up at the hearing to explain why the Feldman application was denied in the first place. No one was allowed. This follows a decision made by city council two weeks ago that the municipality would not offer any support to the decision made by the COA.

While city council cannot overturn a COA decision it chose to demonstrate its displeasure with the committee.

On Sept. 11, 2018 council unanimously decided the Feldman’s did not get a fair deal from the COA and so council decided the city would not fight the application in any way.

Hearing officer Bryson looked around the council chamber with only six people present including the applicant Anna Feldman, her husband Lorne Feldman, Coun. Campbell, another citizen and a Daily Press reporter.

“So we have no one from the city on behalf of the committee and no one who wants to be a participant or a party in this proceeding,” she said, indicating that the hearing would proceed regardless.

As she surveyed the paperwork outlining the COA decision, Bryson said something was not clear.

“I will just say at the outset I was a little confused by the committee decision because it appears to deny and then it states it concurs with the conditions,” said Bryson.

“So can you illuminate that for me?”

Lorne Feldman replied, “I wasn’t aware it was approved with conditions. What I recall was it was denied almost out of hand or quite arbitrarily. I don’t recall there being any conditions.”

Bryson continued to look over the document and said, “As far as I can see, no variance was actually granted.”

She said the two pages made it “very clear” that the committee didn’t believe the application met the requirements of the four tests that are applied for a minor variance.

The four tests are:

· Is the application minor in nature?

· Is it appropriate and desirable development for the area?

· Is it in keeping with the purpose and intent of the Zoning Bylaw?

· Is it in keeping with the purpose and intent of the Official Plan?

Bryson said her belief was that the COA conditions referred to in the original document was a mistake and that the COA was not giving any approval or any conditions.

“We are going to proceed on the basis that that was an error and that it was a denial. I cannot discern from the document that any variance was actually provided,” said Bryson.

With that, Lorne Feldman proceeded to outline the reason he appealed his application to the tribunal. He said his wife purchased a lot for a new family home on Sony Street back in May.

He said they followed the correct procedure and brought their application to city hall.

He said they were advised by the city planning department that planning would not be supporting the application.

“And we asked why. They stated our lot overage exceeded the 35% requirement, which is actually quite a low requirement relative to other areas of the province,” said Lorne Feldman.

He said his wife inquired about applying for a minor variance, a procedure where the application is reviewed by a separate body, in this case the committee of adjustment.

“They said, well yes you can if you want, if you want to spend the $575, but planning will not support it,” Lorne Feldman said he was told.

“We found that concerning why the planning department would not put some time in and work with a family working to build a family home in a family subdivision when the facts show many applications for increased lot coverage are passed,” Lorne Feldman charged.

“In fact in 2018, there were 14 or 15 applications specifically for lot coverage increases, and not the majority, but every single one was supported by planning except for the Feldman application,” he revealed.

Despite that, Lorne Feldman said they prepared for the meeting with the committee, where he said they expected a fair and objective hearing.

“What ensued was anything but that,” he said. “When we attended it was my understanding that as the applicant we could lead the evidence. That did not occur. Planning, frankly in my estimation, hijacked the process. They did not provide us any of their reasons for denial so we came in unprepared.” Lorne Feldman went on to argue his case for the reasons why his proposed home would indeed meet the four tests for planning.  He reminded the hearing of a sentence from the Timmins Official Plan.

“The Official Plan for Timmins states the plan lays the foundation for building a good community. Respectfully, I don’t know what represents a good community more than families.”

He added that with respect to zoning and the residential density applied to a certain zone, it should be decided by relative number of dwelling units, not by the percentage of the lot size.

Feldman also mentioned that he asked COA members if they had bothered to visit the actual subdivision site, as they are obligated to do, he said.

Feldman said two of the COA members who rejected his application had not visited the site.

“One of them actually said why would I go. I just listen to whatever planning tells me to do,” Lorne Feldman revealed.

He said that’s not how the procedure is support to work. It was neither fair nor impartial, he said.

“If they are only going to listen to what planning tells them, frankly they are not doing their jobs,” Feldman accused.

The hearing took nearly an hour as the Feldmans presented their arguments and reasons why the committee decision should be overturned, which included the reason that no one in the neighbourhood has objected to the plan to build a new house.

Hearing officer Bryson, who took notes and copies of documents throughout the hearing, said she would not be making a decision this week but would review the evidence and expected to have a decision on the table by January 2019.

She added that because this was an LPAT hearing it would be considered a De Novo hearing, meaning that she would be hearing the evidence fresh, as in a new trial and anything before this would not be considered.

Rain and wind did not stop hundreds of enthusiastic students from celebrating Franco-Ontarian Day outside city hall Tuesday.

The day commemorates the francophone population in Timmins as participants wore green and white, the colours of the Franco-Ontarian flag.

Algonquin Boulevard was closed between Pine Street and Balsam Street as festivities spilled out onto the roadway in front of city hall.

“Today was the celebration of the Franco-Ontarian in Ontario,” said Lisa Bertrand, executive director of Centre Culturel La Ronde.

“It’s the birthday of the Franco-Ontarian flag. We celebrate it and we always try to get the French community and we try to get us involved … It doesn’t matter what gender or what ethnicity or if you’re  Catholic, (in French) immersion or public (school); it doesn’t matter your religion, we just have something common and that’s what so special about our language,” Bertrand said.

The left portion of the Franco-Ontarian flag has a green background with a white fleur-de-lys in the middle representing French-Canadian heritage. The right side has a white background with a green trillium representing the province of Ontario.

Timmins Mayor Steven Black read a proclamation while the Franco-Ontarian was raised moments after. Timmins recording artist Céleste Lévis returned to her hometown to perform a few of her songs as students and staff grooved to the music on the street.

Bertrand said the French community is still alive in the city despite the Centre Culturel La Ronde not having a building in the downtown core yet.

“We’re just all connected because of French. I think it comes with the youth, we need to show them how important it is, so it’s them that are going to make our community centre and our community and French go on,” said Bertrand.

“I’m so proud to be French. It’s my first language. My mom is French and my dad was English but they always spoke French at home.”

Statistics Canada latest data from 2011 reported Timmins’ population was 43,165. Of those, 15,890 (approximately 37%) indicated their mother tongue to be French.

Tickets go on sale at noon Wednesday for the fourth-annual Rocktoberfest being held at the McIntyre ballroom on Saturday, Oct. 20.

The event is a major fundraiser for Rock on the River, the annual two-day summer concert festival organized by the non-profit community group, Timmins Festival and Events Committee.

Passes can be purchased at Timminsfestivals.com. Admission fee is $350 with taxes and service fees for a table of 10. The event will feature draws, costume contests, trivia and a dance party in support of the Rock on the River concert series.

“It starts off with a night of trivia. Each year we have a theme for Rocktoberfest,” said John Olaveson, chairman of Timmins Festival and Events Committee.

“The first year was a general music trivia, the second year was ‘80s music and the third year was ‘90s. This year it is the soundtracks of movies and TV. It’s usually a dress-up event so you can dress up as your favourite TV character or movie character. In the past people would dress up with the 80’s or 90s’ theme.

“Each year we try to come up with a different theme, the committee itself came up with the idea of RocktoberFest. We thought it would be cool to have different themes each year to change it up a bit and add variety year to year.”

Tickets were sold out in 22 hours last year. Tickets are by table only with no exceptions.

The first portion of the night will consist of trivia games, led by Friends Helping Friends charity, while the second half will have Much Video Dance providing musical entertainment.

“It was successful last year, a lot of people enjoyed it and we decided to bring that back to end the night. It’s a video dance party with a theme of music, TV and movies,” said Olaveson.

This is their second fundraiser by the committee for the summer concert. They host a BeerFest in the spring at the McIntyre Community Building where craft breweries provide samples of their beers. It also features live entertainment.

Proceeds for Rocktoberfest and BeerFest go to the committee in helping to cover costs for the annual Rock on the River concert festivals.

“It was our first ever fundraiser when we got this committee going,” said Olaveson. “It’s been very successful. One year we had one or two tables available. The rest of the years, it sold out. There are only 30 tables of 10 people each in the McIntyre ballroom. It’s been well received in the community and it’s a top-notch event fundraiser for Rock on the River.”

Timmins Festival and Events Committee raised more than $3,000 in donations last summer for the Northern Ontario Expo, Project Love and Timmins Family Counselling Centre during the Rock on the River 2018.

I would like to bring your attention to the existing Timmins zoning bylaws regarding accessory buildings.

“No accessory private garage or storage building to a permitted residential use in a RD-RU or RD-WN zone shall exceed a floor areas of 139 sq. m. (1,500 sq. ft.) and in any other residential zone, no accessory private garage or storage building shall exceed 93 sq. m (1,001 sq. ft.) or the floor area of the ground floor of the main dwelling on the lot, whichever is the lesser.

“Coverage of accessory buildings and structures shall be included in the calculation of the permissible coverage of all buildings and structures on a lot.”

Timmins is the only city in Northern Ontario which has these tight controls over the taxpayers.  Sudbury, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Orangeville, Cochrane, Kirkland Lake, to name a few, all have wording similar to the following:

“The gross floor area of any one accessory building or structure shall not exceed the gross floor area of the main building located on the same lot.

“Unless otherwise specified in this bylaw the total lot coverage of all accessory buildings and structures, on a residential lot shall not exceed 10%.”

Why are Timmins taxpayers being treated differently than the rest of Ontario?

Why are taxpayers required to pay $575 to the Committee of Adjustment for minor variances due to this strict wording?

This appears to be a revenue-generating activity for the city.

If you agree that taxpayers in Timmins should be treated equal then please send an email to the Ontario Government (mso-ne@ontario.ca) requesting a review of the Timmins bylaws.

The city’s Official Plan five-year review is due and needs to be sent to the Ontario Government for approval.  This is your opportunity to ensure that Timmins taxpayers are being treated the same as all taxpayers living in Ontario.

Vote for the person who is running for you and not for their own personal agenda. This is your opportunity to vote for change and have your voices heard.

Carol Tanguay,

Timmins

More than 10,000 students and graduates have walked through the hallowed halls of École secondaire catholique Thériault in the last 50 years.

Organizers the school reunion being held next May Run weekend are anticipating at least 2,000 of those former students and grads will be returning for the milestone celebration, Retrouvailles Thériault 2019.

The reunion takes place on the school grounds Friday, May 17 to Sunday, May 19.

Online registration for the reunion kicks off this Friday.

“When they go online at www.esct.on.ca, there will be a pop-up and they will be led to an online store and that’s where they are going to register,” explained Daphne Wallbridge, a Thériault grad from 1992 who is now vice-principal at the school.

“So they are going to check off the events based on the itinerary, and they can even buy apparel if they want. It’s a one-stop shop for the whole weekend and that will help us coordinate the weekend to make sure that we have enough people and everything will be set up accordingly to accommodate them.”

Yves Poitras, who graduated from ESCT in 1985 and is now principal at the school, said the last reunion coincided with Thériault’s 25th anniversary in 1993. At that time, somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 people attended.

“There are over 10,000 graduates who have gone through the halls here and our previous schools, so with some of them still being present and the enthusiasm of past students and staff who have been here, we expect many will come back and have fun and remember that there was something special about being at Thériault,” said Poitras.

Lucie Lambert-Bélanger, who is co-chairing the organizing committee along with her husband Richard – both graduates from 1972 – said they are anticipating an even larger turnout for this reunion with the school marking its golden anniversary. They also believe their efforts to reach out to former students and grads will be enhanced by various social media platforms like Facebook that were not available when the last reunion was being organized in 1993.

Lucie Lambert-Bélanger said they will be reaching out to former Timmins residents and Thériault graduates across Canada and all over the world.

She said it is important to note the reunion “is not just for the people who graduated. It is for anyone who attended. It’s completely irrelevant whether or you received a diploma or not.”

The invitation is also extended to faculty, staff and team coaches.

Lucie Lambert-Bélanger said Retrouvailles Thériault is a celebration of 50-plus years because the history of the school predates the 1972 opening of the familiar blue, white and red building on Thériault Boulevard.

The school was founded in 1968 with the amalgamation of Collège Sacré-Coeur (boys grades 9 to 13), Ste-Therese (girls grades 9 and 10) and Collège Notre-Dame (girls grades 11 to 13).

Lucie Lambert-Bélanger said the reunion is open to anyone who attended Thériault or those founding schools.

The cost for the weekend is $60 if you register before Feb. 3. After that, the cost for registration is $75.

Lucie Lambert-Bélanger said this is designed to “encourage people to register early so it helps us to organize the activities.”

The online registration form also allows participants to indicate places they would like to visit or even make arrangements to meet up with former teammates.

Richard Lambert-Bélanger said, “The weekend will kick off with a wine and cheese on the Friday here at the school. It will lead into Saturday morning where we have a breakfast for all participants of the weekend followed by a number of activities during the day including a visit to the school for people who have not been in the school for a long, long time.”

On Saturday morning, there will also be a nine-hole golf tournament at the Hollinger Golf Club, for anyone who wants to sign up.

Also Saturday morning, there will be a fun run at Hersey Lake Conservation Area.

Poitras noted, “At Thériault, we have a long tradition of good runners here so they can go and compete or participate for the fun of it, or just reminisce and go on the old trails, and have a fun time for those who would like to do that.”

Still continuing with Saturday’s events, Richard Lambert-Bélanger said, “We have classrooms that will be set up as decade rooms, so different decades over the last 50-plus years. People will have the opportunity to go and reminisce and take a look at some of the material from that decade. What we hope to do as well is have some of our volunteers dress up in clothing of that particular decade so that should be a lot of fun.

“We have activities for families as well. We have activities for children throughout the day on the Saturday. And then leading into the afternoon, we are organizing a beer tent here, weather permitting, at the athletic soccer complex attached to the school here. In partnership with the City of Timmins, we will have both their large tents set up. We anticipate there will be a beer tent, a variety of food trucks to choose from, and a series of concerts in the evening, with several musical groups and bands performing throughout the evening.

“Sunday, we will have a mass that will be celebrated by the Arch Bishop Paul-André Durocher, who is a former student and a former teacher here at Thériault … That will be followed by another breakfast and in the afternoon, we have off-campus activities where people can go visit” a number of sites that will be open and available for touring.

Poitras said, “This celebration is of course for those who were associated with the school but I have to underline that the whole community will be, I think, in a festive mood during that weekend. There will be great benefits to the community as far as uplifting the spirits of the town as well as impact on our different businesses in town. There will certainly be an economic boost because of it. So in that, there is something for everybody in that Thériault is celebrating but this is also a Timmins celebration from our perspective.”

Wallbridge said those wishing to get regular notifications and updates on the reunion on their smartphone can download the Timmins app and click Retrouvaille Thériault.

It wasn’t planned this way, but the final meeting of Timmins city council prior to the upcoming election was held Tuesday night.

The current city council is not scheduled to meet again the second week of November at which time the meeting will be a formality to look after any routine housekeeping issues that might be on the agenda. The city’s new council will not formally take office until the first week of December.

On Tuesday, just moments before council was ready to adjourn their two-hour meeting the issue was put on the table.

Mayor Steve Black said he wanted council’s consensus on a staff request for the October meeting, which was planned to be held on Oct. 9, roughly two weeks before the municipal election.

Black said that because advance polling would be underway beginning on Oct. 1, there was discussion among some councillors whether it would be appropriate to continue meeting. The concern is that some council members might be tempted to engage in campaign style speeches and declarations during a meeting.

Black said staff had ensured that any important issues and bylaws were included on Tuesday’s agenda so that the regular work at the municipality would continue.

The mayor asked if there were any questions or comments.

Coun. Rick Dubeau asked for clarification.

Black explained the concern about campaigning.

“We thought it would be best to adjourn until after the election because voting starts in six days,” he said.

Dubeau also questioned why the need for online voting up to three weeks beforehand, especially when the Timmins Chamber of Commerce debates are being held in October. Dubeau said not all Ontario communities have three weeks of advanced polling, so why would Timmins do it?

City clerk Steph Palmateer responded to part of the question.

“I can’t speak to what most communities are doing,” Palmateer replied. “All I know is from my perspective, I wanted to ensure as much time as possible for people to have the opportunity to vote.”

He said the three-week online voting period “seemed like a good idea” and he had no input on the timing of candidates’ debates.

“It has been known for a long time that Oct. 1st was going to be the opening of online voting,” he added.

Black called for a consensus on the cancelled of the October meeting. Council agreed.

Voters in Timmins will be able to vote at advanced polling kiosks throughout the city, but voters who show up the Chamber of Commerce building in Schumacher might be faced with an accessibility issue.

That issue was put on the table at the city council meeting this week by Ward 3 councillor Joe Campbell who said he was angry there was no accessibility ramp available at that venue.

Campbell pointed the finger at city clerk Steph Palmateer who set up advanced voting kiosks at several venues including the chamber building.

“He has chosen to put a kiosk in the Chamber of Commerce building in an area that is not accessible for persons with disabilities,” said Campbell.

Campbell could not say how many voters in the city’s smallest ward would require accessibility features to vote at the advanced poll. He said numbers were not important but accessibility is a key issue. Campbell painted a bleak picture of what might happen.

“So you’re expecting seniors in Schumacher to cross five lanes of highway, go and sit at a side door waiting for somebody from the chamber come out and perhaps help them into a building, into what I understand, will be an unmanned computer terminal, and vote?

“To me that is not acceptable,” he told the clerk.

Campbell said he had asked the clerk about putting a computer terminal in the public school board’s administration office located on Croatia Avenue. He said the clerk advised him that couldn’t be done at this time because the voter registration cards have been sent out advising of the chamber venue. The school board office, however, is where regular voting will take place on Election Day, Monday Oct. 22.

“I find that is a terrible treatment of seniors who want to vote. And there may be not be that many but the issue is here they don’t have the same opportunity as everyone else does with these things being in the library and city hall,” Campbell continued.

“I am terribly disappointed about that. I am actually angry about it.”

Coun. Pat Bamford asked if it was not possible for Schumacher voters to go to city hall for advanced polling.

Palmateer responded that was exactly the case.

“Any member of the public can go to the public locations and use the Internet voting kiosks,” said Palmateer.

He said voters could go to city hall or either of the library branches.

“If people require assistance, that is our preferred method that they would come to city hall. Because we have actual staff who are trained and able to provide that proper assistance that is required,” Palmateer explained.

“The idea behind choosing the chamber office as a location is that it is right near a very public gathering place, the McIntyre Arena and the coffee shop. So people are there on a continual basis,” the city clerk said.

Palmateer said he realized the chamber office would present difficulties once it was learned that the accessibility ramp would not be available because another client has moved into the south side of that building. The accessible entrance is no longer available to the public.

“Our preference is people who require assistance should be coming to city hall because that is where we have the staff who are capable to assist them,” he said.

Coun. Rick Dubeau said he too was not happy to learn that advance polling would be held at the chamber at a venue is not accessible for those with physical challenges.

“We had four years to plan for this election. We know what we need. We should have planned for this a long time ago. There are other locations in Schumacher that would allow for that,” he said.

Dubeau then said he wanted to put forth a resolution to change the location for advance polling in Schumacher.

Palmateer responded by advising that voter notification cards with the voting locations are already in the mail.

“From my perspective, even if I wanted to change it, it is too late to do so,” Palmateer said.

He said there were ads put in the newspaper last week also advising of the voting locations.

“Everything is set to go,” he said.

Dubeau persisted, saying things change all the time.

“I can’t stress it enough councillor,” Palmateer replied. “This is a decision of the clerk’s alone. It is not a decision for council. You’ve received an opinion from me; you’ve received an opinion from Municipal Affairs and you’ve received an opinion from our solicitor on this. I can understand council’s frustration, but it is not something council can order by resolution.”

Dubeau said he wanted an answer on where people with accessibility challenges in Schumacher can vote. Palmateer said they could vote online from home, or on election day at the public school board office.

He said Schumacher voters could also travel to Timmins city hall or either branch of the Timmins Public Library for the advanced polling.

Dubeau said he still disagreed on how the clerk could hold out against the will of council. He told Palmateer it was the clerk’s responsibility to find accessible voting and it did not happen.

Advanced polling begins in Timmins for the municipal election from Monday, Oct. 1 through to Oct. 22 – Election Day.

For advanced polling, registered voters can go to the Timmins Public Library on Second Avenue, the C.M. Shields Public Library on Bloor Avenue, during library hours; at city hall, during weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; the Timmins Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays; and the Hoyle Community Centre on Hoyle Road, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Oct. 4, 13 and 18.

The Ontario government has given Timmins the opportunity to collect more than a million dollars a year in new tax revenue that is expected to come from out-of-town visitors.

Council has the power to implement a new municipal accommodation tax, meaning that every hotel room rented in the city will have an additional 4% levy that goes to city hall.

The Timmins city council elected next month will have to determine how to administer the new accommodation tax.

Timmins chief administrative officer David Landers told council the change is the result of a new law brought in by the Ontario Government in 2017 that will allow municipalities to apply a mandatory tax on transient accommodations, hotel rooms, bed and breakfasts and even Airbnb rentals.

The new proposed new bylaw calls for the tax to be put into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.

Many Ontario cities had already been charging a DMF – Destination Marketing Fee, of 3% prior to the Queen’s Park decision to open up the options.

Timmins had tried to implement the tax on several occasions in the past 20 years, but several local hotel companies balked at the idea.

Landers said Tuesday it would be the job of the city’s finance and tourism departments to bring back a detailed report on how to structure and implement the bylaw.

Following that, he said the new city council would have to discuss the idea and decide on how to put the bylaw into effect, if at all.

One of the stipulations of the new program is that 50 % of all the revenue collected goes to support local not-for-profit organizations that are involved in supporting tourism.

Landers said the purpose of bringing the proposal out now was to decide whether the city should move ahead to explore the options for the new tax and make plans to put it into place.

“So tonight we are looking for direction from council,” said Landers.

He added that several other cities across Ontario have already begun moving forward with the tax, including several cities in the North.

“I wholeheartedly support this,” said Coun. Andrew Marks. “The provincial government has opened up a new revenue stream for municipalities and it is one the City of Timmins can use effectively.”

Marks said he would like to see the tax put into place as soon as possible.

Coun. Noella Rinaldo said this is something the city had been working on for years, but wasn’t able to get it going. She said it was an important revenue stream the city must take advantage of.

“Now that we have that option to be able to bring it forward, I think it is important that we do it as soon as we can,” she said.

Coun. Pat Bamford said it was interesting to see this coming up at this time because citizens had told him that the hotel industry should have been contributing to the Stars and Thunder event because they benefit directly.

‘It’s not that the hotels themselves that pay out this money, of course, it’s the travellers who will be coming to town, spending money and benefitting from whatever tourist attractions we provide,” he said.

Coun. Joe Campbell said he liked it.

“I think it’s a great idea. We’re always looking for ways to generate some income,” he said.

Campbell said the old idea of a DMF was difficult because it was voluntary and hotels could opt out of the program.

Campbell questioned how the revenue would be spent and who would get to determine what not-for-profit entities would be eligible, and would the same entities get the money year after year.

Mayor Steve Black said if council supports the bylaw, then the details would be worked out by the new council in collaboration with city staff.

Campbell also questioned whether the extra money would mean extra spending by the tourism office, or would it mean cost savings then the tourism office presents its annual budget to council.

Black said that would depend on the wishes of the new city council.

The report, presented by Landers, but written by Tourism Timmins manager Guy Lamarche, offered some guidelines on how the money could be spent:

• Sport and corporate event bid support and hosting;

• Financial capital investments in large scale community tourism infrastructure;

• Cultural event development and ongoing support; and

• Financial support program to incubate new product development.

Coun. Mike Doody recalled the concept had been brought to council in years past, but the idea did not get full support. Doody said the fees were implemented in other Northern Ontario cities and the benefits were obvious.

“If we work it right. If we pick the right things to promote, it is a win, win situation,” he said.

Coun. Rick Dubeau asked Landers what the rates are being charged in other municipalities.

Landers replied, “4% seems to be what most of our Northern partners and other communities are doing, so that was the number that kind of earmarked, because it seems to be in line with what others are proposing across the province.”

He said some rates are higher and some are lower. Landers said he had seen proposals for 2% and had seen others as high as 5% and 7%.

Dubeau also raised the point that even though the legislation was passed by Queen’s Park, he wondered if there was any indication or “whispers” that the new Doug Ford government would repeal the law.

“I haven’t heard,” said Landers.

Campbell asked if Timmins area hotel owners were aware of the changes and council’s discussions.

Black said he knows that the DMF issue had been discussed at various times by the local hotel industry. Black said based on the information he had been told, most of the hotel keepers in Timmins were not in favour of the new tax.

Campbell wondered if the hotel keepers “would be surprised” to learn the issue was being discussed.

Black couldn’t say for sure, but said the hotel industry is aware of the tax proposal.

“The bylaws will come back so they have a couple of months to get involved in the discussion before the bylaws and implementation plan comes back to council,” said Black.

As discussion wrapped up, Black said he wanted to make it clear this was not a new tax for residents of Timmins, but a tax for visitors who rent hotel rooms.

KIRKLAND LAKE — Any progress the Timmins Rock made while taking three of a possible four points on the weekend was quickly eroded Wednesday night at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.

The Gold Miners scored four power-play goals en route to a 6-1 win over the Rock — their third in three tries this season.

“There power play was obviously clicking very well and our penalty killers did not do their jobs,” said Rock assistant coach James Daschuk.

“They were not putting their bodies on the line. There were very few blocked shots. They weren’t getting in the lanes and they were not winning the little battles.

“We simply got outhustled tonight right from the first puck drop.

“Four power-play goals will win you basically every hockey game you play in.”

Gold Miners sniper Gregory Trudeau-Paquette accounted for the first two of those markers, as his third and fourth goals of the season four minutes apart midway through the opening period staked the home side to a 2-0 advantage.

Captain Quinn Schneidmiller’s second goal of the season, with just under two minutes to play in the opening period extended the Gold Miners’ advantage to 3-0.

The Rock opted to lift starting goalie Nicholas Dicks following the first period, with Tyler Masternak coming on in relief.

That moved slowed the Gold Miners’ roll, but they were able to extend their lead to 4-0 on Joshua Maine’s first goal of the season just over four minutes into the middle frame.

It took the Gold Miners just 23 seconds of the third period to push their advantage to 5-0 when Vinny DeSanctis scored his first goal of the season.

The Rock were finally able to get on the scoreboard eight minutes later when Maxime Charbonneau netted his second goal of the season.

Christian Snyder’s third goal of the season, with just under four minutes remaining in the third period, closed out the scoring and made the final 6-1 in favour of the Gold Miners.

Daschuk agreed the hole the Rock dug for themselves in the first period of the contest was just too large to dig their way out of before the final buzzer.

“They came out flying and we didn’t have a terrible first period, but we took a bad penalty and they scored a power-play goal,” he said.

“We just didn’t have any jump or an answer to that.”

Wednesday night’s setback marks the third time the Rock have struggled against the Gold Miners, with two of those contests played at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex.

“Honestly, they outworked us 100%,” Daschuk said.

“I don’t think they played that much better than us, but they had the puck on their sticks it seemed like the whole game.

“We were kind of flat and we didn’t want to compete. The guys weren’t laying their bodies on the line for one another.

“It’s not a team game for us right now. There is a lot of individual play and guys just kind of want to do their own thing.

“We played against a team that is flying right now and riding high. They really are playing as a team, those guys.”

The Rock coaching staff thought things were turning around following back-to-back losses to the Gold Miners when they edged the Rayside-Balfour Canadians 4-3 in a shootout and then dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Powassan Voodoos on the weekend.

“We came off a huge weekend and you would think everything was going to go well,” Daschuk said.

“We had a good practice Tuesday night, but as soon as we entered the doors of that building (Joe Mavrinac Community Complex), we turned up flat and we put on our individual helmets.”

There weren’t many Rock players who impressed their coaching staff during Wednesday night’s contest.

“Segsy (Derek Seguin) and Roby (Riley Robitaille) every day are our best players,” Daschuk said.

“The other guys aren’t generating any offence right now. If those two guys aren’t scoring right now, we don’t seem to put up many goals.

With the victory, the Gold Miners (5-1-0-0) pulled to within five points of the Voodoos (7-0-1-0) atop the NOJHL’s East Division standings.

Meanwhile, the Rock (2-3-1-0) continue to hold down fourth place in the division, one point behind the Hearst Lumberjacks (3-3-0-0) and one point ahead of the Cochrane Crunch (2-4-0-0).

Gregory Brassard stopped 29 of the 30 shots the visitors fired his way to pick up the victory for the Gold Miners — his third against the Rock this season.

Dicks, who stopped nine of the 12 shorts he faced was tagged with the loss for the Rock. Masternak blocked 22 of the 25 shots directed his way in relief.

NOJHL NOTES — The three stars of the game were Trudeau-Paquette, DeSanctis and Brassard … The Rock went 0-4 on the power play, while the Gold Miners were 4-7 with the man advantage … The Rock did not dress defenceman Ian Elkins (healthy scratch), forward Riley Brousseau (healthy scratch), forward Mahingan Decontie (healthy scratch), forward Austin Holmes (healthy scratch) and forward Stewart Parnell (upper-body injury) … Official attendance at the Joe Mavrinac Community Complex was 470 … The Rock will travel to Cochrane for a game against the Crunch at the Tim Horton Event Centre Friday night and they return home to host the French River Rapids at the McIntyre Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m.

A Hamilton man is facing multiple drug and weapons charges following a recent arrest reported by the Timmins Police Service Thursday.

The Timmins Police Service – Drug Enforcement Section is in the midst of completing their investigation into alleged drug trafficking activity involving a Hamilton man, police stated in a release.

Their investigation is ongoing but has led to the arrest of one suspect and the seizure of approximately $37,000 in suspected heroin, a quantity of suspected cocaine, a .25 caliber handgun, $3,000 in cash, and other drug trafficking paraphernalia.

The male suspect was taken into custody during the early morning hours of Sept. 13th by investigators with the Timmins Police Service – Drug Enforcement Section.

Malcom Davis, 19, of Hamilton, has been arrested and charged with:

• Two counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking contrary to the Controlled Drug and Substances Act;

• Two counts of Possession of a Weapon – Contrary to Prohibition Order contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada;

• Two counts of Careless Storage of a Firearm contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada;

• Possession of Property Obtained by Crime – under $5,000 contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada;

• Possession of a Prohibited Weapon contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada;

• Knowledge of a Prohibited Weapon contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada;

• Possession of a Loaded Prohibited Weapon contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada;

• Possession of a Weapon with a tampered Serial Number contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada; and

• Fail to Comply with Sentence Order contrary to the Criminal Code of Canada.

The accused remains in custody with a court appearance slated for Oct. 5th at 2 p.m. by video remand at Provincial Court in Timmins. .

This arrest marks the culmination of a joint forces project with the Hamilton Police.

“In order to allow for investigative measures to be undertaken by the Hamilton Police Service, the release of information being made public was delayed for this purpose,” Timmins Police explained in the release.

The $1.6-million loss from hosting Stars and Thunder will have zero impact on municipal taxes, city council was told this week.

During a discussion about the cost of the festival, Timmins Mayor Steve Black asked city finance director Natalie Moore how the $1.6-million loss will affect the city’s year-end financial position.

“Is your forecast right now to be on budget, have a deficit or have a surplus?” Black asked.

Moore replied: “At this point in time we are forecasting to break-even this year. Therefore no deficit. No surplus.  There’s been savings in other departments that will cover the deficit of Stars and Thunder.”

Black said if the city stays on track with Moore’s forecast, it means the city will not be pulling funds out of the tax stabilization reserve to cover the festival loss.

Moore said yes.

Black asked, “If there was no festival in the last two years, would either of the 2017 or 2018 tax bills that any resident received changed, or would it have been the exact same?”

Moore replied, “It would have been the exact same,” Moore replied.

Black said a lot of people have blamed the festival for tax increases, but he said that is not the case because the city absorbed the cost and balanced the budgets.

Coun. Joe Campbell was incredulous.

“Let’s be very clear. The loss last year and the loss this year is money that we don’t have going forward,” said Campbell. “It’s a basic classic case of deficit financing.

“I am not going to sit here and see you put a spin that this doesn’t matter just because the 2018 tax bills are not going to be increased. That’s money that we don’t have.”

The discussion about the financial impact from Stars and Thunder was triggered by a final financial report that was presented at council on Tuesday.

As David Landers, chief administrative officer, presented details of the final monthly update, he advised council that the overall deficit for the 2018 festival was listed as $1,650,215.

First to comment on Lander’s report was city councillor Rick Dubeau who admitted the feedback he got from the public was the event was well organized and that many city residents enjoyed themselves.

“However, for all the talk of the great experience and quality of life in Timmins, the festival cannot be considered a success, having lost $1.6 million,” said Dubeau.

He turned to Mayor Black and asked.

“Can you tell us why your plan failed?”

Black said he wanted to clarify matters on the cost. He called on Moore, the city finance director to advise on the actual budget costs.

“Natalie the gross budget for this year’s festival was not any more than last year’s budget was it?” Black asked.

“No,” said Moore. “The gross revenue and expenses were the same,” she added.

“I don’t understand,” Coun. Dubeau interjected.

Moore continued.

“The expenses in 2017 were in the range of $5.4 million and the budget for this year expenses is $5.6 million,” she explained.

Dubeau pressed on towards Black.

“I asked the question why you think your planned failed. You have offered one point, so I’d like you to elaborate on how we lost $1.6 million based on your plan. Now that you have had a chance to evaluate that plan, what would you do differently?” Dubeau asked.

Black said it was clear the loss the city incurred in the 2018 festival is not something that anyone intends to repeat. He said the decision to push ahead with an eight-day festival for 2018, despite the loss at the eight-day festival in 2017, was not the best decision.

“I accept my position in the last year when we were debating this of continuing the eight days is not likely in the best interests going forward,” said Black.

“If there is a council sitting around this table that wants to continue with this, there are several things I think council should consider.”

He said the city could consider outright purchases of festival infrastructure such as the performance stage. He said that idea was proposed in one version of the Hollinger Park re-design. He said the cost of renting a stage was several hundred thousand dollars.

Black said the new city council might decide to use some of the municipal accommodation tax revenue to pay for a new stage.

He also conceded the festival could be reduced to four days with a significant reduction in the entertainment budget. In both 2017 and 2018, the cost of hiring performers was more than $1.9 million.

Black also mentioned that in talks with people in the entertainment industry he learned that most festivals in Canada lose money in the first couple of years they exist. Black said he was told that once the organizers figure out their maximum potential, they can adjust their festival plan.

“So I think a future council, if they want to host this event again, needs to look at what the revenue was this year and adjust that entertainment budget,” said the mayor.

“I think that is very possible when you look at what it means to the community. In the report, you’ve seen people from over 300 communities come to this event, over 17 states and nine provinces.”

He said a third-party assessment rated the economic spinoff for the 2017 event was more than $10 million. Black said there were a lot of positives for the city in the sense that it brought together more than 10,000 French and English residents who celebrated.

Coun. Campbell wasn’t buying the arguments at all. He said he only supported going for a second Stars and Thunder event if it had a proper business plan. Campbell said it did not happen in either the first or second year.

“And that’s where we failed miserably as a council,” said Campbell.

He added that the economic benefits of the first year were such that it was “worth giving it another chance with a proper business plan.”

He said council did not do that.

“We have to bear that right now. We have to run on that record.”

Campbell also criticized the idea of covering deficit loss from the city’s tax stabilization fund, saying the fund could be depleted easily by the cost of heavy snowstorms in November or December.

Campbell said if the city wants to continue with an annual music event, the city should take a serious look at the Rock On The River (ROTR) event.

Black responded saying Stars and Thunder attracted more than 10,000 music fans, while ROTR topped out at 2,000 fans.

Black said the smaller event does not have the fan base to attract big-name music performers. He said no local or regional event came close to the size and scale of Stars and Thunder in terms of attracting the same level of high-profile performers or the number of ticket-buying fans.

A Timmins councillor suggested something was amiss with the VIP passes handed out during Stars and Thunder 2018.

Coun. Joe Campbell said the chair of the fireworks committee received 29 VIP passes to Stars and Thunder.  Campbell held up a sheet of paper with several handwritten names on it.

Campbell said the passes requested for the fireworks crew was valued at more than $13,000.

“I can identify six of Mr. Whysall’s employees on here and five of the international guests that are on here,” said Campbell.

David Whysall is the owner of the fireworks company that was contracted by the city to set up the fireworks shows.

Campbell said beyond the handful of workers for Whysall and the international guests, he wanted David Landers, the city’s chief administrative officer, to explain the discrepancy.

“First of all, none of these people on this list would be qualified to even load fireworks because you have to have a special licence,” said Campbell. “They’re igniters. They’re explosives. So what did they bring to this to get a VIP pass? Twenty-nine of them.”

Before Landers could answer, Campbell kept talking.

“A few weeks back we received a letter from Mr. Whysall to give the chair of the fireworks, a former councillor, to pay him $14,000,” Campbell said.

“Technically, what we did was change the value of the David Whysall’s contract. By him saying to pay the chair or former councillor $14,000, we should have done that properly. We should have issued an addendum to David Whysall’s contract reducing the value by $14,000 and issued an order to the former councillor, to pay him $14,000.

“This $14,000 was to pay meals for the 29 people. Well do the math. That’s $70 dollars a day, what do we feed these people?” he asked.

Landers at that point replied to Campbell’s questions.

“In response to the question regarding passes, as part of the security of entering, coming and going through the festival grounds, I requested a list of the employees of the labour that was part of the fireworks crew, so they could have access to the park which was part of their contract,” said Landers.

“That was the list that was provided with me, which I have shared with you.”

Campbell then asked if Landers could confirm the number of workers on Whysall’s crew.

Mayor Steve Black interjected to explain that Whysall’s company had six technical people on the crew along with several general labourers, hired to do less technical functions.

There’s a lot more hands-on people that just do the loading and connecting as well that are part of that group,” said Black.

Campbell did not reveal the names on the list but it was made clear the chair of the fireworks committee was former city councillor John Curley.

“I don’t want to get into the names on this list. That’s not my intent here to embarrass anybody on that. There are people on this list, that if I was to throw out names, it is very difficult to rationalize what role they would have in the fireworks. So we’ll just leave it at that,” said Campbell.

Coun. Rick Dubeau also asked Landers to comment on the list of 29 names.

“I have seen the list. There’s no secret Mr. Curley was the chair of the fireworks committee. There’s a lot of names on there that to me raise some red flags,” Dubeau said.

“Has this been looked into?  Can you provide more information on that please?”

Landers said it was not looked into at the time of the festival. He said there were other priorities.

“We needed to make sure we had security running appropriately,” Landers said and explained that when the fireworks crew came off the berm to check out the fireworks show, they needed proper access to the festival grounds, which was spelled out in the contract agreement.

“I wasn’t on the fireworks site. I didn’t track the number of labourers or technicians,” said Landers.

Dubeau said he wanted more information.

“I would suggest we should get more information on this; that Mr. Curley be contacted to explain why 29 people were needed to run the fireworks,” Dubeau said.

“To me it raises red flags. I’d like to have an explanation. There’s a few Curleys on that list, quite simply. And yeah, I’d like to have an explanation for everybody that’s on that list and obviously the rest of council should have this list too,” he said.

There was no further discussion on the issue.

Smooth Rock Falls is the only community in Cochrane District that doesn’t have a mayoral race this upcoming municipal election.

The current mayor, Michel Arseneault, had no challengers.

His make-up of his council still has to be determined, however, as there are five candidates vying for four seats.

The councillor candidates are Daniel Alie, Marc Blais, Joanne Landry, Sue Perras and Patrick Roberts.

Election Day for all municipalities is Oct. 22, though Smooth Rock Falls has an advance poll on Oct. 13 from noon to 5 p.m. at the hospital in town.

Iroquois Falls

Of the six towns in Cochrane District with a municipal council, the most contested race is in Iroquois Falls which — like the City of Timmins — has five candidates running for the top seat.

The five mayoral candidates, in alphabetical order, are Pat Britton, Jim Brown, Roger Hardy, Betty Lou Purdon and Michael Shea.

Shea is the current mayor.

There are seven candidates in Iroquois Falls running for the six available councillor seats.

Those candidates are Terry Lee Boucher, Dave Cockburn, Darcy Cybolsky, Tory Delaurier, Gilbert Fournier, Colin Kennedy and Jeff Madden.

Residents in Iroquois Falls who are still mulling over who they want to vote for will have the opportunity to attend a Meet The Candidates Night at the Iroquois Falls Community Centre on Thursday, Oct. 4. Each of the mayoral and councillor candidates will have the opportunity to make a brief presentation. Afterwards there will be questions from the floor.

The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m.

There will be an advance polls in Iroquois Falls on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at the community centre from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Kapuskasing

In Kapuskasing where long-time mayor Alan Spacek has decided not to seek re-election, four candidates have stepped up to replace him.

The four mayoral candidates are Vic Fournel, Gilbert Peters, David Plourde and Ron St. Aubin.

There is also a full slate of 15 candidates seeking to fill the six seats as town councillor.

Those candidates are Julien Boucher, Martin Credger, Ted Czuba, Bog Daggett, Martin Dinnissen, Joey Fortier, Rick Lafleur, Sebastien Lessard, Ken Munnoch, Bruce Newton, Jodi Robinson, Guylaine Scherer, Frank Siebert, Gilles Theberge and Marcel Valliere.

Advance polls will be held Wednesday, Oct. 10 and 17 at the Civic Centre Auditorium, 4 to 8 p.m. both days.

Cochrane

In Cochrane, there are three candidates running for mayor.

Peter Politis, the current mayor, is being challenged by Denis Clement and Lawrence Martin.

Cochrane residents have a broad selection of councillor candidates to choose from as there are 18 people running for six seats.

The councillor candidates are Dan Bélisle, Stephanie Bernier, Claude Bourassa, Dean Breathat, Reynald Brisson, Todd Calaiezzi, Michael Dumoulin, Shea Henderson, Rodney Hoogenhoud, Robert Hutchinson, Jamie Mageau, Susan Daisy Nelson, Desmond O’Connor, Darryl Owens, Marck Recoskie, Frank Sisco, Jane Skidmore-Fox and Scott Ulvstal.

The Cochrane Board of Trade is hosting a Meet The Candidates event in the community hall within the Tim Horton Events Centre Wednesday, Oct. 17 beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Advance polls in Cochrane will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at the community hall from 4 to 8 p.m. and on Saturday, Oct. 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Hearst

In the Town of Hearst, long-time mayor Roger Sigouin is being challenged for his seat by one other candidate, Yval Legacé.

For the councillor seats, there are nine candidates seeking to fill six positions.

The nine candidates are Gaëtan Baillargeon, Claude Brochu, Joël Lauzon, Daniel Lemaire, Conrad Morin, Robert Proulx, Marc Ringuette, Josée Vachon and Raymond Vermette.

There are two days for advance voting in Hearst: Wednesday, Oct. 3 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Advance polls are being held at the Hearst Town Hall.

Black River-Matheson

In Black River-Matheson, there are two contenders to replace the current mayor Garry Edwards, who is not seeking re-election.

The two mayoral candidates are Douglas Bender and Gilles Laderoute.

Black River-Matheson has a ward system and there are acclamations for the councillor seats in half of them.

Daniel DeMarchi, Cleo Charlebois and Kyla Riach have been acclaimed in wards 4, 5 and 6 respectively

The rest of the wards each have two-person races.

In Ward 1, the candidates are Willie Dubien and Laurier Duciaume.

In Ward 2, the candidates are Jenny Gibson and Eleanor Hough.

And in Ward 3, the candidates are J.A. Barber and Carrie Cumming.

An advance polls for the election in Black River-Matheson is taking place Thursday, Oct. 4 at the Vern Miller Memorial Community Centre from 1 to 4:30 p.m.