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CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Building the ultimate fingerboard track
Seven-year-old Cashton Mallick of Sudbury builds and rides a fingerboard track at the downtown library. He's one of the people learning the art of mini-skateboarding at this event.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
City of Sudbury says fire response times improved after Beaver Lake hall closed, residents push back
It's been just over a year since the fire hall in the Beaver Lake area of Greater Sudbury was shut down and all part-time firefighters, often called "volunteers," were asked to report either from home using their personal vehicles or to the Whitefish station. The city says since then, the time it takes firefighters to get to a fire in the area has actually improved, but some members on the Beaver Lake Fire Services Committee still aren't convinced and argue the closing of the fire hall is putting their community at risk. In the past year, the average time it takes to get to a fire in Beaver Lake is 16 minutes and 35 seconds, a 55 second improvement over the 2019-2024 average of 17 minutes and 30 seconds, according to the City of Greater Sudbury. Brenda Salo, a member of the Beaver Lake committee, called the new response times "a lie," saying based on the committee's observations the response time is closer to 25 minutes. She said when car crashes close Highway 17, which runs right through Beaver Lake, the road closure would keep fire trucks from Lively from getting to an emergency in the western end of Greater Sudbury. "I know that you can't totally run a business on what ifs, but we are so scarcely staffed with volunteer firefighters and the appropriate location of the trucks," Salo said. "We are at risk. Lives are at risk. Homes are at risk. Environments are at risk because of the very, very poor operation of the City of Greater Sudbury Fire Service. We are considering ourselves abandoned, excommunicated and it's got no better." City says new system is working Jesse Oshell, Greater Sudbury's deputy fire chief, says response times measure the duration required for the first fire truck to reach an emergency. Oshell explained when an emergency is called in, the 911 centre dispatches the closest station as well as a fire truck staffed with full-time firefighters. "Whitefish is going to be dispatched out into Beaver Lake along with Waters and Lively. And then a full time fire truck from Long Lake is also going to be sent to a confirmed fire as well," he said. Oshell added that the dispatching process has been in place for a number of years prior to the consolidation of volunteer fire halls in the outlying area. "I would say that our consolidation is showcasing exactly what we had said in our reports," he said. Brian Weight, chief steward for the Christian Labour Association of Canada Sudbury Local 920, which represents volunteer firefighters in the city, said the new response times were "certainly not what I would have expected." "I would have personally thought that it would have been a longer response time, but I'm happy to hear that it's not," he said. "It's not ideal to lose a station in a community, but it's good to know that the rest of the volunteers in that district are picking up the slack." But Salo argues it's a completely different story. "Our own investigation has found out that by the time our guys get the call and get to respond, either the highways closed and they can't get through or the trucks already left the station," she said. A controversial history The debate to consolidate fire stations in Greater Sudbury's outlying areas has been highly contentious and dates back to 2017. The closing of fire halls in rural and suburban areas was part of a larger fire service optimization plan that proved so controversial, city council refused to even receive the report. Then in 2023, Greater Sudbury city council voted to merge Copper Cliff with Lively, the station in Falconbridge with Garson, and the fire brigades in Val Caron and Hanmer were consolidated into Val Therese. The communities of Skead and Beaver Lake strongly opposed the shutting down of their fire halls and council voted to keep those two stations open for one year if they were successful in recruiting enough volunteer firefighters. Skead hit its target, but Beaver Lake wasn't able to sign up enough firefighters keep its doors open. "We fought together, side by side, and they won and we lost. Within 24 hours, our fire station was locked out, our truck was removed, already gone, somewhere given to somebody else and we stopped existing," Salo said. Fire departments across Canada are struggling to train and keep new volunteers, and in Greater Sudbury, that's been a problem for years, with most fire halls in the outlying areas staffed by only a handful of firefighters, including just three in Beaver Lake in 2023. The Whitefish fire station had been the primary response to Beaver Lake for a while, Oshell said so the merger was for more for efficiency. Although the improved response times are a good sign, Weight said the morale for part-time firefighters in Greater Sudbury is at an all-time low since the consolidation because they're not necessarily responding to calls in their own communities. "Copper Cliff firefighters now have to respond to Lively and there the volunteers no longer respond to Copper Cliff at all. So it's kind of like they're serving their community, but they're not allowed to respond there," he said as an example. Oshell believes the controversy stemmed from misconceptions about the plan. "I live in a rural part of our community as well and protected by a volunteer fire station. Certainly I know that you get very attached and accustomed to the fire station being there and you have a perception that that is the station that is going to be coming to my residence or to my emergency first or fastest," he said. He explained that in the case of volunteer firefighters it comes down to travel time and availability since they don't work full-time for the city. "They have to travel from where they are to the fire station and then from the fire station to the emergency. So inherently there's going to be some time that it takes to accomplish those things," Oshell said. He said while the debate over fire protection in the outlying areas has been going for years, he feels the drop in response times for Beaver Lake is a good sign. "It was a hot topic at the time, most definitely, but we take absolutely the utmost care and consideration for our residents. We certainly want to strive to provide an excellent fire service to our community," Oshell said.
CBC
an hour ago
- CBC
Long-standing Africville activist says he will fight latest eviction notice
Standing in front of his RV on the grounds of Africville Park in Halifax, Eddie Carvery vowed that after more than 50 years of protest, he's not going anywhere in the face of yet another eviction order. The 79-year-old activist was born in Africville and has maintained a camp on the lands of the former Black community for decades, resisting multiple attempts from the municipality to end his crusade. Carvery has recently been asked to remove his protest trailer once again, but this time by the Africville Heritage Trust Society. The trust, which owns the piece of land where the trailer sits, runs the nearby Africville Museum in a replica of the community's former church on the shore of the Bedford Basin. While he says he is struggling with his health and nearing the end of his life, Carvery said he's not leaving until he achieves his goal of reparations for the descendants of the people of Africville. "I wanna give it up. I wanna sleep nice, like normal people. I'm tired, but until they find someone else to champion our cause to fight for Africville, I've got no choice," Carvery said in a recent interview. "I'm not going nowhere." Originally a tight-knit Black community founded in 1848, Africville was bulldozed by the former City of Halifax in the 1960s to make room for the MacKay Bridge. In a statement on July 7, the trust said it had asked Carvery to remove his trailer from the property. Carvery was given a deadline of July 13, but he has not moved. "While we recognize the emotional and historical importance of these efforts, we also have a responsibility to ensure the safety of all visitors to the site," wrote Carrie Hill, trust chair. Hill said the trust was concerned that "if something were to happen" in or around Carvery's trailer, the trust could be held liable. The society declined CBC's request for an interview. Carvery said he stays at the trailer as often as he can, but because of his declining health he does have an apartment. Africville is now a National Historic Site. In 2010, former Africville residents and their descendants received an apology and $3 million from the city along with one hectare of land and a commitment to rebuild the Seaview United Baptist Church on the site. The trust was set up as part of the settlement to keep "the memory and spirit of the community of Africville alive" through education and dialogue, a Halifax staff report said. But there was no offer of individual compensation, which Carvery had demanded along with a public inquiry. He rejected the settlement and refused to leave the property. In 2024, Halifax sold the piece of land where Carvery's trailer sits to the trust for $1. The society had asked for the parcel to expand the parking lot beside the museum to accommodate more tourist buses. The trust has said it hopes to eventually build a marina off the property. On Monday, nearly 50 people gathered around Carvery's trailer to protest the eviction. Eddy Carvery III said he was grateful to see the support for his grandfather, whose fight has been "symbolic" and important to so many Africville descendants. "With this new news, I can see the heartbreak in him," Eddy said Monday about the trust's eviction notice. "How did we get here? How as a society, how as a city, are we letting this happen to a man that's dedicated his life, peacefully, for something that everybody knows was wrong?" Eddy said he plans to continue his grandfather's fight, and wants to see individual compensation for Africville descendants, homes returned to the land, a community centre, and one day a long-term care home. "Things for us to develop and flourish, and contribute to society the way we always wanted to," he said. The municipality also issued Carvery a $25 ticket on July 14 for parking on private property following a request from the Africville Museum. But Mark Gough, spokesperson for the municipality, said that the ticket was cancelled on Monday morning "and efforts are underway" to inform Carvery. Gough said after senior staff with traffic and parking management examined the ticket, they realized Carvery's trailer did not have a licence plate, valid vehicle identification number or motor vehicle inspection sticker, leaving the ticket "invalid."
