Latest news with #SallyHagman
CBC
13-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Lasers, kites and trained dogs: how cities and towns in northeastern Ontario are dealing with problem geese
Social Sharing It's a perennial problem: trying to keep geese away from parks, paths, docks, boardwalks and other public places in northeastern Ontario. This spring, the Town of Blind River has installed kites shaped like hawks, owls and ospreys, to try to scare them away. "So we've done it as an experiment at our marina and along our town walk by by the river and in both places the geese have left," Mayor Sally Hagman said. "It's a great story." Hagman said staff were asked to come with ideas on how to keep geese, and their droppings, off of the town's waterfront. "I was very surprised but pleasantly surprised because they don't hurt the environment and you can buy two kites for under $100 so it's not breaking the bank," she said. "We have some beautiful parks and beaches and when the geese are there, they have excrement and it's not very pleasant for people to be walking around." Hagman said so far, reaction has been positive. "They love it, they really do," she said. "The children are fascinated by the kites and people are interested as to why the kites were there." She said if they continue to see sucess, additional kites will be added throughout Blind River. "The geese haven't been telling me what they like and what they don't like, so I guess time will tell whether or not these kites are going to be continuing to be effective or not," Hagman said. 'All dealing with the same problems' In Greater Sudbury, the city has had a goose management program in place for more than a decade. Contractors are hired with trained dogs to scare away the geese. Loud bangers and lasers are also used to scare geese away from popular beaches and sports fields. "It's a lot more effective than not having a program," said James St. John, superintendent of horticulture. "The geese when they graze, it's the mess that they leave that we usually receive a lot of complaints. At a beach, you're in your bare feet so it's an unpleasant experience." St. John said the goose population has been growing in the last 50 years and said the program does help to manage them, but he'd like to see the provincial or federal government step in to assist. "I think it would definitely help because I know we're not the only municipality dealing with the issue. I know golf courses, farmers — we're all dealing with the same problems," he said. As for using kites, St. John said he's not sure that's a long-term option. "Unfortunately, without the human intervention, the geese kind of get used to those things and they're not deterred by it after awhile," he said. For many years, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan welcomed hunters into municipal parks to shoot geese. The program ran its course when the geese started staying away and the hunters stopped applying for permits.
CTV News
09-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Owl, hawk kites help Northern Ont. town tackle geese poop problem
Blind River is using owl and hawk kites to scare geese away from its waterfront. Mayor Sally Hagman says the chemical-free method seems to be working, keeping parks and beaches cleaner. If successful, the kites may be used in other areas.
CBC
08-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Northeastern Ontario municipalities vow not to use strong mayor powers given by province
Social Sharing Strong mayor powers were not an item on the agenda of the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities conference this week, but it definitely came up in between sessions, according to Blind River Mayor Sally Hagman. "It comes up over the coffee table or during the evening meal," she said. "All of us are in a similar position. Thanks to the province for offering this, but we're good." On May 1, the province expanded the "strong mayor" powers to 169 municipalities, about 20 of them in the northeast. The Ford government says the expanded authority is meant to help deliver on provincial priorities, such as building more homes, transit and infrastructure. Strong mayors can unilaterally fire chief administrative officers and department heads, re-organize departments, propose municipal budgets and veto amendments and bylaws, among other things. But several northeastern municipalities are joining the list of Ontario cities and towns rejecting the policy, with some of them passing motions asking to be removed from the mayoral powers list altogether. Concerns over democracy, role of local council "You are as strong as your council and for that reason I won't be exercising my strong mayor powers," said Hagman. "A democratic vote of seven people appears to work." She says it's the kind of authority that could sow division within the council chambers and that councillors "would walk, depending on the circumstances." The head of council in Cobalt also worries about what this could mean for the democratic process. "It's supposed to be one vote around the table for everybody," said Mayor Angela Adshead. "You give one person the power to veto anything, that's going to discourage people from running for council." Adshead is also concerned with potential lawsuits, having had a career in human resources. "It's very easy to create a wrongful dismissal suit, which can cost a lot of money," she said. "The ratepayers are ultimately going to pay the price for that." The strong mayor powers do include an immunity clause, but Adshead isn't convinced that it will be enough to keep cases out of the courtroom. One mayor voices support for policy Cochrane Mayor Peter Politis says he understands the concerns being expressed by his peers, but he could see how the expanded authority could come in handy to break gridlocks at the council table. "I prefer to look at it from the perspective of what happens when it's in the right hands, as opposed to what happens if it's in the wrong hands," he said. "Any mayor would have to be very, very cautious on how they exercise this kind of authority." Politis says strong mayor powers could help expedite projects, citing the recent organizational restructuring at the town. He says if he had this expanded authority then, the process would've taken a month instead of nine. "There was a lot of unnecessary compromise," he said. Still, Politis says he doesn't see any circumstances that would warrant him using strong mayor powers in the near future. Northern mayors who obtained 'strong' powers in 2023 have yet to use them North Bay Mayor Peter Chirico says that, technically, he used his strong mayor power to delegate the authority back to the city's chief administrative officer. "Sometimes you have to do the exact opposite of what the legislation says within the legislation to make sure everybody is covered off," he said with a laugh. He says there hasn't been a single time in the past two years where he's thought about using strong mayor powers. "We have a tremendous council that looks to make things happen in our city, and strong mayor powers could override what they're all trying to do," he said. "I don't want to make a decision of one… I want a decision of all eleven of us."
