Thursday Nov 27th

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is VOCM Open Line Call seven oh nine two
seven three fifty two eleven or one triple eight five
ninety eight six two six of using opinions of this programmer,
not necessarily those up this station. The biggest conversation in
Newfoundland and Labradors starts now here's VOCM open Line host

(00:22):
Paddy Daily.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Well, all right, Linda swayin in for Paddy Daily this morning.
A bit bleary eyed, I must say, after spending a
day Christmas shopping yesterday, I picked a good day for it,
not a lot, you know, a huge number of people
on the go. I got on the go early and uh,
you know, knocked a few things off the old list,

(00:45):
But not feeling over to Christmasy just yet, not me anyway.
Uh you know. I suppose maybe now the weekend I'll
find some time to put the tree up in that
sort of thing, But not kind of feeling it just yet.
You know when I will feel it, Dave, when those
first snowflakes start flying. And I know the snowflakes have
been flying in numerous areas of the province, but here

(01:08):
in the Saint John's area has been a bit slow
thus far. And I know there's people out there going no,
she said snow. No, don't say that, because nobody wants
to see snow. But you know what, we live in
a northern climate and guess what. The lack of snow
that we had last year was arguably one of the

(01:28):
direct reasons why we suffered so much in the way
of drought this past summer. We had a couple of
things coming together at the same time. I understand that,
but the fact that we didn't have a whole lot
of snowpack to keep things moist didn't help things at all.
And I'll get into that now in a moment. Just

(01:50):
trying to get my bearings here this morning, So don't
mind me. I always give priority, of course to our callers.
So anything that I raise can choose to ignore or
you can choose to explore. It's all up to you.
That's why we call it open line. So anything that's
on your mind, pick up the phone, down the numbers,

(02:12):
give us a call. Premier Tony wakem is in Ottawa
has been an Oudawa the last couple of days, meeting
with the Prime Minister to discuss a number of projects
of importance to the province. And you know that certain
things will, no doubt have come to the fore there
the MoU for instance, and Beata Nord. But according to
Prime Minister Mark Kearney, among the items on the agenda

(02:35):
were what he calls opportunities to restructure in a positive way,
as he puts it, the forest products sector, and that
peaked my interest. I wanted to hear more about that.
Last summer, Krueger, of course, laid out a seven hundred
million dollar plan to revitalize and secure Cornerbrook Pulping Paper

(02:56):
to create what it calls a highly innovative and upgrades
to manufacturing complex. They want to modernize the mill Ad
pulp storage facility, upgrade site infrastructure. We haven't heard anything
substantial on that since that time. Sorry about that, do.

(03:21):
Mark Kearney's comments suggests that the federal government is willing
to help out with that. We're hoping to hear from
perhaps the Premier himself or the MHA for the region,
mister Jim Parsons about that and see exactly what that
little tidbit might mean. In the meantime, Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper,

(03:43):
of course, had halt process production due to extremely low
water levels at the hydro facility in Deer Lake. After
what was an alarmingly dry summer. We've had a pretty
consistent rainfall and some snowfall in some areas, of course,
across the island since Nova member came in, and by
all accounts, water levels on massive bodies of water like

(04:04):
Grand Lake and Beothic Lake are rising, so it will
be interesting to see if that's starting to make a
difference now. People in the region tell me that you
know a Grand Lake, for instance, which feeds into that
whole Humber system. Once water levels rise there, then they'll
open the floodgates at Deer Lake. Pulp and paper are

(04:30):
at the hydro facility there, sorry, and then the water
levels will come down again. So there's a balance that
has to be had there. So that will be interesting
to see what happens. And I'd like to get an
update on that Newfoundland Laborator hydro course had to turn
to alternate power sources earlier this year due to the

(04:51):
drought we had this spring, in summer and early fall,
and I'm wondering if things are now starting to return
to normal. You may recall, oh my gosh, how long
ago was it, Dave two thousand. It was under the
Danny Williams administration. Anyway, very long time ago where this

(05:11):
whole the argument for muskrat falls started to be made,
that we had to move off of one of the highest,
the biggest polluters in the country, and that was the
Holy Regenerating Plant. Now a lot of changes have been
made since that time, but it is interesting that lo

(05:32):
these many years later, twenty twenty five years later, we're
still having to rely on the Holy Regenerating Plant to
get us by and hydro is great when the water
is there. So this is where concerns about changes in
climate and some of these ups and downs and very

(05:56):
dramatic changes in weather are going to have an impact.
If you have any thoughts on that, you're certainly welcome
to give us a call.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Well.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Very sad news, of course, on the passing of Colleen Jones.
My goodness, what a bubbly and engaging personality she had.
On top of being one of the country's very best curlers.
A lot of people looked up to Colleen Jones and
what she was able to achieve in the curling community
and really helping to solidify curling as one of Canada's

(06:29):
major sports, and Canada is of course diminished by her loss.
Very sad. Indeed, if you want to share any thoughts
on that, you're certainly welcome to give us a call.
A return to the Winter Olympics. Another said turn in curling,
returned to the Winter Olympics in Italy, was not to
be for the Guju rink this week. A heartbreaking loss

(06:51):
for Team Guju at the Olympic qualifiers in Halifax. Gouja
loss to Brad Jacobs sixty three. So the triumphant return
I suppose to Italy for another Olympic Games not in
the cards. But my goodness, remember when the Gouji rink
was lined up to win gold and churin when they

(07:13):
were playing the Gold Metal Game, and there was there
were people who got off work early. I remember even
here we got off work early to take in the game.
It was declared, what was it, an official holiday here
in Newfoundland and Labrador under the premiere at the time
Danny Williams. Schools closed, businesses, sent people home early. That

(07:39):
was a different time, and I remember it so well.
A friend of mine was in labor at the time
and she I remember she telling me that here she
was in the thick of it and they had the
game on somewhere in the Enviros, and all she could

(08:01):
hear while she was bringing new life into the world
was hurry, hurry, heart. So that's a story that will
always stay with me through that period. Education Minister Paul
Dinn met with Memorial University mere minutes after being sworn
in to the position of Education Minister as his and

(08:25):
finally MHA this week. Now the Canadian Federation of Students
is hoping to bend his ear and Memorial University of
course going through an extremely transitional time, more so now
arguably than ever before in its history, as it moves
towards greater autonomy and has to make some pretty serious decisions.

(08:50):
And Memorial University, historically, I think, was among one of
the highest subsceized universities in the province. That changed, of course,
in recent years, and now the university is feeling the pinch.

(09:12):
It is an interesting time and for many people in
Newfoundland and Labrador who enjoyed those heady days when tuition
for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians was free and benefited greatly. It
helped to develop this province in dramatic ways, and then

(09:35):
of course, with tuition freezes that have been part of
the norm forever so long. Now tuition rates are increasing
and it's causing problems, of course for a lot of people,
and especially young people these days. I know it's hard
to wrap your head around what young people these days

(09:57):
are going through, especially if you grew up at a
differ for time, but it is the pressures, the economic
pressures that they're facing are unlike anything that most young
people previous to this had been facing. So I'd like
to hear what anybody has to say about that. Enough

(10:17):
of me for the time being, we're going to open
up the lines, give you an opportunity to give us
a call if there's anything on your mind. I'd like
to hear what you have to say. Here are the
numbers to call, and we're back on VOCM open line.
Linda Swayne sitting in for Patty Daily, who is off today.
We're going to start the show this morning of course.
On wait now this one line one Hello, Hello, Hello, Danny,

(10:48):
Hi Danny, how you doing?

Speaker 4 (10:50):
Thanks? What the wayer roself platform is out in Crime
Banks now right with the moss on it? Right? Okay, okay?
What would happened to the ship pumping all for railroad health.

(11:11):
What do you mean, well, you got her ship after
now it's PCO Wavich hollow and she's pumping all that
out of the crime bank out of the crime banks.
And what would happen when the new platform goes out there?
What would happened to the ship?

Speaker 2 (11:33):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 4 (11:36):
Is it gonna be moved or is it gonna be
saying there?

Speaker 2 (11:41):
I can't answer that question because I don't know. Know, Well,
we'll put it out to the the audience. Maybe somebody
does know.

Speaker 4 (11:52):
I'm going to aise this holf A nows the turnovers,
uh to should be looking at the platform for that,
But is it in deeper waters?

Speaker 2 (12:04):
Are you talking about beating nord Noah turnover turnover? Yeah, yeah,
I don't know. The offshore is an area that I
you know, I'm familiar with in a general sense, not
in a specific sense.

Speaker 4 (12:24):
Okay, yeah, yeah, because it's twenty years old and happy
now pouring country skip fixed up as if you send
new Flanders Tanner to fix it, telling him or Tabu

(12:45):
learned to be fixed new for Lander's Okay, so I
think it's time to replaced to a platform.

Speaker 5 (12:58):
Morney.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
Well, I mean all of these things have to undergo
refit and changes and all the like. And I know
that the Terra Nova platform just went underwent those kinds
of changes. But you're talking about the subsea structure, are you.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
Platform?

Speaker 2 (13:20):
Oh, Hibernia, maybe know the turnover? Okay, that's the it's
a floating production facility.

Speaker 4 (13:31):
Yeah. Yeah, it's twenty years old, and the replace the
wireau South and we're a platform now.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
Right, Okay, I wasn't aware of that. Again, I'm you know,
I'm sorry. I'm not prepared for this conversation. I don't
have all of that ready information on the tips of
my fingers like Patty often.

Speaker 4 (14:01):
Okay, okay, the ship.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
But you've raised it publicly. So if anybody is aware
and knows and has answers for you, keep listening. Someone
will give us a call.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
Like you know, the turnovers, they're twenty years old at
being down South Korea to be re worked on, to refit,
to keep on driven at pump and oil. And she
came out to bull Arm to be refitted again and

(14:40):
name she's she's twenty years old, and then and.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
And they but that was supposed to extend its life
for an extended period.

Speaker 4 (14:54):
How much oil is out there for the turnover.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Again, I don't don't have that inf readily available to me.
I can find out.

Speaker 4 (15:04):
Yeah, it's there's.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Still plenty of oil out there, trust me.

Speaker 4 (15:09):
Yeah that is. How about the natural gas and there's lots.

Speaker 2 (15:13):
Of natural gas lots.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
Yeah, will that be pumped out with the All right, well.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Again we haven't. We haven't really explored that whole LNG
aspect of things. And this is one of the mandates
I would argue for our new premiere. It's one of
the mandates for the federal government. For certain they've been
talking a lot about development of LNG.

Speaker 4 (15:39):
Yeah, but you know, I think I'm going to catch
you about Beata North top size of recording, get that
contract building here in new frame.

Speaker 2 (15:53):
Well, the premier certainly hope so. But as of right now,
that doesn't seem to be the the way in which
Equinor is going. It looks like it's going to be
built overseas.

Speaker 4 (16:05):
Yeah, group for me for anner skatebar Okay.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
Well, again, they're trying to find economically feasible ways to
explore that very challenging project. I mean, it's it's quite
a distance from the mainland and it's at a significant
depth depth, one of the deepest.

Speaker 5 (16:33):
I think.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
It's in one of the deepest areas that's being explored.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
So a platform one.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
So there's a lot that has to and that you
have to do tie ins and to get even to
get people out there onto the drilling platform, you'd have
to set up midway platforms for helicopter just to bring
there so they can you know, fuel up and go on.

(17:05):
That was my part of the understanding that I had
many years ago when they were first talking about it.
So you know, there's a lot of challenges in exploring
that or drilling that area, but it is obviously quite lucrative.
There are huge amounts of oil there, but so the

(17:26):
company has to find economically feasible ways to extract that oil.
And this is one of the things that's been talking
about building the top sides elsewhere, arguably because they believe
it be too pricey here.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah, but actually a lot of work and resources.

Speaker 2 (17:52):
What's that.

Speaker 4 (17:54):
You know that madro hotel downtown. Yes, but you could
have built here new plan.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (18:03):
I don't know how it works now for you know
those types of engineering projects. But you know, I take
your your I take the gist of your meeting there.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
Yeah, yeah, oh, hey, thank you. Have a nice day.
I have a great day, all.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Right, you two, thank you? All right? All right, Danny.
They're always thinking, always asking questions, and he stumps me
from time to time. He calls our newsroom on a
fairly frequent basis to, you know, ask questions about He's
always thinking about certain things, and.

Speaker 6 (18:42):
It is.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
He often stumps me. I will say that, especially this morning.
What I got to call this morning from my boss
saying you do an open line this morning. So if
I sound not fully fully prepared, I'm sorry about that.
We're going to go now to a bit of good
news after what has been a very challenging year. My

(19:06):
understanding is that the Red Ochre Cafe in Okra Pit
Cove is reopening. Tracy Schute, you're on the air. Hello,
Oh we lost her? What happened there? All right, Dave,
we'll get her back. But yeah, I was one of
a group of reporters that was among the first to

(19:28):
enter the portion of the Conception Bay north shore from
Western Bay northward into Northern Bay when the public was
finally allowed back in there. And I have to say
it was all bad enough to see the kind of
devastation in places like Kingston, the small point in Broad Cove,

(19:51):
Adam's Cove, But once you passed that weird transition into
Western Bay and orcre Pit Cove, you could really see
where the fire, you know, did its worst. But a
little bit of good news now, Tracy, you're on the air.

Speaker 5 (20:12):
Good morning, Linda. How are you doing this morning?

Speaker 2 (20:14):
Oh, I'm all right.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
How are you?

Speaker 5 (20:16):
The fact that you're a little bit underprepared? You and
I kind of match up this morning. Geeka, we're hitting
the ground running today. But we do have ten flavors
of cheesecake for opening the well.

Speaker 2 (20:26):
That sounds fantastic. So how did you manage to get
this done? Because I know it was a little bit
of a hub during the whole transitioned and clean up
and firefighting effort and that sort of thing. Tell us
how you got here?

Speaker 5 (20:41):
Well, we closed sixteen weeks today, sixteen weeks ago today.
It's hard to believe that that much time has passed.
Certain sixteen days, not that we were counting, but it
has been pretty much uphill all the way. I mean,
obviously we were happy that the cafe was left standing,
but the I guess unnecessary back and forth between the

(21:05):
insurance adjusters and contractors and the like really set us back.
And without going into too many negative details here this morning,
because it is a positive day, but I think it's
important for people to understand that, you know, yes, we
were in short but boy did we have to fight
for what we had. It was it was really it

(21:27):
was really difficult. One example, you know, everybody on the
North Shore throughout their fridges and freezers. When we were
told that we could go back, obviously because you know,
everything sat in almost three weeks of thirty degree heat
and no power, so you can just imagine the mess
that we faced. However, with the cafe, they decided they

(21:49):
weren't going to throw out our fridges and freezers, they
were going to try and clean them. Well, obviously we
wouldn't settle for that. So we can assure your listeners
and our customers that the equipment has all been replaced.
We are you know, Shiney Brand knew where.

Speaker 7 (22:04):
We need to be.

Speaker 5 (22:06):
You know, we've we've got new flooring, we've painted, we've
you know, we're ready and you know it's been a
lot available a grease. Three weeks ago, we finally kind
of took the cafe back from the insurance and said,
you know what, we're going to do this and we'll
talk to you about the bill afterwards. So because there

(22:27):
was no sign, there was no sign of the repairs
being finished, and we knew that, you know, Christmas was
coming and if we were going to save this business,
we had to take matters into our own hands and
get it open. And so with a couple of local
contractors and are very hard working and dedicated staff who worked,
oh my god, so hard. But anyway, here we are

(22:49):
and we are opening today.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
Cleaning your fridges and freezers.

Speaker 5 (22:54):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
It.

Speaker 2 (22:58):
You know, that might sell fine to some people, but
having you know, traveled through that area, you know, weeks
and weeks and weeks of rotting food.

Speaker 5 (23:14):
In those actually and actually what happened was is that
they actually took about two weeks an attempted to clean
them and been through them out. So those are the
kinds of delays that we faced, Like did we need
you know, could we have opened in a couple of
weeks after we were let back in, Absolutely not, But
did we need to be closed sixteen weeks?

Speaker 2 (23:37):
Definitely not, gotcha? So that sort of delayed the pros.

Speaker 5 (23:41):
Other you know, it would have been another number of
weeks had we not kind of taken it back in
our own hands.

Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:47):
I don't think anybody who hasn't been in that kind
of situation can appreciate just how horrific and daunting that
kind of you know, to I know, some people were
put in the position of having to try to clean
their fridges and freezers, and I don't know, you know
how many of them ended up having to keep them

(24:09):
because they didn't have insurance or whatever the case. But
I can't see it. I can't see it. Having passed
through that area, you could smell where the freezers were
before you you know, topped a ridge. It was unbelievable.

Speaker 5 (24:25):
Yeah, it was, And I mean that's you know, that's
just one example of many that we dealt with in
terms of we're going to fix it now, We're going
to replace it now, we're going to fix it anyway.
At the end of the day, it's been what needed
to be replaced has been replaced, and so we're shiny,
brand new. We've had a full health inspection, and the
staff have worked hards as they always do, and we're ready.

(24:49):
We're pretty excited.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
That is great.

Speaker 6 (24:52):
News.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
I want to circle back just for a moment. I
know you didn't want to make this too negative, but
I will ask you this, any lessons learned about the
insurance process and what you could have done differently or
what you should have done differently had you known the difference.

Speaker 5 (25:09):
Yeah, maybe four weeks into the process we would have
taken in ourselves. But we just never dreamed that every
single piece of what we were doing was going to
be a fight. And we did fight. But yeah, no,
we wouldn't. We wouldn't have trusted the process as long
as we did, knowing the eventually, you know that we

(25:30):
would have to take the process over ourselves.

Speaker 8 (25:33):
It was.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
It was really difficult. And in all of that, we
had ten employees out of work, and that, you know,
that's the stuff that keeps you up at night, right, Like,
we were that weight heavy on us because they're great
staff and it was very important for us to get
them to work.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
In a province full of pretty places. Okrapit Cove is
arguably one of the prettiest. What's it like there now?

Speaker 5 (25:57):
Well, there's signs of hope everywhere. I'm going to choose
the positive this morning, despite the insurance but there's signs
of hope everywhere I drove down last night. There's people
it's hard enough to get emotional, but there's people who
have their Christmas trees up. Some folks have their Christmas
lights out. You know, a lot of times in the

(26:18):
last sixteen weeks we've heard North store strong and boy
are we ever they're resilient. I mean, there was one
gentleman who lost his house completely. He's moving in on
Saturday with a complete new rebuild. There's a number of
houses under construction, number of other basements that have been
dug out, so we know they're building back. Every time

(26:39):
you see an excavator, now we're excited because we know
that's okay, that's somebody else who's coming home. So it's
you know, is there a lot of devastations still, Yes,
there's lots of people still not home, by the way,
where those people. You know, I'm renting the house in
Harbor Grace because our home is not yet fit to
go back to. No, we didn't lose it, so you know,

(27:02):
there's still a lot there's still a lot of fight ahead.
But I feel like we've won this battle and we're
just really hoping that we you know, we're busy. On weekend,
we'll see some of our customers who've been so encouraging
to us, and and you know, our staff will be
there today with bells on and they're pretty happy about it,
and we are too.

Speaker 9 (27:22):
I know.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
One of the things that and I heard this repeated
so many times that you know, the landscape will bounce back.
It takes a lot longer for you know, people to
try to put their lives back together. But it was
hopeful when I passed through the area not too long
ago to see that area that was first affected in

(27:43):
Adam's Cove and the grass starting to grow back and
everything is the landscape starting to recover a little bit.

Speaker 5 (27:52):
It is starting to bounce back a little. I mean,
obviously we're not going to see much grass growth now
because of the change in the weather, but you know,
a lot of the debris being cleaned up is certainly helpful.
You know, it's not lost on us that there's tremendous
loss as well. I mean, we have neighbors who lost everything.
Our school has gone, the post office has gone, you know,

(28:15):
the local garage is gone. You know, there's there's a
lot of loss, and and you know, it's not it's
not lost on us that there's there is devastation all
around us, and the cafe opening film fix all that.
But we're hoping that, you know, this is going to
be a little way of hope for some people, a
little bit of normalcy, and you know, because the cafe

(28:38):
became kind of a hub and a gathering place for
for the North Shore and from people from outside the
area who wanted to visit. And so, you know, we
hope today that we're giving back that little bit of
normalcy to the area and and ability for us to
you know, to be there for people again. And we're
we're happy about that. But yeah, we're you know, there's

(28:59):
lots of work to be done, and we'll certainly help
our our friends and neighbors, you know, in any way
we can.

Speaker 2 (29:06):
So, what are some of the priorities for the region
now moving forward?

Speaker 5 (29:11):
Well, you know, there's there's a lot of certainly lessons
to be learned from the fire. You know, I think
one of the one of the major priorities obviously is
the rebuild of the communities and to get all that
sort of you know, the Red Cross is is you know,
taking up space in the area and uh, and they're
reaching out to people. Is my understanding to do needs

(29:34):
assessments for you know, what what people will need to
recover on an individual basis, because it's not just a
blanket approach, you know. So I think that's in good hands.
You know, there are people who need small things like
you know, a panel of siding replaced, or you know,
they've lost their wood for the winter, so they need

(29:55):
to figure that out. And you know, and some people
didn't have insurance, and them that was through no fault
their own. You know, there's houses down there that were
built on you know, stone platforms or brick walls or whatever,
not brickwall story, stone walls, like a stone foundation. And
so for that reason, they couldn't get insurance and they
couldn't afford to replace the foundation. So it's not all

(30:17):
about you know, well we just didn't bother to get insurance.
Some of some of it was very legitimate cause that
they couldn't do it. So you know, there's those people
that you know, and they don't need a million dollars
to get back on their feet. They need small items.
You know, we have friends of ours who you know,
lost their shed. They didn't lose their house, they need

(30:40):
some windows, they need some wood. You know, that kind
of stuff is getting kind of looked after behind the
scenes because we have good people in our community. So
there's you know, there's a lot of good stories. Some
of them won't be public and that's fine too, but
you know, people are helping people and that's what we do.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
Are people uh, you know, build are planning to rebuild
in the same spot, or are some of them saying,
you know, I.

Speaker 10 (31:04):
Just can't.

Speaker 5 (31:07):
You know, I certainly have. We certainly haven't spoken to everybody,
but you know, we're hearing lots of good stories. There's
lots of people rebuilding. Last count there was about sixteen
homes under construction and another half a dozen basements that
have been dug out, which is all good signs. Knowing
of course that you know, the construction season is you know,
coming to a close pretty soon, I would think, in

(31:28):
terms of what they can do before the snowflies. But
there's you know, there's lots of signs. There's lots of
lots of signs to hope for the area for sure.

Speaker 2 (31:38):
And Christmas is coming. It's it's going to be a
different Christmas for an awful lot of people. But hopefully
the fact that your cafe has reopened will you know,
help people with a little bit of normalcy, as you said.

Speaker 5 (31:53):
Yeah, I think so. I mean, you know, for us
as a family, we don't know where Christmas is going
to be yet. We're putting a tree up in harber
Gray Zoroq Go because our home has not been completed either,
So you know, there's all of that. And you know
when people say there's an old place like home, it's
an understatement for sure. I mean, we have a lovely
rental in Harbor Grace, but it's not home, and you know,

(32:15):
you're there's something real, there's something to be said for
being home. So there's the added stress of all of that,
and you know, and there's a lot of people in
that boat. So you know, we try to keep a
check on our friends and neighbors that are that have
been displaced and get an update on their progress, and

(32:36):
you know, try as best we can to look after
each other.

Speaker 3 (32:40):
Well.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
Tracy, all the best to you. So happy to hear
that your business, the Red Ochre Cafe, is reopening. That's
a very positive bright light in what has been a
very difficult and trying time. Really appreciate this, and Merry
Christmas to you.

Speaker 5 (32:56):
Same to you then that take care and thanks for
your interest.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
All right, bye bye.

Speaker 4 (33:00):
Hey.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
That's Tracy Chute, owner of the Red Ochre Cafe, reopened
now after the fires in the Conception Bay on the
Conception Bay north Shore, even though she is still living
in Harbor Grace for the time being. We're going to
take a short break. When we come back, we're going
to hear from the Mayor of tor Bay, Craig Scott,

(33:23):
coming up right after this. We are going now to
the town of tor Bay to speak with Mayor Craig Scott.

Speaker 3 (33:30):
Hello, Craig, Hey, Linda, how are you good? How are
you pretty good?

Speaker 11 (33:35):
I think I think I'm okay.

Speaker 2 (33:37):
That's good to hear.

Speaker 9 (33:39):
I think.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
We've handled awful lot of rain since November came in.
That's got to be good news for the town we have.

Speaker 11 (33:48):
It's brought the levels up in our ponds somewhat to
stabilize them. But it's been a very stressful summer and fall.
I can tell you that looking at the levels of
the pond they've been and coming into the winter and
hoping that it's going to get higher before we get
that winter freeze, but it hasn't got as high as

(34:09):
we need. So we do have a plan in place
that we're going to pump water from a nearby pond
into into north pond. We're source and all the material
we need now to be able to do that, and
hopefully we're going to get that started sooner and later.

Speaker 2 (34:25):
So what happens if, for whatever reason, those levels don't
come up before we get a deep freeze, well.

Speaker 11 (34:34):
The possibility of the water supply losing the ability to
supply water to the town, and you know, we didn't
even want to think about the gratifications of that. The
three schools and you know, a couple of old age
homes and about a third of the town around the

(34:55):
water supply, so it would be I don't know, it'll
be traffic, I guess would be one word to describe it.
But the levels had come up a good bit in
the last month, and this pumping option should be the
solution that we need for now to get us through
this winter and then hopefully over this winter we'll get

(35:17):
some snow and more of regular type of precipitation that
we normally get and we'll be good next year.

Speaker 2 (35:25):
It's amazing. Also, Yeah, it's amazing what you know, change
in pattern and weather pattern can do.

Speaker 11 (35:35):
It is and last winter we didn't have much snow,
so we didn't have a lot of spring run off.
The pond was low starting off, and then of course
we hardly had any rain. We were in a drought situation,
and the pond just kept getting lower and lower, and
I guess around we identified this early in June, we

(35:59):
put water restrictions on, and in July we went to
full out on certain things, but the pond continued to
go down maybe an inch a day, to the point
where we're only a couple of feet above the intake fight,
which that's a pretty nervous situation for everybody trying to

(36:21):
deal with it. So I commend our staff and our
residents actually who've really paid attention to our water band
that we had on during the summer, reduced consumption and
you know, got us through that part. One thing that
I would mention is when we first started looking at
doing this pumping, we were going to pump from a

(36:41):
nearby river, and of course has been well reported, we
have issues here in the town with PIFAs contamination from
the airport in a lot of private wealth, and so
we obviously before we go to pump, we tested for
that and we found very low levels of p fosk

(37:01):
heminants actually in the river, and so we put that
out motification to people. When we were going to do
our pumping and not knowing if this is going to
be a yearly thing, I think our best option that
we chose was to pump from that pond, which we

(37:22):
also had tested and had no p fast in it,
because if we had to do this again next year,
we'll have the infrastructure to be able to do that
and we'll be able to act more quickly. But you know,
it was we contacted Tresport Canada and the MP and
our MHA to advise them that we found p fosk
haminants in the river three point one nanograms per leader.

(37:45):
It's well below the thirty of Help Canada guidelines, but
it's still concerning and it concerning for people. So we
wanted to make sure that they were aware.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
That that that we found that there, Well, any level
is a concern. These are forever chemicals, after all, Well,
how low did north pond get and how much does
it need to come up before you're feeling a little
more comfortable.

Speaker 11 (38:09):
I think it was.

Speaker 5 (38:11):
It was eight feet at.

Speaker 11 (38:12):
Least below our normal level, and that was in late
September when we put a video out from the town
and it has come up. It's probably come up maybe
a couple of feet, but it's still it's touch and

(38:33):
go with not knowing how much for sipitation we're going
to get during the winter. So this option to run
that pipe, I think it's about twenty five hundred meters
that we got to run at pump, and I'm not
sure how long we're going to do it. We're probably
going to be pumping twenty four hours a day for
I don't know how long. We'll see how much the

(38:53):
pump produces, but it'll probably be a week for sure,
i'd say.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
And what's the other pond that you're taking this from, b.

Speaker 11 (39:00):
White waste Pint, White Waste Time. It's it's visible from
the bypassed road. It's a it's a pond. It's it's
a really clean and it's the place where our our
residents swim in the summertime. So we're not already concerned
that we're going to draw down too much on it.
We've been working with Water Resources and DFO and whoever

(39:23):
else we need to work with when we're dealing with
pumping from an ultimate source into our water supply, to
make sure that everything is safe and what we're doing
is correct, because the know you when you want to
pump water into an existing water source North Pond, which
is our water supply, that we know is we've had

(39:44):
that testinary and that doesn't have any pepots in it,
which is really good for us. And we want to
make sure that we're not doing anything to affect that
pond or the water source that we're going to be
pumping from.

Speaker 2 (39:57):
So if wide Ways Pond becomes a permanent alternative I
guess or fail safe, will people still be able to
swim there in the summer?

Speaker 5 (40:07):
Oh?

Speaker 11 (40:07):
Yes, absolutely, I don't think it's going to be. This
is a temporary measure. We already are in the process
of developing a new water supply in Tourbey Anyway at
great pun That's going to be a few years before
that's online and supplying water to the town, But we
are moving forward with that and hopefully that'll address our

(40:31):
greater issue of capacity that we've already been dealing with.
But one thing I want to make sure that people
understand this issue with the water supply with North Pole
with pumping is different than the issue that we're dealing
with people's private wells, but pep in it. Those ones

(40:53):
are the filler. Government is responsible for that. They've been
working on it, and you know, we've been and in
touch with them constantly. Every time we find out about
a new area in the town where this p thoughts
is being detected in people's wells, we let them know
and we're asking them to make sure that they're treating
all the residents equal who have found these contaminants in

(41:16):
their wealth to providing drink the water or whatever they're
doing or doing testing, they need to make sure they
do it for everybody equally and not different places. So
this is an issue that I think that we're going
to be dealing with for a few years and hopefully
that they're going to come with some solution. And that's

(41:38):
that's what we've been advocating for, for those residents to
be have their wealth tested and make sure give them
some peace of mind. You know, it's there's a lot
of people I talk to all the time that have
these conhabitants in their wells, and it's a very scary situation,
and it's you know, it's not something that they did,
it's not something that the town, but you know, it's

(42:02):
as a result of that firefighting training center at the airport,
and that is fully within the federal government's purview and
they've taken responsibility for it, and they need to follow
through what it is that they're going to do to
make those residents right, make their wells correct, and make
sure that they have safe and clean drink water going

(42:22):
into homes.

Speaker 2 (42:23):
So what's the latest on that in terms of a
permanent solution? Are you being kept in the loop in
that regard?

Speaker 11 (42:31):
Keptain loop to a certain extent, we hear a lot
from residents. Transport Canada shars information with us as much
as they can. They don't let us know exactly who
has tested or anything like that. They give us generalities
in numbers in this area that area, and as far
as we know that you're piloting some filtration systems in

(42:57):
some houses that they've that they've tested, they have been
providing drinking water to residents who have tested about thirty
I think they should be providing drinking water to all
those results that they tested, even if it is below thirty,
because those levels fluctuates. You could be at twenty five
one day and test two days later and be above thirty,

(43:20):
which is what some people had been seen in their
testing results. And I think that the federal government should
be providing all those residents with drinking water while they
are doing this testing and coming up with these solutions.
And I think the ultimate solution at the end of
the day is to have municipal pipewater for those houses
that are currently on wells with contaminants in it. But

(43:45):
at this point in times, the town doesn't have capacity
to be able to provide that, but we will once
our new water supply is brought on, and then again
it's the filleral government's responsibility, I believe, to bring that
water to those homes.

Speaker 2 (44:00):
Craig Scott, thanks very much for those two important updates,
and hopefully you get that work done with wide Away's
pond before the deep free sets in. Really appreciate your time.

Speaker 11 (44:12):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (44:13):
All righty bye bye. That's the Mayor of Torbay, Craig Scott.
We're going to take a short break. When we come back,
we hope to hear from you and we are going
now to Bill. You're on the air. Hello, Bill, good morning,
how are you this morning?

Speaker 3 (44:27):
Not about ourself?

Speaker 2 (44:29):
Oh, very good.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Kudos that Craig Scott mayor Torvey. He sounds so legitimate.
He really seems like he's really trying, as a lot.

Speaker 2 (44:45):
Of municipal leaders are these days.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
You wish.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
Yeah, so I'm just calling.

Speaker 4 (44:56):
I wanted to.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Congratulate the the premier and a local member for the
political change on the island. But yeah, as you're coming,
and a lot of municipal leaders. I don't think we'll
say on that one. But yeah, No, he just impressed me.

Speaker 11 (45:20):
He's like he's really trying that.

Speaker 3 (45:22):
There was a good conversation.

Speaker 11 (45:23):
I enjoyed it all right.

Speaker 2 (45:25):
I'm glad to hear that. So, yes, you're offering your
congratulations to the premiere. We're in this weird transitional phase
here now where we're trying to get I guess they're,
you know, trying to get the feed under them and
and you know, get the lay of the land and
that sort of thing. What do you I mean, are
you hopeful about the.

Speaker 3 (45:44):
Future, Yes, but are Ail and I'm really worried about
and I'm nowhere handed to our island right now. But yeah,
I'm genuinely worried about our all and then hopefully somebody
wakes up and sees that there's a there's a national

(46:06):
international trend happening and to see what the people really
really want. But there's there's a thing in Newfoundland where
there's there's sometimes it gets stuck. Great, what's your opinion?

Speaker 2 (46:23):
I would offer you one if I knew what you
were talking about.

Speaker 3 (46:28):
But the political changes happening nationally and internationally as well now,
and the little shift back home was very interesting. And
I'm from a little tawny town called Long harber Newfoundland
and was heavily involved municipal politics for a while until

(46:50):
it absolutely just broke me. So uh.

Speaker 12 (46:54):
And but there's, by.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
The way, Long harberd Newfoundland the highest budget per capita
in the nation. And try to make a little difference
there is our trying. I'm trying to offer a little
bit of a voice to our little island as start
being more transparent and challenge your local politicians.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
All right, fair enough, Bill, We're up to news time now,
but I appreciate your call. All right, fair enough, thank
you very.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
Much, have a great day.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
You too, Bye bye. We're up to news time now
with Sarah Strickland. When we come back, we hope to
hear from you.

Speaker 11 (47:38):
So.

Speaker 2 (47:38):
Premier Tony Wakem delivered his State of the Province address
to the Board of Trade this week and indicated that
the fiscal situation is a little more challenging, perhaps than
some might have thought. His quote, I can tell you,
based on my early briefings, there is reason to believe

(48:00):
that even that number doesn't reflect the true depth of
our provincial deficit. He's talking about the doubling of the
deficit from three hundred and seventy two projected during last
year's budget to six hundred and twenty six million. When
former Finance Minister Chavon Cody delivered her State of the

(48:21):
Province address in sorry a fiscal update in August, just
before the election was called, and at the time she
blamed poor exchange rates for the doubling of those figures.
We will get an update from the newly minted Finance

(48:45):
Minister Craig Party in the coming weeks, sometime in December,
arguably earlier rather than later for obvious reasons, but it
will be interesting to see what approach this government takes
to handling that the premiere has already said quite categorically
that he will not be placing the fiscal burden on taxpayers,

(49:08):
nor will he be making dramatic cuts. So the question
is how do you address that? And I guess we'll
start to get a clearer picture of that in the
in the weeks and months ahead. We are going to
go now to Chris here on the air. Hello Chris, Hello, Hi,

(49:31):
Hi there.

Speaker 13 (49:31):
Yeah, I'm just calling because I found a beagle in
the Middleguld Pond area yesterday and so I'm just hoping
we can locate its owner.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
Okay, what can you tell us about this beagle?

Speaker 13 (49:43):
Well, it's definitely female. It seems to be young. Yeah,
I guess there's not not like like the black fur
on the back and then like brown on his head
or her head rather and a little like white for
on their neck. I did text a picture to the
number that the guy just told me I could do that,

(50:06):
so he said he would post it to the Twitter page.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Okay, great, is she wearing a collar or anything?

Speaker 13 (50:11):
No, she wasn't wearing a collar. But we do have
her like safe in our home there right now, and
so we do have another dog here though, that they're
getting along for now, so we're hoping that we can
find the owner sooner rather than later, certainly.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah, and did she appear to be out in the
elements very long?

Speaker 13 (50:31):
Yeah? So, actually so I saw her yesterday morning on
my way out, and then she ran away when I
tried to approach her. And then about six hours later,
my partner saw her again in the same area and
then she managed to lure her into the car around
like seven o'clock last night.

Speaker 2 (50:45):
Oh wow, okay, so you made a little effort there.
That's great. So that was in the middle Doll Pond area.
Female b goal appears to be young, and you'd like
to reunite her with her owner?

Speaker 13 (50:58):
Yep, yep. And so yeah, so I said, my name
is Chris, and we shared it in all of the
missing Pets groups on Facebook and stuff, and like the
Briggist Junction group on Facebook. So if anyone's looking to
get in touch, if they take a look at any
of those groups, so I'm sure they'll see it. But
I also gave my number to the gentleman I was
just speaking to.

Speaker 2 (51:18):
Yeah, Dave's got your number, so that's great. So if
anybody is listening to this and is missing their female
beagle in the middle Goal Pond area brigis Junction area.
We have your number and she is right now, safe
and sound. Is she eating and everything?

Speaker 13 (51:34):
Oh yeah, yeah, she's been eating, and she's been drinking
water and she's been I mean she she was definitely
pretty scared at first, but she's she's pretty chill there now.
Oh good, relaxing.

Speaker 2 (51:44):
Good to hear well, Gary, Sorry, Chris. We hope that
she gets reunited with her owner real soon. Thanks so much.

Speaker 13 (51:51):
All right, thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
Okay, bye bye.

Speaker 10 (51:54):
Right there you go.

Speaker 2 (51:56):
Female beagle, Middle Goal Pond brigis Junction area. If she's yours.
If you're missing your dog, you can give us a
call here at the OCM open Line. Dave Williams has
Chris's number. We're going to go now too. Gary. You're
on the air. Hello, Gary, Hi, how are you?

Speaker 8 (52:16):
I don't good, but I heard some sad news this weekend.
I think your chanced upon an earlier to talk to
to Patty. But I'm glad you on today because you're
a female and calling Joels, what a loss? We lot
an icon calling joneson Curler from Nova Scotia.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
Absolutely, what a what a what a life force?

Speaker 8 (52:38):
Oh man, she I mean, she's the two people are
two females from the promise of her icons dot Anne
Murray and Calling Jones.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
Yeah, for sure she she certainly wore her uh uh
Nova Scotia pride on her sleeve for sure. Literally quite literally.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
Yeah, she was.

Speaker 2 (53:04):
You know, it's a huge loss for not only Nova
Scotia but the entire country.

Speaker 8 (53:09):
Exactly. Yeah, because we still watch her curling the I'm
a sports fat too and I look curling. So I
watched her in the excitement and the thrill of her
winning all this stuff. Every time she went for Canada.
You know, she did every she did Canada probe. She
did Nova Scotia pro you know, in all females because

(53:30):
she Lacky the beginner of females and broadcasting in Canada.

Speaker 2 (53:35):
I think she was among them. She certainly. What I
always found interesting about Colleen Jones was, you know, she
exuded this warmth and this personality and a lot of
the stories she did, not all of them. She did
some pretty serious stories, but a lot of her stories
focused on sort of human interest kind of things that

(53:55):
really told a compelling story about you know what other
human beings are going through. And so she exuded that
kind of warmth and sometimes very quite bubbly. But when
she was playing, when she was curling, she could be intense.

Speaker 6 (54:13):
Yeah, she she.

Speaker 8 (54:18):
Was like she was calling Joe's at the best.

Speaker 7 (54:23):
You know.

Speaker 8 (54:24):
To me, I don't know how to explain her if
she had so. She had a wonderful personality that you know.
She she could make you laugh, she could probably make
you cry. She did. She was she was such a
wonderful person. We lost such a wonderful person when she
passed away. But you know what, she she was gone.

Speaker 4 (54:44):
Also she she's in a good place.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
Well, yes, and I'm sure a lot of people share
your sentiments on that terrible loss.

Speaker 6 (54:52):
I know.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
And for those Olympic triads that must have cast a
real pall over the curling community.

Speaker 14 (55:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (55:02):
Yeah, because I watched the sports and I was watching
some curling. That's what I heard in that. Oh man,
I was.

Speaker 4 (55:09):
I was in chears watching the.

Speaker 8 (55:10):
Curling because they had some curling on tears and this
week watching that they're all tough, but oh my lord,
I didn't know that until they till they told us
a story.

Speaker 6 (55:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (55:22):
Yeah, but.

Speaker 8 (55:24):
I want uh, if any family calling Jones are listening,
why come't on your family. She's a great loss to
all of us, to the family and everybody in Canada.

Speaker 2 (55:36):
Absolutely, Gary, thank you so much.

Speaker 8 (55:39):
Okay, how good they find.

Speaker 10 (55:41):
Out you too?

Speaker 2 (55:41):
Bye bye. We're going to take a very short break
and when we come back, we hope to speak with
you and Rebecca. Linda Swayin in for Petty Daily, who
is off today. We're going to go now to Leonard.

Speaker 5 (55:51):
You're on the air.

Speaker 13 (55:51):
Hello Leonard, Good morning, Linda.

Speaker 12 (55:54):
Just bear with me. I'm dealing with a son's called so.
My voice is a bit raspy this morning, so hopefully
I can get my point across this morning.

Speaker 2 (56:03):
No, you sound fine. You have a voice for radio.

Speaker 14 (56:07):
Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 12 (56:08):
I wish I was working with the OOCS anyway, Love
story short. We've been We're in the Lawrence Ponds subdivision
in Upper Gullies. We've been minorly inconvenience the summer. Basically
there's a lot of there's a major project going on

(56:28):
on Peacekeepers Way there heading west, so basically we use
the off ramp to avoid that area because we can't
get into our subdivision and just wondering if we can
get an update on the work. They do actually work
in the nighttime because I can see the lights that

(56:49):
they use for when they're working in the nighttime. So
through the rumor mill, that project was supposed to be
completed by the end of October. So now we're at
the end of November and just wondering if we can
get an update from the Department of Transportation.

Speaker 2 (57:04):
How long have you been disrupted in that way?

Speaker 12 (57:08):
I think it was basically as the projects started in July.
Don't quote me, but as seem as it was in
the summer, So I'm going to say July early July
when the project started. Basically, if you're heading west on
Peacekeeper's Way, we have an off ramp to go into
our subdivision, Okay, so we avoid Route sixty because from

(57:31):
we'll say Upper Goalies to Silco the roads are deplorable.
They're on Route sixty, So we continue on Route six
are to continue on Peacekeeper's Way to avoid that Route sixty.
So it's only a monitoring inconvenience, But I'm just wondering
what's going on with the project right now. What are
they doing there? I see, like when you're leaving the subdivision,

(57:55):
you can lead to go on Peacekeepers Way, but I
see big culverts and stuff there, So I'm just wondering
what actually is going on there? What are they doing there?

Speaker 2 (58:06):
So, I mean interesting, good point. So what is the
work in tailing? You say it's at the on ramp
or off ramp. What are they doing?

Speaker 12 (58:20):
I don't know, That's what I'm saying. We're trying to
figure what's going on there. Basically, to my understanding, Peacekeeper's
Way was supposed to continue right on to Seal Cove, okay,
which is completed, but it's just before they're between Seal
Cove and Upper Gullies in that general area, Okay, So

(58:42):
I don't know what they're doing there. It's it's a
mystery to us here in the subdivision era. We don't
know what they're doing. Like I said, I see big
joint culverts there, you.

Speaker 4 (58:54):
Know what I mean?

Speaker 12 (58:55):
What are they diverting water? Are they putting in another road?

Speaker 4 (59:02):
You know? I mean, we don't know.

Speaker 12 (59:03):
And so you can't basically say, if you're driving heading
west on Peacekeepers Way, if you miss Leadion Road the
off ramp, you've got to continue on then to Seal
cove and did backtrack if you live in Upper Gullies.
So I don't really know. It is a mystery to
us here in the subject and we talk amongst ourselves,

(59:25):
but no one seems to have an answer. What's going
on there and what's taking so long? They're working in
the nighttime. You don't see much work on the highways
in the nighttime, but they are doing it here, so
I guess they're beyond schedule and that's the reason for it.
But I would just like some answers for what's what
they're doing there, you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (59:46):
Yeah, and it's worthy of an update. We'll see if
the town is able to shed any light on that
for us.

Speaker 12 (59:55):
Yeah, like I said, it's been on going since I'm
thinking early summer, you know what I mean. And uh,
it's still still. You could hear the guys working there
in the nighttime, say if I might walk him a dog.
You could hear the excavators and equipment going. So whatever
they're doing, I don't know what it is, you know.
I mean, when I leave the subdivision, you can leave

(01:00:15):
like you sitting get on Peacekeepers Way. You're adding east.
But we do not know there's a big hole. Say,
if you happen to miss the uh the off ramp
on Leedion rolling you happen to be UH driving towards Silko,
that's the only way you can get back to upper Goalies.
There is a big, giant hole, like like a big crater.
So I don't know if what's what that means, you

(01:00:38):
know what I mean, there's definitely a major, major project.
Put it that way.

Speaker 13 (01:00:43):
Let for be taken so long.

Speaker 12 (01:00:45):
There's got to be something that they're doing there. But
I think is that I'm not into a highway, so
I don't know what they're doing. So I just let
an update just to let people know because winter is
soon approaching, you know what I mean, We're I don't
know if there's any major snow in the forecast, but
I'm just wondering if we could just get an update

(01:01:05):
on any timelines that the project is going to be completed.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
All right, I'm glad you raised it, and we'll see
if we can't get that update for you. I really
appreciate your call this morning, Leonard. Thank you very much,
and I hope you're feeling better soon.

Speaker 12 (01:01:19):
Okay, Thanks Lenna, Merry Christmas, same to you.

Speaker 13 (01:01:22):
Yeah, bye bye, bye bye.

Speaker 2 (01:01:23):
All right, we are oops, cut myself off. We're going
to go now to Michael. You're on the air. Hello,
Michael Hiland.

Speaker 4 (01:01:32):
How's it going good?

Speaker 14 (01:01:33):
Good?

Speaker 15 (01:01:33):
How are you good?

Speaker 11 (01:01:35):
Good?

Speaker 4 (01:01:35):
Just a quick traffic advisory.

Speaker 16 (01:01:37):
I was just coming southbound on Team Guju and they're
on the near the overpass where it crosses over Camp
Mount in the right hand lane. There's some construction material
looks like plywood or some sort of sheet material.

Speaker 11 (01:01:51):
It's a fair sized pile of it.

Speaker 16 (01:01:53):
There is a truck stop with it, but both the
truck and the materials are light in color, so they
could very easily be lost in the in the midst
in the fog.

Speaker 2 (01:02:03):
Oh yeah, and I can see right now that the
fog in the area is quite thick. I'm glad you
raised that with us, so hopefully whoever lost it is
able to recovery that pretty quickly. But some debris and
construction material, as you put it, with a truck there
wasted on the right hand lane of Team Guju southbound

(01:02:26):
just before past the Cant Road overpass.

Speaker 16 (01:02:28):
You said, it's kind of it's kind of it's between
the two exits to cam Out, so it's sort of
like either on or very near the overpaths as it crosses.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
Gotcha, all right, So please be careful if you're traveling
in that area and make sure everybody's safe. Really appreciate
your call, Michael, No, thank you, all right, thank you,
bye bye bye. So watch out for that if you're
traveling the team guju in and around the overpass to
kem Out Road. We're going to take a very short break.

(01:03:01):
When we come back, we hope to speak with you.
Lots on the go, few calls coming in in a
scattered kind of way, but if there's anything on your mind,
you are welcome to give us a call. We have
some lines open and we're back on vo CM open line.
We're going to go now too. Sandra, you're on the air.

Speaker 7 (01:03:23):
Hello Sandra, Good morning, Miss Swain. The reason I'm calling
in I just had a little discussion with Dave, who
is a very nice person. I was concerned about a
man who had called in a couple of callbacksical about
a beagle. Now the reason I'm calling is basically, well,

(01:03:47):
I was on Patty's show one time before basically about
the same thing. A lot of people with good intentions
in finding animals make a mistake of actually not taking
the animal to VSPCA or maybe even a veterinarian a

(01:04:11):
veterinarian clinic in close proximity to them to see if
the dog is micro chipped when the dog doesn't display
having a collar or any identification on a collar, even
to find out if there is such a chip installed,

(01:04:32):
which is easy for them to locate the actual owner. Now,
the thing is is that I know this man who
seems to be an animal lover ELF because he wouldn't
have made the attempt to try to find the animal.
But in making a mistake. Sometimes when people are not thinking,

(01:04:54):
they'll put a description of the animal over air, sometimes
I'm at a show, or they'll reach out to other
places giving a description and asking the person you know
if they owned such a dog or was in such
an area, a call to let us know so we

(01:05:15):
can return your animal to you safely. Now that's fine
and good, but the mistake of giving the description could
lead anybody that is probably looking for a pit or
even to gain an animal for breeding purposes, basically a scammer,

(01:05:36):
to get in contact claiming it's their dog and that
they were in the area or friend was in the
area with such animal.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
Does that sort of thing happen very often?

Speaker 7 (01:05:51):
Well, yes, people well. With dogs that are basically bred
for hunting, especially young dogs, some people that own them
are not very good in training them, or expect because
of the breed, the dog knows naturally what to do.
But dogs that are bird dogs and such, they tend

(01:06:15):
to have very active noses sniffing around the wooded areas
and stuff, and come up on unusual sense that sometimes
lead them away from the owners, and sometimes tend not
to come back when they're called and get lost within
the woods, which enables somebody else to find them, pick

(01:06:36):
them up, and sometimes do the wrong thing by giving
descriptions over and anybody can come and claim them, saying
the stayers. Now, I thought about this mistake that this
man made, so he's kind of left the opportunity open
for anyone, because those dogs are very expensive, purebred dogs,

(01:07:00):
especially nowadays, and there's a lot of people looking for
purebred dogs and hoping to gain one very cheaply, and
the opportunity of you know, too much information given opens
up for the dog to end up in a circumstance

(01:07:20):
that I don't think anybody would really like to see
the dog in So anyways, I thought I would call
in and I would mention that this gentleman now in
giving out the description of the dog.

Speaker 2 (01:07:36):
Well, the description was a beagle. Basically, all beageles look alike.

Speaker 5 (01:07:41):
No, they don't.

Speaker 7 (01:07:42):
Their markings are placed in different areas.

Speaker 5 (01:07:45):
Some of them. There's not two.

Speaker 7 (01:07:46):
Beagles like it, not even probably four or five. Like
I've been an owner of a beagle myself. But the
thing is is that most breeders suggest that when you
get your poppy and you have them spayed and neotered,
to have them microchipped, especially if you have the intentions

(01:08:09):
of using them for hunting and such. But as you know,
there are people that don't really want to go through
the means of doing that, whether it be the cost
or they feel that they want to leave the dog
in the natural state. In case they would want to
breed the dog to make money. But not everybody is

(01:08:31):
allowed to breed dogs too. There's usually a system that
they have to go through in order to become a breeder.
Unless you know, you've heard of poppy mills and such,
those are a little bit unsavory. People that would probably
attempt to try to pick up a dog from any

(01:08:54):
one that's not so clear on how to basically put
out there that they have a lost dog or actually
know the method of what they should actually do in
trying to locate the means of where the dog actually
came from.

Speaker 5 (01:09:15):
So I kind of.

Speaker 7 (01:09:16):
Phone to suggest to this man and to anybody out
there who's listening that has intentions of obtaining a hunting
dog of any breed, to have your dog spayed and
neutered if the intent isn't there to breed, or to
have the dog while it's going through that process to

(01:09:40):
be microchipped, because like whoever the owner could be of
this unfortunate dog, whether it be a family pet or
was being used at the time for hunting purposes and
basically trying to train the dog and probably lot it's unintentionally,

(01:10:03):
you know, it is a good idea to have such
a breeds microchipped for in the future, because I know
myself in owning dogs that there is a strong attachment
that you start to form with your pet from a
poppy on and it becomes a member of your family.

(01:10:26):
And to lose your pets almost just as close as
losing somebody.

Speaker 5 (01:10:30):
In your family.

Speaker 7 (01:10:33):
So I was kind of worried, and I thought that
I should phone in and basically, anyone that doesn't recognize
the method of when they find a lost animal and
is unsure what to do, not really a great idea
to give a full description and markings. Because this man

(01:10:53):
right now, anybody could come to him and, like I said,
and say it's their animal or they know who owns it.
But the only thing that I can advise to him
is to take it to the SPCA or the nearest
veterinarian clinic and have the dog scan to see if
it's indeed microchipped. And the next thing that he can

(01:11:16):
do is not show the dog to whoever comes, but
ask whoever feels that they may be the owner to
come and present a picture of the dog so he
can compare it himself to as if the dog is
actually the person who is claiming to be the owner.

(01:11:39):
But the first suggestion is is to take it to
the SPCA because they're pretty good with finding out who
the owners are if the animal is micro chipped, and
same with the veterinarian clinic.

Speaker 2 (01:11:55):
Excellent. Thank you so much, Sandra, I really appreciate that.

Speaker 7 (01:11:59):
And you have a very nice ja miss Swayin and
thank you for listening you to me. Okay, okay, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
All right bye, goodbye. We're going now to the m
h A for Corner Brook. Mister Jim Persons, Hello Jim,
how are you doing? Linda good? How are you?

Speaker 17 (01:12:15):
Oh excellent. I'm I'm actually up here at longing Down
Ski Trails right now. There's the Parliamentary Secretary to the
Prime Ministers in town to announce the coal money. So
we're having around table sourism operators. Is it's a nice
warm fireplace in front of me.

Speaker 2 (01:12:33):
It's great, Oh lovely, it sounds cozy. How are you
getting adjusted to your new role?

Speaker 5 (01:12:41):
Getting there?

Speaker 11 (01:12:42):
It's there's a lot of logistical things.

Speaker 4 (01:12:44):
Of course.

Speaker 17 (01:12:44):
We got our you know what, I got our CA
we got our phones, we got our emails. We're dealing
with our constituency issues and it's yeah, there's a lot
of a lot of change with the again the changing government,
so a lot of officers moving, a lot of pele
moving and changing. So it is it's still in the
transition mode a little bit. But now I'm again I'm

(01:13:09):
used to dealing with the public, be a mayor here
for eight years and so it's you know, it's a
new challenge for me and but I'm looking forward to it.

Speaker 2 (01:13:19):
Well, it's interesting you mentioned that because that you're there
with the Parliamentary Secretary that Prime Minister Mark Kearney announced
this week or he made some reference to opportunities to
restructure in a positive way, as he put it, the
forest product sector. And I know Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper
had put forward this seven hundred million dollar plan to

(01:13:41):
revitalize the Cornerbrook Pulp and Paper plant there in Cornerbrook,
and I was wondering, you know, does that all tie
in together, What's what's going on there?

Speaker 17 (01:13:51):
Well, I think that the I think it's important to
know that, you know, our forestry sector is very integrated.
Our sawmills and our mill of course, our partners and
you know, our logs go to BEI Siad, they get sorted,
then the waste product comes back to the mill as well.

(01:14:12):
There's a lot of a lot of moving pieces. It's
very we're trying to get the most of every bit
of fib where we have here in the province.

Speaker 11 (01:14:20):
Of course, and this.

Speaker 17 (01:14:21):
Opportunity that Krueger is proposing right now is perhaps in
another sector energy tying into with New Glen Hydro into
the grid to bring renewable energy to wind energy and
back that up with the hydro power that they have.
This is a very exciting opportunity, but being a lot

(01:14:43):
of stability for not just the mill itself, but also
for the sawmills in that province.

Speaker 2 (01:14:51):
So do mister Kearney's comments suggest that the federal government
maybe be playing a role here as well.

Speaker 17 (01:14:58):
Well, That of course would be helpful. We've had really good,
big benefits, I guess, from involvement with the federal government
on this in the past. Our port in Cornerbrook of
course took advantage of federal funding to establish our container service,

(01:15:21):
which again supports and really helped support our mill during COVID,
especially as we transition from an American market to other
markets like India, and so it's been really important, I
guess to have that infrastructure and it's for more business.
So it's really great to hear Prime Minister talk about that.

(01:15:44):
I really hope that our problems will continue to cooperate
with the mill and with our sawmills, and this new
project that Kruger's proposing I think could be a benefit
to the province as a whole, not just those stakes.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
So you mentioned renewable energy and I guess and alternate
forms of energy, and I guess it's being illustrated right now,
the fact that production had to be halted because of
low water levels.

Speaker 10 (01:16:14):
Where are we with that now?

Speaker 17 (01:16:17):
Yeah, it's it is. It is a problem, and climate
change is a real thing. We've you know, at the
municipal level, I know that we've noticed that significantly with
severe weather events runoff lack of rain sometimes in this case.
So it's important that we're diverse in how we how
we manage our electricity, especially and are increased demand for it.

(01:16:40):
And the proposal I think that's on the table there
now is adding another I think over one hundred megawats
of firm power to our to our grid with wind
energy backed up by hydro. So you know, that is
I think a very sensible way to get into the
wind name. There have been a number of project proposed

(01:17:01):
green hydrogen data centers things like that, but this is
a you know, Cruger is a company that actually does
manage wind firms already, so it's a real opportunity. I
think it is a great, great way to get in
the game.

Speaker 2 (01:17:16):
I didn't realize they already managed to win firms. That's
very interesting.

Speaker 17 (01:17:19):
Yeah, yeah, so this is and this is why I
think it's important to go with established companies that do
this and you know, this is a this is a
real opportunity. Uh, it's not speculative. So I think it's
it's something that we need to continue work on. I
hope that the new government will continue to work with

(01:17:41):
with crew on this and hydro course. Uh, promised's energy
and this is a great way.

Speaker 5 (01:17:47):
To do it.

Speaker 2 (01:17:49):
So have you had an opportunity to speak with the
Premier and see where you know his mind maybe on that.

Speaker 17 (01:17:56):
I haven't yet. It's uh, it's the transition period has
been very busy for the new government, I'm sure, but
I do look forward to talking with them about this.
I have met a number of the ministers already and
I'm looking forward to again hopefully promoting this work, continuing
the work that's been done. And let's not drop the

(01:18:18):
all of this. Let's get this two dimish line.

Speaker 2 (01:18:20):
And what's this event you're participating in now?

Speaker 17 (01:18:24):
Yeah, we have a number of stakeholders here. There was
a really good announcement a a CoA funding for things
including the geopark here in the Bay of Islands, trail development,
the Western Store Riders a big, big new link between

(01:18:44):
corner Brook and Marbles Steady Brook for ATVs and stone
bills as well as mountain biking. So it's we have
a lot of stakeholders here up at the lodge and
we're having a chat and MP Voice is learning about
the needs here in this region. And of course it's

(01:19:06):
important that we have in here to government. We have
an opposition MP in our region now to Kara Lnste,
so it's great to have a member of government here
to talk to. I'm gonna tell us, you know, to
learn about what's going on.

Speaker 2 (01:19:21):
Jim Persons, thanks so much for the update on this
and anything that comes up. Be sure to give us
a call. I really appreciate it.

Speaker 17 (01:19:28):
Thank you, listen, thanks for reaching out. We'll talk to
you soon.

Speaker 2 (01:19:31):
Okay, bye, bye bye. That's the MHA for Cornerbrook Former
mayor Jim Parsons. We're going to take a short break.
When we come back, we hope to hear from you
and we are going now to Sandy around their high Sandy.

Speaker 4 (01:19:43):
Hi.

Speaker 2 (01:19:44):
How are you, Oh great, how are you?

Speaker 15 (01:19:46):
I'm afro today Linda, fro today. Hell today, I find it.

Speaker 2 (01:19:50):
Once that dampness gets in your bones, that's it.

Speaker 15 (01:19:53):
Yeah, Well, I'm prying for a bit of snow right now.

Speaker 2 (01:19:55):
There you go.

Speaker 15 (01:19:56):
Yeah, yeah, listen, I'm calling in good moarning to all
your listeners. By the way, say here at the vier
Plann Charitable Foundation, we are kicking off our last fundraiser
for the year. Linda. We got a Danily Prize on
the go. We got an Errand's snowblower, top of the
line twenty four Deluxe. She can't cut true to fog,
but she certainly can cut true to snow. We got

(01:20:17):
a few beer to go with it. We got a
Mark gift card, we got some Milwaukee cordless tools, and
we got a gas card. Linda. Tickets are only ten
dollars each. Let's bet it's fantastic, It's right, and all
the proceeds go right back into the programs and services
that we offer here to families and to those who
are living with intellectual disabilities. And as you know, this

(01:20:39):
time of the year can be very stressful on families,
especially to those who are living with intellectual disabilities. Linda,
so the proceeds help with you know service and programs,
food hampers, gift cards, housing assistants, and medications and devices
and transportation and so much more. So we're hoping probably
even yourself, all hands over there at the OCM and

(01:20:59):
all the listeners, we'll give us a call this morning
or go in to via Prinsaudi dot Ca get all
the information and give us a call and get your
ticket for only ten dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:21:10):
Fantastic. And when is the draw?

Speaker 15 (01:21:12):
The draw is next Friday, boss. The most important thing
is you got a call between now and sat A
sorry Monday, because that is when the ticket sales in Linda.
So we got to get those tickets in. We got
to help the fine folks here in our community, and
we got to give away that snowblower.

Speaker 2 (01:21:28):
Right ton, and it'll come in handy to somebody, I'm sure.

Speaker 15 (01:21:32):
So I'm sure. Could you remember now only a few
years ago we had snow m again.

Speaker 2 (01:21:36):
That's right. And it just feels like, I don't know
about you, but it feels like this is going to
be one of those winters.

Speaker 4 (01:21:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:21:45):
I can feel it in the bones, because you know,
when you're hit forty, it gets a little achy, right.

Speaker 2 (01:21:52):
Well, Sandra, appreciate your call this morning. All the best
with it, thanks so much, thank you.

Speaker 15 (01:21:57):
Listen and Merry Christmas everyone, and please give it a
call and the proceeds again support the via Plan Society.
Same to you, Thank you, thank you, have a great day.

Speaker 2 (01:22:06):
Bye bye, okay, bye bye. We are going to go
now to Margaret. You're on the your high Margaret.

Speaker 18 (01:22:12):
Hi, Landa, How are you going good?

Speaker 3 (01:22:14):
Good?

Speaker 2 (01:22:14):
I'm great. How are you?

Speaker 9 (01:22:17):
Oh, I'm good, but my foot is not good.

Speaker 12 (01:22:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (01:22:21):
Oh I had a surgery two weeks ago and I
don't like using these crutches.

Speaker 4 (01:22:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:22:27):
It really slows you down, doesn't it.

Speaker 9 (01:22:30):
Oh it does really. But anyway, the reason I'm calling
because of me knocked her door here, Sorry, but everyone
listening to my dog.

Speaker 15 (01:22:50):
Anyway.

Speaker 9 (01:22:50):
The reason why I'm calling is because with a little
dog that was lost, before that dog is released, I
think it should be I uh showing them IDs address,
driver's license dah blah blah before they released that dog.

Speaker 2 (01:23:10):
Well what the previous collar suggested, and I agree with it.
By the way, is you know, show some proof that
the dog is yours. Just you know, most people take
pictures of their animals, so just say here he is,
and then they'll be able to say, oh, yeah, that's him, Okay,
see you later.

Speaker 6 (01:23:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (01:23:25):
But I when I heard that, I thought, oh my god.
He should not release any information. You know, the dog,
the collar, you know, a collar, but have something there
that the owner would pick out, yeah, you know if
it's if it's their dog. So if you come to

(01:23:48):
take that dog and you have a caller to pick
out and you don't can't can't say yes, it's mine
or whatever.

Speaker 4 (01:23:59):
They had to know the color.

Speaker 2 (01:24:01):
Yeah, but how how do you do that? You know,
like you pick up a stray dog and you say
I found a dog. It's not just good enough to
say I found a dog because people wouldn't know it's
their dog. So what do you say I found a
You can say I found a brown dog, and then
somebody say, well, I have a brown dog, and then
they can say, well, I've got a chocolate lab or

(01:24:22):
I've got a you know, some kind of a hunting
type dog.

Speaker 9 (01:24:26):
Yes, but there should be some kind of a marking
that they can distinct, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:24:34):
Yeah, he's got a white tic dog or something.

Speaker 9 (01:24:37):
Yeah, of course you heard her barking there. It's a
little palm now, she's got a marking on her that
I don't think any other dog has got.

Speaker 2 (01:24:47):
Okay, gotcha, yeah something that huh.

Speaker 9 (01:24:51):
So now if I laugh that dog and you and
I come to you and say yes, it's my dog,
or well, I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:25:00):
Think if you should get lest she'll go quietly.

Speaker 9 (01:25:06):
Well, no, one never will be able to take mine.
I never knew that palms were so yeappy.

Speaker 2 (01:25:12):
They're very tenacious.

Speaker 9 (01:25:14):
Yes, But anyway, thank you for taking my call.

Speaker 2 (01:25:17):
And you have a great christ all right, same to you,
Thanks so much.

Speaker 9 (01:25:20):
Okay, okay, welcome bye bye bye bye.

Speaker 2 (01:25:23):
Uh yeah, good point there, and we appreciate that call.
We're going to go now to Leslie Bridges a Hope.

Speaker 19 (01:25:30):
Hello, Hey Linda, how's it going good?

Speaker 15 (01:25:33):
Good?

Speaker 18 (01:25:35):
So I'm just I won't take up too much of
your time.

Speaker 20 (01:25:37):
I'm just calling to let folks know about.

Speaker 19 (01:25:40):
A donation drive we've got on the go today. We
are over at Coleman's in Mount Pearl until four pm
and we are collecting food items and funds in support
of our Miracle on Cookstown Road campaign for our Food Bank.

Speaker 2 (01:26:00):
So tell us more about it.

Speaker 19 (01:26:03):
So, the Miracle on Cooktown Road campaign, this is our
big annual Christmas fundraising campaign. Our food bank at this
point is regularly serving about fifteen hundred people every month
in the Saint John's metro region. Our services are available
to any person experiencing food insecurity. It doesn't matter what

(01:26:27):
neighborhood you live.

Speaker 20 (01:26:28):
In, doesn't matter what church you attend, and it doesn't
matter who's in your family. So we I mean, I'm
sure you've heard we've been experiencing extremely increased demand over
the last couple of years. We just wrapped.

Speaker 18 (01:26:47):
Applications for our Christmas assistance program last Friday, and we
actually saw nearly nineteen hundred people requesting support for the holidays.

Speaker 2 (01:26:59):
We get previous years.

Speaker 21 (01:27:02):
That is a it's a.

Speaker 18 (01:27:03):
Massive increase from previous years.

Speaker 19 (01:27:05):
So just to put it in perspective, we saw.

Speaker 18 (01:27:09):
Almost nineteen hundred applications this year compared to last year
when we supported just under eleven hundred people.

Speaker 5 (01:27:17):
So yeah, it's a very significant increase.

Speaker 2 (01:27:20):
Wow, yeah, Leslie, we're up to news time. Can I
ask you to hold through the news and we'll get
back to you about the fundraiser itself.

Speaker 10 (01:27:29):
Yeah, absolutely, no problem.

Speaker 2 (01:27:30):
All right, I'll put you back on hold and we
will get back to you.

Speaker 10 (01:27:35):
Right after the news with Sarah Strickland, you.

Speaker 1 (01:27:38):
Were listening to a rebroadcast of VOCM Open Live. Have
your say by calling seven oh nine two seven, three
fifty two eleven or one triple eight five ninety eight
six two six and listen live weekday mornings at nine am.

Speaker 2 (01:27:52):
And we're back on VOCM Open Linelanda Swayne sitting in
for Patty Daily, who is off today. And before the news,
we were speaking with Leslie with Bridges to Hope about
their Miracle on Cookstown Road fundraiser, and Leslie was telling
us that.

Speaker 10 (01:28:10):
Demand has gone up.

Speaker 2 (01:28:12):
Nineteen hundred people put in requests for assistance this past month.
That's more than eleven hundred from last year. Sorry, last
year there was eleven hundred. So what to what do
you attribute this, you know, increased demand.

Speaker 10 (01:28:33):
Well, when we hear.

Speaker 6 (01:28:34):
From folks all the time, you know they are struggling
with the.

Speaker 22 (01:28:39):
Cost of living, you know, housing costs or one of
the main factors that folks who visit our food bank
point to as the reason.

Speaker 21 (01:28:49):
That it is causing them to use the food bank,
and especially this.

Speaker 22 (01:28:52):
Time of year, you know when the heat comes on
and then those bills start to increase, we do to
see that that increase in demand.

Speaker 10 (01:29:03):
So the Miracle on Cookstown Road campaign, it supports our
food bank not just.

Speaker 22 (01:29:09):
Throughout the holiday season, but really throughout the whole year
to come. Bridges to Hope is almost entirely powered by
the community.

Speaker 21 (01:29:18):
You know, we don't receive.

Speaker 22 (01:29:20):
Government funding to support our food bank efforts, so we
really rely on the Christmas fundraising season to make our
work possible.

Speaker 2 (01:29:32):
And do people typically respond in positive ways?

Speaker 14 (01:29:38):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (01:29:38):
Absolutely, Yeah.

Speaker 22 (01:29:39):
We've seen some just incredible support from the community over
the years. You know, whether whether folks are sharing funds, food,
or time, it all helps.

Speaker 10 (01:29:52):
Helps us achieve our mission.

Speaker 15 (01:29:54):
So we're hoping that we'll have a similar turnout this year.

Speaker 10 (01:30:00):
We'll just see.

Speaker 6 (01:30:01):
How it goes.

Speaker 2 (01:30:02):
And so how do people get involved?

Speaker 22 (01:30:06):
So today we are on site at Coleman's in Mount
Pearl until four pm and we are collecting food and
funds in support of the campaign. A couple of our
volunteers are on site there. They have lists of our
most needed items. But if you don't want to brave
this yucky weather we're having, you could always pop online

(01:30:27):
and make a donation at Bridges to Hoope dot Ca.

Speaker 10 (01:30:29):
A slash miracle.

Speaker 2 (01:30:31):
Leslie, thanks so much and thanks for the work. You
do really appreciate this.

Speaker 10 (01:30:36):
Thanks for the time, Linda. Okay, bye bye.

Speaker 2 (01:30:40):
We're going to go now too. Michael, pretty you're on
the air. Hello Michael, good morning.

Speaker 21 (01:30:45):
How are you doing today?

Speaker 10 (01:30:46):
I'm great?

Speaker 6 (01:30:47):
How are you.

Speaker 21 (01:30:49):
Fine? Fine?

Speaker 11 (01:30:50):
Busy?

Speaker 21 (01:30:51):
I guess everybody is. I was listening to the last
caller and we actually run a food pantry and Forcer
Coast Saint Phillip's and yeah, demand is up. People need,
people are in need. So anybody that can spare anything
please please support that great organization.

Speaker 10 (01:31:09):
Fantastic what brings you to us this morning.

Speaker 21 (01:31:14):
So Portal Coast Saint Phillips.

Speaker 23 (01:31:16):
Has got a very vibrant arts community and we are
having an arts festival this Saturday at.

Speaker 21 (01:31:23):
The old RC Church Hall at five RC Church Drive
in Portal Codes and it runs from seven to ten pm.
We've got some local musicians, Rick Lamb and the Relics,
an older group called the Honky Dories. They're awesome, and
the concert violinists Nancy case.

Speaker 23 (01:31:44):
Oats and people are invited to come in and we
have got sixteen different vendors as well.

Speaker 21 (01:31:51):
The first sixty people get a free a free gourmet cookie.
There will be tea and coffee and stuff for free.
There's a door prize, of course, you got to have
fifty to fifty.

Speaker 23 (01:32:04):
We've got visual artists, we've got sculptors, we've got handspun
and girl wool, We've got a potter, a couple of floorists.
We've got knitters, we have another potter, homemade notebooks and journals,
handcrafted woodworking, glass artists, and we've got Rodney's Poutine or

(01:32:26):
Rodney's taters and you can get a nice little poutine.
And anybody who shops at a local restaurant between now
and Saturday, we'll get an extra door prize. So that's
Landings or the bazool or the grounds or by the
beach in Saint.

Speaker 21 (01:32:44):
Phillip's if you're ringing your receipt for that, you'll get
a second door prize.

Speaker 10 (01:32:49):
So the our festival once again is.

Speaker 21 (01:32:51):
When Saturday twenty ninth from seven to ten pm. And
there's a lot of parking. We've got like over one
hundred parking spaces out there. You don't see it from
the road, but there's lots of parking there.

Speaker 10 (01:33:05):
Oh, fantastic. Well, Michael All the best to you on that.

Speaker 2 (01:33:08):
And by the way, Hunky Dories has got to be
one of the best names I think I've ever heard.

Speaker 8 (01:33:12):
I know.

Speaker 21 (01:33:13):
Yeah, And if people want to bring a donation to
the food pantry, like a can good, we'd gladly accept that.

Speaker 10 (01:33:19):
Fantastic Michael, thank you.

Speaker 21 (01:33:22):
All right, thanks for having my call.

Speaker 10 (01:33:23):
Okay, bye bye, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:33:26):
Tiss the season for a lot of these fantastic things
do But people do Christmas pageants anymore? I wonder that
used to be a really great Newfoundland tradition in you know,
outports and all over the place, Christmas pageants. And I
know my mom used to talk fondly about the Christmas
pageants that she participated in as a child, and.

Speaker 10 (01:33:49):
I often wonder about that.

Speaker 2 (01:33:51):
Does it still occur? Anyway, if you have a Christmas pageant,
give us a call.

Speaker 10 (01:33:56):
Let us know.

Speaker 2 (01:33:57):
We're going to take a very short break. When we
come back, we hope to speak with you. Now is
your chance, by the way, to give us a call.
We have some lines open as we get into the
last hour of the program. Here are the numbers, and
we are back, and you may recall, by the way,
we have some lines open. So now's your opportunity to
call us. You may recall that earlier in the show,

(01:34:19):
we heard from.

Speaker 10 (01:34:20):
A gentleman in the Lawrence Ponds subdivision.

Speaker 2 (01:34:23):
Of Upper Gullies wondering what the work was, looking for
an update, I should say on the work at Peacekeeper's Way,
and we reached out to the mayor and he says
it's a provincial government project, so it's best to check
with them. But from his understanding anyway, is that the

(01:34:46):
last update the town got was last week, indicating that
weather has created some delays there. The full job is
set to finish next year, but as for the diversion,
it is weather dependent. According to the Department of Transportation
and Infrastructure. Darren Ben says they expect another update late
next week, but he recommends that a full update be

(01:35:11):
sought out from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

Speaker 10 (01:35:15):
So the minister is the.

Speaker 2 (01:35:19):
MHA for the general area, mister Barry Patten, so if
he happens to be listening, he's welcome to give us
an update on that particular project affecting the Lawrence Pond
subdivision in Upper Gullies and anything else, by the way,
that you want to speak about.

Speaker 10 (01:35:36):
You're certainly welcome to do.

Speaker 2 (01:35:37):
So we've been taking lost items and lost animals for
a long time. Like oftentimes we'll caution people about you know,
if they found a wallet, for instance, you don't say
how much is in the wallet, or what the wallet
looks like, or what other identifying things might be in
a wallet. Many people just pass it straight on to

(01:36:00):
the RNC and the like. So oftentimes we won't give
those kinds of descriptions. But it never occurred to me
not to give a description of a dog. And we've
had a few comments about that. So, I mean, you
get a lost pet, and a lot of people want
to make sure that an animal is reunited with its
rightful owner. But you know, how do you say that

(01:36:21):
you know a lost dog in the such and such area?
So how do you identify the fact that it might
be your dog, because there might be a dozen lost
dogs in that area, if you know what I mean.

Speaker 10 (01:36:36):
So people are saying, you know, keep some descriptor or
whatever to yourself.

Speaker 2 (01:36:43):
Don't say you know that the dog happens to have
one blue eye one green brown eye, or don't say
that it has one white paw, or whatever the case
may be. You know, just keep it kind of generic,
maybe a medium sized dog or a small dog or whatever.
In the case of beagles, you know, buy and large
have the same type of markings white, brown, and black,

(01:37:05):
but how those markings show on the animal are different
in different cases, So they're suggesting that you keep some
of that back. Asked for a photograph. If somebody has
lost an animal and they're coming to pick it up, say,
you know, show me a picture of your dog and.

Speaker 10 (01:37:22):
I'll let you know if that's him.

Speaker 2 (01:37:25):
Or they suggest that if you do pick up a
lost animal, bring it to your local SPCA or a
vet clinic and they can check and see if it's microchipped,
and that should have information on the owner contained they're in.

Speaker 10 (01:37:45):
I'm not sure how that works.

Speaker 2 (01:37:46):
For animals that might be microchipped and then their owner
passes away and they end up at the SPCA, And
is there a way to update microchips. I don't know
on an animal that's embedded in an animal skin. Anyway,
if somebody happens to know anything about that aspect of things,
they're certainly welcome to give us a call. And this

(01:38:07):
rain we're having appears to be having some impact on
water levels for many areas that had suffered greatly over
the past summer, and it was really quite alarming how
dry it was here in Newfoundland and Labrador over the summer.
I don't think I've ever encountered a summer like that
here in my life, where you can literally see everything

(01:38:32):
dying in front of you, and how quickly that can happen. Luckily,
we're back to a little bit more of a common.

Speaker 10 (01:38:40):
Weather pattern for ourselves.

Speaker 2 (01:38:41):
We had that big blocking high that was preventing any
moisture from coming up from the Tropics and along the
US Eastern seaboard, and it was just veering off into
the Atlantic. Now that has dissipated and all of that
stuff is coming straight up our way. But it's been
a quiet year for hurricane mean for us. We haven't
seen the effects of any hurricanes this year, Thank goodness,

(01:39:05):
says an awful lot of people, because we've seen the
devastating effects of that in this province, and many people
still trying to get over some of the major storms
that we've.

Speaker 10 (01:39:16):
Had in the last decade or more.

Speaker 2 (01:39:18):
But all the weather patterns have been slightly off, if
you know what I'm saying, A bit of a nerd
I often say this in the newsroom, that I'm looking
at the satellite images all the time and watching the
animations of the satellite images and just watching for a
long time now how things have changed rather dramatically over

(01:39:41):
the last number of years, and this past year in particular,
how storms were forming, where they were moving, who ended
up seeing the brunt of it. In many cases it
was Western Europe weather in places like watching Saudi Arabia,

(01:40:02):
and how they're getting a fair bit of rain lately.
It's all very unusual and strange.

Speaker 10 (01:40:13):
We are going to go now too, am I okay
with this?

Speaker 5 (01:40:17):
Dave?

Speaker 2 (01:40:18):
Daryl, yep, we're good.

Speaker 21 (01:40:20):
Hello Daryl, Hi, Hi, Linda.

Speaker 10 (01:40:23):
How are you today?

Speaker 3 (01:40:23):
Oh?

Speaker 10 (01:40:23):
Good?

Speaker 2 (01:40:24):
How are you all good?

Speaker 21 (01:40:25):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 24 (01:40:27):
On I'm going to talk about today is twenty four
hours snow clearing. And there recently when the government made
announcements to what the dosgnate areas for twenty four snow clearing,
and what puzzles me that one area they designated Aranova
Park for twenty four hour snow clearing. But as you

(01:40:50):
leave the park either west or east, there's no twenty
four hour snow clearing like you know, you will take
the west part of it if you come out to park,
like from Eastport right on in the Gander which Scander
covers all that area like for people who got to
probably say try to get to work or so forth.
But the main thing what they got to look at
is the hospital here in Gander, because see anyone from

(01:41:11):
Eastport on or whatever, they got to come to the
hospital for medical appointments for So for that reason, I
think it should be twenty four hour snow clearing from
west from Estport coming on in due to medical appointments
or for responders or orf case may be, due to
the hospitals here in Gander.

Speaker 2 (01:41:32):
Is it the products that maintains the roads through Teranover
National Park?

Speaker 24 (01:41:38):
Well, now that's a that's a good question, because I
know the Ternover Park is federal, so I'm not sure.
I think I stand to be corrected. I think there
might be agreement that maybe they do do it, but
maybe there's some kind of subsidized being from the federal government.
Now I stand to be corrected on that one. That

(01:41:58):
one is worth looking into, you know, as we speak here.
But but but that's how I that's how I'm looking at.
And then as you go East, like Carnaval, Bana Vista,
because I know people have come from Marriagetown had to
come into Gander for medical appointments, so and Banavisa, Calarenval
all that area as well. So for so forward, where

(01:42:22):
the hospitals here in Gander, I think for those reasons alone,
that should be twenty four hour snow clearing.

Speaker 2 (01:42:29):
Yes, and I've lost account of the devastating accidents that
have occurred between Gambo and Gander.

Speaker 10 (01:42:35):
Over the years, particularly around the Square Pond area.

Speaker 24 (01:42:39):
Well yeah, so so so when you leave the park
to snow twenty four from Lake the West Park coming
Lake Break to Gander, so Gambo, New West Valley, all
those areas I mean that Gander takes and all that
that area I mean for people just trying to get
to work, I mean for medical points or emergencies, and

(01:43:00):
and so for the reason that alone, where we got
the hospital here for medical appointments or emergency whatever, I
think that should be our twenty four our snow clearing
right to probably almost Marry Sound.

Speaker 17 (01:43:11):
Because I know people come in from that area as
well coming They're all coming.

Speaker 24 (01:43:14):
Again there depends on what doctors are they got to
see your so forth, So I think they should really
take a good, take a good, really high look at
all that in general. Like I know, the guys they
got to find staff and they got to try to
you know what they're trying to accomplish. And I know
things can't be like done overnight as well, but when

(01:43:37):
you've got a place where the hospital is the main
hospital taking in like Ganner takes in an area of
what ninety three thousand people standing to be corrected fit
I mean, but like you said, they come from Clarenvel,
Bona Vista so forth as well, so and like so
far as marriage sounds, so I think you know, they
should revisit it. Like what they're dosignating twenty four hours, Yes,

(01:43:59):
be nice if the whole province really you know, but
you've got to have the staff.

Speaker 21 (01:44:03):
But I think this is got to be really taken.

Speaker 24 (01:44:06):
Into serious considerations, especially for medical reasons that alone is
of importance, plus other avenues as well well.

Speaker 2 (01:44:15):
Indeed, and there's going to be some challenges of course
getting the personnel to do that. I know that that's
been an issue for quite some time. But you're raising
an excellent point. One would think that any area within
you know, a reasonable catchment surrounding a hospital should be
you know, one of the priorities.

Speaker 24 (01:44:37):
Yeah, and like I said, I know they come from
fires like Esis Marystown come in depending on what doctors
do you got to see or so for So I
mean this is you know, of the essence and and
like for emergency responders, especially the hospital. So if you've
got no twenty four hour snow clearing and it's not
down like from Lake Carnavalan or or after it depends

(01:45:01):
on what entry coming west from eastport On and you've
got a medigal emergency or whatever, and no twenty four
snow clearing, and say what happens if you had a
snowstorm and they can't move because of it, you can't
get to the hospital.

Speaker 21 (01:45:16):
So I think that that's something.

Speaker 17 (01:45:18):
That's really like I thought about when.

Speaker 24 (01:45:19):
I heard this there recently in the Beanomena mind, I said,
you know it's not that Nope, especially when you got
a main hospital lake here in Gander, which takes in
the big, big, big area. As I stated, So I
think they better take another good hard look at this
because we want to be proactive rather reactive.

Speaker 21 (01:45:37):
We do want to have a.

Speaker 24 (01:45:37):
Situation the winter that's something serious happens and because of
the weather, you can't get to the James Paint Memorial.

Speaker 17 (01:45:45):
Hospital, So that would be very sad.

Speaker 24 (01:45:48):
Now on going west a Gander, they got twenty four
snow clearing lake from Grand Falls right to Gander. They
got that way that east found they don't, so I
think this is going to be Yeah, so they do
have that. So so just got to be taken very
serious because we want to hear a story that so
on something seriously happens on because of the weather and

(01:46:10):
the roads weren't clear and he couldn't get to the hospital.

Speaker 10 (01:46:13):
All right, Darrel, we'll have to leave it there or
up to news time. I really appreciate your time.

Speaker 24 (01:46:17):
Yeah, well, thank you, Linda, and maybe you get the
Minister of Transportation to address that question to you and
see what he got to say.

Speaker 10 (01:46:26):
Absolutely appreciate it.

Speaker 24 (01:46:27):
All right, thank you for your time and all the
best of you.

Speaker 17 (01:46:30):
And you're listening, audience and the staff at the YOCM.
Have a great finish here today.

Speaker 2 (01:46:34):
Thank you, right all bye bye bye. We're up to
newstime now with Sarah Strickland.

Speaker 1 (01:46:40):
About Tim Powers show joining the Conversation weekday afternoons at
four pm on your VOCM.

Speaker 2 (01:46:47):
Thank you, Sarah, and we're back on VOCM open line
into the final half hour of the show this morning.
And this is Research Week at Memorial University, and what
Memorial has been doing is highlighting some of the important
work some of its researchers have been doing in a
variety of fields. Well, doctor Sherry Christian is presenting the

(01:47:13):
Atlantic Cancer Consortium Patient Advisory Committee free public talk this Friday.
She is a professor in the Faculty of Science at
Memorial University and a co lead of the Atlantic Cancer Consortium,
part of the Marathon of Hope Cancer Centers Network, and
she joins us now on the line. Hello doctor Christian, Hello,

(01:47:38):
So tell us a little bit about this free public
talk you're going to be presenting on Friday.

Speaker 7 (01:47:47):
Well, as you said, it's put on by the Patient
Advisory Committee, which is part of the Atlantic Cancer Consortium,
and it's really just to share what we've been doing
at the ACC and how out and the future of
the project in bringing the research, trying and bring it
to the people in an understandable way.

Speaker 2 (01:48:10):
Absolutely, because you know when you're in the weeds and
that's what you do it's a little hard sometimes to
give an overview that everyone's going to be able to
consume and understand. So what kind of work have you
been working on there?

Speaker 7 (01:48:25):
So the Marathon of Cancer Centers network is actually a
national network. I like to think of it as a
Team Canada of cancer research. So all across the country
we have cancer researchers, clinicians, patient advocate and donors involved
in moving cancer research forward. And what we're really focused

(01:48:50):
on is something called precision oncology. So this means that
if a cancer has a very specific mutation, we can
target that mutation with a drug, so instead of just
general chemotherapy, we can actually go in with that really
targeted drug, reduce the amount of side effects the patient
might have, and really focus on that cancer. One of

(01:49:14):
the things that I think people might not appreciate is
how cancers is actually hundreds of different diseases. So breast cancer,
you might realize, is different from prostate cancer, but even
within breast cancer, there's a whole bunch of different mutations
that a cancer can have that may or may not
be susceptible to the drugs that we can give. So

(01:49:36):
what the Marathon of Hope is doing is getting samples
from tumor where we can actually look at the genetics
and understand what is causing that cancer.

Speaker 2 (01:49:49):
It's fascinating and to see how greatly cancer research in
particular has evolved, even over the last couple of decades
is extraordinary. How important is it, like for these new
and emerging technologies to address.

Speaker 3 (01:50:08):
Some of that.

Speaker 7 (01:50:10):
I think it's vitally important. I mean that we you know,
the needle has moved, as you said, over the past
couple of decades, you know, but we still have two
out of five people dying from cancer in Canada.

Speaker 15 (01:50:23):
And not only that, you know, a lot of.

Speaker 7 (01:50:26):
The treatments are quite hard.

Speaker 14 (01:50:29):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:50:30):
You see people lose their hair, they have naledgeia, they
have side effects like neuropathy in their fingers. So if
we could reduce that by giving the right drug and
only the right drug, quality of life for those patients
would be much better, and of course we would target
that cancer much better and hopefully.

Speaker 9 (01:50:53):
You know, change.

Speaker 7 (01:50:55):
The idea is that we can change cancer from being
something that you die from to something that you just
live with because we know the right treatments.

Speaker 2 (01:51:03):
I don't know how verst you are on this But
I've been seeing some articles of light talking about vaccines
and the like for cancer. Is that something that you
know is feasible in Like you say, there's so many
forms of cancer, and I know it's helping with things
like HPV which can lead to cervical cancer and other
types of cancers. But is that an area of exploration.

Speaker 7 (01:51:29):
It's not for us, but certainly the data that we
would collect could actually inform a cancer vaccine, so especially
if in a personalized way. So some of the newest
vaccines are taking advantage of MR and a technology.

Speaker 17 (01:51:43):
To actually.

Speaker 7 (01:51:45):
Be able to have the person express or show a
protein that's different in the cancer compared to the rest
of the body. So if the immune system can recognize
that that cancer sells is different, it will actually kill it.
But to know what's different from the cancer cell to
your normal cell, we really need the genetics the underpinning

(01:52:07):
of what makes that cancer different.

Speaker 2 (01:52:12):
How has we know how cancer research is always evolving,
But how is cancer itself evolving? If at all? Are
you seeing any changes or differences or trends that are
you know, different from where they were before.

Speaker 7 (01:52:32):
Actually, in the recent years, we've seen some concerning trends
where cancer is arising and younger and younger people. So
for example, cola rectal cancer, which generally you wouldn't see,
you know, until sixties seventies kind of thing is we're
seeing in people in their forties and fifties, and those
are probably environmental causes. So that's the kind of the downside.

(01:52:55):
Of course, the upside is thing is for example, you
meant and cervical cancer in Australia, they found that this
in twenty twenty one zero cases a cervical cancer in
women under twenty five because of the vaccine. So I
think we have you know, changes in both directions in

(01:53:15):
the past few years.

Speaker 2 (01:53:17):
And again the cause is changing all the time. Like
you say, some cancers are caused by environmental exposures, some
are caused by genetics, some are caused by viruses and
the like. So it's got to be a pretty dynamic field.

Speaker 7 (01:53:37):
What drew you to it, Oh, that's a hard question,
because I've been in cancer research for you know, twenty
years now, you know, I think it's just seeing so
many people affected by this disease, and it's so complicated.
We need a lot of different people working on it

(01:53:58):
from different angle to really be able to understand the
biology underlying the cancer, relying the cause of the cancer,
underlying the progression of the cancer, and so just you know,
to be able to help as many people as possible.
Really is why I got into it.

Speaker 2 (01:54:17):
So when is your free talk?

Speaker 7 (01:54:21):
It is a webinar if anybody can attend at twelve
thirty I means my time tomorrow. And if you want
information you have to register for it though. So if
you're on Facebook, you can just search Atlantic Cancer Consortium
and there's the link there. If you're not on Facebook,
you can email the Patient Advisory Committee Coordinator at acc

(01:54:42):
PAC at mund dot ca. So acc PACK at mund
dot Ca and you can get the registration link that way.

Speaker 2 (01:54:50):
Doctor Sherry Christian, thank you for the work that you do.
Really appreciate your time.

Speaker 7 (01:54:56):
Thanks so much, thanks for having me all right by bye.

Speaker 2 (01:55:01):
That is doctor Sherry Christian, co lead of the Atlantic
Cancer Consortium. It's part of the Marathon of Hope Cancer
Centered Network. We are going to go now to Sorry
Dave the caller online for Hello.

Speaker 14 (01:55:20):
Hello, Hi, Hi my first son caller Linda. My name
is Jenna, So just calling about an issue that I
encountered today when trying to park at the Health Sciences.

Speaker 2 (01:55:31):
Okay, Jennis tell us about it, very.

Speaker 14 (01:55:35):
Very frustrating experience. I went for an appointment with plenty
of time. I would normally perhaps have gotten dropped off,
but today I thought maybe with the new hub opened
that there would be better parking. So I went about
twenty minutes early and entered into the last and drove

(01:55:55):
around for greater than twenty minutes. Actually missed my appointment,
and then to add insults injury, had to pay the
leave the lot. So no, very frustrating, as I was saying,
because no attendance there to indicate that the lot was full,

(01:56:16):
you know, and maybe to try another lot, for example.
So I just wanted to put it out there that
parking at the Health Sciences has not improved as was hoped.

Speaker 2 (01:56:27):
I've been there before myself. It's really extraordinary. If you
have an appointment at certain times of the day and
it seems like that nine to eleven thirty window is
the worst, you might be a very long time trying
to find somewhere in the park. And they've been making
all kinds of changes and doing what they can to

(01:56:49):
alleviate that situation. It seems to be no better for sure.

Speaker 14 (01:56:54):
For sure, there was at least I certainly am not
exaggerating to say there was thirty curves if they're looking
for an appointment, and I had to call in to
say I just had no way to get there, you know,
And that for me, it was not a life threatening
appointment that I had to go to, and it was
something I could reschedule, thankfully, But I did feel for

(01:57:17):
other folks who were, you know, experiencing the same thing,
and I just thought I would put it out there
as an issue that certainly needs to be addressed. And
if folks thought that the you know, the opening of
the new hub was going to relieve some of the
parking there, it just hasn't happened.

Speaker 2 (01:57:35):
Yeah, a terrible inconvenience to you. You know, people have
to take time out of their jobs or their busy
days to to you know, attend these appointments, which you
know fair enough, but when you go through this entire
process and still have to rebook, that's, like you say,
very frustrating.

Speaker 5 (01:57:54):
Very frustrating for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:57:56):
And how many more people are like yourself.

Speaker 14 (01:57:59):
Exactly exactly, and as I said, perhaps with a more
urgent need to get into their appointments.

Speaker 2 (01:58:07):
Yeah, exactly exactly where you might have the stress and
strain of, you know, some uncertainty hanging over you. Caller,
I really appreciate your time. I'd like to hear what
others have to say about that.

Speaker 14 (01:58:18):
Sure I would took.

Speaker 2 (01:58:23):
Yeah, I've been there. I've missed appointments myself at the
Health Sciences for the same reason. You know what you're
going to face. You go there early, and you're still
driving around, you and many many others driving around and
driving around and driving and chasing people down. I'm sure
anybody who's walked across the parking lot at the Health
Sciences knows that feeling of being followed by a car,

(01:58:45):
not for nefarious reasons, but to see where you're going
and if you're getting in a vehicle to leave so
they can get in your spot. So anyway, we thank
her for her call on that. We're going to take
a short break. When we come back, we hope to
hear from you. We're back on VOCM open line. We're
going to go to Julie who had a bouquet to share,
but she has left us, so we're going to go

(01:59:06):
now too. The critic for Labrador Affairs Lisa Dempster.

Speaker 5 (01:59:10):
Hello, Hi, good morning, Linda.

Speaker 10 (01:59:13):
How are you.

Speaker 6 (01:59:14):
I'm doing very well. Actually, I know I'm at the
tail end of your call. I just want to talk
about a couple of things in mining. In the mining
sector that we know is experiencing significant growth diversification. I
don't think it always gets the attention that it needs.
I want to talk about IOC for a couple of minutes,

(01:59:35):
but Linda, I would be remiss if I didn't mention
I started my week Monday morning meeting with the executive
of Sega Medals in the northern part of my district
in Cartrate. There's been really a phenomenal fine there of
mineralized titanium VANDIM I'm going to use VTM. And you know,
this project is little project that's getting off the ground

(01:59:58):
in cart Rate, has it certainly has the strong potential
to evolve into a globally significant project. And for your
listeners that might be saying, what is VTM, what's titanium?
You know, it's minerals essential to aerospace, defense, advanced batteries, steelmaking.

(02:00:19):
And what's really key here is to right now today
those deposits are largely concentrated in Russia and China, creating
supply vulnerabilities for North America. So we're keeping an eye
on that. They're progressing. They're doing some great work with exploration,
they're creating local job opportunities in the community, and you know,

(02:00:43):
we've got Sega medals on our radar. But I want
to talk about IOC just because I've had so many
people reach out to me. You know, some people felt
that some recent job losses, I think around twenty five
in total terminated to date, that maybe you know, this
restructure it's being masked is restructuring, but maybe some laboratorians

(02:01:06):
and folks from the island are losing jobs there, bringing
in expats, et cetera. Myself, my colleague Fred Hutton, and
Bernie Davis, who is the critic for labor Fred for
Minds and Energy. We met yesterday with a team from
the executive of IOC. We had phenomenal discussion. You know,

(02:01:27):
they're a leader in steel around the world and they
are going through a period of restructuring.

Speaker 9 (02:01:34):
But a few takeaways that I think will give some.

Speaker 6 (02:01:39):
Confidence to the people in the area. They touted the
strong local workforce, very committed to no fly in fly out.
What they're doing is Linda in terms of the health
of a mind. You know, the more they mind, the
more they find. You've had seventy great years. There lots
of challenges, but trying something over them, creating good employment,

(02:02:02):
giving people, you know, good livings there. Right now they're
looking at getting rid of some of the waste. I
believe they've got about one hundred million tons of waste.
So that's the part of the reason for restructuring. Do
you continue mining and getting more waste accumulated?

Speaker 18 (02:02:20):
Do you deal with the waste?

Speaker 6 (02:02:22):
And so that means sometimes and they've also separated, you know,
the mining plan going forward with the mining operation, and
that sometimes means bringing in specialized people. Our conversation was
very much about the holistic view of the role that
IOC plays in Labrador West labor market information. How we

(02:02:47):
can support keeping a finger on the pulse of those
things as new positions come up, How do we ensure
that our people are trained for those jobs as the
whole mining sector there evolves, et cetera.

Speaker 2 (02:03:00):
So is there a value in that one hundred million
tons of waste? Because I've seen some interesting projects being
looked at right now to draw certain minerals from mining waste.

Speaker 19 (02:03:14):
Those are some of the.

Speaker 6 (02:03:14):
Things that they're looking at. And then one of the
questions I had was, if you have one hundred million
tons of waste, where do you move that? So they
move it into areas that's already been mine. But those
are things that the executive is looking at. But clearly
I believe that they have a solid plan. I don't
think anyone has.

Speaker 18 (02:03:32):
It's a strong company.

Speaker 6 (02:03:34):
And I certainly heard the commitment to continue to build
strong relations with the company, investing in housing partnerships, et
cetera where they can to ensure that the work continues
in that community. And that's the fly in fly, which
is always a fear for people when we hear of
changes on the radar.

Speaker 2 (02:03:55):
So do mining activities continue while they're dealing with this
one hundred million tons of waste?

Speaker 6 (02:04:01):
Yes, absolutely, they assured us of that for sure. And
I want to also mention Linda. Last week myself and
my colleague Fred Hughton had a chance to sit down
and have coffee with Mining in Alamanda McCullum. They're doing
great work and one of the biggest messages coming out
of that was a how under explored we are, in

(02:04:24):
particular in Labrador, but also around the power issue and
basically no power, no projects. So we're certainly keeping an
eye as well. We know that lab West is an
area that continues to have tremendous untap potential, but they
need power, and so you know, we were moving in

(02:04:45):
that direction with DMOU. That is needed for jobs, for growth,
economic spinoffs, the revenue to the treasury provincially. It's how
we provide services to the people of Newfoundland and Labradory.
You have to have that engine running well. And so
all eyes right now are on the new premier and

(02:05:05):
the decisions that he's going to make, because if we
lose a once in a lifetime opportunity here, Linda, it
is going to have big, fur reaching impacts for people
who right now earn good paying jobs, in this case
in the mining sector.

Speaker 2 (02:05:20):
Lisa Dempster, I do appreciate your calling this update this
morning because I do know that there are some freight
nerves in Labrador right now and keep us on top
of this Saga Metal's situation.

Speaker 6 (02:05:34):
That sounds very interesting, absolutely, and I didn't even mention
search minerals right in our backyard in the heart of
our district critical minerals. They've had some ebbs and flows
with some challenges, but now really back in a good place.
Stock markets are trading and that will also be a
game changer with about two three billion dollars in asset

(02:05:55):
right there in the rock around Saint Louis Porta Simpsonaria.
Oh yeah, lots to talk about and I'll do my
best to keep your listeners aprized, but lots to be
hopeful about as long as we get the decisions made
right at the top that supports the exploration investments in geoscience,
and of course we need the power of course.

Speaker 2 (02:06:17):
Lisa Dempster really appreciate your time.

Speaker 6 (02:06:18):
Thank you so much, have a great rest of the day,
Appreciate the opportunity.

Speaker 2 (02:06:22):
Thank you, I you too, Bye bye, and Lisa Dempster
has had the last word on VOCM open Line. Thanks
for your contributions. Everyone. We're up to news time now
with Sarah Strickland.